A number of flights delayed or redirected after unusually large number of birds ‘invade’ the runway
Venice’s Marco Polo airport has been forced to close briefly after an unusually large number of seagulls “invaded” the runway, leading flights to be delayed or redirected.
Various tools were deployed to ward off the gulls on Friday morning, including a falconer and an acoustic deterrent, according to Save, the airport’s management company.
Continue reading...Arrested suspect was on watchlist of people known to be security risk in connection with radical Islamism
A teacher has been killed and two other people critically injured in a stabbing at a school in Arras, northern France.
The suspected attacker, who has been arrested, was on a watchlist of people known to be a security risk in connection with radical Islamism. Local media reported that he was a former pupil at the Gambetta-Carnot school.
Continue reading...Knox had been found guilty of defamation for wrongly accusing Patrick Lumumba of murdering Meredith Kercher
Italy’s top court has ordered a retrial after Amanda Knox appealed for the dropping of the slander conviction she received for wrongly accusing a bar owner of murdering the British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox, an American who, along with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, spent four years in prison after initially being convicted of the murder, made the request on the basis of a ruling by the European court of human rights in 2019 that found that her defence rights had been violated during police questioning in 2007.
Continue reading...Fans seen singing the Cranberries’ hit in stadiums but some Irish republicans are unhappy at revival
Twenty years after a lethal IRA bomb inspired its stark, chilling lyrics, the Cranberries’ song Zombie has experienced an unlikely rebirth as a Rugby World Cup anthem.
Ireland fans have belted out its chorus in stadiums across France and hope to do so again on Saturday after a quarter-final tie against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris.
Continue reading...Nutritious lunches should be seen as an effective way to address obesity, chronic illness and poverty, says coalition
Children across Europe must receive at least one nutritious school meal a day if governments want to tackle rising obesity rates, prevent chronic illnesses and reduce social inequalities, according to a coalition of experts.
Nearly a third of primary school-age children in Europe are either overweight or obese, while almost a quarter of children in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Continue reading...Russia and Ukraine fighting fierce battles around eastern town of Avdiivka; Finland says ‘state actor’ may be behind damage to gas pipeline
Russian and Ukrainian forces fought fierce battles around the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka after Moscow launched one of its biggest military offensives in months this week. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were holding their ground on the third day of battle, but municipal officials said the Russian attacks were relentless.
Finland said it could not exclude the possibility that a “state actor” was behind damage to a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, amid what its national security intelligence service called “significantly deteriorated” relations with Russia. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday the US would support Finland and Estonia as they probed the damage to the Balticconnector pipeline and parallel Estlink telecommunications cable between the two countries.
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognising regional organisations from four territories annexed from Ukraine. Russia’s National Olympic Committee denounced the decision, calling it counterproductive and politically motivated.
Ukraine claims it has thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian saboteur group to cross its north-eastern border in the Sumy region, Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, said on Thursday. “The saboteurs tried to cross the state border of Ukraine and intended to move further towards one of the civilian critical infrastructure facilities,” he wrote on Telegram. The eight-member group was repelled by Ukrainian fire, he said.
Russia expects its military and defence cooperation with Kyrgyzstan to expand, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin said during a visit to a Russian airbase near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in his first trip outside Russia since the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the possible poisoning of an exiled Russian journalist who staged a high-profile protest against the war in Ukraine. Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up a placard reading “Stop the war” on Russian television last year, became unwell after opening the door to her apartment in Paris and finding a powdered substance, AFP reported.
The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe on Thursday recognised the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin a “genocide”. The text on the 1932-33 “Holodomor” was voted through almost unanimously with 73 votes in favour and one against at the meeting in Strasbourg, which followed a similar resolution approved by the European Parliament in December.
Romanian authorities said Thursday they had found a crater from a suspected drone that may have exploded on impact on its territory near the border with Ukraine, reviving concerns about possible spillover of Russia’s war in Ukraine on to a Nato member country.
US military officials displayed what they said were pieces of Iranian drones recovered in Ukraine to UN member states on Thursday – evidence, according to the Pentagon, of growing ties between Iran and Russia. Tehran has denied western accusations that it is supplying Russia with large quantities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), some armed, to use in its invasion of Ukraine.
The UN human rights council on Thursday extended the mandate of its rapporteur on rights violations in Russia by a year, in a second diplomatic defeat for Moscow in three days. The UN’s top rights body adopted a resolution brought by several European countries to prolong Bulgarian human rights expert Mariana Katzarova for another year by 18 votes to seven.
