Alpine

Austria will further loosen its coronavirus lockdown on May 15 by allowing restaurants and cafes to reopen and religious services to resume, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday.

Slovenia’s first mosque opened in the capital Ljubljana on Monday after surmounting financial hurdles and right-wing opposition, 50 years after the initial request to build was made.

The leader of Austria’s conservatives Sebastian Kurz was sworn in Tuesday as the world’s youngest democratically elected leader, at the head of an unlikely coalition with the Greens following the collapse of his previous alliance with the far-right.

China and Europe take centre stage in front of the world’s business elite at Davos on Wednesday, a day after Brazil’s hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro promised reform and tried to win over sceptics about his environmental platform.

French carmaker Renault, which is seeking a replacement for CEO Carlos Ghosn who is in custody in Japan, on Friday announced record sales of 3.9 million vehicles in 2018.

Floods have killed 12 people on the southern Italian island of Sicily, nine of them from the same family, rescue services said Sunday, raising the week's toll across Italy past 30.

Fierce winds and rains have killed at least 20 people in Italy this week and razed thousands of hectares of forest in the country’s devastated north, officials said.

The era of mystery-cloaked numbered Swiss bank accounts has officially come to a close as Switzerland, the world’s biggest centre for managing offshore wealth, began automatically sharing client data with tax authorities in dozens of other countries.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had sought to move to Switzerland but withdrew his residency bid when it looked set to be rejected, a Swiss migration official said on Wednesday.

A 73-year-old Amnesty International volunteer appeared in court in France on Wednesday charged with helping two underage Africans illegally enter the country, the latest case involving activists assisting migrants on the move through Europe.

Frenchman Martin Fourcade wrote himself into the history books with a second biathlon gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday, snatching victory by a whisker in a dramatic photo finish.

Austria’s skiing federation, OSV, president warned on Sunday that allegations of sexual abuse by former skiers against a retired coach could hurt the current Olympic team in Pyeongchang.

Kenya’s first Alpine Olympic skier Sabrina Wanjiku Simader says her dream has come true as she prepares to take to the slopes at the Pyeongchang Games.

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that 13 African athletes will be competing at the Winter Olympics, which got underway on Friday in PyeongChang, South Korea.

North Korea will send 22 athletes to next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang where they will join South Korean teammates as they march together at the opening ceremony, organisers say.

New restrictions come into force in Austria on Sunday banning the wearing of the full Islamic veil and other items concealing the face in public places and buildings.

Hopes of finding eight people missing after a massive landslide in the Swiss Alps alive are fading, police said Friday, as a fresh barrage of sludge forced more evacuations.

A Swiss hotel that posted signs telling Jewish clients to shower before using the pool and restricting their access to the facility’s freezer has unleashed outrage and official complaints from Israel.