Europe

The European Commission and AstraZeneca said on Friday they had reached a settlement on delivering remaining COVID-19 vaccine doses by the British drugmaker and also ended pending litigation in Brussels. The settlement clears a major overhang for AstraZeneca, whose cheap and easily transportable vaccine has faced several setbacks, including the …

Poland declared a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus on Thursday following a surge of illegal migration that Warsaw has blamed on its neighbour. Poland and the European Union have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging hundreds of migrants to cross into Polish territory to put pressure …

Romania’s centrist ruling coalition faced possible collapse on Thursday as a junior party withdrew support for the prime minister in a row over the sacking of its justice minister, threatening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The dismissal of Stelian Ion deepened rifts in the centrist coalition formed between Prime …

Twelve million French children headed back to school on Thursday, wearing facemasks, using sanitizer at the entrance and standing distanced from each other in the yard under strict government rules aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. “This is very different from usual ‘back-to-school’ days,” said Matthieu Seguin, deputy director …

Composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose infectious, earthy score for the film “Zorba the Greek” helped foster a sunny, carefree image of his country for millions of tourists, died on Thursday, aged 96. As news of his passing swept through the nation, parliament held a moment of silence. “Today we lost a …

The Kremlin said on Thursday that U.S. military assistance to Ukraine could make Kyiv behave unpredictably and dangerously in the conflict in its east, and expressed regret at a U.S.-Ukrainian friendship it said was motivated by opposition to Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington …

Two senior European Union officials urged the bloc’s governments on Thursday to set up a rapidly deployable military force to intervene around the world, saying the crisis in Afghanistan offered a chance to end years of inaction. The EU’s top diplomat and its military chief said the bloc needed to …

Thousands of UK students hoping to spend the year abroad are caught in limbo after facing challenges to complete their language courses or take up internships in the European Union (EU). While some of the students have deferred their study projects or even have switched continents because of visa delays, …

Some 10,000 health workers in Greece faced being suspended as a deadline to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ran out on Wednesday, a union said. From September 1, inoculations become mandatory for health workers, and those who don’t comply will not be allowed to work. Protests broke out on Wednesday morning …

Armenia said Wednesday one of its soldiers had been killed by Azerbaijani troops on the border, in the latest military incident between the enemies since last year’s war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Armenian defense ministry said that Azerbaijani forces opened fire on the Armenian military’s position in the …

The United States is promising up to $60 million in military aid to Ukraine in advance of a White House meeting on Wednesday between President Joe Biden and his counterpart in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Biden administration said in a notification to Congress that the aid package for Ukraine was …

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday migrants who settle in Germany are German even if they have foreign-sounding names, making a subtle dig at a widespread habit among white Germans of asking Turks born on German soil where they come from. “Integration cannot be a seven-generation endeavor that never ends …

An interfaith coalition called on Polish authorities Tuesday to give humanitarian aid to a group of migrants who have been stuck in the open air at Poland’s border with Belarus for more than three weeks. The coalition, which includes Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives, noted that the people stuck at …

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday, adding some new faces after criticism of the government’s handling of wildfires this summer although key ministers stayed on. Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias keep their posts, government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou said in a televised briefing, …

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday 70 percent of adults in the European Union were now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, reaching an end-of-summer target the bloc set for itself in January. “Today we reached an important milestone in our vaccination campaign. Seventy percent of adults in the …

The European Union recommended on Monday that Americans should be banned from nonessential travel to its member states after a rise in Covid-19 cases in the United States. Countries within the 27-nation bloc, which includes France, Italy and Germany, have been advised to reinstate coronavirus-related restrictions and halt the arrival …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it feared another 236,000 COVID-19 deaths in Europe by December 1, expressing concern about stagnating vaccination rates and low uptake in poorer countries. “Last week, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of deaths in the region – one reliable projection …

Estonia denied visa to a Russian diplomat in response to the expulsion of an Estonian diplomat from Russia in early August, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The Estonian diplomat was expelled after Estonia threw out a Russian diplomat, the statement said. The Russian had been expelled in response …

A huge plume of black smoke rose from the reinforced concrete building, named the Torre dei Moro, and was visible for miles. Italian firefighters battled a high-rise blaze in Milan that spread rapidly through a 20-storey residential building. Mayor Giuseppe Sala said there were no reports of injuries or deaths, …

Greek police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of people who had gathered in central Athens on Sunday to protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. About 5,000 people rallied outside the Greek parliament to protest against the inoculations.