LONDON, ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Guy Hamilton, who directed four James Bond films, has died aged 93, according to media reports. Former 007 actor Roger Moore posted a tweet saying he was “incredibly, incredibly saddened to hear the wonderful director Guy Hamilton has gone to the great cutting room in the sky. 2016 is horrid”. Hamilton directed Moore in “Live and Let Die” and “The Man with the Golden Gun”. He also directed Scottish […]
Europe
HRH Queen Elizabeth’s 90th Birthday near Windsor Castle
Every year the Queen celebrates two birthdays, with her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June. Celebrations of her official birthday this year take place from 10-12 June. Prime Minister David Cameron said the Queen had been “a rock of strength for our nation” and the Commonwealth, as he and fellow politicians paid tribute in the House of Commons. Queen’s 90th: What’s happening and when? 21 April – […]
Obama wades in to UK’s Brexit debate
by Andrew BEATTY LONDON,United Kingdom (AFP) — US President Barack Obama wasted no time in plunging into Britain’s poisonous EU membership debate Friday, arguing strongly against a “Brexit” as he kicked off a visit to the UK. Obama went to a traditional bastion of euroscepticism, The Daily Telegraph newspaper, to make the case that Britons should vote to remain in the European Union in the June 23 referendum. Writing in the broadsheet, Obama argued that […]
Britain hails queen at 90, a constant in years of turmoil
by Justin Tallis with Katherine Haddon in London WINDSOR, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain celebrated the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday with tributes to a popular monarch who has steered it through the decline of empire and a wave of scandals to the Internet age. Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the queen as “a rock of strength for our nation” and her son and heir Prince Charles marked the occasion by […]
Terror or tobacco? French school smoking lights up debate
by Fran BLANDY PARIS, France (AFP) –What poses a greater risk to French school children: a potential terror attack, or smoking cigarettes? This is the unusual question gripping France as a result of the jihadist attacks on Paris last November — and a court ruling later this week may point to the answer. Many high schools began letting pupils smoke on school premises as part of security measures introduced after the gun-and-bomb assaults which killed […]
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will celebrate her 90th birthday on April 21
(Reuters) — Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, turns 90-years-old on April 21. And she shows no signs of slowing down. She ascended the throne aged just 25 as her exhausted country struggled to recover from the ravages of World War Two. She overtook her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s time on the throne in September last year and is now the nation’s oldest reigning monarch. “The Queen has a phenomenal drive and energy and I think […]
Fewer foreigners arrive in Switzerland amid anti-immigration mood
ZURICH (Reuters) – Migration to Switzerland slowed in early 2016, authorities said on Tuesday, as the country moves closer towards its self-imposed deadline to curb the influx of European Union workers. Switzerland is two-thirds of the way through a three-year timetable to enforce a binding 2014 referendum vote in favour of migration quotas which would violate a bilateral pact with Brussels guaranteeing freedom of movement for EU workers. Compromise talks are on ice before Britain […]
Dutch police arrest one person outside Amsterdam airport
SCHIPHOL AIRPORT, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) – Access to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport returned to normal in the early hours of Wednesday (April 13) after temporarily closure of part of its shopping area due to a suspicious situation, local media reported. Part of Schiphol Plaza – the commercial area located at the entrance of the airport and accessible to both passengers and visitors – was evacuated on Tuesday (April 12) evening around 9.40 P.M. (0740GMT) and a […]
120 million euro “lost Caravaggio” discovered in French attic
PARIS, France (Reuters) – A painting discovered two years ago in a leaky attic in the south of France is by Italian master Caravaggio and worth an estimated 120 million euros, experts said on Tuesday (April 12). The painting, entitled “Judith Beheading Holofernes”, lay hidden for 150 years, members of the firm Eric Turquin said, before being discovered by a family in Toulouse who went into the eaves of their house looking for the source […]
Increased deployment of soldiers in Brussels difficult to maintain, union leader says
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) – The increased number of deployed soldiers in Brussels is becoming difficult to maintain, the head of a military personnel union said on Monday (April 11), due mainly to a lack of means and equipment. The reinforcement comes less than a month after 32 people, excluding three suicide bombers, were killed in two explosions at Brussels Airport and a blast inside a metro carriage in central Brussels on March 22. “The number […]
Greeks gather on street to support refugees in port city of Piraeus
Reuters – Greeks gathered to show support to refugees in the port city of Piraeus in the past weekend. Some threw leaflets to sky, on which printed Arabic slogans saying the western countries should be blamed for leaving so many homeless after wars. The protesters said opening the border is in accordance with humanitarian principles and they oppose the decision of the European Union deporting refugees. Some leaflets said the Greeks will stand together with […]
Hundreds of migrants wounded in border clashes with Macedonian forces
IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) – Greece on Sunday (April 10) condemned as “dangerous and deplorable” the use of teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenades by the Macedonian police against crowds of stranded migrants that attempted to break through the border fence. Aid agency Doctors without Borders said its medics at the camp treated more than 200 people from the effects of tear gas and other protest-related wounds. The escalation in tensions that have been simmering for […]
