Europe

Hungary shut so-called migrant transit zones on its borders on Thursday, freeing some 300 refugees from prison-like conditions while at the same time hardening rules which will effectively bar future asylum applicants. During the peak of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis, Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered Hungary’s southern border to be …

Rumors of the strongman’s evacuation to Moscow on private jet have been circling in anonymous social media channels since Wednesday. But tentative confirmation only came on Thursday, with Russian news agency Interfax citing an unnamed hospital source saying he was hospitalized with suspected Covid-19. Mr. Kadyrov’s press secretary was unavailable …

The Vatican expressed its concern for peace in the Middle East; Because of the intention of the Zionist entity to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. A statement issued by the Vatican emphasized that with the “solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, through a solution based on a PE, two …

Data published on Tuesday showed the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 856,500 –– the biggest ever month-on-month jump –– to 2.1 million, a 69 percent increase from March. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain leapt in April to its highest level in nearly 24 …

The European Commission will present a pandemic recovery plan next week that will exceed 1 trillion euros in a mix of grants and loans, Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday. Dombrovskis, speaking at a press conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers, welcomed a proposal put forward …

Health experts have said the world could be months, if not years, away from having a vaccine available to everyone despite the scientific gold rush now on to create a coronavirus vaccine — or vaccines. Two major European leaders have bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt …

Hungary will gradually lift coronavirus restrictions in Budapest from Monday, two weeks after it ended the lockdown in the rest of the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday. “It has become clear that we have managed to curb the epidemic in Budapest as well,” Orban said in a …

Spain’s government will seek a fresh extension of its state of emergency that will last “about a month” until the transition out of lockdown is completed, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday. “It should be the last state of emergency (period) and will continue until the end of the …

Britain and the European Union both demanded that the other side give ground in talks on a new post-Brexit trade deal or risk severe damage in tetchy exchanges after the latest bout of bargaining ended with scant progress on Friday. The United Kingdom left the EU on January 31, but the main terms …

Italy’s government has signed a decree that will allow travel to and from the country from 3 June, as it moves to ease its coronavirus lockdown measures, the BBC reports. It will also allow travel between the regions – which has so far been tightly restricted – from the same …

Slovenia has become the first European nation to declare an end to its coronavirus epidemic and announced that all indicators point to a slowdown in the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country’s population. Despite the announcement, many measures implemented to slow the virus from spreading will remain. Some of those …

China and Russia have rejected US plans to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran along with a probable push to trigger a return of all sanctions on Tehran at the UN Security Council. “It has no right to extend an arms embargo on Iran, let alone to trigger snapback,” …

A powerful storm has battered the Siberian city of Chita, raining roof tiles and lumbers down upon the city streets while tossing cars and mobile garages alike down the road with terrifying ease. At least three people were injured. The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that winds of between 25 …

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia’s education minister had caught the new coronavirus, making him at least the sixth senior official to be swept up in the pandemic that has officially infected more than 250,000 people nationwide. But Anna Popova, a senior health official, said Russia had managed to …

The European Union’s top court has ruled that Hungary circumvented EU law by holding Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers in prison-like conditions at a border transit zone. Hungary has come under EU criticism for its hard-line approach to migration and has been repeatedly challenged before the European Court of Justice …

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top team of ministers agreed on Thursday that Britain will not give up its rights as an independent state by bending to the demands of the European Union in its talks on a future relationship. At a cabinet meeting, Johnson’s team was updated on the …

The EU insisted Thursday that any vaccine against coronavirus must be available fairly to all countries after French drug giant Sanofi said it was reserving first shipments for the US. “The vaccine against COVID-19 should be a global public good and its access needs to be equitable and universal,” European …

Switzerland’s borders with France, Germany, and Austria will reopen on 15 June, Swiss Federal Councillor Karin Keller Sutter announced on Wednesday. The councilor made her comments following a Federal Council meeting. The positive development of the coronavirus pandemic makes this possible. This decision was taken jointly with the interior ministers …

Angela Merkel said she had “hard evidence” that Russia was responsible for an “outrageous” cyber attack on the German parliament. Answering questions in the Bundestag on Wednesday, the German chancellor said the hacking attack, which occurred in 2015 and also targeted her own parliamentary email account, “obviously disturbs a trustful …

With global travel all but grounded, the EASO agency said that in March the bloc logged only about half as many asylums claims as in February. The coronavirus lockdown has cut the number of asylum seekers able to reach Europe, but the pandemic could trigger more arrivals in future if …