Category Archives: Europe

Heineken exits Russia with €1 sale of operations

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Dutch multinational brewer takes €300m loss from transfer of assets to Russia’s Arnest Group

Heineken has completed its lengthy exit from Russia with the sale of its operations there for a symbolic €1, after Moscow clamped down on asset sales in retaliation for western sanctions.

The Dutch brewer, which also owns the Amstel, Birra Moretti and Tiger brands, said it would be taking a €300m loss as a result of the sale, which will see it transfer all of its remaining assets, including seven breweries, to Russia’s Arnest Group.

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Ten bodies recovered from plane crash, officials say; Belarusian president says he warned Prigozhin – as it happened

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Flight recorders also recovered, Russian officials say; Alexander Lukashenko says he warned Wagner bosses to be aware of threats to their lives. This live blog is closed

Rishi Sunak has reaffirmed the UK defence ministry’s comments from Friday morning, saying intelligence suggested Prigozhin was “most likely” on the plane.

“We’re obviously monitoring the situation very closely, working with our allies to establish what happened,” the British prime minister told reporters.

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France to spend €200m on destroying excess wine as demand falls

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Fund aims to help struggling winemakers as they adjust to consumers’ changing habits

The French government has announced it is to set aside €200m to fund the destruction of surplus wine production in an attempt to support struggling producers and shore up prices.

Several major wine-producing regions in France, particularly the Bordeaux area, are struggling because of a cocktail of problems including changes in consumption habits, the cost of living crisis and the after-effects of Covid-19.

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Marine Le Pen could become next French president, says interior minister

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Gérald Darmanin sounds alarm over far-right leader as he positions himself as centre-right candidate

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen could win the next presidential election in 2027, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has said, as he positions himself as a potential candidate for the centre-right.

“The fact of the matter is that in five years’ time, a victory for Madame Le Pen is quite probable,” Darmanin told La Voix du Nord, in an interview published on Friday.

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Kremlin denies killing Yevgeny Prigozhin in plane crash

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Spokesperson says western claims that Vladimir Putin was behind assassination are ‘an absolute lie’

The Kremlin has denied that it assassinated the Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, calling western intelligence assessments of Vladimir Putin’s potential involvement “an absolute lie”.

Prigozhin is believed to have been killed when his Embraer jet crashed north-west of Moscow on Wednesday, according to Russian officials. Western intelligence officials have briefed media that Prigozhin was most likely to have been killed by an explosion onboard the plane on President Putin’s orders.

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‘Social assassination’: defiant Rubiales refuses to resign over World Cup kiss

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  • Spanish FA chief vows to stay and says critics ‘trying to kill me’
  • 46-year-old faced fierce criticism for kissing Jennifer Hermoso

Luis Rubiales hit out at “false feminism” and a “social assassination” of his character as he vowed to stay on as head of Spain’s football federation (RFEF) amid fierce criticism and a Fifa investigation for kissing Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the Women’s World Cup final trophy presentation.

In a passionate speech at an extraordinary general assembly of Spain’s football federation, the 46-year-old reiterated that he would not be forced out of his role by what he felt was a witch-hunt. “I will not resign,” he repeated five times to widespread applause. “I will fight this to the end.”

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Overweight adults with high blood pressure a third more likely to die early, study finds

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Up to 31% of global population estimated to have metabolic syndrome due to three or more unhealthy traits

Millions of middle-aged adults who are overweight with even slightly raised blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose levels are about a third more likely to die early, research suggests.

They also face a 35% higher risk of heart attacks or strokes and will experience them two years earlier than their peers. The stark findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, the world’s largest heart conference. They represent more evidence of the immediate dangers posed by the global obesity crisis.

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Pentagon says no indication Prigozhin plane brought down by surface-to-air missile after Putin confirms death – Russia-Ukraine war live

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Pentagon spokesman says press reports of missile ‘inaccurate’; Russian president says former head of Wagner made ‘serious mistakes in his life’

The UK schools minister, Nick Gibb, said the government was monitoring the situation carefully following reports that the leader of the Wagner mercenary group died in a plane crash.

Gibb told GB News: “We are obviously monitoring the position very carefully. We’re working with our allies to see how matters develop.”

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Putin says ‘talented businessman’ Yevgeny Prigozhin has died

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Speculation grows that Wagner chief’s plane was downed by bomb after it took off from Moscow

Vladimir Putin has confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying the Wagner chief had made some made “some serious mistakes” and met with a “difficult fate”, as speculation grew his plane was brought down by a bomb after it took off from Moscow.

