Europe
Europe
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance says Germany must step up efforts against extremism and that there is strong evidence for extensive racial profiling by German police, commends its warm welcoming of an extraordinarily large number of asylum seekers in 2015 but says it has become increasingly xenophobic with high Islamophobia levels, urges the country to take a stronger stance on the wellbeing of intersex children
Brother of 2017 Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi found guilty of murdering 22 people after an Ariana Grande show, Hashem to receive his sentence at a later date
Russia’s Constitutional Court rules constitutional change allowing President Putin to remain in power until 2036 legal, amid accusations in petition signed by 18,000 calling it an unlawful anti-constitutional coup
Austria sends 2,500 soldiers to protect its border, says it will not even accept ill or unaccompanied child migrants and that they plan helping Greece reinforce its borders, explains that they learned from the mistakes made in 2015 and that they still have 30,000 unemployed asylum seekers
Spain extends ban protecting vulnerable homeowners from eviction and plans to relax the income threshold as well as include all single-parent families, also plans to stop some evictions for non-payment of rent in high-tension markets such as Madrid and Barcelona, measures taken as part of the left-wing coalition pact priority of guaranteeing the right to decent housing
Viktor Orbán says the Hungarian policy against Muslim migration has been a success and now the generally accepted approach in Europe, adds that Hungary will help North Macedonia and Serbia to protect their borders against the 130,000 people who have breached the Greek border and that everyone will be stopped when they reach Hungary
23-year-old Keira Bell who started gender reassignment at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London at 16 years of age sues the clinic for giving her experimental puberty-blocking drugs after three one-hour appointments, later had her breasts removed in an operation paid for by the NHS but is now trying to reverse the process, new charity The Detransition Advocacy Network founder Charlie Evans says has been contacted by hundreds of young adults who claim the sex change has not solved their problems
Greece says it has blocked 9,972 illegal entries into the country from Turkey during 24 hours, Turkey says 76,358 immigrants have left the country for Greece, Bulgaria says no migrants have managed to cross their border illegally since Turkey ceased stopping migrants from crossing into Europe, EU's border protection agency Frontex says it has raised the alert level for all Turkish borders
Louvre staff walk out on Coronavirus, management arranges staff hearing with epidemiologist to assuage fears, will be closed until further notice on account of "absence of sufficient personnel", museums currently excluded from the blanket ban on public gatherings announced Saturday, currently 100 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections in France
Greece says it will "do whatever it takes to protect its borders" after Turkey decided to let migrants through, 4,000 crossing attempts averted in the past 24 hours, according to government spokesman Stelios Petsas
Finance Minister of Finland Katri Kulmuni says the EU should develop its own operating system and its own web browser to reduce its dependence on tech giants, believes the Union should develop AI and 5G mobile networks
At least 52 riot police and 10 protesters injured as protests intensify against migrant camp constructions on Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios, police spokesman says more than 1,000 people were at site earmarked for migrant centre and stones were thrown at officers, 2,000 people took to the Chios streets where eight officers were injured after a group of people burst into their hotel
Heathrow third runway ruled illegal by UK court of appeal as it is not consistent with the government's Paris agreement climate change commitments, PM Boris Johnson has opposed the runway and said in 2015 that he would "lie down in front of those bulldozers and stop the construction", no appeal permission sought
Clashes between police and residents on Greek island on Tuesday as about 500 people attempt to block unloading of heavy machinery to be used to build a migrant detention centre, the closed camp is planned to replace the current open-access Moria camp that was built for less than 3,000 people but is now accommodating more than 18,000 asylum seekers, similar facilities planned for islands Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros
At least 30 injured after car is deliberately ploughed into revellers at a carnival parade in the northern German town of Volkmarsen, police says the perpetrator is a 29-year-old German citizen from the local area and that they don't believe that the incident is "politically motivated", witnesses say the driver raced full throttle and appeared to target children
Slovakia makes tough laws against islam even tougher, raises bar for recognizing religions to ten times the number of existing muslim residents, which among other things stops islamic schools from establishing, country is only one in EU without a single mosque and governing party wants to ensure that none are built in the future
