Category Archives: Europe

‘Everyone is indoors’: life on pause on hottest day of Greek heatwave

Posted on by

There were few people to be seen in Mystras as temperatures were forecast to reach 46C

“It’s hot,” said Panagiotis Vahaviolos, with some understatement. “So hot it’s a little difficult to move.” On the hottest day of the longest and most intense heatwave to befall Greece since record-keeping began, the restaurateur had sought sanctuary in the shadows to escape the fierce sun.

Neither he, nor anyone else, if they could help it, was moving in Mystras, the settlement beneath the great hilltop fortress that is the country’s most significant Byzantine site. In temperatures nudging 44C, life had come to a standstill. With the exception of holidaymakers who had reached the village’s flag-stoned central square, there were few people to be seen.

Continue reading...

One killed as ship carrying 3,000 cars catches fire off Dutch coast

Posted on by

Ship’s owner says electric car suspected as possible cause of blaze on vessel travelling from Germany to Egypt

A blaze on a cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 vehicles off the Dutch coast has killed one person and injured several others, with coastguards warning that the fire could last for several days.

The fire began on Tuesday night on the 199-metre Panama-registered Fremantle Highway, which was en route from Germany to Egypt. Several crew members were forced to jump overboard.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian security service claims responsibility for Crimea bridge blast in October – as it happened

Posted on by

Domestic intelligence agency claims responsibility for first time for sabotage operation that damaged Kerch Bridge in October 2022

The south of Ukraine is under an air alert again. Suspilne reports it is “due to the activity of Russian aviation in the Black Sea.”

The all clear has sounded across southern Ukraine.

Continue reading...

‘Like a blowtorch’: Mediterranean gripped by wildfires as blazes spread in Croatia and Portugal

Posted on by

‘There is no magical defence mechanism,’ says Greek prime minister as fires burn in northern Africa and southern Europe

Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean as blazes spread in Croatia and Portugal, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and north Africa working in extreme heat to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.

High temperatures and parched ground sparked wildfires in countries on both sides of the Mediterranean, with at least 34 people killed in Algeria, where 8,000 firefighters on Tuesday battled blazes across the tinder-dry north. Fires burned in a total of 15 provinces, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,500 people.

Continue reading...

UK inaction let Wagner group flourish and grow, say MPs

Posted on by

Foreign affairs select committee condemns government’s ‘dismal lack of understanding’ about group’s hold in Africa

A decade-long failure by the British government has allowed the Wagner network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa and exploit vulnerable countries, according to a highly critical report from the UK’s foreign affairs select committee.

It called on the government to proscribe the Wagner group in the UK and to make a far more concerted effort to stop it using the City of London as a financial centre.

Continue reading...

Six men guilty of murder over Brussels terrorist attacks in 2016

Posted on by

Islamic State bombers killed 32 and injured more than 300 in attacks at subway station and airport

Six men have been found guilty of murder and attempted murder for their part in the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks that killed 32 people and injured more than 300.

They include Salah Abdeslam, who is already serving a life sentence in France for his role in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks which targeted the Bataclan theatre and France’s national stadium, killing 130 people and injuring 350. He was arrested four days before the Brussels attack.

Continue reading...

‘Like Squid Game’: British tourists in Rhodes on their holidays from hell

Posted on by

Holidaymakers booked into luxury hotels but sleeping in a sports hall feel let down by tour operators but are touched by the kindness of locals

“Have you ever watched Squid Game? This is how it feels.” The words of one British tourist, among the last remaining of 700 holidaymakers put up in an evacuation centre in Rhodes after fleeing the raging wildfires, summed up the chaos and panic that many had experienced as dream holidays had gone up in smoke.

Susan Johnson, 64, from Salisbury, had arrived in Rhodes on Saturday night for a luxurious stay in a five-star hotel, but after landing she had been bussed to Venetokleio sports hall, where she had spent the following four days. She was growing increasingly tired and frustrated and was in pain. “We’re still not sleeping at night,” she said on Tuesday morning. “You don’t sleep properly.”

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: ex-US Marine freed in prisoner swap injured fighting in Ukraine; UN rejects Moscow claim on prison massacre – as it happened

Posted on by

Trevor Reed has been taken to Germany for treatment; UN human rights chief rejects claims a US-supplied HIMARS missile from Ukraine was responsible

  • This blog is now closed. To read our latest news on Ukraine, click here

The UK Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on how it sees the war progressing, and today the focus is on Odesa. The ministry writes that since 18 July 2023, Russia has conducted greater numbers of long-range strikes against Odesa, and puts this down to the end of the Black Sea grain deal.

It says:

Between August 2022 and June 2023, when the Black Sea Grain Initiative was still in force, Russia generally refrained from striking civil infrastructure in the southern ports.

Since Russia failed to renew the deal, the Kremlin likely feels less politically constrained, and is attempting to strike targets in Odesa because it believes Ukraine is storing military assets in these areas.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.

Continue reading...

Storms and wildfires kill seven in Italy as extreme weather continues

Posted on by

Three people killed in Sicily fires and four in northern storms as hundreds forced to flee homes

Seven people have died in the past 24 hours as two extreme weather events split Italy between wildfires in the south and violent storms in the north.

Fires in Sicily caused the temporary closure of Palermo airport after temperatures in the city climbed to 47C on Monday.

Continue reading...

Venice film festival picks starry films despite actors’ strike

Posted on by

Hollywood films vying for Golden Lion include Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, with non-competition films by Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater

The Venice film festival appears to have largely shrugged off issues caused by non-attendance of Hollywood actors due to the Sag-Aftra strike as it unveiled its lineup for its 2023 edition.

