Two firefighters have died and 47 people have been injured after an explosion at a bakery in Paris. Ten of them are in a critical condition. A gas leak is believed to be the cause of the blast and fire in the 9th arrondissement on Saturday morning
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Paris bakery ‘gas explosion’ kills two
Gas leak believed to be cause of blast and fire in capital on morning of gilets jaunes rally
Two firefighters have died in a massive explosion caused by a “pocket of gas” in a six-storey building in Paris.
Another 47 people were injured, 10 of them critically, including a third fire officer, in the blast in the 9th arrondissement of the capital on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Macedonia’s parliament votes to accept new name
Country will become Republic of North Macedonia when Greece ratifies agreement
Macedonia’s parliament passed an amendment to the constitution on Friday to rename the country Republic of North Macedonia in line with an agreement with Greece to put an end to a 27-year-old dispute.
The two countries struck the deal on the new name in June, but Macedonia will start using it only after the parliament in Athens also ratifies the agreement.
Continue reading...Parts of Europe blanketed by heavy snowfall – video
Heavy snowfall has caused chaos in Germany and Austria, as both countries remain on high alert. Several people have died in weather-related incidents. Troops have been deployed to help residents and helicopters are clearing snow from trees to stop it from falling on cars.
Continue reading...Will the radical right consolidate power in the heart of the EU this year? | Cas Mudde
May’s European elections offer a chance for the resurgent far right to collaborate, consolidate – and bend the EU to its will
Every five years, millions of Europeans across the continent go to the polls to elect their national members of the European parliament. This May we’ll be doing so again, in what could be a watershed election for rightwing populists.
Although radical right parties won pretty big in the past two European elections, their influence within the various umbrella groups that make up the European parliament’s power blocs remained limited. This year, most rightwing populist parties may make only modest seat gains. But they also have the opportunity to create, for the first time, a serious rival to the centrist political groups that until now have dominated the EU’s governing body.
Continue reading...Heavy snow brings chaos and death to Germany and Austria
Alpine regions remain on high alert after 12 people are killed in weather-related incidents
Parts of Germany and Austria remain on high alert after extreme snow in Alpine regions, where 12 people have died in weather-related incidents.
A nine-year-old German boy was the latest victim of the extreme weather, which has resulted in residents becoming snowed-in and motorists trapped for hours in freezing temperatures.
Continue reading...New far-right German party adopts former secret Nazi symbol
AfD politician quits to set up party that uses symbol of 1930s Austrian Nazis in logo
A German politician has left the far-right Alternative for Germany to set up a new party with a logo that uses a symbol adopted as a secret sign by Austrian Nazis in the 1930s.
André Poggenburg resigned from his post as the AfD’s regional leader in eastern Saxony-Anhalt state last year after labelling Turks as “camel drivers” and immigrants with dual nationality a “homeless mob we no longer want”. He announced his resignation from the party in an email sent to the leadership earlier this week.
Continue reading...Planned wild boar cull in Poland angers conservationists
Mikołaj Golachowski describes plan as ‘evil’ and warns of environmental consequences
Conservationists have branded plans by the Polish government to cull almost the entire wild boar population of the country as “pointless, counterproductive and evil”.
In a move to tackle an epidemic of African swine fever, the Polish government has ordered a series of hunts, beginning this weekend, with the aim of killing the vast majority of the country’s population of around 200,000 wild boar.
Continue reading...From China to Russia, world is blanketed in white – in pictures
Heavy snowfalls in Europe, Asia and the Middle East have left a world of white across thousands of kilometres
Continue reading...Teenage Australian boy killed in Austrian avalanche while skiing with family
Sixteen-year-old dies after he and his mother were swept away while skiiing at St Anton am Arlberg
A 16-year-old Australian boy has been killed in an avalanche in Austria, local police said.
The boy was skiing with his parents and 14-year-old brother at St Anton am Arlberg, western Austria, on Wednesday, when he and his mother were swept away by the avalanche, local news reports said. His mother was able to escape unhurt, but the boy was buried in 2m of snow.
Continue reading...Matteo Salvini says Italy and Poland could build new Europe
Italy’s interior minister strives to forge far-right alliances before European elections in May
Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has said that Italy and Poland could trigger a “European spring” that could break the dominant “Germany-France axis” as he strives to forge far-right alliances before the European parliamentary elections in May.
Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right League, travelled to Poland on Wednesday for strategy meetings with members of the ruling Law and Justice party. The two parties share similar anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and Eurosceptic views.
Continue reading...Norwegian millionaire’s wife likely to have been kidnapped, say police
£8m ransom reportedly asked for release of 68-year-old Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen
The wife of a Norwegian multimillionaire missing for 10 weeks has probably been kidnapped and a ransom has been demanded for her release, police have said.
Married to a real estate and energy magnate, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, disappeared on 31 October, police said.
