Tag: Germany

Late in 2019. Germany’s government approved legislation that would ban the dangerous practice of conversion therapy being used on LGBTQ+ minors. On the run-up to 2020, the German Cabinet approved the draft bill that will make it illegal to advertise or apply “treatments” that aim to change the sexual or gender identity of those who

The heatwave that last week gripped Europe and smashed temperature records has now settled in Greenland... and the results are startling. Read more: Europe heatwave: Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands topple all-time high temperature records The second-largest ice sheet in the world is melting rapidly and the heatwave is exacerbating the process. Greenland lost 160 billion tonnes of ice in July. While the thaw might seem distant geographically to many on the European mainland, its effects are far-reaching and consequential to every coastal...

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has banned another rescue ship carrying forty migrants from entering Italian waters. The Alan Kurdi is run by German charity Sea-Eye and is heading towards Lampedusa. It is currently travelling towards the Italian island and will arrive in the afternoon of August 1. This rescue mission comes shortly after more than one-hundred migrants were allowed to disembark from a different boat in Sicily. But they were only able to do so after a new deal...

Italy said on Wednesday it would allow an Italian coastguard ship to finally disembark 116 migrants who were stranded for days in a Sicilian port, ending its latest standoff with the European Union over migration policy. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said he had reached a deal with the EU for Germany, France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Ireland to take in the asylum seekers who were rescued at sea last week. The Bruno Gregoretti coastguard ship was given permission to dock but...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill on Wednesday to slap sanctions on companies and individuals involved in building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that the Trump administration says would strengthen Moscow’s economic grip on Europe. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the “Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act,” by a vote of 20 to 2. The bill, which reflects some lawmakers’ concerns over Russian influence in Europe, would still need to...

Italy is engaged in another standoff with the European Union over migrants in the Mediterranean, refusing to allow 115 Africans to disembark in Sicily. They are on board the Bruno Gregoretti, an Italian coastguard vessel that took them last Thursday after they had been saved off Malta. The European Commission says efforts are underway to find other EU countries who can take them in. The migrants had been in two groups in rubber dinghies that had got into trouble after leaving...

Boris Johnson is set to become the UK's prime minister after outgoing leader Theresa May resigns later today. The 55-year-old former journalist is facing a challenging period as soon as he steps into the role with the looming Brexit deadline approaching at the end of October. So how has Europe's media reacted to the new appointment? BELGIUM De Morgen "The EU is not afraid of Johnson." De Tijd "Boris Johnson has 100 days to prepare for Brexit." L'Echo "The 100 days of Bojo before a hard Brexit." FRANCE Le Figaro "Boris...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has paid tribute to the military officials who plotted to kill Adolf Hitler on the 75th anniversary of the Second World War’s most famous failed assassination attempt. A group of military figures lead by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1944 before staging a coup to oust the Nazi party from power and sue for peace with the Allies. Speaking at a memorial event, Merkel said: “Following their conscience, they proved themselves to be...

A newly-elected MEP has called Italy's Matteo Salvini a coward over his stance on migration. Magid Magid made the outburst during a fierce debate in Strasbourg ahead of an emergency meeting of European interior ministers on how to tackle the migration issue. France and Germany have again suggested creating a coalition of the willing: a group of countries that would systematically admit migrants whenever they disembark from rescue ships. The idea — a temporary solution — would be for the...

After a brief spell of respite from a scorching heatwave that gripped Europe last month, projections show that temperatures are likely to soar once again next week in areas including France, Germany, Austria, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands Spain, and Portugal. Météo France, the country's national weather agency, said on Wednesday that we could be heading towards a second heatwave, but that forecasts were not yet definitive. The agency said it would continue to monitor weather changes and patterns, which are...

After a brief spell of respite from a scorching heatwave that gripped Europe last month, projections show that temperatures are likely to soar once again next week in areas including France, Germany, Austria, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands Spain, and Portugal. Météo France, the country's national weather agency, said on Wednesday that we could be heading towards a second heatwave, but that forecasts were not yet definitive. The agency said it would continue to monitor weather changes and patterns, which are...

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday ratified Germany's Ursula von der Leyen as the new President of the European Commission — making her the first woman to fill the EU's top job. It is not the first time she has made history: in 2013, she became Germany's first female defence minister, a position she has held ever since. The Brussels-born 60-year-old has been a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for several years and it was once thought she...

European Union nations threw their weight behind the Iran nuclear deal on Monday, saying Tehran’s recent provocations did not yet amount to a “significant” breach of its terms. The 2015 agreement is “not in the best of health, but it’s still alive,” outgoing EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters. She said efforts to “hold the pieces together” were better than letting the deal fail because “not having it in place is a terrible option for everybody.” But Israeli Prime Minister...

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday ratified Germany's Ursula von der Leyen as the new President of the European Commission — making her the first woman to fill the EU's top job. It is not the first time she has made history: in 2013, she became Germany's first female defence minister, a position she has held ever since. The Brussels-born 60-year-old has been a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for several years and it was once thought she...