Europe
Factbox: Strait of Hormuz: the world’s most important oil artery
(Reuters) – Iran’s ambassador to Britain warned against escalating tensions on Sunday, a day ahead of an expected response from the UK which could include fresh sanctions on Tehran or other steps after its seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker. Britain has called the capture of the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on …
Bulgaria tax hacking: An entire nation was hit
“We should all be angry. … The information is now freely available to anyone. Many, many people in Bulgaria already have this file, and I believe that it’s not only in Bulgaria,” said Genov, a blogger and political analyst. He knows his data was compromised because, though he’s not an IT expert, he managed to …
Spain set for socialist-led government after Iglesias deal | World news
Spain is likely to install a leftwing government this week after Pablo Iglesias, leader of the anti-austerity Podemos, agreed to step aside to enable a coalition between his party and the Socialist Workers’ party, led by Pedro Sánchez. Months of wrangling since April’s general election came to a head last week when Sánchez said he …
Iran says it seized tanker after collision, UK fears ‘dangerous path’
GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) – Iran said on Saturday it seized a British-flagged oil tanker because it was involved in an accident, but Britain’s foreign minister said he feared Tehran was taking “a dangerous path” and other major European powers expressed alarm. Undated handout photograph shows the Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel owned by Stena Bulk, at an undisclosed location, obtained by Reuters on …
Moroccan court orders death penalty for jihadists who beheaded tourists | World news
A Moroccan court has sentenced three Islamic State supporters to death for the murder of two Scandinavian women who were beheaded while on a hiking trip in the High Atlas mountains. The suspected ringleader, Abdessamad Ejjoud, and two other men received the maximum penalty for the murders in December of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a 24-year-old …
Europe Wants to be World’s Climate Change Police with Green Deal
Europe’s new top bureaucrat wants to breathe new life into the continent’s long-cherished dream of being the world’s climate cop. By fall, it should be clear whether she has any chance of succeeding. Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed on Tuesday as the next president of the European Union’s powerful Commission, certainly talked a good Green …
Electric car models to triple in Europe by 2021
Image copyright iStock / Getty Images The number of electric car models available to consumers in Europe is expected to triple by 2021, says a European environmental lobby group. The uptake of electric cars has been stalling, blamed on a lack of charging infrastructure and higher prices. Latest data shows carmakers will offer 214 electric …
FaceApp denies storing users’ photographs without permission | Technology
The developer of a popular app which transforms users’ faces to predict how they will look as older people has insisted they are not accessing users’ photographs without permission. FaceApp, which was launched by a Russian developer in 2017, uses artificial intelligence allowing people to see how they would look with different hair colour, eye …
WW3 fears: Russia’s plot to launch war on Europe while world is distracted | World | News
Heinrich Brauss, who is also a retired German lieutenant general, claimed while Europe, the US and UK’s attention is more focussed on issues world leaders have deemed more pressing, Russian President Vladimir Putin is plotting a regional war with member states right under their noses. He told Berlin publication Welt am Sonntag: “At a time …
Former German spy chief causes alarm by sharing far-right tweets | World news
When he was in charge of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maaßen warned of how easy it was for people to be led astray by “disinformation” and “clumsy fake reports” on the internet. But since his dismissal from office last September, the former spy chief’s behaviour on social media has raised questions over his own …
