Water levels continue to rise after dam burst near Kazakhstan border after torrential rain
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the Orenburg region, in the southern Urals near Kazakhstan, due to flooding after a dam burst.
Emergency services had been working through the night after the dam burst in the city of Orsk on Friday after torrential rain.
Continue reading...Oleksandr Syrskyi says all enemy attempts to break through to the settlement have failed
A new Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killed one civilian and injured several more, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Saturday.
“There is information about one death as a result of a strike on a residential area of the city. There are also injuries,” Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Continue reading...Ukraine led attack on to military airfield near town of Morozovsk in Rostov region in Russia
The Kremlin has called French President Emmanuel Macron’s assertions that Russia plans to disrupt the Olympics “absolutely unfounded.”
Macron said on Thursday that he had “no doubt” that Russia would target the Paris Olympics this summer.
Continue reading...Teenager was assaulted by several people who fled scene in country’s latest incident of school violence
A 15-year-old boy has died after he was badly beaten in a town south of Paris, in the latest incident of school violence in France.
Thursday’s attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in French schools. Earlier this week a teenage girl was temporarily left in a coma after being beaten outside her school in Montpellier, in the south of the country. In that case, three alleged attackers have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a minor, one a girl from the same school.
Continue reading...European Commission defends appointing adviser Markus Pieper after selection process is questioned
Ursula von der Leyen’s run for a second term as president of the European Commission has been dented after accusations of favouritism in the selection of a fellow party member for a lucrative new job.
Some of the highest-ranking people in Brussels, including the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and the French commissioner Thierry Breton, have written to von der Leyen to complain that the appointment of the German MEP Markus Pieper as a special adviser “has triggered questions about the transparency and impartiality of the nomination process”.
Continue reading...Wilmer Puello-Mota, wanted on child sexual abuse image charges, enlists after apparently volunteering for assault on Avdiivka
A former city councillor and member of the Massachusetts national guard who is wanted in the US on child sexual abuse image charges has fled the country and joined the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28, former city councillor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, went missing on 7 January, two days before he was scheduled to appear in court in Rhode Island in possession of child sexual abuse images and obstruction of justice charges.
Continue reading...Polls show Ivan Korčok and Peter Pellegrini, an ally of prime minister Robert Fico, neck-and-neck before Saturday’s runoff
A pro-western diplomat and a politician accused of promoting Russia-friendly talking points will face off in a nailbiting presidential runoff in Slovakia on Saturday, amid fears the country is sliding away from the west.
Ivan Korčok, a former foreign minister, and Peter Pellegrini, the speaker of parliament who is backed by Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, are neck-to-neck in the polls.
Continue reading...Each time Madrid and Dublin speak out on the war in Gaza others are emboldened to join them, sources say
Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the Israeli military’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on Monday night was “a tragic incident” did precious little to allay the fears of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. Nor did his assertion that “this happens in wartime”.
Sánchez, who has been one of the most outspoken and persistent European critics of the way in which Israel has prosecuted its war in Gaza after the terrorist atrocities of 7 October, described the Israeli prime minister’s “supposed explanations” as “totally unacceptable and insufficient”. He added that Spain was waiting for a full and detailed account of the killings before deciding “what action we’ll take with regard to the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu”.
Continue reading...Audrey Mondjehi, 43, found guilty of terrorism-related charges relating to 2018 attack that killed five
A former security guard who helped procure the gun used to kill five people and injure 11 others in a terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market in 2018 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Audrey Mondjehi, 43, was found guilty of a series of terrorism-related charges, including abetting murder in relation to a terrorist plot and associating with terrorist elements, after he helped to find a weapon for Chérif Chekatt, who later opened fire with a 19th-century revolver at the market in the city’s historic centre.
Continue reading...French president marks 30th anniversary with video, airing Sunday, saying international community lacked will to stop the slaughter
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said France and its western and African allies “could have stopped” Rwanda’s 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.
In a video message to be published on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Macron will emphasise that “when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act”, the presidency said on Thursday.
Continue reading...French president in favour of singer opening the Games amid racist backlash from far-right politicians
Emmanuel Macron has said the French pop superstar Aya Nakamura would be in her rightful place performing at an opening ceremony for the Olympic Games this summer, after suggestions that she could sing an Édith Piaf song sparked a racist backlash against the singer.
Asked about Nakamura, who is the most listened to French-speaking artist in the world, Macron said it would be a “good thing” if she performed at an opening or closing ceremony.
Continue reading...Three minors have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after incident in Montpellier
The French government has launched an urgent investigation after a 14-year-old girl was severely wounded and left in a coma after being beaten outside her school by three other teenagers in the south of France.
The three alleged attackers, including a girl who was at the same school as the victim in the suburbs of the southern city of Montpellier, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a minor.
