Category: Europe

Trump brings Churchill bust back to Oval Office

President Donald Trump restored the bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office immediately after assuming the presidency on Friday, the most notable move in an aesthetic redecoration of the space. Trump signed his first executive orders at the Resolute Desk before new gold curtains with a blue trim, a new sunburst-patterned carpet and new brocade couches.

The Prime Minister Goes All In

“Brexit means Brexit,” Theresa May said in July 2016 when she replaced David Cameron as Britain’s prime minister. Since then, May has continued to insist that Brexit will mean Brexit, but without offering even a taste of what Brexit means.

Apology over evidence heard in inquest of Tunisia terrorist attacks

THE families of Britons killed in a terrorist attack in Tunisia have received an apology after they had to sit through “distressing” inquest evidence with no prior warning. The hearing, into the deaths of the 30 British holidaymakers in Sousse in June 2015 – including Blackwood mum-of-four Trudy Jones – began with an apology to the relatives in court yesterday.

Obama speaks to Merkel in final call with foreign leader

President Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday in his final conversation with a foreign leader as president. Both leaders agreed maintaining close ties between the U.S. and Europe is “essential to ensuring a a rules-based international order and the defense of values that have done so much to advance human progress in our countries and around the world.”

Germany reviewing nearly 550 migrants deemed a security risk

Germany said on Wednesday it would review the cases of nearly 550 asylum seekers who have been deemed a security risk, spurred by new questions about the handling of a Tunisian migrant who killed 12 people last month at a Berlin Christmas market. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told lawmakers the country’s Joint Terrorism Task Force would look carefully at each of the 547 people identified as a security risk to determine if they needed to be deported or taken into custody.

Britons tell of ‘chaos’ as they arrive home from Gambia amid political unrest

British tourists check in at Banjul Airport, Gambia, for special flights after the threat of a regional military intervention loomed British holidaymakers told of a “chaotic” scramble to get them on flights out of Africa when they landed home from crisis-torn Gambia. The first UK tourists arrived at Manchester Airport, speaking of a hurried operation to get them back to Britain as foreign troops massed on the country’s border.

Holiday chiefs ‘didn’t want to scare Tunisia tourists with army of police’

The Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, where 30 Britons were killed in an attack by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui in June 2015 Tour operators wanted to increase security in Sousse before 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack, but did not want holidaymakers to be “scared by seeing an army of police”, an inquest has heard. The hearing into the deaths of 30 Britons in the Tunisian resort in June 2015 was told that in a meeting a month before the attack there was a discussion about police security and how it could make tourists feel “uncomfortable”.

The Latest: British Supreme Court to rule on Brexit Tuesday

Britain’s Supreme Court says it will give its highly anticipated judgment in a legal battle over Brexit next week. Britain’s highest court will deliver its judgment on Jan. 24 on whether Prime Minister Theresa May can formally begin the process of leaving the European Union without Parliament’s approval.

German Greens choose centrist duo for election campaign

In this Nov. 12, 2016 file photo party chairman Cem Ozdemir, left, and parliamentary faction leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt talk during a party convention of the Green party in Muenster, western Germany. Germany’s traditionally left-leaning Greens on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 chosen the two centrists to lead them into this year’s election, in which the party could be a key to forming a new government.

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Britain will quit the EU single market when it leaves the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday, in a decisive speech that set a course for a clean break with the world’s largest trading bloc. Setting out a vision that could determine Britain’s future for generations and the shape of the EU itself, May answered criticism that she has been coy about her strategy with a 12-point plan towards what has been dubbed a “hard Brexit”.

Presidential Adviser: Poland Should Increase Military Ties with US

Polish Army and U.S. Army soldiers attend the opening ceremony of the Anaconda-16 military exercise, in Warsaw, Poland, June 6, 2016. Krzysztof Szczerski, President Andrzej Duda’s top foreign policy adviser, was speaking days before the new U.S. administration that has signaled a friendlier approach to Russia takes power in Washington.

Poland wants to increase its military ties with the US

Krzysztof Szczerski, President Andrzej Duda’s top foreign policy adviser, was speaking days before the new U.S. administration that has signaled a friendlier approach to Russia takes power in Washington. Szczerski also suggested that Poland would welcome the re-election of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, Poland’s largest trade partner with whom relations have soured since Polish conservatives came to power a year ago.

Polish opposition slams ruling party’s electoral reform plan

Poland’s opposition leaders say that changes to electoral law proposed by the ruling party are aimed at helping the party win local elections next year and remove opponents from office. The head of the ruling conservative party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland’s most powerful politician, has said he wants new regulations to limit to two the number of terms served by city and town mayors as well as local community heads.

