Page 9 - Europe

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen comfortably survives confidence vote

European Union lawmakers will hold a confidence vote Thursday on the head of the bloc's powerful executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban leading calls for her to be ousted. The censure motion, the first at the European Parliament in over a decade, was brought against the European Commission president by a group of hard-right lawmakers. To pass, it requires a two-thirds majority vote in favour. Von der Leyen could be forced to resign if she loses, but she is virtually guaranteed to win as most of the political groups in the assembly have signalled they would vote against the motion. She is not expected to attend the vote in Strasbourg, France. The motion contains a mix of allegations against von der Leyen including text messaging privately with the boss of COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer, misuse of EU funds and interference in elections in Germany and Romania. Orban said on Facebook that the vote will be the moment of truth: on one side the ...

Fossil fuel combustion caused 1,500 deaths in European heat wave: Study

Human-caused climate change is responsible for killing about 1,500 people in last week's European heat wave, a first-of-its-kind rapid study found. Those 1,500 people have only died because of climate change, so they would not have died if it had not been for our burning of oil, coal and gas in the last century, said study co-author Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College in London. Scientists at Imperial and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used peer-reviewed techniques to calculate that about 2,300 people in 12 cities likely died from the heat in last week's bout of high temperatures, with nearly two-thirds of them dying because of the extra degrees that climate change added to the natural summer warmth. Past rapid attribution studies have not gone beyond evaluating climate change's role in meteorological effects such as extra heat, flooding or drought. This study goes a step further in directly connecting coal, oil and natural gas use to people

Europe court set to rule on cases against Russia over Ukraine conflict

Europe's top human rights court is set to rule Wednesday on Russia's actions in the conflict in Ukraine, including human rights violations during the full-scale invasion and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, marking the first time an international court will adjudicate Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014. Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court's governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion. Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice. It's a real step in understanding who was really responsible, Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told The Associated Press. The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was sh

Jaguar Land Rover sees 11% drop in Q1 dispatches to global dealers

Jaguar Land Rover on Monday said its dispatches to dealers declined by 11 per cent year-on-year to 87,286 units for the first quarter ended June 30. Compared to the prior year, wholesale volumes for the first quarter were down in North America, Europe and the UK by 12 per cent, 14 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, JLR said in a statement. The UK market was the most impacted by the planned cessation of the legacy Jaguar models, it added. The British marquee brand said its retail sales for the April-June period this year stood at 94,420 units, a dip of 15 per cent as compared with same period last fiscal. Volumes reduced in line with the company's expectations following a challenging quarter, it said. This largely reflects the planned wind down of legacy Jaguar models ahead of the launch of new Jaguar, and a pause in shipments to the US during April 2025 following the introduction of US import tariffs, it added. Tata Motors shares on Monday ended flat at 688.85 apiece on BSE.

India-EFTA trade pact likely to be implemented in coming months: Goyal

The free trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA is likely to come into force in the next couple of months, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The two sides signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on March 10, 2024. Under the pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates, and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. "I think it should come into effect, I believe in the next couple of months," Goyal said here at an event of SGS India. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Talking about the government's initiative to promote manufacturing of quality products in the country, Goyal said in the last 10 years, 156 quality control orders (QCOs) covering 672 products have been issued to cut import of sub-standard goods into th

Steel industry calls for safeguard measures to protect local players

Calling for protectionist measures to check cheap steel imports, Jindal Stainless Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal on Thursday said that the country has sufficient steel production capacity to meet the local demand. Jindal also said that in addition to the US and Europe, countries with very low steel production are also adopting protective measures. It is very important to protect "our country," Jindal said while addressing an Indian Chamber of Commerce's event here. "The US has done it, Europe has been doing it for quite some time. Now, nations like in the Middle East, where there is not much steel production, Canada, where there isn't much steel production, are also going for some kind of protectionist measures," Jindal, who is also the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, said. Jindal also appreciated the steps taken by the government to safeguard the interest of the domestic steel industry. "There was substandard, Chinese material coming in (through) from Vietnam...Ou

2 killed in Spanish wildfire as extreme heat wave hits parts of Europe

Europe's continuing heat wave on Wednesday helped fuel a deadly wildfire in Spain while the European Union presented plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under scorching temperatures. The blaze that broke out late on Tuesday created an enormous thick plume of ash and smoke that rose 14,000 metres into the sky, making it the largest registered by firefighters in Catalonia, a northeastern region of Spain. Two farmers were killed while apparently trying to flee in a vehicle, local authorities said Wednesday. Firefighters said that the fire spread at 28 kph (17 mph) at one point as it consumed 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) mostly of grain fields. Wildfires today are not like they were before, Salvador Illa, the regional president of Catalonia, said. These are extremely dangerous. From the very first moment, it was considered to be beyond the capacity of extinction. I mean that not even with two or three times the number of firefighters, they have told me, it would have been possib

