Europe | The Daily Star

  • France, Sweden confirm Navalny’s poisoning

    The German government said yesterday that laboratories in France and Sweden have confirmed its own findings that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.

  • EU ramps up ‘no-deal’ planning amid Brexit chaos

    The European Union stepped up planning for a “no-deal” Brexit yesterday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government refused to revoke a plan to break the divorce treaty that Brussels says will sink four years of talks.

  • Russia, China hackers targeting US vote

    Microsoft said Thursday it thwarted recent cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran targeting both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, as technology giants scrambled to protect election security less than two months ahead of the US vote.

  • Thousands flee as fire rips through overcrowded Greek refugee camp in Lesbos

    Thousands of migrants fled fires that tore through a camp under coronavirus lockdown on Greece's island of Lesbos, while the prime minister called an emergency meeting with ministers though there were no immediate reports of casualties.

  • First batch produced for public circulation

    In some good news for millions living in hope for a Covid-19 vaccine shot, the Russian Health Ministry yesterday said that the first batch of Sputnik V vaccine has been produced for civilian circulation.

  • Key protest leader detained at border

    Prominent opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was detained by Belarusian authorities, a border official said, after thwarting what a Ukrainian government minister described as an attempt to expel her from Belarus.

  • Australian journalists flee China fearing arrest

    Two Australian journalists yesterday fled China under diplomatic protection, fearing arrest as political pawns in the rapidly worsening relationship between Canberra and Beijing.

  • EU warns Serbia over Jerusalem embassy move

    The EU voiced “serious concern and regret” on Monday over Belgrade’s commitment to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, casting a shadow over the resumption of Serbia-Kosovo talks.

  • UK admits to breaking EU treaty as top legal official quits

    Britain's government on Tuesday admitted that it may break international law by not applying parts of its Brexit divorce deal relating to Northern Ireland, as a top legal adviser quit, reportedly over the plans.

  • UK warned over Brexit deal commitments

    Britain yesterday faced warnings it risked its international reputation if it reneged on its agreement to leave the European Union, as Brexit trade talks reached a crucial final stage.

  • Frenchman blows up house to kill a fly

    A French pensioner blew up his kitchen while trying to kill a fly that was disturbing his dinner.

  • Russia promoting distrust in US vote-by-mail plans

    Russia is actively trying to undermine voters’ faith in the US electoral system and especially in voting by mail ahead of the November 3 election, according to a Department of Homeland Security analysis Thursday.

  • Trial of Charlie Hebdo attack accomplices begins

    Fourteen alleged accomplices to the Islamist gunmen who attacked the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 went on trial on Wednesday, as the country recalled a dark episode that marked the onset of a wave of militant violence.

  • Life term without parole urged for ‘remorseless’ gunman

    Families of victims gunned down at two New Zealand mosques urged a judge to impose the toughest possible sentence, life without parole, on the gunman as he showed no remorse and appeared to smirk at one survivor during a sentencing hearing yesterday.

  • Greta Thunberg back in school after a year

    Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said Monday she has returned to school after a year off campaigning to curb climate change. “My gap year from school is over, and it feels so great to finally be back in school again!” the 17-year-old tweeted.

  • ‘Fairly likely’ Navalny was poisoned: Berlin

    The German government said yesterday it is “fairly likely” that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is currently being treated in a Berlin hospital, was poisoned.

  • Gunman unmoved during sentencing

    The white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims in last year’s New Zealand mosques shooting showed no emotion yesterday as distraught survivors confronted him in court with harrowing accounts of the atrocity.

  • Opposition leader flees abroad

    Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanouskaya yesterday said she had fled abroad for the sake of her children, after two nights of clashes following the contested re-election of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.

  • Beirut blast toll rises to 154

    The death toll from the Beirut port explosion has risen to 154, state news agency NNA reported yesterday as authorities detained sixteen staff members at the port amid public anger.

  • Lockdown emissions fall will have ‘no effect’ on climate

    The unprecedented fall in greenhouse gas emissions from lockdowns during the pandemic will do “nothing” to slow climate change without a lasting switch from fossil fuels, an international team of researchers said yesterday.

  • ‘No one cares if you live or die’

    Thousands of migrants have died after suffering “extreme” abuse while crossing Africa, according to a UN report that estimated 72 people perish each month on the continent’s routes.

  • Half of coronavirus patients given ventilation died: German study

    One in five patients hospitalised in Germany over the coronavirus succumbed to the disease, with the fatality rate rising to 53 percent for those who received ventilation, a study showed Wednesday.

  • Ethics probe: Trudeau to testify

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will give much-anticipated testimony this week over his role in awarding a government contract to a charity that paid members of his family large sums of money, the House of Commons said Monday.

  • Student files first climate change lawsuit against Australia

    A 23-year-old student has filed a lawsuit against Australia’s government alleging it has failed to disclose climate change-related risks to investors in the country’s sovereign bonds, in the first such action.

  • No evidence of Russian meddling in Brexit vote

    There is no evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 Brexit referendum and Britain’s spies did not take their eyes off the ball on Russia, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said yesterday.

  • Global cases exceed 15 millions

    Global coronavirus infections surged past 15 million yesterday, with the pandemic gathering pace even as countries remain divided in their response to the crisis.

  • UK borrows record 128 billion pounds in three months to June

    British government borrowing surged to a record 128 billion pounds ($162 billion) in the first three months of the 2020/21 financial year, when COVID-19 lockdown measures were tightest, more than double the entire previous year’s borrowing.

  • Shamima Begum

    Shamima Begum can return to UK to fight for citizenship

    British judges on Thursday ruled that Shamima Begum, a London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State, should be allowed to return to the United Kingdom to challenge the removal of her British citizenship.

  • 144 Bangladeshis rescued from truck in North Macedonia

    Authorities in North Macedonia found 144 Bangladeshis in a truck near the country’s southern border with Greece, during a routine check on a regional road, police say.

  • Siberian tiger kills zookeeper in Zurich

    A female Siberian tiger attacked and killed a 55-year-old zookeeper at Zurich's zoo on Saturday, the authorities say.

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