Europe

Four more survivors pulled from Italy avalanche hotel

PENNE, Italy (AFP) — Emergency workers on Saturday pulled four more survivors from the ruins of an Italian hotel buried under an avalanche three days ago, after the “miracle” rescue of a woman and four children on Friday. Two women and a man were pulled out around 3:00 am (0200 GMT) and another man was extracted soon after dawn from the ruins of the Rigopiano hotel in the mountains of central Italy. The latest operations […]

Survivors pulled from Italy avalanche hotel

by Ella Ide with Angus Mackinnon in Rome Agence France Presse PENNE, Italy (AFP) — Italian rescuers on Friday began pulling survivors from the ruins of a mountain hotel, two days after it was buried under a devastating avalanche. Amidst relief that anyone at all had survived, there was confusion over the exact numbers located and extracted amid conflicting updates from different branches of the emergency services. But there were hopes that a total of […]

Royal Navy disposes of suspected WWII bomb in London

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s Royal Navy has disposed of a suspected World War II bomb discovered in London’s River Thames close to parliament, leading to the closure of two bridges, police said Friday. “Victoria Embankment has now reopened after police and the Royal Navy worked together to remove a suspected WWII ordnance,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Police were called at 5.15pm (1715 GMT) on Thursday to reports of a suspected […]

Build bridges not walls, protesters tell Trump in London

LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — A banner reading “Build bridges not walls” was draped across London’s Tower Bridge on Friday (January 20) as part of a series of events across the world aimed at expressing displeasure at the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president. Protesters on the iconic bridge held up pink letters reading “Act now!” soon after sunrise while others unfurled the banner over the railings and a speedboat with a black flag […]

Search and rescue work continues at Italy avalanche hotel

PENNE, Italy (Reuters) — Rescue workers at a base camp in Penne, some 10 km (6 miles) away from a mountain hotel buried by an avalanche, prepared to continue their search efforts on Friday (January 20) morning. Rescuers dug all night in deep snow and debris looking for some 30 missing people who were staying in the luxury hotel in central Italy when an avalanche struck almost two days ago. Officials have confirmed finding two […]

French Socialists say left can unite during final debate before presidential primary

SAINT-CLOUD, France (Reuters) — Candidates fighting for the Socialist party nomination for French president said during a televised debate on Thursday (January 19) before presidential primaries at the weekend that the left could unite despite being squeezed by competition on all sides. The French left will start to pick which of the seven eligible candidates will represent it at presidential elections in the spring during a two-round contest which begins on Sunday (January 22). But […]

Reeling Italy hit by quake triple-punch

  By Angus Mackinnon ROME, Italy (AFP)– Three earthquakes hit central Italy Wednesday in a seismic triple-punch that brought fresh terror to a snowbound mountainous area still reeling from deadly quakes last year. The epicentres were all close to the town of Amatrice, where nearly 300 people died in an earthquake in August. There were no reports of casualties in the three hours after Wednesday’s first shock struck at 10:25 am (0925 GMT). Monitors put […]

Assange welcomes Obama’s decision to commute Manning sentence: lawyer

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday welcomed the decision by US President Barack Obama to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, jailed for leaking classified US documents, while calling for an end to a “war on whistleblowers”. “I welcome President Obama’s decision to commute the sentence of Ms. Chelsea Manning from 35 years to time served,” Assange said in a statement sent to AFP by one of his lawyers. He […]

EU ‘has no need for outside advice,’ France’s Hollande says of Trump

PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Francois Hollande replied bluntly on Monday to Donald Trump’s criticism of the European Union, saying the EU “has no need for outside advice” on its affairs. “I say it here, Europe will always be willing to pursue transatlantic cooperation, but it will determine its path on the basis of its own interests and values,” Hollande said at a ceremony in Paris for outgoing US ambassador Jane Hartley. “It has […]

Trump accuses Merkel of ‘catastrophic mistake’ over migrants

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel made a “catastrophic mistake” in letting migrants flood into Germany, US President-elect Donald Trump said in a newspaper interview Sunday. He blamed the refugee crisis for being the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and triggered Britain’s vote last year to leave the European Union. “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know, taking all of the people […]

Trump suggests Russia deal on nuclear arms, sanctions: London Times

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for a deal with Russia that would “very substantially” reduce nuclear arsenals and ease sanctions against Moscow, in an interview published by The Times. “They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it,” Trump said. “But Russia’s hurting very […]

Europe’s deep freeze claims new victims

WARSAW, Poland (AFP) – Sub-freezing temperatures across swathes of Europe have claimed almost 60 victims in recent days — notably in Poland, Romania and the Balkans — with migrants and the homeless among the most vulnerable, officials said on Tuesday. Six people died in Poland and seven more in the Balkans over a 24-hour period as temperatures plunged across Europe, while Romania announced six deaths in recent days. Authorities in Warsaw said the toll of […]