Category Archives: Europe

Proposals for commercial planes to operate with one pilot shelved after critical EU report

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Regulator Easa concludes there is not enough evidence it is as safe as flying with two pilots as currently required

Proposals for commercial aeroplanes to operate with just one pilot in the cockpit have been put on ice after a report for the European regulator suggested it would make flying more dangerous.

A three-year research project into “extended minimum crew operations” commissioned by the EU Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) found that despite advances in technology there was not sufficient evidence that flying with a single pilot could be as safe as with the two currently required.

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Putin embarks on China visit with Ukraine war top of agenda

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Analysts say Putin and Xi will aim to align positions during Russian leader’s unusually long stay

Vladimir Putin will travel to China this weekend for what the Kremlin has called a “truly unprecedented” visit to his most important ally, which comes at a crunch moment in talks over Ukraine.

During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week – unusually long for the Russian leader – he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing’s Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba.

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Eight people kidnapped from Haitian orphanage released after three weeks

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Irish aid worker and director Gena Heraty was taken along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old child

An Irish aid worker and seven fellow captives have been released nearly a month after they were kidnapped in Haiti.

Gena Heraty, a missionary who ran the Our Little Brothers and Sisters orphanage in the hills outside Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, was abducted on 3 August along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old child.

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Giorgia Meloni ‘disgusted’ at posting of photos of her and other women on porn site

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Italian platform Phica closes after sharing altered images of PM, her sister, opposition leader and others

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said she is “disgusted” that photos of her and other women were posted on a pornographic website, and called for the perpetrators to be swiftly identified and “punished with the utmost firmness”.

Images of Meloni’s sister, Arianna, and the opposition leader, Elly Schlein, were also discovered on the Italian platform Phica, which had more than 700,000 subscribers before its managers closed the site on Thursday, blaming users for “using the platform incorrectly”.

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Safety and space at risk as SUVs reach 30% of car market in English cities, researchers warn

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Campaigners call for Paris-style parking charges amid fears big vehicles are taking up excessive public space

The number of giant cars in England’s cities has increased tenfold in recent years, according to researchers, who warn the vehicles are taking up excessive public space and posing a threat to public safety.

Analysis published by Clean Cities has found SUVs have gone from 3% to 30% of existing cars in the past two decades. In London, the number of SUVs has increased from about 80,000 in 2002 to about 800,000 in 2023.

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Outrage in Italy over porn site with doctored images of prominent women

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Altered photos of women including Giorgia Meloni were posted on site along with vulgar and sexist captions

A pornographic website that posted doctored photos of a host of high-profile Italian women including the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the opposition leader, Elly Schlein, has sparked outrage in Italy.

The photos, accompanied by vulgar and sexist captions, were either harvested from personal social media accounts or public sources before being altered and published on the Italian platform Phica, which has more than 700,000 subscribers.

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UK, Germany and France say they have triggered UN sanctions on Iran

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Move by trio of European powers gives Tehran 30 days to improve access for inspection of its nuclear sites

The UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites or face deeper worldwide economic isolation.

UK officials said the decision had not been taken lightly and there had been intensive diplomacy to try to avert this step. The officials emphasised there was still room for last-ditch diplomacy before the sanctions “snapback” comes into force in 30 days’ time. The annual high-level UN general assembly in September is likely to involve more intensive diplomacy over the situation with Iran.

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Macron backs Bayrou and calls on budget critics to show responsibility

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Spokesperson says government in ‘fighting spirit’ after PM called confidence vote he is expected to lose

Emmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to France’s beleaguered prime minister, François Bayrou, who is expected to lose a confidence vote next month, which would be likely to cause the government to collapse.

Macron chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as France faces a fresh political crisis. The government spokesperson, Sophie Primas, said after the meeting that Macron fully supported Bayrou and the government was in a “fighting spirit”.

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Groom dies of injuries from celebratory gunfire after wedding in Turkey

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State media report that Ali K, 23, was wounded by shots allegedly fired by a female relative of his wife

A groom has died of injuries he sustained from celebratory gunfire after his wedding in northern Turkey.

As the newlyweds were being escorted home after the ceremony, the groom, identified as Ali K aged 23, was wounded by gunfire, allegedly at the hands of a female relative of his wife, the state news agency Anadolu reported.

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Denmark summons US diplomat over alleged Greenland influence campaign

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Danish media reports three men with ties to Donald Trump are accused of attempting to infiltrate Greenlandic society

Denmark has summoned the US charge d’affaires for an urgent meeting over an alleged influence campaign in Greenland aimed at shaping public opinion and the future of the Arctic territory.

