The Daily Star - Europe



UK PM can’t keep Scotland in union against will: Sturgeon

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, yesterday warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he could not keep Scotland in the United Kingdom against the country’s will.

Pound soars as Johnson heads for landslide British election win

The British pound surged more than 2% on Thursday as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party looked set for a decisive election victory that markets believe makes an orderly exit from the European Union all but certain.

British PM Johnson: We have a powerful mandate for Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that his government appeared to have won a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.

Possible outcomes

Britain went to the polls yesterday to decide the future of Brexit in a snap pre-Christmas election aimed at ending years of political deadlock and bitter divisions over the country’s European Union membership.

Rohingya genocide: Full transcript of last 2 days' hearing at ICJ

The hearings at an international court in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Rohingya population at the International Court of Justice in The Hague roles into the third and final day.

30,000 face extinction

Already facing the threat of habitat destruction, hundreds of plant and animal species are now under further pressure from manmade climate change, the IUCN yesterday said in its updated “Red List of Threatened Species”.

NZ volcano toll rises to six

Fearing the volcano could erupt again, search parties were unable to set foot on New Zealand’s White Island for eight people still missing yesterday, as police raised the death toll to six from the eruption a day earlier.

2 Algeria ex-PMs get long jail terms in graft trial

An Algerian court yesterday sentenced two former prime ministers to long jail terms in the first of a series of high-profile corruption trials launched after longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned in the face of mass protests in April.

Toxic bushfire haze blankets eastern Australia

Toxic haze blanketed Sydney yesterday triggering a chorus of smoke alarms to ring across the city and forcing school children inside, as “severe” weather conditions fuelled deadly bush blazes along Australia’s east coast.

Travel misery in France as nationwide strike continues

The most serious nationwide strike to hit France in years caused new misery for weekend travellers yesterday, with defiant unions dismissing proposals by the government and warning walkouts would last well into next week.

Oil, gas groups ‘destroying’ climate talks

Oil and gas groups were yesterday accused of seeking to influence climate talks in Madrid by paying millions in sponsorship and sending dozens of lobbyists to delay what scientists say is a necessary and rapid cut in fossil fuel use.

Conflicts over water likely to flare up in coming year

Conflicts over water are likely to flare up in Iraq, Mali and India in the coming year, according to the developers of an app launched yesterday which aims to help prevent violence by flagging up potential flashpoints.

UN seeks $29b

The UN launched a humanitarian appeal for nearly $29 billion yesterday as climate change and increasingly protracted conflicts put tens of millions of people in urgent need of aid.

November 2019 was joint hottest on record: data

Last month was the joint hottest November in history, satellite data showed yesterday, marking six consecutive months where the world either broke or equalled record temperatures.

EU to miss 2020 green goals

The EU will not meet its environmental targets for 2020 but could achieve those for 2030 and 2050 if urgent action is taken, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Wednesday.

Germany kicks out Russian diplomats

Germany expelled two Russian diplomats yesterday after prosecutors said Moscow could be behind the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in a Berlin park.

China outclasses West

Teenagers from four big Chinese regions outshone their contemporaries in Western nations in a keenly watched survey of education capabilities published yesterday, which also showed no improvement trend in developed countries over the past two decades.