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BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Spanish health authorities say they have detected the country’s first known case of the microcephaly birth defect in the foetus of a pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus. “A pregnant woman was infected by Zika and dengue and the foetus has shown various defects,” the health authority of the Catalonia region said in a statement late Thursday. This was Spain’s first case of Zika-related microcephaly, a severe form of brain […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — by Olivier Baube German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday urged European leaders to protect EU borders or risk a “return to nationalism” as the continent battles its worst migration crisis since World War II. As Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi kicked off two days of talks in Rome with Merkel and senior EU officials, the German leader said Europe must defend its borders “from the Mediterranean to the North Pole” or suffer […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – France on Tuesday took aim at a vast but controversial EU-US pact to create a free-trade zone covering 850 million people, with President Francois Hollande threatening to veto it as it stands. Hollande warned that Paris would reject the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “at this stage” because his country opposes “unregulated free trade.” “Never would we accept the undermining of the essential principles of our agriculture, our culture, of mutual access […]
STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) Tuesday 5/3/2016 – US Defence Secretary Ash Carter warned Tuesday that NATO would defend its allies against Russian “aggression” as he presided over the passing of the alliance’s European command to a new general. Carter said NATO would “keep the door open for Russia” for cooperation on global security challenges if Moscow abandoned its “sabre-rattling”. “But it’s up to the Kremlin to decide. We don’t seek a cold, let alone hot, war with […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium – AFP The EU is set this week to allow countries to extend border controls in the passport-free Schengen area as a result of the migrant crisis and recent terror attacks following a request by five countries, European sources said Monday. Germany, France, Austria, Denmark and Sweden wrote to the European Commission saying the border situation remains “extremely volatile” and asking them to prolong their right to keep frontier checks. “We have a […]
(Reuters) Denmark extended temporary controls at its border with Germany on Monday, imposed to help control an influx of migrants, as the European Commission confirmed it would shortly authorize more such extensions within the passport-free Schengen zone. Seven members of the Schengen zone, including Germany and Denmark, have introduced temporary border controls after more than one million migrants entered the European Union last year, mostly via Greece. The European Commission, struggling to prevent the […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – The EU hit out Monday at “misconceptions” over leaked documents about a planned free trade deal with the United States that are said to show it poses risks to the climate, environment and consumers. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem insisted that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) said the papers released by Greenpeace merely reflected negotiating positions by Washington and Brussels. Malmstroem said “there seems to be quite a number of […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — US President Barack Obama has sharpened his warnings about Britain’s reduced global influence should it quit the EU, warning it could take 10 years to reach a UK-US trade deal. Obama said Britain would have “less influence globally” if it votes to leave the European Union in the June 23 referendum on membership of the 28-country bloc. The president was speaking in a BBC television interview broadcast on Sunday, the final […]
Istanbul, Turkey (AFP)— Angela Merkel and top European Union officials travel to Turkey on Saturday for a high-stakes visit which will see them walk a diplomatic tightrope between keeping Ankara sweet over a crucial migrant deal and taking a stand on European values. European Council head Donald Tusk, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans and the German chancellor will visit a refugee camp at 1100 GMT in Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border. They hope to […]
Turkey would no longer need to honour an agreement on migrants with the European Union if the bloc fails to uphold its promise to provide visa-free travel for Turks by June, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday (April 18). Turkey and the EU last month sealed a controversial deal intended to halt illegal migration to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara. The EU will take in thousands of Syrian […]
GENEVA, Switzerland – The United Nations voiced concern on Thursday (March 31) over growing difficulties in delivering aid to besieged areas in Syria, with convoys delayed or surgical equipment being removed, mainly by government forces. Jan Egeland, chairman of a U.N. task force on humanitarian aid, called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main allies Russia and Iran to bring more pressure to bear on the government to enable deliveries of food and medicines. “We are […]
by Danny KEMP with Eric RANDOLPH in Calais BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union will Wednesday announce plans for emergency aid to Greece which is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants with thousands stuck in misery at its border after Balkan states tightened their frontiers. Greece has asked for around 480 million euros ($520 million) to help shelter 100,000 refugees as Europe faces its biggest wave of refugees since World War II […]
