Europe

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Unusual Sight in European Cities: Throngs of Tractors

Farmers protest EU environmental regulations, claiming the rules put food production at risk

(Newser) - The rice used in Spanish paella, the country's national dish, is at risk of disappearing, growers warn, amid widespread protests against European Union environmental regulations, including the banning of a fungicide. Tricyclazole was used to fight fungus appearing on bomba rice grown in Spain's wetlands for 40 years,...

In Europe, This 'Canary in a Coal Mine' Is Afoot

Measles is surging, with outbreaks especially prevalent in UK; US also seeing an uptick

(Newser) - As we get our legs after the COVID tsunami, another set of outbreaks is taking hold, especially in Europe. The BBC reports that measles are cropping up throughout the EU, with a nearly 45-fold spike in cases last year, according to the World Health Organization. The UN agency found that...

In the Netherlands, 'a Stunning Lurch to the Far Right'

Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom won big, while 'human rights lost,' per Amnesty International

(Newser) - The party of anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders won a huge general election victory in the Netherlands, according to a nearly complete vote count early Thursday that showed a stunning lurch to the far right for a nation once famed as a beacon of tolerance, per the AP . With nearly all...

Cheeky Ad Helps World Separate Sweden, Switzerland

No, they are not the same, as Visit Sweden so artfully explains

(Newser) - President Biden made headlines when he mixed up Sweden and Switzerland last year. But he's not the only one. Apparently the countries' "vaguely similar names and flags with crosses on them" have created quite the confusion, per Politico . In the last year, 85,000 US Google searches asked,...

International Rallies Support Cease-Fire, Fight Antisemitism

Chancellor decries attacks on Jews 'here in Germany, of all places'

(Newser) - Thousands of people joined vigils in Berlin and London on Sunday to oppose antisemitism and support Israel, while in Paris and other cities, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanded a cease-fire and relief for people in the besieged Gaza Strip. Those gathered in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate carried Israeli...

Pope to Europe: There's No Migrant 'Emergency' Here

Francis implores Macron, other leaders to open their doors to people fleeing hardships

(Newser) - Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn't facing a migration "emergency," but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely. For a second straight day...

Turkey's 24-Year Quest to Join EU May Be Ending

Erdogan suggests nation may split with European Union after accusations of 'democratic backsliding'

(Newser) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey may part ways with the European Union, implying that the country is thinking about ending its bid to join the 27-nation bloc. "The EU is making efforts to sever ties with Turkey," he told reporters before departing for the 78th...

Tugs Tow Burning Cargo Ship
Tugs Tow Burning Cargo Ship

Tugs Tow Burning Cargo Ship

Salvage crews ready to board 'as soon as possible' to assess the situation in North Sea

(Newser) - A cargo ship carrying thousands of cars that has been burning on the North Sea for nearly a week was towed Monday to a new location further from the Dutch coast to wait for salvage crews to decide their next steps, the government said. The Fremantle Highway arrived earlier than...

Those Summer Vacations in Europe Aren't Going So Well

Wildfires and heat waves are making things really uncomfortable in Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Italy

(Newser) - Officials warned residents and tourists packing Mediterranean destinations on Tuesday to stay indoors during the hottest hours as the second heat wave in as many weeks hits the region and Greece, Spain, and Switzerland battled wildfires. In Italy, civil protection workers monitored crowds for people in distress from the heat...

Belarus Sentences Dissident to 8 Years in Penal Colony

Roman Protasevich was arrested in 2021 after an airliner he was on was forced down

(Newser) - A court in Minsk has sentenced an opposition activist whose flight was forced down by Belarus in 2021 so he could be taken into custody to eight years in a penal colony. State media said Wednesday that Roman Protasevich, 27, was charged with organizing mass riots, calling for sanctions against...

Watchdog in Italy Blocks GPT
Watchdog in Italy
Blocks GPT

Watchdog in Italy Blocks GPT

Nation to investigate OpenAI over data protection, privacy concerns

(Newser) - Italy has become the first western country to ban ChatGPT, at least temporarily, per the BBC and the AP . The country's data-protection authority said Friday that it would immediately block OpenAI's chatbot and investigate it for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, a piece of European Union...

Small-Town Mayor Impressed by Illegal Rave

'They had absolutely everything,' says Fernando Álvarez of La Peza, Spain

(Newser) - The Spanish town of La Peza is usually home to about 1,200 people, so you can imagine locals' reaction when they woke up Friday to find thousands of strangers engaged in an exuberant dance party. Suddenly, "we were 5,200 people. By Saturday we were 6,000,"...

For Flyers in Europe, No More 'Airplane Mode'
For Flyers in
Europe, No More
'Airplane Mode'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

For Flyers in Europe, No More 'Airplane Mode'

European Union says air travelers will be able to use their phones as they wish in 2023

(Newser) - The modern era of "airplane mode" on flights is coming to an end—in Europe anyway. The European Union says air passengers there will be able to use their phones however they want (such as streaming video or, yes, making phone calls) as of June 2023, reports the BBC...

Cocaine 'Super Cartel' Is Busted in Europe

Ring controlled about one-third of the trade on the continent

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities in six different countries have joined forces to take down a "super cartel" of drug traffickers who controlled about one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, Europol said on Monday. The European Union crime agency said 49 suspects have been arrested during the investigation, with...

'No Choice': Apple to Adopt USB-C Chargers

Greg Joswiak confirms company will comply with new laws, despite its opposition

(Newser) - Apple has "no choice" but to begin making iPhones with a USB-C port, rather than one to fit its Lightning cables, an official has confirmed. Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, tells the Wall Street Journal that "we'll have to comply" with new...

Ukraine War Hits James Bond's Glassmaker

Iconic French manufacturer Duralex will temporarily close amid Europe's energy trouble

(Newser) - For the glassmakers at iconic French tableware brand Duralex, the mornings have become a horror show. Daily updates from energy traders drop into their email inboxes, showing the asphyxiating upward climb of prices for the natural gas and electricity that power their energy-devouring business. Before Europe's energy crisis—which...

Unprecedented Drought Leads to 'Rare Opportunity'

Scientists rush to study 'Spanish Stonehenge,' ancient rock circle emerging as water levels drop

(Newser) - "Spanish Stonehenge" is back. The Dolmen of Guadalperal, a circle of 150 stones in Caceres believed to be about 7,000 years old, was purposely submerged underwater in 1963, part of Spain's efforts to build the Valdecanas reservoir. Over the years, the rocks occasionally peeked out when weather...

Europe's Drought Is Probably Worse Than You Think

Rivers are drying up and farmers are suffering in dry spell that is the worst in centuries

(Newser) - From dry and cracked reservoirs in Spain to falling water levels on major arteries like the Danube, the Rhine, and the Po, an unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, the AP reports. It is damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions, causing wildfires, and threatening aquatic species....

Winds, Heat Worsen Fires in Europe
Winds, Heat
Worsen Fires
in Europe

Winds, Heat Worsen Fires in Europe

Fire season arrives early after a hot, dry spring

(Newser) - Strong winds and hot, dry weather frustrated French firefighters' efforts Saturday to contain a huge wildfire that raced across pine forests in the Bordeaux region for a fifth straight day, one of several wildfires scorching Europe. Some of the worst fires have been in Portugal, where the pilot of a...

Spain, Germany Fight Wildfires, Heat

Winds complicate the job for crews in Western Europe

(Newser) - Firefighters in Spain and Germany struggled to contain wildfires on Sunday during an unusual heat wave in Western Europe for this time of year. The worst damage in Spain has been in the northwest province of Zamora, where over 61,000 acres has been consumed, regional authorities said. German officials...

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