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary sparks row by saying terrorists in general are solo travelling Muslim men and that those should thus be vetted while families with young children should be let through security, Labour MP Khalid Mahmood says O'Leary is encouraging racism and that one can't tell who's Muslim by appearance
36-year-old female IS terrorist Safiyya Amira Shaikh admits plotting to bomb a London hotel and suicide bomb St Paul's Cathedral, was arrested after meeting up with presumed bomb maker who turned out to be an undercover officer, made reconnaissance trips to scope out the bombing locations and shared terrorist documents via the Telegram messaging app
Britain First leader Paul Golding charged with Terrorism act offence for refusing to give police PIN codes after trip to Moscow, Golding says he's not a terrorist and that the charges are an abuse of legislation
Wartime archives from Pope Pius XII pontificate will be made available for public scrutiny on March 2, Pius' political complacency during WWII often censured as tacit approval of Nazi persecution of Jews, officials believe records will not only vindicate Pius XII but show his assiduous efforts to protect the Jewish people, archive spans millions of pages divided into 121 sections
Nine dead and four injured after mass shootings at two hookah lounges in western German city of Hanau late Wednesday, suspected 43-year-old perpetrator found dead at his residential address along with his dead mother, indications of far-right motive according to Angela Merkel and investigators
Emmanuel Macron plans ending practice where 300 foreign imams yearly has been sent to France from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey and five other countries, program to be replaced with method where imams are trained on French soil and thus do not spread Islamist views, Macron also says he will end practice of French students being taught by teachers paid by foreign governments, statements made less than a month before mayoral elections
Boris Johnson under fire for having hired adviser Andrew Sabisky who has said that black americans have lower IQ than white people, that legally enforced contraception lowers the risk for creating a permanent underclass and that women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's, the official spokesman refuses to comment on Sabisky or whether the PM agrees with him
Father and brother of 27-year-old Briton Daniel Newey who made two trips to Syria to fight for YPG against IS and Turkey charged with terror offenses, brother accused of aiding and abetting while father faces charges for wiring him GBP 150, believed to be first case of its kind
Heavily-armed German police arrest 12 far-right men including one police officer in raid against 13 locations in six states – the four prime suspects are said to have planned to spark civil-war-like situation via attacks on politicians, asylum seekers and Muslims, the other eight are suspected of supporting the cause, Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert says that the federal government will ensure that everyone can practice their religion within the bounds of legal order
Italian Senate votes to strip Matteo Salvini of legal immunity, will face prosecution for wilfully keeping migrants marooned at sea without shelter, sees trial as an opportunity to showcase how his policies have saved tens of thousands of lives
The government of Malta announces it will be paying out a one-time bonus to approximately 181,000 Maltese households as compensation for last year's rise in prices for milk and bread, the bonus amounts to €35 per household or €15 for single households and is expected to cost Maltese taxpayers 5.3 million Euro
More than half of Malta's police traffic squad investigated over claims of overtime abuse, superintendent in charge among the suspects and also ongoing investigation regarding policemen using fuel for private vehicles, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri chooses not to answer question regarding whether police officers from other sections could be involved in the alleged racket
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer steps down as CDU's party leader and will not run for chancellor in next year's elections but remains as Germany's defense minister, the 57-year-old who Angela Merkel handpicked as successor in 2018 was last criticised for allowing right-wing party Alternative for Germany to decide the Thuringia minister president election where the liberal candidate Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) beat the left-wing Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke)
Seven arrested for planning to attack migrants on Greek island of Lesbos, several vigilante patrols formed after police having to use tear gas to keep protesting migrants from reaching the island capital of Mytilene, the newly elected conservative government plans closing existing camps including the Moria camp set up to accomodate 2,850 people but hosting at least five times that number
