EU population hits 450m on migration boost

Migration into the European Union pushed its population to a record 450.4 million people last year, offsetting a natural population decline for the fourth straight year, EU data released yesterday showed.
11 July 2025, 18:57 PM

Police free 1,194 in global trafficking raids: Europol

Police rescued 1,194 potential human trafficking victims and arrested 158 suspects in coordinated raids across 43 countries last month, the European Union’s law enforcement agency said yesterday.
11 July 2025, 18:06 PM

EU parliament approves start of automated border system

The European Parliament yesterday gave final approval to a phased rollout of a new border check system for non-EU nationals which will do away with passport stamps.
8 July 2025, 19:32 PM

Swiss Alps hits annual glacier tipping point weeks early

The snow and ice accumulated in the Swiss Alps over the winter has already melted away, a monitoring service said yesterday, marking the second earliest arrival of a tipping point known as “glacier loss day”.
4 July 2025, 19:17 PM

Roman bigfoot?

A stash of “unusually large” 2,000-year-old shoes dug up at a Roman site in northern England has left archaeologists searching for an explanation, they told AFP on Thursday.
4 July 2025, 18:47 PM

Canada turns to drones for reforestation

A large aerial drone flies over the charred remains of Canadian forests devastated by wildfires, bombarding the ground with seed capsules to accelerate reforestation.
2 July 2025, 18:29 PM

Europe bakes in summer’s first heatwave as continent warms

Southern Europeans braced Saturday for their first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on the world’s fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red.
28 June 2025, 18:35 PM

France bans smoking in beaches, in parks and bus shelters

France will ban smoking on beaches and in parks, public gardens and bus shelters from Sunday, the government said
28 June 2025, 07:22 AM

Russian strike kills 5, wounds 14 in Ukraine

A Russian strike yesterday killed five people and wounded more than a dozen in Ukraine’s industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, where Moscow has stepped up fatal bombardments.
27 June 2025, 21:33 PM

Heatwave across Med sparks health, fire warnings

Southern European countries yesterday braced for a punishing weekend heatwave, with temperatures predicted to hit up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and beyond, prompting health warnings for residents and tourists plus fears of wildfires.
27 June 2025, 19:01 PM

Trump, Europe at odds over Putin’s ambitions

For US President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin is a man looking for an off-ramp to his bloody three-year assault on Ukraine.
27 June 2025, 18:54 PM

E.coli bacteria can turn plastic into painkillers

Scientists have found a way to use the bacteria E.Coli to convert plastic waste into a popular painkiller, a study said Monday, though outside experts doubted the technique would make a dent in the fight against plastic pollution.
24 June 2025, 18:15 PM

Us strikes on Iran: Hopes for nuke diplomacy shattered

In a bid to defuse the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, foreign ministers from Europe’s top three powers hurried to meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva.
23 June 2025, 18:00 PM

Pro-Gaza activists in UK damage planes at air base

Pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in central England yesterday, damaging and spraying red paint over two planes used for refuelling and transportation.
20 June 2025, 20:00 PM

Pope warns of AI risks to young brains

Pope Leo XIV yesterday warned of the potential consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) on the intellectual development of young people, saying it could damage their grip on reality.
20 June 2025, 19:59 PM

Moth uses stars to navigate

A species of Australian moth travels up to a thousand kilometres every summer using the stars to navigate, scientists said Wednesday, the first time this talent has been discovered in an invertebrate covering vast distances.
19 June 2025, 18:27 PM

UK slaps new sanctions on Russia shadow fleet

The UK yesterday tightened its sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, imposing bans on 20 more ships and blacklisting 10 other people or bodies involved in energy and shipping.
17 June 2025, 19:35 PM

Trump’s threats are ‘not what allies do’

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday criticised US President Donald Trump for his threats to take over Greenland, saying that was “not what allies do”, as he arrived in the Danish autonomous territory for a visit.
15 June 2025, 19:49 PM

Conviction for graft: Ex-president Sarkozy stripped of France’s top honour

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of his Legion of Honour -- the country’s highest distinction -- following a conviction for graft, according to a decree published yesterday.
15 June 2025, 19:39 PM

May 2025 second warmest on record: EU monitor

Global heating persisted as the new norm, with last month the second warmest May on record on land and in the oceans, according to the European Union’s climate monitoring service.
11 June 2025, 19:47 PM