Europe

France eases Covid curbs, including outdoor mask-wearing

PARIS, France (AFP) — France began lifting coronavirus restrictions including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing Wednesday in a bid to ease citizens’ daily lives, dividing opinion as the country only last month reported record Covid-19 infections. Audience capacity limits for concert halls, sporting matches and other events were also removed, and although homeworking will no longer be mandated it is still recommended. The move begins a two-part relaxation of curbs announced at the end of January — […]

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Denmark unmasks to ‘live normally’ again with Omicron

Anyone with symptoms only advised to stay home by Camille BAS-WOHLERT Agence France Presse COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Denmark waved goodbye to facemasks and health passes Tuesday as it became the first European Union country to lift all of its domestic Covid curbs despite record numbers of cases of the milder Omicron variant. Only a few restrictions remain in place at the country’s borders, for unvaccinated travellers arriving from non-Schengen countries. After a first attempt […]

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UK PM Johnson safe for now, but future in jeopardy over ‘partygate’

  by James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “probably safe” for now despite a scathing report into government lockdown parties, but his long-term future is “very much out of his hands” as police probe the claims, analysts said on Tuesday. Johnson on Monday apologised after his government was criticised for “failures of leadership and judgment” in allowing parties at his offices during lockdown. His position […]

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Russia, US clash at UN over Ukraine crisis as oligarchs threatened

by Philippe RATER Russia and the United States clashed over Ukraine at the UN Security Council Monday, as London and Washington threatened to slap sanctions on wealthy Russian oligarchs if the ex-Soviet state is attacked. French leader Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone for the second time in four days amid intense efforts by NATO allies to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine. With more than 100,000 Russian troops massed on […]

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Sweden opts against vaccinating all children aged 5-11

  STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden’s health authority said Thursday that it would not recommend Covid-19 vaccinations for all children aged five to 11, the country again choosing a different coronavirus policy than much of Europe. The Scandinavian country, which controversially opted against any form of lockdown or school closures during the pandemic’s early days, recommended jabs only for children who were at risk. “The vaccines are safe, there are very good vaccines but we […]

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China warns US over Ukraine, ‘interfering’ in Winter Olympics

BEIJING, China (AFP) – China’s top diplomat spoke with his US counterpart on Thursday, warning Washington to “stop interfering” in the Winter Olympics and stressing that Russia’s security concerns in Europe should be “taken seriously”. Beijing hopes to turn next week’s Games into a soft power triumph. But the lead-up has been clouded by a US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record, particularly towards its Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region. “The most […]

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Austria to end lockdown for Covid unvaccinated

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria on Wednesday announced it was ending a lockdown for those unvaccinated as it prepares to become the first EU country to make Covid-19 jabs mandatory from next week. The government last November ordered those not vaccinated or recently recovered from coronavirus to stay at home with limited exceptions, such as going to work, as the country battled a surge in cases. But with intensive care units no longer at capacity, […]

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West links Afghan humanitarian aid to human rights

by Pierre-Henry DESHAYES and Viken KANTARCI Agence France-Presse OSLO, Norway (AFP) – Western diplomats Tuesday linked humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to an improvement in human rights after meeting a Taliban delegation on a landmark visit to Europe. On the final day of the Taliban’s first official trip to Europe since returning to power in August, the fundamentalists held talks behind closed doors with several Western diplomats. The Taliban are seeking international recognition and financial aid. […]

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WHO board nominates chief Tedros for May re-election

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is all but guaranteed a second term after a procedural vote Tuesday made him the sole nominee ahead of a leadership vote in May. “I’d like to congratulate Dr Tedros for your nomination as the DG (director-general) for an additional period of five years, as from 16th August 2022,” Patrick Amoth, head of the WHO’s 34-member executive board, said after a secret-ballot nomination vote. […]

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German student kills one, wounds three in campus shooting

by Sebastien ASH with Michelle FITZPATRICK in Frankfurt HEIDELBERG, Germany (AFP) — An 18-year-old student opened fire in a lecture hall at Heidelberg University in southwestern Germany on Monday, killing a young woman and injuring three others before fleeing the scene and turning the weapon on himself. The gunman fired shots “wildly” around the amphitheatre, a police spokesman told AFP. The shooting took place during an organic chemistry class for bioscience students, a course the […]

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Several wounded in German lecture hall shooting, gunman dead: police

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — A gunman injured several people in a shooting inside a lecture hall at Heidelberg University in southwestern Germany on Monday, police said, adding that the perpetrator was now dead. “A lone perpetrator injured several people in a lecture hall with a long gun. The perpetrator is dead,” Mannheim police said in a statement. A major police operation was under way at the university’s Neuenheimer Feld campus, they added on Twitter, urging […]

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Snowfall blankets much of Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Snowfall blanketed much of Greece on Monday, closing schools, vaccination centres and parliament in Athens, causing blackouts in mountain villages and falling as far south as the island of Crete. Temperatures plummeted to -14 degrees Celsius (6.8 Fahrenheit) overnight as the front dubbed ‘Elpis’ (the Greek word for hope) brought the first snow of the winter to central Athens. Parliament was suspended, schools were shut down across the greater Athens area […]

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