Angela Merkel says it's unforgivable that the Thüringen state premier Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) was elected due to AfD support, calls for the result to be reversed as it shows "a bad day for democracy" and accuses Thüringen's CDU of abandoning the party's values and beliefs as they voted for Kemmerich who thereafter resigns
UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) dismayed by ethnic homoegeneity within UK company hierarchies, spokesman Sir John Parker perplexed by general reluctance to let FRC encyclicals take precedence over profit, berates executives for insufficient ideological zeal
Three year project for examination of how governance of late Medieval Augsburg and Aberdeen commenced at University of Mainz and University of Aberdeen, hope to answer questions of how they were governed during the time and how records of activity were kept, will build on previous studies from the two cities and digitized historical documents
German county court rules anti-Semitic art from 1305 can remain on the Stadtkirche in Wittenberg church facade as it is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the relief depicts a rabbi and other Jewish people underneath a pig, with a gibberish Hebrew inscription
Romanian Social Democrats (SPD) holds incumbent government's feet to the fire in new bid to issue vote-of-no-confidence against Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, charges allege clandestine alterations to electoral law without public debate, SPD were ousted on account of similar anti-graft charges in November
Former rebel leader Albin Kurti new prime minister of Kosovo after four months of haggling over government posts following the snap election due to Ramush Haradinaj resigning as he was summoned to a war crimes court, first defeat for ex-guerilla led PDK party who have dominated the country since its 2008 independence, Kurti who was dubbed Kosovo's Che Guevara in the 1990s says the government's goal will be a "socially just state"
19-year-old Islamistic terrorist with fake suicide vest shot dead by police after stabbing two people outside supermarket in south London during Sunday afternoon, perpetrator known by police after being sentenced for 13 terror offences in December 2018 and under active surveillance after being released after serving less than half the sentence despite authorities being concerned that he continued to hold extremist views, one victim in life-threatening condition
Spanish government to resume territorial claims on Gibraltar in the aftermaths of Brexit, insists before EU - Britain negotiations that reference to the issue be made in the EU:s opening statement, Spain granted right to exclude Gibraltar from any deals
Berlin parliament passes five year residential rent freeze and maximum of 1.3% increase per year thereafter, the law that passed by a close margin is critized by the opponents who say the cap will harm real estate investments, CDU members call the law unconstitutional and will challenge its legality in court
Brexit deal ratified by European Parliament by 621 votes to 49, MEPs sing Auld Lang Syne to mark the occasion, Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan tear into EU in farewell speeches
687 anti-Semitic acts in France during 2019, up from 541 during 2018, anti-Muslim acts at 154 compared to 100, anti-Christian acts stable at 1,052, no information regarding perpetrator backgrounds, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner calls hate crimes an intolerable attack on our common project and the foundations of our social pact
Police remove 1,436 migrants of which 1,187 single men from makeshift camp in northern Paris on Tuesday, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had promised to clear all city's migrant camps by the end of last year, some 20,000 people removed from camps in or near Paris in the past year
Scottish police kept secret 2016 Operation Cerrar where they took down Glasgow grooming gang, at least 44 young girls abused by at least 55 men – all perpetrators asylum seekers from Kurdish, Afghani, Egyptian, Moroccan, Turkish, Pakistani or Iraqi communities, operation came to light after Daily Express investigation
13 police officers injured after being pelted with stones, glass bottles and fireworks during leftist demonstration in eastern German city of Leipzig during Saturday, windows of several cars and buildings also damaged and journalists threatened as around 1,600 people protested the 2017 government ban of a left-wing extremist web forum, six people arrested, case against the ban to be heard in federal court on Wednesday
Germany's Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) says it investigates 550 Bundeswehr soldiers suspected of right-wing extremism, MAD head Christof Gramm says 14 cases of extremism including 8 right-wing were confirmed during 2019 and that an additional 40 individuals failed to uphold German constitutional values, 20 of the investigations concern the elite unit KSK
More than 9,000 people gathered in largest ever protest in Greek island of Lesbos' history to protest the migrant situation, over 20,000 migrants live in the island's camp and 50,000 in total live in camps on the northern Aegean islands
Shooting in Rot am See in Baden-Württemberg leaves six dead more injured, apprehended shooter reportedly knew the victims
Politicians wreak revenge on Dutch farmers for last year's protests, lower house votes in favour of mandating all tractors to carry license plates, keeping tabs on recalcitrant anti-government farmers cited as reason
