PA: Europe
Thursday, 14 January 2021 20:50
Germany: 300 bodies waiting for cremation
Caskets are stacked three high in the crematorium, piled up in empty offices, and stored in hallways. Many are sealed with plastic, others labelled ‘infection risk,’ ‘urgent’, or ‘Covid’. A surge of coronavirus deaths has boosted…
Thursday, 14 January 2021 20:48
Spain / Greece: extreme weather
Deep snow left by Storm Filomena turned to ice, disrupting transport and lowering temperatures to -25C (-13F). The elderly are warned to stay at home. At least seven people have died due to the weather. ‘We…
Thursday, 07 January 2021 20:47
British EU residents in post-Brexit ‘travel chaos’
Days after a ‘mutant’ coronavirus strain ruined Christmas plans of holidaymakers on both sides of the Channel, red tape and confusion have raised hurdles for Britons attempting to return to their homes in several European countries.…
Thursday, 07 January 2021 20:45
Russia: aggression
Russian aggression has taken on many different forms. The most glaring example remains the undeclared and ongoing war in eastern Ukraine, which has cost over 14,000 lives and displaced millions. President Putin has also deployed hybrid…
Thursday, 17 December 2020 18:28
Europe’s Covid Christmas
Across Europe there will be further lockdowns, curfews and travel bans as the number of people infected with Covid has increased. Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte summed it up when he told Italians to expect a…
Thursday, 17 December 2020 18:26
Holy See: Christmas lighting-up ceremony
'Christmas reminds us that Jesus is our peace, our joy, our strength, our comfort’, Pope Francis said at the Vatican’s traditional lighting ceremony: ‘Let there be light.’ A 30-metre-tall spruce was placed just off-centre in St…