Tag Archives: Europe

Iran says the United States must stop seeking to secure its short-term interests at the cost of other nations’ long-term prosperity. “JCPOA is neither the first nor the last of the multilateral achievements Trump withdrew from,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi in a tweet on Friday, referring by …

Leaders across Europe are marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day with low-key ceremonies, as much of the continent remains under coronavirus lockdown. The UK has held a two-minute silence to honor the war dead, and later an address by the Queen will be broadcast. The leaders of France and …

A genetic study of samples from more than 7,500 people infected with COVID-19 suggests the new coronavirus spread quickly around the world after it emerged in China sometime between October and December last year, scientists said on Wednesday. Scientists at University College London’s Genetics Institute found almost 200 recurrent genetic …

Spain has extended the state of emergency imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic for two more weeks from Sunday, allowing the government to control people’s movements as it gradually relaxes a national lockdown. Parliament approved the measure on Wednesday after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who heads a fragile coalition government, …

France accused Apple of undermining its effort to fight the coronavirus by refusing to help make its iPhones more compatible with a planned “StopCovid” contact-tracing app. Countries are rushing to develop smartphone apps, which are seen as a way to help keep the novel coronavirus epidemic in check while reopening …

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Tuesday he was confident the new European Recovery Fund will make available at least 100 billion euros ($109 billion) for Italy to help its economy bounce back from the coronavirus crisis. European leaders are negotiating over the creation of a fund worth at least …

The first coronavirus case in France could have occurred a month earlier than official figures suggest, according to a professor from Avicenne Hospital, following the retesting of 24 patient blood samples. Professor Yves Cohen from the Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny said in an interview with local media that it appears …

Turkey has become a primary destination for plastic waste from richer European countries after the garbage was rejected by China and India. An environmental and health crisis is now in the making in Turkey, locals say. In 2018, China banned the import of plastic waste, citing the environmental damage the …

Millions of people were allowed to return to work in Italy on Monday as Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown started to ease, while the U.S. took halting steps to lift some of its own restrictions even as tens of thousands of new cases were reported every day. In Washington, the Senate …

World leaders, organizations and banks on Monday pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) for research to find a vaccine against the new coronavirus, but warned that it is just the start of an effort that must be sustained over time to beat the disease. The funds, pledged at a video-conference …

Italy on Friday reported 269 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total to 28,236, as active infections continue to drop. The data released by the Italian Civil Protection Department confirm that the country has left behind the peak of the pandemic, as it prepares for a partial lifting …

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook central Bulgaria on Friday but there were no reports of any injuries or damage. The quake occurred just after 2 p.m. local time (1101 GMT) in the Balkan nation. Its epicenter was 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bulgaria’s second-largest city of Plovdiv at a shallow …

It is rare for Donald Trump to credit other countries with world records, but at a press briefing last month the US President unveiled a list that put Belgium at the top. Unfortunately for Belgium, it was a ranking of deaths from the coronavirus. According to numbers collated by the …

Police in Copenhagen have foiled plans for an act of terror that had “a militant Islamic motive.” The suspect, who had allegedly tried to obtain firearms and ammunition, was thought to be working alone, authorities said. Police in Denmark prevented a terror attack that was said to have “a militant …

Boris Johnson has said the UK is “past the peak” of its coronavirus outbreak and is looking towards a lockdown exit strategy, as he led the British government’s coronavirus briefing for the first time since recovering from Covid-19. “We’re past the peak and we’re on the downward slope,” Johnson said. …

The eurozone economy shrank at the sharpest pace on record in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic forced countries into lockdown. The first estimate of GDP between January and March showed a contraction of 3.8%, worse than during the financial crisis. Separate figures revealed a steep fall in economic …

Luxury carmaker Ferrari said on Thursday it would restart operations at its Maranello and Modena plants on May 4, when Italy is set to start lifting lockdown measures. The two facilities, both located in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region, have been closed since mid-March when Rome imposed curbs on people’s movements …

Prosecutors say Stephan Ernst had a ‘right-wing extremist hatred of refugees’ when he killed Walter Luebcke at his home. German prosecutors have charged a known neo-Nazi with the June 2019 murder of a pro-refugee politician. Federal investigators said 45-year-old Stephan Ernst drove to Walter Luebcke’s house in Wolfhagen, central Germany, …

The Hofburg, the official residence and workplace of Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen, has been evacuated after a bomb threat, a police spokesman said in a statement. Shortly after 3 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT), police started the evacuation and erected extensive barriers at the site. Bomb detection …

Two suspects have been detained following a stabbing incident near Frankfurt on Tuesday night, which left four people injured. Police have confirmed that five to seven men attacked members of the public in the city of Hanau, which is near Frankfurt. None of those injured are thought to be in …