Category Archives: Europe

Monday briefing: Spain’s nail-biting election ends in hung parliament – what happens now?

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In today’s newsletter: The country’s conservative parties were meant to romp to victory in snap elections, but with 100% of the vote counted, neither the left or right blocs have secured a majority

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A few days ago it seemed a foregone conclusion that a coalition of rightwing parties were going to win Spain’s snap elections. A huge majority was not a guarantee, but most of the polls were in their favour. Election night, however, told a different story.

Health | Most NHS staff think they have too little time to help patients and the quality of care the service provides is falling, a survey reveals. Medical and nursing groups said the “very worrying” findings showed that hard-pressed staff cannot give patients as much attention as they would like because they are so busy.

Environment | Firefighters in Greece were struggling to contain 82 wildfires burning across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far. As well as huge blazes on the island of Rhodes, which forced 19,000 to flee, wildfires also broke out on the islands of Evia and Corfu. Travel firms and airlines are now being urged to reimburse passengers who decide against flying to Rhodes.

Politics | Rishi Sunak is being urged by senior Conservatives to go for a spring election next year, with the plan said to be “gaining traction” among campaign strategists who believe it may be their best chance to stem losses.

Nigel Farage | Britain’s biggest banks will be summoned to a meeting with the City minister, as he raised “significant concern” over the recent closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account with Coutts. Andrew Griffith will send a letter to the bosses of 19 banks including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest to warn the government is prepared to “take the action necessary” to protect freedom of speech.

Cinema | Vue cinema chain has reported its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic, thanks to the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office. The chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill.

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Greece: wildfires break out on Corfu and Evia as 19,000 flee Rhodes blazes

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Boats ready to pick up evacuees on Corfu as heatwave continues and firefighters tackle blazes on Rhodes that sparked Greece’s largest wildfire evacuation

Firefighters in Greece were struggling to contain 82 wildfires burning across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far.

As well as huge blazes on the island of Rhodes, which forced 19,000 to flee, wildfires also broke out on the islands of Evia and Corfu.

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Lechyd Da! Welsh whisky to gain UK’s special protected origin label

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Coles, Da Mhile, In the Welsh Wind and Penderyn distilleries awarded label in scheme brought in to replace EU version

Welsh whisky is to join its Scottish and Irish counterparts in being officially awarded protected origin status under the UK’s post-Brexit regime.

Single malt from four distilleries in south and west Wales – Coles, Da Mhile, In the Welsh Wind and Penderyn – has been awarded protected geographical indication (UK GI) status, the scheme brought in to replace the EU’s protected designation of origin label.

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Two drones downed over Moscow, says Russian defence ministry

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Defence ministry blames Ukraine for drones that hit non-residential buildings in the Russian capital and says there were no casualties

Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.

Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

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German centre-right leader says he is willing to work with far-right AfD at local level

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Comments by CDU leader Friedrich Merz could see erosion of political ‘firewall’ separating conservatives and far right

The leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said his party is willing to cooperate with the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) at a local political level, triggering cries of protest from his own party and raising concerns about the firewall between German conservatives and the far right.

In an interview with state broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, CDU leader Friedrich Merz categorically ruled out joining a coalition with the AfD at a national level but said such a taboo should not apply to local politics.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: one killed and cathedral in Odesa hit as Moscow launches fresh strikes

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Another 19 wounded in overnight attack on the southern Ukrainian port city, governor says

Ukraine’s most famous rock star Andriy Khlyvnyuk has said the transition to becoming a soldier, receiving orders, was “surprisingly easy”.

I thought it would be [difficult]. I was afraid of the brutality, noise and dirt of war. But it wasn’t – it was surprisingly easy.” Why? “Look, if I was sent somewhere to fight, I’d be useless, terrified; I don’t want to kill or be killed. But that’s not what happened. They came for our streets and our children’s playgrounds.

