Browsing: European News

The EU food safety watchdog warned Friday that exposure levels to Bisphenol A (BPA), already implicated as a health concern for babies, should be cut by a factor of 10. The European Food Safety Authority said a review of recent studies showed “exposure…

Europe’s main stock markets rose on Friday, with London making gains as strong retail sales data offset a profit warning from Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell. London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies gained 0.25 percent to stand at 6,832.75 points in…

A British diplomat has fallen to his death from the top floor of a Romanian hotel, in what media said on Friday was an apparent suicide. Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the man was a member of the diplomatic staff at its embassy in Romania but did…

BERLIN, Germany — On Facebook, lying is an unfriending offense. Geopolitics may be slightly more complicated. So after the news that the United States is backtracking on a promise not to spy on its ally by the National Security Agency (NSA), will…

Queen Elizabeth II was presented jewels, fine wine and a London travel card during royal engagements last year, a list revealed on Wednesday. The Oyster card was presented to the monarch when she marked the 150th anniversary of London Underground by…

Several hundred demonstrators rallied outside a London police station Saturday to condemn an inquest which found that police lawfully shot dead a man in 2011, in a killing that sparked nationwide riots. They condemned the “perverse” jury verdict returned…

10 January 2014 – United Nations independent human rights experts today urged the Spanish Government to reconsider its decision to…

Nigeria and Britain on Thursday signed a “compulsory prisoner transfer” agreement, allowing their nationals jailed in the other country to serve the rest of their time behind bars back home. The two countries said the scheme meant Nigerians who commit…

Dieudonne, the controversial French comic who has been branded an anti-Semitic “pedlar of hate” by the government, on Thursday won the first round of a legal battle to be allowed to start a nationwide tour. A judge in Nantes ordered local authorities…

The European Commission cleared on Thursday a merger between France’s Publicis and US peer Omnicom which will create the world’s biggest advertising company. The nature of the market, “the presence of other large competitors, the relatively low barriers…

Germany said Thursday it had accepted a UN request to destroy remnants of Syria’s chemical weapons on its own soil as part of a bid to eliminate the arsenal by June 30. The foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement that the move was intended…

A European Parliament committee approved plans Thursday to hear US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden, whose revelations about snooping on EU leaders has sparked uproar against Washington. Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee voted 36 in favour…

A rare opportunity to change the path of copyright in Europe has emerged, but there’s not much time to take advantage of it. The European Commission (EC) has opened up for public comment copyright policy across the European Union for the first time…

Big wave surfers hit southwest France Tuesday as the Belharra monster waves crashed onto the Basque country’s Atlantic coast, creating swells of up to 15 metres. The wave, one of Europe’s highest, builds up over relatively shallow rocky coastal water…

A Spanish judge on Tuesday remanded in custody a man suspected of belonging to an Al-Qaeda linked militant group taking part in the Syrian conflict. The judge ordered Abdelwahid Sadik Mohamed, 28, to be held in custody while he is investigated for the…

Former Romanian prime minister Adrian Nastase was sentenced to four years in jail on Monday for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to appoint a businesswoman to a senior government post. Nastase, 63, was found guilty of receiving bribes…

Staff at Oakwood prison near Wolverhampton have ‘resolved’ an overnight incident, the security firm that manages the facility said on Monday. A G4S spokesman said: “This incident was resolved successfully at 2.10am. “Police and internal investigations…

British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will warn that 2014 is to be the year of “hard truths” and public spending cuts when he sets out his plans for the year ahead on Monday. He will tell an audience in central England that there is “still…

EDINBURGH, Scotland — In the United States, where drinking alcohol in public is prohibited, police routinely turn a blind eye to people sipping from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags. A similar system has existed in the Scottish capital for almost…

Four skiers were killed and another was in a critical condition after a series of avalanches hit the Alps in southern Switzerland Sunday, Swiss media reported. Three of the victims, including a guide, died when a wall of snow bore down on a group of…