Europe News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Russia's Putin torpedoes G8 efforts to oust Assad

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:42:36 +0100

By Andrew Osborn and Maria Golovnina ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Russia's Vladimir Putin derailed Barack Obama's efforts to win backing for the downfall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at a G8 summit on Tuesday, warning the West that arms supplied to the rebels could be used for attacks on European soil. After two days of intense talks that fell far short of what Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron had been hoping for, Putin fumed against Western moves to supply weapons to rebels while defending his own supplies of arms for Assad. ...

Spanish royal tax fraud case founders on mistaken identity

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:42:37 +0100

By Fiona Ortiz MADRID (Reuters) - A fraud investigation of Spain's Princess Cristina was thrown into disarray on Tuesday when the Tax Agency said it had been mistaken in reporting she had been the seller of 1.4 million euros ($1.87 million) worth of properties. Cristina, daughter of King Juan Carlos, is under investigation for alleged tax fraud as part of a wider corruption probe against her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who is charged with embezzling 6 million euros of public funds. ...

Italy court sentences man for school bomb murder

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:36:29 +0100

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian court sentenced a man to life imprisonment on Tuesday for the murder of 16-year-old Melissa Bassi, who died when a homemade bomb exploded outside her school in the southern city of Brindisi in May last year. Giovanni Vantaggiato, 69, confessed to building and placing the bomb in a rubbish container near to both the school and a court building, which also injured nine other people. He said he wanted vengeance for a court ruling which he felt had not given him justice. ...

Man 'Threw Ex-Wife's Body Off Cruise Ship'

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:31:52 +0100

A man has been charged over the cruise ship death of his ex-wife - seven years after her body was found off the Italian coast.

France's Hollande open to Iranian presence at Syria talks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:18:37 +0100

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday opened the door to Iran attending a Syria peace conference, but reiterated that there was no future for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Global leaders called for the so-called Geneva 2 talks to be held as soon as possible to end the Syrian civil war but they avoided mentioning the fate of Assad in a final G8 summit communique in Northern Ireland. ...

French sailor freed after pirate attack, Nigeria says

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:16:42 +0100

ABUJA (Reuters) - A French sailor was freed on Tuesday after being captured by pirates last week from his ship off the coast of Togo and taken to Nigeria, a military commander said. Pirates attacked the oil products tanker Adour on June 13, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Togo. General Bata Dembiro, a commander in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region, said the Nigerian navy and French marines stormed the vessel after the hijackers seized it, but they took Benjamin Elan hostage to enable them to escape. They released the other 14 crew, he said. ...

French sailor freed after pirate attack - Nigeria

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:10:53 +0100

Bosnian Serb president relents over urgent Croatia border deal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:25 +0100

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The Serb member of Bosnia's presidency agreed on Tuesday to new border rules needed for when neighbouring Croatia joins the EU in July, reversing his position from Monday when he rejected the deal. Nebojsa Radmanovic, the Serb chairman of the presidency that he shares with Muslim and Croat members, said that he changed his mind after getting a green light for the deal from the leadership of the autonomous Serb Republic. ...

Polish PM - 'no concessions' on £2 billion bill from EU road-builders

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:33:37 +0100

WARSAW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday Poland would not bow to political pressure over bills from foreign construction firms of about 10 billion zlotys (2 billion pounds) for work carried out under an EU-backed road-building programme. Tusk said he was "not impressed" by a letter from the ambassadors of Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal urging Poland to explain why roads agency GDDKiA had not paid the firms what they say they are owed. ...

EU mismanaging 1 billion euro aid programme to Egypt - report

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:16:48 +0100

By Ethan Bilby BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is failing to ensure that hundreds of millions of euros in aid to Egypt is used effectively and to make the Islamist government tackle corruption and human rights abuses, a European Court of Auditors report said on Tuesday. The Luxembourg-based agency said the 1 billion euro (832.1 million pounds) package for Egypt from 2007 to 2013 was funnelled primarily into the state budget, despite graft and a lack of transparency in public spending. ...

