Category Archives: Europe

Orbán accused of trying to silence all critics in Hungary with new law

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Proposed law to create ‘sovereignty protection office’ is designed to undermine opponents, civil society groups warn

Hungary’s leading civil society groups have accused Viktor Orbán of trying to “silence all critical voices” in the country after proposing legislation to create a “sovereignty protection office” investigating foreign influence.

For years, the Hungarian prime minister has promoted a narrative that external forces are trying to undermine his government and prop up his opponents.

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Sinn Féin’s rising tally of lawsuits fuels fears it is trying to stifle scrutiny

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The Irish PM has accused the party of trying to take away democracy through threats as press freedom organisations raise concerns

In Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, is suing the national broadcaster RTÉ for defamation, while her husband, Martin Lanigan, is suing the author of a biography of McDonald. Chris Andrews, a Sinn Féin member of Ireland’s parliament, is suing the Irish Times and one of its reporters.

In Northern Ireland, Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Féin member of the Stormont assembly, is suing two media commentators. John Finucane, a Sinn Féin MP, is suing a unionist councillor over Twitter claims. Michelle O’Neill, the party’s deputy leader, recently sued another unionist councillor over a Facebook post.

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European far right celebrates as exit poll puts Wilders’ party in front – as it happened

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Voters cast ballots until 9pm in elections that could set country on different course after Mark Rutte’s four consecutive governments

The first exit poll is expected in about 20 minutes. Stay tuned!

More pictures from election day in the Netherlands.

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Man and woman reportedly drown trying to cross Channel to UK

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Fifty-eight others rescued, with many suffering from hypothermia after dinghy capsizes less than a kilometre from French shore

A man and a woman are reported to have drowned on Wednesday trying to cross the Channel to the UK in a small boat.

Fifty-eight others were rescued, with many of the survivors understood to have been suffering from hypothermia.

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Israel-Hamas war opens up German debate over meaning of ‘Never again’

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Intellectuals clash over country’s traditional commitment to defence of Israel amid bloodshed in Gaza

The phrase “Never again” has been the central tenet of Germany’s political identity since the horrors of the Nazi-led Holocaust of Europe’s Jewish population. But the war between Israel and Hamas has opened up a fiercely fought debate about the phrase’s true meaning,dividing opinion among followers of the dominant German intellectual tradition.

A letter published in the Guardian pits several prominent German and international figures influenced by the Frankfurt School of neo-Marxist “critical theory” against its most prominent living member, Jürgen Habermas. They argue that “Never again” must also mean staying alert to the possibility that what is unfolding in Gaza could amount to genocide.

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Eurozone banks starting to show ‘stress’ as loan defaults rise, ECB warns

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Rising interest rates have boosted profitability but are likely to limit demand and increase risk of bad debts, says central bank

The balance sheets of eurozone banks are showing “early signs of stress” after a rise in loan defaults and late payments by customers, the European Central Bank has warned.

Higher interest rates have boosted banks’ income and profits for the time being, the ECB said, but lenders are facing pressures from higher funding costs, worsening asset quality and lower lending volumes.

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B&Q owner issues another profit warning after weak sales in France

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UK business lifted by ‘improve not move’ trend and interior design videos on TikTok

The owner of B&Q and Screwfix issued its second profit warning in three months after weak sales in France but said its UK business is being boosted by the “improve not move” trend and interior design videos on TikTok.

Kingfisher, which also owns Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France and operates in Poland, Iberia and Romania, too, reported an almost 4% sales decline in its financial third quarter, prompting a downgrade in its annual profit forecast from £590m to £560m.

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Sweden must join Nato soon to ward off Russian threat, says defence minister

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Exclusive: Pål Jonson unable to give timeline for completion of membership process but confident it will happen

Sweden must become a full member of the Nato military alliance “as fast as possible” to ward off the threat from Russia, the country’s defence minister has said, as impatience builds in Stockholm over its slow path to accession.

Pål Jonson said that he was unable to put a timeline on the completion of Sweden’s Nato approval process buthe was confident that Turkey and Hungary, the two remaining members left to ratify the country’s membership, would do so eventually.

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Netherlands set for first new prime minister in 13 years as voters head to polls

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Polls open for general election in the Netherlands, with four parties – ranging from left to far right – vying to take most votes

Dutch voters are voting in a knife-edge general election that will usher in the country’s first new prime minister in 13 years, with four parties from left to far right vying to become the largest in parliament.

From the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam to the islands of the Dutch Caribbean, more than 13 million voters will cast their ballot between 7.30am and 9pm in elections that could set the country on a different course after Mark Rutte’s four consecutive governments.

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When is a car not a car? When it’s a Swedish A-traktor

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Vehicles modified to not go above 19mph became a teenage rite of passage, but amid a rise in accidents, there are calls for a ban

It began as an agricultural necessity and grew into a beloved rite of passage for teenagers in rural Sweden. Invented in the early 1900s by farmers who were short on equipment, the A-traktor lives on as the vehicle of choice for motorists as young as 15.

