Displaying items by tag: Europe

Italy declared a state of emergency on 14 November after floods brought carnage to Venice. The prime minister described the flooding as 'a blow to the heart of our country'. The government took on 'exceptional powers' to respond to the damage, estimated at hundreds of millions of pounds, including millions in St Mark's Basilica alone. The mayor said the city was 'on its knees', and warned of 'widespread devastation' after an unprecedented combination of high spring tides and a storm surge of a 6ft 2in tide on the night of 13 November. The mayor has blamed climate change for the disaster, but there was also anger among Venetians at the corruption which has held up a flood barrier project.

Danish authorities, struggling to quell a wave of bombings attributed to Swedish gangs, have introduced passport controls at the border with Sweden for the first time since the 1950s. Sweden has been rocked by more than 100 explosions in the first 10 months of this year, and another 13 blasts have rocked Copenhagen as well. The Swedish problem is directly correlated to their open arms policy for immigrants and refugees, especially those fleeing North Africa and the Middle East. Many consider the rise of the nationalist right in Europe is a direct result of politicians’ immigration policies. Pray against what many believe is the coming wave of a possible violent backlash.

The parish of Riches Claires has a dedicated committee that has worked for thirty years helping new arrivals to Europe. For many residents in Brussels the Christian outreach was a key step for their integration into the city. Most refugees in the church arrive after fleeing their countries of origin for economic or political reasons. However, arriving in their new home has not been easy for most, particularly those from Latin America who, for the most part, had to learn from scratch the intricacies of the local language. ‘The uprooting of our culture, of leaving our family members and leaving our friends is very painful,’ said Zoraida, a Colombian human rights defender. Over the years, the church community has evolved following the migratory waves. The first to arrive were Spaniards, then Chileans. More recently, it has been Venezuelans and Central Americans fleeing violence.

An investigation has been launched by the Catholic Church after two missionary nuns became pregnant whilst working in Africa. One of the nuns, a mother superior, aged 34, only realised she was pregnant when she visited the hospital, complaining of stomach pains. The two women are nuns in Sicily, but belong to separate orders and are expecting children despite their vows of chastity, causing ‘consternation at this news’. They are believed to be originally from Africa and were posted to their home continent as part of their charity missions. They have now returned to Italy to prepare for the births of their children.

Frédéric Fornos, director of the Pope's worldwide prayer network, has said that the eRosary combines the best of Church tradition with the best of technology. The device is aimed at young people who seek to learn how to pray and who don't really know how to. It reminds them to pray three times a day. Once connected to its application, the Rosary has specific content, such as thematic prayers, allowing fervent users to record and share their spiritual activity. One researcher said a security flaw in the application allows an attacker to take over the account of the victim and get the victim's personal information just by knowing their email address. Another problem is the price of the device, which many consider to be too high.

Religion is again at the forefront of French public debate. After an 84-year-old former far-right candidate fired shots at a mosque in Bayonne, Emmanuel Macron evoked the French concept of ‘laïcité’ in a speech at the inauguration of a European Centre for Judaism. Defined as the concept of separation of church and state, it has also been at the centre of debates about wearing religious symbols in public. Macron said, ‘Laïcité is a tenet of fraternity that should live in each French person like a compass in their relationship to other citizens - that is essentially a form of French civility. I want to recall it at this moment in our nation's history, where these values of unity and cohesiveness are sometimes distorted and used by those who, seeking to sow hatred and division, use it to fight against this or that religion.’

European countries temporarily halted arms exports to Turkey after its military incursion into Syria. But Europe’s other arms trading partner, Saudi Arabia, has caused deaths or injuries of 18,000 in Yemen, where 24.1 million need humanitarian assistance. Despite these figures, EU countries still have arms deals with the Saudis. The UK only halted arms exports in June after exports licences were found to be unlawful. Saudi Arabia was France's second-biggest weapons client last year: over €1 billion worth, including armoured vehicles used in or near Yemen. Only Spain suspended arms exports to Saudi Arabia, citing ‘use of this type of armament against a civilian population’. Why would EU countries halt arms to Turkey due to conflict, but not to Saudi Arabia for the same reasons? There could be several reasons, but two stand out - business and alliances.

The EU, along with UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is organising a high-level international conference on 28 and 29 October in Brussels. They are calling for urgent and concerted action for Venezuelan refugees and migrants. On 23 October Brussels highlighted the dramatic flight of millions of Venezuelans - one of the direst displacement crises in the world, and the largest in the recent history of the region. Nearly 80% of the 4.5 million who left their country have remained in Latin America or the Caribbean. Although countries in the region show solidarity towards them, their capacity and resources are reaching breaking point. The conference aims to raise awareness of the crisis, reaffirm global commitments, and assess best practices.

On 10 November Spain will have its fourth general election in four years. The Socialists received the most votes in April’s election, with Catalan separatist parties increasing their number of MPs. Since then, the supreme court has sentenced nine pro-independence politicians and civic leaders to a total of 100 years in prison. These sentences brought thousands of Catalonians onto the streets of many cities, and further violent clashes by far-right counter-protesters. Petrol bombs, blazing barricades, and vandalised buildings are new for Catalan’s pacifist independence movement, but the graffiti on a Barcelona wall read, ‘You have shown us that being peaceful is useless’. Hundreds have been injured in confrontations with security forces. The latest event was a ‘clean protest’ when protesters put detergent in a fountain, as a message to ‘clean up the mess from Spain’. One protester said demonstrations would continue until all the political prisoners were freed. See

As 70-80 worshippers in a synagogue in Halle observed Yom Kippur, their holiest day of the year, a gunman shot at a locked door. The camera at the entrance showed him trying to break into the building, but the door remained closed. God protected them. The attack, streamed live, was a chilling reminder of the mosque attack in New Zealand which was also online in real time. Footage also shows the assailant laying a home-made explosive outside and uttering anti-Semitic statements. He shot and killed a passer-by, and another man nearby. Following the attack, the synagogue congregants were filmed singing and dancing on a bus transporting them from hospital. They finished the concluding prayer for Yom Kippur inside the hospital. The attacker wanted to carry out a massacre and had nine pounds of explosives in his car.