Afghan man was arrested on suspicion of deliberately driving car into trade union demonstration on Thursday
A two-year-old girl and her mother died on Saturday from injuries suffered in the car-ramming attack in Munich on Thursday that left 37 others injured, police said.
“Unfortunately, we have to confirm the deaths today of the two-year-old child and her 37-year-old mother,” a police spokesperson told AFP.
Continue reading...A further 69 people were rescued in what French authorities called a very busy night for crossings
One person has died trying to cross the Channel in a small boat that sank off the coast of Calais, while 69 were rescued during what French authorities said was a very busy night for crossings.
The small boat began to take in water before French navy ship Abeille Normandie rescued the 70 people on board. Only half of those on board had life jackets. The French navy’s Dauphin helicopter was also involved in the rescue operation.
Continue reading...The district of Plaka dates to neolithic times but a new wave of development is luring more tourists – and local people are fighting back
In a neoclassical building in Athens on the oldest street of one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the western world, residents gathered last week with much on the minds.
Items on the agenda included noise pollution, congestion and other modern afflictions, but there was one that was met with instant relief: Haris Doukas, the city’s mayor, had decided to set up a taskforce to save Plaka, the ancient quarter at the heart of the capital’s historic centre.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says Putin only seeking ceasefire to lift sanctions and regroup as he prepares to address Munich security conference
German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday shot back strongly in defence of his stance against the far-right and said his country will not accept people who “intervene in our democracy,” a day after US vice-president JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The German leader spoke with just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second.
Vance said on Friday at the Munich Security Conference that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.
“Germany is a very strong democracy, and as a strong democracy, we are absolutely clear that the extreme right should be out of political control and out of political decision making processes, and that there will be no cooperation with them,” Scholz said. “We really reject any idea of cooperation between parties, other parties and this extreme right parties.”
A day earlier, Vance said that many Americans saw in Europe “entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”
Scholz, shooting back, said “free speech in Europe means that you are not attacking others in ways that are against legislation and laws we have in our country.” He was alluding to rules in Germany that restrict hate speech, reports the AP.
The comments came as European leaders have been trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine’s future, as the Trump administration continues to upend transatlantic conventions that have been in place since after the second world war.
US vice-president’s speech and meeting with Germany’s AfD chief signal administration’s wider plans for continent
The Trump administration is making a big bet on Europe’s hard right.
Speaking at a conference of Europe’s leaders in Munich on Friday, the US vice-president JD Vance stunned the room by delivering what amounted to a campaign speech against Germany’s sitting government just one week before an election in which the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim AfD is set to take second place.
Continue reading...Ukrainian leader appears reassured after Munich bilateral, having feared he could be bounced into peace negotiations
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said during a meeting with the US vice-president, JD Vance, that his country wants “security guarantees” and a joint US-Ukrainian peace plan before he enters into any talks with Vladimir Putin to end the war in his country.
Both men agreed after an hour-long discussion on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that further talks were required to see if they could reach a common understanding.
Continue reading...Allegations of fraud against Gisella Cardia, who drew pilgrims by claiming statue wept tears of blood
A self-styled mystic who drew hundreds of pilgrims to a town near Rome by claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary wept tears of blood could face trial after a DNA test indicated the blood was hers.
Gisella Cardia, who also claimed that the statue was transmitting messages to her, was last year declared a fraud by the Roman Catholic church, which subsequently tightened its rules on supernatural phenomena.
Continue reading...Pontiff to receive treatment for bronchitis after having difficulty breathing during meeting
Pope Francis has cancelled his scheduled events over the next few days after being hospitalised, the Vatican said.
The pontiff, who has been suffering from bronchitis, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday after reportedly having breathing difficulties during one of his meetings.
Continue reading...Family of Danielle McLaughlin say justice has finally been achieved after Vikat Bhagat convicted in India
The family of a young Irish woman raped and murdered in India eight years ago have said justice has finally been achieved after a man was convicted in Goa.
Danielle McLaughlin, from Buncrana in County Donegal, was found dead in a field in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March 2017.
Continue reading...Gabriele Tilmann says suspect’s online communications point to extremism but investigators have found no links to jihadist groups
German police and prosecutors have said the Afghan suspect in a car ramming in central Munich that injured at least 36 people is believed to have had an “Islamist” motive and will answer to charges of attempted murder.
