Barcelona News
Catalonia police force takes over.
After two years of preparation for the changeover, Los Mossos dEsquadra the Catalonian regional police force - has taken over the responsibility for policing Barcelona from its national police collea...
Oxford News
Down with derelict council housing.
Oxford city council has agreed to the demolition of 153 condemned Orlit houses on the Rose Hill Estate. The prefabricated Orlit houses are under 60 years old, but will be considered unfit for habitati...
Dublin News
City to get transport upgrade.
The governments recently announced Transport 21 initiative, which aims to modernize road and rail transport across the whole of Ireland, should also make life easier for Dublin commuters as a large sl...
Madrid News
Campaign to combat prostitution.
Madrid city council has launched a campaign to eradicate prostitution in the capital for the second consecutive year. Targeting prostitutes clients, some 2,000 posters, 100,000 pamphlets and 40,000 po...
Berlin News
Germans to get biometric passports.
Biometric passports have already been introduced in the United States and Canada and the member states of the European Union have agreed to use the new system in Europe in an effort to fight terrorism...
London News
Heathrow, bird flu and sniffer dogs.
The avian flu alert has brought sniffer dogs to Heathrow airport. The dogs are checking passengers and baggage in the hope of stopping people from smuggling in birds that might be infected by the viru...
Copenhagen News
Minister promises car tax reduction.
The very high rate of car tax in Denmark may be about to change. The taxation minister Kristian Jensen announced during the countrys car show Cars for All that a special committee would be set up to s...
Vienna News
Viennas beautiful state opera house in Ring Avenue has celebrated the 50th anniversary of its official reopening after world war two, when it was flattened by Allied bombing. Placido Domingo, Bryn Ter...
Dublin News
A report commissioned by the department of enterprise has found that the Irish economy is still in need of skilled migrants workers in the sectors of IT, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, construction a...
Barcelona News
Figures just released by the Institut dEstadstica de Catalunya (IDESCAT) show that during 2004 the number of births recorded in Catalonia increased by 5 percent in comparison to the previous year. Thi...
Paris News
In October there was a decrease in French unemployment figures for the sixth consecutive month, plus a drop of over one per cent in the 800,000 long-term unemployed, something that happens rarely. Nev...
London News
Following predictions from the met office of freezing weather conditions in Britain this winter, the mayor of London has warned that this could be the worst winter since 1962, when Britons shivered in...
Berlin News
Germany to raise retirement age
The new government in Germany is working on plans to take the pressure off the nations pension bills by keeping people in the workforce longer. The labour and social affairs minister and vice-chancell...
Vienna News
Guidelines for mobile phone use
The publication of the results of a European Union funded Reflex-Studie into causes of cell mutation in human genes and the creation of cancerous cells has led the Vienna doctors professional organisa...
Copenhagen News
Denmarks broadcasters go green
Denmarks national broadcaster DR has been awarded an environmental prize by Copenhagen and five other municipalities as part of the environmental protection project Dogme 2000. The broadcaster is buil...
Oxford News
Oxfords Hinksey Lake is set to become an anglers paradise. The local environment agency has decided to promote angling in a development programme to introduce newcomers to the sport. Plans include t...
Amsterdam News
As many cyclists in Amsterdam have discovered, finding a secure place for their bikes is a challenge. The first de Fietsenflat (bicycle flat) was created in 2001 a floating bike park with several flo...
Madrid News
Spain to ban learner drivers from the roads at night
If Spains general traffic department has its way, learner drivers will be banned from driving late at night and in the early hours of the morning. Recent statistics have shown that 18 per cent of fata...
Madrid News
Spanish permissive about drugs.
Just over a quarter of the Spanish population thinks that drugs are not dangerous and believes that everyone should experiment with them at least once in their lives. The same percentage was also agai...
Paris News
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French minister of the interior, has suggested installing a video surveillance system in problematic city suburbs as a way of combating juvenile delinquency. During a visit to Per...
London News
Extension of congestion charge zone.
As of February 2007 drivers will have to pay the C-charge in most of Westminster and in parts of Kensington and Chelsea as well. The extension of the congestion charging zone will coincide with a redu...
Dublin News
Irish writer wins Booker prize.
It was a case of second time lucky for Wexford-born John Banville who was awarded the Man Booker prize for fiction this month. This most prestigious of British literary awards carries with it prize mo...
Paris News
The French parliament has voted unanimously to prohibit the sale of non-biodegradable plastic wrapping as of 2010.
Strangely enough, the new legislation may help farmers, as bio-degradable plastic...
London News
A new report has warned that London could be at risk from flooding due to the poor condition of the flood barriers that protect the eastern part of the capital. The London Assemblys 8-month inquiry in...
Dublin News
A worldwide rush to claim Irish citizenship has led to a record number of Irish passports being issued this year. The department of foreign affairs has already processed 500,000 of the 650,000 passpor...
Paris News
French companies to hire seniors.
The French prime minister has called on trade unions and business entrepreneurs to work hand in hand towards a common objective: ensuring that by 2010 half the countrys pensioners are in work. The id...
London News
Bus and tube fares to rise again.
After last Januarys price hike in the basic fare for bus journeys from 1 to 1.20, Londons bus and underground fares are set to increase again. A single bus journey will rise from 1.20 to 1.50 and a on...
London News
A topping out ceremony involving the laying of a miniscule concrete slab by the secretary of state for transport has been held to celebrate the completion of the structure of the new terminal 5 buildi...
Paris News
Paris gets a top credit rating.
Standard & Poors, the credit rating agency better known for giving countries and multi-nationals credit ratings for their bond issues, has come out heavily on the side of the city of Paris, giving it...
Dublin News
Jurys Dublin to become apartments.
The 5-acre site of Jurys and The Towers hotels in Ballsbridge, something of a landmark in south Dublin, has been sold to property developer Sean Dunne for 260 million, following months of uncertainty...
