Europe

Blow for France's Macron as star minister quits

President Emmanuel Macron suffers a major political blow as his popular environment minister resigns live on radio -- without informing the French leader beforehand.
Public eco-friendly urinals annoy Paris residents

A new set of eco-friendly but completely exposed urinals deployed on the streets of Paris provokes uproar from locals.
After fires, floods hit Greek capital

Heavy rains leads to flash flooding in the north of Athens, three days after devastating wildfires killed scores of people in the region around the Greek capital.
Elizabeth's memorable encounters with US presidents

Donald Trump is the 12th US president to meet with the British Queen Elizabeth.
UK to ban gay 'conversion therapy' after massive survey

Britain today unveils its "action plan" to tackle discrimination against the gay community, which includes bringing forward legislation to ban the practice of conversion therapy.
French cops hunt for thief who fled jail by helicopter

French police across the country launches a massive manhunt for a notorious gangster who said his life of crime was inspired by Hollywood films like "Scarface", after he pulled off a spectacular jailbreak, fleeing his prison aboard a hijacked helicopter in a commando-style operation.
Same-sex partners have EU residence rights

Same-sex partners of European Union (EU) citizens have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality, the bloc's top court rules today, even in countries that do not recognise gay marriage.
Spanish PM Rajoy to be voted out of office

Spain's centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to be voted out of office on Friday and replaced by a Socialist, in a no-confidence motion triggered by a long-running corruption trial involving members of his party.
Gunman shoots police in Belgium, 4 dead

A gunman kills two police officers and a passer-by on Tuesday before being shot dead in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege, public broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone (RTBF) says on its website and authorities says terrorism could not be ruled out as a motive.
Two dead, 20 injured after train smashes into truck in Italy

Two people are killed and 20 others injured after a train crashed into a big truck near the northern Italian city of Turin and derailed, Italian media says.
African-Americans hail UK royal wedding's nod to black history, culture

Hometown and racial pride fired up royal wedding watchers across the United States on Saturday, from pre-dawn partiers wearing pajamas and fancy hats in Los Angeles to Twitter posts from Miami to Indianapolis hailing "the blackest royal wedding the UK has ever seen."
Italy's new 'Buster Keaton' wins best actor at Cannes

A little-known Italian actor, wins best actor at Cannes film festival on Saturday for his portrayal of a cocaine-dealing dog groomer who faces down a local heavy in an urban western.
Hungarians stage anti-government rally in Budapest

Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest against what organisers say was an unfair election system that gave Prime Minister Viktor Orban a landslide victory at the polls after a "hate campaign" against immigrants.
Russia UN envoy 'cannot exclude' war between Russia, US

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia urges the United States and its allies on Thursday to refrain from military action against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack and says he "cannot exclude" war between Washington and Moscow.
UK playng with fire: Russia

Russia tells Britain at the United Nations Security Council that "you're playing with fire and you'll be sorry" over its accusations that Moscow was to blame for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.
Sarkozy ‘to face corruption trial’

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling involving a judge from whom he sought information about an investigation, a legal source tells AFP.
Catalan separatists win election in rebuke to Spain and EU

Catalonia's separatists look set to regain power in the wealthy Spanish region after local elections.
Ayman, Zaiba win The Queen’s Young Leaders 2018 award

For their exceptional achievements in transforming lives, Ayman Sadiq and Zaiba Tahyya of Bangladesh have won The Queen’s Young Leaders 2018 award.
Tulip receives UK ‘Labour Newcomer MP of the year’ award

Granddaughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and UK Labour Party MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq has received an award for ‘Labour Newcomer MP of the year’ at the annual Patchwork Foundation Awards in Westminster.
Dutch open 'world's first 3D-printed bridge'

Dutch officials toast the opening of what is being called the world's first 3D-printed concrete bridge, which is primarily meant to be used by cyclists.
Police seal off 1,300 polling stations in Catalonia

Police in Catalonia has already sealed over half of the 2,315 polling stations in the region to stop an independence referendum from taking place, the Spanish government says, as separatists remained determined to fight for their right to vote.
Military plane crashes killing pilot in Italy air show

A military plane of the Italian Air Force crashes while taking part in an air show in central Italy, killing the pilot on board.
Spain using goats to prevent forest fires

Spain has taken a very unusual step this time to prevent its forests from catching fire. Much of Europe was scorched this summer, with numerous forest fires breaking out and in Spain goats and sheep are helping to fight the blazes - one nibble at a time, Business Insider UK.
Eiffel Tower starts work on anti-terror upgrade

Works have started Monday to boost security at the Eiffel Tower as an anti-terrorism measure, city hall said, with bulletproof glass walls set to go up around the world's most visited monument.
Twitter weeding out users advocating violence

Twitter says its internal controls have been allowing it to weed out accounts being used for the "promotion of terrorism" earlier rather than responding to government requests to close them down.
Water: Garments’ invisible price

Bangladesh boasts as the world’s number two garment exporter. Every third European has a t-shirt made in Bangladesh on his back. Every fifth American wears jeans manufactured in Bangladesh. But this is not a story of how many million pieces we export. This is a story of the invisible price we pay every time a jeans rolls out of a factory in Bangladesh. The western buyers little know how much water, that precious resource, was used to wash and dye his shirt. The figures are mind boggling.
Hundreds battle wildfire across southern France

Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes across southern France, with one inferno spreading across 900 hectares of forest and threatening homes on the island of Corsica, emergency services say.
'Russian metro bomb suspect a Muslim born in central Asia'

A Russian suicide bomber originally from mainly Muslim Kyrgyzstan detonated the explosives in a St Petersburg train carriage that killed 14 people and wounded 50, authorities say.
Jalaler Golpo wins another int'l film award

In yet another honour for Bangladesh cinema, Abu Shahed Emon directed Jalaler Golpo wins the Grand Prix - Silver Akbuzat Best Film at the Third International Festival of National and Ethnic Cinema in the Russian city of Ufa.
Autism study shows lasting benefits of early interaction

A year-long training programme to help parents communicate with their very young autistic children reduced symptoms of the disorder up to six years later, according to a follow-up analysis.