Europe

Johnson sends 100 troops to help UK flood victims

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday the army would deploy 100 troops in northern England to deal with widespread flooding, after facing criticism from his election rivals over the government’s response. Conservative leader Johnson, campaigning to remain in Downing Street after next month’s general election, made the decision after chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee. The move followed Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition […]

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Strong French earthquake injures four

LYON, France (AFP) — An unusually strong earthquake hit southeastern France on Monday, injuring four people, one of them seriously, authorities said. A physicist at a geophysics institute the IPGP said that quakes of this strength are rare in that region, but warned of possible aftershocks and said people should leave fragile buildings. The quake, with a magnitude of 5.4, was felt in a vast area between the cities of Lyon and Montelimar which are […]

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80 Jewish graves desecrated in Denmark

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Vandals have desecrated more than 80 graves at a Jewish cemetery in the western Danish town of Randers, police said Sunday. “More than 80 gravestones were daubed with green graffiti and some were overturned” at the Ostre Kirkegard cemetery, according toa police statement. “There are no symbols or words written on the gravestones but paint has been daubed on them,” the local Ritzau news agency quoted police spokesman Bo Christensen as […]

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French bishops approve payouts for sex abuse victims by priests

  by Karine Perret Agence France Presse LOURDES, France (AFP) — French bishops on Saturday approved a program of payouts to victims of sex abuse by priests — but survivors have already objected that the Catholic Church has not gone far enough in admitting responsibility. Voting at the bi-annual Conference of French Bishops (CEF) in the southern city of Lourdes, a large majority of the 120 bishops approved the payments to those who had suffered […]

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Xi, Macron unite on climate after US withdraws from Paris pact

  by Jérôme RIVET Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron declared on Wednesday that the Paris climate pact was “irreversible”, showing a united front after Washington formally withdrew from the accord this week. The joint declaration came at the end of Macron’s second visit to China, which started on Monday in Shanghai and included talks on trade and the Iranian nuclear issue. The French leader […]

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33 hurt as Paris-London bus overturns in France

LILLE, France (AFP) — Thirty-three people were injured on Sunday, at least four seriously, when a Paris-London bus with passengers from nine countries overturned in northern France, local authorities said. The Flixbus vehicle toppled onto its side around midday (1100 GMT) as it took an exit from the A1 motorway, France’s busiest route, the Somme prefecture said in a statement. Of the 33 people on board, 29 sustained light injuries and four were seriously hurt, […]

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Fosun buys Thomas Cook brand for £11 million

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese conglomerate Fosun has snapped up the Thomas Cook brand for £11 million ($14.2 million), weeks after the renowned British travel group went bust and left hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad. Thomas Cook’s demise in September sparked 22,000 job losses worldwide and triggered Britain’s biggest repatriation since World War II, with the government paying to fly home 140,000 tourists. The 178-year-old British institution declared bankruptcy in September after an […]

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Three held over UK truck deaths freed on police bail

LONDON, United States (AFP) — Three suspects arrested in Britain over the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated truck has been released on bail, police said Sunday. They are a man and woman, both 38, from Warrington in northwest England, and a 46-year-old Northern Irish man who had been held at London’s Stansted Airport. They were arrested two days after the bodies of eight women and 31 men were discovered Wednesday in a […]

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Vatican assembly set to vote on whether to recommend allowing married men to join priesthood

by Catherine MARCIANO Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly will vote Saturday on whether to recommend to Catholic Church’s Pope Francis to open the priesthood to married men or create female deacons, issues that are taboo for traditionalists. The ballot comes at the close of a three-week “synod” on the Pan-Amazonian region which highlighted the challenges facing the region, from the destruction of the rainforest to […]

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Three dead after fierce flooding in southern France

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Three people have died after several days of heavy storms that sent rivers flooding over their banks across southern France, causing “significant damage,” the interior minister said Thursday. Rescue workers have carried out nearly 1,800 operations since Sunday, Christophe Castaner said in a statement, after eight departments were placed on high alert for flash floods. He did not provide details on when or how the deaths occurred, but an interior […]

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39 dead in truck were Chinese: British media

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain were Chinese nationals, British media outlets reported on Thursday, citing sources. The victims were discovered in a container on the back of a truck in Grays, east of London, on Wednesday, shortly after arriving by ferry from Belgium. The local Essex Police force, which is working with immigration officials, said their initial priority was to try to identify the […]

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Horror in Britain as 39 found dead in truck

  by Arman SOLDIN Agence France Presse GRAYS, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain launched a major murder investigation after 39 dead bodies were found Wednesday in a refrigerated truck, once again putting the spotlight on the shadowy people trafficking business. The corpses were found in a truck container at an industrial park in Grays, east of London, triggering outrage among politicians. The local Essex Police force, which is working with immigration officials, said their initial […]

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