Category Archives: Europe

‘Real awe’: wave of Irish jubilation greets Cillian Murphy’s Oscars win

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President of Ireland, artists, academics and friends pay tribute to actor, who dedicated award to ‘peacemakers’

Ireland used to take pride in begrudgery – a venerable tradition of belittling success – but Cillian Murphy’s win at the Oscars has ruined that legacy by uniting the country in delight.

The actor’s triumph in Los Angeles prompted a wave of tributes from Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland, as well as the government, artists, academics, commentators and childhood friends, with no dissenter.

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Vienna court overturns decision to transfer Josef Fritzl to regular prison

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Austrian man jailed for raping and imprisoning his daughter for 24 years to remain in psychiatric unit

A Vienna court has overturned a decision to transfer Josef Fritzl from a special psychiatric unit to a regular jail, ordering the case back to the lower court.

Fritzl, 88, repeatedly raped his daughter and locked her in a cellar for more than 24 years, fathering seven children with her.

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British hedge fund trader goes on trial in Denmark accused of £1bn fraud

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Sanjay Shah accused of scam that enabled companies he controlled to fraudulently claim tax refunds

A British hedge fund trader accused of defrauding Danish tax authorities in a billion-pound scam has gone on trial in Copenhagen, with the government hoping to recover the money in the blockbuster case.

Sanjay Shah, who was arrested in June 2022 in Dubai where he was living, is accused of running a 9bn krone (£1.03bn) scam that enabled companies he controlled to fraudulently claim Danish tax refunds between 2012 and 2015.

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Deutsche Bahn files legal action over German rail strike

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GDL union has announced its sixth strike in a dispute over wages and hours

The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has taken urgent legal action in an effort to stop a strike by a train drivers’ union.

The GDL trade union, which has about 40,000 members and represents train drivers and other rail workers, announced a strike this week – its sixth in a months-long dispute over wages and hours.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Nato chief confirms there are no plans to send alliance troops to Ukraine – as it happened

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Jens Stoltenberg distanced himself from Macron’s suggestion that western allies should not rule out deploying troops in Ukraine

Kyiv said an Oscar awarded to 20 Days in Mariupol was an important success that showed the “truth about Russia’s crimes” to the world.

The film, directed by Ukrainian film-maker Mstyslav Chernov, won the Best Documentary Oscar at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

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Europe is unprepared for risks from Russia and Trump, says Airbus boss

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Aerospace group chief executive urges UK and Europe to pool efforts and merge fighter jet programmes

Europe is unprepared for war with Russia or the risk that Donald Trump could withdraw the US from Nato and needs to ramp up spending on defence equipment, the boss of Airbus has said.

Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of Europe’s biggest aerospace and defence company, said it was a “defining moment” for the continent’s defence industry, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought war to western Europe’s borders.

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Sweden’s veteran peace movement stung by ‘reckless’ entry to Nato

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Activists say public debate has been shut down by overhyped claims of imminent war since Ukraine invasion

The Swedish flag will be raised on Monday outside Nato’s HQ in Brussels. But while the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, basks in the glow of his country finally joining the western military alliance after months of delays, Sweden’s once thriving peace movement is smarting.

Once widely visible in debates and on the streets – particularly over nuclear weapons, disarmament and the Vietnam war – the movement had already been on the wane since the end of the cold war.

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Switzerland searchers find bodies of five missing skiers

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Sixth member of cross-country tour group still missing, authorities in Zermatt say

Five cross-country skiers who went missing during a ski tour in Switzerland were found dead, while a search was still on for the sixth skier, according to police.

Police in Switzerland’s Valais canton on Sunday started searching for six people who went missing during a ski tour that departed from the alpine town of Zermatt.

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Crypto firm moved $4.2m of assets to digital wallet linked to alleged Russian arms dealer

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Analysis shows link between Copper Technologies and Jonatan Zimenkov, who was later hit with US sanctions over Ukraine invasion

A cryptocurrency firm transferred digital assets worth more than $4.2m to a crypto wallet belonging to a member of an alleged Russian arms-dealing network who was later hit with US sanctions, it can be revealed.

Details of the transactions involving Copper Technologies raise questions about whether UK laws governing crypto have adapted quickly enough to keep pace with a rapidly evolving sector that has come under increasing scrutiny over the level of anonymity it can provide.

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Portugal election: centre-right alliance claims victory, rejects role for far right

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Democratic Alliance leader Luis Montenegro says it will not rely on Chega party to govern

The leader of Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance, Luis Montenegro, has claimed victory after a closely contested parliamentary election that saw the far-right surge.

