Author: Press Room

A fleet of small boats evacuated hundreds of tourists from beaches in northern Greece as a forest fire bore down on two popular resorts. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Water bombing planes and helicopters and almost 150 firefighters battled the flames spreading across the Halkidiki peninsula south of the city of Thessaloniki, the fire service said. Two injured firefighters were taken to hospital, the service added. Within hours of erupting, the fire bore down on homes around the popular resorts of Siviri and Fourka, which are packed with summer tourists. The region is dominated by flammable pine forests. Greece’s civil protection agency sent…

A powerful explosion rocked an ammunition factory near Colleferro, a town about 40 kilometres southeast of Rome, police said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Firefighters and police were at the site and “complex operations” were underway at the Knds Ammo Italy plant which was formerly Simmel Difesa. Videos shared on social media showed a fire at the factory followed by a massive explosion. Italian media reported that there were no casualties, with the AGI news agency saying employees sheltered in secure areas at the facility. The mayor of Colleferro, Giulio Calamita, wrote in a post on Facebook that “the situation is…

The eruption of Mount Etna has been ongoing for seven days, causing disruption to air traffic in Sicily at the height of the summer season. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Catania airport has extended the suspension of flights until 08:00 on 14 August because of volcanic ash. In the meantime, Etna, affectionately nicknamed “Her Majesty” by locals, continues to attract large numbers of visitors. Euronews has gathered the views of experts and local guides on the unusual length of the eruption and on the precautions to take to watch it safely. An exceptionally long eruption According to Salvo Gambino, director of the Etnean…

Poland detained a Russian citizen accused by Warsaw of planning to kill a Ukrainian-American dual citizen in the Polish capital on Moscow’s orders, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Tusk told journalists the suspect had been arrested last Friday. “He was inconvenient from the point of view of the Putin regime and at the last moment…we managed to prevent this execution,” he added. “This is the first situation of its kind in which someone, acting on Russian orders, decided to carry out an attack against an American citizen on the territory of another NATO country,” he added.…

A Russian drone struck a passenger train in Ukraine’s Odesa region on Thursday, killing two people. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The victims of the attack were two crew members, the train machinist and his assistant, the CEO of Ukrainian Railways Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said in a post on Facebook. None of the passengers were harmed. “Today in the Odesa region, the Russians once again destroyed an ordinary passenger train locomotive with a jet-powered drone. There were 340 people on the train,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Whoever was operating that drone certainly could not have been unaware that the target was…

The European Commission has deployed a team of migration experts to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, two weeks after around 80,000 migrants crossed into the territory from Morocco triggering an unprecedented humanitarian and political crisis, and amid reports that further large-scale attempts to cross into the enclave could be imminent. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Commission said the mission was intended to “understand the first-hand needs on the ground” and how the EU can bolster its support for the Spanish authorities. Yet, the executive declined to say whether the visit would also cover preparations for a…

Hikers and astronomers gathered at France’s Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees to watch the solar eclipse. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Clouds partly obscured the event, but visitors still described the experience as peaceful and memorable, with the sun appearing red through breaks in the clouds. Astronomers at the Pic du Midi Observatory also conducted observations using a telescope to track the eclipse. Despite the cloudy conditions, the event offered a striking spectacle from the French mountains.

The leader of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, Magdalena Andersson, is set to become the country’s next prime minister. But her centre-left credentials won’t make her any less of a “frugal” hardliner in the upcoming EU budget negotiations. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Swedish Social Democratic Party (S) is on course to win the 13 September election, currently polling at 32%, well ahead of the national-conservative Sweden Democrats on 20% and the centre-right Moderate Party of current Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on 17%, according to the latest data. That would make Sweden one of the few EU countries turning towards a progressive government,…

“Defence stocks make millionaires 95% of the time,” a man tells his followers in a TikTok video before pointing viewers towards a handful of companies in the defence sector. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It’s one of several videos offering investment tips: some feature creators while others use AI-generated personas to offer stock picks and financial advice to users scrolling through social media in Europe. But how much of this advice should you actually trust? A new analysis of 150 popular finance-related TikTok videos by broker comparison website BrokerListings.com suggests that viewers should be cautious. The videos it studied amassed at least 100,000…

“Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla is beyond any doubt”, Spanish diplomatic sources have told ‘Euronews’. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Ceuta and Melilla are part of Spain’s territorial integrity, which is internationally recognised. Spain’s territorial integrity has never been and will never be discussed with anyone,” the same sources pointed out. Their remarks and comments reinforce the firm message from Defence Minister Margarita Robles, who has in recent days repeatedly stressed in the Autonomous City of Ceuta that “Ceuta and Melilla are not to be touched”. Robles has sought to convey a sense of calm to the people of Ceuta and to…