Europe
Europe
Ukrainian air defense shoots down 40 Russian drones and 41-year-old is killed by falling debris, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko writes on Telegram to residents to stay in shelters and that the attack is massive
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin proclaims that Russia has taken the city of Bachmut and films himself a few kilometers from the frontline while Ukraine says it still controls some facilities, US President Joe Biden says the Russians have lost 100,000 soldiers in the battle for the city while it is unclear how many Ukraine has lost
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes the decision of the French Senate to recognize the Holodomor famine in Ukraine in the years 1932 and 1933 as a genocide against the Ukrainian people and believes that it is another important step towards the restoration of historical justice
The President of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Vsevoloda Knyazêv is arrested by anti-corruption authorities on suspicion of accepting a bribe of almost EUR 2.5 million from a businessman in exchange for a favorable court decision, on Monday, Ukrainian authorities published a photograph of money piled on a couch that was allegedly found during the investigation
The German newspaper Bild is stopping publication about corruption in Albania ahead of Sunday's local elections because Washington is behind Prime Minister Edi Rama, according to journalist John Schindler who has reported on how the country has become Europe's drug stronghold and that there is an Albanian angle in the scandal surrounding money laundering suspect FBI agent Charles McGonigal
Authorities in Poland decide to henceforth call the Russian exclave Kaliningrad by the Polish historical name Krolewiec, says the Russian name is artificial and arouses bad feelings in Poland as the name comes from the Soviet politician Mikhail Kalinin who was responsible for the death of over 20,000 Poles during the Katyn massacre in 1940
Russian prominent writer and defender of the Ukrainian war Zakhar Prilepin survives but is injured by car bomb that explodes while traveling in Nizhny Novgorod region while his driver dies, Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh consisting of ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars has claimed responsibility
King Charles III is crowned king and his mistress later consort Camilla is crowned queen in the first coronation since Queen Elizabeth II's in 1953, the service included leaders from various faiths and the king in the coronation oath asked to be a blessing to all children of every faith and belief
Hoodies as well as ski masks and motorcycle helmets are being banned from Romford shopping centers in London as a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, 24-year-old Mohamed Amraoui thinks it's the dumbest thing he's ever heard and says there's a lot of diversity in the area, 18-year-old Saleem Ahmed ponders on what he should do if it rains and he is not allowed to pull up his hood
Russia expels more than 20 German diplomats after Germany decides to expel employees of Russian diplomatic missions, and strongly condemn this actions of Berlin, which it says continues to damage the relationship between the two countries
British authorities are testing alarms that last ten seconds in mobile phones even if the owner has them on silent, criticisms such as privacy and that victims of violence who have a secret extra phone can end up in danger as well as car drivers wondering what is making the wailing sound
A few hundred protesters invade the lobby of the Euronext exchange in Paris, chanting, among other things, "we are here, even if Macron does not want us here", after three months of protests as a result of raising the retirement age to 64
European Commission rejects Poland and Hungary's ban on imports of Ukrainian grain on the grounds that it is not up to individual countries to make trade policies, import bans were announced on the grounds of protecting domestic agriculture
Germany begins on Saturday to close its last three nuclear power plants, was supposed to be decommissioned last year but the energy crisis led to the government postponing it, on Thursday 20 scientists and Nobel laureates sent an open letter to the government urging them to rethink
Russia demands official explanation from Armenia about its participation in NATO exercise and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says its refusal to host the Russian military alliance CSTO's military exercise does not contribute to the security of the region
The Greek parliament votes through a law change which means that the National Party (NP), which reached the parliamentary threshold of 3 percent in opinion polls, is banned from standing in the elections next month, the party was founded two years ago by Ilias Kasidiaris, who is serving a 13-year prison sentence for his participation in the banned party Golden Dawn
Former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and former president and prime minister Hashim Thaçi is on trial at the Hague court accused of war crimes during the Kosovo War including complicity in the murder of 102 people during conflict between the KLA and Serbian forces in 1998 and 1999
Amsterdams Schiphol airport aims to scrap night flights from 2025 and ban private jets during certain times to reduce noise and CO2 emissions, confirms this could raise holiday costs
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is vowing to end the systematic rape, exploitation and abuse of young girls by organized gangs which she says are made up almost entirely of British-Pakistani with cultural attitudes totally incompatible with British values and say their activities are an open secret
