Tag Archives: europe

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s government said Monday it plans to scrap so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy people from outside the European Union to obtain residency permits on investing more than half a million euros (dollars) in real estate. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his minority coalition government would study the reform in the weekly Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Spain’s …

Tourists in Italy have been treated to quite the show as Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe, has been blowing spectacular “smoke rings” into the sky since last week. The rare phenomenon, known as “volcanic vortex rings,” is generated by the combination of rapid gas release and the vent shape spewed out of a new crater that opened …

A series of scandals has blighted Denmark’s Armed Forces at a time when the Scandinavian country and member of the NATO alliance is building up its defenses, chiefly as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The events have so far led to the dismissal this week of Denmark’s top military chief, Gen. Flemming Lentfer, who failed to inform the …

State security services in Moldova’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria said Friday that a drone attacked a military unit close to the border with Ukraine, causing minor damage to a radar station but no casualties. The incident occurred in the region of Rabnita, about 4 miles from the Ukraine border, the region’s state security ministry said, adding that a criminal …

German investigators said Friday they have seized counterfeit U.S. dollar bills with a face value of over $103 million, which apparently came from Turkey and were being stored ahead of transport to the United States. The criminal police office in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, said officers found 75 cartons of fake dollars in searches of an apartment and two company …

Skiing power couple Mikaela Shiffrin and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde have announced they’re engaged to be married. SACHA BARON COHEN AND WIFE ISLA FISHER ANNOUNCE THEY ARE DIVORCING AFTER 14 YEARS OF MARRIAGE Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic champion who has won a record 97 World Cup races, holds her ring up to the camera in one of several photos they posted …

Montenegro’s top court said Friday it has overturned a decision to hand over a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to his native country. The move marks yet another twist in a months-long legal saga in the case of Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs founder arrested in Montenegro last year. Both South Korea and the U.S. had requested …

The Norwegian center-left government said Friday it plans “a historic increase” in defense spending of $56 billion over the next 12 years. “We need a defense that is fit for purpose in the emerging security environment,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said. “As our security environment is deteriorating, we need to spend more on and pay more attention to defense …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A technical error on a navy missile Thursday spurred Danish authorities to issue a warning, saying there was a risk the missile could launch unintentionally — but not explode — resulting in fragments falling in Denmark waters. Denmark’s armed forces said a technical problem arose with a Harpoon missile on board the Danish frigate HDMS Niels …

Austria’s justice minister said Thursday that she plans to tighten the country’s rules on espionage, which currently is explicitly banned if directed against Austria itself but not if it targets other countries or international organizations. Justice Minister Alma Zadic’s push to tighten Austria’s laws comes as the arrest of a former Austrian intelligence officer on allegations of spying for Russia …