Europe

    The Prime Minister will tell MPs that the ball is in the EU's court when she updates them on the progress of Brexit negotiations. Theresa May will call for the European Union to be flexible in its approach and will promise the UK can get a deal that will prove the anti-Brexit "doomsayers" wrong. It comes as the fifth round of Brexit talks between UK and EU negotiators are due to start today. Mrs May will say: "By approaching these negotiations in a constructive way - in a spirit of friendship and co-operation and with our sights firmly set on the future - I believe we can prove the doomsayers wrong. I believe we can seize the opportunities of this defining moment in the history of our nation. A new, deep and special partnership between a sovereign United Kingdom and a stro...

    Germany and France will reportedly refuse to talk about a post Brexit transition deal until the UK settles its so called divorce bill with the European Union. The two countries are set to reject one of the key proposals made by Theresa May in her Florence Speech, according to reports in the Financial Times. In the speech the Prime Minister suggested there should be a transition period once the UK leaves the EU, which she referred to as an interim implementation period. This would see the UK stay in the single market for two years after Brexit in exchange for continuing to pay into the EU budget and continuing to obey EU rules and regulations. But when the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michael Barnier met with ambassadors from the remaining 27 EU countries the idea was repor...

    Danish parliamentarians will hold a formal vote to ban what they termed masking after the opposition party said it would support the measure. The country will be the latest European nation to pass such legislation. Denmark announced on Friday that it is planning to become the next European to enact a nationwide ban on the burqa and the niqab, the full-face coverings worn by some Muslim women. The Danish parliament has not yet announced a date for the formal vote. The move to ban the full-body coverings in Denmark is backed by the parties in the center-right government coalition, as well as the opposition Social Democrats. The Liberal Democrats, the coalition's leading party, said that the ban was not religiously motivated. This is not a ban on religious clothing, this is a...

    EU negotiators have reportedly stepped up backroom Brexit talks with Labour amid concerns over Theresa May's future. The Prime Minister has faced repeated calls to resign since losing the Conservative majority in June, with fresh claims this week that more than 30 Tory MPs want her to stand down. Uncertainty over Mrs May's premiership has seen EU negotiators significantly increase the amount of talks held with Labour since the General Election, according to The Daily Telegraph. The discussions have marked a significant change in tone towards Labour, and Brussels is seeking assurances from Jeremy Corbyn that he would honour agreements made with the Conservatives if he comes to power, it added. Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May In July, Mr Corbyn held very frank talks with EU ch...

    The decapitated head of Swedish journalist  has been found, say Danish police. Ms Wall went missing after interviewing Danish inventor Peter Madsen on his 60ft homemade submarine on 10 August. Her deliberately mutilated body was subsequently discovered in waters south of Copenhagen. Madsen has been charged with killing the 30-year-old Swedish journalist. Testifying in court in September, Madsen claimed she died after being hit by a hatch cover aboard his submarine.  

    The Norwegian Nobel Committee, warning of a rising risk of nuclear war, awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to a little-known international campaign group advocating for a ban on nuclear weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) describes itself as a coalition of grassroots non-government groups in more than 100 nations. It began in Australia and was officially launched in Vienna in 2007. We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time, said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In July, 122 nations adopted a U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, although the agreement does not include nuclear-armed states such as the United States, Rus...

    Catalonia’s disputed independence vote has quickly descended into chaos on Sunday as Spanish national police entered polling stations, seizing ballot boxes and voting papers, the media reported. In the town of Girona, where the regional President Carles Puigdemont was due to vote, the police smashed their way into a polling station by breaking a glass window, reports CNN. ‘Police are confiscating ballot boxes to respect the judicial mandate and the law regarding the illegal referendum,’ Spain’s Interior Ministry tweeted. The Spanish government has pledged to stop the vote that was declared illegal by the country’s constitutional court. The ballot papers contain just one question: ‘Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?’ There are tw...

    The French bomb squad was called in on Wednesday after a British tourist tried to take a ferry home from France with World War 2 bombshells in his suitcase. The Briton was trying to take the shells onto a ferry from the northern France port of Ouistreham when he was stopped by customs for a bag search. The French police found three bombshells, understood to be from World War 2, inside his suitcase. The potential risks attached ton the war relics were enough for police to evacuate the ferry terminal and to call in the bomb squad. A large cordon was set up around the port, and an incoming ferry from the UK was diverted, reported French media. Outgoing ferries were delayed by several hours, while local police took to Twitter to warn of the evacuation. The British national who...

    Ireland says it will hold abortion referendum in 2018 Ireland says it will hold an abortion referendum in 2018. Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland, unless it's performed as a medical intervention to save the mother's life. It means that thousands of women travel abroad every year to access abortion in other countries, or put their lives and their health at risk in unsafe procedures. Earlier this year, statistics showed a drop in the number of Irish women travelling to the UK for abortions, as those who gave Irish addresses dropped. Ireland says it will hold abortion referendum in 2018 But there were concerns that more women were choosing to have abortions at home, accessing pills online. Some 3,265 women gave Irish addresses at clinics and hospitals in England and Wa...

    The victory was seen as a bittersweet one for Merkel, with her alliance having lost about 8% of the vote compared to the last election. The SPD was down by almost 5%. The AfD gained more than 8 points on its 2013 result, when it failed to reach the 5% hurdle that would have allowed it into the Bundestag. Thirty-five percent of its supporters were first time voters. Voter turnout stood at 77% a 5.5-point increase on 2013 after voters were urged by leaders of the mainstream parties to turn out in force in an attempt to counter the rise of the right. The country faces weeks of drawn out coalition talks between the parties, about who will form a government with the CDU/CSU. A repeat of the so-called grand coalition between Merkel’s conservative alliance and the SPD would amoun...