Alternative for Germany (AfD) publishes interactive map of crimes committed by asylum seekers and people with residence permits, consists so far of 100 crimes since February 21, citizens want to know where the aggressor comes from, says the party's Stephan Brandner
Britain's Labor Party's governing body, after voting on a motion by current party leader Keir Starmer, bans former party leader Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a parliamentary candidate for the party in the next election, the conflict is said to have arisen over alleged anti-Semitism and how it was handled
The Farmer-Citizen Movement party, founded in 2019, becomes the largest party in the provincial election in the Netherlands, despite at least ten parties spending more on advertising in mainstream media and social media, party leader and founder Caroline van der Plas says their campaign is
Six dead after Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on Thursday morning, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, critical infrastructure and residential buildings in ten regions have been hit and according to the military administrations, 40 percent of the population of Kiev was
Leaked messages show former UK health secretary Matt Hancock writing to advisers in December 2020 about scaring the pants off everyone with the new variant and wondering when it will be distributed, as well as his secretary mocking the public being forced into isolation, Hancock's ministry
Farmers block the streets of Brussels with more than 2,700 farm vehicles during Friday protesting a plan to cut nitrate levels, the debate over agricultural pollution is a focal point of the upcoming Dutch elections and is increasingly turning into a political issue in many of the EU's farming
EU delays final vote on ban on selling new combustion engine cars and vans from 2035 after Germany, Italy, Poland and Bulgaria among other countries oppose the measure, the vote was supposed to be a formality after the EU Council and the European Parliament had reached an agreement as a part
Iceland's median age is 36.7 years while the EU as a whole stands at 44.4 years with Ireland at 38.8 having the lowest figure, the median age in the EU has increased by 2.5 years since 2012 which means an increase of 0.25 years per year, Sweden and Malta the only countries without an increase
Support for Alternative for Germany increases to 17 percent from having received 10.3 percent in the election in September 2021 and will then become Germany's third largest party, according to a YouGov poll published on February 10, 2023, The Greens get 16 percent, member Petr Bystron (AfD )
Ursula von der Leyen visits Kyiv together with 15 commissioners in the first meeting between the College of commissioners and the Ukrainian government, according to von der Leyen the meeting should send a strong signal of its unwavering commitment to stand by Ukraine's side for as long as it
71,000 UK children reportedly suffering from long Covid, common symptoms include fatigue and brain fog, 14 hubs across England dedicated to treating children with long Covid, no mentions of vaccination status in the article
The two people arrested accused of preparing a cyanide and ricin terror attack motivated by Islamic extremism in Germany are two Iranian brothers, the 32-year-old primary subject came to the country as a refugee claiming to be a persecuted Christian, his older brother is previously convicted
Naked headless corp found floating on beach in Marbella, Spain, the woman, who was in her 30s, had deep cuts to her stomach and severed hands and is believed not to have been in the water for long
Belarus legalizes digital piracy from "unfriendly countries", passes law allowing Belarusian authorities to seize money, securities and property rights of foreign citizens and companies for "unfriendly actions"
32-year-old Iranian man arrested in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia for allegedly preparing an Islamist-motivated attack using ricin and cyanide, another person also arrested during the operation and taken into custody
Prince Harry writes in forthcoming memoir that he killed 25 Taliban during his service in Afghanistan and that all were filmed, has qualms about the war but no moral ones, still believes in the mission and the only shots he regrets are the ones he never fired
Vladimir Putin's announced Orthodox Christmas truce is short-lived and both sides blame each other, Volodymyr Zelensky describes it as an attempt to buy time while Russia insists it respected the truce but repelled attacks by Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine
250,000 migrants were prevented in 2022 from entering Greece via the border crossing in the Evros region according to Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos, the government plans to extend the current 40 kilometer fence by another 35 kilometers
England and Wales publish the first census data covering sexual orientation and gender identity, 1.5% of people aged 16 and over identify as gay or lesbian, 1.3% as bisexual and 0.3% as "other", 0.5% do not identify with their birth sex, highest LGBT percentage in Brighton and Hove with 10.7%
Denmark had zero bank robberies in 2022 compared to one in the year before, only about 20 bank branches handle cash and cash withdrawals have decreased by three quarters in the last six years, criminals are instead turning to ATMs, which has been a big problem in, for example, German Saxony
