Category Archives: Europe

Dominique Pelicot will not appeal against conviction for drugging and raping ex-wife

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Lawyer says he wishes to spare Gisèle Pelicot a new ordeal after marathon trial convicted all 51 accused

Dominique Pelicot will not appeal against his conviction for drugging and raping his wife and inviting strangers to rape her, his lawyer has said.

Béatrice Zavarro said the former electrician, 72, who was jailed for the maximum 20 years this month, wished to spare his now ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, a new ordeal but admitted there was also the risk a new trial in front of a public jury could mean a longer prison sentence.

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Donald Tusk’s Polish revival masks deeper divisions with German neighbours

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Warsaw’s return to the European mainstream with presidency of the EU Council may not be quite what it seems

Germany’s chancellor appears to be heading for defeat; France’s president is mired in crisis. But while Europe’s traditional power duo are in the doldrums, there is a strong, stable and pro-EU leader east of Paris and Berlin – Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk.

For European officials, it’s a helpful gift of the calendar that Poland takes charge of the EU Council rotating presidency from 1 January.

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Italian journalist’s arrest in Iran alleged to be reprisal for detention of suspected arms dealer

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Cecilia Sala, 29, was detained in Tehran three days after US warrant used to hold Swiss-Iranian businessman in Milan

The arrest of a renowned Italian journalist in Iran is reportedly in retaliation for the detention of a Swiss-Iranian businessman and suspected arms dealer in Italy three days earlier, according to media reports quoting the US state department.

Cecilia Sala, 29, a war correspondent and reporter who works for the Italian newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained on 19 December while reporting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and held in solitary confinement for a week.

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Georgia’s pro-west president says she remains ‘only legitimate president’ as new leader sworn in

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Salome Zourabichvili tells protesters she will leave presidential palace as far-right successor Mikheil Kavelashvili takes power

Georgia’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, has said she will leave the palace but remain the country’s legitimate officeholder, after refusing to hand over the keys to her successor in the wake of a controversial general election.

Zourabichvili spoke as thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Tblisi, to demonstrate against the inauguration of Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player turned far-right politician backed by the ruling pro-Moscow and increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream (GD) party, who was sworn in as president at a parliamentary ceremony.

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Elon Musk pens German newspaper opinion piece supporting far-right AfD party

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Billionaire Trump adviser said his ‘significant investments’ in the country justify his wading into German politics

The tech entrepreneur and close adviser to Donald Trump Elon Musk has taken a stunning new public step in his support for the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), publishing a supportive guest opinion piece for the country’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper that has prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest.

The commentary piece in German was launched online on Saturday before being published on Sunday in the flagship paper of the Axel Springer media group, which also owns the US politics news site Politico.

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At least 15 men in Gisèle Pelicot rape and assault trial appeal against convictions

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Court found 51 men guilty including Dominique Pelicot, who was given a 20-year prison sentence

At least 15 of the men found guilty of raping or sexually abusing Gisèle Pelicot have appealed against their convictions and will be given a second trial.

All 51 men, including her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, were convicted and given prison sentences of between three and 20 years before Christmas after a trial lasting three and a half months. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years.

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Trump versus trade: the global economic outlook for 2025 in five charts

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Unpredictable change will sweep through America, while old problems, from war to inflation, are likely to afflict other countries

The global economy is entering the new year with rising geopolitical tensions looming over its prospects, as the world’s leading central banks attempt to cut interest rates after the worst inflation shock in decades.

Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is expected to dominate the economic agenda. Global trade tensions are on the horizon as the president-elect threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on US imports.

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‘I don’t want flowers, I want my Ukraine’: women’s acts of resistance against Russian occupation

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Zla Mavka movement – meaning ‘wicked forest spirit’ – drops fake rouble notes bearing pro-Ukrainian images and shares messages of solidarity

On 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day, Russian soldiers were handing out tulips and boughs of mimosa to women and girls in the city of Melitopol, southern Ukraine – a move designed to promote friendly relations between the occupiers and the inhabitants.

But the night before, someone had been discreetly sticking posters to walls and lamp-posts. They bore the image of a young Ukrainian woman, dressed in a traditional embroidered shirt, smashing a bouquet over a Russian soldier’s head. “I don’t want flowers,” read the slogan. “I want my Ukraine.”

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‘Illegally smuggled’ cannon at Tower of London subject of dispute with Ireland

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Newly released documents show Irish officials sought return of cannon sold by ‘gang of British treasure hunters’

Rare cannon allegedly smuggled out of Irish waters by a gang of British treasure hunters and acquired for a knockdown price by a Tower of London official were at the centre of a decades-long dispute between British and Irish officials, according to newly released records.

Irish officials made extensive efforts to convince UK authorities to return the bronze cannon after claiming they were “illegally smuggled” from a Waterford shipwreck and sold to the Tower of London.

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Indonesia receives official request from France to transfer death row prisoner Serge Atlaoui

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Minister says request regarding welder arrested in 2005 on drugs charges will be discussed in January amid spate of transfer of high-profile detainees

Indonesia has received an official request from France to transfer a French death row inmate imprisoned on drugs charges since 2005, a senior Indonesian minister said on Saturday.

