Category Archives: Europe

Russia-Ukraine war: EU needs to find way around Hungary obstructing support for Ukraine, says Lithuania – as it happened

Posted on by

Hungary ‘systematically blocking all efforts’ to support Ukraine, says Gabrielis Landsbergis, Lithunian foreign minister

A former German armed forces officer was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on Monday for spying for Russia, German media reported, in a case that highlighted Germany’s vulnerability to the increasingly hostile neighbour to its east.

The former army captain, who was stationed at the army’s procurement office in Koblenz, was accused of handing over classified documents to Russia’s consulate in Bonn and embassy in Berlin.

Continue reading...

‘Putin’s patience snapped’: Insiders marvel at Russia’s military purge

Posted on by

Under new defence minister Andrei Belousov, FSB is tackling corruption aggressively with serious implications for Ukraine

In the weeks since Vladimir Putin sacked his longtime defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s FSB security service has pursued a series of high-level corruption cases against a deputy minister and department heads in what many insiders are now calling a purge in the defence ministry.

Andrei Belousov, the technocrat economist appointed to replace Shoigu, has a mandate to reduce corruption in the defence ministry and streamline military production for a long war against Ukraine that could largely be decided by industrial output.

Continue reading...

Lithuania President Nausėda wins landslide re-election in vote shaped by Russia fears

Posted on by

Incumbent, who beat challenge from prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė, says Lithuania’s independence a ‘fragile vessel that we must cherish’

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda has won re-election, official results showed, in a vote marked by defence concerns over neighbouring Russia.

The count published by the electoral commission showed that Nausėda won 74.6% of votes with 90% of ballots counted after polls closed on Sunday in the second-round vote.

Continue reading...

Thousands of Parisians take part in free picnic on the Champs-Élysées

Posted on by

Event aims to reverse decline in local people visiting boulevard, which has become hub for wealthy tourists and designer stores

Thousands of people have gathered on the Champs-Élysées for a giant free picnic organised by a committee of local traders and businesses fighting to halt the slow decline of the boulevard long known as “the most beautiful avenue in the world”.

Once a favourite haunt of Parisians, the Champs-Élysées has in recent years been steadily abandoned by local people as popular stores and cinemas have given way to luxury boutiques and the avenue has become the preserve of wealthy tourists.

Continue reading...

Nicki Minaj says sorry to fans as Manchester gig cancelled after arrest

Posted on by

US rapper detained in Amsterdam on suspicion of ‘possessing soft drugs’ before being fined by Dutch police

Nicki Minaj has offered her “deepest and most sincere apologies” after her Manchester concert was cancelled at the last minute after she was arrested in Amsterdam.

The US rapper was detained for hours at Schiphol airport on suspicion of “possessing soft drugs” before being fined by Dutch police and allowed to continue her journey.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy calls on world leaders to attend Ukraine ‘peace summit’ after deadly Kharkiv strike

Posted on by

Ukraine president urges Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to ‘show your leadership’ and send message to Moscow

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has released a desperate video plea calling on world leaders to attend a “peace summit” next month in Switzerland after a deadly Russian attack on a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv on Saturday killed at least 16people and injured dozens more.

Zelenskiy appealed in particular to the US president, Joe Biden, and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to attend the summit, which is due to start on 15 June. “Please, show your leadership in advancing the peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes,” said Zelenskiy in English.

Continue reading...

World’s largest food awards move judging panel from UK to Ireland to avoid Brexit red tape

Posted on by

Due to new import controls, a judging session for the Great Taste awards is being held outside the UK for the first time in 30 years

The Great Taste awards are a British success story – the world’s largest food awards, celebrating the best products on the planet. But new post-Brexit import controls have forced the organisers to hold a judging panel outside the UK for the first time in the awards’ 30-year history.

On Sunday, judges from the Guild of Fine Foods panel will travel to County Tipperary in Ireland to spend three days tasting products that have become much harder to bring to the UK.

Continue reading...

Russian strikes on Kharkiv supermarket kill six and injure 40

Posted on by

Dozens also injured after guided bombs hit residential area, in attack Zelenskiy says is ‘terrorism’

Russian strikes on a crowded DIY hardware store and a residential area in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least six people and injured 40 on Saturday, local officials said.

Four people were killed after two guided bombs hit the DIY hypermarket in a residential area of the city, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television, while 40 people were injured in the attack and 16 still unaccounted for.

Continue reading...

Nicki Minaj’s Manchester show postponed after Netherlands arrest

Posted on by

Rapper detained at Schiphol on suspicion of ‘possessing soft drugs’ hours before concert at Co-op Live

Nicki Minaj’s concert at Co-op Live has been postponed after she was arrested at a Netherlands airport hours before.

Fans had been let into the Manchester venue in the evening despite the star’s detention.

Continue reading...

‘History is written at the dining table’: what 4,000 menus tell us about royals, politicians and society

Posted on by

The bills of fare for dinners with kings, presidents and dictators show how tastes have changed over 150 years

On Friday, 22 May 1896, guests of Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle had a lot on their plates. A handwritten menu shows “Her Majesty’s Dinner” offered soup with vermicelli, trout meunière, boudin (black pudding), quails, ducklings and spinach with croutons followed by peaches and cream, then cheese. For those still peckish, hot and cold meats including pork tongue and beef were laid out on a side table.

The finely decorated card is one of 4,600 menus in a unique collection being sold in Paris on Friday, spanning 150 years of high-society dining from the late 19th century.

Continue reading...

