Europe

UK temporarily bans some 777s from its airspace after Denver incident

Britain temporarily banned Boeing 777 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines from entering its airspace after a jet with that type of engine shed debris over Denver, in the United States, at the weekend.
Italian authorities rescue 45 migrants after ship capsizes

The Italian Coast Guard said it had rescued 45 migrants after their ship capsized 15 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
It’s final: Harry and Meghan won’t return as working royals

Buckingham Palace confirmed today that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not be returning to royal duties, and Harry will give up his honorary military titles.
Britain’s Prince Philip, 99, in hospital

Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s 99-year-old husband, has been admitted to hospital as a precautionary measure with an ailment that is not Covid-19 related.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine supply to the EU 30% below plans, sources say

Pfizer has not yet delivered to the European Union about 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses that were due in December, EU officials said, leaving it about one-third short of the supplies it had expected by now from the US company.
English health authority says 38 cases of new Covid variant found

Health authorities in England have identified 38 cases of a new coronavirus variant which has a key mutation that is thought to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, the government said today.
Chinese vaccine arrives in Hungary, a first in the EU

A shipment of Covid-19 vaccines produced in China arrived in Hungary on Tuesday, making it the first of the European Union’s 27 nations to receive a Chinese vaccine.
France votes on anti-radicalism bill that worries Muslims

France’s lower house of parliament is voting Tuesday on a bill that would strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools and crack down on polygamy and forced marriage, among other measures aimed at rooting out Islamic radicalism.
Italy's Draghi sworn in as prime minister of unity government

The Italian president swore in the former chief of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, as prime minister on Saturday at the head of a unity government called on to confront the coronvirus crisis and economic slump.
Two opponents of Belarus leader face more jail time as he floats reform

Belarusian authorities have brought new charges against two prominent opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko who were jailed during mass protests, accusing them of extremism and trying to seize power, their lawyer said today.
World’s second-oldest person survives Covid-19 at age 116

A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived Covid-19 and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday.
Bangladesh expects Boris Johnson visit to celebrate diplomatic ties

Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem has expressed hope that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit Bangladesh soon on the occasion of 50 years of Bangladesh-UK diplomatic relations.
Italian prime minister poised to resign, deepening political crisis

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was set to hand in his resignation to the head of state on Tuesday, hoping to be given the opportunity to try and put together a new coalition and rebuild his parliamentary majority.
UK jobless rate highest since 2016 as second Covid-19 lockdown hits

Britain’s unemployment rate hit its highest in nearly five years in the three months to November, when coronavirus cases began to rise for a second time and most of the country returned to a partial lockdown.
Anger and grief as UK’s Covid-19 death toll nears 100,000

As the United Kingdom’s Covid-19 death toll approaches 100,000, grief-stricken relatives of the dead expressed anger at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the worst public health crisis in a century.
In a first for Europe, Google seals content payment deal with French news publishers

Google and a French publishers' lobby said on Thursday they had agreed to a copyright framework for the US tech giant to pay news publishers for content online, in a first for Europe.
At least two dead after blast wrecks building in central Madrid

At least two people died and eight were injured on Wednesday when a building in central Madrid belonging to the Catholic Church was blown apart by an explosion, local authorities said.
Thousands protest in Amsterdam against Dutch coronavirus lockdown

Several thousand people held an unauthorised protest in Amsterdam on Sunday against a national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, before being dispersed by riot police.
UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, foreign minister says

Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights, but proposals that the country’s courts should decide whether genocide has been committed by trade partners is flawed, foreign minister Dominic Raab said.
Dutch government quits over 'colossal stain' of tax subsidy scandal

Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government resigned on Friday, accepting responsibility for wrongful accusations of fraud by the tax authorities that drove thousands of families to financial ruin, often on the basis of ethnicity.
Covid drives Dutch death rate up to highest level since WWII

The number of deaths in the Netherlands increased at the highest rate since World War Two this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Dutch national statistics office (CBS) said on Tuesday.
EU begins vaccine rollout as new virus strain spreads

The European Union began a vaccine rollout Saturday, even as countries in the bloc were forced back into lockdown by a new strain of the virus, believed to be more infectious, that continues to spread from Britain.
First case of new Covid variant found in France as cases rise

France recorded its first case of the new variant of coronavirus, as the number of cases and deaths from Covid-19 mounted in the country, increasing concerns of a new wave of the virus hitting the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.
EU and UK clinch narrow Brexit trade deal

Britain clinched a Brexit trade deal with the European Union on Thursday, just seven days before it exits one of the world’s biggest trading blocs in its most significant global shift since the loss of empire.
Hopes for Brexit trade deal hang on leaders’ calls

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson held the fate of a post-Brexit trade deal in their hands yesterday as talks hung in the balance.
Three police officers shot dead in central France

Three French police officers were shot dead when a man opened fire on them when they arrived at a house in a remote village in response to a call about domestic violence against a woman, police said today.
Regulator clears way for use of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Europe

Europe's medicines regulator on Monday approved the use of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, putting the EU on course to start inoculations within a week.
EU optimistic, UK less

The EU’s chief negotiator yesterday said there had been good progress in trade talks with Britain that aim to prevent a turbulent finale to the Brexit crisis in two weeks’ time.
EU states to start Covid-19 vaccinations from December 27

European Union states will start vaccinations against Covid-19 in 10 days as Europe tries to catch up with Britain and United States after what some have criticised as a slow EU approval process for the shots.
‘We are a long way apart still’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday said that Britain and the European Union remain far apart, as he prepares to head to Brussels to try to salvage a post-Brexit trade deal.