Category Archives: Europe

Irish finance minister calls €14bn tax windfall from Apple ‘transformational’

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Jack Chambers says money will be used on infrastructure, not giveaways, as he reveals government budget

The Irish finance minister has hailed the €14bn tax windfall from Apple as “transformational” just weeks after the government lost a case in the European court of justice arguing the tech company should keep its money.

Unveiling the country’s budget on Tuesday, Jack Chambers said the money would be used on infrastructure and not splurged on giveaways before the general election, which is expected in November.

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Spending cuts needed to tackle France’s colossal debt, Michel Barnier tells MPs

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New prime minister receives applause and boos in national assembly as he urges political forces to work together

In his first address to the French parliament, the new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has said “colossal” debt is a financial “sword of Damocles” hanging over the country, requiring cuts in public spending and tax increases.

In an hour-long inaugural address, Barnier was alternately heckled and applauded as he outlined his minority government’s political programme in the national assembly, which remains deeply divided. The lower house is split between three political blocs, none of which emerged with a majority after June’s snap general election.

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Harry’s Bar owner sues Venice city council over waves from speeding boats

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Arrigo Cipriani says waves from vessels that ignore speed limits on Giudecca canal are leaving diners with wet feet

The Harry’s Bar culinary empire is as synonymous with Venice as its canals, inventing the bellini cocktail and hosting noted guests including Orson Welles, Ernest Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin during its 93 years in business.

But the lapping of the city’s waters has proved too much for the owner, Arrigo Cipriani, who is suing the city’s council and port master’s office because the feet of his well-heeled customers keep getting soaked by waves from speeding boats.

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Russia’s FSB protected Evil Corp gang that carried out Nato cyber-attacks

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NCA says cybercriminal gang used family links to spy agency to shield members targeted by US authorities

A prolific Russian cybercriminal gang carried out attacks against Nato countries at the behest of state intelligence services and used family links with Russia’s domestic spy agency to protect its members after being targeted by US authorities, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The dramatically named Evil Corp group had an unusually close relationship with the Russian state, said the NCA.

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Julian Assange says he ‘chose freedom over unrealisable justice’

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WikiLeaks founder says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in deal for his release and calls for protection of press freedom

Julian Assange has said he chose freedom “over unrealisable justice” as he described his plea deal with US authorities and urged European lawmakers to act to protect freedom of expression in a climate with “more impunity, more secrecy [and] more retaliation for telling the truth”.

In his first public statement since the plea deal in June ended his nearly 14 years of prison, embassy confinement and house arrest in the UK, the WikiLeaks founder argued that legal protections for whistleblowers and journalists “only existed on paper” or “were not effective in any remotely reasonable time”.

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‘Everything is dead’: Ukraine rushes to stem ecocide after river poisoning

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Russia is suspected of deliberately leaking chemical waste into a river, with deadly consequences for wildlife

Serhiy Kraskov picked up a twig and poked at a small fish floating in the Desna River. “It’s a roach. It died recently. You can tell because its eyes are clear and not blurry,” he said. Hundreds of other fish had washed up nearby on the river’s green willow-fringed banks. A large pike lay in the mud. Nearby, in a patch of yellow lilies, was a motionless carp. “Everything is dead, starting from the tiniest minnow to the biggest catfish,” Kraskov added mournfully.

Kraskov is the mayor of the village of Slabyn, in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region. The rustic settlement – population 520 – escaped the worst of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. But the war arrived last week in a new and horrible form. Ukrainian officials say the Russians deliberately poisoned the Seym River, which flows into the Desna. The Desna connects with a reservoir in the Kyiv region and a water supply used by millions.

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Russia to raise defence budget by 25% to highest level on record

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Draft documents say defence and security will make up 40% of government spending as Putin continues war against Ukraine

Russia is to increase its spending on defence by 25% to its highest on record, as Vladimir Putin vows to continue his war efforts in Ukraine and further escalate his standoff with the west.

The latest planned increase in spending will take Russia’s defence budget to a record 13.5tn rubles (£109bn) in 2025, according to draft budget documents published on Monday on the parliament’s website. That is about 3tn rubles more than was set aside for defence this year, which was the previous record.

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Austrian parties to begin talks on forming government after far-right win

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Exit polls show Freedom party’s election gains came thanks to strong support among younger voters

Austria’s main parties are preparing to begin tense wrangling to form a government amid warnings about the country’s democracy after the far right’s watershed victory in a general election in which angry voters punished centrist incumbents over migration and inflation.

On Sunday, the anti-Islam, Kremlin-friendly Freedom party (FPÖ) scored its strongest result since its founding after the second world war by former Nazi functionaries and SS officers with just over 29% of the vote. The outcome surpassed expectations and beat the ruling centre-right People’s party (ÖVP) by nearly three percentage points. The centre-left opposition Social Democratic party (SPÖ) turned in its worst-ever performance with 21% while the Greens, junior partners in government, sank to 8%.

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American man pleads guilty in Moscow court to charge of fighting for Ukraine

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Stephen James Hubbard, 72, is first US citizen to be tried as a mercenary in Russia during the war with Ukraine

A US citizen has pleaded guilty in a Moscow court to charges of fighting for Ukraine, marking the first known instance of an American being tried as a mercenary in Russia.