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Merkel wants more German spoken in EU

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:53:15 +0100

By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's conservatives want to increase the use of German in Europe if they are re-elected in September, calling in their campaign programme for the language to be treated on a par with English and French in top Brussels institutions. "German is the most frequently spoken native language and one of three working languages of the European Union," a draft programme from Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), reads. "We will push for a further strengthening of the German language in ...

Russia moves to ban adoption by foreign gay couples

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:09:52 +0100

Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed a bill which would place tough restrictions on adoption to countries where same-sex marriages are legal, following France's vote last month allowing such unions.

French footballers' trial adjourned on point of law

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:25:41 +0100

The trial of Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema for having sex with an under age prostitute was adjourned shortly after opening on Tuesday pending resolution of a point of law which may result in the charges being dropped.

WHO urges tougher food marketing rules to curb childhood obesity

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:23:54 +0100

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The marketing of unhealthy foods to children has proven "disastrously effective", driving obesity by using cheap social media channels to promote fat-, salt- and sugar-laden foods, the World Health Organisation's Europe office said on Tuesday. The United Nations health agency called for tighter controls on such marketing, saying tougher regulations were crucial to winning the fight against childhood obesity. ...

Merkel's conservatives say Turkey would overburden EU

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:31:13 +0100

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have rejected Turkish membership in the European Union in their German election programme, saying the country would "overburden" the bloc because of its size and economy. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have long opposed Turkey joining the 27-nation bloc, but haven't stood in the way of EU accession talks that were launched shortly before Merkel took office. ...

Battles ahead for Greek PM weakened by state TV crisis

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:27:53 +0100

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has avoided the uncertainty of an early election but the standoff over the state broadcaster's closure has weakened the prime minister and deepened mistrust in his fractious coalition. A court ordered the ERT broadcaster back on air late on Monday as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his partners moved towards a compromise, ending a six-day impasse and easing fears of snap polls that would have plunged Greece into a new crisis. Greeks and investors breathed a sigh of relief, with the main Athens stock index rising 2. ...

French Footballers On Trial Over Sex Claims

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:26:14 +0100

French international footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have gone on trial charged with paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

Belgian who says she is king's daughter asks him to testify

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:29:37 +0100

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A woman who says she is the unrecognized daughter of Belgian King Albert II has summoned the monarch and two of his children to appear in a Brussels court in her bid to prove he is her father, her lawyer said on Tuesday. Delphine Boel, a 45-year-old artist, has repeatedly stated that she is the daughter of the king and has used this as a theme in some of her work. First reports about Boel's claims appeared in the Belgian media in the late 1990s. The king has never made any official statement on the subject. ...

Greek court orders state TV reopened, compromise nears

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:19:33 +0100

By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek court on Monday ordered the state broadcaster back on air while it is restructured, allowing squabbling coalition leaders to move towards a compromise that avoids early elections. The ruling came six days after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras suddenly switched ERT off to save money and please foreign lenders, sparking an outcry from unions, journalists and exposing a rift with his allies. ...

Italy's 5-Star seeks expulsion of rebel who criticised founder

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:34:25 +0100

ROME (Reuters) - Lawmakers from Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement agreed on Monday to hold an online vote on the expulsion of a senator who publicly attacked its founder, Beppe Grillo, raising the risk of a split in the group. Senator Adele Gambaro last week openly expressed her unhappiness with Grillo's autocratic style, blaming him for 5-Star's poor showing in recent local elections, in which it won only two towns out of more than 500. Leaders of the movement said her comments were detrimental to its image and urged her to resign. ...

Greek political leaders to meet again on Wednesday

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:29:08 +0100

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek political leaders are to meet again on Wednesday to discuss a cabinet reshuffle and better coordination within the government, one of the junior partners in the ruling coalition said on Monday. "A reshuffle is urgently needed," PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said in a televised statement after the three party leaders held talks in an effort to diffuse a political crisis over last week's sudden closure of the state broadcaster ERT. ...

