Category Archives: Europe

Fascist salute not a crime unless a risk to public order, Italy’s top court says

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Ruling by court of cassation allows gesture at rallies but not where it risks ‘revival of fascist party’

Performing the fascist salute is only a crime if it endangers public order or risks leading to a revival of the banned fascist party, Italy’s top court said in a ruling that has been hailed by neofascists.

In making its ruling on Thursday, the court of cassation ordered a second appeals trial for eight neofascist militants who made the salute during a commemorative event in Milan in 2016 marking the anniversary of the killing of a fellow militant in the city in 1975.

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AfD leader ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, says German Social Democrats head

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Lars Klingbeil warns far-right party’s discussions of mass deportation sparked fear for millions across country

The co-leader of the German Social Democrats (SPD), the largest party in the Bundestag, has accused the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) of being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” as he warned that plans for mass deportation discussed at a secret meeting attended by its members had sparked fears for millions across the country.

In an extraordinary parliamentary debate on “fortifying democracy” in reaction to the far-right gathering that took place in November in Potsdam, Lars Klingbeil described the AfD as “rightwing extremist”. He accused the party leader and parliamentary head, Alice Weidel, of being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” over her “teary-eyed” description of what she said was a “smear campaign” against the party. “Your facade is beginning to crumble,” he said. “The true face of the AfD is clearly coming to light.”

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Remains of ‘lost’ bronze age tomb discovered in County Kerry in Ireland

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Altóir na Gréine stood for approximately 4,000 years on Dingle peninsula before vanishing in 19th century

The remnants of a bronze age tomb once thought to have been destroyed and lost to history have been discovered in County Kerry on the Atlantic coast of Ireland.

The tomb, known locally as Altóir na Gréine – the sun altar – stood for approximately 4,000 years on a hill outside the village of Ballyferriter on the Dingle peninsula before vanishing in the mid-19th century.

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French police protest for better pay and conditions during Paris Olympics

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Unions call for bonuses and childcare provision after suggestion all officers will be mobilised during Games

Police in France are holding a “Black Thursday” of work stoppages and demonstrations to demand better pay and conditions during this summer’s Olympic Games.

Several police unions, led by the two largest, Alliance and Unsa Police, said there should be bonuses of up to €2,000 (£1,720) as well as guarantees of holiday leave and childcare support for police this summer.

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Albanian court to rule on migration deal with Italian government

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Judge to determine whether agreement criticised by human rights groups violates constitution

A court in Albania is due to rule on whether a deal with Italy’s far-right government would violate the constitution by allowing Albanian territory to be used for reception centres for people seeking to enter the EU by sea.

The agreement, announced in November by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, would result initially in the non-EU member state hosting about 3,000 people but ultimately processing up to 36,000 a year.

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Jetsetting Orbán is speed-dating global strongmen – but at what cost?

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Hungarian PM met a who’s who of rightwing leaders on his travels in 2023, as critics point to failures at home

Europe’s pariah prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is jetting across the globe in search of friends.

Hungary, an EU and Nato member that has been backsliding on democratic norms for more than a decade, has become even more isolated in the western club over the past months. Orbán has irritated allies by blocking a much-needed EU financial aid package for Ukraine, while Hungary’s parliament has dragged its feet on ratifying Sweden’s bid to join Nato.

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Suspect allegedly involved in shooting of Spain Vox party co-founder is arrested in Colombia

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Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former vice-president of the European parliament and co-founder of Spain’s Vox party, was shot in the head in Madrid last year

Colombian police say they have arrested a Venezuelan suspected of involvement in the alleged attempted assassination in Madrid last year of a co-founder of Spain’s far-right Vox party.

Greg Oliver Higuera Marcano was wanted in connection with last year’s shooting of Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former leader of Spain’s main rightwing political party in Catalonia who went on to co-found Vox, and is a former vice-president of the European parliament.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger held at Munich airport over luxury watch

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Customs officials reportedly charge actor €35,000 after alleged failure to declare item intended for climate charity auction

Arnold Schwarzenegger was briefly held by customs officers at Munich airport on Wednesday after allegedly failing to declare a €26,000 (£22,000) Audemars Piguet watch the Terminator star was planning to sell at an auction in aid of his climate crisis charity.

The Austrian-born actor and former governor of California, 76, was stopped at the airport for about three hours upon arrival from Los Angeles, according to the German tabloid Bild, which quoted customs officials.

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Hundreds of protesters clash with police in Russian republic of Bashkortostan

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Trial of local activist provokes one of largest reported demonstrations in country since Ukraine invasion

Hundreds of protesters have clashed with police in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan in a rare display of public outrage after a court convicted a local activist and sentenced him to prison, according to media reports and rights groups.

The unrest on Wednesday – one of the largest reported demonstrations since the war in Ukraine began in 2022 – erupted amid the trial this week of Fail Alsynov in the town of Baymak, about 870 miles (1,400km) south-east of Moscow, in the southern Ural mountains.

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UK urges west to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine’s economy

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Foreign secretary says there are legal, moral and political justifications for using assets of $350bn

Britain is ramping up pressure on western governments to use $350bn (£275bn) of frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine’s war-shattered economy, with David Cameron insisting there were legal, moral and political justifications for action.

