Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A new centre-right government was announced in France as left-wing demonstrators took
00:05to the streets protesting the government they say rejects voters' will.
00:12Voters are heading to the polls to cast their ballots at the Brandenburg state election.
00:22A new centre-right government dominated by centrists and conservatives was announced
00:26by the French presidential palace.
00:29The announcement came more than two months following elections that produced a hung parliament
00:34and deepened political divisions within the country.
00:38A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in the June-July parliamentary elections but
00:43failed to win a majority.
00:45Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron named Conservative Michel Barnier as
00:50Prime Minister despite his party's poor showing in the elections.
00:55Barnier put together the new government following difficult negotiations.
00:59Macron approved and the announcement was made.
01:04France is a leading voice in EU policy, one of the world's biggest economies and a nuclear-armed,
01:10veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council.
01:13Its government make-up and direction is therefore very important.
01:23An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 52 workers and injured 17
01:29others, local sources said on Sunday.
01:32The disaster marks one of the worst mining incidents in the country's history as others
01:36remained missing hours after the blast.
01:41Weeping miners stood alongside mine cars that brought up the bodies of their colleagues,
01:46all covered in coal dust.
01:49The Iranian Red Crescent Society is working on rescuing those still trapped below the
01:53surface.
01:55Authorities blamed the blast on a leak of methane gas.
01:59Such gases are common in mining, though modern safety measures call for ventilation and other
02:03measures to protect workers.
02:06It wasn't immediately clear what safety measures were in place at the mine in Tabas.
02:16German voters are casting their ballots in the Brandenburg state election.
02:21Around two million people are expected to vote in the decisive election, which could
02:26give the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party more parliamentary seats.
02:32The AFD saw landslide wins in Thuringia and Saxony in recent weeks.
02:38The popularity of the controversial group threatens to topple Chancellor Olaf Scholz's
02:43centre-left Social Democrats, which has ruled the state since 1990 reunification.
02:50The rise of the AFD also poses an existential risk to the traffic light coalition in the
02:56Bundestag.
02:58Brandenburg Premier Dietmar Woidker of the SPD party announced his intention to step
03:03down if the AFD wins.
03:06In the previous Brandenburg state election, the SPD secured 26 percent of the votes, followed
03:13narrowly by the AFD with 23 percent.
03:16Polls will close at 6 p.m. on Sunday, with immediate exit polls to follow.
03:26A biodiversity initiative launched by nature and environmental protection groups in Switzerland
03:32did not succeed in a referendum held on Sunday.
03:35Over 60 percent of voters rejected the idea, which aimed to increase green spaces untouched
03:41by human development.
03:44Switzerland is renowned for its pristine lakes and majestic alpine peaks, but its plant and
03:48animal life is under great threat.
03:51The initiative called for public funding to encourage farmers to set aside lands and waterways
03:56to help wild landscape develop.
03:59It also would have prohibited the construction of new railway lines through protected dry
04:03meadows.
04:06Opponents pointed to threats to Switzerland's bees, frogs, birds and other wildlife, as
04:11well as dwindling natural resources.
04:14The federal government and many rural voters opposed the plan, arguing it was too expensive.
04:21€630 million is already spent on biodiversity protection each year.
04:28Another proposal on pension reforms was also rejected in Sunday's referendums.
04:33The plan would have required employers and workers to raise their contributions into
04:37compulsory occupational funds, an idea widely opposed by unions.
04:44Referendums take place four times a year in Switzerland, far more often than any other
04:48European country.