Polish foreign minister calls for long-term rearmament of Europe

Posted on by

Exclusive: Radosław Sikorski also says he favours deepest possible inclusion of UK in EU defence structures

A long-term rearmament of Europe, in which the UK can play the closest possible role, is necessary to defeat Russian imperial ambitions, Poland’s foreign minister has said.

Radosław Sikorski also called for majority voting for EU sanctions and a 5,000-strong EU mechanised brigade, and said Poland was willing to back an EU-wide scheme to incentivise Ukrainian draft dodgers to return to their homeland.

Continue reading...

Italian anti-fascist goes on trial in Hungary accused of attacking neo-Nazis

Posted on by

Ilaria Salis, 39, says she is being persecuted for her beliefs in case that has led to tensions between two countries

An Italian anti-fascist activist has gone on trial in Hungary for allegedly attacking neo-Nazis, in a case that has sparked tensions between the two EU allies.

Ilaria Salis, 39, arrived at the Budapest court accompanied by her father, with Italy’s ambassador and a throng of Italian journalists also in attendance. She left to applause after the court heard testimony from one of the victims and two witnesses. None of the three could personally identify Salis, as their attackers were masked.

Continue reading...

Olympic Games’ €1.4bn clean-up aims to get Parisians swimming in the Seine

Posted on by

Organisers expect 75% of identified bacterial pollution will be gone by the time the starting gun fires for the open water events

Beside a sign saying “No swimming”, Pierre Fuzeau defiantly pulled on his swimming cap, slipped into the green water of the Ourcq canal on Paris’s northern edge, and set off with a strong front-crawl.

The 66-year-old company director regularly joins his open-water swimming group for well-organised illegal dips, including in the River Seine, where swimming has been banned since 1923 largely as a result of the health risk from unclean water and bacteria from human waste.

Continue reading...

Barcelona police criticised for baton charge at protest over fashion show

Posted on by

Police response to protest over closure of Park Güell for glitzy event was ‘totally out of proportion’, resident says

Catalan police have been criticised for baton-charging people protesting against the closure of Barcelona’s Park Güell for it to host a Louis Vuitton-organised fashion show, as anger grows that the city is being overrun by tourists and glitzy international events to the detriment of local life.

A residents association complained that in the lead-up to the event the whole neighbourhood had been cordoned off. “For days the neighbourhood has been saturated with police and private security companies,” said one resident, Aidà Almirall Serra, adding that armed police had demanded ID cards and searched parents’ bags when they picked up their children from nursery.

Continue reading...

Excess weight may have caused Mallorca building collapse, officials say

Posted on by

Investigation under way after four people killed and 16 injured in Medusa Beach Club in Palma

Investigators on the Spanish island of Mallorca are looking into whether overloading and structural issues caused the collapse of a beachfront restaurant and club, killing four people and injuring 16 others.

The two-storey Medusa Beach Club in Palma de Mallorca collapsed at about 8.30pm local time (7.30pm BST) on Thursday night. One firefighter told the local newspaper Última Hora he had arrived to find a “nightmarish” scene, with people screaming and crying and rubble piled high on the ground floor.

Continue reading...

More than 200 EU staff sign letter expressing concerns over Gaza crisis

Posted on by

Exclusive: Signatories cite union’s ‘continued apathy’ to plight of Palestinians and seek official call for ceasefire

More than 200 staff members of EU institutions and agencies have signed a letter expressing “growing concern” over the union’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that it runs contrary to its core values and aim of promoting peace.

The letter, signed by 211 people in their personal capacity as citizens and addressed to the EU’s top three officials, begins by condemning the 7 October attacks “in the strongest terms”.

Continue reading...

Building collapses at Mallorca beach killing at least four and injuring 21

Posted on by

Ceiling of Medusa Beach Club on the seafront at Palma de Mallorca gave way, according to reports

At least four people have been killed and about 21 people injured after a building collapsed on a beachfront in Mallorca on Thursday, emergency services said.

Rescue workers were trying to reach several people who were believed to be trapped by the collapse, which happened at about 20.30 local time (19.30 BST) at the two-storey Medusa Beach Club in Palma de Mallorca.

Continue reading...

London-born boy who died aged 15 to become first millennial saint

Posted on by

Second posthumous miracle attributed to leukaemia victim Carlo Acutis, qualifying him for canonisation

A London-born teenager who died of leukaemia aged 15 is to become the Catholic church’s first millennial saint.

Carlo Acutis was a computer prodigy who helped to spread Roman Catholic teaching online before his death in 2006. On Thursday, Pope Francis decreed that a second posthumous miracle has been attributed to Acutis, qualifying the teenager for canonisation.

Continue reading...

Greek police detain nine Egyptians despite dismissal of shipwreck charges

Posted on by

Lawyer criticises ‘inhumane’ treatment of men who were accused over deadly sinking of vessel crossing from Libya

Greek police have been accused of the “inhumane” treatment of nine Egyptian men after placing them in detention despite a court throwing out charges against them over a deadly shipwreck.

Police said on Thursday they were placing the men in custody as it was thought they could flee the country, two days after a tribunal in the southern city of Kalamata dismissed charges against them due to a lack of jurisdiction.

Continue reading...

Von der Leyen quizzed on whether she would work with far-right in EU election debate – as it happened

Posted on by

Frontrunner to be European Commission president was questioned over alliances with Meloni and others in face-off with rival candidates

Sandro Gozi, representing Renew Europe Now, has walked on stage.

Walter Baier, representing the Party of the European Left, has entered the stage.

Continue reading...