Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. To the east and southeast
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, Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. Yet the borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary, as the primarily physiographic term "continent" also incorporates cultural and political elements.
Europe is the world's second-smallest continent by surface area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of Europe's approximately 50 countries, Russia is by far the largest by both area and population, taking up 40% of the continent (although the country has territory in both Europe and Asia), while Vatican City is the smallest. Europe is the third-most populous continent after Asia and Africa, with a population of 739–743 million or about 11% of the world's population. Europe has a climate heavily affected by warm Atlantic currents, tempering winters and enabling warm summers on most of the continent, even on latitudes that have severe climates in North America and Asia. Further from the Atlantic, seasonal differences increase, but the mildness of the climate remains.
Scottish independence (Scots: Scots unthirldom,[1] Scottish Gaelic: Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba) is a political aim of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals in Scotland (which is a country of the United Kingdom) for the country to become an independent sovereign state.
A national referendum was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014.
On the morning of 7 January 2015 at about 11:30 local time, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building.
Austria says it can't keep this up much longer. Germany says it can't, either.
Germanwings Flight 9525 (4U9525/GWI18G)[5][a] was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport in Spain to Düsseldorf Airport in Germany, operated by Germanwings, a low-cost carrier owned by Lufthansa.
Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War starting 30 September 2015.[40] It consisted of air strikes by Russia against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Qaeda in the Levant and other enemies of the internationally recognized Syrian government.
On 8 July 2014 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge against militants in the Gaza Strip[17] following an increase in rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas' militants.
Following the kidnapping and murders of three Israeli teenagers in mid-June 2014, the IDF initiated Operation Brother's Keeper in search of the three teenagers. As part of the operation, in the following 11 days Israel's military killed five to ten Palestinians and arrested between 350 and 600 Palestinians,] including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders.
The Crimean crisis is an international crisis principally involving Russia and Ukraine over control of the Crimean Peninsula, which until February 2014 was administered by Ukraine. Currently, the Crimean Peninsula is controlled by the Russian Federation, a status which is not recognized by the United Nations.
March 16 – A referendum on the status of Crimea is held.
March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.
March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.
March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.
