Tag Archives: Europe

France has hit its highest recorded temperature – 45.1C (113.2F) – amid a heatwave in Europe that has claimed several lives. The new record was measured in the southern town of Villevieille. The previous record was 44.1C during a heatwave in 2003 that killed thousands. Health Minister Agnès Buzyn has …

Firefighters are battling a major forest blaze in north-eastern Spain as an intense heat wave continues to scorch continental Europe. Around 10,000 acres of forest and other vegetation were affected by the fire near Tarragona in northeast Spain, according to the Catalan regional government. Around 350 fire crew, 12 fire …

Angela Merkel has been seen shaking in public for the second time in less than two weeks, raising concern over the wellbeing of the German chancellor. Merkel, 64, appeared to clutch her arms together to keep herself still as she attended an event with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday. …

A poorly stubbed-out cigarette or an electrical fault could have started the devastating fire that ripped through Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral in April, French prosecutors said Wednesday, while ruling out any criminal intent. The statement by prosecutors, which also said an investigation was being opened into possible negligence, was the first …

Mette Frederiksen, the leader of Denmark’s center-left Socialist Democratic party, has announced that she will form a left-leaning, one-party minority government, making her the nation’s youngest-ever prime minister. “It is with great pleasure I can announce that after three weeks of negotiations, we have a majority to form a new …

Up to 20 million manufacturing jobs around the world could be replaced by robots by 2030, according to analysis firm Oxford Economics. People displaced from those jobs are likely to find that comparable roles in the services sector have also been squeezed by automation, the firm said. However, increasing automation …

Boris Johnson has admitted he would need EU co-operation to avoid a hard Irish border or crippling tariffs on trade in the event of a no-deal Brexit. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the favorite to be the next PM said: “It’s not just up to us.” But he …

Two German armed forces Eurofighter jets have collided and crashed in the Müritz area of north-eastern Germany. Both pilots were seen to eject from their planes by a colleague in a third Eurofighter plane. One of the pilots has been found alive and a search is going on for the …

Several hundred climate activists evaded police to enter an open-cast mine run by energy giant RWE in western Germany Saturday, a day after tens of thousands campaigned against the use of coal. The activists, many dressed in white overalls and carrying sleeping bags, got into the vast Garzweiler lignite mine …

A power cut that disrupted rail traffic on a Japanese island last month was caused by a slug, officials say. More than 12,000 people’s journeys were affected when nearly 30 trains on Kyushu shuddered to a halt because of the slimy intruder’s actions. Its electrocuted remains were found lodged inside …

Amid the ongoing trade war with the US, China appears to be “rolling out the red carpet for the rest of the world,” reducing tariffs on countries competing with the US, an international economics think tank says. Beijing is not sitting idly by, waiting to see who can outlast the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is fine after she was seen trembling as she greeted Ukraine’s president on a boiling day in Berlin. Mrs. Merkel, 64, was visibly struggling as she stood next to Volodymyr Zelensky while a military band played the two countries’ anthems in the midday …

Two children, four women, and a man drowned when a boat carrying them overturned off the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, the coast guard said. Another 57 people were rescued in an operation that was still ongoing, the coast guard added. It did not provide further details on the …

The risk of migrants and refugees becoming shipwrecked in the Mediterranean and dying at sea is the highest it has ever been due to a lack of NGO rescue ships and the conflict in Libya hastening departures at an alarming rate, the UN has warned. “If we do not intervene …

A Moldovan court temporarily relieved President Igor Dodon of his duties on Sunday to allow a stand-in to call a snap election, deepening a standoff between rival political parties over the formation of a new government after months of deadlock. Dodon’s replacement, former prime minister Pavel Filip, immediately announced a …

A rescue boat has overturned in the Atlantic off the west coast of France leaving three crew dead, amid winds of up to 129 km/h (80 mph). They were part of a crew of seven who had gone to the aid of another boat which had got into difficulty as …

Hungary’s government is moving to tighten its grip on the research institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, despite protests by scientists against political control of the academy. Since taking power in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has tightened government control of public life, including the courts, the media, and …

Police said they had found the body of a twelfth South Korean tourist a week after a pleasure boat capsized and sank on the River Danube in Budapest, killing an estimated 28 people. The man was found late on Tuesday 60km (37 miles) downstream from Hungary’s capital, police said, underlining …

An African man has been found crammed behind the glove box of a car in a bid to get to Europe — one of four people spotted in vehicles on the same day by authorities in Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in North Africa. Three people — including …

The Austrian parliament has voted to oust Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his ministers, paving the way for a caretaker government before a new election in which the young leader and his party could emerge strengthened. Parliament needed only a majority vote Monday to pass the measure proposed by the opposition …