Dozens arrested as French police resort to tear gas in effort to placate Yellow Vest protesters in Paris, Emmanuel Macron and his wife forced to leave theatre performance prematurely when protesters besiege the premises, longest French transport strike in decades
10-year-old boy stabbed in the street in Leicester during Saturday evening – police describes the suspect as light-skinned, chubby 178 cm South Asian mid-20s man wearing a brown jacket, boy's condition described as non-life-threatening and his mother who was with him is not physically injured
Viktor Orbán describes Austria as a natural partner of the Visegrád Group on migration issues at summit in Prague between V4 leaders and Sebastian Kurz, also wants to invite western Balkan countries seeking EU membership to a conference on Europe’s future
President Putin rejects returning to Soviet era practice of lifelong rulers dying in office without proper succession strategy, earlier said he wants to limit future presidents to two terms in power
Viktor Orbán describes George Soros as world’s number one oligarch who controls political activities via mafia-like network and exerts influence on European politics, after European Parliament adopted resolutions targeting political development in Hungary and Poland
Sex attacks on young girls by Asian grooming gangs ignored by South Yorkshire Police for fear of stoking racial tensions, despite knowing it has been happening for three decades, damning report reveals
Finance minister Sajid Javid aims to double Britain’s economic growth and says there will be no alignment with EU regulations post-Brexit, leaving the single market and customs union by the end of the year
Germany's population only growing due to migration, maximum 790,000 people were born during 2019 while 930,000 died with at least 300,000 net arrivals, the country has one of Europe's oldest populations due to chronic birth deficit in recent years
Inquiry reveals Manchester Police and Social Services turned a blind eye to Manchester pedophile ring in the early 2000s, 97 identified offenders systematically abused, groomed and raped underage girls
German police raid Chechen Islamists in four states after suspicion of "planning a serious violent act endangering the state", no mention of number of detained nor questioned by police, authorities prompted to carry out the raids after discovering suspicious cellphone pictures during police check
Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they intend to step down as senior royals, development foreshadowed by growing rifts in Buckingham Palace according to BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond, the couple will work towards financial independence through charity work
St. Thomas church in Leipzig vandalised over New Year's Eve, miscreants send rocks crashing through two 19th-century stained glass panels before smashing more than 20 art noveau panes, J.S. Bach held a tenure as Cantor at St. Thomas from 1723 until his death in 1750
Conservative incumbent Kitarovic neck and neck with liberal opponent Milanovic in Croatian presidential elections, support for conservative Croatian Democratic Union dwindles as rhetorical blunders mount, outcome will be predictor of upcoming parliamentary elections, Croatia assumed rotating EU presidency Jan. 1., meaning the winner will preside over upcoming Brexit proceedings
Austria’s Greens set to approve coalition deal struck on New Year’s Day with conservative ÖVP led by Sebastian Kurz, in move to keep FPÖ party from power and in hope for a climate-related tax reform in 2022
Muslim population of England passes three million mark for the first time and is fastest-growing faith group in the country, Christians become fewer, number of non-religious almost third of population
Resultant air-pollution from nuclear phaseout claims 1000 lives a year in Germany, renewal of coal-fired power spews an additional 36.3 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, net cost gauged to be 10 billion USD per annum according to American economists, study yet to undergo peer review
Electric cars projected to have a 100% market share in Norway by 2025, trend largely owes to tax exemptions for battery powered vehicles, 42% of cars sold in 2019 were electric with Tesla Model 3 as Norway's best-selling car of 2019
Man who stabbed four people in the town of Villejuif south of Paris shot dead by police, one person seriously injured in the attack which took place in Hautes-Bruyères State Park
Dutch fishermen from Urk encounter makeshift dinghy with Iraqi migrants en route to the UK, 16 men, 1 woman and 2 children towed to safety in Dunkirk, skipper Tiemen Klaas Wezelman says he's heard tell of similar stories, only never thought he would see it with his own eyes, sincerely doubts whether they would have been able to cover the remaining 65 km to the UK border
Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine start a full prisoner swap on Sunday, the swap in the Donetsk region is expected to see Ukraine hand over 87 separatists in exchange for 55 pro-government Ukrainians
UK Cabinet Office publishes home and work addresses of more than 1,000 recipients of New Years' Honours to government site, including Elton John, Ben Stokes and Iain Duncan Smith, Cabinet has reported itself to the Information Commissioner's Office
