Europe

Slowing time? EU wants to delay clock change move to 2021

Editorial Bureau March 5, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A committee at the European Parliament on Monday gave the thumbs up to scrapping the twice-yearly clock change in the European Union but with a two-year delay to 2021. Last year, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker kicked off the debate with his proposal

Europe

Ahead of EU elections, Macron unveils plan for ‘European renaissance’

Editorial Bureau March 5, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron has made an impassioned defence of a new Europe in a newspaper column published in each of the 28 member states in which he laid out his ideas for a “European renaissance” ahead of EU elections in May. Calling the vote decisive and warning of a Europe in […]

Europe

Church ‘not afraid of history’: Pope Francis to open secret Pius XII archives

Editorial Bureau March 5, 2019

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Saying the “Church is not afraid of history”, Pope Francis announced on Monday he plans to open fully the Vatican’s secret archives on the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII, a historic move that Jews have sought for decades. Many Jews say Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, did not […]

Europe

EU executive hits back at Hungary’s Orban ahead of elections

Editorial Bureau March 5, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union executive accused Hungary’s nationalist government on Monday of distorting the truth about immigration into the bloc, marking a further deterioration in their troubled relationship ahead of European Parliament elections in May. The EU has long been critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stance on migrants and

Europe

Italy’s centre-left PD picks new leader a year after election rout

Editorial Bureau March 4, 2019

ROME (Reuters) – Nicola Zingaretti, the governor of the central Lazio region, was elected as head of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) on Sunday, one year after the group lost power in a humbling national elections defeat. More than 1.6 million PD supporters cast ballots at makeshift voting booths around the country, the party said, […]

Europe

Murdered Polish mayor’s deputy wins by landslide to replace him

Editorial Bureau March 4, 2019

WARSAW (Reuters) – Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the former deputy of murdered Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, won a landslide victory in elections to replace him in the northern Polish city, preliminary results showed on Monday. The murder of Adamowicz, a liberal critic of the anti-immigrant policies of Poland’s government, during a charity event in January provoked a

Europe

Ukraine’s Tymoshenko – ‘gas princess’, prisoner, and next president?

Editorial Bureau March 4, 2019

KIEV (Reuters) – Yulia Tymoshenko has been Ukraine’s prime minister twice, was the global face of a revolution, imprisoned by two different presidents, and the target of an operation to discredit her by President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager. Now the 58-year-old known for her fiery rhetoric and, once upon a time, for her peasant […]

Europe

Estonian centre-right opposition wins elections

Editorial Bureau March 4, 2019

TALLINN (Reuters) – Estonia’s opposition centre-right Reform party pulled off a surprise win over Prime Minister Juri Ratas’ governing centre-left Centre party in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. The results put Reform leader Kaja Kallas in the pole position to become the country’s first female prime minister, although she will have to tackle

Europe

Germany likely to extend halt on Saudi arms exports, source says

Editorial Bureau March 2, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government on Friday said it would decide before the end of March whether to extend its halt on weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia, making it likely the embargo will continue beyond the current deadline of March 9. A source familiar with the situation said the freeze in arms shipments to […]

Europe

German students walk out of school in climate change protest

Editorial Bureau March 2, 2019

Germany (Reuters) – Thousands of students in the German port city of Hamburg marched out of school on Friday led by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to call for more action on climate change. The protest is part of a global movement known as “School Strike 4 Climate” or “Fridays For Future” launched last […]