Russian state media reported that Stephen James Hubbard, 72, of Michigan, had admitted he had received money to fight for Ukraine against Russia.

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Vauxhall owner warns on profits amid falling sales and tougher Chinese competition

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Stellantis slashes growth forecast, with Aston Martin maker also warning of problems as car industry’s woes deepen

The owner of Vauxhall, Fiat and Peugeot has issued a profit warning, blaming a hit to sales from a deterioration in the global automotive market and increased competition from Chinese rivals.

Stellantis shares plunged by 14% on Monday after it said it expected profit margins to be between 5.5% and 7% for the year, down from the previous forecast of double-digit growth.

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Wilders and Orbán congratulate Austria’s far-right Freedom party on poll success – as it happened

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Dutch and Hungarian politicians among those hailing result for pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ

Karl Nehammer, Austria’s chancellor, called the result, which will send shock waves through Europe, “bitter” while his defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, admitted the debacle for the governing parties was a “wake-up call”.

Because it failed to win an absolute majority, the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) will need a partner to govern.

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Marine Le Pen and other RN figures go on trial over EU fake jobs allegations

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French far-right leader and 24 others from National Rally party allegedly embezzled European parliament funds

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial on charges of embezzling money from the European parliament, in a high-profile case that could endanger her presidential ambitions.

“We have not broken any rules,” the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally (RN) said before the start of the hearings in Paris, adding that she was in a “very calm” mood.

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Far-right Freedom party finishes first in Austrian election, latest results suggest

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Party wins 28.8% of votes ahead of centre-right People’s party’s 26.3%, according to near-complete count

The far right won the most votes in an Austrian election for the first time since the Nazi era on Sunday, as the Freedom party (FPÖ) rode a tide of public anger over migration and the cost of living to beat the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP).

The pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ won 29.2% of votes, beating the ruling ÖVP of the chancellor, Karl Nehammer, into second place on 26.5%, according to near-complete results.

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Valentino steals the show in Paris with Alessandro Michele at the helm

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Ex-Gucci star brings 70s haute bourgeoisie ladies in trailing chiffons and Gen Z boys in tattoos and pearls to the runway

Valentino was the hottest ticket of this Paris fashion week, and the show had a sense of occasion to match.

A vast floor was laid with smashed mirror tiles, glittering like a ballroom after an earthquake. Five hundred armchairs and a smattering of glowing lamps lay beneath a shroud of white sheets, as if a grand house had been locked up for a long winter. The house of Valentino was shaking off the cobwebs for a new era and hitting the dancefloor.

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Melting glaciers force Switzerland and Italy to redraw part of Alpine border

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Two countries agree to modifications beneath Matterhorn peak, one of Europe’s highest summits

Switzerland and Italy have redrawn a border that traverses an Alpine peak as melting glaciers shift the historically defined frontier.

The two countries agreed to the modifications beneath the Matterhorn, one of the highest mountains in Europe, which straddles Switzerland’s Zermatt region and Italy’s Aosta valley.

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Search resumes in what may be deadliest migrant boat sinking off Canaries

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At least nine dead and 48 missing after vessel carrying 87 people sinks off Spanish island of El Hierro

Rescuers renewed their search on Sunday for about 48 people missing after their migrant boat sank close to the Spanish island of El Hierro in what could become the deadliest such incident in 30 years of crossings from Africa to the Canary Islands.

Nine people, one of them a child aged between 12 and 15, have been confirmed dead in the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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Milan appeals against ‘grotesque’ move to rename airport after Berlusconi

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City authorities take case to Lombardy regional court in effort to block initiative by Matteo Salvini

Milan council has appealed against a “grotesque” move to rename the city’s main airport after the scandal-tainted late former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The council approved a resolution to take the case to the Lombardy region’s administrative court after the initiative to rename Malpensa was accelerated by Matteo Salvini, the transport minister in Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government.

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Starmer visit to Brussels could lead to overhaul of Brexit deal

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Prime minister hopes to use talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week to prepare for a reset in the spring

Keir Starmer will use a meeting with the European Commission president this week to pave the way for a springtime overhaul of Britain’s Brexit deal, amid warnings that closer ties will be essential in his government’s desperate search for growth.

The prime minister will meet Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday. However, it comes with home secretary Yvette Cooper still vehemently opposed to an agreement that would allow young people to move more freely between Europe and the UK – a measure that EU diplomats regard as key to unlocking more serious talks in the spring.

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Nine dead and 48 missing after migrant boat sinks off Canary Islands

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Rescue services say they saved 27 of the 84 people aboard the vessel believed to have come from Mauritania

Nine people are confirmed drowned and at least 48 are missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off Spain’s Canary Islands overnight, rescue services said on Saturday, the latest in a series of such disasters off the west coast of Africa.

Sea rescue teams said in a statement they had answered a distress call off El Hierro, one of the islands in the Atlantic archipelago, shortly after midnight. They managed to save 27 of the 84 people on board.

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