New immigration debate in Germany after attacks on police and emergency services during the New Year's Eve celebrations in ethnically diverse urban areas across the country with 27 Afghans and 21 Syrians arrested, the violence is said to have triggered memories of the New Year's Eve in 2015/16
Residents in the English village of Creaton with a population of 500 frightened over government plan to house up to 400 asylum seekers in a nearby hotel, MP Chris Heaton-Harris says he gave the Home Office a long list of reasons why the hotel is a totally unsuitable location to place so many
During 2022 the Netherlands had a net increase in population of 227,000 as 400,000 people immigrated, just over a quarter came from Ukraine and immigration from Asia and the Middle East increased compared to previous years, 15 percent of the inhabitants of the country, that is Europe's second
Netherlands pays EUR 8.7 million to relatives of victims in Srebrenica during Bosnian war as the country's peacekeeping force failed in mission, thousands more claims pending
German doctor sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for illegally issuing mask-wearing exemptions to more than 4,000 people, dozens gathered outside the Weinheim court to protest the verdict and Germany's pandemic laws
690 cars were set on fire in France during the New Year celebrations, 21 percent fewer than last year, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin
Kosovo closes main border crossing with Serbia after protesters on Serbian side been blocking it, only three crossings still open after two others have been closed since 10 December
The Belgian enclave of Baarle-Hertog closes streets overcrowded with Dutch fireworks tourists, the municipality of 3,000 has six fireworks shops because sales in the Netherlands are only allowed during the last three days of the year, Mayor Frans De Bont says residents have had enough as they
German energy company Uniper, which made a loss of EUR 40 billion in the first nine months of the year, and the German subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom are nationalized after missing gas deliveries from Russia, the EU says in its approval of the deal that distortions of competition are limited
The foreign ministers of the EU countries agree to set a price ceiling on the gas price, Belgium and Poland are positive, while Germany, among others, is worried about the supply as the ceiling limits the companies' ability to buy liquid natural gas on the world markets, Hungary votes against
Thuringian Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) opens up about preparing to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party using the raid on the Reichsbürger movement as a pretext, saying the party is clearly unconstitutional and barely conceals its desire to eliminate the free democratic order
16-year old British teen attacked from behind by group of masked men on his way home from school in Fenton, England, was taken to hospital with a broken nose and jaw and chipped teeth, according to a statement from Staffordshire police around 10 people are believed to be involved and they are
Christmas markets in Düsseldorf are closed and evacuated after threats, according to information to Bild, a caller allegedly threatened to drive a truck into the market at the city hall, the operation ended at 6 p.m. on Monday (German)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opens up for Russian confiscated funds to be used to rebuild Ukraine, refers to 300 billion euros from Russia's central bank reserve and 19 billion euros from Russian oligarchs, also suggests setting up court to prosecute the country
Lufthansa reaches settlement with group of Orthodox Jews who were denied boarding on connecting flights because some of them refused to wear masks upon entry, the airline apologizes for the incident on May 4 this year when, according to German media, staff denied all passengers who were visibly identifiable as Jews to board their connecting flight, Berlin Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal says German companies should be sensitive to possible antisemitism in light of the country’s Nazi past
Nurse Antje T, 39, in Germany who injected salt water instead of the covid-19 vaccine into 8,600 elderly is sentenced to six months of probation for six counts of intentional assault, expressed vaccine skepticism on social media during the pandemic and apologized during the trial
French baguettes are included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, had a fixed price until 1986 and are standardized at 80 cm and 250 grams, exact origin still unclear
The Russian Foreign Ministry summons Norway's ambassador Robert Kvile over Norway's arrest of Russian citizens for drone flights, which have been illegal for Russians since the outbreak of war, particularly Andrey Yakunin, the son of Putin-allied oligarch Vladimir Yakunin, who was arrested in October after the crew of his yacht flew drones at Svalbard
The white proportion of the population in England and Wales is falling from 86 percent in 2011 to 81.7 percent in 2021 and the first time ever that less than half of the population describes themselves as Christian, according to new statistics from the UK's Office for National Statistics, and in the cities of Leicester , Luton and Birmingham the whites are now in the minority
Belgian cities rocked by mass riots after Morocco’s fans took to the streets to celebrate their team’s victory over Belgium in the World Cup, the country hosts over 500,000 people of Moroccan descent, scenes of violence quickly spread with them burning vehicles, looting shops, and attacking a police station