Europe

The European Union agreed on Wednesday to a ceasefire with the United Kingdom in a post-Brexit dispute dubbed the “sausage war” by extending a grace period for shipments of certain meat products from Britain to Northern Ireland. The bloc will also make it easier for medicines and guide dogs to …

Spain’s ruling Socialists will “never” allow an independence referendum in Catalonia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday, as his government prepares to resume negotiations with Catalan separatists. His comments come a week after nine Catalan political leaders were pardoned and freed from jail for their part in the northeastern region’s …

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he had received Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 earlier this year after previously declining to disclose which vaccine he had taken. Putin, 68, received two vaccine shots against COVID-19 in March and April, the Kremlin has said. Authorities did not publish video footage …

Medical experts fear a fresh spike in cases by September or October as pressure grows on the government for tougher restrictions. A resurgence of COVID cases could lead to France having the fourth wave, a top scientist has warned. The French government’s leading scientific adviser Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy said the …

Russia on Wednesday reported 669 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, a record number of fatalities for the second day in a row, according to a government tally. The country is grappling with a spike of infections spurred by the highly infectious Delta variant, and President Vladimir Putin was …

At least seven migrants drowned after a boat carrying them capsized five miles off the Italian island of Lampedusa early on Wednesday, ANSA news agency reported. Another nine were still missing – but 46 people were rescued and were being brought to the Mediterranean island, the agency added. Hundreds of …

Eurozone economic sentiment surged in June to a 21-year-high as an accelerated pace of COVID-19 vaccinations led to further reopening and an improved mood across all sectors of the economy, notably in retail and services. The European Commission’s monthly sentiment survey for the 19 countries sharing the euro on Tuesday …

Turkish guards have detained dozens of refugees who had been strip-searched and beaten by Greek forces and forcibly pushed across the border, a local media report says. Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper, quoting Turkish Defense Ministry sources, reported on Tuesday that some 42 refugees, including a dozen naked individuals, had been …

A day after NATO and Ukraine began Black Sea military exercises, Moscow announces it has tested Crimean air defence systems. Russia has reportedly tested the readiness of its air defence systems in Crimea, an apparent show of force as Ukraine and NATO countries hold military drills in the Black Sea …

Over 50 warders have been targeted by Italy’s judiciary, with more than 20 in detention or under house arrest, amid a probe into a major prison riot. Warders’ unions branded the measures “disproportionate” and “incomprehensible.” The pre-trial measures were implemented on Monday, affecting prison warders who are under investigation by …

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has announced his resignation, no additional vote will be held, Radio Sweden reported on Monday. Lovfen reportedly asked parliament speaker Andreas Norlen to try to form a new government. “A snap election is not what is best for Sweden”, Lofven said. “The speaker will now …

European Union countries on Monday gave the final seal of approval to a law to make the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions targets legally binding, as EU policymakers prepare a huge new package of policies to fight climate change. Negotiators from Parliament and EU member states reached a deal in April …

Turkey and Azerbaijan started joint military drills in Azerbaijan on Monday, deploying tanks, helicopters, and drones, Russia’s RIA news agency reported, citing Azerbaijan’s defense ministry. Ankara last year backed Azerbaijan’s effort to drive ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around …

German police are carrying out a helicopter search for a man who stabbed two passers-by in the eastern city of cearly on Monday morning, police said. The two victims, aged 45 and 68, were being treated in the hospital. Police described the attacker as being in his twenties, with light …

Russia has successfully test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the country’s northwest, the TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing a source in the defence industry. The launch took place in mid-June, the source said.

Germany will attempt to ban British travellers from the European Union regardless of whether or not they have had a vaccine, The Times reported on Monday. The German chancellor wants to designate Britain as a “country of concern” because the Delta variant of the coronavirus is so widespread, the newspaper …

One person has been killed and one more critically injured in a shooting incident during a football match in the southern French city of Marseille, the local media reported.

Three people were killed and six wounded in a stabbing attack in the German town of Wuerzburg on Friday, Bild newspaper reported, adding police had stopped the suspected perpetrator with a shot to the leg. Police said people had been killed and injured and that an attacker had been shot, …

Russia says hostile actions by a British warship near Russian territorial waters could not have been carried out without the urging of the US.

Russia warned Britain on Thursday that it would bomb British naval vessels in the Black Sea if there were any further provocative actions by the British navy off the coast of Crimea. Summary Russia’s warns Britain over navy confrontation Raab: Russia being ‘predictably inaccurate’ Russia says London is sowing barefaced …