DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) – Britain’s departure from the EU faced two separate legal challenges in Northern Ireland’s High Court Friday. Lawyers for one group lodged an application with the court to challenge London’s decision to abide by the June 23 referendum result and proceed to leave the European Union. In a letter last month, the group had asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to allow votes on the issue in both the British parliament […]
EU
Crisis deepens as Poland’s top court rejects contested reforms
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) – by Mary SIBIERSKI Poland’s Constitutional Court struck down more government reforms Thursday aimed at clipping its wings in a deepening constitutional crisis that has set Warsaw on a collision course with the EU. Chief Justice Andrzej Rzeplinski said the court found many sections of the July 22 law, adopted by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, “non-compliant with the Polish Constitution”. Pro-democracy protesters gathered outside the court building in central […]
Austria pushes EU to end Turkey membership talks
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – by Nina LAMPARSKI Austria’s government said Thursday that Turkey is unfit to join the European Union in the wake of the recent post-coup crackdown, calling for the bloc to discuss ending membership talks. Turkey’s longstanding, and recently revived, bid to join the EU has already been hit by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion that he may reintroduce the death penalty after the July 15 attempted putsch. “We have to face reality: […]
Bank of England cuts rates to record low on Brexit
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – by Roland JACKSON The Bank of England on Thursday slashed interest rates to a record low 0.25 percent and announced a vast stimulus package to combat economic fallout from Britain’s looming EU exit. Policymakers voted unanimously to reduce rates by a quarter-point, the bank said in a statement after its latest meeting, cutting borrowing costs for the first time in more than seven years. The BoE also delivered a £170-billion […]
Dutch activists sue government over air pollution
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – Dutch environmentalists said Tuesday they are suing the government over poor air quality, saying people’s “fundamental” rights to good health were being infringed. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the Milieudefensie group alleged “the Netherlands exceeds the legal standards for air quality and is violating fundamental human rights by doing too little to combat air pollution.” “This pollution causes thousands of deaths every year, and leaves tens of thousands of people […]
Key whistleblower in the Russian doping scandal, Yulia Stepanova, says she is not a traitor
Yulia Stepanova, the key whistleblower in the Russian doping scandal, said Thursday (July 28) she is not a traitor to her country. Her disclosure of state sponsored doping almost led to Russia being completely excluded from the Rio de Janeiro Games. “I don’t consider myself a traitor as they portray me in Russia. I think the traitors are those who have created the system. Those who give drugs to young athletes and ruining the future […]
Terror ‘contagion’ hits a fragile Europe
PARIS, FRANCE (AFP) by Joshua MELVIN The wave of terror attacks afflicting Europe is showing signs of “contagion”, experts warn, at a time when the continent is already in the throes of an existential crisis. In less than two weeks Islamic State group jihadists claimed four bloody assaults in France and Germany that killed nearly 90 people, wounded hundreds and left the continent on edge. Experts say each attack can inspire another, with jihadists egged on further […]
Syrian man dies carrying bomb in Germany; 12 injured
A 27-year-old Syrian man who had been denied asylum in Germany a year ago died on Sunday (July 24) when a bomb he was carrying exploded outside a music festival in Ansbach, Germany, a Bavarian state official told a news conference, according to a website. Bavaria Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the man had tried to commit suicide twice before. It was unclear if he had planned to commit suicide or “take others with him […]
Eyewitnesses talk of explosion in Ansbach
An explosion killed at least one person and injured 12 others near the German city of Nuremberg on Sunday(July 24) and authorities said it was believed to be intentional. Eyewitnesses spoke of a a loud bang and others of a rucksack exploding, and police later said the person killed in the blast, a man with a backpack, was likely carrying an explosive device and acted alone. There was no immediate information on his identity but […]
Spain seeks ‘urgent’ answers from London after nuclear sub collision
MADRID, Spain (AFP) – by Marianne BARRIAUX Spain said Thursday it had asked London for “urgent” explanations after a British nuclear submarine collided with a vessel off the coast of Gibraltar, forcing it to dock in the disputed territory. The incident sparked environmental fears as well as concerns it could lead to yet another diplomatic row between London and Madrid, which wants Gibraltar back centuries after it was ceded to Britain in 1713. The HMS Ambush […]
France probes possible security failings in Nice attack
PARIS, France (AFP) – by Andrea BAMBINO with Catherine MARCIANO in Nice French President Francois Hollande on Thursday promised “truth and transparency” from an inquiry into allegations of lax security the night of the Bastille Day attack in Nice that killed 84 people. “When there is a tragedy, or in this case an attack with many dead… there will naturally be questions,” Hollande said during a visit to Dublin, adding that the conclusions of the police probe […]
Doubt cast on German train attacker’s nationality
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – by Deborah COLE German authorities cast doubt Wednesday on whether a teenager who went on an axe rampage on a Bavarian train was really an Afghan refugee, saying he might have been from Pakistan. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the teenager was believed to be a “lone wolf” attacker who appeared to have been “inspired” by the Islamic State group but was not a member of the jihadist network. “This […]