Music is a universal language. But music also comes from where you come from; it reflects the feeling of home, and what home means – and on the obligation to protect your family, your neighbour. Anyone who grew up learning their language, and their poets and music by heart knows to say to the empire, any empire: ‘You will not do this to us.’

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High winds expected to impede fight against wildfires in Rhodes

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Thousands of people forced to evacuate on Greek island, including 3,000 who had to be ferried off beaches

Thousands of tourists and residents have been forced to evacuate several villages on the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires burned out of control and officials feared that high winds would hamper efforts to contain the flames on Sunday.

The fires have burned for nearly a week on part of the island, as Greece has been battered by an extended spell of extreme heat that has made it difficult to contain the spread of the blazes.

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‘We shouldn’t be here’: British tourists tell of nightmare in Rhodes fires

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Travel company Tui criticised for still flying holidaymakers out to Greek island on Saturday night

British tourists said they had been left in “a living nightmare” after wildfires caused the emergency evacuation of 19,000 people on the Greek island of Rhodes.

More than 3,000 people were rescued from beaches and another 16,000 taken to safety on land as flames intensified in the south-eastern region of the island on Saturday.

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Russian missile strikes on Odesa kill one person and damage cathedral

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Ukrainian authorities say children among 22 injured in new wave of attacks on Black Sea port city

A new wave of Russian strikes on Odesa have killed one person and damaged a historic cathedral, as missiles again rained down on the southern Ukrainian city.

Authorities said 22 people were injured in the attacks in the early hours of Sunday, including a number of children. One strike hit the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was built in the late 18th century, destroyed under Joseph Stalin and then rebuilt in the early 2000s.

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West must focus on preparing Ukraine’s troops – or we will all pay the price | Jack Watling

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A bureaucratic, peacetime approach to training and stockpiling among Zelenskiy’s allies is posing a threat to European security

For two months Ukrainian forces have been endeavouring to fight their way through densely fortified Russian positions to breach the so-called Surovikin line in an attempt to liberate their territory. Fighting has been exceedingly hard, with heavy losses of equipment and personnel on both sides. Irrespective of how much progress is made over the coming months, Ukraine’s international partners need to focus their assistance on preparing Ukrainian armed forces for the next fight.

It is important to understand the challenge the Ukrainians are trying to overcome. Russian troops are fighting from successive layers of concrete-hardened positions, each behind 120-500 metres of complex minefields. They are backed up by significant artillery and attack helicopter support and protected by dense electronic warfare and air defences. Although Ukrainian troops tend to win when they get into close combat with the Russians, getting there without taking unsustainable losses is not always possible.

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Spain poised for shift to the right as polls open in snap election

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Polls suggest conservative PP will need the support of far-right Vox party to form a government

Spaniards are heading to the polls to vote in a bitterly contested general election that could see the far right play a key role in government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco’s death five decades ago.

The vote, called two months ago by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) suffered a drubbing in May’s regional and municipal elections, offers people a stark choice between the left and right blocs.

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Inside Mykolaiv, the Ukrainian city where the Russians destroyed the water supply

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A key pipeline to the southern Ukrainian port city was hit by a missile early in the invasion, but for now people are managing to keep vital services running

  • Photographs by Kasia Strek for the Observer

Ludmyla Osadchuk put her foot to the pedal and the rickety red-and-white tram edged forward, exiting the depot with a crunching of wheels and a rattle of the old, loosely fitting doors. On board were three blue canisters, each holding 1,000 litres of water.

With a “Special route” sign attached to the front window, the tram trundled to the first of four stops in different parts of Mykolaiv. The only passenger was former tram driver Serhiy Vytstyna, who hopped out at the stop and connected a set of pumps to the canisters.

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Russia-Ukraine war: arrest of Russian pro-war blogger likely to trigger fury in military, says UK – as it happened

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

Road traffic on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula has been temporarily blocked, an official Telegram channel has said.

“Those on the bridge and in the inspection area are asked to remain calm and follow the instructions of transportation security officers,” it said.

