Category Archives: Europe

As Ukraine’s Kursk incursion forges on the stakes are rising for both sides

Posted on by

Kyiv’s push into Russia has psychological and political advantages, but it knows Putin cannot let it lie

Nine days into Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, and Kyiv is showing increasing confidence. Two soldiers, speaking off the record by a dusty roadside a few miles from the border, said they expected logistics functions to be brought forward “inside Russia” because supply lines were becoming stretched.

Though it is a fragmentary detail – being more specific would endanger life – it demonstrates that as Ukraine’s forces continue to advance into Kursk oblast, Kyiv is gradually becoming more committed to an incursion that may have begun brightly, but the eventual outcome of which remains profoundly uncertain.

Continue reading...

Danish wind power giant Ørsted delays major US offshore project

Posted on by

News follows scrapping of two other Atlantic windfarms and axing of hundreds of jobs as costs surge

The Danish company developing the world’s largest offshore windfarm in the North Sea has been forced to delay a major project off the north-east coast of the US, months after cancelling two nearby developments and cutting hundreds of jobs.

Ørsted has pushed back the start of commercial operations at its 704 megawatt Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut by a year, to 2026.

Continue reading...

Germany investigates possible attack on water system at military base

Posted on by

People may have broken in and contaminated supply pipes at Cologne-Wahn airbase, the defence ministry says

The German armed forces are investigating the suspected sabotage of one of their military bases amid suspicions that it was broken into and the water supply system contaminated.

The defence ministry confirmed on Wednesday that state security was investigating the reported attack after suspicions of attempted or actual entry, as well as sabotage, at the Cologne-Wahn barracks, just outside Cologne.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine planning evacuation corridors for civilians in Kursk, says deputy PM – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Ukraine’s military has said its forces in the Kursk region shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber.

Kristen Michal, the Estonian prime minister, has said “we must continue to show our steadfast support to Ukraine and further raise the cost of war for Russia.”

Continue reading...

Germany issues arrest warrant for diver over Nord Stream blasts, say reports

Posted on by

Investigators said to believe Ukrainian man was one of team that planted explosives on pipelines in September 2022

German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man on suspicion of being part of a team that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, according to local media reports.

The man, a diving instructor identified only as Volodymyr Z, is last believed to have lived in Poland, and is alleged to have dived 80 metres to the seabed at night to plant explosive devices on the pipelines, which ran from Russia to Germany, in September 2022.

Continue reading...

Ukraine forces continuing to advance into Russian territory, says Zelenskiy

Posted on by

Kyiv says it has also launched a major drone attack on four Russian airbases and shot down an enemy jet

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his country’s forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory after their surprise offensive, as Kyiv said it had launched a “major” drone attack on four Russian airbases.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s troops had advanced several kilometres in the largest attack on Russia since the second world war. In his nightly address on Wednesday he said Kyiv was achieving its strategic goal in the operation and reiterated his appeal to western partners to allow long-range strikes on targets inside Russia. “The bolder the partners’ decisions, the less Putin can do,” he said.

Continue reading...

‘Vulgar racism’: outrage after mural of Italian volleyball star is vandalised

Posted on by

Defacing of Rome artwork celebrating Olympic champion Paola Egonu widely condemned across political spectrum

A mural celebrating the Italian Olympic volleyball champion Paola Egonu has become the target of “vulgar racism” after the athlete’s skin in the image was spray-painted pink.

The mural by the street artist Laika was defaced within a day of being unveiled on a wall close to the headquarters of the Italian Olympic committee (Coni) in Rome.

Continue reading...

Dutch beach volleyball player who raped child breaks silence over Olympics

Posted on by
  • Steven van de Velde spent 13 months in prison for rape
  • Netherlands pair reached quarter-finals at Paris Games

The Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, has said that he considered quitting the Paris Olympics amid the controversy surrounding his participation.

