Europe

    Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation on Monday, hours after it was confirmed he had suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform. "My experience of government finishes here," Renzi told a press conference, acknowledging that the No campaign had won an "extraordinarily clear" victory in a vote on which he had staked his future. Interior Ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had carried the vote by a margin of almost 60-40 with a near 70 percent turnout underlining the high stakes and the intensity of the debate. Markets seemed to take Renzi's departure in their stride. Stocks and the euro fell in early trading in Asia but there were no signs of panic with the possibility of his res...

    Theresa May has not been invited to a traditional annual end of year dinner with other European Union leaders at a major Brussels summit next week because Britain is leaving the EU. The regular summit of European Union leaders will last only one day and will end with a dinner where Mrs May is not invited, the indicative programme of the meeting showed on Thursday. At her last summit in October Mrs May and the other 27 leaders had dined on pan-fried scallops, lamb with roast fig, and iced vanilla parfait. However next week Donald Tusk, the European Council president, invited leaders for a shorter one-day meeting to be held in Brussels. The meeting will start in the morning and is expected to end in the late afternoon. Leaders of the remaining 27 EU countries will continue t...

    An oil refinery in Italy has been rocked by a massive explosion. The plant in the town of Sannazzaro dei Burgondi, north of Milan, is engulfed in flames. A huge cloud of black smoke that can been seen miles away has covered the area. Italian emergency services have ordered local residents to stay inside their home. The Italian Department of Civil Protection in the province of Alessandria said in a statement "The fire occurred inside refinery Italian ENI energy company occurred around 15:40 (local time), causing a large fireball of tens of meters." ENI, Italy's biggest refiner, said in a statement the fire had started at around 4.00 pm in the so-called EST plant at the refinery. The cause was still unknown. The fire is currently being extinguished, Eni said. Traders said th...

    Angela Merkel and Donald Tusk last night united to block Theresa May's attempt to fast-track a deal which would have created an amnesty for British ex-pats and EU migrants UK post-Brexit. Mrs May had proposed that EU workers currently living in the UK be allowed to remain in exchange for an agreement which gives British expats in the European Union the same rights. She had hoped to announce a deal within weeks but while more than 20 EU nations have signalled that they are prepared to agree to a reciprocal arrangement, Mrs Merkel has rebuffed Mrs May's attempts to come to an agreement. Her position was then backed by the president of the European Council, Mr Tusk, who last night said that Mrs May and British voters had created "anxiety and uncertainty" for migrants. He told...

    The EU must compromise to win a Brexit deal that works for both the UK and the rest of Europe, the Polish Prime Minister warns today ahead of a historic meeting with Theresa May. In an exclusive article for The Telegraph, Beata Szydlo praises the British-Polish alliance in fighting the Nazis and says that ongoing defence and security co-operation between the two countries is essential, and must be at the heart of any new deal. Poland ready to help its old friend Britain reach the best possible Brexit deal Ms Szydło said the result of negotiations will depend on "imagination and leadership" and called on the Prime Minister to set out her Brexit plan soon. Theresa May meets Poland's Prime minister Beata Szydlo during an European Union leaders summit on October 20, 2016 at th...

    Intelligence of attack plots across Europe is being uncovered as Islamic State’s caliphate is beaten back, the top British officer in the military coalition fighting the extremists has disclosed. A trove of information has already been found and the capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul is expected to deliver more on the plans, finances and members of Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (Isil). Maj Gen Rupert Jones warned there were “no quick answers” in the fight to liberate Iraq’s second city, which has now entered its second month. He also appeared to challenge Donald Trump’s campaign trail suggestions that the coalition was not aggressive enough against the extremist movement also known as Daesh. Maj Gen Jones, who is second in command of the US-led coalition, spoke as the T...

    Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said on Monday he would move nuclear-capable missiles closer to Europe in response to Nato's expansion in the Baltic states. In a bold display of force against Western allies, Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles and a ballistic Iskander system will be deployed in Kaliningrad, which is situated between Lithuania and Poland. Iskander missiles have a range of 450 miles, which means they could hit Berlin if launched from Kaliningrad. "We are concerned by Nato decision making," Mr Putin said an interview broadcast on Monday. "We have, therefore, to take countermeasures, which means to target with our missile systems the facilities that in our opinion start posing a threat to us." The remarks are among the sharpest Mr Putin has made about...

    Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says his government is withdrawing a proposal that critics say would legitimize child marriages and will instead submit it for review by a parliamentary committee. The proposal, which was scheduled to undergo a final vote on Tuesday despite a public outcry, would have deferred sentencing or punishment for sexual assault in cases where there was no physical force and where the victim and perpetrator were married. The age of consent in Turkey is 18, although courts permit civil marriages for people as young as 16. Many younger people are married in Islamic ceremonies. Binali Yildirim told reporters the government would ask an all-party commission to review the proposal. Critics said the bill would have pardoned statutory rape and rever...