Ariane 5 makes final 2010 flight
December 30, 2010
Europe’s heavy-lift rocket, the Ariane 5, has completed its sixth and final mission of 2010, putting two satellites high above the Earth.
The launcher powered skyward from its Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 1827 local time (2127 GMT).
Water scarce in N. Ireland; burst pipes blamed
December 29, 2010
Thousands of homes and businesses in Northern Ireland have been left without running water, some for more than a week, as a result of what the Belfast government called “an unprecedented number of burst pipes caused by the continuing thaw.”
Some residents report they have been without water for up to nine days, and charities were being drafted to help distribute emergency supplies of bottled water in Belfast.
Police officer shot and wounded in West Yorkshire siege
December 27, 2010
Police have surrounded a house in West Yorkshire after an officer was shot.
Several shots were fired in the incident in the Kirkheaton area of Huddersfield on Monday evening.
The officer has been taken to hospital for a check up and his injuries are not believed to be serious.
Assistant Chief Constable John Parkinson said officers have laid siege to the property and are attempting to talk to the gunman while appealing for him to give himself up.
Greece’s budget deficit worsens
November 15, 2010
Greece’s 2009 budget deficit was worse than previously calculated, new figures have shown.
The country’s deficit last year stood at 15.4% of its annual economic output, said Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.
Istanbul blast injures at least 15, may be suicide bomb
October 31, 2010
At least 15 people have been injured in what appears to have been a suicide bomb attack in the centre of Istanbul, Turkish media say.
Police have cordoned off the area around Taksim Square where the blast occurred on Sunday morning.
EU teams to patrol Greek border amid migrant surge
October 25, 2010
The EU is for the first time sending border guards to help Greece stem an influx of migrants entering across the land border with Turkey.
Many of the illegal migrants claim to be from Afghanistan.
The Rapid Border Intervention Teams set up in 2007 “are activated today for the first time”, the European Commission said late on Sunday.
French Senate passes pension bill
October 23, 2010
The French Senate has passed a controversial pension reform bill, which has caused a series of strikes and protests around France.
The senators approved President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, and it could become law as early as next week.
Cuba dissident Farinas awarded Sakharov Prize by EU
October 21, 2010
The European Parliament has awarded its Sakharov human rights prize to Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas.
In July Mr Farinas, 48, ended a hunger strike after Cuba’s communist government announced it was freeing 52 political prisoners.
During his campaign for human rights he has staged more than 20 hunger strikes and spent more than 11 years in prison.
An Israeli human rights watchdog and an Ethiopian opposition activist had also been nominated for the prize.
Mr Farinas, a psychologist, journalist and former soldier, had been near death while on hunger strike this year, doctors said.
The MEPs who nominated him for the prestigious award called him “a beacon of hope for dozens of journalists and activists who are currently in prison”.
Cubans have been awarded the prize twice before: dissident Oswaldo Paya in 2002 and the Ladies in White group of women whose husbands are jailed in Cuba, who won the award in 2005.
Announcing the award on Thursday, the parliament president Jerzy Buzek said Mr Farinas “was ready to sacrifice and risk his own health and life as a means of pressure to achieve change in Cuba”.
“I hope to hand over the award to him in person, here in Strasbourg, in December, which would be a tremendous moment for the European Parliament and for all Cuban prisoners of conscience.
“I sincerely hope that, together with Guillermo Farinas, the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), another Cuban Sakharov laureate from 2005, will also be able to collect their Sakharov Prize in person.”
The European Union, like the US, has urged Cuba for years to free political prisoners and improve human rights.
The Sakharov Prize was named after the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and was first awarded in 1988. It includes a cash award of 50,000 euros.
The Russian human rights group Memorial won the award last year.
Spain has called on the EU to normalise relations with Cuba, but the Czech Republic and Slovakia - former communist bloc countries - are among the member states against that idea.
EU foreign ministers are due to discuss relations with Cuba next week.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
French workers vow to step up pension protests
October 21, 2010
French workers will step up their protests against pension reforms next week, a top trade union leader says.
Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT workers’ confederation, made the statement as union leaders prepared to discuss plans to hold a seventh day of national protests across France.
France: Saudis warn of new al-Qaeda threat
October 18, 2010
Saudi Arabia has warned France it is the target of an imminent al-Qaeda attack, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux has said.
He said Saudi intelligence agencies spoke of a threat to Europe, and “France in particular”, from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.