A preliminary assessment in Odesa has revealed damage to several museums inside the world heritage property, including the Odesa Archaeological Museum, the Odesa Maritime Museum and the Odesa Literature Museum. They had all been marked by Unesco and local authorities with the Blue Shield, the distinctive emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention.

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More than 1,000 people forced to flee wildfires on Greek island of Rhodes

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Britons among those evacuated from hotels and homes as strong winds sweep blaze towards coast

More than 1,000 people were forced to flee homes and hotels on Rhodes after an uncontrolled wildfire swept across the Greek island on Saturday.

The fire had been burning for most of the past week but had been confined to the island’s mountainous interior until strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions swept the blaze towards the coast on the island’s central-eastern side.

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Post-Brexit fall in English ownership of European second homes, figures show

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Government survey finds that fewer than 30% of holiday homes are on continent – compared with 40% a decade ago

They used to go wild for villas by the Med and ski chalets in the Alps; now they are forking out for views of the Channel and hilly walks in Shropshire.

According to figures released this week by the English Housing Survey, the proportion of English owners of second homes who have properties in Europe has fallen again, with 60% of holiday homes located in the UK rather than outside it.

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Ukrainian drone strike in Crimea ‘closed road and prompted evacuation’

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Russian-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, reports explosion at ammunition depot but no casualties

A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea has prompted authorities to evacuate everyone within a 3-mile (5km) radius and briefly suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, the Moscow-installed regional governor has said.

Sergei Aksyonov said on Saturday there was an explosion at the depot in Krasnohvardiiske in central Crimea, but he reported no damage or casualties. Footage shared by state media showed a thick cloud of grey smoke at the site.

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‘No more cover-up’: Nazi concentration camps on Channel Island finally to be officially investigated

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Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Alderney than previously thought

The full horrors of the only Nazi concentration camps to exist on British soil will finally be investigated in an official government inquiry, the Observer can reveal.

Eighty years on from one of the darkest episodes in British history, the government is to carry out a review into the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis on Alderney, the tiny Channel Island and British crown dependency.

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Russia ‘holding humanity hostage’ over Black Sea grain deal, UN hears

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Security council session told that world’s poorest and most vulnerable at risk after Russia blocked exports

• What was the Black Sea grain deal and why did it collapse?

Russia has been accused at the UN security council of stoking famine by blocking grain exports through the Black Sea, with the aim of profiting from higher global food prices.

Russia’s representative said on Friday that Moscow might consider restarting the scheme if it was given better terms for its own food and fertiliser exports, but was accused by western diplomats of holding the world’s poor to ransom.

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Zelenskiy condemns Donetsk attack in which he says two children died – as it happened

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Ukraine president accuses Russia of killing two children and hitting a school. This live blog is closed

According to Russian state-owned news service Tass, the number of people in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory hospitalised after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June has risen to 166. It cited sources in the local Russian-imposed authority.

In addition to those two injuries sustained in the attack on Odesa reported by governor Oleh Kiper, state broadcaster Suspilne has reported these other incidents in its wrap-up of overnight news:

On July 20, four workers were killed and two more people were injured in an attack by Russian troops on an infrastructure facility in the Polohivskyi district of the Zaporizhzhia region, the regional authority reported.

In Kharkiv oblast, a 56-year-old woman was injured as a result of night shelling. In the Kherson region, on the night of 21 July, the Russian Federation shelled four locations. No injuries were reported.

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Lightning strikes twice as rescuers of Swiss victims are also hit

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Police officer and helicopter pilot struck on the way to help victims of earlier blast in Fribourg canton of Switzerland

Lightning never strikes twice, until it does: a police officer and helicopter pilot rushing to help two people injured in a lightning strike on Friday were themselves also hit, Swiss authorities said.

A 51-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were struck by lightning around 8.30am while working in a field in Ménières, in the western canton of Fribourg, regional police said in a statement.

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