Europe

    A resurgent Al-Qaeda is targeting Europe for terror attacks against airliners and airports, the security minister has warned. Ben Wallace said the decline of Isis after becoming the latest terrorist boy band had created renewed space for the group made infamous by the September 11 atrocity in 2001. He revealed the government was ploughing £25m into a research programme to protect planes from new methods of explosion and insider threats. And he warned: The aviation threat is real. Aviation is still a blue riband event for these terrorists. Al-Qaeda are resurgent. They have reorganised. They are pushing more and more plots towards Europe and have become familiar with new methods and still aspire to aviation attacks. British businesses have also been warned that Isl...

    Ever since World War II, the liberal global order that has spread more freedom and prosperity around the world than at any other time in history has been held up by two pillars: the United States of America and the United Nations of Europe, now known as the European Union. Both of these centers of free markets, free people and free ideas are being shaken today by rural and beyond-the-suburbs insurgencies of largely white working-poor and anxious middle classes, which have not generally benefited from the surges in globalization, immigration and technology that have lifted superstar cities like London, Paris and San Francisco and their multicultural populations. The middle classes that powered the growth of the U.S. and the E.U. in the 20th century were built on so...

    EU leaders will want to see who emerges as British prime minister from the Conservative party’s leadership contest before considering an extension of the negotiating time allowed under article 50. A special summit could be held in January to assess the situation, EU diplomats said, but agreement on a prolongation beyond 29 March 2019 would be far from certain. In her response to the vote of confidence in her leadership, Theresa May had claimed on the steps of Downing Street that whoever took her job would have to scrap or extend article 50, the mechanism taking Britain out of the EU on 29 March, “delaying or even stopping Brexit”. Brussels has repeatedly warned it would not countenance an extension of the two-year negotiating period to simply allow a “managed no-de...

    Emmanuel Macron has promised to raise the minimum wage as he acknowledged he was partially responsible for weeks of nationwide protests. The French president addressed the country for the first time since anti-tax protests by the Gilet Jaunes (yellow vests) turned into violent rioting in Paris two weekends ago after rolling on since 17 November. He acknowledged anger and indignation among the public over the cost of living, but warned no indulgence would be given to people behind the violence. The beleaguered leader said no anger justifies looting shops or attacking police, adding that both threaten France's cherished liberty. They include a €100 (£90) a month increase to the minimum wage from next year, which the prime minister had promised before. The minimum w...

    Six people have been killed and more than 100 more injured after a stampede broke out in an Italian nightclub. At least 10 of those injured are said to be in a serious condition. The incident took place at the Lanterna Azzurra club, near the eastern coastal city of Ancona, in Corinaldo. Local reports say the panic broke out after pepper spray was fired inside the club, but that is yet to be confirmed by authorities. The club was hosting a concert by Sfera Ebbasta, one of Italy's most popular rappers. More than 1000 people are thought to have been at the platinum-selling artist's concert. The incident took place at around 01:00 (midnight GMT). The injured have been taken to hospitals in Senigallia and Ancona. A 16-year-old boy, who was attending the concert wit...

    More than 500 people have been arrested as activists clashed with police at violent yellow vest protests across France. In dramatic scenes in Paris, police fired tear gas at protesters who were trying to march on the French presidential palace. Crowds of protesters tried to march down the Champs-Elysees avenue towards the Elysee palace but were prevented by rows of police blocking them with shields. A few hundred demonstrators took side streets and tried to get past a police barricade, prompting the officers' use of tear gas. Paris was on lockdown on Saturday morning with dozens of streets closed to traffic. Shops were boarded up to avoid looting and the Eiffel Tower was also closed. But not all of the campaigners were intent on causing disorder and by mid-mornin...

    The rejection is a blow to an influential cross-party group led by the Tory MP Nick Boles with private cabinet support that is looking for a Plan B if, as expected, Theresa May’s deal is rejected by MPs next Tuesday. Norway Plus was also condemned on Fridayby David Miliband, the former Labour foreign secretary, and Jo Johnson, the former Conservative universities minister, as throwing away a key advantage of current membership in the form of our vote, voice and veto around the table. Their joint assault on Norway Plus, in a pamphlet written by the People’s Vote campaign, is in some senses confirmation that the Boles plan could become a credible rival to a second referendum as a MPs search for a way out of a potential Commons deadlock. The two men insist Norway Plus...

    EU officials have warned those calling for Theresa May to go back to Brussels that the negotiators have exhausted the margin of manoeuvre in the talks and the draft deal is the best we can do. As members of the cabinet and other ministers were handing in their resignation letters to the prime minister, the EU was trying to sell the deal to critics in London and member states who have expressed concerns. One official said the negotiators had exhausted the margin of manoeuvre, adding that the political masters on both sides should reflect on the worth of having more talks and what it would do to the process with so little time before the UK leaves the bloc. [As] negotiators, we are happy to stand over the agreement, and we think it is the best we can do collectively ...

    In the shadow of a grand war memorial here, French President Emmanuel Macron marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I by delivering a forceful rebuke against rising nationalism, calling it a betrayal of patriotism and warning against old demons coming back to wreak chaos and death. His words during a solemn Armistice Day ceremony under overcast skies at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe in the heart of the French capital were intended for a global audience. But they also represented a pointed rebuke to President Trump, Russian President Vladi­mir Putin and others among the more than 60 world leaders in attendance. Speaking in French, Macron emphasized that a global order based on liberal values is worth defending against those who have sought to disrupt ...