Category Archives: Europe

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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Not possible to return asylum seekers who arrived from Russia, Finnish president says – Europe live

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Sauli Niinistö calls for close cooperation on border security during visit to Poland

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has congratulated Javier Milei and invited the new Argentinian far-right libertarian president to visit Israel to open an embassy in Jerusalem.

Milei has previously said he would move the location of Argentina’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “I don’t care if I’ll be criticized by world leaders. I truly believe that’s the right thing to do,” he said in a recent interview with the Times of Israel.

It’s obvious that Argentina needs a change. It was unacceptable that one of the most prosperous countries in the world should keep falling year after year into the same thing.

I wish the new government every success and I want them to know that they can count on Madrid, where we’ve worked to defend freedom from day one and where we’ve looked after so many Argentinians who have fled, terrified, from Peronism …

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Albania opposition starts fire in parliament during anti-government protest

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MPs set off smoke bombs in middle of chamber in failed attempt to stop vote on 2024 budget

Albania’s opposition has set off smoke bombs and started a small fire in the middle of parliament in a failed attempt to stop the chamber from voting on the 2024 budget.

MPs involved in the protest on Monday piled chairs in the centre of the chamber and red, green and purple smoke filled the air as security kept protesters back from the seat of the prime minister, Edi Rama.

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More than 200 mobsters convicted in Italian mafia ‘maxi trial’

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Specially built courtroom in Calabria heard evidence of ruthless tactics of ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate

An Italian court has convicted and sentenced more than 200 people of crimes including criminal association, extortion and bribery in what has been described as Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades.

The verdicts mark the end of a three-year “maxi trial” held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious ’Ndrangheta.

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Pieter Omtzigt: the Netherlands outsider whose politics is firmly in the centre

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A much-admired MP who launched his own party in the summer is hoping for electoral success

• Europe live – latest updates

Usually in European elections the insurgent candidates come from the outer reaches of the political spectrum: the far left or, more often of late, the far right. This one comes solidly from the centre. He could hardly be less fringe if he tried.

Days after Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch Christian Democrat MP for 18 years, announced in August he was founding a new party to “do politics differently”, it was topping the polls. Two days from the vote, it is vying for the lead in the parliamentary election.

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Shakira strikes deal with Spanish prosecutors to avoid €14.5m tax fraud trial

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Colombian singer to pay €7.3m fine instead of risking prison sentence in deal that ends Barcelona trial

The Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a settlement with prosecutors to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she failed to pay €14.5m (£12.7m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.

As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of 50% of the amount owed, more than €7.3m.

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Hat worn by Napoleon fetches record €1.9m at Paris auction

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Black bicorne hat is one of 20 remaining that once belonged to French emperor, who famously wore them sideways

A two-cornered hat worn by Napoleon Bonaparte during his reign as French emperor has fetched a record €1.932m (£1.69m) at an auction in Paris.

The black bicorne beaver felt hat was initially estimated at €600,000-800,000. The price reached surpassed the €1.884m paid for another of Napoleon’s hats in 2014, also sold by the Drouot auction house, a spokesperson for the company said.

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Far-right Party for Freedom makes gains in poll ahead of Netherlands election

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Leftwing parties urge people to vote tactically to prevent Geert Wilders’ party winning power

Leftwing parties in the Netherlands have urged people to vote strategically to avoid a far-right government after a poll showed last-minute gains for Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV).

Wilders, whose manifesto calls for an asylum “stop” and ban on “Islamic schools, Qu’rans and mosques”, said it was a “game changer” when a poll on Saturday evening put him level with Mark Rutte’s party, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

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Shakira due to go on trial in Spain over tax fraud claims

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Colombian singer is accused of defrauding authorities of €14.5m and could face jail if found guilty

Shakira, the Latin Grammy-winning singer, is due in court in Barcelona on Monday on charges of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of €14.5m (£12.7m).

The 46-year-old Colombian musician, who lives in Miami with her two children, could face up to eight years in jail and a €24m fine if found guilty.

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Pedro Sánchez is back … now Spain’s PM must make his daring gamble pay off

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The socialist leader’s pact with separatist activists has returned him to power for now, but it’s a strategy fraught with political uncertainty

At the end of an investiture debate that had been fraught, savage and bizarre, even by recent standards, the defeated leader of Spain’s conservative opposition offered his triumphant socialist rival a handshake. It was not accompanied by his warmest wishes.

“This was a mistake,” said Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the People’s party (PP), as he pressed the flesh with a smiling Pedro Sánchez on Thursday. “And you’re responsible for what you’ve just done.”

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Threat of volcanic eruption leaves Iceland waiting in uncertainty

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Authorities say it could be months before people evacuated from town of Grindavik can go home even if danger subsides

People in south-west Iceland remain on edge as they wait to see whether a volcano rumbling under the Reykjanes peninsula will erupt.

Civil protection authorities said that even if it does not, it is likely to be months before residents evacuated from the danger zone can safely return home.

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Two first responders killed by Russian rocket attacks in Zaporizhzhia

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Ukrainian police say workers were at scene of attacks on village near frontline when Russia launched another strike

Two first responders have been killed by rocket attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.

Ukrainian police said Russia fired a series of rockets at the village of Komyshuvakha, close to the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia annexed last year.

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Rally held in Madrid against Catalan amnesty after Sánchez sworn in as Spanish PM

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About 170,000 people demonstrate in capital over socialist party leader’s deal enabling second term in office

At least 170,000 people gathered in central Madrid for another large protest against the controversial Catalan amnesty law that has allowed Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to secure a second term in office.

Sánchez was sworn in on Friday after winning an investiture vote the previous day that came almost four months after July’s inconclusive snap general election. Although the conservative People’s party (PP) narrowly beat Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) in the election, it was unable to secure the parliamentary support to form a government even with the backing of the far-right Vox party and other smaller groupings.

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