Record label boss Flamur Beqiri shot dead outside his London home on Christmas Eve was friends with Naief Adawi who was involved in 2008 GBP 7 million heist in Denmark and whose wife Dr Karolin Hakim was shot dead holding their two-month old baby in Malmö, Sweden in August
Dissident Ruslan Shaveddinov, key ally of Aleksei Navalny, is detained and sent on compulsory military service at military base on Novaya Zemlya, lawyers will challenge his conscription on medical grounds and argue he was illegally kidnapped and imprisoned
Record snowfall on Iceland cover nine meter tall buildings on northern part of Iceland, country has never had snow on same scale according to government employee, dozens of horses dead due to lack of facilities to protect them from extreme weather
Boris Johnson on collision course with EU in post-Brexit trade talks after he says there will be no alignment to EU rules once transition period ends in 2020, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar fears a harder Brexit after Tories' thumping General Election win
Vladimir Putin suggests in interview that law restricting Russian presidents to two consecutive terms could be removed - paving way for him to rule for life
Poland's lower house of parliament approves law allowing dismissal of judges questioning their peers’ legal status, ruling Law and Justice party says reforms necessary to tackle corruption and make judicial system more efficient, European Commission says legislation would imperil rule of law
British parliament votes in favour of Johnson's Brexit deal with 358 to 234 majority, concessions on issues like immigrants and workers' rights made by government during last hung parliament removed from Withdrawal Agreement Bill before vote
Boris Johnson considers decriminalising non-payment of BBC licence fee, comes after ministers boycott BBC Radio 4's Today programme due to pro-EU bias, says you have to ask yourself whether it makes sense to tax fund a particular media organisation while others manage to fund themselves
Emmanuel Macron says he hopes Britain won't be an unfair competitor against EU after Brexit as EU leaders express fears Britain might try to reinvent itself as a low-regulation rival
Flagship of Russian fleet Admiral Kuznetsov on fire after accident in Murmansk port, at least 12 injured and 3 missing, country's only aircraft carrier has had large number of serious accidents in last few years
Final Opinium survey ahead of Thursday UK election puts Tories on course to win majority with 45% to Labour’s 33% while one in ten voters yet to make up their mind, YouGov poll suggests hung parliament still very real possibility
Finland's Social Democrats name 34-year-old transportation minister Sanna Marin to become country’s youngest ever prime minister, heading the five-party coalition government which took office just six months ago, Marin won narrow vote among party leadership to replace Antti Rinne
German military suspends officer from elite unite after suspected ties to right-wing extremism following long investigation by military counterintelligence service, two soldiers suspected of making Nazi-era salute at private party in home of suspended officer
Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tells associates he plans to resign over political and legal crisis stemming from murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Muscat's chief of staff and two members of cabinet already stepped aside this week
Terrorist armed with a knife injures up to five people on London Bridge, several people struggles with perpetrator before police arrive, drag the suspect away and shoot him dead, comes two and a half years after 2017 terrorist attack on London Bridge
Hungary submits draft legislation to EU to amend country’s nuclear safety protocols to custom-fit EUR 12 billion expansion of its 2 GW Paks nuclear power plant with two 1.2 GW Russian-made VVER reactors, wants to accelerate project awarded to Rosatom in 2014
Hungarian government scheme to promote marriage and childbirth with tax benefits and subsidised loans produce boom in weddings with a 20% surge in number of weddings during first nine months of the year and the highest number since 1990
Labour Party wants to be most radical socialist government in British history by confiscating 10% of big companies’ shares, move to four-day week, nationalise rail, utility and water companies, and delist firms from stock exchange who fail to take adequate steps to deal with climate change
At least 25 illegal migrants found stowed away on cargo ferry bound for Britain shortly after leaving the Netherlands, vessel quickly returned to Dutch port of Vlaardingen
Boris Johnson refuses to name new EU Commissioner as UK don't make nominations for international appointments during election campaign, Brussels launches legal action against Britain with Ursula von der Leyen saying UK is in breach of its EU treaty obligations
Jeremy Corbyn says ISIS terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi should have been apprehended and not killed, in 2015 he called killing of Usama bin Laden a tragedy and in 2009 described Hamas and Hezbollah as friends, is called terrorist sympathiser by local vicar during Scotland tour