Europe

Armenians were voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday, with opinion polls putting the party of acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and that of former President Robert Kocharyan neck-and-neck.

Three construction workers were confirmed dead and two still missing on Saturday, a day after a school construction site partially collapsed in the Belgian city of Antwerp. The city’s fire department tweeted that three bodies had been found under the rubble. “Despite this terrible toll, the rescue work continues unabated …

Five police officers were injured, two seriously, and a partygoer lost his hand when security forces tried to break up an illegal rave of some 1,500 people in western France, local officials said on Saturday. TV images showed gendarmes using tear gas and ravers throwing firecrackers, projectiles, and petrol bombs …

A 34-year old American woman who had been missing in Russia since Tuesday has been found dead and a Russian man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, the state Investigative Committee said on Saturday. Russia’s RIA news agency said the woman, which is named Catherine Serou, had been studying …

Four people were killed and four badly injured on Saturday when a small plane crashed in Russia’s Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia, the local emergency medical service said. TASS news agency earlier said at least seven people were killed when the twin-engine L-410 crashed near the Tanay aerodrome, which provides …

Russia has notified its partners under the Open Skies arms control treaty that it will leave the group on December 18, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday. The Kremlin said this month that the US decision to withdraw from the treaty — which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member …

The European Union is set to ban new loans to Belarus after reaching a deal on Friday for economic sanctions on Minsk as punishment for forcing down a flight to arrest a journalist, the Austrian foreign ministry and three diplomats said. Broad economic sanctions would be the EU’s strongest response …

Some people in the French capital joyfully ditched their masks on Thursday after the government announced the precaution against the coronavirus pandemic would no longer be mandatory outdoors. But the jubilation was tempered by the knowledge that the virus was still circulating, and some safety measures would still be in …

The European Union’s envoy for Afghanistan said on Wednesday time was running out for Afghan peace negotiations and more needed to be done to boost the discussions as international forces withdraw from the war-torn nation. The Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have met in Qatar’s capital Doha over the past …

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at a “pragmatic” first summit on Wednesday to resume arms control talks and to return ambassadors to each other’s capitals after they were withdrawn earlier this year. The discussions at the lakeside Villa La Grange in Geneva lasted less than …

Ukrainian police said on Wednesday they had uncovered a group of hackers who had carried out ransomware attacks on foreign companies and universities between 2019 and 2021. Six hackers had targeted the servers of U.S. and South Korean companies, threatening to disclose confidential data if the victims did not pay …

European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to add the United States to their list of countries from which they will allow non-essential travel, EU diplomats said. Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 countries approved the addition of the United States and five other countries at a meeting on Wednesday, with the …

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin face off on Wednesday in their first meeting since Biden took office with wide disagreements likely and expectations low for any breakthroughs. Both have said they hope their talks in a stately lakeside Geneva villa can lead to more stable and …

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Tuesday her government is considering including Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s enclaves in North Africa, fully in Europe’s passport-free Schengen area. Currently, Moroccans from the towns surrounding the enclaves can enter without a visa but need one to travel by sea or air …

Swiss voters rejected a trio of environmental proposals on Sunday, including a new law intended to help the country meet its goal for cutting carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. A new CO2 law was narrowly rejected, with 51.6% of voters opposing it in a nationwide referendum …

Russia has mocked the US-led Group of Seven’s criticism of Moscow’s “destabilizing behavior” in their concluding joint statement while also making an ironic call for “stable and predictable” ties with the country. “The G7 countries approved the joint statement where, in addition to the traditional call on Russia to stop …

Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, said on Monday that the reputation of the United Kingdom was at stake regarding tensions over Brexit. EU politicians have accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of not respecting engagements made regarding Brexit. Growing tensions between Britain and the EU threatened to …

Growing tensions between Britain and the European Union threatened to overshadow the Group of Seven summit’s conclusion on Sunday, with London accusing France of “offensive” remarks that Northern Ireland was not part of the United Kingdom. Ever since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, the …

A gunman opened fire killing two children and an elderly man in a town near Rome on Sunday, local authorities said, in a rare shooting incident in Europe. The attacker, a man in his 30s, was later found dead in a nearby house, having apparently killed himself as police were …

A huge crowd of protesters has assembled in Madrid, decrying government plans to pardon jailed Catalan leaders behind the failed 2017 independence bid, and demanding the resignation of the country’s PM over the move. Some 25,000 people gathered in central Madrid on Sunday, according to estimates by Spain’s National Police. …