Category Archives: Europe

Trump threatens Putin with taxes, tariffs and sanctions over Ukraine war

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US president tells his Russian counterpart to ‘settle now and stop this ridiculous war’ or face repercussions

Donald Trump has threatened Russia with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not struck soon, as the new US president tries to increase pressure on Moscow to start negotiations with Kyiv.

Writing in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Russia’s economy was failing and urged Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war”.

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One of France’s most wanted alleged drug lords extradited from Morocco

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Félix ‘the Cat’ Bingui due to appear in Marseille court on multiple charges including money laundering

One of France’s most wanted suspected drug traffickers was due in court in Marseille after his extradition from Morocco.

Félix Bingui, known as “the Cat” and reportedly head of the notorious Yoda clan, was arrested in Casablanca last March.

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Micheál Martin furious at ‘subversion of Irish constitution’ amid chaos in Dáil

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Martin’s formal appointment as taoiseach blocked after day of ‘utter disgrace’ in Irish parliament

Ireland’s incoming prime minister, Micheál Martin, has accused opponents of a “subversion of the Irish constitution” after formal election to the role was cancelled amid chaotic scenes in the Irish parliament.

The outgoing taoiseach, Martin’s coalition partner, Simon Harris, called Wednesday’s events in Dáil an “utter disgrace [with] so many pressing issues” facing the country, as a spiralling row over the speaking rights of independent TDs torpedoed the first day of Martin’s new term in office.

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Afghan man arrested after deadly knife attack in German park

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemns ‘act of terror’ in Aschaffenburg that killed two people including toddler

A 28-year-old Afghan man has been arrested after a knife attack in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg that killed two people, including a toddler, in what the country’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, condemned as an “act of terror”.

With a month left in a campaign for snap elections dominated by debate on immigration and asylum policy, Scholz demanded authorities “explain immediately why the assailant was even still in Germany”.

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Meloni faces questions after Italy frees Libyan general accused of war crimes

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Case of Osama Najim puts spotlight on controversial migration pact between Italy and Libya

Giorgia Meloni’s government is under pressure to clarify why a Rome court refused to approve the arrest of a Libyan general accused of war crimes, allowing him to return home to a hero’s welcome on an Italian secret services flight in what critics believe was a tactic to shield alleged abuses committed in the north African country as a result of a migrant pact with Italy.

Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained in Turin on Sunday on a warrant issued by the international criminal court (ICC) before being freed on Tuesday owing to a procedural technicality.

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Dozens dead as people jump from windows to escape fire at Turkish ski resort hotel

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Witnesses say people used bed sheets or jumped to try to get out of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel after fire broke out early in the morning

Seventy-six people died and 51 others were injured when a fire engulfed a popular ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu mountains, forcing guests to jump out of windows or attempt to use bed sheets to flee the building.

The fire broke out at about 3.30am on Tuesday in the restaurant of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, north-west Turkey.

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‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute

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Some say it was an unambiguous Nazi salute but others are unsure and say focus should be on Musk’s stated support for far-right

There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups.

Michel Friedman, a prominent German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described Musk’s actions – at an event after Donald Trump’s swearing in as US president – as a disgrace and said Musk had shown that a “dangerous point for the entire free world” had been reached.

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Zelenskyy says Russia-Ukraine peace deal would require 200,000 allied troops

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Ukrainian president tells Davos that Europe must establish itself as an ‘indispensable’ player on the global stage

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “at least 200,000” allied troops would be needed to enforce any peace deal in Ukraine as he urged Europe to “take care of itself” as Donald Trump returns to power in the US.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskyy said European leaders should not ask themselves what Trump would do next, and said that they instead needed to take collective steps to defend their continent at a time when it was under aggressive attack by Russia.

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France needs ‘clearer’ rape laws that include consent, report finds

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MPs say the need for consent-based law was highlighted again by trial of 51 men over abuse of Gisèle Pelicot

France should update its rape law to add a clear reference to consent, a parliamentary report has found, months after French society was shaken by the trial of 51 men over the repeated drugging and rape of Gisèle Pelicot.

The report, to be presented on Tuesday, said action must be taken urgently to update the law. “Almost 10 years after the start of the #MeToo movement, and as the [Pelicot] trial showed once again, the fight against rape culture must be a priority: the fight against rape culture needs a law that is clearer,” it found.

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Libyan general released after arrest in Turin on ICC warrant for alleged war crimes

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Osama Najim was arrested amid claims he used detained migrants in ‘a form of slavery’, but then freed after after a mistake by prosecutors

A Libyan general wanted for alleged war crimes and violence against inmates at a prison near Tripoli has been arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin – and then released after an apparent mistake by prosecutors.

Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained on Sunday on an international arrest warrant after a tipoff from Interpol, a source at the prosecutors office for the Piedmont region confirmed.

