Category Archives: Europe

Macron vows not to impose voting change on New Caledonia visit

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President promises talks as he seeks to quell serious unrest over plans to enfranchise French nationals in Pacific territory

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has vowed not to force through voting change in the Pacific territory of New Caledonia after anger over the plans sparked more than a week of unrest, arson and looting that left six people dead and hundreds injured.

“I have pledged that this reform will not be forced through in the current context,” Macron said as he made a visit to New Caledonia. He said more talks were needed and he would review the situation within a month.

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Jersey approves plans to allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults

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Legislation expected to be brought by end of 2025, with service for residents in place by mid-2027

Jersey is to move ahead with allowing assisted dying for people with a terminal illness after a vote in its parliament on Wednesday.

Legislation is expected to be brought before the island’s states assembly by the end of 2025, and an assisted dying service for residents to be in place by mid-2027.

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Europe’s far right in disarray as Germany’s AfD candidate resigns

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Maximilian Krah’s SS remark highlights growing divisions within European far-right and nationalist groups

The lead candidate for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the European parliamentary election has resigned from the German far-right party’s leadership, as growing divisions between Europe’s nationalist parties threaten to undermine their expected gains in next month’s ballot.

Maximilian Krah, who last weekend told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the SS, the Nazis’ main paramilitary force, were “not all criminals”, said in a statement on Wednesday that his comments were “being misused as a pretext to damage our party”.

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France ‘investigating whether Russia behind’ graffiti on Holocaust memorial

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Reports say investigators looking into possibility that Russian security services ordered vandalism in Paris

France is investigating whether graffiti painted on the wall of Paris’s Holocaust memorial last week was a destabilisation operation coordinated from Russia, French media have reported.

On the morning of 14 May, about 20 spray-painted red hand symbols were discovered on one of the memorial’s exterior walls, which is dedicated to honouring individuals who saved Jews from persecution during the Nazi occupation of France.

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Greens vow to stop AfD ‘and its right-wing extremist friends’ after lead candidate moves to step down – as it happened

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Greens accuse Alternative for Germany of being ‘Putin’s extended arm’ after AfD’s lead candidate in European parliamentary elections says he will step down

Terry Reintke, a Green lead candidate in the European elections, has argued that despite Maximilian Krah’s move to step down from the AfD’s leadership board, Alternative for Germany is still extremist.

“One thing does not change: the AfD and its right-wing extremist friends are Putin’s extended arm in the EP,” she said.

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Ukraine athletes warned to ignore Russian provocation at Olympics

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  • Sports minister tells his country’s squad to keep a ‘cold head’
  • ‘We consider Russian athletes to be agents of hybrid influence’

The acting sports minister of Ukraine, Matviy Bidnyi, has told his country’s athletes to keep a “cold head” and pay no attention to any provocation from their Russian counterparts at the Olympic Games this summer.

Speaking to the Guardian at the ministry of youth and sports in Kyiv, Bidnyi predicted that Russia will use its representatives in Paris as part of their propaganda operation and explained recommendations have been drawn up to help the Ukraine team avoid becoming embroiled in controversy.

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‘Never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says

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Winter downpours also made 20% wetter and will occur every three years without urgent carbon cuts, experts warn

The seemingly “never-ending” rain last autumn and winter in the UK and Ireland was made 10 times more likely and 20% wetter by human-caused global heating, a study has found.

More than a dozen storms battered the region in quick succession between October and March, which was the second-wettest such period in nearly two centuries of records. The downpour led to severe floods, at least 20 deaths, severe damage to homes and infrastructure, power blackouts, travel cancellations, and heavy losses of crops and livestock.

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Attacks on health workers in conflict zones at highest level ever – report

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More than 2,500 attacks in 2023, including medics killed and clinics bombed, in war zones such as Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine

Attacks on health workers, hospitals and clinics in conflict zones jumped 25% last year to their highest level on record, a new report has found.

While the increase was largely driven by new wars in Gaza and Sudan, continuing conflicts such as Ukraine and Myanmar also saw such attacks continue “at a relentless pace”, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition said.

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Inside Kharkiv as Russia advances | podcast

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Shaun Walker reports on Russia’s recent offensive in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine

“We were taking a stroll in Shevchenko Park, which is in the centre of Kharkiv. It was a really nice warm, sunny day. People were sitting outside chatting and drinking coffees.”

Shaun Walker, the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent, was walking around a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine, when he heard an explosion in the distance.