Venice has traditionally functioned partly as a platform for major American releases looking for strong positioning in the autumn awards season, and it has already seen its originally announced opening film Challengers, a tennis drama starring Zendaya, drop out after it was forced to delay its release date.

Continue reading...

Rhodes wildfires are climate wake-up call, says UK minister

Posted on by

Patrick Courtown sounds warning as evacuation flights head to Greek island to rescue stranded Britons

Wildfires in Rhodes are a “wake-up call” on the effects of the climate crisis, a UK government minister has said, as empty planes were sent to the Greek island to help bring home stranded Britons.

After a mass evacuation from parts of Rhodes, members of the House of Lords were told the situation was “stabilising” and there was no immediate need for the government to advise people to stop travelling there.

Continue reading...

Mediterranean is a hotspot for climate change, says Greek PM

Posted on by

Kyriakos Mitsotakis warns of difficult summer ahead as wildfires continue to rage and more tourists fly home

The Mediterranean is a “hotspot for climate change”, the Greek prime minister has said, as more tourists boarded repatriation flights home and a firefighting mission ended in tragedy when a water-bombing plane crashed into a hillside.

The water bomber, a Canadair CL215, smashed into a hillside in Evia in the battle to extinguish flames near a village outside Karystos. Greece’s airforce, to which the plane belongs said it was being flown by two Greek pilots, and they had launched a rescue mission.

Continue reading...

Northern Ireland could lose half its veterinary medicines in Brexit row

Posted on by

Requirement for animal medicines to be batch-tested in EU could see products discontinued, BVA warns

Northern Ireland could lose half of its veterinary medicines in a new Brexit row threatening to prolong the political stalemate in the region, it has emerged.

The British Veterinary Association told the Lords committee on Northern Ireland in written evidence that it was “extremely concerned” about the issue even though the Windsor framework sealed between Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, in March was sold as a solution to the protracted saga regarding Northern Ireland.

Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

Posted on by

Legislation outlaws medical interventions ‘aimed at changing the sex of a person’ and altering gender details in public records

Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

Continue reading...

Travel firms flying tourists to Rhodes are ‘profiteering’, senior Tory says

Posted on by

Alicia Kearns backs calls for the government to advise against travel to the Greek island

Travel firms that continue to fly tourists to Rhodes have been accused of “profiteering” by a senior Conservative, as ministers faced pressure over official travel advice for the island, where 10,000 British tourists have been stranded.

As flights rescuing holidaymakers began arriving in the UK on Monday, calls continued for a change in the Foreign Office’s stance on the categorisation of Rhodes to enable tourists to get a refund for their trips through their travel insurance.

Continue reading...

‘A near-death experience’: UK tourists describe escape from Rhodes wildfires

Posted on by

Travellers say they faced ‘absolute chaos’ as they were forced to flee with luggage still at hotels

Dean Mason, 56, from Rothley in Leicestershire, described getting caught up in the Rhodes wildfires as a “near-death experience”.

Mason arrived at a hotel in Kiotari beach a week ago with his wife, daughter, and four-year-old granddaughter.

Continue reading...

Greece wildfires: climate crisis will ‘manifest itself everywhere with greater disasters’, says Greek PM – as it happened

Posted on by

Latest news: Kyriakos Mitsotakis tells parliament ‘we are at war’ as nearly 2,500 people evacuated from Corfu

Ludovica Gazze, an associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick, says the pollution from the wildfires is likely to have an effect throughout Greece – and beyond.

The economic costs of wildfires are substantial and widespread. There are the immediate and visible costs of healthcare and assistance, as well as forgone tourist income.

There are also the invisible costs of the pollution caused by wildfires, which can travel hundreds of miles as we saw in the case of the Canada wildfires in June. Pollution worsens health, cognition, and productivity.

There’s no coincidence at all that climate change has driven these higher temperatures, and the higher temperatures are causing the fires that are spreading.

The only way to tackle this is deep and rapid emissions reductions. In terms of greenhouse gases, we have virtually doubled the amount of greenhouse gases compared to the pre-industrial level.

Continue reading...

The RSF are out to finish the genocide in Darfur they began as the Janjaweed. We cannot stand by | Kate Ferguson

Posted on by

Peace between Hemedti’s RSF and Sudan’s army will not end war crimes. As UN security council president, Britain must act

As conflict in Sudan escalates, it is becoming clear that the Rapid Support Forces has returned to Darfur to complete the genocide it began 20 years ago. The RSF is the Janjaweed rebranded, the “devils on horseback” used by the Sudanese government from 2003 to implement widespread and systematic crimes against non-Arab communities across Darfur. The RSF was, and still is, commanded by Gen Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.

In recent weeks, what we knew was coming has been confirmed. Yale University’s Conflict Observatory, which uses a combination of satellite imagery, Nasa thermal-detection data and open-source analysis, found evidence of the “targeted destruction of at least 26 communities” by the RSF between 15 April and 10 July. Mass graves have been discovered, and satellite imagery shows entire urban neighbourhoods and villages have been burned down.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: UN chief calls on Russia to return to Black Sea grain deal; US journalist wounded in drone attack – as it happened

Posted on by

António Guterres calls on Moscow to return to deal allowing safe export of Ukrainian grain; US citizen working for AFP hurt in Bakhmut attack

Russia’s overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees, Reuters reports Ukraine’s southern military command as saying.

Based on preliminary information, three drones were destroyed in the attacks, the command said on social media.

These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.

It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking, I think, at several months.

And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way.

Continue reading...