Pontiff, 88, already in hospital when latest diagnosis made, as Vatican confirms medical situation is ‘complex’
Pope Francis has been diagnosed with double pneumonia after further tests showed a continuing “complex” medical situation, the Vatican said in a statement on Tuesday.
The pontiff, 88, underwent a chest X-ray, which “demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia that required further pharmacological therapy”.
Continue reading...In this back-to-the-future world, Russia is fully restored to the top table, while the US envoys outdo each other to praise Trump
Ukraine was laid out on the glossy conference table in Riyadh on Tuesday, not to be dissected on this occasion, but rather for an initial inspection by the Americans and Russians, who have reserved the carving knives for future use.
No Ukrainians were present for these opening discussions on the country’s fate, or for the lunch of whole lamb and “symphony of scallops”, nor was anyone there representing the rest of the European continent. Whether they will be given a seat at the table before lines are drawn is far from clear. For now, they must wonder if they are among the “irritants” in US-Russia relations referred to by the US state department.
Continue reading...Absurd for Moscow to talk about peace while it is killing Ukrainians, official says, after drone strikes across country
Ukraine reacted with gloom and dismay on Tuesday to the meeting between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia, with officials in Kyiv saying the Trump administration was “appeasing” Moscow.
They said negotiations between the two delegations got under way in Riyadh just hours after Russia attacked Ukraine with dozens of drones. At least two people were killed and 26 injured in strikes across the country.
Continue reading...Tourists blocking streets and indulging in ‘dangerous’ behaviour, say Sicilian officials
Thousands of tourists have flocked to Mount Etna to watch spectacular eruptions on the volcano, but some people are blocking streets and preventing rescue services from reaching those in need of assistance, the local authorities have said.
Sicily’s head of regional civil protection, Salvo Cocina, described the tourism of recent days at Etna as “wild” and “extremely dangerous”, warning that day-trippers drawn by the exceptional views had parked their cars along narrow streets, impeding rescue vehicles.
Continue reading...The singer is being charged with defamation of the far-right Italian prime minister leader while performing at a festival in Turin in 2023
Placebo frontman Brian Molko is being charged with defamation after appearing to call the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, a “piece of shit, fascist, racist” in Italian while performing at a festival in Turin in 2023.
In August 2023, Meloni sued Molko over the comments. Prosecutors subsequently opened an investigation into the claims and have charged Molko with “contempt of the institutions”.
Continue reading...London mayor to tell meeting that mobility scheme would benefit young people and economy
Sadiq Khan will tell EU diplomats “Brexit was a mistake” and renew his backing for a youth mobility scheme as he argues strengthened ties with the bloc would help offset Donald Trump’s threatened tariff regime.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the mayor of London will tell delegates that Britain’s withdrawal from the trading bloc “continues to have a negative impact”, and he will promise to make the case for “being bold” in efforts to seek closer alignment.
Continue reading...British prime minister says force would need protections such as air cover that only US can provide
Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to provide a US “backstop” to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, saying it is the only way to deter Russia from attacking the country again.
The UK prime minister’s appeal to Trump came after an emergency summit in Paris that heard widespread calls by European leaders for a large boost in defence spending.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron, Kier Starmer and others discuss Trump, Russia and Ukraine at hastily arranged conference
Emmanuel Macron: Bienvenu á Paris.
Keir Starmer: Bonjour, Monsieur le President. Thank you for organising this “once-in-a-generation” summit at such short notice.
Continue reading...Leaders attend Paris summit for urgent talks on Ukraine after week that showed how far values have diverged
They came smiling, but the task was immense. After dozens of summits at which a hesitant and discordant EU had failed to agree on anything like a cohesive plan for the end of the war in Ukraine, this one had, suddenly and vitally, to be different.
The leaders of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and – speaking for the Nordic and Baltic states – Denmark, plus Britain’s prime minister and the heads of Nato and the European Commission and Council, arrived in Paris reeling from a historic week.
Continue reading...One suspect, Mehdi Nemmouche, is serving a life sentence for a 2014 attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels
Five suspected Islamist terrorists accused of kidnapping and torturing four French journalists covering the war in Syria have gone on trial in Paris.
The men include the French jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, who is serving life imprisonment for an attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014 in which four people died.
