German chancellor follows in the footsteps of Joe Biden and other leaders on social media platform
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has opened a TikTok account, promising he will not be seen dancing on the social media platform popular with young people.
The newest official government channel “increases the information offer to citizens, who increasingly inform themselves and discuss politics on TikTok”, Scholz’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement.
Continue reading...HM chief inspector of prisons says detainees held unnecessarily despite volunteering for fast-track deportation
Albanians volunteering to be repatriated under a fast-track deportation deal are being detained unnecessarily for several weeks at taxpayers’ expense, the prisons watchdog has found.
HM chief inspector of prisons also found that staff did not know about the vulnerabilities of detainees held in deportation centres before being removed to Tirana, and some were not being given privacy while using the lavatory.
Continue reading...Gusts of more than 70mph recorded on Irish Sea coast, as temperatures rose above 30C in mainland Europe
Storm Kathleen brought strong winds to Ireland and the UK at the weekend, causing travel and power disruption. The storm, named by Met Éireann, developed in the Atlantic on Thursday, deepening explosively as it pushed northwards to the west of Ireland.
Peak wind gusts of 40-60mph (65-95km/h) were recorded quite widely across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and western parts of England and Wales on Saturday, with some Irish Sea coastal regions experiencing gusts above 70mph. A gust of 72mph was recorded at Drumalbin, Lanarkshire.
Continue reading...Federal emergency declared in Orenburg region and at least 6,000 homes inundated after Ural River overflows
Flood waters were rising in two cities in Russia’s Ural mountains on Sunday after Europe’s third-longest river burst through a dam, flooding at least 6,000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee.
The Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several metres in just hours on Friday and burst through a dam embankment in Orsk – one of the hardest-hit cities – 1,800km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.
Continue reading...Rafael Grossi says three direct hits against the main reactor containment structures ‘significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident’
The head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency has condemned a drone strike on one of six nuclear reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine, saying such attacks “significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident”.
In a statement on X, Rafael Grossi confirmed at least three direct hits against the ZNPP main reactor containment structures. “This cannot happen,” the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
Continue reading...Georges-Louis Leclerc proposed species change and extinction back in the 1740s, a new book reveals
Shortly after Charles Darwin published his magnum opus, The Origin of Species, in 1859 he started reading a little-known 100-year-old work by a wealthy French aristocrat.
Its contents were quite a surprise. “Whole pages [of his book] are laughably like mine,” Darwin wrote to a friend. “It is surprising how candid it makes one to see one’s view in another man’s words.”
In later editions of The Origin of Species, Darwin acknowledged Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, as one of the “few” people who had understood that species change and evolve, before Darwin himself.
Continue reading...Péter Magyar building centrist movement that has visibly shaken ruling party he dramatically broke with
A political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary’s government has said his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed where other opposition figures have failed, citing his “crazy” rise in the polls and “vision” as signs that change is possible.
Fourteen years after the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, returned to power and put the country on an illiberal path, some Hungarians had lost hope that his hold on power could be eroded.
Continue reading...If elected, Eike Schmidt would form a coalition with Brothers of Italy in what could be a major blow for the left
The German-born former director of Florence’s world-famous Uffizi gallery has come under fire for his decision to run for mayor of the city with the far-right coalition that governs Italy, in what could be a major blow for the left.
If elected, Eike Schmidt – who has been credited for modernising the Uffizi – pledged to tackle problems such as security and over-tourism in the Tuscan capital, which for more than three decades has been a leftwing stronghold.
Continue reading...International Atomic Energy Agency warns about safety after Russia says Ukrainian drone detonated at nuclear power plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed on Sunday by authorities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that a drone detonated on site today.
“IAEA experts have been informed by ZNPP that a drone detonated on site today. Such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations,” the nuclear watchdog said in a post on a social media.
Continue reading...Former foreign secretary says Britain needs to forge closer political and foreign policy links with Europe if it is to thrive
The UK has lost influence since Brexit to become just one of many “middle powers” in the world, former foreign secretary David Miliband has said.
Writing for the Observer, Miliband, now president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, said that in order to reverse the decline, the UK needed to enter new “structures and commitments” with the EU on foreign policy.
Continue reading...Act now on air quality in the Belgian capital, which is among the filthiest in Europe, say doctors and environmentalists
More than 100 doctors and environmentalists in Brussels have called on their politicians to follow London and Paris and take measures to improve the choking air pollution in the Belgian capital.
According to IS Global research, Brussels is ranked as the eighth worst of more than 800 European cities for nitrogen dioxide, which damages the lungs and is one of the main byproducts of internal combustion engines. The capital of the European Union is also ranked 308th out of 858 cities for PM2.5, or fine particulates, which can travel deep into the respiratory tract.
Continue reading...Close ally of populist prime minister Robert Fico claimed 53.85% of vote, beating pro-Western opposition Ivan Korčok
Nationalist-left government candidate Peter Pellegrini has won Slovakia’s presidential election ahead of liberal, pro-western opposition candidate Ivan Korčok.
The close ally of populist prime minister Robert Fico received 53.85% of the vote with the ballots from more than 98% polling stations counted by the Statistics Office in Saturday’s runoff election, topping former foreign minister Korčok who had 46.14%.
Continue reading...Ukraine soldiers describe ‘almost daily’ illegal gas attacks as invaders seek to dislodge them from embedded positions
Russia has been accused of systematically using illegal chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainian troops told the Daily Telegraph that they have been subjected to regular attacks from small drones dropping teargas and other chemicals.
Continue reading...After weeks of intense Russian strikes, Ukraine’s president calls for artillery shells as well as more Patriot missile systems
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned last night that Ukraine could run out of air defence missiles if Russia keeps up its intense long-range bombing campaign.
The Ukrainian leader’s starkest warning to date of the deteriorating situation faced by his country’s air defences follows weeks of Russian strikes on the energy infrastructure, towns and cities using a vast arsenal of missiles and drones.
Continue reading...Former ruling party insider Péter Magyar leads march to parliament building in Budapest
Tens of thousands of people have turned out in downtown Budapest to protest against the government of Viktor Orbán.
Protesters marched to parliament in the unusually warm spring weather, some of them shouting “We are not scared” and “Orbán, resign”.
Continue reading...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”.
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