Continue reading...Spanish far-right party to back rightwing coalition in Andalucía
Vox supports regional government after dropping demands including expulsion of migrants
The far-right Spanish political party Vox has agreed to support a new, rightwing Andalucían regional government after dropping its demands for the expulsion of 52,000 “illegal immigrants” and the repeal of laws on domestic violence and gender equality.
Vox, which secured its first parliamentary seats in December’s Andalucían election, had also called for Spain’s autonomous regional governments to surrender the responsibilities for education, health and public order that they were handed after the end of the Franco dictatorship.
Continue reading...MPs to get vote on three-day deadline for May to present ‘plan B’
Bercow allows debate on amendment aimed at stopping government ‘running down clock’ to no deal
- Follow the latest political developments - live updates
- What to expect from Brexit debate and Commons vote
The Speaker, John Bercow, has allowed MPs to debate an amendment that could force Theresa May to present a new Brexit plan within three days if her current proposal is voted down, a decision likely to enrage the government.
Bercow has selected an amendment led by the Conservative MP Dominic Grieve to the business motion that sets up the latest five-day debate on the prime minister’s plan, which will culminate in a crunch vote next Tuesday.
Continue reading...Daughter of Italian mafia boss names Paris restaurant Corleone
Lucia Riina, youngest child of Salvatore ‘Totò’ Riina, names establishment after crime family’s home town
The daughter of a notorious Sicilian mafia boss has opened a restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris called Corleone.
Lucia Riina, a painter and the youngest child of the late “boss of bosses” Salvatore “Totò” Riina, named the establishment after her father’s home town and the crime family in Francis Ford Coppola’s award-winning Godfather trilogy of films.
Continue reading...Oxfam condemns EU over ‘inhumane’ Lesbos refugee camp
Violence so bad that women wear nappies at night to avoid leaving tents, report says
The EU has been strongly criticised over conditions in Greece’s largest refugee camp, where Oxfam reported women are wearing nappies at night for fear of leaving their tents to go to the toilet.
The British-based NGO described the increasingly dangerous state of the EU-sponsored Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, where a 24-year-old man from Cameroon was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday as temperatures fell below freezing.
Continue reading...Ex-boxer apologises for hitting police officer during ‘gilets jaunes’ protest – video
A former French boxing champion who was filmed punching police officers during a gilets jaunes protest has said in a video that he had 'boiled over' after being teargassed alongside his wife on his eighth Saturday protest
Continue reading...Germany recession fears grow, but trade war optimism boosts markets – business live
All the day’s economic and financial news, as Germany’s factories suffer a 4.7% annual drop in output
- Latest: Trump’s trade war tweet
- Introduction: German industrial output slumped in November
- Analysts: Recession risks have increased
- ING: German economy still strong
- Minister: Don’t badmouth Germany
Trade Optimism Trumped Weak European Economic Sentiment today, says Fiona Cincotta of City Index.
She explains
Global markets bounced higher on Tuesday as optimism grows over a US – Sino trade deal. A strong Asian session spilled into Europe, although markets pared gains as Wall Street opened owing to increasing tech concerns.
US and China extending trade talks for another day has been interpreted as a positive sign by the markets. Whilst no reason was given for the extension, Trump’s tweet that the talks “were going very well” was sufficient to lift sentiment boosting appetite for riskier assets such as stocks, whilst safe haven gold declined.
With US and China working to resolve their issues, the Fed promising to remain flexible and the US economy firing on all cylinders it is easy to see why sentiment is on the up. Obviously, this is not the end of US – China trade tensions by a long shot, ad there will almost certainly be further bumps and twists along the way but for now the markets are happy with the slow steady progress which it perceives has been achieved.
This comes hot on heels of downbeat German factory orders, which dropped by -4.3% in November. These are the latest signs that the eurozone economy is slowing, as trade tensions sap momentum for the powerhouse of Europe.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index of top shares has closed 50 points higher at 6861 points, a gain of 0.75% today.
Optimism that Beijing and Washington are making progress in their trade negotiations lured investors into buying shares, following the recent sell off.
FTSE 100: The percentage of traders net-long is now its lowest since Sep 19 when FTSE 100 traded near 7343.4. https://t.co/8uGQ7iiKO5 pic.twitter.com/mR1klOf9uC
Continue reading...German cyber-attack: man admits massive data breach, say police
Man, 20, driven by ‘annoyance’ at statements made by politicians and celebrities
A 20-year-old man has admitted to police that he was behind one of the country’s biggest data breaches, in which the private details of almost 1,000 public figures were leaked.
The man, who lives with his parents in the central German state of Hesse and is still in the education system, told police he had acted alone and was not politically motivated.
Continue reading...Trump administration downgrades EU’s status in US, without informing Brussels
Downgrade of diplomatic role seen as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration
The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the EU mission in Washington, without informing the mission or Brussels, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Related: Trump calls European Union a 'foe' – ahead of Russia and China
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