Europe

    Hundreds of thousands of eggs potentially infected with a dangerous insecticide have been imported into Britain from Dutch farms, the Food Standards Agency has said. The contaminated eggs have been infected with a pesticide named Fipronil, which is dangerous if consumed by humans, sparking a UK-wide scare over the popular food. About 700,000 eggs are feared to be contaminated, and supermarkets have pulled egg products, including egg salads and sandwiches, from their shelves after the scare emerged. As the news broke, worried shoppers were left wondering if the egg products they have recently consumed were contaminated with the dangerous insecticide. Here we explain the issue. What is Fipronil? It is an anti-tick and flea pesticide which is banned in products which are dest...

    James Chapman, David Davis and Scottish Secretary David Mundell meets in Glasgow in October. Mr. Chapman, who no longer works for Davis, has called Brexit a catastrophe The former chief of staff to Brexit Secretary David Davis has called Britain’s efforts to leave the EU a catastrophe and called on sensible MPs to admit it. James Chapman, an ex-Daily Mail political editor, also said Brexit should be reversed and tweeted a hashtag promoting a second referendum in 2019. Chapman went to work for Davis after last year’s referendum, having previously worked for George Osborne, but left his government job in June to work in PR. He never hid his Remain sympathies and, after leaving Government, told the BBC Theresa May’s insistence Britain leave the jurisdiction of European courts...

    Dutch authorities knew as far back as November that some eggs in the country were contaminated with an insecticide and they failed to notify their European partners at the time, Belgium’s agriculture minister has said. Dozens of producers in Belgium and the Netherlands are being investigated for eggs containing Fipronil, which is dangerous to human health. Britain, France, Sweden and Switzerland have also been warned to keep an eye out for tainted eggs. Belgium signalled on July 20 that it had found contamination. Agriculture Minister Denis Ducarme said Belgium’s food safety agency has official documents that indicated the presence of Fipronil in Dutch eggs as early as the end of November 2016. Mr Ducarme told Belgian politicians there was concern over that lack of officia...

    Brigitte Macron’s role will be made clear when a transparency charter is published in the coming days. The French president’s wife, Brigitte Macron, will not be given an official first lady title or her own budget, the French government has said following a petition against a proposed change to her status. A transparency charter will be published in the next few days to clarify the position of Emmanuel Macron’s wife, but presidential aides insist her role will be strictly public and not political. The Élysée has made no official announcement, but officials were forced to react after the petition opposed to the president’s spouse having an official title, status and budget was signed by more than 275,000 people in two weeks. During his election campaign, Macron promised to ...

    Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Siberian getaway dominated his homeland’s news agenda over the weekend, his torso already earning plaudits from the tabloid press, as well as comparisons to fictional adventurer Indiana Jones. The politician’s topless photos of his fishing trip to Tuva, was reminiscent of Harrison Ford’s indomitable adventurer and conqueror of hearts, Moscow tabloid, Moskovskiy Komsomolets wrote Sunday. The images, released by the state-run TV channels, harkened back to 2007 when Putin first famously strode around the same rural idyll, baring his chest by the Siberian lakeside. Russians were able to arrive at the conclusion that in the 10 years passed since the analogous photoshoot, their president has not changed a bit and is totally capable to plow on l...

    Paris police have arrested a man brandishing a knife who tried to breach security at the Eiffel Tower, and the monument was briefly evacuated. The company that manages the tower said in a statement Sunday that no one was hurt in the incident, which occurred soon before closing time Saturday night. The tower reopened as usual Sunday morning. Paris police say the man tried to force his way past security forces to go beneath the tower, but was quickly subdued. His identity wasn't released, and his motives are unclear. An investigation is underway. Monuments in the French capital are occasionally evacuated for security reasons, as the country remains on alert after deadly attacks since 2015.

    A former head of the European Commission has said a second Brexit referendum may be impossible for the UK, despite hopes from some Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs that the decision to leave the EU could still be reversed. But Romano Prodi, who served as the President of the Commission from 1999 to 2004, warned the UK risks committing economic suicide unless the Government is prepared to be flexible in order to reach a trade deal with the European Union. With the Brexit negotiations apparently moving slowly and the clock ticking on the UK’s exit from the EU, Mr Prodi, a former Italian Prime Minister and economist, weighed into the debate. He called for historic compromise on both sides so that a deal can be brokered on the major sticking points of trade and free movement bu...

    Air passengers face delays due to strikes and tighter border control. Holidaymakers could face long delays as a result of industrial action at some Spanish airports and tighter border controls across Europe on one of the busiest weekends of the year. Airlines have advised passengers to allow extra time and prepare for long delays, while one travel organisation said the elderly and young should take special precautions. Aage Duenhaupt, a spokesman for A4E, which represents airlines including BA’s owner, International Airlines Group, Ryanair and easyJet, said: “There is a danger people could get ill if we are looking at the worst-case scenario. Passengers need to be prepared for long queues and keep hydrated.” The intermittent delays follow the introduction in March of new ...

    An anti immigration group in Norway has been widely mocked after mistaking a photograph of empty bus seats for six Muslim women wearing burqas. The image shared to private Facebook group Fedrelandet viktigst, that translates as Fatherland first, sparked a furious debate among its members after it appeared to show the seats occupied by women wearing the full-face veil. But the man who shared the image, captioned What do people think of this? Also said it was just a little practical joke to see how people would react, and was actually a photograph of a bus carriage. Speaking to WorldViews, Johan Slattavik said the affair had given him a good laugh. I laid out the photo to see what happened, he said, adding that he was shocked so many people fell for it. Users describe...

    Holidaymakers are being warned they face lengthy delays at European airports this summer after border checks were tightened. Holidaymakers are being warned they face lengthy delays at European airports this summer after border checks were tightened. Passengers have been hit by delays of up to four hours - longer than some of their flights - after arriving at airports popular with British tourists . The delays are reportedly being caused by the introduction of newly-toughened and more time consuming immigration checks. The problem at what is traditionally already the busiest time of the year for flights is being made worse by a lack of border officials on the continent, it is claimed. An association representing airlines said queues stretching for "hundreds of metres" are i...