Spain arrests Moroccan suspected of praising terrorism

Spain’s Interior Ministry says police have arrested a Moroccan suspected of praising terrorism by promoting armed Islamic groups on the internet. A ministry statement said the man arrested Tuesday on the Canary Islands’ city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria used a popular social media network to spread propaganda for the teachings and armed actions of extremist groups such as Syria’s Fatah al-Sham Front, which is considered linked to al-Qaida.

Theresa May Brexit speech: We do not want ‘half-in, half-out’ EU deal

Theresa May is to give further details of her plans for Brexit in a speech in which she will declare she does not want an outcome which leaves the UK “half-in, half-out” of the European Union. Extracts released by Downing Street in advance of the much-awaited address are likely to fuel speculation that the Prime Minister is ready to take Britain out of the European single market and customs union, though it remained unclear whether she will give a definitive answer on the question.

Theresa May set to deliver her 12-point Brexit plan

Prime Minister Theresa May will give further details of her plans for leaving the European Union in a key speech on Tuesday. Extracts released by 10 Downing Street suggest Mrs May will set out her 12 negotiating objectives and say the UK will not settle for a “half-in, half-out” policy, fueling speculation Britain will leave the single market and customs union.

Theresa May Brexit speech: We do not want ‘half-in, half-out’ EU deal

Theresa May is to give further details of her plans for Brexit in a speech in which she will declare she does not want an outcome which leaves the UK “half-in, half-out” of the European Union. Theresa May is to give further details of her plans for Brexit in a speech in which she will declare she does not want an outcome which leaves the UK “half-in, half-out” of the European Union.

EU Parliament speaker vote could strengthen eurosceptics

European Parliament’s presidential candidate Gianni Pittella attends the announcement of the candidates for the election to the office of the President at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, January 16, 2017. The European Parliament elects a new speaker on Tuesday in an unusually hotly contested vote that could strengthen eurosceptic forces at a time when the EU faces British moves to leave and questions about its future role.

Northern Ireland sets March 2 election after government collapse

Northern Ireland’s former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness leaves Assembly at Parliament Buildings in Stormont in Belfast, Northern Ireland, January 16, 2017. Britain’s Northern Ireland minister called an early election on Monday for March 2 following the collapse of the region’s power-sharing government that risks a lengthy period of political paralysis just as Britain prepares for talks to leave the EU.

European leaders shocked as Trump slams NATO and E.U., raising fears…

European leaders said Monday that they may have to stand alone without the United States once Donald Trump enters office, raising the prospect of an unprecedented breach in transatlantic relations after Trump’s comments that the European Union is bound for a breakup and that NATO is obsolete. Trump said in a weekend interview with the Times of London and Germany’s Bild newspaper that the 28-nation European Union was a vehicle for German interests and said that he was indifferent to the bloc’s fate.

Pence tries to calm worries about Trump’s foreign policy

Vice President-elect Mike Pence attempted to calm European fears on Monday that President-elect Trump is pulling the United States away from its traditional allies and toward Russia. Speaking on Fox News, Pence said Trump’s statements to foreign newspapers that NATO is obsolete that caused a stir Monday, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Europe’s fate is in “our own hands,” shouldn’t be seen so negatively.

An inquest is taking place into the death of Lance Corporal James Brynin

A British soldier will not face prosecution over the death of a comrade on an Afghan battlefield four years ago, an inquest has heard. The inquest into Lance Corporal James Brynin’s death was halted after six days of evidence last year amid fears the fatality, which was initially suspected to have been caused by “friendly fire”, may have been a homicide.

Sheridan Nicol on dancing and teaching the stars

IF A movie were to be made of Sheridan Nicol’s life story the opening scenes would reveal the woman she was set to become. A five-year-old is riding her pink trike down Main Street in Larkhall, near where she lives in the flat above the shop in which her father makes cabinets and coffins.

Merkel or Putin: Trump won’t be drawn on who he trusts more

Days away from being sworn in as US President, Donald Trump isn’t saying who he trusts more — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a longtime US ally, or Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump called it a draw — at least for now, in a joint interview conducted on Friday by German publication Bild and the Times of London.

Air pollution on Scots streets ‘causing public heath crisis’

Air pollution is causing a public health crisis in Scotland, environmental campaigners have said with five new “pollutions zones” declared over the last year. In 2016 new official pollution zones were declared in Linlithgow and Newton in West Lothian, Johnstone and Renfrew in Renfrewshire, and with Edinburgh’s Salamander Street coming into force later this month, taking the number up to 38 across the country.

Britain may change ‘economic model’ if shut out of EU single market: Hammond

FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Foreign Minister Philip Hammond and Foreign Ministry Political Director Tim Barrow arrive with fellow G7 foreign ministers for a working session, the fourth session of the their meetings in Hiroshima, Japan April 11, 2016. Britain could change its economic model to regain competitiveness if it were to leave the European Union without an agreement on market access, British finance minister Phillip Hammond said in a German newspaper interview published on Sunday.