CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Kara Fox and James Frater, CNN Russia was responsible for killing Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian agent turned Kremlin critic who died in London by polonium poisoning in 2006, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Tuesday. The ruling found that “Russia was responsible for assassination of Aleksandr Litvinenko in the UK.” “The

By Mostafa Salem, Nima Elbagir and Yasir Abdullah, CNN A military coup d’etat attempt failed in Sudan on Tuesday and most of the involved officers were arrested, according to three senior government and military sources. About 40 officers were arrested after attempting to take over the state broadcaster’s television buildings and the military general command,

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN As a child growing up in Sweden, Karolina Jurzyk didn’t pay much attention to her grandfather’s tales of wartime Poland. Now, however, thanks to a long-forgotten letter, Jurzyk, 35, has uncovered the truth about how her family rescued and hid two Jewish sisters from the Nazis. Having moved to Stockholm as

By Stephanie Busari and Nina Avramova, CNN Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ has been convicted of terrorism related charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Kigali on Monday. Rusesabagina, who inspired the film ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ has been found guilty of being part of a terror group, MRCD-FLN.

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN Poland will have to pay a €500,000 ($586,000) fine for each day it continues extracting coal at an open-pit mine near the Czech and German borders, Europe’s top court ruled Monday. The European Commission ordered Poland to stop operations at the Turów lignite mine in May following a lawsuit launched by

By Jack Guy, CNN Dozens of endangered African penguins were apparently killed by a swarm of bees in South Africa on Friday. The 63 penguins were found dead on Friday at a colony in Simonstown, near Cape Town, according to a statement from South African National Parks (SANParks). “The deaths occurred suddenly some time between

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the life of Lech Walesa, former president of Poland. Personal Birth date: September 29, 1943 Birth place: Popowo, Poland Father: Boleslaw Walesa, carpenter Mother: Felicja (Kaminski) Walesa Marriage: Miroslawa “Danuta” (Golos) Walesa (1969-present) Children: Bogdan, Slawek, Przemek, Jarek, Magdalena, Ania, Maria Wiktoria and Brygidka Military service: Army, Corporal,

By Joseph Ataman and Ben Westcott, CNN France’s ambassador to the United States reiterated in an interview Monday that the breakdown of the French-Australian submarine deal last week came as a surprise to Paris. Speaking on French radio station RTL, Ambassador Philippe Etienne said French Cabinet ministers were not given any indication the agreement would

By Anna Chernova and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN At least six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, officials have said. A suspect entered the Perm State University campus, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) east of Moscow, “with an offensive weapon” and began shooting

By Zahra Ullah and Anna Chernova, CNN Russia’s ruling party is on track to secure a majority in parliamentary elections amid allegations of voter fraud and interference. Voting concluded late Sunday in Russia, after people across the country cast votes for members of the State Duma — the lower house of the Russian Parliament —

By Vasco Cotovio, Martin Goillandeau and Jeevan Ravindran, CNN The Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, erupted Sunday, after several earthquakes were felt over the weekend. The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan) tweeted news of the eruption at 3:24 p.m. local time (10:24 a.m. ET) and urged members of the

By Jeevan Ravindran, CNN Crowds lining the banks of the Seine and visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris this weekend were treated to an unusual sight — a slackliner charting an unusual path across the skies above their heads. Frenchman Nathan Paulin walked the 600-meter slackline from the Eiffel Tower to the Chaillot Theater on

By Jeevan Ravindran, CNN The Netherlands has long been the world’s tallest nation — but its people are getting shorter, according to Dutch researchers. Although height has increased over the last 100 years, the study showed Dutch men born in 2001 were 1 centimeter (.39 inches) shorter than their 1980 counterparts. For women, the difference

By Rob Picheta, CNN Much of Europe has opened up to international visitors and scaled back Covid-19 restrictions since a wave of cases swept the continent in the spring. Those steps back toward pre-Covid life have been accompanied by a gradual rise in cases and hospitalizations in many nations, with the more transmissible Delta variant

By Ben Westcott, CNN Growing up as a teenager in Afghanistan, Rabia Balkhi felt lucky. Despite being born in a country with a long history of discrimination against its LGBTQ people, Balkhi’s family accepted her as a lesbian. Now Balkhi says that rare acceptance has put all their lives at risk, as the new Taliban

By Becky Anderson, Zeena Saifi and Mostafa Salem, CNN New Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Lebanon’s people to put their trust in his government as he seeks “quick fixes” to help his economically shattered country. In his first interview with an international media outlet since forming a government a week ago, Mikati acknowledged that some

By Zahra Ullah and Anna Chernova, CNN Millions of Russians are expected to head to the polls over a three-day period starting Friday in elections taking place against the backdrop of an unprecedented assault on democracy over the past year. Voters will choose members of the State Duma — the lower house of the Russian