One day after the attack on a trade union rally during the final stage of the German election campaign, the chief prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann told reporters that online “communications” by the suspect, a 24-year-old asylum seeker, pointed to Islamic extremism.
Continue reading...Prime minister uses call with Ukraine president to restate UK support in face of Trump interventions
• Europe live – latest updates
Ukraine remains on “an irreversible path” towards Nato membership, Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that underlined the divide between Europe and the US over the future of the country.
According to a Downing Street readout of the call with the Ukrainian president, Starmer stressed “the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed”.
Continue reading...The US president does not care who controls east Ukraine, so long as he can access the rare earth minerals underneath
In Donald Trump’s world, everything has its price.
There is no place for sentiment in his politics. Common values cannot secure loans for military aid. And the US president does not care who controls the blood-soaked soils of east Ukraine, so long as he can access the rare earth minerals that lie beneath.
Continue reading...Statements that there can be no negotiations without Kyiv ring hollow when the US president has just sidelined it
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s incendiary call with Vladimir Putin, UK ministers and officials have had to do some extraordinary contortions.
There is no greater priority in the UK’s foreign policy than keeping the volatile occupant of the White House on side. And that has meant over the past 24 hours that some pronouncements by the British government have seemed at odds with reality.
Continue reading...US defence secretary suggests cutting number of American troops in Europe could even be part of a deal with Russia
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said “everything is on the table” to bring peace to Ukraine and suggested reducing the number of American troops in Europe could be part of any deal.
European leaders are reeling from several abrupt US moves since Wednesday in relation to the Ukraine war and the continent’s security, which has been underpinned by the US since Nato was formed at the end of the second world war.
Continue reading...As Putin’s actions again disrupt the start of a Munich security conference, Brussels largely has itself to blame
The start of the Munich security conference has a habit of being disrupted by a display of power by Vladimir Putin. In 2022, the transatlantic security establishment gathered in the knowledge that Putin was days from launching his attack on Kyiv. In February 2024, the opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in disputed circumstances in a Russian jail and this year Russia’s leader is on the brink of opening talks with Donald Trump that many analysts predict will end with Russia not just gaining Ukrainian territory but dismembering Ukraine as a sovereign independent state.
For Europe it is a humiliation. And yet little that Trump or his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said on Wednesday about their approach to a ceasefire including the US’s refusal to commit further resources to Ukraine could have come as a shock. Indeed Europe largely has only itself to blame.
Continue reading...Green politicians describe plan as ‘a historic attack on Norwegian nature’
The Norwegian parliament has voted to open up protected rivers to hydropower plants, prompting fury from conservation groups who fear for the fate of fish and other wildlife.
The bill allows power plants bigger than 1MW to be built in protected waterways if the societal benefit is “significant” and the environmental consequences “acceptable”. It was voted through on Thursday as part of measures to improve flood and landslide protection.
Continue reading...Two countries’ foreign ministers meet in Moscow and agree there are no obstacles to long-delayed plan
A plan for Russia to establish its first naval base in Africa will go ahead, Sudan’s foreign minister has confirmed, after years of delays over the Red Sea military port.
If the agreement is implemented, Russia would join the US and China in the region; they have bases to the south in Djibouti.
Continue reading...Journalist with US-funded broadcaster among those in release hailed by ambassador as ‘big day for team America’
Belarus has released three detainees including a veteran journalist for a US government-funded broadcaster and a US citizen, the White House said on Wednesday.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed the release on Wednesday of three people including “one American and two individuals from Belarus, one of whom worked for Radio Liberty”. The released American has not been identified.
Continue reading...Statement from countries including France, Germany and UK comes after US president says he and Putin are ready to begin talks
European powers, including Britain, France and Germany, have said they have to be part of any future negotiations on the fate of Ukraine, underscoring that only a fair accord with security guarantees would ensure lasting peace.
“Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations,” seven European countries and the European Commission said in a joint statement after a foreign ministers meeting in Paris.
Continue reading...US president says he called Russian leader and agreed to have teams start negotiations immediately
Donald Trump has said that he and Vladimir Putin have spoken directly and agreed to begin negotiations to broker a ceasefire to the war in Ukraine.
In a social media post, Trump said that held a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with Putin and that they agreed to “have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”.
Continue reading...