Category Archives: Europe

Owners of 100,000 properties held by foreign shell companies unknown despite new UK laws

Posted on by

Loopholes are used to obscure ownership of two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies

More than two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies do not report the identity of their owners, according to analysis that found significant flaws in laws meant to prevent oligarchs from hiding their wealth.

The UK government hurriedly introduced a register of overseas entities in August 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year, in an attempt to “flush out corrupt elites laundering money through UK property”. However, critics said there were severe flaws in the rules from the start.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy discusses grain corridor and security in Odesa with Macron – as it happened

Posted on by

Phone call between leaders of Ukraine and France comes on eve of summit between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Black Sea grain deal

The prosecutor general’s office reported that Russian forces shelled the city of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy, northern Ukraine, on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others, the Kyiv Independent reports.

These claims have not yet been independently verified.

Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope of provoking a food crisis and famine in the world.

Continue reading...

Bavaria leader declines to dismiss deputy over antisemitic leaflet

Posted on by

Markus Söder stands by Hubert Aiwanger after he apologies for flyer found in his school satchel in the 1980s

The leader of Germany’s powerful state of Bavaria has said he will not dismiss his deputy despite a row over an antisemitic leaflet which he admitted having carried in his school satchel as a teenager.

Markus Söder said it would not be proportionate to sack Hubert Aiwanger, a move that would have upended the ruling coalition in the southern state six weeks before a regional election.

Continue reading...

France planning to ban disposable vapes in effort to combat smoking

Posted on by

Ban follows similar measures in Germany, Australia and New Zealand amid concern over health effects

Disposable vapes will be banned in France as part of a national plan to combat smoking, the prime minister said on Sunday.

Élisabeth Borne told the broadcaster RTL that the government would “soon present a new national plan to fight against smoking with, in particular, the prohibition of disposable electronic cigarettes, the famous ‘puffs’ which give bad habits to young people”.

Continue reading...

Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky detained on suspicion of fraud and money laundering

Posted on by

Arrest of one-time ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy comes as Kyiv attempts to crack down on corruption

A Ukrainian court has ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, a striking move against one of the country’s most powerful businessmen.

The detention on Saturday of Kolomoisky, who is under US sanctions and is a one-time supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is trying to signal progress during a wartime crackdown on corruption.

Continue reading...

‘Everything is ahead of us’: Ukraine breaks Russian stronghold’s first line of defence

Posted on by

In an exclusive interview, a leading Ukrainian general says his forces have made a vital breakthrough near Zaporizhzhia

Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russia’s first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia after weeks of painstaking mine clearance, and expect faster gains as they press the weaker second line, the general leading the southern counteroffensive has said.

Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy estimated Russia had devoted 60% of its time and resources into building the first defensive line and only 20% each into the second and third lines because Moscow had not expected Ukrainian forces to get through.

Continue reading...

Nobel Foundation reverses decision to invite Russian ambassador to awards

Posted on by

Foundation backtracks on earlier announcement that representatives from Russia, Belarus and Iran would be invited

The Nobel Foundation has reversed its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel awards ceremony in Stockholm after the invitation sparked anger.

In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the awards event because of the war in Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Moscow risks dividing its forces to stop Ukrainian breakthrough, says UK – as it happened

Posted on by

Update from UK Ministry of Defence comes as Kyiv claims some small gains in the south

Russian bloggers have been cashing in on their social media coverage of the Ukraine war with paid ads in their feeds worth more than a month’s average wage.

The BBC reports that pro-war influencers known in Russia as “Z-bloggers” share ads, mostly on Telegram – the platform du jour in Russia after the banning of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – on everything from cryptocurrency to fashion.

The Ministry of Defence often listens to us, and we have a direct channel to privately communicate information to them. It’s all behind the scenes, and I do that.

Continue reading...

Ukrainian counteroffensive has made ‘notable’ progress in south over past three days, US says

Posted on by

White House spokesman John Kirby also said reports quoting anonymous US officials criticising Ukrainian effort were ‘not helpful’

Ukraine has made “notable progress” in its southern offensive over the past 72 hours, a top US security official has said, as Kyiv said its troops had broken through Russia’s first line of defences in several places.

In Washington, White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said the US had “noted over the last 72 hours or so some notable progress by Ukrainian armed forces ... in that southern line of advance coming out of the Zaporizhzhia area”.

Continue reading...

‘Incomprehensible’ killing of popular brown bear in central Italy sparks outrage

Posted on by

Search under way for two cubs after man shoots rare bear dead, reportedly telling police he fired out of fear

Italian politicians and wildlife experts have condemned the fatal shooting of an endangered brown bear, as a search was under way for her two cubs.

