Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office Sunday. Austria’s conservative-led government was initially skeptical at the idea of capping power prices, but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas …
Read more “Austria Backs EU Cap to End ‘Madness’ of Runaway Power Prices”
Italian authorities scrambled Sunday to relieve overcrowding in shelters after scores of boats carrying a total of about 1,000 migrants reached Italy’s southern shores and two of its tiny islands over the weekend. Nearly 50 boats arrived between Friday night and Saturday on Lampedusa island off Sicily, according to state radio and other Italian media. …
Read more “Hundreds of Migrants Reach Italian Shores Over Weekend “
A year after the last wisps of smoke disappeared into the skies from the imposing chimneys of the Moorburg coal plant, hopes had grown that the mothballed site would see new life as Germany scrambles to secure energy supplies. Russia’s curtailing of gas exports to Germany in the wake of the Ukraine war has forced …
Read more “In Germany, the Stuttering Bid to Jumpstart Coal Plants “
The annual Notting Hill Carnival has returned to the streets of London for the first time since 2019, with more than 1 million people expected to take in the music, spectacular parades, dancing and food offerings at Europe’s largest street party on Sunday and Monday. The carnival, which celebrates Caribbean culture at the end of …
Read more “Notting Hill Carnival Returns to London Streets After Hiatus “
Pope Francis, who has often said he may step down in the future if bad health impedes him from leading the Catholic Church, on Sunday praised the humility of one of the few popes in history to resign willingly instead of ruling for life. L’Aquila, a central Italian city which Francis visited briefly, is the …
Read more “Popes Who Resign Are Humble, Francis Says in Central Italy Visit “
The death toll from an accident when a truck drove off a dike and slammed into a community barbecue in a village south of Rotterdam rose to six Sunday and police said a further seven people are in hospital, including one in critical condition. Police spokeswoman Mirjam Boers said the truck driver, a 46-year-old Spanish …
Read more “Dutch Police: 6 Dead after Truck Hit Community Barbecue”
Poland and Czechia signed an agreement Saturday to protect Slovak airspace as Slovakia gives up its old Soviet-made MiG-29 jets. The vow of protection by NATO allies is to last until Slovakia receives new F-16s from the United States, something expected to happen in 2024. Under the agreement, Poland and Czechia are providing the necessary …
Read more “Poles, Czechs Vow to Protect Slovak Airspace as MiGs Retired”
An elaborate fireworks display took place Saturday under calm skies in Hungary’s capital after a postponement of the show last weekend caused controversy when it led to the firing of the country’s top meteorologists over their weather predictions. Saturday’s event, a rescheduling of the display planned for Hungary’s national holiday a week earlier, drew tens …
Read more “Hungary Fireworks go on But Weather Agency Controversy Stays”
In Poland’s late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as people fearful of winter shortages wait for days to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times. Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 kilometers from the mine in …
Read more “In Poland, Where Coal is King, Homeowners Queue for Days to Buy Fuel”
Serbia and Kosovo have settled an ethnic dispute over the movement of citizens across their border, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday. “We have a deal,” Borrell said in a tweet. “Kosovo Serbs, as well as all other citizens, will be able to travel freely between Kosovo & Serbia using their ID …
Read more “EU Says Serbia, Kosovo Settle Dispute Over Identity Documents”
Greece’s main opposition leader has called on the country’s prime minister to resign after he admitted that the nation’s spy chief bugged the phone of a senior political leader. The scandal is being dubbed Greece’s Watergate. Speaking before Greece’s Parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the stage, defending what he called “a mistake.” The minute …
Read more “Greek PM Admits to Tapping Political Rival’s Phone, Refuses to Say Why”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the decision to cancel the September 12-18 EuroPride celebration during a news conference where he also proposed extending the term of Serbia’s prime minister, who identifies as a lesbian. Members of the European Pride Organizers Association chose Serbia’s capital three years ago to host the annual event. Vucic said a …
Read more “Serbia’s Leader Says EuroPride Won’t Happen Due to Threats”
Citing unparalleled attacks on health care facilities, the World Health Organization said this week it is working to reconstruct Ukraine’s health system. The system has suffered extensive damage since Russia invaded the country six months ago. Over the past six months, the U.N. health agency says it has verified 173 attacks on medical facilities, which …