With almost 99% of Sunday’s votes counted, the Democratic Alliance – an electoral platform made up of the large Social Democratic party (PSD) and two smaller conservative parties – and the Socialist party (PS) were each on 28.67%.

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Gaza food aid ship stuck at Cyprus with ‘technical difficulties’

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Vessel carrying 200 tonnes of provisions to alleviate looming famine now not sailing from Larnaca on Sunday as planned

An aid ship carrying 200 tonnes of food to alleviate looming famine in the Gaza Strip remained docked in Cyprus on Sunday night, despite the push for maritime aid in the face of stalling ceasefire talks and the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Cyprus government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, told the island’s official news agency that the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be made public for “security reasons”. It was later reported that due to “technical difficulties”, it might not depart until Monday morning.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: British foreign minister says he opposes sending western troops to Ukraine

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David Cameron says placing foreign soldiers would provide targets for Russia, even if on training missions

Pope Francis has been criticised after saying Ukraine should have the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Some politicians and commentators in Europe reacted with anger after the pontiff appeared to stay silent on Russia’s crimes as aggressor in the invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, and placed the onus on Ukraine to make peace.

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Pope criticised for saying Ukraine should ‘raise white flag’ and end war with Russia

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Francis’s failure to condemn Moscow as aggressor decried as ‘shameful’ and ‘incomprehensible’

Pope Francis has been criticised after saying Ukraine should have the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Some politicians and commentators in Europe reacted with anger after the pontiff appeared to stay silent on Russia’s crimes as aggressor in the invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, and placed the onus on Ukraine to make peace.

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Ireland’s referendums: what went wrong, and what happens now?

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Rejection of proposed changes to constitution represent stunning defeat for government and country’s entire political establishment

Proposals to reword Ireland’s 1937 constitution to get rid of outdated language about the role of women and the nature of the family have been comprehensively rejected in a double referendum.

All the major political parties had supported a “Yes-Yes” vote, and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, had warned that any other result would be a setback for the country. But when the results came in on Saturday they were a resounding “No-No”. So what went wrong, and what happens now?

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‘I considered him a decent person’: how Putin’s puppets help to dupe Russia’s voters

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As Russians prepare to give the president another six-year term this week, an ex-rival has gone from protest candidate to grotesque war hawk

Two election cycles ago, in 2012, Sergei Mironov was loudly playing the role of opposition to Russia’s ruling party, wearing the white ribbon of the protest movement in the State Duma and claiming his run against Vladimir Putin was “serious”.

If made president, he said, he would even appoint the now deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny as the head of Russia’s accounts chamber as an anti-corruption measure.

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Portugal’s far-right Chega party eyes kingmaker role as country goes to polls

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Election triggered by resignation of prime minister António Costa could see scandal-hit Socialist party ousted by rightwing coalition

The Portuguese left and right are braced for a tight race as the country votes in its second snap general election in three years, a closely fought contest that is also expected to result in huge gains and a possible kingmaker role for the far-right Chega party.

Sunday’s election was triggered by the collapse of the socialist government of António Costa, who resigned as prime minister in November amid an investigation of alleged illegalities in his administration’s handling of large green investment projects.

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Boris Johnson ‘held unofficial talks with president of Venezuela in February’

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Former PM apparently met autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro over concerns he may supply weapons to Russia

Boris Johnson flew to Venezuela in February for unofficial talks with its autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, according to reports.

The former prime minister spoke to the Venezuelan president about the war in Ukraine, amid concerns that the socialist republic could supply weapons or military support to Russia, according to the Sunday Times.

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Olive oil becomes most wanted item for shoplifters in Spain

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Gangs steal ‘liquid gold’ amid shortages and surging prices after extreme weather damages harvests

Olive oil has become the most stolen product in supermarkets across Spain, with organised criminal gangs targeting the “liquid gold” to resell on the hidden market, according to new figures.

Olive oil is now the most shoplifted product in regions that account for 70% of the country’s population, the Financial Times reports.

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Irish voters overwhelmingly reject proposed changes to constitution

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Taoiseach says government did not do enough to convince people over amending provisions on family and care

Ireland has overwhelmingly rejected proposed changes to references on family and women in its constitution, delivering a rebuke to a government that had urged voters not to take a “step backwards”.

Voters repudiated the family referendum with 67% voting “no”, and buried the care referendum in an even bigger landslide of 74%.

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France’s appetite for frogs’ legs is endangering species in Asia, say campaigners

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Scientists and vets are urging the president to afford the world’s most traded species better protections

France’s hunger for frogs’ legs is “destructive to nature” and endangering amphibians in Asia and south-east Europe, a group of scientists and vets have warned.

More than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and afford the most traded species better protections.

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