Europe

    In this Feb. 9, 2016 file picture rescue personnel stand in front of two trains that collided head-on near Bad Aibling, southern Germany. Prosecutors said at a pressconference Tuesday Feb. 16, 2016, they believe the… Prosecutors say they believe the head-on train crash in southern Germany last week was caused by "human error" by the train dispatcher. Eleven people died and scores were injured when two commuter trains slammed into each other on a single-line track near Bad Aibling, 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Munich. Chief prosecutor Wolfgang Giese says his office has opened a criminal investigation against the 39-year-old dispatcher. Giese said at a news conference on Tuesday that according to investigators "had he (the dispatcher) behaved according to the rules ...

    France and Turkey have said that air strikes on hospitals in northern Syria constitute war crimes. Up to 50 people have been killed in missile attacks on schools and hospitals in the region, the UN said. Turkey's foreign ministry blamed Russia for the attacks. Moscow is yet to respond to the allegations. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has cast doubt over plans to implement a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria. Last week world powers agreed to work towards a selective truce in Syria, to begin later this week. But in his first comments on the announcement, President Assad said such a ceasefire did not mean all the parties would put down their weapons. "So far they say they want a ceasefire within a week," he said in televised comments. "Who is capable of gather...

    Russia has killed more civilians than the Syrian army and Islamist group Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria as of January, according to the independent watchdog the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). A report by the organisation, which uses Syrian civil servants in the country's provinces to verify news about deaths, alleges that throughout last month Russian airstrikes killed 679 civilians, of whom 94 were children and 73 were women. This is higher than the estimate of how many people the Syrian government has allegedly killed over the same timeframe. ISIS was the bloodiest Islamist group in January with the death of 98 civilians on its hands, which is more than the al-Qaeda affiliated, al-Nusra front that was responsible for 42 death. The total number of civilians killed ...

    U.S. President Barack Obama extends his hand to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said tensions between Russia and the West have reached Cold War levels. Other leaders also warned of dangerous divisions within Europe. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Medvedev said the world had "slid into a new period of Cold War" as differences grew between the West and Russia over conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. "Almost every day we are accused of making new horrible threats either against NATO as a whole against Europe or against the US or other countries," he told delegates at the meeting in the southern German state of Bavaria. Medvedev said, however...

    A refugee flees police tear gas near the entrance to the Jungle camp in Calais (Picture: [copyright]) Members of an armed far-right militia are attacking Calais migrants in an unprecedented, brutal campaign of violence, according to evidence seen by this newspaper. In a series of incidents in recent weeks, refugees living at the Jungle camp claim to have been targeted by organised thugs – sometimes in uniforms. The Independent was told of one attack in which young male refugees were taken by van to a field where they were stripped naked and had their hands cuffed behind their back. They were then made to watch as their abductors – a group of unidentified men – beat them individually. Migrants accuse local French police of failing to protect them from the beatings – and als...

    The former flagship of Standing Nato Maritime Group 2, FGS Hamburg (far left), refuelling from from USNS Bridge with USS Dwight D Eisenhower on the right US Navy (Released) The Nato fleet is being deployed to the Aegean Sea immediately in a bid to end the flow of refugees crossing the sea into Europe from Turkey. Announcing the deployment, which will see refugee boats met by warships rather than coastguards, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said action would be taken "without delay". It comes after Greece declared Turkey a "safe third country", giving it the legal framework to turn back asylum-seekers and to actively deport those who have arrived back across the Mediterranean. In a press conference, Mr Stoltenberg insisted the deployment of Nato's Standing Maritime ...

    Two commuter trains crashed head-on Tuesday morning in a remote area in southern Germany, killing at least nine people and injuring some 150, some of whom had to be cut out of the wreckage and transported across a river for medical care, police said. The two regional trains crashed before 7 a.m. on the single line that runs near Bad Aibling, in Bavaria, and that several wagons overturned, police spokesman Stefan Sonntag told The Associated Press. Fifty of those hurt have serious injuries, he added. It took hours to reach some of the injured in the wreckage and authorities were still working at midday to remove the final body from the train. "Once that is done then the investigators can begin their work," federal police spokesman Rainer Scharf told the AP from the scene. Th...

    Two suspected gunmen - one disguised as a woman - can be seen fleeing a hotel moments after a notorious criminal was shot dead This is the moment two suspected hitmen one disguised as a woman flee a hotel seconds after a notorious criminal was killed in front of hundreds of boxing fans. The two men were pictured running away from the Regency Hotel in Dublin after criminal David Byrne, 35, was gunned down at a boxing weigh-in. As these dramatic pictures show, one of the attackers appeared to be wearing a wig and was disguised as a woman. Both men can be seen carrying handguns after launching the gangland hit. Two other gunmen were seen entering the hotel disguised as police officers and armed with AK-47s. Up to 300 boxing fans had gathered to watch a weigh-in before the gun...

    Gary Neville insisted that he had no intention of resigning as Valencia manager after his side was hammered 7-0 at the Camp Nou by Barcelona on Wednesday night but the club’s sporting director Suso García Pitarch described it as one of the worst results in our history and evaded questions about the Englishman’s future at the Mestalla. Valencia are not expected to take a drastic decision. Neville was asked three times if he was thinking of resigning after four goals from Luis Suárez and three from Lionel Messi saw his side fall to a semi-final first leg defeat in the Copa del Rey. He gave a one-word response to the first question, replying simply: no. When the issue was raised again, with Neville asked if he would understand it if he was sacked, he responded: next question....

    A red card system to block EU legislation is among a range of draft reforms the Prime Minister has secured from Brussels, 10 Downing Street has said. Under the system, MPs would be able stop new laws coming into force if they club together and win support from 55% of parliaments across the bloc. Members of parliament would have up to 12 weeks to convince those in other countries that the legislation needs to be blocked. No 10 said the system allows David Cameron to fulfil a key manifesto commitment and answer one of the key demands from his party members in Westminster - to give national parliaments more say in EU laws. The red card is one of a number of proposals in the "new settlement" between the UK and EU that will be published by European Council President Donald Tusk...