Europe

Germany ends nuclear era as last reactors power down

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 by Sebastien ASH Germany will switch off its last three nuclear reactors on Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age. Europe’s largest economy has been […]

Pres. Macron signs France pension reform into law despite protests

Paris, France | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 by Baptiste PACE and Stuart WILLIAMS French President Emmanuel Macron signed his controversial pension reform into law Saturday, defying three months of protests and pleas from unions not to implement the legislation. The alterations became law after the text was published before dawn in France’s official journal, prompting accusations from the opposition Macron was seeking to smuggle it through in the depth of the night. The publication came […]

French court to have final say on pensions reform

Paris, France (AFP) by Alice HACKMAN France’s top constitutional court is to rule Friday on whether to approve President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular pensions overhaul after months of protests. A green light from the heavily guarded institution would pave the way for the head of state to sign the changes into law and ensure they are implemented by year-end. Experts believe the most likely scenario is that the nine-member body will censure some non-essential parts […]

Bodies of three Italian skiers found after avalanche

Rome, Italy (AFP) — Rescuers on Friday recovered the bodies of three Italian skiers killed in an avalanche the day before in the Alps on the French-Italian border. The bodies of three men, all Italian, were found early Friday and taken to the city of Aosta for formal identification, a spokesman for the Valdostano Alpine Rescue, Tiziano Trevisan, told AFP. Their guide, an experienced off-piste skier, managed to free himself after the avalanche hit the […]

Germany FM urges China to tell Russia to stop war

Beijing, China (AFP) by Sebastien Ricci, with Sophie Makris in Berlin German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Beijing Friday to ask “the Russian aggressor to stop the war” in Ukraine, saying “no other country has more influence on Russia than China”. Speaking after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing, Baerbock said she had also expressed concerns about human rights issues and warned of the dangers of escalating tensions with Taiwan. Her […]

IMF chief urges world to avoid a ‘second Cold War’

by Daniel AVIS Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Countries must do more to avert the costly consequences of growing global trade fragmentation and help avert a “second Cold War,” the International Monetary Fund’s managing director said Thursday. “I am among those who know what are the consequences of a Cold War: it is loss of talent and contribution to the world,” Kristalina Georgieva said during a press conference at the official start of […]

Norway expels 15 ‘intel officers’ at Russian embassy

Oslo, Norway | AFP | Thursday 4/13/2023 Norway on Thursday announced the expulsion of 15 “intelligence officers” working at the Russian embassy in Oslo. “The 15 intelligence officers have been engaging in activities that are not compatible with their diplomatic status,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement. According to the statement the “officers” had been declared “personae non gratae,” and that they must leave “shortly.” Contacted by AFP, the Russian embassy in Oslo […]

Ukraine farmer risks life clearing shells from fields

by Anna MALPAS Agence France-Presse NOVOGRYGORIVKA, Ukraine (AFP) — His fields peppered with Russian shells, Ukrainian farmer Vitaliy Sydor has resorted to desperate measures to clear explosives from the land himself so he can plant crops. “I bought metal detectors and had a bit of a look on the Internet,” said Sydor, 28. He had no protective equipment, he admitted, and relies on a friend with army experience. His village, Novogrygorivka, in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv […]

Brigitte Macron turns 70, hoping to avoid the headlines

by Adam PLOWRIGHT Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French first lady Brigitte Macron turns 70 on Thursday, but don’t expect her to talk about it. “Wait for April 13, 2023 when I’m going to be 70,” she told women’s lifestyle magazine S in January with barely disguised dread about the coming flood of news articles. “You’re going to hear about it, I’m sure. “I won’t read a thing that day.” Brigitte, who has three […]

Sun, wind power make record 12% of world electricity: survey

Paris, France | AFP | Wednesday 4/12/2023 Solar and wind energy surged to make a record 12 percent of the world’s electricity in 2022, a climate think tank calculated in a report Wednesday — though coal remained the leading source globally. The report provides the latest gauge of renewable energy growth as countries scramble to meet emissions targets to curb climate change and secure alternative power sources after gas-exporter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February […]

Zelensky blasts Russian ‘beasts’ over beheading video

Kyiv, Ukraine | AFP | Wednesday 4/12/2023 Graphic Content Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced Russian “beasts” after a video appeared to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner, prompting international outrage. The emergence of the footage, which AFP was unable to independently verify, sparked fury in Ukraine, with Kyiv saying Russia is “worse than ISIS” — a reference to the Islamic State group. The European Union pledged to hold war criminals to account, while a […]

Macron praised in China for ‘brilliant’ Taiwan comments

  Beijing, China | AFP | Wednesday 4/12/2023 Emmanuel Macron’s unexpected suggestion that Europe not “follow” US policy on Taiwan is being hailed as a “brilliant decision” this week in China, where state news outlets and social media users are lauding his independence. The French president sowed confusion across the international community — and left Western allies bristling — after calling for “strategic autonomy” on Taiwan following last week’s trip to China, where he met […]