Tag Archives: Europe

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Ministers from 13 European and African countries on Monday pledged steps to ease the migrant crisis around the Mediterranean, vowing especially to improve conditions for migrants held in Libya. Interior ministers and other representatives from countries impacted by the ongoing wave of migration up through Africa …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A group of vulnerable refugees from several African countries, who had been stuck in war-ravaged Libya, have been evacuated to Niger, the UN said Sunday. The UN refugee agency said the evacuation of 25 “extremely vulnerable refugees” from Libya Saturday marked the first of its kind. …

Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Spanish authorities said they rescued over 250 migrants, including children, on Saturday who were making the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. “We saved 251 people from five improvised vessels all in the Alboran Sea,” Spain’s maritime safety authorities said on Twitter, referring to the westernmost portion …

La Goulette, Tunisia | AFP | The number of illegal migrants leaving Libya for Europe has fallen by 20 percent so far in 2017, the European naval force charged with stopping people trafficking in the Mediterranean said Thursday. “We have seen a drop in the number of people leaving Libya for …

Paris, France | AFP | Robotic comet explorer Rosetta sent home a last-gasp photo of her target’s rocky facade before crashing into its surface to end a 12-year deep-space odyssey, ground controllers said Thursday. Almost a year to the day since Rosetta’s demise on September 30 last year, the European Space …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libya’s navy warned it will seize activists’ boats on migrant rescue missions that enter its waters unauthorised, after a run-in Wednesday with a German vessel during which a warning shot was fired. “This time we avoided an escalation. In future, we will seize the boats of …

Paris, France | AFP | People aged 50 and older comprise a growing percentage of HIV patients in Europe, accounting for one in six new cases in 2015, researchers said Wednesday. The older cohort was more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of HIV and AIDS compared to 15-49 year …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libya’s coastguard has rescued over 3,000 migrants aiming to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in the past week, while Italy picked up another 2,000 in recent days, official and reports said Sunday. Though the numbers attempting the dangerous journey have dropped off significantly in recent months, …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU said Thursday it may allow countries in Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone to carry out internal border checks for an extra two years to tackle terror threats. Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said there was no longer any need for temporary checks that several countries …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | EU ministers will on Thursday debate a proposal to allow countries in Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone to reintroduce internal border checks for longer periods to tackle terror threats, diplomats said. The proposal for countries to reinstate border controls — including for up to four years in …