Tag Archives: Europe

Russia’s Federal Security Service detained an Estonian diplomat based in St Petersburg, Mart Latte, on Tuesday as he was receiving confidential information from a Russian citizen, Interfax news agency reported. “Measures in line with the norms of international law will be applied to the foreign diplomat,” Interfax quoted the Federal …

Italian police said on Monday they had arrested four men accused of sending funds to people across Europe and the Middle East who were collecting on behalf of Islamic State, in an investigation that led to a larger suspected terrorism-funding network. The four men were suspected of wiring 30,000 euros …

Danish households are the richest in the European Union, according to a data analysis by the country’s central bank. The average household in Denmark had 1.88 million Danish kroner ($300,000) in financial assets as of the fourth quarter of 2020. The data, released Wednesday, was extracted from the European Central …

Portugal said on Saturday it hoped to vaccinate a further 1.7 million people against COVID-19 over the next two weeks as authorities scramble to contain a surge in infections caused by the more contagious Delta variant. Cases in Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million, jumped by 2,605 on …

Authorities are trying to increase the speed and effectiveness of vaccinations as the highly infectious Delta variant spreads. Germany is recommending that all people who get a first shot of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine switch to a different type of vaccine for their second shot. The aim is to increase …

Britain said on Friday it had received 6 million applications to its settlement scheme for European Union nationals before a June 30 deadline passed, including a surge of more than 400,000 in the last month. After completing its exit from the EU last year, Britain has started bringing in a …

The email accounts of about a dozen members of parliament were hacked recently, Polish counter-intelligence said on Friday, disclosing further details of one of the biggest cyberattacks on the country in recent years. The revelations come two weeks after the authorities said top Polish government officials had been hit by …

An explosion at Petromidia’s Black Sea crude oil refinery in Romania has sent plumes of black smoke rising into the sky. Several people are injured, and ambulances have arrived at the scene, according to reports. A government official, Silviu Cosa, told local TV station Digi24 on Friday that an explosion …

A night-time curfew will be imposed in several Portuguese municipalities, including the capital Lisbon and the city of Porto, as authorities scramble to bring under control a surge in COVID-19 infections, the government said on Thursday. The 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, which starts on Friday, will be in …

A Swedish police officer died from his wounds after being fatally shot in Gothenburg on Wednesday. It reportedly marks the first killing of a law enforcement officer in 14 years, as gun violence in the country continues to soar. The officer’s death was announced by police in a statement on …

UN health agency sounds the alarm and calls for ‘discipline’ as highly infectious Delta variant races through the region. The third wave of infections is now inevitable unless citizens and legislators are “disciplined”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns, saying a 10-week decline in new coronavirus infections across Europe has …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.