Defence cuts "hollowing out" European armies - U.S. envoy

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:20:36 +0100

By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Most European allies are "hollowing out" their armies as they slash defence spending, casting doubt on whether Europe can remain a viable military partner of the United States, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Monday. Many Western European countries have slashed defence spending in response to austerity induced by the 2008 financial crisis and the United States now accounts for nearly three-quarters of total NATO defence spending, Ivo Daalder said. ...

Greek court orders state broadcaster reopened, PM offers reshuffle

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:11:02 +0100

A Greek court on Monday suspended the government's shock decision to shut down state broadcaster ERT and ordered it reopened until a new national media body can be set up.

Greek court orders state TV reopened, PM offers compromise

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:37:39 +0100

By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek court ruled that shuttered state broadcaster ERT must reopen immediately, a court official said on Monday, offering the squabbling ruling coalition a way out of a political crisis over the station's abrupt closure. The ruling - which ordered ERT switched back on until a restructured public broadcaster is launched - came six day after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras took it off air in the name of austerity and public sector layoffs to please foreign lenders. ...

G8 urges Europe to move on bank reform, Japan to fix budget

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:34:20 +0100

By Andrew Osborn and William Schomberg ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The euro zone came under pressure from other rich economies on Monday to press on with a banking union and Japan was urged to follow up on massive central bank stimulus with structural reforms and measures to tackle its budget deficit. Leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations, which include Germany, France and Italy, said a further strengthening of the rules underpinning the euro zone, including moves toward a banking union, was "strongly needed. ...

Bosnian Serb president rejects urgent border deal with Croatia

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:56:30 +0100

By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The Serbian part of Bosnia's presidency - which is shared between three ethnic groups - has rejected border regulations that are due to come into force when neighbouring Croatia joins the EU next month. The other two parts of Bosnia's presidency - representing Muslims and Croats - have accepted the regulations which are needed to ensure people and goods can still cross the border after July 1. ...

Greek court orders shuttered state TV ERT to reopen: source

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:43:08 +0100

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek court suspended a government order shuttering state broadcaster ERT, meaning it can resume transmission until a final ruling is issued in the case, a court official told Reuters on Monday. ERT's union had brought the case to Greece's top administrative court in a bid to block the government's surprise closure of the broadcaster last week. (Writing by Deepa Babington)

Syria no-fly zone not on NATO's agenda: U.S. envoy

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:15:43 +0100

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States is not asking NATO to back a no-fly zone in Syria and the issue is not currently on the alliance's agenda, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Monday. The purpose of such a move would be to prevent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from using air power against rebel forces, thereby addressing a critical imbalance in the civil war. But it would be costly to enforce, and could mean entering the conflict by destroying Syria's Russian-built air defences. ...

Assad says Europe will "pay price" if it arms rebels-newspaper

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:04:43 +0100

BERLIN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned Europe in a German newspaper interview that it will "pay the price" if it follows Washington's lead and delivers arms to rebel forces, saying such a move would spread terrorism to the continent. "If the Europeans deliver weapons, the backyard of Europe will become terrorist and Europe will pay the price for it," he said in an interview published on Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's website on Monday. ...

Spain's obsession with high-speed trains runs into budget reality

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:35:48 +0100

By Julien Toyer ONBOARD MADRID-ALICANTE HIGH-SPEED TRAIN (Reuters) - A one-track dirt road used by local farmers is the main access to a magnificent glass-and-steel train station in the small city of Villena, on Spain's latest high-speed rail route. It is a spanking new 4,500 square meter building - essentially in the middle of nowhere. The central government financed the rail route, inaugurated on Monday, between Madrid and Alicante on the Costa Blanca. The Valencia regional government was supposed to fund works to connect it to the nearby motorway and Villena, home to 35,000. ...

EU, U.S. leaders launch free-trade talks

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:47:17 +0100

By William Schomberg and Roberta Rampton ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union launched negotiations for the world's most ambitious free-trade deal on Monday, promising thousands of new jobs and accelerated growth on both sides of the Atlantic. Trade between Europe and the United States is worth almost $3 billion (1.9 billion pounds) a day and a pact could boost both the EU and U.S. economies by more than $100 billion a year each - an attractive prospect after the devastating impact of Europe's debt crisis. ...

