European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers the State of the European Union address to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, September 13, 2023 | Photo Credit: Reuters The European Union’s chief executive said Wednesday that her services will launch a major series of policy reviews to ensure that the 27-nation bloc can still … Read more
PARIS—French supermarkets are still selling pajamas for children under four years old. Clothes aisles for older kids are cordoned off. You can buy pots and pans, but silverware—classified as table decoration—is restricted. Computers remain on store shelves. Gaming consoles don’t. Newspapers? Yes. The books section? Off limits. An effort by the government to spread the … Read more
One by one, governments across Europe are reintroducing strict new measures to tame a resurgent pandemic after concluding that light-touch strategies aimed at containing Covid-19 have failed to keep infections in check. Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Austria and Belgium are all now back under pandemic-containment regimes similar to those imposed in the spring, with bars … Read more
PARIS—French authorities vowed to crack down on civic groups they said were promoting radical Islam, days after an extremist beheaded a schoolteacher for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Monday said that 51 associations, including religious schools and mosques, would be visited by security services this week, … Read more
The European Union agreed Monday to impose targeted sanctions against Russian officials and entities allegedly involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny but officials insisted the move should not undercut Europe’s continued high-level contacts with President Vladimir Putin. Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg backed a Franco-German proposal to impose a travel ban … Read more
Sweden, almost alone in Europe in rejecting a broad lockdown this spring, has introduced new guidelines to curb a surge in coronavirus infections but is sticking to its largely voluntary approach. The Nordic country, which only had minor restrictions throughout its epidemic, had until recently been spared by the second wave of Covid-19 cases currently … Read more
ISTANBUL—The severity of Turkey’s coronavirus outbreak was called into question after the government acknowledged it wasn’t counting asymptomatic cases, triggering criticism from local medical professionals and prompting the U.K. on Friday to toughen quarantine requirements for travelers coming from the country. The growing controversy comes as Turkey, which has recorded more than 8,000 deaths from … Read more
PARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron took aim at radical Islam Friday, announcing plans to outlaw what he called “Islamic separatism” in communities where he said religious laws are taking precedence over civil ones. Mr. Macron said the law, if passed, would empower authorities to shut down associations and schools that he said indoctrinate children, and monitor … Read more
LONDON—The U.K. and Canada imposed sanctions on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and senior figures in his government, a sign of widening discontent in the West over ongoing repression of peaceful protests against his purported victory in a disputed election. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accused Mr. Lukashenko and his allies of multiple human-rights violations in … Read more
PARIS—Two people were seriously wounded in a knife attack near the former office of Charlie Hebdo that prosecutors are investigating as a possible terrorist act, more than five years after gunmen opened fire in the satirical magazine’s newsroom. The assault began late Friday morning when a man wielding what appeared to be a butcher’s knife … Read more