Continue reading...Man provided information on restaurant in Kramatorsk that was hit last June, killing 13 people including novelist Victoria Amelina
A Ukrainian man who helped Russia target a missile strike on a pizzeria in the eastern city of Kramatorsk last June has been jailed for life.
Thirteen people including the novelist and poet Victoria Amelina were killed when a Russian ballistic missile tore through the popular Ria Pizza restaurant on the evening of 27 June 2023.
Continue reading...Luigi Brugnaro claims he is taking a risk no other politician would take with his measure to preserve the city
The mayor of Venice has likened the “bravery” of his decision to charge day-trippers an entrance fee to the city to that of the legendary Venetian explorer Marco Polo.
Venice will become the first mayor city in the world to adopt such a measure when the long-mooted €5 (£4.30) fee comes into force later this month.
Continue reading...Spanish football’s commitment to combatting racism has come under fire after its football federation handed a two-match ban to a goalkeeper who went into the stands to confront a man who had allegedly racially abused him.
The accusations of racism – the latest to rock Spanish football in recent weeks – were launched on Saturday as Rayo Majadahonda took on Sestao River Club in a third-tier match in northern Spain. As the match ticked into its final moments, the Rayo Majadahonda goalkeeper Cheikh Sarr, who was born in Senegal, said he heard racial slurs being hurled at him.
Continue reading...Fees of up to £145 on EU animal and plant products through Dover and Folkestone begin on 30 April
Trade groups have warned that consumers could see a rise in food prices after the UK government announced the introduction of post-Brexit charges on imports of EU food and plant products later this month.
The government has published details of fees – known as the common user charge – which will apply to small imports of animal products and plants, such as sausages, cheese and yoghurt, entering the UK from the EU through the port of Dover and through Eurotunnel at Folkestone.
Continue reading...A 12-year-old boy is alleged to have killed a fellow pupil and seriously injured two others at Viertola school in Vantaa
A 12-year-old boy suspected of shooting and killing a classmate and wounding two girls of the same age at a school in Finland said he had been motivated by bullying, police have said, as flags flew at half-mast across the country.
Finland was in mourning after the 12-year-old was alleged to have arrived at Viertola school in Vantaa, a city north of the capital, Helsinki, armed with a handgun on Tuesday morning.
Continue reading...German’s appointment to head Convention on Biological Diversity follows global failure to meet any targets on protecting ecosystems
The next UN biodiversity chief will be Astrid Schomaker, an EU civil servant who will be entrusted with helping the world confront the ongoing catastrophic loss of nature.
Schomaker has been a career official with the EU commission for 30 years. A surprise appointment, she will be tasked with corralling governments to make good on their commitments to protect life on Earth – something they have not done in more than 30 years since the UN biodiversity convention was created.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features
Continue reading...Tunnel under construction found near La Santé prison does not appear to be part of an escape plan, local official says
A mysterious tunnel under construction has been discovered near a prison in southern Paris during routine electrical works, although police sources said it did not appear to be part of an escape plan.
The discovery was made on Tuesday by a technician from Enedis, which manages the electricity distribution network in France, who was working “in a well for electrical connections” about 450 metres from La Santé prison, a police source said.
Continue reading...Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as UK postal service says it wants to cut 1,000 jobs and cut delivery days
The question on economists’ lips after the surprise easing of eurozone inflation is: will the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates as early as this month?
The ECB’s rate-setting governing council, led by president Christine Lagarde, meets next week. Economists expect the council to cut rates in June, but surprising data and some doveish comments from some members of the council appear to have put an April cut into play.
While at first sight this looks like it opens up a possible rate cut in April, the ECB is unlikely to act this month. More data on wage growth will come in May, and the ECB needs to be certain of its path. In President Lagarde’s own words: “we will know a little more in April, but we will know a lot more in June”.
Christine Lagarde’s previous indication that the ECB may not commit outright to a path of rate cuts suggests a cautious approach, but the consensus among economists leans towards a potential cut as early as June, pending further data on wage growth trends.
The challenge here for the ECB is that reaching the last mile target inflation rate of 2% may prove more arduous than anticipated, with incremental decreases seen as most likely.
Will the labour market tighten further now that GDP growth looks to be rebounding? We doubt it and, in fact, suspect the unemployment rate will edge up over the coming months.
A still-low unemployment rate doesn’t necessarily mean wage growth will remain at today’s highs, so it need not worry the ECB nor prevent it from starting its easing cycle. We think wage growth will come down, in line with the fall in inflation in recent months as workers’ negotiating power diminishes. A recovery in productivity would support wage growth even as inflation eases. We think productivity growth is now improving, but slowly does it.
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