Europe

The European Union is to donate another 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to low-income countries, more than doubling its present pledge, the bloc’s chief said on Wednesday. The extra doses announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen come on top of 250 million shots the EU has already …

A Turkish drone base in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus could increase safety risks for thousands of commercial flights that cross the airspace around the eastern Mediterranean island, a flight safety group warned Tuesday. FSF-Med, an NGO affiliated with the Washington, D.C.-based International Flight Safety Foundation, said the …

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the presence of police officers and gendarmes on the ground will be doubled in ten years – despite repeated allegations of brutality and racism in the force. Speaking at the National Police School in northern France, Macron said the budget of the interior …

The EU’s prosecutor’s office, launched with fanfare three months ago, is already probing various suspected frauds against the bloc’s funds, amounting to 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), it said on Tuesday. That sum is a total from some 300 investigations that have been opened since the independent body started work …

Germany’s federal election is too close to call as the number of still undecided voters hit a record high less than two weeks before the poll, in which center-right Chancellor Angela Merkel is not seeking a fifth term, a survey showed on Tuesday. The survey by the Allensbach research institute …

Russian President Vladimir Putin is self-isolating as a precaution after several members of his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, but is “absolutely” healthy and does not have the disease himself, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Putin, 68, will therefore not travel to Tajikistan this week for planned regional security meetings …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has paid a surprise visit to Moscow where Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that the presence of foreign forces without a UN mandate is hindering the West Asian country’s recovery. According to reports, a transcript of Monday’s meeting released by the Kremlin said Putin congratulated …

Western Balkan states have a long way to go to achieve membership in the European Union but it is Germany’s goal that they do, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday. At a joint news conference in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Merkel said it was in the geostrategic interest …

The Russian government announced resuming flights to Iraq, Spain, Kenya, and Slovakia as of September 21. An official Russian statement said that flights will be resumed to Turkey and Egypt from international airports in Pskov, Magadan, Murmansk, and Chita. For his part, the Iraqi ambassador to Russia, Abdul Rahman Hamid …

Light rain gave some breathing room to crews struggling Monday to battle a “monster” wildfire in southern Spain which killed a firefighter and forced the evacuation of around 2,600 people. Around 500 firefighters and 51 water-dropping planes have been tackling the blaze, which officials believe was started deliberately last Wednesday …

A senior US envoy said on Saturday he had delivered reassurances to Ukraine and Poland on mitigating any threat posed by Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but that the project was now a “reality”. Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior adviser for energy security, told Reuters there was “breathing …

The Ukrainian army is locked in a conflict with breakaway fighters in Donetsk and Lugansk that erupted after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 10 others wounded in the country’s war-torn east as clashes tick back up, the army said on Sunday. …

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Hungary could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy, an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage. Francis was in Hungary for an unusually short stay that underlined differences with the anti-immigrant …

A Somali asylum-seeker was arrested by Italian police after he allegedly stabbed four women and a six-year-old child in the tourist town of Rimini on Saturday night, ANSA news agency reported on Sunday. Investigators were for the moment ruling out terrorism as the motive, ANSA added. Interior minister Luciana Lamorgese …

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has hailed the recent Baghdad conference, which aimed at promoting regional de-escalation and dialog, as an “important diplomatic achievement,” saying Iraq is key to promoting stability between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In a blog post published on the website of the European External Action Service (EEAS) …

Two more Andalusian towns were evacuated on Sunday morning as Spain sent in military backup to tackle a wildfire that continued to rage close to a popular Costa del Sol resort. Fanned by strong winds and high late-summer temperatures, the flames have driven over 1,000 people from their homes and …

Greece is increasing its order of Dassault-made Rafale jets to 24 from 18, France’s Armed Forces Minister said on Sunday. Greek lawmakers in January approved the purchase of 18 Rafale jets from France for 2.5 billion euros ($3.04 billion). “Excellent news. Greece has just announced its intention to buy six …

Thousands of Catalans chanted, sang, and waved flags as they marched through Barcelona on Saturday, calling for the region’s independence from Spain. The march, organized by the grassroots Assemblea Nacional Catalana ANC, was the first since Spain’s government pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders who had been jailed for their role …

Russia used new combat robots and tactical vehicles on the second day of the active main phase of large military drills with its ex-Soviet ally Belarus, the defense ministry said on Saturday. The “Zapad-2021” war games, which will run until next Thursday on Russia and Belarus’s western flanks including sites …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that she found it unacceptable that refugees were being used to apply pressure to Poland and other European Union members on the border with Belarus. Speaking at a news conference during what she said she expected to be her last official visit to Poland …