Europe

Fired bodyguard contradicts French presidency on Macron contacts

Editorial Bureau January 1, 2019

  PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron’s former security advisor said he had been in regular touch with the president and top officials since losing his job, contradicting official denials of continued contacts with an aide at the centre of a damaging political firestorm.

Europe

France’s Macron pledges more reform medicine in ‘decisive’ 2019

Editorial Bureau January 1, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s embattled president, Emmanuel Macron, vowed on Monday to press on with his reform agenda in 2019 despite a spate of “yellow vest” protests that have challenged his government and extended a plunge in his approval ratings. Promised overhauls of France’s unemployment benefits, civil service and public pensions will be

Europe

Man held at Amsterdam airport after bomb threat; departure hall reopens

Editorial Bureau January 1, 2019

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A departure hall at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was briefly cleared on Monday after a man claimed to have a bomb, national police said in a statement. No explosives were found at the airport, the police said, adding that the arrested person held for questioning is a 51-year-old Canadian man. The statement did […]

Europe

Thousands protest against Serbian president

Editorial Bureau December 31, 2018

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbians protested against President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party in downtown Belgrade on Saturday. Thousands of people chanted “Vucic thief” as they marched peacefully through the city centre in the fourth such protest in as many weeks. They demanded media freedoms, an end to attacks on journalists and

Europe

Sacked Macron bodyguard defends use of diplomatic passports

Editorial Bureau December 31, 2018

PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron’s former security aide, who was sacked this summer after his violent conduct fuelled a political scandal, acknowledged on Sunday he was still travelling on a diplomatic passport, in an affair that has rattled the French presidency. After he was fired when a video emerged of his beating a May Day […]

Europe

Merkel urges divided Germans to pull together in 2019

Editorial Bureau December 31, 2018

BERLIN (Reuters) – Acknowledging that her government disappointed many Germans in 2018, Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pull the country together for 2019 with a call for solidarity and cooperation to overcome deep political divisions. In her New Year speech, Merkel said she recognised that many Germans “bemoaned” the ruling coalition that took office

Europe

Italy PM backs halting arms sales to Saudis

Editorial Bureau December 29, 2018

ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday his government was in favour of halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia and it intended to take a formal position on the matter. “We are not in favour of the sale of these weapons and so now it is only a question of formalising […]

Europe

Merkel, Macron demand Russia release Ukrainian sailors

Editorial Bureau December 29, 2018

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded on Friday that Russia release Ukrainian sailors it captured along with their ships last month in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea with the Azov Sea. Moscow accused the 24 sailors of illegally crossing the Russian border. Ukraine said Russia […]

Europe

Brexit won’t affect Spain-based Britons’ rights, PM Sanchez says

Editorial Bureau December 29, 2018

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sought on Friday to reassure Britons living in Spain, saying their rights would remain unchanged after Britain’s exit from the European Union. The government was working on measures to ensure Spain-based Britons would keep their rights even if Britain crashed out of the EU without a deal […]

Europe

Albanian PM reshuffles cabinet after student protests

Editorial Bureau December 29, 2018

TIRANA (Reuters) – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama replaced eight cabinet ministers on Friday amid a wave of student and anti-corruption protests, and urged his year-old government to think harder about how to make its term “one of achievements”. Students seeking a halving of fees and a doubling of the university education budget have been […]