It comes after reports from Danish media, confirmed by the Danish foreign office, that at least three US men with ties to Donald Trump and the White House had been accused of trying to infiltrate Greenlandic society.

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Old master painting looted by Nazis disappears from home in Argentina

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Search for artwork seen in estate agent’s photo continues after police raid on house finds tapestry hanging in its place

Argentinian police have said they will continue hunting for an old master painting looted by the Nazis and spotted by chance in an estate agent’s listing after a search of the property in the seaside town of Mar del Plata failed to uncover the work.

“The painting is not in the house … but we’re going to keep searching for it,” the federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez told local media. He said items that could be useful for the investigation, including two firearms, engravings and prints, had been seized.

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Frustrated Russians grapple with fuel crisis as Ukraine attacks oil refineries

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Motorists queue, petrol stations run dry and prices surge in country that is one of the world’s top energy exporters

Russia prides itself on being an energy superpower, but some of its citizens are suddenly struggling to fill their fuel tanks after weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes crippled refining capacity across the country.

Petrol stations in several regions have run dry while prices have surged to record highs and motorists queue for hours.

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Teenager convicted over IS-inspired plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

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Mohammad A, 16, given 18-month suspended sentence for helping plan foiled attack in Vienna

A Berlin court has convicted a Syrian teenager of contributing to an Islamic State-inspired plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

Three dates in the US pop star’s record-breaking Eras tour were cancelled last summer after authorities learned of the plot.

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France faces new political crisis as PM expected to lose confidence vote

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François Bayrou says he will ‘fight like a dog’ to stay in power but he appears almost certain to be toppled

France is braced for another political crisis as the minority government of François Bayrou appears almost certain to be toppled in a confidence vote next month, amid deep political divisions over an unpopular austerity budget and debt-reduction plan.

“I will fight like a dog,” the centrist prime minister told L’Express on Tuesday after his surprise decision to call a vote of confidence from parliamentarians.

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Old master painting looted by Nazis spotted in Argentinian property listing

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Dutch newspaper AD says it has traced Giuseppe Ghislandi’s Portrait of a Lady to house near Buenos Aires

More than 80 years after it was looted by the Nazis from a Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam, a portrait by an Italian master has been spotted on the website of an estate agent advertising a house for sale in Argentina.

A photo shows the painting, Portrait of a Lady (Contessa Colleoni) by the late-baroque portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi, also known as Fra’ Galgario, hanging above a sofa in the living room of the property, in a seaside town near Buenos Aires.

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France to sue Kick for alleged negligence over livestream death

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Minister says Australian platform ‘did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content’

France will sue the Australian streaming platform Kick for alleged negligence after a user died during a livestream, a government minister has said.

The platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died earlier this month during a 12-day livestreaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.

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Russia could back delay to ‘snapback’ of nuclear sanctions against Iran

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Moscow willing to support six-month extension of deadline before punishments are reimposed, reports suggest

Russia could back an extended six-month deadline for its ally Iran before European powers reimpose sweeping United Nations sanctions over Tehran’s refusal to allow UN inspectors back into nuclear sites after the Israeli-US assault in June.

France, Britain and Germany – known as the E3 – have long threatened to trigger a “snapback” of sanctions at the UN security council before 18 October, when a largely defunct nuclear deal struck 10 years ago between Tehran and major powers expires.

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The French film star, the fake Irish aristocrat and the missing €7m

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Trial to open in Nice of Thierry Fialek-Birles, accused of an ‘elaborate fraud’ against the actor and director Dany Boon

One of France’s most popular actors will have a starring role in court when a fake Irish aristocrat goes on trial accused of cheating him out of millions of euros.

Dany Boon, director and star of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), France’s biggest box office hit, says an alleged conman, who claimed to be an Oxford-educated maritime lawyer, stole nearly €7m (£6m) from him as part of an elaborate scam.

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Turkish transport minister fined after posting video of himself driving at 140mph

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Footage shared by Abdulkadir Uraloğlu under hashtag #TurkeyAccelerates inadvertently shows him speeding

Turkey’s transport minister has been given a speeding fine after posting a video of himself racing down a highway with the hashtag #TurkeyAccelerates.

On Sunday evening, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu shared a video of himself on X driving along a highway near the capital, Ankara, listening to folk songs and clips of speeches by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

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Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech

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Levies and restrictions could hit UK’s digital services tax and EU states such as France, Italy and Spain

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and export restrictions on countries whose taxes, legislation and regulations target US big tech companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, the US president said: “Digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American technology.”

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