Read more “WHO Cites Unprecedented Attacks on Ukraine’s Health Care Facilities”
Three Dutch soldiers were shot and wounded early Saturday in a shooting in downtown Indianapolis in the U.S. state of Indiana after what local police believe was a disturbance outside the hotel where they were staying, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. EDT in Indianapolis’ entertainment district. Indianapolis police said officers found three …
Read more “3 Dutch Soldiers Shot, Wounded Outside Hotel in Indianapolis”
Stinking piles of garbage on the streets of Edinburgh are threatening the health and safety of the public, a health authority warned Saturday as strikes by garbage collectors in the Scottish capital moved into their ninth day. The warning from Public Health Scotland came as garbage collectors in Newham, a borough of London, also walked …
Read more “Garbage Piles in Scotland Raise Health Concerns Amid Strikes”
Authorities transferred some 400 asylum-seekers away from a makeshift camp outside an overcrowded migrant reception center in the northeastern Netherlands after a damning report called the site where hundreds of people were sleeping rough a health hazard. Leon Veldt, a spokesperson for the government’s asylum-seeker accommodation organization, said Saturday that the migrants were moved overnight …
Read more “Buses Move 400 Asylum-Seekers From Squalid Dutch Camp”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday about Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic and China’s increasing interest in that part of the world. During a visit to Canada’s north, Stoltenberg said the shortest path to North America for Russian missiles and bombers is over the North Pole. He said Russia has set up a new …
Read more “NATO Head Warns About Russian, Chinese Interest in Arctic”
The Ocean Viking, a humanitarian ship of SOS Mediterranee, has rescued 268 people since Thursday during five rescues of migrants mostly found in overcrowded wooden boats between Libya and Malta, the NGO announced Friday. “Many have high levels of exhaustion and dehydration” and “severe sunburn,” said the NGO, whose headquarters are in Marseille. Several minors, …
Read more “Humanitarian Ship Rescues 268 Migrants in Mediterranean”
As Friday’s end to a four-week conference to review the landmark U.N. treaty aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons neared, delegates scrambled to reach agreement on a final document with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and takeover of Europe’s largest nuclear power a key obstacle. Argentine Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, president of the conference reviewing …
Read more “Nuclear Treaty Conference Near End with Ukraine in Spotlight”
Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke she made about Turkey’s religious schools, the country’s state-run news agency reported. The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her home in Istanbul for questioning and formally arrested late Thursday. …
Read more “Turkish Pop Star Jailed Over Joke About Religious Schools”
The Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant resumed electricity supplies to Ukraine on Friday after one of its six reactors was reconnected to the Ukrainian grid, state nuclear company Energoatom said. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which is located in southern Ukraine, was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid for the first time in its history on …
Read more “Russian-Occupied Nuclear Power Plant Resumes Electricity Supply to Ukraine”
Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden agreed on Friday to keep meeting in the coming months to discuss security concerns that Turkey raised as a precondition for allowing the two Nordic countries to join the NATO military alliance. Officials from the three countries held their first such meeting on Friday in the southern Finnish city …
Read more “Turkey, Finland, Sweden Discuss Security Concerns, to Keep Meeting Through Autumn”
A U.S. charity based in Jersey City, New Jersey, is collecting donations and raising funds not only to support Ukraine’s armed forces but also to help build a special bomb shelter at a boarding school for deaf and hearing-impaired children in Lviv, Ukraine. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Aleksandr Barash. …
Read more “New Jersey Charity Helps Deaf, Hearing-Impaired Kids in Ukraine”
While the world has taken notice that the war in Ukraine has passed its six months mark, it’s been more than 90 days since the Mariupol and Azovstal defenders have entered into Russian and pro-Russian forces’ captivity, their loved ones point out. On May 20, Denys Prokopenko, commander of Azov Regiment since 2017, posted his …
Read more “Families Keep Alive Hopes for Imprisoned Mariupol Defenders “