As Europe saves energy, some Romanians have little to unplug
Vasilati, Romania Reuters In the quiet Romanian village of Vasilati, where most houses are heated with wood, people worry about their power bills even though Romanians consume the least electricity per capita in the European Union and many have cut back use all they can. Georgeta Ichim, a 67-year-old pensioner and widow, lives alone in […]
Lights off, heat down: central Europe governments save power to set example
Prague, Czech RepublicReuters Turning off lights, lowering thermostats and installing motion detectors are among the ways central European governments have begun energy saving, as part of efforts to trim costs and avoid shortages in the incoming heating season to address cuts in gas supplies from Russia. Central Europe is vulnerable to the standoff with Russia, […]
In Transylvanian Saxon village, Britain’s King Charles III is a good neighbour
Viscri, Romania Reuters For many people in the Transylvanian village of Viscri in central Romania, Britain’s King Charles III has been a gracious and engaged neighbour. The monarch, who is distantly related to Romania’s former King Michael, has bought and restored an 18th century Saxon cottage in the hillside village, and has made many visits […]
Wildfires – including France’s “monster” – burn, farmers struggle as another heatwave bakes western Europe
Hostens, France Reuters European nations sent firefighting teams to help France tackle a “monster” wildfire on Thursday, while forest blazes also raged in Spain and Portugal and the head of the European Space Agency urged immediate action to combat climate change. More than 1,000 firefighters, backed by water-bombing planes, battled for a third day a […]
“God, give us rain” – Romanian monastery prays for end to drought
Draganesti-Vlasca, RomaniaReuters Iulia Coleasa, an 81-year-old who relies on her small plot for food, travelled 15 kilometres in searing heat to a monastery in southern Romania on Sunday to join a service praying for rain. Temperatures have spiked above 40 Celsius in the country in the last week and the drought has left hundreds of […]
European leaders visit Ukraine, dangling hope of EU membership; UK sanctions Patriarch Kirill
Kyiv/Irpin, Ukraine Reuters The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion. Air raid sirens blared in Kyiv as the visit by […]
Far from home, Ukrainian refugees pray at Easter for peace
Budapest, Hungary AP Far from home and unsure when or even if they will ever get back, Ukrainians displaced by war gathered at churches across Eastern Europe on Sunday to celebrate the Orthodox Easter holiday in safety and to pray for an end to the fighting with Russia. Hundreds of believers crowded into the Church of […]
EU countries look to share effort of hosting Ukrainian refugees
Brussels, BelgiumReuters Germany called on Monday for a more even distribution of Ukrainian refugees in the European Union, after some 3.8 million people fled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on their country and crossed into the 27-nation bloc. Since Russia invaded its neighbour on 24th February the fighting has displaced more than 10 million people […]
Europe struggles to meet mounting needs of Ukraine’s fleeing millions
Warsaw, Poland/Bucharest, RomaniaReuters More than 3.5 million people have fled abroad from the war in Ukraine, United Nations data showed on Tuesday, leaving Eastern Europe scrambling to provide them with care, schools and jobs even as daily numbers crossing borders ease. The millions who have left Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began have made their way […]
World Vision Australia CEO Daniel Wordsworth finds a “tsunami of suffering” in visit to Romania-Ukraine border region
Melbourne, Australia A “tsunami of suffering” is how Daniel Wordsworth, CEO of World Vision Australia, described what he saw when visiting the Romanian-Ukraine border region recently where he bore witness to the arrival of some of the more than three million people who have now fled Ukraine. Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine […]