Europe

UN warns against thirsty tech to solve water crisis

PARIS, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – The world needs to better manage its freshwater resources but thirsty new technologies touted as solutions could lead to “serious problems” if left unchecked, a UN report warned Friday. Roughly half of the planet’s population is facing grave water shortages, with climate change-linked droughts affecting more than 1.4 billion people between 2002 and 2021, the report for the UN cultural agency UNESCO said. As of 2022, more than 2 […]

Launch of Russian spacecraft aborted moments before liftoff

  MOSCOW, March 21, 2024 (AFP) – The launch of a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station was aborted at the last minute on Thursday, in another high-profile setback for Russia’s space programme. The Russian Soyuz MS-25 mission was due to take off from the Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan on Thursday, carrying three astronauts from Russia, the United States and Belarus. But the launch was cancelled just seconds before scheduled blast-off at 4:21 […]

Spring’s splendor: Celebrating 75 years of blooms at Keukenhof

LISSE, Netherlands, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – The world’s biggest tulip garden opened to the public on Thursday for its 75th edition, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to enjoy a bewildering array of seven million bulbs in the western Dutch city of Lisse. Keukenhof park, southwest of Amsterdam in the heart of “bulb country”, contains millions of tulips of every colour as well as other flowers across 32 hectares (80 acres). The park […]

Russia targets Kyiv after Putin vows revenge for border strikes

KYIV, Ukraine, March 21, 2024 (AFP) – Russia fired more than 30 missiles at Kyiv early Thursday, the largest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution for strikes and incursions into Russia’s border regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to deliver air defence systems after the attacks, which wounded 17 in Kyiv and the surrounding region. A later missile strike on the southern city of […]

Hundreds march in Paris suburb after youth killed in police chase

BOBIGNY, France, March 21, 2024 (AFP) – Several hundred marched peacefully in a Paris suburb Thursday to demand justice for a teenager killed last week in a collision with a police car. The death of Wanys R. has sparked tensions in the town of La Courneuve near major venues for this summer’s Paris Olympics. Police on March 13 chased a moped that the 18-year-old was driving in the nearby town of Aubervilliers after it said […]

Irish PM Leo Varadkar announces shock resignation

By Peter MURPHY DUBLIN, March 20, 2024 (AFP) – Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake”. A general election also has to be held within a year. Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader […]

Macron vows ‘unprecedented operation’ against drugs in Marseille

MARSEILLE, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday pledged an “unprecedented operation” against drug trafficking in Marseille during a surprise visit to the southern port city beset by gangland killings. “In Marseille and other cities in France, we have launched an unprecedented operation to put a stop to drug trafficking and ensure republican order,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after arriving in the city. The operation, according to press reports, will […]

Germany makes arrests over Sweden parliament attack plot

By Sam Reeves FRANKFURT, Germany, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – Two Afghans linked to the Islamic State group were arrested in Germany on Tuesday on suspicion of planning an attack around Sweden’s parliament in retaliation for Koran burnings, prosecutors said. The men, identified as Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N., were detained in the Gera area of eastern Germany, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Last summer, the first, an IS member, was tasked […]

UN warns ‘planet on the brink’ after warmest decade on record

By Nina LARSON GENEVA, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – Global heat records were “smashed” last year, the UN confirmed Tuesday, with 2023 rounding out the hottest decade on record, as heatwaves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss. The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization issued its annual State of the Climate report, confirming preliminary data indicating that 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And it came at the end of “the […]

UN chief warns against ‘sequel to ‘Oppenheimer”

  UNITED NATIONS, United States, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” on Monday as he warned that the world faced the highest risk of nuclear war in decades. At a Security Council session called by Japan, Guterres said that the biopic about the morally conflicted father of the atomic bomb “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.” “Humanity cannot survive […]

URGENT: Germany arrests two Afghans over Sweden parliament attack plot

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – Two Afghans linked to the Islamic State group were arrested in Germany Tuesday on suspicion of planning to launch an attack around Sweden’s parliament in retaliation for Koran burnings, prosecutors said. The pair — identified as Ibrahim M. G. and Ramin N. — were detained in the Gera area of eastern Germany, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. This is a developing story.

Lufthansa plane makes emergency landing in Greece after smoke in cabin

ATHENS, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – A Lufthansa flight with 190 passengers on board made an emergency landing Monday in Rhodes after reporting smoke in the cabin, according to the operator of Greek regional airports, Fraport. The pilot of the aircraft travelling from Frankfurt to Dubai requested permission to land on the southern Aegean island due to “the presence of smoke inside the plane”, said Fraport. The passengers were safely evacuated from the aircraft, which […]