Tag Archives: Europe

Police in Paris caught three suspected armed robbers after opening fire on their car as they made their getaway from a 10 million euro ($12 million) jewellery heist at a Bulgari store in the French capital on Tuesday. Three individuals, wearing sharp suits and armed with guns, robbed the recently …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he did not want any more tax rises in this parliament after he broke a 2019 election promise not to put up taxes by announcing plans for an extra levy on workers, employers, and some investors. Asked to rule out any more …

Russia’s FSB security service on Tuesday accused Ukraine of organizing an attack on a gas pipeline in Russian-annexed Crimea, an allegation rejected by Kiev which said Moscow was trying to punish prominent Crimean Tatar figures. The FSB accused the Ukrainian military intelligence service and the Mejlis, the outlawed representative body …

Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to German voters on Tuesday to back a government led by conservative Armin Laschet in this month’s national election, saying their other option was a left-wing ruling coalition. After losing their lead in opinion polls to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) last month, …

Greece appointed its first civil protection minister on Monday in a broad revamp of its civil defense mechanisms following sharp criticism of the government’s response to a spate of devastating wildfires this summer. The new minister is Christos Stylianides, a former European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management. During …

A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova — who led mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year — to 11 years in prison on national security charges. Kolesnikova’s lawyer Maxim Znak was also handed a 10-year prison sentence, according to the press service of …

The idea of a European army independent of the US-led NATO alliance has been around since the early 1950s but was largely forgotten during the Cold War. The concept reemerged with the signing of the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which proposed the defence integration of EU member states. Germany and …

Ten bulls charged through the streets of Villaseca de la Sagra on Sunday in pursuit of hundreds of runners as the first bull-running fiesta was held in Spain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Villages and towns across Spain hold the fiestas but they were prohibited last year as …

Europe will miss a key climate target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20 years unless it picks up the pace on energy transition measures and improves governance, a study involving Europe’s biggest utility Enel said. At the current pace, Europe will only reach its 2030 target for …

Several thousand protesters used tyres, rocks, and vehicles to block roads leading to the city of Cetinje in southwest Montenegro on Saturday in a bid to stop the Serbian Orthodox Church from holding an enthronement ceremony for its new top cleric. The protests reflect tensions in the Balkan country, which …

Britain’s biggest supplier of influenza vaccines said on Saturday it was postponing deliveries due to a Brexit-related shortage of lorry drivers, delaying the government’s winter inoculation campaign. Medics say the campaign offering free flu vaccines to more than 35 million people is even more important this year after lockdowns for …

A major fire broke out in the centre of the northern Italian city of Turin on Friday, forcing around 100 people to be evacuated from their homes, emergency services said. The fire started in the attic of building close to the main train station and soon spread to adjacent properties, …

Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu was due to hold crisis talks with his coalition partners on Friday, urging them to stay united to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic despite a row over the sacking of the justice minister. The USR-Plus, a junior ally to Citu’s Liberals, has begun …

Germany’s health minister has warned that Covid-19 is becoming the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as 90% of the country’s intensive care patients are those who refused a potentially life-saving shot. Speaking on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said people who have not been vaccinated against the virus have a responsibility …

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 …

An arrangement whereby Johnson & Johnson was shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses to Europe that had been packaged in South Africa has been suspended, African Union (AU) envoy Strive Masiyiwa said on Thursday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month he was “stunned” by the arrangement, since Europe has very …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …