Europe

Greece has extended for another two weeks a coronavirus lockdown on its overcrowded migrant camps as the country gears up to revive its tourism-dependent economy. “For residents of the reception and identification centers across the country, measures against the propagation of the COVID-19 virus are extended” until June 21, the …

Clashes erupted in downtown Berlin, Germany at a rally in support of US protests, as demonstrators squared off with local law enforcement. Nearly 100 people have been arrested. Some 15,000 flocked to Alexanderplatz, a square in the center of the German capital on Saturday afternoon to voice solidarity with Black …

Turkish police used pepper spray to disperse a group of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers in capital Ankara protesting on Friday the stripping of parliament seats of three opposition MPs, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. Ankara riot police intervened in the group in a bid to stop the deputies making their …

A ceremony to honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the D-Day landings in 1944 was held on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer in France Saturday. Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the commemoration was much smaller than previous annual events, when tens of thousands or people congregated on …

US President Donald Trump has approved a plan to withdraw 9,500 American troops from bases in Germany by September, US media say. Trump, who has long complained that European members of Nato should spend more on their own defense, reportedly wants US troop levels capped at 25,000. Troops would either …

French forces have killed the leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algerian Abdelmalek Droukdel, in northern Mali, France’s defense minister said. Droukdel was killed on Thursday near the Algerian border, where the group has bases from which it has carried out attacks and abductions of Westerners in the …

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to pull nearly 10,000 troops out of Germany by September, which would mark a sharp drawdown in a country that is home to the largest number of forces in Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Pentagon officials on Friday said they were …

A quarter of Venice has been submerged by a near-record high tide for June, a time of year when such flooding is rare. The water level in Italy’s lagoon city reached 116 centimeters (3 feet, 9.7 inches) late Thursday, the third-highest mark for June. That level indicates that around a …

Russia reported 8,726 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, pushing the total number of infections to 449,834. Officials said 144 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,528.

The European Commission is pledging €300 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Commission announced on Thursday. Gavi is a Swiss-based global public-private partnership aiming to improve access to vaccines in poor countries. “It will help immunize 300 million children around the world and finance vaccine stockpiles to shield against …

A huge landslide has swept eight houses into the sea in Arctic Norway. There were no reports of injuries. Officials estimate the landslip was around 2km wide and 500 ft high.

A major fuel spill at a power plant in Norilsk, Russia has seriously damaged the fragile environment in the extreme north. The plant’s owner received a dressing down from President Putin, who was angered by its slow response. The spill happened at a power plant located some 10km west of …

Russia began delivering the first batch of S-400s to Turkey in July 2019. Washington, unhappy about the deal between Moscow and Ankara, has demanded that Turkey cancel all purchases of the S-400s, threatening to delay or cancel deliveries of fifth-generation F-35 jets to the country. However, the Turkish cabinet has …

More than 400 migrants are living aboard pleasure cruise vessels bobbing in the sea off Malta, many of them for weeks now. But for them, it’s no pleasure, only uncertainty over their fate and they aren’t cruising anywhere. Rescued from human traffickers’ unseaworthy boats in several operations in the central …

Germany will lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent looks to further ease restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus. “We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued …

If Beijing imposes its new national security law in Hong Kong, Britain will extend a path to citizenship to almost three million eligible residents of the city, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged. There are some 350,000 people living in Hong Kong who currently hold British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passports, …

Pope Francis has called the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police officers “tragic” and said he is praying for him and “all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism.” After the eighth night of protests across the United …

The moving of thousands of refugees, some of them from Greek islands to the mainland, could leave many homeless and is deeply concerning, the UN Refugee Agency said Tuesday. The UNHCR said that the government-arranged exit of some 9,000 recognized refugees from Greece’s reception system, which began Monday, is a …

Paris police banned on Tuesday a demonstration planned in memory of Adama Traore, a 24-year old black Frenchman who died in a 2016 police operation which some have likened to the death of George Floyd in the United States. The Paris police department said in a statement that there were …

The Spanish authorities decided to close one of their military bases in Iraq and withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, El Pais reported. Troops serving at the Bismayah training camp in Iraq are expected to return to Spain by the end of July. Currently, there are 350 Spanish troops at this …