By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected in 2013 as Pope Francis, he was a near total Vatican outsider. He had never been a Vatican official, instead spending decades in local ministry. And he came from Argentina, the first pope from the Americas. As the world’s Catholic cardinals meet …
Will Catholic cardinals pick another outsider like Francis to be pope? Read More »
By Joan Faus BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) -As factories, stores and hotels across Spain and Portugal gradually returned to normal on Tuesday after a huge blackout the day before, business associations and companies began counting the cost. Spain’s main business lobby CEOE estimated the outage would shave 1.6 billion euros ($1.82 billion), or 0.1%, off gross domestic …
Post-blackout in Spain and Portugal, companies count the cost Read More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German prosecutors have accused a former aide to a European lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of using his position to gather information for the Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese dissidents. The man, identified as Jian G., obtained more than 500 documents to transfer to China, including …
Former aide to German far-right politician charged with China espionage Read More »
By Andrius Sytas TALLINN (Reuters) – The U.S. administration may want to focus less on protecting Europe, but a military presence is too valuable for securing NATO’s flank and projecting influence for it to pull out entirely, Estonia’s defence minister has said. Hanno Pevkur told Reuters on Monday the U.S. might reposition some troops to …
Too much at stake for US military to quit Europe, Estonian minister says Read More »
By Joshua McElwee and Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -An Italian cardinal who was convicted of embezzlement and fraud said on Tuesday he would not take part in the secret conclave to elect a new pope, as thoughts turned to who will succeed Pope Francis who died last week. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the most senior …
Convicted cardinal skips conclave to elect new pope to succeed Francis Read More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is lagging on its targets to renovate the country’s dilapidated bridges by 2032 and needs to boost investment, according to auditors, who said the government’s goals appear unachievable. Only 69 of the 280 structures scheduled for renovation in 2024 under the 2032 plan had been modernised, Germany’s federal audit office said. …
Germany’s crumbling bridges need additional funds, auditors say Read More »
ROME (Reuters) -Italy and Turkey will continue to strengthen cooperation in the defence industry with new projects while also boosting their reciprocal trade, the leaders of the two countries said after holding talks in Rome. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met in the 17th-century Villa Doria Pamphili for an intergovernmental …
Turkey, Italy to strengthen defence cooperation, boost trade Read More »
By Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) – On a sunny day in April, hundreds of Romanians queued on the outskirts of Bucharest to visit a tomb bearing a vivid green flag with the insignia of the Iron Guard, one of Europe’s most violent antisemitic movements of the 1930s. While displaying Iron Guard symbols was banned in …
Romanians court far-right symbolism in run-up to election Read More »
By Charlotte Van Campenhout and Bart H. Meijer BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Court of Justice on Tuesday said Malta needs to end its golden passport programme that allows wealthy foreigners to buy citizenship, as it infringes EU law. The European Commission took Malta to court in 2022 over the scheme, which grants foreigners a passport …
EU top court rules against Malta’s golden passport scheme Read More »
By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) -France’s foreign ministry explicitly accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency on Tuesday of mounting cyber attacks on a dozen entities including ministries, defence firms and think tanks since 2021 in an attempt to destabilise France. The accusations, levelled at GRU unit APT28, which officials said was based in Rostov-on-Don in …
France accuses Russian intelligence of repeated cyber attacks since 2021 Read More »