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Hope and scepticism in Ukraine as Zelenskyy says Trump can bring about ‘just peace’

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Some in Kyiv think deal touted by US president is unrealistic but others have he will help end the war

People in Kyiv expressed a mixture of hope and scepticism on Tuesday that Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the US president as a “decisive” leader who would bring about a “just peace”.

Trump described himself as a “peacekeeper” who would avoid entangling the US in damaging foreign wars in his inauguration speech, but did not mention Ukraine, or explain how he might persuade Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations almost three years after his full-scale invasion.

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‘Now it’s our turn to shine!’ How world leaders greeted Trump’s inauguration

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Most leaders were diplomatic about their differences, while others more ideologically aligned with the new US president voiced their joy

International leaders have responded with a mixture of wariness, anger and enthusiasm to Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, with Panama pushing back on his pledge to retake the Panama Canal and Mexico vowing to defend its people ahead of a crackdown on migrants.

After Trump declared that the Panama Canal was a “foolish gift” to Panama that “should never have been made” during his inauguration speech, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said the waterway “is and will continue to be Panamanian”.

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ICC braces for swift Trump sanctions over Israeli arrest warrants

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Leadership at international criminal court fears new US administration will move quickly to shut it down

The international criminal court is bracing itself for Donald Trump to launch aggressive economic sanctions against it this week, amid fears such a move could paralyse its work and pose an existential threat.

ICC officials are preparing for Trump’s new US administration to act quickly once in office to impose draconian financial and travel restrictions against the court and senior staff, including its chief prosecutor and judges.

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David Hockney unveils unseen work for major Paris retrospective

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Exclusive: William Blake-inspired artwork to feature alongside new paintings in artist’s biggest exhibition

A previously unseen painting by David Hockney has been revealed for the first time before its unveiling in the biggest exhibition to be devoted to one of Britain’s foremost living artists.

Titled After Blake: Less is Known than People Think, the work will be among hundreds of previously unknown Hockneys that are to be displayed alongside his famous masterpieces at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris from April.

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‘A vicious circle’: how the roof blew off Spain’s housing crisis

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Rents spiral and neighbourhoods lose charm as cities report tourist flat boom and surge in housing speculation

Ciutat Vella, the old city of Barcelona, was once quirky and mysterious.

Now it has become a parody of itself, a place from which the local population has been exiled in the interests of tourism and maturing investments. Doorways have sprouted combination key safes, a telltale sign of an apartment given over to tourist lets. A 100-year-old apothecary and shirtmaker that stood on La Rambla for two centuries have been replaced by shops selling flamenco dolls and ceramic bulls.

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Campaigners call for action as jellyfish threaten Scottish salmon farms

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String jellyfish species that has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms reported in Scotland

A jellyfish species that has been wreaking havoc on Norway’s salmon industry has made its way to Scotland, causing significant damage and prompting calls for urgent action.

The string jellyfish has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms with officials urging an extermination of affected stocks.

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Champagne makers say sales losing fizz amid global gloom and changing habits

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Shipments fell nearly 10% last year with French firms blaming economic and political anxiety, and cheaper drinks

Changing habits and the gloomy state of the world are taking the fizz out of French champagne sales, the producers’ association has said, with shipments down nearly 10% last year.

Consumers in crucial markets such as the US and home country France cut down on the luxury beverage, as economic and political anxiety dampened the party mood.

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‘Has the world gone mad? It has’: foreign reporters share a view of Trump from abroad

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Journalists from countries that have seen challenges to democracy give their view on the second Trump presidency

What is the view of US democracy from abroad, and what can Americans learn from other nations with a history of political tumult?

During his first term Donald Trump tested democratic norms by undermining trust in fair elections, encouraging political violence and demonizing the media and public servants. He has promised to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term.

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‘Animals can feel good and evil’: film puts new perspective on Ukraine war

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Collection of seven shorts due out in 2025 tells story of conflict from perspective of animals

The occupying Russian soldiers paid little attention to the elderly woman shuffling through the farmland surrounding the villages outside Kyiv, taking her goat to pasture. But she was focused closely on them. After locating their positions, she headed back home with the goat, and later called her grandson, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, to give the coordinates.

The story is one of seven episodes, based on real events from the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion but lightly fictionalised, that make up a feature film about the war in Ukraine, due out later this year. All seven of the shorts have one thing in common: they tell the story of the conflict from the perspective of animals.

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Giorgia Meloni among far-right figures to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration

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Italian PM’s office confirms she will join far-right politicians including France’s Éric Zemmour in Washington

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, joining other European far-right figures including Éric Zemmour, a one-time French presidential candidate known for his xenophobia.

Meloni’s attendance at the event in Washington DC on Monday was confirmed by her office and will be seen as further cementing relations with the US president-elect.

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