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Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognise Palestinian state

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Irish PM declares ‘unequivocal support’ for two-state solution, as Israel recalls ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo

Ireland, Spain and Norway have announced they will formally recognise a Palestinian state on 28 May, triggering an immediate response from Israel, which said it would retaliate by recalling its ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo, and withholding vital funds from the Palestinian Authority.

The three European governments made the long-awaited announcements in coordinated moves on Wednesday morning that they said were intended to support a two-state solution and foster peace in the Middle East.

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Russia begins tactical nuclear weapon drills near Ukraine border

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Vladimir Putin announced the exercises earlier this month ‘as a warning to the west not to escalate tensions further’

Russian forces have started military drills near Ukraine simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to what Moscow deems threats from western officials about increased involvement in the conflict.

Vladimir Putin ordered the drills earlier this month in a move Russian officials said was a warning to the west not to escalate tensions further.

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Ursula von der Leyen, Nicolas Schmit, Anders Vistisen and Sandro Gozi debate economy – as it happened

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European leaders participate in debate hosted by Bruegel and the Financial Times

Karl Nehammer, the Austrian chancellor, hosted the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

“The leaders committed to implementing stronger frameworks to deal with migration, and that new innovative solutions are crucial to this end,” Nehammer said.

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Nine on trial in Frankfurt on charges of plotting to overthrow German state

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Self-styled aristocrat, a former judge and retired military officers among suspected Reichsbürger members appear in court

A group including a self-styled aristocrat, a former far-right politician and retired military officers sought the approval of the Russian state as it plotted a violent “seizure of power” in covert meetings at motorway service stations and a hunting lodge, a court in Germany has heard.

On the first day of their trial, nine defendants appeared in court in Frankfurt charged with high treason, facing allegations they plotted over a period of about 18 months to overthrow the state.

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Macron to visit New Caledonia to ‘set up mission’ after deadly riots

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French leader to leave for archipelago on Tuesday night with intention of restoring ‘calm and order’

The French president will travel to the Pacific island of New Caledonia on Tuesday, just over a week after riots erupted in the French overseas territory leaving six dead and hundreds injured.

The unrest over plans for an electoral overhaul has resulted in dozens of shops and businesses being looted and burned, with cars torched and road barricades set up. A state of emergency and curfew remain in place, with army reinforcements.

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Spain permanently recalls ambassador from Argentina amid feud with Milei

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Argentina’s far-right president Javier Milei sparks diplomatic row with remarks about Spanish prime minister’s wife

Spain has said it is permanently withdrawing its ambassador from Argentina as a result of a growing diplomatic feud with the South American country’s radical rightwing president, Javier Milei.

Milei – a notoriously pugnacious ally of the fellow populists Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro – sparked the row last weekend by insinuating that Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was “corrupt”.

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Georgia’s ‘foreign agents’ law could be dropped in return for US support bill

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Draft bill tabled in Congress would open talks on trade deal with Georgia in return for commitments on civil rights

A “foreign agents” law in Georgia that has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets of Tbilisi could be dropped in return for a package of economic and security support from Washington, the ruling party has hinted.

In response to a draft bill tabled in the US Congress that would open up talks on a trade deal in return for fresh commitments on civil rights, the governing Georgian Dream party said it would need to see progress on such promises within a year.

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Charges dropped against nine Egyptians over 2023 migrant shipwreck off Greece

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Greek court says it has no jurisdiction to hear case as disaster happened in international waters

A Greek court has thrown out charges against nine Egyptian men accused of causing one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks, ruling it has no jurisdiction over the case because the disaster was in international waters.

The three-member tribunal, sitting in the southern city of Kalamata, announced the decision as migrant solidarity supporters rallied outside in support of the defendants. Inside the courtroom there was applause and whoops of delight.

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Homes evacuated in Italy after strongest quake in 40 years near supervolcano

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Cracks form in buildings after 150 quakes follow 4.4-magnitude tremor around Campi Flegrei near Naples

Homes were evacuated and many people slept in their cars or on the street after the strongest earthquake in 40 years shook the area around the sprawling Campi Flegrei supervolcano close to Naples.

The 4.4-magnitude tremor in Pozzuoli, a densely populated port city, was followed by 150 quakes that were also strongly felt in Naples.

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UK and Finland discuss further efforts to stop Russia’s shadow oil fleet

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Third parties could be required to do more to block tankers from operating in Baltic and the Channel

Britain and Finland are discussing plans to require third parties to do more to block the Russian shadow oil tanker fleet operating in the Baltic and the Channel, the Finnish foreign minister has said.

The waters around Finland act as a key choke point for the estimated 100 Russian-bought oil tankers that navigate the Baltic monthly using opaque ownership structures to carry 90m tonnes of oil.

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