News and Updates from Europe
The US has agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, as part of a new agreement between the US and UK. The announcement offers relief for key UK industries from some of the new tariffs President Donald Trump has announced […]
Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz won a nail-biting second parliamentary vote Tuesday to become chancellor after he lost the first round in a stunning early setback. Merz, 69, scored an absolute majority of 325 to 289 in the second secret vote in the lower house of parliament to become the new leader of Europe’s biggest […]
The Vatican said Monday it would cut the phone signal within the tiny city state during the conclave to elect a new pope — but this would not affect St Peter’s Square. The office of the presidency of the Governorate of the Vatican City State said that “starting from 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on May […]
The nationalist candidate George Simion has won a resounding victory in the first round of the presidential election in Romania. Simion came first with 40% of the vote, and will go into the runoff on 18 May as the clear favourite. Nicusor Dan, the liberal mayor of Bucharest, and Crin Antonescu, candidate of the governing […]
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin needed to “stop lying” over wanting peace in Ukraine while continuing to strike the country. “The only thing to do is for President Putin to finally stop lying,” Macron said during a visit to Madagascar. He accused the Russian leader of telling US negotiators […]
Bayrou’s eldest daughter Helen Perlant, who is now 53 and uses her mother’s name, said however that her father did not know about the incident. Multiple accusations of sexual and physical abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram boarding school have cast a shadow on Bayrou’s premiership — the latest in decades of such complaints against […]
Pope Francis made his first public appearance since being hospitalized for pneumonia, greeting supporters from a hospital balcony in Rome on Sunday, March 23, 2025. The 88-year-old pope, who had been admitted to the Gemelli hospital on February 14, appeared weak but smiled and waved gently to the crowd gathered below. “Thank you, everyone,” the […]
Ukraine endorsed an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and agreed to immediate negotiations with Russia in pivotal talks in Jeddah on Tuesday after three years of grinding war. In the first high-level US-Ukraine meeting since President Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House dressing down, the Americans agreed to restore military aid and they pledged to conclude […]
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday revealed that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of talks later in the week with US officials. Zelenskyy disclosed this writing on the Telegram messaging app. “Next week, on Monday, my visit to Saudi Arabia is […]
Pope Francis remains in a “critical” condition, but “has not presented any further respiratory crises”, the Vatican said in a statement on Sunday. He was still receiving high-flow oxygen therapy and had undergone blood transfusions. Blood tests also showed he had “initial, mild, renal insufficiency” – a kidney problem – that is “currently under control”, […]
Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday — the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion — that he was ready to quit as Ukraine’s president if it meant Kyiv would be admitted to the NATO military alliance. Zelensky, who has faced fierce criticism from the new US administration, said he wanted to meet Donald Trump before […]
The Vatican on Tuesday cancelled two of Pope Francis’s events at the weekend while the 88-year-old continues to receive hospital treatment for bronchitis. The Holy See had already indicated on Monday that the pontiff, who was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday, would stay longer than initially believed due to a “complex” clinical picture. […]
Pope Francis has been admitted to hospital in Rome for tests and treatment for ongoing bronchitis, the Vatican announced. The 88-year-old, who has been breathless in recent days after being diagnosed last Thursday and has delegated officials to read his speeches, was admitted following his morning audiences, it said. ‘This morning, at the end of his […]
The Government of Finland has released two of the suspects arrested alongside Simon Ekpa for alleged subversive activities. Ekpa was arrested on November 21, last year, along with four others for alleged terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing in Nigeria. He was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme on […]
Germany’s government said Monday US billionaire tech baron Elon Musk is trying to sway February elections by praising the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move strongly rejected by major parties. Musk — a key supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, and his incoming “efficiency czar” — posted on his social media platform X this […]
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved parliament on Friday and confirmed the expected February date for an early general election after the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government last month. Scholz’s coalition was brought down by internal fights over how to revive Europe’s largest economy, but a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market last week has […]
French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new government on Monday evening, naming Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister this year in an effort to steer the country out of its ongoing political crisis. The announcement follows months of turmoil in France’s second-largest EU economy, marked by parliamentary deadlock and contentious governance challenges. The new […]
Dominique Pelicot — the 72-year-old French man who drugged his wife and invited dozens of strangers to rape her for nearly a decade — was convicted of aggravated rape on Thursday. The jury in Avignon, France, also convicted Pelicot’s 50 co-defendants of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault, concluding a harrowing three-month trial that has sparked feverish debate about […]
A husband described as one of France’s worst sex offenders is expected to be sentenced tomorrow – as the verdicts for all 51 defendants come back in the Gisele Pelicot mass rape trial. Dominique Pelicot, 72, has admitted drugging and raping his then-wife Ms Pelicot, 72, for almost a decade. During the four-month trial, he […]
A Google Street View image of a man loading a large white plastic bag into the boot of his car has helped unravel a murder case in a northern Spanish town, police say. The Google app allows users to see images of streets around the world – filmed by cars mounted with cameras. It captured […]
