Europe

18 Nov 2018; DW: In a speech to Germany's parliament French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a new Franco-German alliance to equip Europe for future challenges. His visit came on Germany's annual war remembrance day.

French President Emmanuel Macron told German lawmakers on Sunday that it was up to France and Germany to build a modern, efficient, democratic Europe fit for the future.

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of protesters have turned out in central London and blocked off the capital’s main bridges to demand the government take climate change seriously.

A group called “Extinction Rebellion” encouraged sit-ins on the bridges Saturday as part of a coordinated week of action across the country.

Metropolitan Police said emergency vehicles were hampered from getting across London because of the “blockade” of five bridges. The force said it had asked all protesters to congregate at Westminster Bridge where officers can facilitate lawful protest.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s besieged Prime Minister Theresa May warned Sunday that a leadership change wouldn’t make Brexit negotiations easier, as opponents in her Conservative Party threaten to unseat her and the former Brexit secretary suggested she failed to stand up to bullying from European Union officials.

As furious Conservative rebels try to gather the numbers to trigger a no-confidence vote, May insisted she hadn’t considered quitting.

PARIS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Scientists from more than 60 countries and regions gathering in France agreed on Friday to redefine the value of a kilogram in terms of "the Planck constant", a "fundamental constant of quantum physics", which they said would improve the accuracy of scientific measurements, according to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).

ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government said here on Friday that the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is acceptable to Croatia and that the Interior Minister will represent the country at the next month's conference in Marrakech, a city in western Morocco.

The co-called Marrakech agreement, signed by 124 nations on April 15, 1994, brings a series of migration proposals that are addressing the issue of "regular" migration in the world. Countries representatives should accept it at the meeting on Dec. 10-11 in Morocco.

MILAN (AP) — Chinese consumers will remain the driving force for the luxury goods market, according to a new study by Bain consultancy released Thursday that shows they will fuel nearly half of global high-end sales by 2025.

Chinese shoppers will account for 46 percent of global luxury sales of an estimated 365 billion euros ($412 billion) in just six years, Bain said in the study, which was prepared for Italy’s Altagamma association of high-end producers. That’s up from one third of all sales of luxury apparel, accessories and cosmetics last year.

LONDON (AP) — Two British Cabinet ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, resigned Thursday in opposition to the divorce deal struck by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU — a major blow to her authority and her ability to get the deal through Parliament.

As pro-Brexit Conservatives called for a no-confidence vote in their leader, a defiant May insisted Brexit meant making “the right choices, not the easy ones” and urged lawmakers to support the deal “in the national interest.”

14 Nov 2018; DW: Swedish lawmakers have voted to reject Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson's bid to become prime minister. The vote means that Sweden will remain in a political deadlock for the foreseeable future.

The Swedish parliament, as expected, rejected center-right Moderates party leader Ulf Kristersson as new prime minister in a vote on Wednesday. There is now no end in sight to the political deadlock that has gripped the country since elections in September.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Civil servants in Greece have walked off the job in a 24-hour strike to protest austerity measures and are demanding wage and pension increases as well as the abolition of all legislation imposed as part of the country’s international bailouts.

Wednesday’s strike is due to affect local government. State hospital workers also participated. Hundreds of people gathered for protest marches in central Athens.

12 Nov 2018; DW: London-based global human rights organization Amnesty International has stripped Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of its Ambassador of Conscience Award. The cause is her apparent indifference to atrocities.

Amnesty International stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honor on Monday over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the country's military against Rohingya Muslims.