But the cars, which are supposed to have been modified to have a maximum speed of 30km/h (19mph), are increasingly causing concern. Guidance introduced in 2020 made it easier to convert almost any car into an A-traktor and the change appears to have led to a sharp rise in related injuries and deaths.

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French MP says she feared a heart attack after drink was spiked with ecstasy

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Sandrine Josso has accused senator Joël Guerriau of giving her a glass of champagne spiked with drug

A French member of parliament who was allegedly drugged by a senator has described “trembling and sweating” and fearing she was having a heart attack after drinking champagne spiked with ecstasy.

Sandrine Josso, 48, an MP for the centrist MoDem party, spoke out in two television interviews, saying she was “still in a state of shock” after the alleged incident last week.

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‘Breakthrough battery’ from Sweden may cut dependency on China

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Northvolt says new lithium-free sodium-ion battery is cheaper, more sustainable and doesn’t rely on scarce raw materials

Europe’s energy and electric vehicle industries could reduce their dependency on scarce raw materials from China after the launch of a “breakthrough” sodium-ion battery, according to its Swedish developer.

Northvolt, Europe’s only large homegrown electric battery maker, has said it has made a lower cost, more sustainable battery designed to store electricity which does not use lithium, nickel, graphite and cobalt.

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‘Extremely venomous’ green mamba on the loose in Netherlands

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Police in southern city of Tilburg tell residents to stay indoors after owner reported missing snake

An “extremely venomous” 2-metre green mamba snake is on the loose in the Netherlands, police have said, warning residents to stay indoors and under no circumstances attempt to ensnare the serpent.

Police in the southern city of Tilburg said they were alerted by the mamba’s owner on Monday evening that “he was missing a snake”.

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Three arrested over shooting of former rightwing politician in Madrid

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British woman said to be among those held after Alejo Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face on a busy street

Spanish police investigating the attempted killing of a former rightwing politician who was shot in the face on a busy Madrid street almost two weeks ago have arrested three people including a British woman, according to official sources.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former leader of the conservative People’s party (PP) in Catalonia who joined the far-right Vox party in 2014, was attacked in the affluent Salamanca district of the Spanish capital at about 1.30pm local time (1230 GMT) on Thursday 9 November.

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Girl, two, dies and eight missing after boat sinks off Lampedusa in Italy

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Coastguard and fishing boat rescue dozens, including girl who later died, with search ongoing

A two-year-old girl has died and other eight people were reported missing after a boat carrying about 50 people across the central Mediterranean sank in waters off the coast of Lampedusa, Italian authorities said.

The Italian coastguard, aided by a local fishing boat, managed to rescue 42 people on Monday, including the baby girl, but she subsequently died onboard a rescue vessel en route to the island, the Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Tuesday.

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More than 10,000 civilians killed in Ukraine in war, UN says; Berlin unveils £1.1bn military aid package – as it happened

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UN says expects real toll to be significantly higher than official tally; Germany to send IRIS-T air defence unit, defence minister Boris Pistorius says. This live blog is closed

Russia cannot coexist with the current “regime” in Kyiv but Moscow can resist the might of Nato for as long as it needs to fully demilitarise Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

“The current regime [in Kyiv] is absolutely toxic, we do not see any options for coexistence with it at the moment,” Russian ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik told reporters in Moscow.

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Final day of campaigning for Dutch politicians as election nears – as it happened

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The country’s six main party leaders confronted each other in Rotterdam on Monday night in a TV debate. This live blog is closed

The Dutch housing market is one of the top issues in this week’s election, writes Senay Boztas.

According to I&O research, 86% of Dutch people believe there is a housing “crisis”, and there are 390,000 more house seekers than there are homes.

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Woman’s death during Brazilian butt lift surgery prompts UK-Turkey meeting

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Melissa Kerr from Norfolk died on day of buttock enlargement surgery at private hospital in Istanbul in 2019

UK officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey after the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in Istanbul.

Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston in Norfolk, travelled to the private Medicana Haznedar hospital for the buttock enlargement surgery in 2019.

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Dutch party leaders clash in TV debate as election nears

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Frans Timmermans, Geert Wilders and Pieter Omtzigt among those competing for votes in six-way race

Dutch party leaders have clashed in a tetchy televised debate, as the Netherlands election campaign entered its final days.

The country’s six main party leaders confronted each other in Rotterdam on Monday night, as a new poll suggested Frans Timmermans’ GreenLeft/Labour was neck and neck – on 27 seats of a total 150 – with the party that has led the past four governments, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) under Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius.

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Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy in signal of support for Ukraine

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Media mogul was accompanied by Fox News’ Benjamin Hall, who was injured while covering the war, and Jerome Starkey from UK tabloid the Sun

The Fox Corp chief executive, Lachlan Murdoch, has met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital in what Kyiv said was a “very important signal” of support at a time when global media attention has shifted from the war with Russia.

The media mogul, who last week took over as News Corp chairman from his father, Rupert, was accompanied by two reporters from his stable: Benjamin Hall from Fox News and Jerome Starkey from the UK tabloid the Sun.

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