“We have received a formal letter requesting the transfer of Serge Atlaoui on 19 December 2024. The letter was sent on behalf of the French minister of justice,” senior Indonesian law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told Agence France-Presse.

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Almost one in five children live in conflict zones, says Unicef

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UN humanitarian body warns that dramatic increase in harm to children should not become the ‘new normal’

Nearly one in five of the world’s children live in areas affected by conflicts, with more than 473 million children suffering from the worst levels of violence since the second world war, according to figures published by the UN.

The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, said on Saturday that the percentage of children living in conflict zones around the world has doubled from about 10% in the 1990s to almost 19%, and warned that this dramatic increase in harm to children should not become the “new normal”.

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Italian journalist arrested and held in solitary confinement in Iran

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Il Foglio war correspondent Cecilia Sala taken in by police while reporting in Tehran, says Italy’s foreign ministry

An Italian journalist has been arrested while reporting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and held in solitary confinement for a week, according to Italy’s foreign ministry.

Cecilia Sala, 29, a war correspondent and reporter who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained on 19 December, the ministry said, but her arrest was only made public on Friday.

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Germany’s president dissolves parliament ahead of snap election

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Formal step taken by Frank-Walter Steinmeier after chancellor Olaf Scholz lost confidence vote in Bundestag

Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has dissolved parliament and called a snap election on 23 February after Olaf Scholz’s fractious three-way coalition collapsed three years into its mandate.

The national vote will come seven months ahead of schedule amid a rocky stretch of unusual political turmoil for the EU’s top economic power, with growth rates flatlining, industry in crisis and the far right on the rise.

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‘Everyone is crazy about tennis’: Sinner’s success inspires Italy to pick up rackets

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Italians are taking to the court with factors including the pandemic and broadcasting also said to be fuelling enthusiasm

At the age of 47, diehard AC Milan fan Ninni Licata has hung up his football boots in exchange for a tennis racket.

Like thousands of Italians in recent years, Licata has been unable to resist the lure of a game that for years had been relegated to the sidelines of the country’s national sports, overshadowed by football and Formula One.

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‘Everyone is crazy about tennis’: Sinner’s success inspires Italy to pick up rackets

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Italians are taking to the court with factors including the pandemic and broadcasting also said to be fuelling enthusiasm

At the age of 47, diehard AC Milan fan Ninni Licata has hung up his football boots in exchange for a tennis racket.

Like thousands of Italians in recent years, Licata has been unable to resist the lure of a game that for years had been relegated to the sidelines of the country’s national sports, overshadowed by football and Formula One.

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Weather tracker: Storm brings well over a metre of snow to peaks in Alps

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Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India

A snowstorm developed across the Alps on Saturday 21 December due to a low-pressure system situated over the Adriatic Sea. This depression allowed relatively warm and moist air to push into the Alps, condensing and falling as snow as it met the much colder alpine air mass. Snowfall continued for several days, with well over 1 metre of snow on some peaks and significant snowfall across many ski villages. Consequently, there was a significant avalanche risk over the Christmas period.

Ski resorts in Bulgaria also experienced significant snow starting on Christmas Day, which caused disruption in the mountainous west, where ski resorts had to temporarily shut down due to road closures. Towns such as Troyan, Samokov and Teteven were particularly badly affected with snowdrifts and power failures.

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ECB faces tough task after flip in fortunes for eurozone economies

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Economists say EU countries hardest hit by 2010s debt crisis now in stronger position than France and Germany

The European Central Bank is facing a tough balancing act in 2025 as it tries to navigate a reversal of fortunes in eurozone economies, as the hardest-hit nations of the 2010s debt crisis outperform the traditional core.

Highlighting a potential shift in power dynamics within the single currency bloc, economists said countries in the EU periphery ravaged by last decade’s sovereign debt crisis were in a stronger position than northern Europe’s most powerful nations, including France and Germany.

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Estonia begins naval patrols to protect energy cable after suspected sabotage

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Finland investigating tanker that sailed from Russian port over disconnection of Estlink 2 cable on Christmas Day

Estonia has begun naval patrols to protect a cable supplying electricity from Finland after the suspected sabotage of another one on Christmas Day, the Estonian defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said.

“We’ve decided to send our navy close to Estlink 1 to defend and secure our energy connection with Finland,” he posted on X.

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‘Let’s see who will be leaving’: Georgia’s presidential standoff nears crunch point

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Georgian Dream government threatens pro-west president with jail if she refuses to leave office on Sunday

All eyes in Georgia are fixed on the elegant 19th-century Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, where a defining moment looms. Who will occupy its halls on 29 December?

On Sunday, Georgia’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, is supposed to hand over the keys to her successor, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player turned far-right politician who is backed by the ruling and increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream (GD) party.

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‘Let’s see who will be leaving’: Georgia’s presidential standoff nears crunch point

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Georgian Dream government threatens pro-west president with jail if she refuses to leave office on Sunday

All eyes in Georgia are fixed on the elegant 19th-century Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, where a defining moment looms. Who will occupy its halls on 29 December?

On Sunday, Georgia’s pro-western president, Salome Zourabichvili, is supposed to hand over the keys to her successor, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player turned far-right politician who is backed by the ruling and increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream (GD) party.

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