Europe migrant crisis Belarus’s threat to cut off gas supplies to Europe would be a breach of contract with Russia, President Vladimir Putin has warned. In a TV interview, Mr Putin said President Alexander Lukashenko may have made the threat in a fit of temper. Mr Lukashenko is facing new sanctions over a growing migrant […]
By James Gallagher & Michelle Roberts BBC News Coronavirus pandemicWhile many European countries are seeing steep rises in coronavirus cases and preparing to step up Covid restrictions, the UK has been going in the other direction. Experts say differences in levels of immunity and people’s behaviour are the likely explanations. The UK had been seeing […]
Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority said it was because of illegal migrant crossings from Belarus into the European Union. The UN Security Council has accused Belarus of using the migrants to destabilise the EU’s eastern border. The EU is lobbying countries in the Middle East to take similar measures. Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has threatened […]
Coronavirus pandemic Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced Western Europe’s first partial Covid lockdown of the winter, with three weeks of restrictions for shops, sport and catering. He said that the annoying, drastic move was in response to record infections and rising intensive care cases. Police have fired water cannon against hundreds of […]
Europe migrant crisis Western members of the UN Security Council have condemned Belarus’s actions in the escalating migrant crisis on its border with Poland. In a strongly worded statement, they accused Belarus of using the migrants to destabilise the European Union’s eastern border. Russia, a key ally of Belarus, rejected the accusations. Earlier, Belarus’ […]
By Jenny Hill BBC News Leipzig, Germany Coronavirus pandemic One of Germany’s top virologists has warned that a further 100,000 people will die from Covid if nothing’s done to halt an aggressive fourth wave. Case numbers have soared and Germany on Wednesday registered its highest rate of infection since the pandemic began, with almost […]
Poland says it has repelled attempts by migrants to enter the country at its eastern border with Belarus, warning that thousands more were on the way. Video footage showed hundreds of people near a barbed-wire border fence, which some tried to force their way through. The Polish government called a crisis meeting on Monday and […]
Europe migrant crisis One of Spain’s busiest airports shut down for nearly four hours on Friday after an apparent attempt by migrants to enter the country illegally. A plane flying from Casablanca in Morocco to Istanbul, Turkey, was diverted to Palma de Mallorca after a medical emergency was reported aboard. When the jet landed, […]
By Alison Roberts BBC News, Lisbon Portugal’s president has announced plans to dissolve parliament and call a snap election on 30 January. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa cited the national assembly’s rejection of the government’s draft budget for 2022 – the first such occurrence in decades. He said the budget would be crucial as Portugal tries […]
Europe’s top human rights organisation has pulled posters from a campaign that promoted respect for Muslim women who choose to wear headscarves after provoking opposition in France. The Council of Europe released the images last week for a campaign against anti-Muslim discrimination. A slogan on one advert read: “Beauty is in diversity as freedom is […]
