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by Will Vassilopoulos Agence France Presse ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday declared a state of mourning after a freak overnight downpour with the force of a “waterfall” flooded three towns near Athens, killing at least 15 people. “At this time, declaring a state of national mourning over this great tragedy is the least we can do,” Tsipras said in a televised address. “I pledge that we will stand next […]
by Andrea Palasciano with Maria Isabel Sanchez in Caracas Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Venezuela signed a debt restructuring deal with major creditor Russia on Wednesday, as ratings agencies declared Caracas in partial default. The country is seeking to restructure its foreign debts, estimated at around $150 billion, after it was hit hard by tumbling oil prices and American sanctions. A Venezuelan delegation led by Finance Minister Simon Zerpa signed the deal restructuring $3.15 billion of […]
by Anuj Chopra and Valerie Leroux Agence France-Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Lebanon’s premier Saad Hariri will travel to France “in the coming days, a French presidential source said Wednesday, after Beirut accused Saudi Arabia of detaining him following his shock resignation. International pressure has been mounting for Hariri to return to Beirut after his prolonged stay in the kingdom since he announced in a televised speech from Riyadh on November 4 that he would […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday dismissed Prime Minister Theresa May’s biting criticism, saying she was vilifying Moscow in an attempt to distract the British public from domestic problems. “British society is not going through the best of times due to the process of the country’s departure from the European Union and an internal schism,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry’s website. “It is quite clear that […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French investigators searched the offices of French-Swiss cement maker Lafarge Tuesday, the company said, as part of an enquiry into financial links to jihadist groups in Syria, including Islamic State. “French investigators are in the process of investigating our offices,” a Lafarge spokeswoman told AFP, confirming a report to that effect by France Inter radio. “We are cooperating fully with investigators, but we cannot make any further comment on this ongoing inquiry,” she […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Poland’s right-wing leaders on Monday spoke out against xenophobia after a controversial Independence Day march organised by far-right groups. Having started small in 2009, the annual event attracted a large following this year, with police estimating the crowd on Saturday in Warsaw at around 60,000. While many marchers denied membership of or sympathy for extreme right groups, the event also drew representatives of far-right parties from Britain, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia, among others. […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called Monday for “non-interference” in Lebanon, after the country’s prime minister announced his surprise resignation in a televised statement from Saudi Arabia. “For there to be a political solution in Lebanon, it is necessary that all of the political leaders have total freedom of movement and that non-interference is a fundamental principle,” Le Drian said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. […]
by Anna Maria Jakubek Agence France Presse WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Carrying Polish flags and throwing red smoke bombs, tens of thousands of people on Saturday joined a march in Warsaw organized by far-right nationalists to mark independence day, while counter-protesters rallied against fascism. The annual march also attracted a considerable number of supporters of the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party to honour the reestablishment of Poland’s independence in 1918. This year’s slogan […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Several hundreds of people rallied in Brussels on Sunday to back the independence push in Catalonia, slam the EU and demand Spain release jailed regional officials. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium, was a no-show at the demonstration that included pro-independence European Parliament members and several members of the exiled regional government. “Democracy in Spain is not only sick, it is practically dead,” Spanish MEP Josep-Maria […]
by Alfons Luna Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday he wanted to return to a “democratic and free” Catalonia as he aimed to rally support for a unified Spain on his first visit to the turbulent region since it declared independence. A day after hundreds of thousands of people marched in Barcelona to demand the release of separatist officials detained over their independence drive, Rajoy called on […]
by Robin Millard © Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — On Remembrance Sunday, Prince Charles will lay Queen Elizabeth II’s wreath honouring Britain’s war dead as she watches on — a rare public symbol of the 91-year-old gradually scaling back her duties. It will be a milestone moment in the otherwise imperceptibly slow-motion process, as her eldest son, now 69, increasingly steps up on her behalf. Experts said Britain’s oldest-ever monarch would never consider abdication or […]
by Hugues Jeanneaud © Agence France-Presse TOULOUSE, France (AFP) — A man “deliberately” rammed his car into a group of pedestrians, injuring three Chinese students one of them seriously, near the French city of Toulouse on Friday, authorities said, adding that the attack was not linked to terrorism. The 28-year-old driver, who was arrested immediately afterwards in the city’s Blagnac suburb, “purposefully hit three people” on a crosswalk, Toulouse prosecutor Pierre-Yves Couilleau said. The suspect, a […]
