US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Europe on Wednesday amid mounting fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. Mr Blinken will hold discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, before meeting with his British, French and German counterparts in Berlin. On Friday he will meet Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei […]
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning to world leaders that the coronavirus pandemic “is nowhere near over”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against the assumption that the newly dominant Omicron variant is significantly milder and has eliminated the threat posed by the virus. The intervention comes as some European […]
The Ukrainian government has accused Russia of being behind Friday’s cyber-attack on dozens of official websites. About 70 government websites were temporarily down, in the largest such attack on Ukraine in four years. Before the sites went offline, a message appeared warning Ukrainians to “prepare for the worst”. Access to most of the sites was […]
French police have arrested a suspect over the unsolved 2012 murder of a British family and a French citizen in the Alps. Few details were given, but police said a man was in custody “in order to do verifications regarding his schedule”. Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, Mrs al-Hilli’s mother Suhaila al-Allaf and a cyclist, […]
Coronavirus pandemic IMAGE SOURCE, EUROPA PRESS NEWS/GETTY IMAGES The World Health Organization has warned that half of Europe will have been infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 within six to eight weeks. Dr Hans Kluge said a “west-to-east tidal wave” of Omicron was sweeping across the region, on top of the surge of […]
James Landale Diplomatic correspondent @BBCJLandaleon Twitter Ukraine conflict Senior diplomats from the US and Russia are meeting in the Swiss city of Geneva for the first of a series of crunch talks aimed at defusing tension over Ukraine. The stakes for these talks on Monday are high. But both sides hold wildly different expectations. […]
A giant European Union flag displayed at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to mark France taking on the bloc’s presidency has been removed after it was criticised by right-wing politicians. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said “replacing” the French flag at the monument was an attack on the country’s identity. A government minister said […]
COP26 Denmark’s government has announced a goal to make domestic flights fossil fuel free by 2030. In her New Year’s address, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she wanted to “make flying green”. However she acknowledged that the solutions to reach her target were not yet in place. Denmark is aiming for a 70% cut […]
COP26 The European Commission has proposed plans to label some gas and nuclear power as green, prompting criticism from Germany. The proposal argues that gas and nuclear are key to helping transition to cleaner power. But Germany’s environment minister called the plan “absolutely wrong”. It comes months after countries pledged to keep temperature rises within […]
Coronavirus pandemic A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world’s remotest regions. Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus. Officials say cases remain […]
