Europe

Trains slowed down as temperatures in Europe hit new record high

  by Adam PLOWRIGHT Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Trains were slowed down and holidaymakers flocked to swimming pools, beaches and lakes in western Europe on Wednesday as another heatwave set new temperature records. A host of French cities saw their highest levels since records began on Tuesday, with wine capital Bordeaux recording 41.2 degrees Celsius (106.16 Fahrenheit), beating the previous high of 40.7C registered in August 2003, weather service Meteo-France said. Forecasters […]

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Boris Johnson wins race to become Britain’s next PM

  by Alice RITCHIE and James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Boris Johnson won the race to become Britain’s next prime minister on Tuesday, heading straight into a confrontation over Brexit with Brussels and parliament, as well as a tense diplomatic standoff with Iran. The former London mayor easily beat his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, in a vote of members of the governing Conservative Party. He is expected to be […]

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Britain plans European-led Gulf force after tanker seizure

by Alice RITCHIE LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Monday said it was planning a European-led protection force for shipping in the Gulf after Iranian authorities seized a British-flagged tanker in a dramatic escalation of tensions in the region. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt condemned Iran’s actions as “state piracy” while at the same time emphasizing that Britain did not want confrontation. “We will seek to establish this mission as quickly as possible,” Hunt said, […]

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1,700 firefighters battle Portugal wildfires

by Patricia de Melo Moreira, with Bruno Cravo in Lisbon AMENDOA, Portugal (AFP) — Planes and helicopters joined nearly 2,000 firefighters in central Portugal Sunday to battle huge wildfires in a mountainous region where more than 100 people died in huge blazes in 2017. Some 1,700 firefighters and 400 vehicles were deployed in one of the biggest mobilizations ever seen in the area to fight the blazes in the heavily forested Castelo Branco region, 200 […]

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Strong 5.3 magnitude quake shakes Athens, knocks out phones in capital

  A strong 5.3 magnitude earthquake jolted Athens on Friday, knocking out phone and cellphone service, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. According to the Greek geodynamic institute, it was a 5.1-magnitude quake with an epicentre 23 kilometers (14 miles) northwest of Athens and was followed by aftershocks. The US Geological Survey, however, recorded it at 5.3 magnitude with the epicenter located some three kilometers north northwest of Magoula, Greece.  It was depth […]

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Russia bars opposition candidates from Moscow city ballot

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian officials on Tuesday refused to register nearly 30 candidates for elections to Moscow’s local parliament, including prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin despite protests over the move. Opposition politicians have been fighting to get on the ballot for September’s elections to the Moscow city legislature as they seek to capitalize on growing public discontent over falling living standards and unchecked corruption. But many observers say authorities have used spurious […]

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Small-aircraft crash kills nine in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Nine people died Sunday when a small aircraft being used for tourism crashed in northwest Sweden, the regional authority said. “The nine people on board are dead,” Gabriella Bandling, spokeswoman for the Vaesterbotten region, told AFP. She did not say who they were. According to Swedish media reports, the plane was carrying people for a parachute jump but crashed a little after 2:00 pm (1200 GMT). The plane, a GippsAero GA8 […]

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Paris clashes tarnish Macron’s military parade

by Daphné BENOIT and Stuart WILLIAMS PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday showcased European military cooperation in a Bastille Day parade but the aftermath of the glittering event was tarnished by violent clashes between police and protesters. Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron in Paris to watch the annual parade that included representatives of nine other European armies in a show […]

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Fierce storm kills seven in Greek tourist peninsula

by Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS THESSALONIKI, Greece (AFP) — Seven people died and at least 23 were injured as a fierce storm ripped through beachfronts in one of Greece’s top tourist areas, terrifying thousands of holidaymakers caught in the open, authorities said Thursday. Six tourists including two children were killed — two each from the Czech Republic, Russia and Romania — in the northern peninsula of Halkidiki, near Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, in the storm late Wednesday. […]

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Iran tried to seize British oil tanker: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Armed Iranian boats attempted to seize a British tanker in strategic Gulf waters on Wednesday but were driven off by a Royal Navy frigate, CNN reported. The Iranians ordered the British Heritage oil tanker, which was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz area, to change course and stop in Tehran’s nearby waters, CNN said, citing two American officials. A US aircraft shot video of the incident, which ended when the […]

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Five tourists killed in violent Greek hail storms: police

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AFP) –Violent hail storms killed at least five tourists in northern Greece late Wednesday, police said. A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, they added. Debris from a building killed a woman from Romania. ERT television said the region of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, was declared a state of emergency and that the minister […]

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Britain’s US ambassador resigns after Trump spat

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch said Wednesday he was resigning after drawing Donald Trump’s ire for calling the US president “inept” in leaked confidential cables to London. Darroch said in a resignation letter to the Foreign Office that the scandal made it “impossible” for him to continue representing British interests in the United States. Trump has said his administration would no longer “deal” with Darroch. “Since the leak […]

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