Europe

    A drowned two-year-old boy became the first known migrant casualty of the year on Saturday after the crowded dinghy he was travelling in slammed into rocks off Greece's Agathonisi island, the coastguard said. The other 39 passengers, including a woman who had fallen overboard, were rescued after local fishermen raised the alarm. Ten of the survivors were taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia. The rubber vessel had set off from Turkey in the early morning in windy weather. The charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), which helps save migrants and refugees at sea, deployed its fast-rescue Responder boat to help bring the stranded passengers to safety in a joint operation with the Hellenic coastguard. The toddler's body was pulled out of the water by fishermen, ...

    Russia imposes sanctions on Turkey and marginalises Turkish interests in Russia to its own detriment. Saint Petersburg, Russia - Before starting his one-man rally in front of the Turkish consulate in early December, Timur Bulatov consulted police officers guarding the building in the historic area of Russia's second-largest city. He showed them a photo of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Turkey's moon-and-star national emblem turned to the side so that the crescent formed two horns above the mustachioed politician's head. The officers warned Bulatov that a public display of the offensive image would get him arrested. But the bespectacled and outspoken activist of the People's Council, a pro-Kremlin, neo-conservative vigilante group, still posed with the photo -...

    A Ryanair plane lands at Dublin Airport Departing and arriving aircraft came within 800 metres of colliding at Dublin Airport, an air accident investigation report has said. The airport was busy on March 8 this year and a scheduled flight to London Luton was cleared for take-off as an incoming plane approached. An air traffic controller misheard a radio signal from the pilot of the departing aircraft requesting more time to prepare and asked it to take off speedily. As the plane slowed on the way to the runway the controller changed his mind and tried but failed to stop it. Air accident investigators said: "At their closest point the aircraft were 807 metres apart; however the rate of closure was low." A few weeks later two Ryanair planes clipped wings as they taxied in Du...

    A Muslim prayer hall in Ajaccio, Corsica, was vandalised on December 25, 25015 Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and attempted to burn copies of the Koran on the French island of Corsica Friday, police said, following a night of violence that left two firefighters injured. Tensions had mounted in Ajaccio on Christmas Day after two firefighters and a police officer were wounded overnight in Jardins de L’Empereur, a low-income neighbourhood of the city when they were “ambushed” by “several hooded youths”, authorities said. On Friday afternoon around 150 people had gathered in front of police headquarters in the island’s capital in a show of support for the police and firefighters, officials said in a statement. But some in that crowd broke away to join as many as ...

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his celebrated rhetorical skills to save a life on Friday, preventing a man from jumping off Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge. The man was apparently preparing to jump to his death when Erdogan's motorcade was passing over the bridge linking Europe with Asia after Friday prayers. News footage showed Erdogan's bodyguards bringing the sobbing man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, to talk to him through the window of his car. After a few moments, the man can be seen kissing Erdogan's hand behind the barrier of the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, on December 25, 2015 The man was then escorted to safety, the Dogan news agency reported. It said police had been trying for almost two hours to talk the man out of committing suicide after he a...

    The German and French governments have offered David Cameron a deal that partially meets his demands to renegotiate European Union migrant welfare rules, it has been reported. The Politico Europe website cites French officials close to the talks who say Francois Hollande and Angelea Merkel have told Mr Cameron they would support EU migrants being banned from claiming in-work benefits for three years. Banning EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits, like tax credits, for four years when they first arrived is Mr Cameron’s main goal in the talks. “British officials are open to compromises and alternatives, and David Cameron got the impression last week that several heads of state and government were ready for compromise as well,” a French official close to the talks report...

    President Vladimir Putin said Russia "won't suck up to anybody" in the trailer of a documentary released on Saturday, December 19.. The Russian armed forces have not employed all their capability in Syria and may use "more military means" there if necessary, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday, hours after signing up to a UN roadmap to peace in the war-torn country. "We see how efficiently our pilots and intelligence agents coordinate their efforts with various kinds of forces – the army, navy and aviation, how they use the most modern weapons," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying. "I want to stress that these are by far not all of our capabilities," he said. "We have more military means. And we will use them – if need be." Russia launched a bombing cam...

    A German jihadist who fled Isis after witnessing beheadings and executions in Syria has claimed the group is trying to plan a Europe-wide terror attack. The 27-year-old former militant, named as Harry S, said he and other foreign fighters had been asked if they would “bring jihad to their homeland”. “They want something that happens everywhere at the same time,” he said. Harry S witnessed Isis massacres after the group seized Palmyra in May Harry S was speaking to Der Spiegel from prison, where he is still being questioned by police and the intelligence services after being arrested at Bremen airport on his return in July. He claimed he fled Isis because he could not stand its brutality after three months with the group in Syria and is now telling German authorities all he...

    Vladimir Putin's view, Donald Trump is "bright and talented." MOSCOW — In Vladimir Putin's view, Donald Trump is "bright and talented." But as much as those words sound overtly like praise, there are some murky nuances. The most unequivocally favorable part of the comments the Russian leader made Thursday to a scrum of reporters after his annual year-end news conference was about the Republican presidential aspirant's claims that he wants to improve relations with Russia. "He says that he wants to move to another, closer level of relations. Can we really not welcome that? Of course we welcome that," Putin said. Trump hasn't given details about he would go about achieving that, relying instead on his fireproof self-regard. "I think that I would probably get along with him v...