Journalist Khaybar Akifi was severely wounded in a drone attack that also killed his four-year-old daughter and his wife’s parents in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, several media officials said. The head of state television channel RT, Margarita Simonyan, said Akifi was in a coma.
Continue reading...IOC suspends Russian Olympic Committee; Ukraine claims to have foiled attempted incursion into Sumy; Putin visits Kyrgystan
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognising regional organisations from four territories annexed from Ukraine. The Russian Olympic Committee denounced the move, saying it was “yet another counterproductive, politically motivated decision”.
Ukraine claims it thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian saboteur group to cross its border in the north-eastern Sumy region. Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, said: “The saboteurs tried to cross the state border of Ukraine and intended to move further towards one of the civilian critical infrastructure facilities. He said the eight-member group was repelled by Ukrainian fire and there were no losses among Ukrainian troops, Reuters reports.
Russia expects its military and defence cooperation with Kyrgyzstan to expand, Vladimir Putin said during a visit to a Russian airbase near the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, in his first trip outside Russia since the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukraine claims to have downed 28 of 33 drones launched at its territory overnight by Russia. Port infrastructure was damaged and a woman in Odesa was injured by one of the drones that got through. Some of the drones were aimed at ports on the Danube.
A photograph distributed by the general prosecutor’s office of Ukraine is said to show damage to a grain warehouse as a result of a drone strike. “Unfortunately, there was a hit on port infrastructure. A grain storage facility was damaged, there is damage directly to the grain itself,” Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the southern military command, told an online briefing.
Romania’s defence ministry reported the discovery of a drone crater near the Nato member’s border with Ukraine after the Russian attacks.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed Ukraine was holding ground in Avdviika, which appears to have been the target of concerted Russian military efforts over the last few days. On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had redirected large numbers of troops and equipment to Avdiivka in their largest attack on the town since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Belgorod’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said three people including a small child had been killed by falling debris from a drone over Russia. Earlier he claimed that air defence had downed several Ukrainian drones over the region.
Antti Pelttari, Finland’s security intelligence service director, has said his country cannot rule out the possibility that a “state actor” was involved in damaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline and a parallel telecoms cable. Speaking at Nato headquarters, Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said the security of undersea infrastructure was “one of the most acute topics at the moment for Estonia and Finland”.
The Czech Republic’s foreign ministry will summon Russia’s ambassador over Russian attacks on the Ukrainian hamlet of Hroza earlier this month.
Continue reading...International Olympic Committee says inclusion of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia merits immediate suspension
Romania’s defence ministry has reported the discovery of a drone crater near the country’s border with Ukraine after Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure on Wednesday evening.
Reuters reports the ministry said there was a “possible explosion on impact”, and measures had been taken to secure the area and forces would continue to monitor Romania’s airspace.
Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this.
Continue reading...Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions
Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.
Continue reading...University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’
When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.
The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains.
Continue reading...US secretary of state pledges support for Finland and Estonia, as Finnish officials say Russia is treating their country as ‘hostile’
Finland has said it cannot exclude the possibility that a “state actor” was behind damage to a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, amid what its national security intelligence service called “significantly deteriorated” relations with Russia.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday the US would support Finland and Estonia as they probed the damage to the Balticconnector pipeline and parallel Estlink telecommunications cable between the two countries.
Continue reading...Footballer says becoming champions was ‘the only way that we had left to be heard, respected and valued’
The Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso has said Spain’s World Cup win was part of a “more human, more transcendent” battle for equality in her first public remarks since her team’s triumph was overshadowed by an unsolicited kiss.
The speech was made as part of an event in Mexico, where Hermoso plays for the football club Pachuca, and which featured a tribute to the world champion. The 33-year-old began by describing her emotions as she lifted the World Cup trophy alongside her teammates.
Continue reading...At Nato meeting of foreign ministers, ongoing saga of Sweden’s bid to join organisation in spotlight again
One issue defence ministers will discuss today is the implementation of the alliance’s new military plans – and how equipment and troops will be placed on Nato’s sensitive eastern flank.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, assured other Nato defence ministers that it was possible to give strong support to both Israel and Ukraine, a US official and a European diplomat told the Guardian.
Continue reading...Shoemaker lands on NYSE with $8.3bn valuation but analysts warn public debut comes amid difficult market conditions
Shares in Birkenstock have opened 11% below their offer price on the company’s US stock market debut, valuing the German shoemaker at $8.3bn as investors bet there was less mileage in consumer demand for its cork-soled sandals, which have become an unlikely fashion success story.