Continue reading...Villach mayor praises Alaaeddin al-Halabi, who intervened in knife attack that killed 14-year-old and injured five others
A Syrian migrant living in Austria has been hailed as a hero after he rammed his car into an attacker, bringing down a radicalised assailant who had killed one teenager and left five others injured.
The stabbing, described by Austria’s interior minister as having been carried out by a Syrian man who was legally living in the country and who had become radicalised by the Islamic State group, happened on Saturday in the southern Austrian city of Villach.
Continue reading...Vadim Stroykin reported to have killed himself by jumping from a ninth-floor window during visit by security services
No one knows exactly what happened in the final moments of Vadim Stroykin’s life.
The 59-year-old Russian singer-songwriter’s vibrant career came to a sudden end on 5 February when a team from Russia’s security services arrived at his cramped ninth-floor St Petersburg flat at 9am. They were investigating him for what has become one of the gravest offences in today’s Russia — donating to the Ukrainian army.
Continue reading...Pischane in Donetsk back under Kyiv’s control as Zelenskyy renews call for fighting to end ‘with just and lasting peace’
Ukrainian forces have recaptured a village on the frontline in the country’s east, amid signs Russia’s advance may be slowing down and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for the fighting to end “with a just and lasting peace”.
On Sunday, Ukrainian forces took back the village of Pischane, south-west of the city of Pokrovsk, military officials said. Russian units had made rapid gains in the area in December and January, seizing a string of settlements and threatening to cut off Pokrovsk.
Continue reading...European papers express deep alarm at declaration of an ‘ideological war’, while the NYT says Putin may soon ‘realise his dream’
This year’s Munich security conference exposed the chasm in core values separating the Trump administration from most Europeans and sparked deep alarm at US efforts to control the Ukraine peace process and exclude European governments from it.
Here is what some of the main European and US newspapers had to say about it.
Continue reading...The former UK prime minister says democracy in Europe and across the globe is ‘under threat’. This live blog is closed
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has warned against “over-dramatising” the meeting between European leaders in Paris on Monday.
France is due to host the summit of European leaders to discuss the Ukraine war and European security as the continent scrambles to respond to US president Donald Trump’s unilateral approach to the conflict.
Continue reading...Queues of people risk possible arrest at Moscow cemetery while European leaders condemn Kremlin
European leaders have condemned the Kremlin’s “ultimate responsibility” in the death of Alexei Navalny, as supporters of Russia’s best-known opposition politician held remembrance events a year after he died in an Arctic penal colony.
A steady queue of people braved freezing temperatures and possible arrest in Moscow to visit Navalny’s grave in Borisovskoye cemetery, while his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, was due to address a memorial ceremony in Berlin, where she is living in exile.
Continue reading...Jonathan Reynolds says Britain has not given up on persuading the US to allow Ukraine to join Nato
The UK hopes to act as a bridge between Europe and Donald Trump’s US, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has said before what could be a crucial week of diplomacy in deciding Ukraine’s future.
With Keir Starmer expected to travel to Paris on Monday for an emergency summit of European leaders, in advance of a possible trip to Washington the following week, Reynolds said the UK had still not given up on persuading the US to allow Ukraine to join Nato.
Continue reading...As Donald Trump and his officials rip up three years of US rhetoric on supporting Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is walking an unenviable diplomatic tightrope
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has had some tough weeks in the past three years, but this past one may be up there with the worst of them.
Back on Monday, in an hour-long interview with the Guardian at his Kyiv offices, the Ukrainian president was in a cautiously optimistic frame of mind. He said he had received “positive signals from the Americans” over upcoming negotiations. His team was working to fix a date for a meeting with Donald Trump, he said, and he was sure that the US president understood the importance of coordinating his position with Kyiv before talking to Russia.
Continue reading...Russia is relying on strength of numbers, and Putin may not honour a peace deal
After three years of Russia’s attempt to occupy and annex Ukraine, the country continues to put up a fierce resistance.
Russia is suffering more than 1,500 casualties a day and only slowly taking ground. But the Ukrainian army is also being put under immense pressure.
Continue reading...The suspect was detained in the city of Villach after a 14-year-old boy died
A 14-year-old boy has died and four other people have been injured in a knife attack in southern Austria on Saturday, according to police, who said they had arrested a 23-year-old suspect.
The suspect was detained in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said on Saturday. He is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria, they said.
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