CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Delia Gallagher, CNN and Reuters Pope Francis arrived in Cyprus Thursday, where he called on residents to “welcome and integrate one another,” referencing the divisions that the migrant crisis has sowed on the island nation. The country has said that it is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants, many of whom travel

By Xiaofei Xu, CNN A man dressed like a ninja was shot by French police after he attempted to attack two officers with a sword in the western city of Cherbourg on Thursday, authorities said. The incident escalated as two female police officers approached the man to question him regarding a car theft. “He was

By Xiaofei Xu and Anaëlle Jonah, CNN Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Michel Aupetit from the position of Archbishop of Paris following reports that Aupetit had a consensual “intimate relationship” with a woman. The move was announced in a statement from the Vatican Thursday after French magazine Le Point broke the news of

By Nadine Schmidt and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Germany on Thursday announced a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated, as its leaders backed plans for mandatory vaccinations in the coming months. Unvaccinated people will be banned from accessing all but the most essential businesses, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, to curb the spread of coronavirus, outgoing Chancellor

By Nadine Schmidt, CNN Former Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz said Thursday his political career was over, weeks after his office was raided by prosecutors investigating him and close team members on suspicion of bribery and breach of trust. The 35-year-old said in a televised statement he would resign as leader of the center-right Austrian People’s

By Stephanie Halasz and Chris Stern, CNN Four people have been injured in an explosion caused by an old aircraft bomb near a busy train station in the German city of Munich, police said Wednesday. The explosion happened after drilling during construction work near Donnersbergerbruecke station caused the bomb to go off, police said. By

By Al Goodman, CNN New lava tubes from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain’s La Palma island have sent molten lava flowing downhill at speeds of up to 1 meter (3 feet) per second since Monday, according to the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute. Further down the mountain, on the west side of the island just

By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN Europe is considering a step once unthinkable among Western democracies: Making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for the entire bloc. Until now, governments around the world had rejected the idea of a universal coronavirus vaccine mandate, opting instead for incentives and other “nudges” to motivate people to get shots. Even in authoritarian states,

By John Mastrini and Ivana Kottasová, CNN When the Czech President Milos Zeman formally appointed Petr Fiala as the country’s new Prime Minister on Sunday, he did so sitting inside an acrylic glass box accompanied by health workers covered head to toe in hazmat suits. Zeman tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week, and

By Martin Goillandeau, CNN Swiss voters on Sunday approved their government’s pandemic response plan in a referendum by a 62.01% majority, according to official results published on the Federal Chancellery’s website. With a 65.72% participation, the Sunday referendum showed that most Swiss voters are unwilling to give up restrictive measures against Covid-19, with the result

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN Police in Liverpool, northwest England, have launched a murder inquiry after a 12-year-old girl was killed in an assault in the city center Thursday evening. Merseyside Police said the girl, named as Ava White, had been with friends at the time. The lights on the Christmas tree on Church Street, at