Europe

A Munich court on Monday sentenced a German woman who joined ISIS to 10 years in prison over the war crime of letting a five-year-old Yazidi “slave” girl die of thirst in the sun. Presiding judge Reinhold Baier of the superior regional court in the southern German city handed down …

The Russian defense ministry on Monday handed a protest note to a German military attache due to the German defense minister’s comments over the need to deter Russia’s nuclear capabilities, RIA state news agency reported. The Russian defense ministry said it summoned the German diplomat and “drew attention to the …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring forward by 10 years Russia’s target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions, Johnson’s office said on Monday after the two leaders spoke by phone. The talks took place after Russia delivered a blow to hopes of a breakthrough international …

Thousands of protesters held a rally in Bern, rejecting the introduction of Covid certificates aimed to curb the spread of the virus. The rally remained peaceful, unlike earlier October protests. Massive crowds of people flooded Bern, the capital of Switzerland, this Saturday, expressing anger over the Covid-19 measures adopted by …

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the United States and Jewish American billionaire George Soros of trying to meddle in his country’s politics as Budapest is bracing for a parliamentary vote that is expected to be its toughest election in 15 years. Speaking during an event in central Budapest …

Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini is facing up to 15 years in prison in a controversial trial over his 2019 order to prevent migrants picked up by NGOs while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from entering Italy. The trial, which started on Saturday in Palermo, is about one particular incident …

Russia’s defense minister accused NATO on Saturday of gradually gathering forces near Russia’s borders and being unwilling to discuss European security with Moscow on equal terms, Interfax news agency reported. Shoigu’s comments were the latest sign of mounting tension between Russia and NATO after defense ministers from the Western alliance …

The president of the unrecognized state of Kosovo accused Russia of exerting “malign influence in order to wreck Pristina’s, as well as the US’, NATO’s, and European Union’s achievements” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu has declared two Russian diplomats personae non grata. According to Osmani, she issued a request to the …

European Union leaders made a fresh effort on Friday to overcome their differences on how to handle immigrants, but disagreed on the best way forward, with the head of the bloc’s executive saying there would be no EU funds for ‘barbed wire and walls’. While total immigration numbers are low …

European leaders paid warm tributes to Angela Merkel on Friday as they wound up an EU summit, her 107th as Germany’s chancellor over nearly 16 years and probably her last, with one hailing her as a “haven of calm” in the maelstrom of EU diplomacy. Before the leaders of the …

Sixteen people were killed in an explosion and fire at a gunpowder and chemicals plant in Russia’s western Ryazan province on Friday, Russian state TV said, and one man was taken to hospital with serious burns. The disaster wiped out practically the entire shift of 17 workers who were on-site …

Germany’s police have detained two former soldiers on terrorism-related charges for allegedly trying to form a pro-Saudi mercenary group of up to 150 members to fight in the war on Yemen. German prosecutors said in a statement that Arend-Adolf G and Achim A were detained on Wednesday in southern Germany. …

Russia scrambled two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to escort a pair of US B-1B strategic bombers over the Black Sea, Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday, an incident that coincided with a visit to the region by the US secretary of defense. The supersonic US Cold war-era planes were originally …

One of Italy’s largest Chinese communities says it is being unfairly penalized by the government’s mandatory COVID-19 health pass and has asked the authorities for a flexible interpretation of the rules. The so-called Green Pass, showing proof of COVID immunity through vaccination, previous infection, or a negative test, has triggered …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the alliance would still need to talk to Russia after Moscow suspended its diplomatic mission to the alliance over an espionage dispute. That means relying on a hotline between Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, and Tod Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied …

Hundreds of anti-vaccine protesters joined some political leaders in Sofia on Wednesday to demonstrate against Bulgaria’s decision to make a COVID-19 “Green Certificate” mandatory for access to restaurants, theatres, and shopping malls. The interim health ministry announced the move on Tuesday to try to slow a surge in infections and …

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit in Rome in person this month due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, but will take part in it via video link, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin said Putin informed Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi about his plans …

Portuguese and Spanish authorities have seized 5.2 tons of cocaine from a sailboat on the high seas and arrested three suspects, in Portugal’s largest drug bust in 15 years and a world-record haul from a sailboat, police said on Monday. With the cocaine bales piled up behind him at a …

The European Commission’s chief executive warned Poland on Tuesday that its challenge to the supremacy of European Union law called into question the very foundations of the 27-nation bloc and could not go unpunished. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled last week that parts of EU law are incompatible with the Polish …

The speaker of the Czech upper house has said that the country’s president Milos Zeman is unable to carry out his duties, having spent a week in intensive care, and is unlikely to return to office in the coming weeks. Speaking on Monday, Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil told reporters that …