Europe

Quake hits remote New Zealand islands, no tsunami warning

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand’s remote Kermadec Islands on Wednesday but authorities said there was no tsunami threat. The quake struck at 4.19pm (0419GMT) at a depth of 111 kilometres (69 miles), with its epicentre 770 kilometres northeast of Auckland, the US Geological Survey said. “Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake,” the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The uninhabited […]

7 wounded including 2 British tourists in Paris knife attack

by Gregory DANEL / Romain FONSEGRIVES Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Seven people including two British tourists were wounded Sunday in Paris after they were attacked by a man armed with a knife and an iron bar, according to police and other sources. A source close to the inquiry said the suspect, believed to be an Afghan national, has been arrested. “Nothing at this stage shows signs of a terrorist nature in these assaults,” […]

British Airways hacked with details of 380,000 bank cards stolen

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Airways said that the personal and financial details of customers making bookings between August 21 and September 5 had been stolen in a data breach involving 380,000 bank cards. The almost two week long hack did not involve travel or passport details, the airline said, adding that it had launched an urgent investigation into the theft of customer data. “The personal and financial details of customers making bookings on […]

UK seeks two Russian spies over nerve agent attack

by Alice Ritchie and Antoine Pollez Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that two Russian spies carried out a nerve agent attack on a former colleague in Britain, as prosecutors named the suspects and issued a warrant for their arrest. Prosecutors announced charges against Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov for trying to kill Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok in the […]

Double stabbing at Amsterdam station in possible terror attack

by Germain Moyon with Jan Hennop in The Hague Agence France Presse AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch police were investigating Saturday a suspected terror attack at Amsterdam’s Central Station, in which two people were stabbed before the knifeman was shot by police. The assailant was identified as an 19-year-old Afghan man with a German residency permit. “We are seriously taking into account that there was a terrorist motive,” Amsterdam police spokesman Frans Zuiderhoek told AFP. […]

London’s new train line delayed for nearly a year: CEO

LONDON, United States (AFP) — London’s new train line, which was set to open through the city centre in December, has been put back for nearly a year, the Crossrail project announced Friday. “We have made huge progress with the delivery of this incredible project but we need further time to complete the testing of the new railway,” Crossrail chief executive Simon Wright said in a statement. © Agence France-Presse

France’s Environment Minister Hulot announces resignation

PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot, one of the most popular members of President Emmanuel Macron’s government, announced his resignation on Tuesday. “I am taking the decision to leave the government,” he said on France Inter radio, adding that he felt “all alone” on environmental issues within the cabinet. © Agence France-Presse

Catholic Pope ‘begs for God’s forgiveness’ for sexual abuse scandal

  by Joseph Stenson and Catherine Marciano Agence France Presse KNOCK, Ireland (AFP) — Pope Francis in Ireland Sunday “begged for God’s forgiveness” for the child sexual abuse scandal rocking the church but faced accusations by a former Vatican official that he had personally ignored allegations against senior clergy. Francis is due to speak in front of some 500,000 faithful in Dublin’s Phoenix Park as part of his two-day visit to the former Catholic stronghold […]

Catholic Church’s Pope Francis faces calls for action over abuse, ‘shame’ in Ireland

  by Joseph Stenson and Catherine Marciano Agence France Presse DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis expressed “pain and shame” over the Church’s failure to deal with abuse and met with eight victims during a visit to Ireland on Saturday where the prime minister pressed him to take action. Francis said the “failure of ecclesiastical authorities… adequately to address these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source […]

6 dead in Bulgarian tourist bus crash: minister

  SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) — Sixteen people died after a tourist bus crashed along a winding road in west Bulgaria on Saturday, interior minister Alentin Radev said, after rushing to the scene of the accident. “Thirteen people were killed on the spot and three others succumbed to their injuries,” Radev said after arriving at the site of the deadly crash 57 kilometres (35 miles) north of the capital Sofia. Twenty-six people were also injured in […]

Abuse scandals loom over pope’s landmark Ireland visit

  by Joseph Stenson in Ireland with Joe Jackson in London Agence France Presse The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis faces calls to take tougher action against abuse as he visits Ireland this weekend — a country where multiple scandals have badly damaged the image of the church. The pontiff arrives on Saturday for his first visit to this former bastion of Catholicism, which was last visited by a pope in 1979 when Pope John Paul […]

Raging forest fire bears down on German villages

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A large forest fire raging 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Berlin continued to spread early Friday after hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. The smell of acrid smoke reached as far away as the capital as more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of woodland burned outside the city of Potsdam. Around 600 people were told to leave their homes in three villages in Brandenburg state late Thursday as […]