Van de Velde and his beach volleyball partner Matthew Immers reached the quarter-finals in Paris, where they lost to Brazil in straight sets. The pair played four matches in the tournament and Van de Velde was subjected to a stream of boos and whistles.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Kursk region, says Zelenskiy – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, read our full report:

Romania’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, its defence ministry said. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The ministry said the navy was alerted by local officials early on Tuesday about an unidentified object that had washed up on shore near Grindul Chituc in southeastern Romania. The area is part of the Danube Delta, which Romania shares with Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Russian authorities scramble to quell Ukraine’s week-long Kursk incursion

Posted on by

Confused messaging from leaders as Kremlin attempts to play down significance of events

Russian authorities are scrambling to bring the situation in Kursk under control, a week after Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack in the region that has left a swathe of Russian territory under Kyiv’s control.

Russia used missiles, drones and airstrikes on Tuesday in an attempt to claw back territory, with one senior commander claiming Kyiv’s advance was over, even as the evacuation of residents from border areas continued.

Continue reading...

Bones found in north-west Spain could be legendary bishop’s, scientists believe

Posted on by

New examination supports claim remains are of Teodomiro, a key figure in establishing Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

Scientists believe a set of ancient bones discovered in north-west Spain almost 70 years ago are those of the bishop whose devotion to St James the Apostle paved the way for the Camino de Santiago path taken by countless footsore pilgrims over the past 12 centuries.

According to historical sources and oral tradition, Bishop Teodomiro of Iria Flavia discovered the remains of St James – who was martyred in Jerusalem between the years AD41 and 44 – in an abandoned cemetery in what is now the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela. Teodomiro is said to have received the revelation in the early ninth century after days of fasting and meditation – and with a little help from a visionary local hermit.

Continue reading...

Greece takes stock of wildfires that raged through Athens suburbs

Posted on by

Opposition and media turn on government as firefighters work to contain ‘scattered hotspots’

Greek authorities are continuing to battle scattered fires on the outskirts of Athens as officials take stock of the damage wreaked by a disaster that forced mass evacuations and killed at least one person.

On Tuesday, the third day of one of the worst wildfires in living memory, firefighters were helped by a drop in winds as they sought to contain the remnants of an inferno that had reached the capital’s northern suburbs and decimated homes and businesses.

Continue reading...

Greek minister says wildfires reduced to ‘scattered hotspots’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed

Greece’s opposition wasted little time Tuesday lambasting prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre right government for what has been described as a lacklustre response to the inferno.

Stefanos Kasselakis, who heads the main opposition Syriza party, said that he had only witnessed three water-bombing aircraft in action – and not the 35 that officials had cited – when he visited the operational headquarters of the civil protection ministry.

I will say yet again that from the eruption of the fire on Sunday the time that it took to respond by air was five minutes and with fire engines seven minutes.

The reality is this: that despite the speed of the operational response – the new dogma that in combination with the technical support of drones has been enforced with the hundreds of fires confronted this summer – when extreme conditions prevail the problem becomes insurmountable.

Continue reading...

French customs officers thwart €1.3m sale of fake Leonardo da Vinci painting

Posted on by

Spanish police make arrest after being notified that export licence had expired and work was found to be a copy

Spanish police have arrested a man whose alleged plan to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting in Italy for €1.3m was thwarted when the work caught the eye of French customs officers.

Although the man had an export licence for the work, which was purported to be a Leonardo portrait of the Italian aristocrat and military commander Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, the licence had expired, prompting customs officers at the Modane border post to contact Spanish police.

Continue reading...

Tuesday briefing: How Copenhagen is helping tourists go green

Posted on by

In today’s newsletter: As visitors overwhelm Venice, Barcelona and other famous cities, a model rewarding travellers for being more responsible could inspire other municipalities

• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning. Today we’re taking a little trip to Copenhagen to explore a new pilot initiative designed to reward tourists for “climate-friendly actions”. The CopenPay scheme has been designed to encourage visitors to act a bit more responsibly and think about their impact on the environment during trips to the Danish capital.

