Europe

An explosion has reportedly occurred north of Heathrow Airport, Daily Star reported. Eyewitnesses have been posting photos of massive black clouds billowing from near the airport buildings. Some of them have reported hearing “clearly the sounds of explosions” at the blaze which is close to the railway line. Commenting on …

Britain’s bid to break away from the European Union may have the unintended consequence of fracturing the United Kingdom, as new polling suggests that 49 percent of Scots now want independence. Scotland held a referendum on independence as recently as September 2014. On that occasion, people voted by 55 to …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he hoped Iranian oil exports would continue despite Washington’s efforts to stop them. Washington has demanded that buyers of Iranian crude halt purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, a move to choke off Tehran’s oil revenues. The United States expects Saudi Arabia …

Germany could owe Poland more than $850 billion in reparations for damages it incurred during World War Two and the brutal Nazi occupation, a senior ruling party lawmaker said. Some six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war and Warsaw was razed to the ground …

Nearly 40 world leaders and scores of finance officials are gathered in Beijing to build a new platform for international trade and counter US unilateralism and protectionist policies. Dubbed as the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, they aim to reinvent the ancient Silk Road to connect Asia to Europe and …

Hundreds of people have had to leave their homes in Norway as emergency services try to extinguish forest fires raging in the south of the country. Some 148 homes were evacuated around the town of Sokndal, where fires have been burning since Tuesday. Police say the fires are still out …

Moscow will start shipping its S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey this summer, the chief of Russia’s state arms trade agency said. The deal is going through as Ankara ignores pressure from its ally, the US. Aleksandr Mikheyev of Rosoboronexport told Russian media on Wednesday that all issues pertaining …

Scotland should hold an independence referendum before the current Scottish parliamentary term ends in May 2021, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday. “A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parliament,” Sturgeon told Holyrood, Scotland’s …

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia’s the Far East for the first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Governor of Primorsky Region Oleg Kozhemyako officially welcomed Kim at the railway station in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday. Putin and Kim are scheduled to meet in …

The British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has rejected claims that it was asked by the administration of former President Barrack Obama to spy on then-President Elect Donald Trump after the 2016 presidential election. A GCHQ spokesman made the comments Wednesday after President Trump tweeted that a former CIA analyst, Larry …

Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has scored a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election. With nearly all ballots counted in the run-off vote, Mr Zelensky had taken more than 73% with incumbent Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind on 24%. “I will never let you down,” Mr Zelensky told celebrating supporters. …

Climate change protesters have gathered at several locations in central London for the sixth consecutive day of disruption by the Extinction Rebellion (XR) group. Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus have been blocked by activists on Saturday, despite the police removal of a huge pink ship from the busy shopping area …

As spring flower fields around the Netherlands burst into bloom, painting the countryside with dazzling swathes of red, white, and blue, a modern-day tulip bubble may be forming: tourists. More than a million foreign sightseers are expected to visit this country of 17 million people on Easter weekend, a record, …

A journalist has been shot dead in Northern Ireland in what police have described as a “terrorist incident”. Lyra McKee, 29, was killed after a gunman opened fire as violence erupted in Derry on Thursday night. Dissident republican group the New IRA is believed to have been responsible for her …

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin this month, the Kremlin said Thursday, as tensions between Washington and Pyongyang spiked higher. The Kremlin announced the talks just hours after North Korea launched a blistering attack on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding …

At least 28 people are dead and another 28 are injured after a tour bus crashed on Portugal’s Madeira Island. Most of the casualties were German, Carmo Silva, a press officer for the Regional Health Department said. In total, 56 people were on board the bus when it crashed, she …

France is to invite architects from around the world to submit their designs for a new spire to sit atop a renovated Notre-Dame cathedral. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told reporters they hoped for “a new spire that is adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era”. The spire …

A fire that engulfed the French medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame has been fully extinguished after over nine hours of fighting, the Paris Fire Brigade has announced. “After more than 9 hours of fierce fighting, nearly 400 firefighters from Paris extinguished the appalling fire. 2 policemen and a firefighter were slightly …

Heathrow airport has announced increased passenger numbers for the 29th month in a row – but traffic to and from Asia dropped by 2 percent, and to the Middle East by 11 percent. More than 6.5 million passengers passed through the UK’s busiest airport in March, an average of 210,000 …

A peaceful protest in London to demand more protection for the environment has turned violent as activists say they are frustrated with government’s inaction on the escalating ecological crisis. British media reports showed parts of London had effectively been blocked by climate protesters as thousands joined the action that coincided …