Latest Europe News & Updates

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) India and Spain have agreed to advance technical discussions on interoperability between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Spain’s Bizum digital payments platform, according to a statement issued by the Commerce Ministry.The issue was taken up during Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Spain as part of his four-nation tour to Europe from July 13 to 18.Goyal held productive discussions with Carlos Cuerpo Caballero, First Vice-President and Minister of …

New York, July 20 (IANS) This was a World Cup that looked different from the outset. FIFA had already committed to an expanded 48-team format before it even chose a host, and when the joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States won that vote in 2018, the 2026 World Cup became the first to be staged in three countries. Football’s governing body later confirmed three other changes: an automatic red card for players who cover their mouths, mandatory hydration breaks in every match, and the …

New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has concluded a five-day visit to Spain, Belgium, Finland and Estonia aimed at deepening India’s economic partnership with Europe, while building on the momentum generated by the successful conclusion of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, according to a statement issued by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Sunday. During the visit from 13-18 July 2026, the minister held multiple high-level e…

New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) China’s mounting economic vulnerabilities are creating fresh strategic and economic risks for Europe, with Beijing becoming more assertive at home and abroad despite slowing growth, a report has said.According to an analysis by The Diplomat, Europe has long assumed China’s rise would continue uninterrupted and eventually lead to political liberalisation. However, with those expectations proving misplaced, the European Union needs to adopt a more pragmatic and interest-d…

Washington, July 18 (IANS) An organised crime syndicate recruited vulnerable young people from India by promising money, power and opportunities to migrate to countries including the United States and Canada, while allegedly paying some recruits as little as Rs 20,000 ($200) to commit murders, according to a sweeping US federal indictment.The 44-page indictment, a copy of which was obtained by IANS, provides a rare look into what US prosecutors describe as the recruitment model of the Jaggu Bhag…

Chandigarh, July 18 (IANS) Punjab Police have arrested its officer Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, who has been facing FBI allegations of $400,000 extortion linked to international crime syndicates.Under ‘Operation Hard Ball’, US authorities accused Inspector Nagra, the former Station House Officer (SHO) of the police station in Tanda town in Hoshiarpur district, of colluding with the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria syndicate to extort an Indian-origin family in California by threatening to falsely implicate their …

Washington, July 18 (IANS) The FBI arrested alleged Punjab gang member Nitish Kaushal less than a mile from the Canadian border after he allegedly spent days evading federal agents, abandoned a mobile phone being tracked by investigators and attempted to conceal his identity with a false New Jersey driver’s licence, according to newly filed US court documents.Kaushal, an Indian national also known by the alias “Lala”, was arrested on July 16 in Alburgh, Vermont, after becoming one of the FBI’s M…

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that the Chabahar Port terminal did not suffer any damage. While addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiwal said that Indian government had seen reports but confirmed that the Chabahar terminal did not suffer any damage. When asked about reports that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s post showed US forces targetted Chabahar and whether it has impacted India’s opera…

Washington, July 17 (IANS) The FBI has arrested Indian national Nitish Kaushal in Vermont, days after placing him on its Most Wanted list, in what marks a major development in a sweeping US prosecution of an alleged Punjab-based transnational organised crime syndicate accused of operating across North America, Europe and Oceania.”Case Update: Nitish Kaushal has been arrested in Vermont,” the FBI’s Most Wanted account announced on X on Thursday.The bureau also appealed for public assistance to lo…

Washington, July 17 (IANS) A sweeping US federal indictment has alleged that a Punjab-based criminal gang evolved into a sprawling transnational organised crime syndicate with more than 1,000 members and associates operating across five continents, generating millions of dollars through murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking, money laundering and human smuggling.The 44-page indictment, a copy of which was obtained by IANS, provides one of the most detailed public ac…