The foreign secretary said the countries that were backing Ukraine had economies that when combined were 25 times the size of Russia and it was important to make that firepower count.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Protesters clash with Russian police after activist jailed; Ukraine plans to ‘throw Russia from skies’, says minister

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Jailing of Fail Alsynov for ‘inciting hatred’ sparks protests; Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s priority for 2024 was to gain control over its skies

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has updated his X account with details of his numerous meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy said he met Polish president, Andrzej Duda to discuss their bilateral relations, including “cooperation on Ukraine’s path to EU membership”. He said the battlefield situation and further defence assistance for Ukraine was discussed. Zelenskiy added that the pair had acoordinated their positions ahead of the Nato summit in Washington.

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AfD plans to turn Germany into authoritarian state, vice-chancellor warns

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Robert Habeck tacitly backs calls to ban far-right party after it participated in meeting to discuss mass deportations

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is planning to transform Germany into an authoritarian state similar to Russia, the country’s vice-chancellor and economics minister, has warned, tacitly backing calls to ban the party.

Speaking a week after it emerged that party members had participated in a meeting to discuss mass deportations, allegedly including German citizens, Robert Habeck said the danger the party posed to democracy had been gravely underestimated.

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Macron criticised from all sides after ‘reactionary’ press conference

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French president wanted to reset second term but was accused of borrowing language from hard-right amid discontent in his party

Emmanuel Macron has faced a barrage of criticism across the political spectrum after a marathon press conference aimed at reinvigorating his turbulent second term in office.

The French president was accused of poaching from the hard-right playbook only a week after appointing Gabriel Attal, 34, the country’s youngest prime minister, and naming a government that shifted into conservative territory.

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Greece found to have violated Syrian refugee’s right to life by firing on vessel

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European court of human rights orders Athens to pay €80,000 to family of Belal Tello, who died after 2014 incident

The European court of human rights has ruled that Greece violated a Syrian refugee’s right to life when coastguards fired more than a dozen rounds at the people smugglers’ boat he was on nearly a decade ago.

The Strasbourg-based court ordered Greece to pay €80,000 (about £68,000) in damages to the wife and two children of Belal Tello, who was shot in the head as Greek coastguards attempted to halt the boat he was travelling in. Tello died in 2015, after months in hospital.

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‘Sexual pleasure a gift from God’ but avoid porn, Pope Francis advises

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Pontiff thought be be responding to conservative critics after sexually explicit book by cardinal resurfaces

“Sexual pleasure is a gift from God” but Catholics must avoid pornography, Pope Francis has said.

The pontiff made the remarks during a catechesis devoted to the “vice of lust” at his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday.

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Migration to Europe will increase in 2024, thinktank says

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ICMPD expects people to try to move before anticipated post-election tightening of migration laws

Migration to Europe will increase in 2024 as people try to reach the continent before the introduction of new laws aimed at cutting the number of arrivals, a leading thinktank has said.

Unsettled by multiple election campaigns in Europe, including the UK, and the US, during which immigration will be a divisive topic, many of those looking to come to Europe will rush to arrive before the system changes, predicted the Austrian-based International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

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Davos day one: Volodymyr Zelenskiy rallies support for Ukraine after ‘upbeat’ meeting with CEOs – business live

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Rolling coverage of the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has met business chiefs at a session for “CEOs for Ukraine”, here at the World Economic Forum, before his speech this afternoon.

He was seated alongside Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, who will also address WEF today:

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy calls for western unity to stop Russia as von der Leyen says Kyiv must get ‘predictable’ funding – as it happened

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Ukraine president speaks at World Economic Forum in Davos; European Commission president says Europe ‘must empower Ukraine’s resistance’

The Kremlin has declined to comment on a Bloomberg report that Chinese state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients for fear of US secondary sanctions, describing it as a highly sensitive topic.

Asked about the report, the spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said it was a matter for the companies and departments involved, and not for the Kremlin, Reuters reports.

This is a very, very sensitive area and it is unlikely that anyone will undertake to talk about it – you shouldn’t expect that.

We continue to develop relations with China; it’s our very important strategic partner.

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Zelenskiy tells Davos chiefs: ‘Strengthen our economy, we will strengthen your security’

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Standing ovation greets Ukrainian president’s speech amid strong support from EU and business leaders

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made an impassioned plea for international support for his country’s war against Russia, insisting that Vladimir Putin must live to regret starting the conflict almost two years ago.

In a speech that received a standing ovation from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Ukrainian president said the Putin had stolen 13 years of peace and would only respond to military defeat.

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Rescuers in daring bid to save sheep trapped by Iceland volcano

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More than 200 animals abandoned by farmers after the eruption have not been fed or watered for days

A daring operation is being launched to rescue more than 200 sheep left to their fate by farmers after a volcanic eruption near the evacuated Icelandic town of Grindavik.

With molten lava setting homes ablaze and the ground surface cracking, rescue teams are seeking to bring out an estimated 270 animals from their fields and indoor pens.

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