Europe

Iran summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the “illegal seizure” of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday, Iranian state TV quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying. British Royal Marines seized an oil tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday accused of bringing oil to Syria in violation …

A huge volcanic eruption has rocked the small Italian island of Stromboli, near Sicily, reportedly sending tourists fleeing in fear for their lives. Columns of black smoke continue to billow from the volcano in the wake of the sudden activity, which alarmed some island visitors so much that they fled …

Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, a wife of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, is in hiding in London and said to be in fear for her life after fleeing her husband. Sheikh Mohammed, 69, who is a billionaire racehorse owner and has often been seen conversing with the …

A fire aboard a Russian navy research submersible has killed 14 crew members, the Russian defense ministry says. It says the crew members were poisoned by fumes when the vessel caught fire while taking biometric measurements in Russian territorial waters on Monday. The fire was later put out and the …

A United Nations official on Saturday joined Dutch lawmakers in criticizing Queen Maxima over a meeting she held with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka this week. U.N. rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard told newspaper Algemeen Dagblad it was “more …

Swiss police fired water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades at Cameroonian protesters outside UN headquarters in Geneva Saturday as the crowd surged towards a luxury hotel hosting Cameroon’s president. Parts of the “city of peace” resembled a war zone, with police wearing gas masks and black riot gear chasing …

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country seeks improved relations with the United States but has warned that Moscow will take countermeasures if Washington imposes more sanctions. Putin made the remarks during a news conference at the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka on Saturday after meeting his American counterpart Donald …

Italian police have arrested the captain of a rescue ship carrying dozens of migrants rescued near Libya after a weeks-long standoff between the vessel and authorities came to a climax off the island of Lampedusa. Carola Rackete, the German captain of Sea-Watch 3, was led off the ship in handcuffs …

France has hit its highest recorded temperature – 45.1C (113.2F) – amid a heatwave in Europe that has claimed several lives. The new record was measured in the southern town of Villevieille. The previous record was 44.1C during a heatwave in 2003 that killed thousands. Health Minister Agnès Buzyn has …

The remains of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge were blown up in a controlled explosion on Friday, nearly a year after the structure collapsed in a disaster that killed 43 people. Demolition experts brought down the two remaining towers of the highway bridge in dramatic fashion just after 9:30 a.m. local time …

Firefighters are battling a major forest blaze in north-eastern Spain as an intense heat wave continues to scorch continental Europe. Around 10,000 acres of forest and other vegetation were affected by the fire near Tarragona in northeast Spain, according to the Catalan regional government. Around 350 fire crew, 12 fire …

Angela Merkel has been seen shaking in public for the second time in less than two weeks, raising concern over the wellbeing of the German chancellor. Merkel, 64, appeared to clutch her arms together to keep herself still as she attended an event with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday. …

The continuing political chaos at Westminster over Brexit and related matters is placing more and more pressure on the United Kingdom’s periphery. There is already a growing chorus of support for a second Scottish independence referendum. Now new opinion polling suggests that support for Welsh independence is also growing. Barring …

A poorly stubbed-out cigarette or an electrical fault could have started the devastating fire that ripped through Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral in April, French prosecutors said Wednesday, while ruling out any criminal intent. The statement by prosecutors, which also said an investigation was being opened into possible negligence, was the first …

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday that the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) is ready for operation. I can confirm to you that we will convene the joint commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA …

Mette Frederiksen, the leader of Denmark’s center-left Socialist Democratic party, has announced that she will form a left-leaning, one-party minority government, making her the nation’s youngest-ever prime minister. “It is with great pleasure I can announce that after three weeks of negotiations, we have a majority to form a new …

France is starting to close dozens of schools because of a heatwave, with temperatures expected to climb above 40C (104F) in some regions on Thursday. About 50 schools in the Essonne region, just south of Paris, are being shut, as they lack sufficient air conditioning. On Thursday, French BFMTV says, …

The United States Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Kay Bailey Hutchison, says her country will stop Turkish forces flying and developing F-35 stealth fighter jets in case Turkey presses ahead with its plans to acquire advanced Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. “Everything indicates that Russia is going …

Boris Johnson has admitted he would need EU co-operation to avoid a hard Irish border or crippling tariffs on trade in the event of a no-deal Brexit. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the favorite to be the next PM said: “It’s not just up to us.” But he …

Five years after Russia had it’s voting rights removed because of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly has voted to restore them. The assembly backed the proposal in the face of angry opposition from Ukraine, whose delegation later walked out. Russia had threatened to …