On Tuesday evening the footwear firm priced its shares at $46 ahead of the first day of trading in New York, where it is using the symbol “BIRK”. That figure was in the middle of the $44 to $49 guidance provided last week and valued the company at $8.6bn (£7bn).
Continue reading...Alliance’s chief says if there is proof of attack it will be met with ‘determined’ response, amid speculation about Russian sabotage
Nato has promised a “determined” response if damage to an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia proves deliberate, as investigators said traces of an “external, mechanical force” had been found on the seabed.
Amid widespread media speculation about the likelihood of Russian sabotage, Risto Lohi of the Finnish national bureau of investigation told a press conference in Helsinki on Wednesday: “There is reason to suspect an external force … caused the damage.” The force, he added, “appears to have been mechanical, not an explosion”.
Continue reading...Practice ruled to be discriminatory, but Conseil d’État says it does not have power to force change in policy
France’s highest administrative court has recognised discriminatory police identity checks based on racial profiling exist in France and are not isolated cases, but said it could not change political policy on the issue.
In a class action against the French state, six French and international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative had asked for French authorities to be found at fault for failing to prevent the widespread use of racial profiling.
Continue reading...Campaigners use traditional Sámi tents to block roads in Norwegian capital in protest against turbines on reindeer pastures
Hundreds of Indigenous and environmental campaigners have blocked a main thoroughfare in Oslo to demand the demolition of two windfarms that have been described by the Norwegian government as a “violation of human rights”.
The Wednesday protest traces its roots to a landmark 2021 decision by Norway’s supreme court that found 151 wind turbines in the western region of Fosen had trampled on the rights of Sámi reindeer herders by encroaching on their pastures.
Continue reading...President warns of ‘dangerous situation’ for his country as western attention shifts to Israel after Hamas attack
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he fears that the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel and US politics could threaten military support for his country, as he made a surprise visit to Brussels where Nato defence ministers are meeting.
“I want to be honest with you, of course it is a dangerous situation for people in Ukraine,” he said on his first visit to Nato headquarters since Russia’s 2022 invasion, making an in-person plea for continued assistance at a time when turbulence in the US Congress threatens to disrupt aid for Kyiv and the world’s attention is drawn to the crisis unfolding in the Middle East.
Continue reading...Rescuers searching for people under rubble of school in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk, says regional governor
Secretary general of Nato Jens Stoltenberg is greeting Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy outside Nato headquarters. They are expected to address the media. I will bring you any key quotes or lines that emerge.
Netherland’s defence secretary Kajsa Ollongren has said outside the Nato headquarters in Brussels that there is “no doubt” that the alliance “will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
We will say today in presence of president Zelenskiy that the war in Ukraine, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, is not a regional conflict, is not just Ukraine’s problem. We feel it is also our responsibility to support Ukraine to withstand this aggression, to fight back against this aggression, and we are very much aware of the fact that they need us to do so. They need us for training, for capabilities, for ammunition. And we are steadfast in our support.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: With Paris under siege by these tiny, blood-sucking terrors, many on the other side of the Channel are wondering if they’re next – and what can be done
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Good morning. Paris is being overrun by bedbugs, at a time when the country is hosting the Rugby World Cup and preparing to host the 2024 Olympics. The news has alarmed people living in France and those visiting: in a moment of particularly acute panic, the deputy mayor of the French capital declared that “no one is safe”, which certainly intensified the concern.
A bedbug epidemic on the other side of the Channel has unsurprisingly left many people worried that the hordes of insects are about to hop on a direct train to St Pancras International and invade the UK. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said everything is being done to ensure that the problem does not get out of control, though he has acknowledged that it is a “real cause for concern”. Transport for London is disinfecting seats on buses and tubes every day and Khan is also in contact with Eurostar.
Gaza | A massive Israeli military buildup is continuing along Gaza’s border, as the country’s military confirmed the death toll from Saturday’s Hamas attack – the deadliest militant assault in its history – had passed 1,200 and wave after wave of airstrikes hit the territory.
Labour | Keir Starmer has made a direct appeal for “despairing” Conservative voters to back Labour at the next election, telling them he would repair a Britain broken by 13 years of Tory governments.
Bibby Stockholm | The Home Office plans to return asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge next week following a lengthy evacuation after legionella was found there.
Disinformation | The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk over the alleged disinformation about the Hamas attack on Israel, including fake news and “repurposed old images”, on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.
Luton airport | A major incident has been declared at London Luton airport after a huge fire broke out at a car park in the terminal, with all flights being suspended.
Continue reading...