France's Hollande plays safe on pension reform

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:30:26 +0100

By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - Negotiations have barely begun on a reform of France's highly indebted pension system and President Francois Hollande is already playing down expectations of a major overhaul. The Socialist leader has ruled out a rise in the retirement age from 62, indicated that preferential plans enjoyed by some state employees will be left intact, and suggested any move to force workers to contribute for longer will be deferred to 2025. ...

Portuguese teachers boycott exams in anti-austerity strike

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:21:43 +0100

LISBON (Reuters) - Thousands of teachers across Portugal walked away from final exams held at secondary schools on Monday to protest against planned spending cuts in education, leaving many pupils unable to take the tests, unions said. The cuts are among the most recent austerity measures proposed by Portugal's center-right administration to meet the fiscal targets of an EU/IMF bailout. Portugal is in the third year of its worst economic recession since the 1970s and unemployment is at a record 18 percent. ...

Greek PM faces allies, court on state TV closure

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:09:07 +0100

By Karolina Tagaris and Deepa Babington ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faced a double challenge on Monday from coalition partners furious over the shutdown of state broadcaster ERT and a court hearing that could put the shuttered station back on air. ERT's abrupt closure last week in the name of austerity to please EU and IMF lenders triggered a deep rift in the ruling coalition, throwing the debt-choked nation back into turmoil just as faint hopes of a recovery had begun to sprout. ...

Orders for big jets make a splash in Paris

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:58:27 +0100

By Siva Govindasamy and Brenda Goh PARIS (Reuters) - Big finance waded into a rain-soaked Paris Airshow with more than $10 billion (6.3 billion pounds) in orders for jumbo passenger jets as planemakers duelled over strategy for large aircraft on Monday. The world's biggest aircraft lessor, a unit of General Electric , became the second buyer to endorse a larger version of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, weeks after the lightweight jet went back into service after a three-month grounding. ...

Germany, Greece to discuss help for Greek small companies

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:16:49 +0100

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will discuss setting up a bilateral programme to help small and medium-sized companies in Greece, as it has done with Spain, at a meeting in Athens, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday. Greece has expressed interest in receiving the same sort of support for lending to small businesses that Germany agreed with Spain this month. Schaeuble said he would discuss the plan with his Greek counterpart, Yannis Stournaras, at ministerial meetings in Luxembourg this week and at another meeting in Athens soon. ...

Bulgarian PM vows transparency on security chief issue

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:02:24 +0100

By Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's prime minister pledged on Monday to seek wide public support in picking a new head of state security after street protests forced the two-week old Socialist-led government to ditch its original candidate. Thousands of Bulgarians rallied to demand the government's resignation after it named a powerful media figure to the highly sensitive post without debate, a move critics said showed the lack of transparency in the European Union's poorest country. ...

EU governments tackle Poland over unpaid road-builders

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:53:15 +0100

By Christian Lowe WARSAW (Reuters) - Six European Union states have asked Poland to explain why it is not paying billions of euros that foreign construction firms say they are owed for work carried out under an EU-backed road-building programme. Poland's state roads agency says it is the contractors that are at fault, but the dispute risks harming Warsaw's reputation in Brussels, which is pumping huge sums of development cash into Polish roads and railways. ...

Crete: Earthquakes Shake Greek Holiday Island

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:24:06 +0100

The Greek holiday island of Crete has been hit by what is described as a "very powerful" earthquake, its second in two days.

Pope Francis meets Venezuelan President Maduro

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:54:17 +0100

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday for the first time since Maduro won a narrow and disputed election victory to succeed late Socialist leader Hugo Chavez. The men discussed poverty, the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking, and regional issues including a dispute between Venezuela and Colombia, a statement from the Vatican said. Maduro, in Italy on the first stop of a visit to Europe, was Chavez's chosen successor, but has been accused by opposition leader Henrique Capriles of stealing the election, held in April. ...