Europe

Irish pilot union suspends strike ahead of Ryanair talks

DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) — The union representing Ireland-based Ryanair pilots suspended upcoming strike action on Sunday after the no-frills airline agreed to talks. The Irish carrier on Friday offered to recognise unions for the first time after pilots in Ireland, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal threatened walkouts, throwing Christmas travel plans into chaos. The airline said Saturday it was prepared to meet representatives from Impact, to which the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) is […]

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Saudi crown prince ‘buyer of $300 million French chateau’

by Katy Lee Agence France Presse PARIS France (AFP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been revealed as the owner of a French chateau described as the world’s most expensive home, according to a report in the New York Times. The purchase of the vast property west of Paris for $300 million (275 million euros) would be the latest in a string of extravagant purchases by the powerful prince, who has been waging […]

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Four children dead as train collides with bus in southern France

MILLAS, France (AFP) — At least four children were killed and 19 people injured, seven seriously, on Thursday when a train crashed into a school bus at a level crossing in southern France. The bus, which was carrying around 20 students from a local secondary school, was struck by the train in Millas about 18 kilometers west (11 miles) of the city of Perpignan, close to the Spanish border in mid-afternoon. “The bus was very […]

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Heavy snow, high winds wreak havoc across Europe

by Danny Kemp with Robin Millard in London Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — High winds and heavy snow in Europe on Monday stranded thousands of travelers, kept schoolchildren at home and even played havoc with international diplomacy. It was the second day running of fierce weather across the continent, with Britain still digging out from its deepest snowfall in four years. The snowed-over runways in Brussels led to about 300 flight cancellations on […]

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Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘makes peace possible’: Netanyahu

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that recognising Jerusalem as his country’s capital “makes peace possible”, after widespread international criticism of the US decision to do so. US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week has been followed by days of protests and clashes in the Palestinian territories, as well as demonstrations across the Islamic world. The EU expressed alarm at the decision, which upends seven decades of US policy on […]

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Heavy snow causes travel mayhem in northern Europe

by Martine Pauwels Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The heaviest snowfall in four years in Britain caused travel mayhem Sunday, while more than 300 flights were cancelled at Germany’s busiest airport and a ferry ran aground in the French port of Calais. Hundreds of air passengers were stranded in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, as well as Britain, and many took to Twitter to complain. Some 330 flights were cancelled by 5:00 pm […]

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Russian strongman appears as “Superputin” in new exhibition

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — From a musclebound Superman to ice hockey player to jet pilot, Vladimir Putin plays various heroic roles in paintings at a Moscow exhibition called “Superputin” that opened this week as he began his campaign for a fourth Kremlin term. Displayed at an arts centre in a former factory in central Moscow, the paintings by various artists range from factual to fanciful, showing Putin cuddling a puppy, brandishing a Russian flag while […]

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Man charged with plot to kill British PM

LONDON, United States (AFP) — A 20-year-old man appeared in court on Wednesday charged with plotting to assassinate British Prime Minister Theresa May in a bomb and knife attack. Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman is accused of planning an explosion outside May’s Downing Street office then trying to enter the building with a suicide vest and a knife in a bid to kill her. State prosecutor Mark Carroll said Rahman planned to detonate an improvised explosive device […]

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Nearly 50 injured in Germany train crash: fire dept

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — At least 47 people were injured when a passenger train crashed into a freight train near the western German city of Duesseldorf on Tuesday, prompting a large rescue operation. At least three of the passengers were “badly hurt” while the vast majority suffered light injuries, the Meerbusch fire department said on Twitter, giving the overall toll. The train was carrying 155 people. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which happened […]

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One dead, two injured in Corsica airport shooting: sources

BASTIA, France (AFP) — One man was killed and two people were injured on Tuesday morning in a shooting at an airport on the French island of Corsica, emergency service workers told AFP. The shooting took place in a car park near the entrance of Bastia airport in the north of the Mediterranean island, leaving one man dead with a gunshot to the head, another with several bullet wounds and a third with minor injuries. […]

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Macron ‘concerned’ at US support for Jerusalem as capital

PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday spoke to US counterpart Donald Trump and expressed concern about designating Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Elysee palace said. “The French president has expressed his concern at the possibility of the United States unilaterally designating Jerusalem as capital of the state of Israel,” a statement said, referring to a phone call between the two leaders. Any such decisions must be “within the framework of negotiations […]

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Potassium cyanide killed war criminal: Dutch prosecutors

by Jo Biddle / Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK Agence France Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak likely died from heart failure after swallowing potassium cyanide, Dutch prosecutors said Friday, two days after his dramatic courtroom suicide in front of UN judges. “The preliminary results of the toxicological test showed that Mister Praljak had a concentration of potassium cyanide in his blood,” the Dutch prosecution said in a statement. “This has […]

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