Browsing: European News

Outgoing Czech Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok said he was hoping to shun the funeral of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela next week, in comments he didn’t realise were being recorded that went viral on Saturday. Talking to Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek…

Three members of a self-styled “Muslim patrol” in London who harassed passers-by for wearing short skirts, holding hands and drinking alcohol have been jailed, in a conviction welcomed by the local mosque on Saturday. The men were jailed for up to 16…

A “technical problem” in Britain’s air traffic control systems caused widespread flight delays and cancellations across the country’s airspace on Saturday. London’s Heathrow airport cancelled 60 morning flights, 20 percent of flights were delayed at…

Pope Francis on Friday paid tribute to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela for “forging a new South Africa” and said he hoped his example would inspire the nation to strive for “justice and the common good”. Francis praised the “steadfast commitment…

Barcelona boasts the world’s most successful bike share program, according to a report Thursday that lays out the secrets of getting more people out and about on two wheels. The Spanish Mediterranean city’s Bicing system averages 10.8 trips per bike…

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said “a great light had gone out” following Nelson Mandela’s death, revealing that flags would be flown at half-mast at his Downing Street Office. “A great light has gone out in the world,” Cameron wrote…

Jose Maria del Nido, president of Sevilla football club, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzlement and breaching the course of justice, the club said on Thursday. A lawyer by trade, Del Nido was accused of charging the local authority…

Pope Francis on Thursday formed a committee to fight child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in a landmark initiative after thousands of abuses and cover-ups, but campaigners said the new body would be “toothless”. While the composition and precise tasks…

A dream home in Portugal is becoming a golden ticket for wealthy Chinese, where property assets can also yield a prized residence permit allowing them to travel and do business across Europe. Portugal is rolling out the red carpet to discriminating…

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed street protests in Ukraine against the government’s decision not to sign a key agreement with the European Union and seek closer ties with the Kremlin. “The events in Ukraine seem more like a pogrom…

Ukrainian protesters Monday blockaded administrative buildings and camped on Kiev’s central square in a bid to oust the government after police brutality and a row over an EU pact plunged the nation into its worst political crisis in a decade. European…

France on Monday arrested 45 people in a vast sweep against international arms traffickers, police said. In a statement, police said some 300 officers had been involved in the operation, which focused on hundreds of military-grade arms, pieces of ammunition…

The police helicopter which smashed through the roof of a Glasgow pub killing nine people was pulled free of the devastated building on Monday, as a fire chief admitted there was a slim possibility of finding survivors. Three people on board the helicopter…

Croatians voted on Sunday in a referendum that could ban same-sex marriage in this conservative and Catholic country, an issue that polarises the European Union’s newest member. Discrimination or protection of family values, human rights or gay activists…

Scottish police say eight people are now confirmed dead following the crash of a police helicopter into a crowded Glasgow pub. (Nov. 30)

Soil from World War I battlefields in Belgium was laid in a memorial garden in London on Saturday ahead of the 100th anniversary next year of the start of the conflict. Seventy bags of “sacred soil” gathered by more than 1,000 British and Belgian schoolchildren…

Two Muslim converts attempted to hack off a British soldier’s head with knives and a meat cleaver in broad daylight on a London street, a court heard as their long-awaited murder trial opened on Friday. Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale,…

The European Commission on Thursday suspended imports of citrus fruits from South Africa — which accounts for about a third the EU’s total — on concerns ‘black spot’ disease could infect local crops. Citrus black spot is a fungal disease which lives…

A businessman who butchered a Chinese family of four to death in a savage revenge attack was sentenced Thursday to at least 40 years in jail. Du Anxiang, 54, was sentenced to life with a four-decade minimum term at Northampton Crown Court in central…

A Russian court on Thursday ordered to release on bail the last of 30 Greenpeace crew members who had been held in detention since their September protest against Arctic oil drilling. “Excellent news! Colin Russell from Australia is granted bail,” the…