The retired president of a German state court has accused chancellor Merkel of acting unconstitutionally, and of moving to build her own personal power at the expense of German democracy. Judge Michael Bertrams, former president of the constitutional court of North
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – By any measure, it has been a year from hell for the European Union. And if Britons vote to leave the bloc, next year could be worse. Not since 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell and
A European lawmaker for Denmark’s ruling right-wing party said Saturday he was leaving the party over its controversial asylum policies, which include plans for police to search asylum seekers’ luggage for valuables. “Denmark is currently experiencing a norm and value
An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris was forced to make an emergency landing in Kenya after a suspicious package found on board sparked a bomb alert, Kenyan police said. Flight AF 463, which had 459 passengers and 14
Alleged sex attack victims of Lord Janner have vowed to continue their legal battle against the disgraced former Labour peer hours after learning of his death. The veteran politician, who had been suffering from dementia for several years, died peacefully
Sometimes dealing with the past is easy. A few months ago, the college where I am principal (Hertford, Oxford) handed back a precious 16th-century atlas to its rightful owners – the Humboldt University library in Berlin. A British soldier had
KOPER (SLOVENIA) (AFP) – Slovenia on Sunday began voting in a referendum on whether to allow the largely-Catholic EU member state to become Europe’s first ex-communist country to allow same-sex marriage. Polling stations opened promptly at 7:00am (0600 GMT), although hardly
Austria should step up deportations of people who do not qualify for asylum, Chancellor Werner Faymann said in remarks published on Saturday, striking a tougher tone on migrants as he comes under pressure from his conservative coalition partners. Hundreds of
Spaniards vote today in a parliamentary election in which new parties are loosening the grip of the once-dominant conservatives and Socialists, raising the possibility of a new era of consensus politics – or a period of instabilty. With many people saying
The UK Independence Party’s (UKIP) only Member of Parliament, Douglas Carswell, has another story about him in the Mail on Sunday today, with new claims that he was a “victim” of “dark forces” in UKIP. The article, written by the
Paul Abbott, the ex Chief of Staff to the former Conservative Party Chairman has resigned from his role as Chief Executive of the Conservative Way Forward think tank as speculation continues to grow about his role in the now infamous Conservative Party
A former propaganda ‘mastermind’ for Islamic State says the terrorist group has plans for a “series of coordinated attacks across European cities” to replicate the bloody Paris attacks on other streets. The plan for the coordinated terror attacks was told to authorities by a former Islamic
Italian churches are coming together to set up offices in Morocco and Lebanon to provide migrants with airline tickets, accommodation, assistance with asylum applications and Italian language courses. Their ‘safe passage’ initiative aims to bypass dangerous sea crossings, bringing hundreds
The Crown Prosecution Service has been dubbed the ‘Can’t Prosecute Service’ after it emerged that three suspected rioters had the charges against them dropped having refused to give their names in court. Critics said the decision risks sending a message to
Pope Francis has urged Slovenians to “uphold family values” as the country votes in a referendum on gay marriage. The vote could see Slovenia becoming the first Eastern European country to legalise gay marriage, in what is considered a strongly
BERLIN – Germany and Austria are working on a proposal for a common European asylum law, Germany’s refugee crisis coordinator said in an interview with German magazine Focus. Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan
In efforts to turn their campuses into over-sanitised and politically correct “safe spaces”, British universities deny the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views” leading academics have warned. Professor Richard Dawkins recently told students who cannot handle hearing anti-transgender views to “leave, go home, hug
A senior Labour Party activist who levelled a tirade of abuse at a disabled Ukip member has been expelled from the Party – more than a year after complaints were first made about him, and thanks only to anti-Semitic tweets
Denmark is being forced to defend a proposed law allowing officials to confiscate migrants’ valuables which has drawn comparisons with Nazi practices. The proposed law introduced to Parliament earlier this month would allow authorities to search migrants entering Denmark for valuables which could then be confiscated.
ZURICH – The Swiss attorney general has opened criminal proceedings against a director of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland on suspicion of violating a ban on groups including al Qaeda, the attorney general’s office said on Saturday. The council
During the night from Friday to Saturday a ship transporting migrants capsized in the Aegean Sea off the Turkish coast, leaving at least 18 dead and 14 survivors. Turkish media reports note that the death toll is provisional and there
A chemistry professor at the University of Louvain in Belgium has delivered his damning verdict on the COP21 climate summit in Paris. His name is István Marko and, by the sounds of it, he’s not going to be getting a Christmas card
Hauliers have again called for a security boost at Calais as the rise in migrant numbers means they now outnumber security forces by 18 to one. Just 1,300 officers working on shifts are deployed to the town, where nearly 7,000 migrants
Historic research has unveiled the fact that Germany’s Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, did indeed have only the one functioning testicle. A version of a wartime propaganda song known to British soldiers and generations of schoolchildren alleged that Hitler only had
Only two of the 11 refugee reception “hotpots” Europe hoped to get up and running this year are working. Less than one percent of the 160,000 migrants it agreed to relocate have been. And a recent drop in arrivals has
With no deal on the contentious issue of welfare handouts for migrants from European Union countries, but a possible compromise being mooted, British Prime Minister David Cameron is rolling over his EU renegotiation bid into 2016. But time is running