Amarena was one of the most popular of the Marsican brown bears in the Abruzzo national park in central Italy, often pictured in and around the area with her offspring.

Continue reading...

Russia adds Nobel prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov to list of ‘foreign agents’

Posted on by

Editor of Novaya Gazeta accused of using foreign platforms to spread ‘opinions aimed at forming a negative attitude towards Russia’

Russia has added respected journalist and Nobel prize co-recipient Dmitry Muratov to its list of foreign agents, a label authorities commonly use to stifle critics.

The move targeting the editor of Russia’s top independent publication, Novaya Gazeta, is part of a wider crackdown on respected civil society institutions that has accelerated with Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.

Continue reading...

World Cup kiss echoes abuse suffered by millions of women, says Spain’s equality minister

Posted on by

Irene Montero calls incident a ‘lower-intensity’ form of sexual violence as push to oust Spanish football chief Rubiales continues

Luis Rubiales’s unsolicited kissing of Jenni Hermoso is just one instance of the abuse suffered by millions of women around the world, Spain’s acting equality minister has said.

Irene Montero described the incident, in which the Spanish football president grabbed the player by the head and planted a kiss on her lips at the Women’s World Cup final medal ceremony, as a “lower-intensity” form of sexual violence that is often invisible and normalised in society.

Continue reading...

German-Iraqi woman charged with killing lookalike to fake her own death

Posted on by

Woman accused of contacting beauty blogger on Instagram and offering free salon treatment before killing her with accomplice

A 23-year-old German-Iraqi woman has been indicted for murder after allegedly seeking out a lookalike on Instagram and killing her with an accomplice, in an effort to fake her own death.

The woman, identified as Shahraban Kh-B, was initially thought to have been the murder victim when the blood-soaked body of a young woman was found last August in a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, southern Germany.

Continue reading...

Germany says it ended training of Saudi border forces after abuses reported

Posted on by

Statement comes amid concern about allegations Saudi forces have killed hundreds of migrants

Germany ended a training programme for Saudi border forces, who have been implicated in the mass killing of migrants at the country’s border with Yemen, after it was alerted to reports of “possible massive human rights violations”, the German interior ministry has said.

In a statement to the Guardian, the ministry said training undertaken by the federal police service for the Saudi border force had been “discontinued after reports of possible massive human rights violations became known and, as a precaution, are no longer included in the current training programme [for Saudi security forces]”.

Continue reading...

Georgia’s ruling party seeks to impeach president over EU visits

Posted on by

Salome Zourabichvili’s meetings in Berlin and Brussels violated constitution, party leader says

Georgia’s ruling party is seeking to impeach the president over her visits to the EU, which it said were made against the will of the government, the local news agency Interpress has reported.

Salome Zourabichvili met the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin on Thursday and the European Council president, Charles Michel, in Brussels on Friday to drum up support for Georgia’s campaign to receive EU candidate status.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Swedish lawmakers to boycott Nobel ceremony following Russia invitation – as it happened

Posted on by

The Nobel Foundation said invitations for the 2023 events were extended to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway

There cannot be “sustainable peace” in Ukraine unless the country regains control of Crimea, Donbas and other territories occupied by Russia, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said at the European House Ambrosetti business forum in Italy on Friday.

Russia has previously said it is open to peace talks with Kyiv but insists on its claim to four Ukrainian provinces it said it annexed last year and fully or partly controls, as well as Crimea that it annexed in 2014 – a condition Kyiv will not accept.

Continue reading...

Former guard at Nazi death camp charged with being accessory to murder

Posted on by

Gregor F, 98, who worked as guard at Sachsenhausen between 1943 and 1945, to be tried in juvenile court due to age at time

A former Nazi concentration camp guard has been indicted on charges of acting as an accessory to murder in the latest of a string of eleventh-hour attempts to gain justice for Holocaust victims and survivors.

The 98-year-old, identified as Gregor F, worked as a guard at the Sachsenhausen camp north of Berlin between 1943 and 1945.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Hurricane Idalia leaves trail of damage in Florida

Posted on by

Category 3 storm causes extensive flooding in south-east US, while heavy rain and winds also hit France and Italy

Hurricane Idalia struck northern Florida on Wednesday, bringing damaging winds and torrential rain. It made landfall near Keaton Beach on Florida’s Big Bend during the morning as a high-end category 3 hurricane, bringing sustained winds speeds near 125mph (200km/h) and a storm surge of 16ft along Florida’s north-west coastline.

Due to very warm sea surface temperatures, the storm strengthened rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico to category 4 status, before weakening to category 3 as it made landfall. It brought extensive flooding as it passed through and damaged power lines, leaving thousands without electricity.

Continue reading...