Tag Archives: Europe

The French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces off the southern island of Crete on Thursday, defence sources said, as tension persisted with Turkey over disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Thursday’s exercise was the first manifestation of French President Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to temporarily reinforce his country’s presence …

Three Spanish tourists have died and a fourth is missing after canyoning in a river gorge in northern Switzerland. The four men, who have not been identified, went missing in the Parlitobel Gorge in the canton of St. Gallen just before 1700 GMT on Wednesday. The accident was reminiscent of …

Belarusian police detained about 700 people on the fourth night of protests following President Alexander Lukashenko’s contested election victory, the former Soviet republic’s interior ministry said on Thursday. Security forces have clashed daily with protesters since Lukashenko claimed a landslide re-election victory in a vote on Sunday that his opponents …

New clashes between police and protesters broke out in Belarus on Monday after the opposition accused President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging his re-election victory to a chorus of criticism from Western leaders. A Reuters witness saw police dragging protesters out of a crowd and beating them with truncheons in Minsk, …

Protesters in Spain have called for an end to monarchical rule in the country, following the departure of former king Juan Carlos into exile this week in the middle of a corruption scandal. A group of 100 protesters rallied in the Spanish capital, Madrid, on Sunday, calling for regime change. …

Belarus police fired stun grenades and began detentions in a crackdown on protests that erupted as President Alexander Lukashenko was set to claim another election win on Sunday in the face of the biggest challenge in years to his grip on power. Thousands of people took to the streets of …

Belarus’ incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko wins landslide victory in the presidential elections, exit poll shows. An exit poll conducted at the request of Mir TV shows Lukashenko is winning with 79.7% of the vote. Main opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya comes second with 6.8%, according to the poll. Results are expected …

At least five people have been killed in flooding caused by thunderstorms and torrential rains on the Greek island of Evia. Officials said victims included an eight-month-old baby and two people in their 80s. Rescuers found their bodies in houses in the village of Politika. Search efforts are continuing for …

Wildfires have torn through several towns near Marseille in France, leaving at least 22 people injured and forcing the evacuation of 2,700 people. Around 1,800 firefighters supported by planes and helicopters battled the worst fire through the night around the town of Martigues. They were still working to extinguish the …

The state epidemiologist of Denmark said on Tuesday he could not recommend proceeding to the next phase of reopening society during the coronavirus outbreak, Ingenioeren media reported. “It is not something that I can recommend from a healthcare perspective that you go ahead with,” Kare Molbak, director of the state’s …

Just over 18 million people have been infected by the coronavirus. But governments around Europe have eased some restrictions that had shuttered vast swathes of the bloc’s economy. To offer support to the ravaged economy, the European Central Bank has ramped up its stimulus measures and European Union leaders have …

A fire destroyed a vast area of a forest in France and people in Britain filled beaches on the hottest day of the year so far. More than a dozen Italian cities were put on alert and Spain experienced record temperatures as heatwaves gripped Europe last week. A fire destroyed …

Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest, took a massive hit during the pandemic shutdowns, shrinking by 10.1% percent during the April-June period from the previous quarter as exports and business investment collapsed. It was the biggest drop since quarterly growth figures began being compiled in 1970, the official statistics agency said Thursday. …

Boris Johnson has warned there are signs of a “second wave” of coronavirus in Europe, as he defended a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain. The PM said the government had to be “swift” – and it would continue to take further action “where it is necessary”. It comes after …

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte asked parliament on Tuesday to extend a state of emergency, which expands his government’s powers as it tackles the coronavirus health crisis. Opposition parties objected that Conte was trying to keep too much power in his own hands despite a dramatic fall in the rate …

Iran detained two Swedish nationals over drug smuggling, the website of the country’s judiciary reported on Tuesday. The spokesman for the judiciary, Gholamhossein Esmaili, was quoted by the Mizan news agency as saying the case is under investigation and that Iran has informed the Swedish government and its embassy in …

Antagonisms between the U.S. and China are rattling governments around the world, prompting a German official to warn of “Cold War 2.0” and Kenya’s president to appeal for unity to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Global trade already was depressed by two years of tariff warring between the world’s two biggest …

Britain is closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other European destinations such as France and Germany after slapping a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain at the height of the summer vacation season. The imposition of a British quarantine on Spain is one of the starkest indications to date …

Spain’s Catalonia may take stricter measures to limit coronavirus contagion if situation does not improve in the next 10 days, regional leader Quim Torra said on Monday. Torra warned that in many parts of Catalonia the data was similar to the situation before Spain declared a national lockdown in March. …

A number of people were injured on Sunday morning when a car rammed into bystanders in Berlin’s western district of Charlottenburg. The driver was apprehended by security forces, it has been confirmed. The dramatic incident unfolded near the Bahnhof Zoo station in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which is located near the city’s popular …