Tag: Europe

Small far-left party agitates for Catalan independence

  by Laurence Boutreux Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain – A far-left party which holds the balance of power in Catalonia’s parliament is using its influence to push for an immediate declaration of independence and launch a campaign of civil disobedience. With Spain threatening to seize some of the pro-independence Catalan government’s powers, the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party has deployed its preferred weapon: street agitation. The staunchly separatist and anti-capitalist party has called for protesters to gather Thursday […]

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Business exodus deepens Catalan economy fears

by Patrick Galey and Adrien Vicente Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain –Catalonia’s independence drive has sent dozens of firms fleeing as doubts grow over the economy of a region that, while one of Spain’s richest, is also deeply indebted and dependent on trade with the EU and the rest of Spain. The semi-autonomous region accounts for one fifth of national GDP and is Spain’s largest exporter, but as the country’s worst political crisis in a generation drags on […]

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Euro holds gains on Catalonia speech, Asia markets rally

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The euro held gains Wednesday after Catalonia’s leader stepped back from the brink in a standoff with Spain over independence while Asian markets pushed higher following another record close on Wall Street. The single currency has come under strain since Catalans voted in an unofficial referendum on October 1 to break away from Madrid, fuelling fears about one of the eurozone’s biggest economies. The region’s leader Carles Puigdemont signed a […]

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Barricades and sit-ins as Catalan voters face police

by Marianne Barriaux and Anna Cuenca Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain – It was still pitch black when would-be voters lined up in Barcelona early Sunday, braving rain as they hoped to cast ballots in referendum, banned by Spain’s government, on independence for Catalonia. As dawn broke, though, those hopes diminished as news spread that riot police were on the way. And then they arrived. At one polling station, armed, helmeted police broke in to seize ballot boxes prepared […]

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Tens of thousands evacuated from Ukraine arms depot ‘sabotage’ blasts

by Andriy Perun Agence France-Presse KALYNIVKA, Ukraine – Ukrainian authorities evacuated more than 30,000 people Wednesday from the central Vinnytsia region after a huge arms depot storing missiles caught fire and exploded in what prosecutors said was a possible act of “sabotage.” It was the second major incident affecting a large Ukrainian weapons storage site this year. Kiev had blamed a deadly March munitions blast on Moscow and its Russian-backed insurgents fighting Ukrainian forces in the war-wracked east. […]

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EU ministers make push for Google, Facebook tax

  by Alex Pigman Agence France Presse TALLINN, Estonia (AFP) — Google and Facebook may face higher tax bills in Europe as the EU rushed Saturday to change rules so that more of Silicon Valley’s mega profits fall into public coffers. Public anger against the billions of euros earned by online behemoths is growing louder in Europe and EU finance ministers meeting in Estonia pledged to make sure the companies pay a fairer tax. But […]

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World’s biggest X-ray laser opens vast research vistas

by Pascale Mollard Agence France Presse PARIS, United States (AFP) — A sleek, subterranean X-ray laser to be unveiled Friday in Germany, by far the most powerful in the world, has scientists in a dozen fields jostling to train its mighty beam on their projects. European XFEL will reveal — and capture in images — secrets at the sub-atomic level, promising breakthroughs in medicine, biology, energy, information technology and chemistry. It will map the molecular […]

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Power demand to peak in Europe summers, not winters: study

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — By century’s end, climate change will likely shift the peak demand for electricity in Europe from the winters to the summers, as more people use air conditioning to stay cool, researchers said Monday. Understanding how demand for power will change in the coming decades as the planet warms is crucial in the 35 countries of Europe, which makes up the world’s third largest electricity market. “We find significant increases in […]

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Spain attacks: What we know about the suspects

  MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The suspected jihadists behind Spain’s twin terror attacks are thought to have formed a cell in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains where they allegedly planned large-scale assaults. Moroccans and a Spaniard The suspects are all youths — most of them Moroccans who lived in Ripoll, a town in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region where both of the attack sites were also located. Police have launched a manhunt for Younes Abouyaaqoub, […]

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Video: Filipina recalls Barcelona van attack; whole of Spain in mourning

(Eagle News) — A Filipina tourist in Barcelona recalled the horror of the August 17 van attack in Las Ramblas, saying this was the first time she had ever witnessed such an event. A day after the incident, Erha Grace Ebahay Quatropani, recalled how she had heard many people shouting and at first thought it was just a case of bag snatching, in the tourist-filled area of Las Ramblas, a popular spot in Barcelona, when […]

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Deadly trend: Fatal vehicle-ramming attacks in Europe that shocked the world

  (Eagle News) — Since July 2016, Europe has seen a deadly trend of attacks where “terrorists” used vehicles to kill and harm innocent people – bystanders, tourists, pedestrians,  including teenagers and children. The places they targeted were busy and popular streets, tourist spots, markets or just about any place where there were many pedestrians. The deadly vehicle-ramming attacks hit popular and highly developed European cities which people would normally think were safe and well-secured. […]

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