Heatwaves grip Europe: Red alerts, wildfires, Eiffel Tower closed

Spain sees hottest June in a century; more than 50,000 people evacuated amid wildfires in Turkiye and the Balkans

Europe hit by extreme heatwave after recording hottest March ever

'Very high and persistent temperatures are expected, both during the day and at night, which could pose a risk to exposed and/or vulnerable people,' Spain's state meteorological office, Aemet said

Microsoft retires iconic 'Blue Screen of Death' after three decades

A new message - in white lettering - is slated to say, 'Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart'

EU prepared for breakdown in US trade talks: European Commission prez

The European Commission president said at a press conference in the early hours of Friday that her team is still assessing the latest US tariff offer

Portugal joins European countries in tightening citizenship pathways

Immigrants from Brazil, Angola and Mozambique to face 7-year wait; others must wait 10 years

Air India temporarily stops flights to Europe, 5 destinations in US, Canada

Air India has stopped flight operations to Europe and five destinations in the US and Canada amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Besides, flights of Air India Express and IndiGo to the Middle East have been impacted, and some of them have been diverted. With Iran launching a missile attack on a US airbase in Qatar, tensions have mounted in the region, and a few countries, including Qatar, have closed their airspace. Air India's long-haul flights to Europe and North America overfly the Middle East, and the airspace curbs have disrupted its services. Amid the developing situation in the Middle East, Air India said it has ceased all operations to the region as well as to and from the East Coast of North America and Europe with immediate effect, until further notice. Services have been temporarily stopped to European cities as well as to four US airports -- New York, Newark, Chicago and Washington -- and to Toronto (Canada). "Our India-bound flights from North America are ..

Your Airbnb was my home: Why Europeans are turning against tourists

Anti-tourism protests grow across Europe as locals blame visitors for housing woes. Cities like Venice, Barcelona and Lisbon push new rules to limit tourist crowds

Air India bookings down 20%; fares dip up to 15% after Dreamliner crash

Bookings for Air India flights have declined by around 20 per cent on domestic as well as international routes while the average fares have dropped by 8-15 per cent in the aftermath of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash last week, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) President Ravi Gosain said on Friday. An Air India spokesperson did not respond to a query seeking comments from the airline. A London-bound Air India flight, AI-171 carrying 242 passengers and crew members crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. All but one on board the plane died along with nearly 29 on the ground when the aircraft smashed into a medical complex in Meghaninagar area of the city shortly after takeoff. "Following the unfortunate incident involving Air India, we have observed a temporary decline in bookings, particularly on international sectors. While the exact percentage varies by route, our estimates indicate a dip of around 1822 per cent on international bookings and a 1012 per cent decline domestical

Europeans see 'opportunity' for diplomacy as they meet Iran's top diplomat

Iran's foreign minister plans to meet in Geneva on Friday with leading European counterparts, who hope to open a window for a diplomatic solution to the week-old military conflict that has seen Israeli airstrikes target Iranian nuclear and military sites and Tehran firing back. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who will meet Iran's Abbas Araghchi together with his French and German counterparts and the European Union's foreign policy chief, said that a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution. The talks will be the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict. Lammy is traveling to Geneva after meeting in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff. Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of .

Paris's Louvre shuts down as anti-tourism protests spread through Europe

The Louvre Museum closed after staff walked out over overcrowding, decaying infrastructure and deep funding cuts, leaving visitors locked out in protest

China halts key rare earth exports, sparking global supply concerns

Since early April, China has stopped almost all shipments of critical minerals that are needed for cars, robots, wind turbines, jet fighters and other technologies

EAM Jaishankar begins Europe visit to boost ties, highlight terror stance

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday embarked on a week-long visit to Europe to hold talks with leaders of France, the European Union and Belgium to boost bilateral ties and reaffirm India's policy of zero-tolerance against terrorism. Jaishankar's visit to Europe comes a month after India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack and it is expected that he will apprise the European leaders about New Delhi's firm approach in dealing with cross-border terrorism. In the first leg of his tour, Jaishankar will visit France, a country that has emerged as an all-weather friend of New Delhi. "The external affairs minister would travel to Paris and Marseille where he would be holding bilateral discussions with his counterpart minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean Noel Barrot," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Jaishankar would also participate in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue to be held in the c

All-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad back from Europe

During their Europe tour, the delegation held key meetings with government officials, parliamentarians, and think-tanks in countries including Germany