Category Archives: Europe

UK music industry presses government to solve post-Brexit limits on touring

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As documents reveal EU ‘not prepared’ to change, Keir Starmer is reminded of Labour’s manifesto pledge

Industry insiders have urged the UK government to find a solution to post-Brexit restrictions on live music touring, after EU documents suggested Brussels was “not prepared” to change regulations.

In Labour’s manifesto, Keir Starmer pledged to improve trade and investment relations with the EU to “help our touring artists” . Since Brexit, musicians touring the EU have faced barriers introduced in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). They can work up to 90 out of every 180 days, which causes problems for longer tours, musicians who work in multiple bands or orchestras, and crew required on site before and after performances.

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Thousands of leftwing protesters show anger as Michel Barnier made PM

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Demonstrators accuse Emmanuel Macron of perpetrating ‘denial of democracy’ by choosing conservative politician

Thousands of angry leftwing protesters took to French streets on Saturday two days after Emmanuel Macron appointed a conservative prime minister.

Demonstrators accused the president of a “denial of democracy” after his decision to name the former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, 73, as leader of the government.

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Keir Starmer optimistic for ‘deep’ reset of relations with Ireland

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Starmer to hold talks with Irish counterpart on first official visit of a British PM to country for five years

Keir Starmer has said he believes there can be a “deep” reset of relations with Ireland after arriving in Dublin for his first official visit, with Northern Ireland, Brexit and joint international interests on the agenda.

It is the first official visit of a British prime minister since Boris Johnson visited in 2019 to try to salvage a Brexit deal after years of strained relations.

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CIA boss says west should not be intimidated by Russia’s nuclear threats

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Bill Burns calls Vladimir Putin a ‘bully’ whose ‘sabre-rattling’ should not always be taken literally

Western leaders should not be intimidated by Kremlin threats of nuclear escalation, the head of the CIA said on Saturday, amid a debate over whether Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles should be used inside Russia.

Bill Burns, on a visit to London alongside the head of MI6, said the US had brushed off a previous Russian nuclear scare in autumn 2022, demonstrating that threats from Moscow should not always be taken literally.

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Police find body in search for missing British tourist in Mallorca

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Officials believe victims were swept away in flash flood amid heavy storms, after body of British woman was also found on island on Wednesday

Police searching for a British man believed to have been swept away by heavy flooding in Mallorca have found a body.

It comes after the body of a British woman was found on the Spanish tourist island on Wednesday.

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‘À la carte’ new Brexit deal with EU not on table, Micheál Martin warns

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Ireland’s deputy PM welcomes warmer relations as Keir Starmer arrives for official visit – but cautions UK cannot ‘cherrypick’ issues

The UK cannot have an “à la carte” reset of the Brexit agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said, just hours before Keir Starmer headed to Dublin for his first official visit to Ireland.

The tánaiste said the EU wanted an improved EU-UK relationship but that the UK could not “cherrypick”.

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Russian documentary accused of falsely showing invading soldiers as victims

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Anastasia Trofimova’s film Russians at War criticised for ‘distorted picture of reality’ in Ukraine after Venice premiere

A new documentary portraying the lives of Russian soldiers near the Ukrainian frontlines has faced fierce criticism for attempting to whitewash Moscow’s war crimes.

Russians at War, directed by the Russian-Canadian film-maker Anastasia Trofimova, chronicles seven months spent embedded with a Russian army battalion in eastern Ukraine, presenting itself as a unique window into the daily lives of Russian soldiers.

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Sixth-generation wire-maker blames Brexit for shredding its business

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Owner of Ormiston Wire in London urges Keir Starmer not to forget small manufacturers in his dealings with EU

The head of a family-owned company that has made specialist wires and cables for six generations for clients ranging from naval vessels to film sets has blamed Brexit for shredding its business.

Mark Ormiston, the owner of Ormiston Wire, said small businesses such as his had been flushed “down the toilet” by the masterminds of Brexit who gave little thought to the real-life consequences for UK manufacturing.

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American-Turkish woman shot dead at anti-settler protest in West Bank

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Witnesses say Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was fired at by Israel Defense Forces soldiers positioned in nearby field

An American-Turkish dual national has been shot dead – reportedly by Israeli troops – while participating in a protest against settler expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old volunteer with the anti-occupation International Solidarity Movement, died in hospital on Friday after being shot in the head during a protest in Beita, near Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

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Zelenskiy claims support waning for strikes against Russian occupiers

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Ukrainian president complains of reduced cooperation from US and UK over use of their missiles in Crimea

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has complained that it has become increasingly difficult to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets in occupied Ukraine because of a lack of supplies and reduced cooperation from the US, UK and France.

The Ukrainian president flew to Germany to lobby western defence leaders amid growing concern in Kyiv that vital support from key allies for long-range missile strikes in Crimea had diminished as the war approaches a third winter.

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Scholz pledges continued backing and says Germany ‘strongest supporter of Ukraine in Europe’ – as it happened

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German chancellor says country ‘will support Ukraine for as long as it takes’ as he meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukraine’s defence minister outlined the country’s priorities today.

Speaking at Ramstein airbase, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy raised concerns about western partners’ policies and the pace of deliveries.

