Day: October 16, 2021

Magdalena Andersson is favourite to become Sweden’s prime minister when her Social Democrat colleague Stefan Lofven steps down in November, but major challenges face the current finance minister if she is to keep the top job longer than a few months. If Andersson is picked to head her party in November, she is likely to become Sweden’s first female prime minister – 40 years after neighbour Norway got its first woman leader and more than 60 years behind Sri Lanka, which was the first country to do so. Yet staying…

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Spain will provide 206 million euros ($239 million) to help the island of La Palma recover from its volcanic eruption, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday. “Next Tuesday, the cabinet will approve a package of very powerful measures” to assist in areas such as infrastructure reconstruction, water supply, employment, agriculture and tourism, he told a news conference during a visit to the island. Red-hot lava exploded high into the air from La Palma’s volcano on Sunday night as the eruption gathered force, hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said…

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What started off as a restless but peaceful demonstration against the looming measure in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo ended up sparking a tinderbox when an offshoot of protesters stormed the headquarters of CGIL, Italy’s oldest and biggest labor union.  Thousands of protesters including members of far-right groups demonstrated in central Rome on Saturday against the extension of the Covid-19 health pass system to all workplaces. There were scuffles with police as the demonstrators took aim at the health pass, which has been a requirement to enter museums, sporting events, and…

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France will launch a campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as part of its upcoming presidency of the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday. A conference will be held in Paris gathering civil society groups from countries where the death penalty is in use or suspended, Macron said in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of France’s abolition of the punishment. France, which will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2022, will also work with…

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Poles backing EU membership have taken part in protests across the country, amid fears it could leave the bloc. On Thursday Poland’s top court ruled that key articles of EU law were “incompatible” with the constitution. Organisers said protests took place in more than 100 towns and cities, with some 100,000 people turning out in the capital, Warsaw. The court’s decision effectively rejected the core principle that EU law has primacy over national legislation. Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has defended the ruling. “We have the same rights as other…

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It’s the first time the three parties are meeting to discuss a possible coalition. While the Social Democrats are hopeful, there are still major hurdles to overcome before Angela Merkel’s successor can be crowned. Germany could be moving closer towards a new government, with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), environmentalist Green Party, and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) holding their first three-way talks to explore a possible coalition on Thursday. Until now, the parties have held two-way talks to feel out the likelihood of an alliance, with the SPD’s Olaf…

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