In return for small environmental actions – like cycling to attractions or fishing litter out of the canals – visitors have been rewarded with small gifts such as free ice-cream and museum tours.

Climate crisis | Hot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts of the world, research has found. Heat-related mortality was highest in Greece, with 393 deaths per million people.

Ukraine | Ukrainian forces have captured 1,000 sq km (386 square miles) of Russia’s bordering Kursk region, Kyiv’s top commander has claimed, as Vladimir Putin vowed a “worthy response” to the attack. 121,000 people have fled the region since the incursion began.

UK news | A shop security guard has described how he overpowered a knifeman as he stabbed an 11-year-old girl and her mother, 34, in a “horrific” and apparently random attack in London’s busy Leicester Square in front of shocked workers and tourists.

UK news | A “series of errors and misjudgments” in Valdo Calocane’s mental health care led to him being discharged, despite repeatedly not taking medication and showing signs of aggression, months before he killed three people in Nottingham, a report says. The Care Quality Commission warned of “systemic issues with community mental health care”.

Technology | Labour MPs have begun quitting X in alarm over the platform’s direction, with one saying Elon Musk had turned it into “a megaphone for foreign adversaries and far-right fringe groups”. Meanwhile, Donald Trump gave a rambling interview to Musk on the platform that was marred with technical issues initially preventing many users from watching the conversation.

Continue reading...

Ukraine says it has seized 1,000 sq km in Kursk offensive as Putin vows ‘worthy response’

Posted on by

Claim by Kyiv comes as Russian official admits Ukraine has seized 28 settlements during attack on border region

Ukraine’s top commander says his forces have captured 1,000 sq km (386 square miles) of Russia’s bordering Kursk region, while Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has vowed a “worthy response” to the attack and ordered his troops to “dislodge the enemy from our territories”.

With Russia still struggling to repel the surprise assault a week after it began, Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by video link and said the advance into Russian territory was ongoing.

Continue reading...

Native American author Tommy Orange selected as the next Future Library writer

Posted on by

The Pulitzer prize-shortlisted novelist behind books including There There and Wandering Stars will pen a manuscript that won’t be published until 2114

The next book by Native American author Tommy Orange will not be read for 90 years.

The author of There There and Wandering Stars has been selected as the 11th writer to contribute to the Future Library project, which each year invites an author to produce a manuscript to be stored under lock and key until 2114.

Continue reading...

Neighbours turn on each other in Portofino air-con crackdown

Posted on by

Some residents of wealthy Italian village reportedly passing on photos to police who are hunting illegal units

It is baking hot in Portofino, but the atmosphere has turned decidedly chilly among residents of the exclusive Italian coastal village since a crackdown was imposed on air-conditioning units.

With a year-round population of just 379, Portofino has emerged as Italy’s wealthiest municipality and is well known for being a magnet for the rich and famous.

Continue reading...

‘I felt euphoria’: Ukraine’s borderland refugees praise incursion into Russia

Posted on by

While thousands have had to flee their homes, there is widespread feeling that the attack is a justified defence

Last Tuesday, Oksana and her family could not escape fast enough. Though they did not know it, Ukrainian regular forces had entered Russia for the first time, and Moscow’s military wasted little time in hitting back, bombing their village around seven miles from the border.

“It was 9am and the first glide bomb hit the village,” she said, and its ferocity – “very scary, much bigger” than ordinary shelling – was such that they immediately knew they had to escape. “Our neighbour drove his children first and then came back and picked me and my sister and family,” the mother of two explained.

Continue reading...

Tommy Robinson’s passport may be invalid, say Irish parliamentarians

Posted on by

Dáil members call for investigation after far-right leader gave false country of birth to Canada’s immigration officers

Irish parliamentarians have called on their government to investigate how an Irish passport was obtained by Tommy Robinson, who has been accused of inciting riots from abroad.

The Luton-born far-right leader travels on an Irish passport in his real name – Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and was believed to have qualified for it via his mother, an Irish immigrant to Britain.

Continue reading...