Long-range capability. I’m glad that the US, the UK, and France are represented here. Thanks to our joint courage, we have implemented very important operations, in particular in Crimea.

These operations allowed us to return security to the Black Sea and our food exports. Now we hear that your long-range policy has not changed, but we see changes in the Atacms, Storm Shadows and Scalps –a shortage of missiles and cooperation.

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Daughter of French man who invited men to rape mother speaks of ‘descent into hell’

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Dominique Pélicot has admitted drugging his wife Gisèle and inviting strangers to abuse her over a decade

The daughter of a French man on trial for enlisting strangers to rape his drugged wife has described him as probably “one of the worst sexual criminals in the past 20 years”.

Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old retiree, has admitted to abusing his wife without her knowledge between 2011 and 2020, drugging her with sleeping pills and then recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her in her own home.

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Iran warns Russia against siding with Azerbaijan in border dispute

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Row may signal that newly elected Tehran government is willing to take tougher line with Moscow

Iran’s new reformist government has warned Russia against siding with Azerbaijan in a border dispute as concerns in Tehran persist over its relations with Moscow.

The Iranian foreign minister, Sayeed Abbas Araghchi, took the unusual step of upbraiding Russia after Moscow sided with Azerbaijan over its calls for a land corridor along the Armenia-Iran border that Tehran fears could limit its access to Europe and the wider world.

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Amsterdammers left bemused at plan to tackle flowerpot ‘jungle’

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Authorities in Dutch capital launch ‘Operation plant pot’, saying excessive pot placement threatens accessibility

Residents have reacted with bemusement at plans by authorities in Amsterdam to crack down on what it sees as a plague of messy plant pots.

In an approach named “Operation plant pot” by the local media, the Dutch capital’s central district is limiting residents to two pots with footprints no larger than 50cm by 50cm, made of “sustainable” material and placed against their front wall. Rogue gardens of pots in parking spots and under trees will be confiscated, according to the policy memo.

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Weather tracker: Heat to ease in central and eastern Europe

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Cooler temperatures expected to replace record highs in Estonia, while China braces for Super Typhoon Yagi

Since the start of September, swaths of central and eastern Europe have experienced temperatures well above average, with some places up to 10C (50F) above the seasonal norm.

A date temperature record was set in Estonia on Wednesday, where it hit 29.8C in Haapsalu. The September peak in the country is 30.3C, reached on 1 September 1992.

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Michel Barnier vows to address feelings of ‘anger’ and ‘injustice’ as France’s new PM

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Rightwing prime minister promises ‘new era’, saying priorities will be education, security and controlling immigration

Michel Barnier, France’s new rightwing prime minister, has vowed to address the nation’s feelings of anger, abandonment and injustice, promising a “new era” and a break with the past.

Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, took office hours after Emmanuel Macron appointed him to form “a unifying government in the service of the country” – an attempt to put an end to two months of political paralysis after a snap election.

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Clock is ticking again for Michel Barnier, France’s anorak-wearing, spreadsheet-loving new PM

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A councillor at 22, now country’s oldest premier in modern history, the former Brexit negotiator must win over a divided parliament

He calmly but firmly negotiated the UK’s departure from the EU after years of British squabbling over Brexit, and he prefers consensus to political punch-ups. But Michel Barnier faces his toughest challenge yet as France’s new prime minister amid the country’s biggest political crisis in decades.

The discreet rightwinger, 73, known for his sensible anoraks, love of spreadsheets and his ever-present briefing dossiers wedged under his arm, is facing a baptism of fire in a deeply divided French political landscape.

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Munich police kill man who opened fire near Israeli consulate

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‘Antisemitism and Islamism have no place here,’ Scholz says after incident also close to Nazi documentation centre

There is “no place” in Germany for antisemitism or Islamist extremism, the German chancellor has said after police in Munich shot dead a man carrying a “long-barrelled gun” following an exchange of fire near the Israeli consulate.

In a joint statement, the Bavarian state police and prosecutors said they believed the man had been planning a terrorist attack “involving the consulate general of the state of Israel”.

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Woman tells trial of husband who invited men to rape her: ‘I was sacrificed on altar of vice’

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Gisèle Pélicot says French police saved her life when they investigated husband, who drugged her and enlisted men to rape her

A French woman whose husband has admitted drugging her and inviting more than 80 men to rape her over the course of a decade has said she “was sacrificed on the altar of vice” and treated “like a rag doll”.

Gisèle Pélicot, 72, said “police saved my life” when they investigated her husband, Dominique Pélicot’s, computer in November 2020, after a security guard caught him filming up the skirts of women in a supermarket near their home in a village in southern France.

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Madrid moves to ban app-rented e-scooters over safety concerns

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Lime, Dott and Tier Mobility licences to be cancelled from October due to issues with circulation and parking

Madrid will ban e-scooters rented through mobile apps after the city’s three licensed operators failed to implement limits on their clients’ circulation or to control their parking, the Spanish capital’s mayor has said.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida said on Thursday the licences of Lime, Dott and Tier Mobility would be cancelled from October, adding that the city had no plans to grant new licences to any other operators.

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