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MADRID, Spain (AFP) – More than 1,000 people were evacuated after a wildfire fuelled by intense heat roared through brush surrounding a popular tourist resort on Spain’s Costa Blanca, officials said Monday. The blaze which broke out on Sunday near the Mediterranean resort of Javea, up the coast from the popular holiday spot of Benidorm, has so far destroyed 320 hectares (790 acres) of land and several buildings, local emergency services said. Authorities said they believe […]
CALAIS, France (AFP) – by David COURBET Benjamin MASSOT Angry French truckers and farmers blocked the main routes in and out of the port of Calais on Monday to call for the closure of the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp. Around 70 trucks mounted a “go-slow” on the A16 motorway — the main artery for freight and passengers heading for Britain either via the Channel Tunnel or on board ferries from the port. Dozens of farmers […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – by Frank ZELLER German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Monday to “win back trust” of voters angered by her open-door refugee policy, while admitting her share of responsibility for her conservatives’ humiliating election loss to an anti-migrant party. “Everyone now needs to think about how we can win back trust — most of all, of course, myself,” Merkel said, speaking on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China a day after […]
DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) – by Douglas DALBY Ireland’s fragile minority government agreed Friday to recommend an appeal against the EU’s tax ruling on Apple but said it was recalling parliament early to debate the issue. The deal overcomes a split in cabinet surrounding the 13 billion euros ($15 billion) plus interest that the EU says Apple owes in back taxes, putting Ireland at the centre of a row between Europe and the United States. Apple […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain will seek a “unique” deal on leaving the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Downing Street office said Wednesday, after ministers held their first Brexit talks since the summer break. The government wants to control immigration from the EU while retaining strong trading ties, despite warnings from other nations that single market access is incompatible with limits on the free movement of people. Britain voted to leave the EU […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – by Danny KEMP The EU ordered tech giant Apple on Tuesday to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, a move Washington warned could damage hugely important transatlantic economic ties. Brussels said Apple, the world’s most valuable company, avoided virtually all tax on its business in the bloc by illegal arrangements with Dublin which gave the company an unfair advantage over competitors. Apple and the Irish government […]
DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) – by Douglas DALBY The European Commission’s demand for Apple to pay Ireland some 13 billion euros in back taxes has put the country in the strange position of refusing the windfall for fear of scaring away valuable investment. Rather than welcoming the cash — equivalent to around five percent of its gross domestic product — the government has vowed to appeal the ruling, fearing an ever greatest cost to its […]
CHIMAY, Belgium (Reuters) — An explosion at a sports centre in the southern Belgian town of Chimay early on Friday (August 26) killed one person and wounded four others, two of them seriously, Belgium’s Crisis Centre said. “It is probably a gas explosion,” an official at the agency told Reuters, adding that there was no indication of it being a militant attack. Local media reported the blast occurred just after midnight (2200 GMT) at a […]
EU Parliament President Martin Schulz lent his support to Colombia’s peace process on Tuesday (August 23) even as he cited a concern over democracy in neighbouring Venezuela. On a visit to Bogota where he met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Schulz praised the agreement between Bogota and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). “We expect this will be a decisive, sustainable and lasting peace process. We believe it will be a good […]
RIGA, Latvia (AFP) – by Mike Collier with Mary Sibierski in Warsaw US Vice President Joe Biden promised unwavering commitment to NATO’s collective defence Tuesday as he sought to reassure Baltic allies spooked by a resurgent Russia and White House hopeful Donald Trump. “Let there be no doubt — America’s Article 5 commitment is rock solid and unwavering,” Biden said, referring to a cornerstone of NATO that an attack on one member state is considered […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – The number of tourists visiting France has dropped seven percent since January, with foreigners deterred by terror attacks but also by bad weather and transport strikes, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Monday. “Tourist arrivals since the start of the year have fallen by seven percent across the country,” with Paris worst- hit, said Ayrault, who is also tourism minister. France is the world’s top tourist destination. The sector accounts for around nine […]
ABOARD the GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI aircraft carrier, Italy (AFP) – by Hervé ASQUIN Ella IDE The leaders of France, Germany and Italy insisted Monday that Britain’s decision to quit the European Union would not kill the bloc. Speaking aboard an aircraft carrier anchored off the Italian island of Ventotene, one of the cradles of the dream of a united, integrated Europe, the leaders vowed to relaunch the European project in the wake of the Brexit shock. […]
