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Tens of thousands more people paid homage to former Pope Benedict on Tuesday on the second day his body lay in state, and the Vatican announced that his funeral will be similar to that of a reigning pope, including a three coffin burial. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who like Benedict has called for the …
Read more “Benedict Funeral to Be Similar to that of Reigning Popes”
Zohra stuffs packages of sliced bread, fresh fruit and canned vegetables into her shopping cart — free handouts she once never thought she would need. Other Parisians patiently wait their turn for the Salvation Army’s weekly food distributions in the French capital: two women from Africa, a middle-aged man from the French Antilles, a young …
Read more “War in Ukraine Bolstered EU Solidarity—Will it Last?”
Ukraine and the European Union will hold a summit in Kyiv on February 3 to discuss financial and military support, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement on Monday. Zelenskyy discussed details of the high-level meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in his first phone call of the year, the statement …
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that his publisher on Monday promised would tell the truth about the “blatant calumnies,” “dark maneuvers,” mysteries and scandals that sullied the reputation of a pontiff best known for his historic resignation. Archbishop Georg Gaenswein’s Nothing but the Truth: My Life Beside Pope …
Read more “Benedict Aide’s Tell-all Book Will Expose ‘Dark Maneuvers’”
Belgium will test wastewater from planes arriving from China for new COVID variants as part of new steps against the spread of the coronavirus as infections in China surge, the government announced Monday. “This will be an additional monitoring objective to verify that the data we receive from China is accurate,” Steven Van Gucht of …
Read more “Belgium to Test Wastewater on Airliners From COVID-hit China”
The German government Monday condemned incidents on New Year’s Eve in which police officers and firefighters were attacked, mostly with fireworks. People across Germany on Saturday resumed their tradition of setting off large numbers of fireworks in public places to ring in the new year. That followed two years in which sales of fireworks were …
Read more “Germany Condemns New Year’s Attacks on Firefighters, Police Officers”
Europe’s wholesale natural gas prices fell Monday to their lowest level since Russia invaded Ukraine, which had driven them to a record high last year. A mild winter has enabled countries to tap less gas from stocks that were built up in anticipation of cuts in supplies from Russia, which was Europe’s main supplier before …
Read more “European Gas Prices Fall to Lowest Level Since Ukraine War”
The suspected mastermind behind the removal of a Banksy mural in a Ukrainian town could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said Monday. The artwork, depicting a woman in a gas mask and a dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher, was taken off a wall in the town …
Read more “Mastermind of Banksy Removal Could Face Years in Jail, Ukraine Says”
Much of the Alps just don’t look right for this time of year. Sparse snowfall with unseasonably warm winter weather in much of Europe is allowing grass to blanket mountaintops across the region where snow might normally be, causing headaches for ski slope operators and aficionados of Alpine white. Patches of grass, rock and dirt …
Read more “Alpine Slopes Face Snow Shortage in Unseasonably Warm Winter”
The president of the European Parliament has launched an urgent procedure to waive the immunity of two lawmakers following a request from Belgian judicial authorities investigating a major corruption scandal rocking EU politics. The European Parliament said Monday that President Roberta Metsola asked all services and committees to give the procedure priority, with the goal …
Read more “EU Parliament Starts Process to Lift 2 Lawmakers’ Immunity”
Tens of thousands of people filed into St. Peter’s Basilica Monday to pay their respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI, whose body is lying in state. Some of the faithful had lined up hours before dawn to wait for the doors of the basilica to open. By mid-afternoon Monday, 40,000 people had filed past …
Read more “Tens of Thousands Pay Their Respects to Pope Benedict”
Scuffles broke out on Monday outside a village in western Germany that is to be razed to allow the expansion of a coal mine, a plan that is drawing resistance from climate activists. Activists threw fireworks, bottles and stones at police outside the village of Luetzerath before the situation calmed down and officers pulled back, …
Read more “Climate Activists Protest as German Village to Make Way for Coal Mine”
“Lord, I love you,” are reported to be the last words Pope Emeritus Benedict uttered shortly before his death, according to a report on The Vatican News website. The retired pope’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, said a nurse was the only person with Benedict at the time. “I was not there at the moment, …
Germany has warned Iranians living in the country who have been critical of the Iranian government to be careful about traveling to Iran. Thomas Haldenwang, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, told the Germany Press Agency that for some years the Iranian government has worked to identify critics, and that …
Read more “Germany Cautions Iranian Critics Against Traveling to Iran”
Pope Francis hailed the “beloved” Benedict XVI in New Year’s Day services on Sunday as the Vatican released the first pictures of the former pontiff following his death at the age of 95. Official photos showed the German theologian’s body on a catafalque in the chapel of the monastery in the Vatican grounds where he …
Read more “Pope Hails ‘Beloved’ Benedict as Vatican Releases Photos of Body”
Environmental group Extinction Rebellion said Sunday it would no longer stage its infamous blockades of U.K. transport networks and will instead hold a major demonstration against government policy in April. The activist network, formed in the U.K. in 2018, has regularly used civil disobedience to protest what it calls government inaction on climate change. Activists …
Read more “Climate Group Extinction Rebellion Suspends ‘Public Disruption’ Tactics”
There was no tolling of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, no solemn announcement by a Vatican monsignor to the faithful in the square. A fisherman’s ring did not get smashed and the diplomatic corps were not mobilized to send official delegations to Rome. The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed in an entirely …
Read more “Benedict’s Death Paves Way for Protocols for Future Popes”
Russia launched new airstrikes across Ukraine on New Year’s Day, but Ukrainians cheered from their balconies in Kyiv as their forces shot down dozens of incoming Russian missiles and drones as the clock ticked into 2023. Ukraine’s Air Force command said it had destroyed 45 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight, 13 late Saturday and another 32 …
More than 45,000 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK from mainland Europe in 2022, surpassing the previous year’s record by more than 17,000, according to government figures released Sunday. The issue has become a huge political problem for the Conservative government, which has promised to bring down illegal immigration and break the smuggling gangs …
Read more “Record 45,000 Migrants Made Channel Crossing to UK Last Year”
Pope Francis marked the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional World Day of Peace on Sunday but the start of the new year at the Vatican was overshadowed by the death of his predecessor, Benedict. Francis presided at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica as the body of Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of …
Read more “Death of Former Pope Benedict Overshadows New Year at Vatican “
Analysts who study democratic and authoritarian regimes are taking special note of recent protest movements in Iran, China and Russia. They caution that the authoritarian regimes in these three countries are strong, and a certain set of circumstances must line up for dictators to fall. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has our story. …
In a video address on New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s missile barrage in Ukraine. “Today, this Russian missile attack is not the end of the year, no matter how much the terrorists want it. It’s the outcome of Russia’s fate,” he said. Reacting to the Russian air assault on Ukraine skies …
Croatia on Sunday switched to the euro and entered Europe’s passport-free zone — two major milestones for the country after joining the EU nearly a decade ago. At midnight local time (2300 GMT Saturday) the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and became the 20th member of the eurozone. It is the 27th …
Read more “Croatia Switches to Euro, Enters Borderless Europe Club”
Mourners lined up quietly in the gold-adorned Collegiate Church of Altoetting in Pope Benedict XVI’s Bavarian homeland to pay condolences to one of this German region’s most famous sons, who died Saturday. Parents held their children’s hands tightly, older couples and nuns looked on in sorrow as they waited for their turn to write down …
Read more “Believers in Bavarian Pilgrimage Town Mourn Benedict”