US and western officials said it was likely that an intentional explosion had brought down the plane, which crashed into a field 185 miles (300km) north of of the Russian capital.

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After Prigozhin humiliated Putin, the question was how he survived so long

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The Wagner leader appeared down but not out in the months after his mutiny, but his fate may already have been sealed

The Kremlin meeting was like a scene from The Godfather. Shortly after their mutiny was quelled in June, 35 Wagner commanders were summoned for a sit-down with Vladimir Putin. Putin said he offered them the chance to continue fighting in Ukraine. But Yevgeny Prigozhin, their leader and financier, was defiant.

“A lot of them nodded their heads” at the offer, Putin claimed. “But Prigozhin … didn’t see [their reaction] and said: ‘No, the guys won’t agree with that decision.’”

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Asylum seekers in Greece ‘facing two great injustices of our time’

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Amnesty links wildfires and lack of legal migration routes to deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers

Refugees and migrants in Greece are facing off against the “two great injustices of our times”, Amnesty International has said, as it linked wildfires and scant access to legal migration routes to the deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers.

As wildfires continue to rage across swathes of Greece, authorities in the country said they were working to identify the charred remains of 18 people found this week in the dense forests that straddle the country’s north-eastern border with Turkey.

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What does the removal of Prigozhin and Surovikin mean for the war in Ukraine?

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Putin may have shored up unity, but watching his back for pro-Wagner traitors may be a distraction

Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently being killed on the same day that it emerged Gen Sergei Surovikin had been relieved of his command of Russia’s air force means the two most effective leaders in the first phase of the Ukraine war are now gone; their removal a victory of sorts for the old guard at the Kremlin.

The Wagner group, headed by Prigozhin, led the capture of Bakhmut, Russia’s only battlefield gain so far this year, and it was his ally Surovikin, in his short period of overall command in Ukraine, who began building the defensive fortifications that are seen as so important to the invader’s position today.

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What we know about Prigozhin’s ‘last flight’ – a visual guide

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The Embraer Legacy 600 jet, long linked to the Wagner group, rapidly lost altitude and contact 33 minutes into its flight

The aircraft on which Yevgeny Prigozhin was travelling had long been linked with the Wagner group. An Embraer Legacy 600 jet, the flight tracking service FlightRadar identified it as being in regular use in recent months, flying from both St Petersburg and Moscow.

According to some reports, the Wagner party on board had been attending a meeting with officials from Russia’s defence ministry.

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Brics to more than double with admission of six new countries

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Major expansion as economic bloc that includes Russia and China attempts to provide counterweight to the US and western allies

The Brics group of big emerging economies has announced the admission of six new members, in an attempt to reshape the global world order and provide a counterweight to the US and its allies.

From the beginning of next year, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, the UAE and Ethiopia will join the current five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – it was announced at a summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.

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Spanish football president in kissing row denies new misogyny allegations

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Tamara Ramos claims Luis Rubiales asked what colour her underwear was when they worked together

Spain’s football federation president Luis Rubiales was at the centre of new misogyny allegations on Wednesday, as he faces growing calls to be sacked for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the country’s World Cup victory.

The country’s football federation (RFEF) chief, 46, has been widely condemned for planting a kiss on the lips of the footballer after her team’s 1-0 triumph over England in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney on Sunday.

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Yevgeny Prigozhin onboard plane in fatal crash, says Russia

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Officials say Wagner chief behind June mutiny was on jet that crashed in Tver region, killing all 10 onboard

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner paramilitary chief who launched an armed mutiny in June, has been reported dead. Russia said he was onboard a private jet that crashed in the Tver region near Moscow, killing all 10 onboard.

Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation authority, said Prigozhin and senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin were among 10 people travelling on the Embraer business jet that crashed on Wednesday evening.

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Prigozhin’s death would leave lasting mark on Russian army and elite

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Since the Wagner group’s abortive coup, many have felt its leader could be living on borrowed time

Ever since the abortive coup, speculation had been that Yevgeny Prigozhin could be living on borrowed time.

When the head of the notorious Wagner group launched his historic uprising, inflicting the biggest crisis of Vladimir Putin’s 23-year reign, many were left wondering how the Russian leader would respond.

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Russia removes Sergei Surovikin as head of aerospace forces

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Commander seen as an ally of Wagner has not been seen in public since Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny in June

Russia has relieved Gen Sergei Surovikin of his command of the Russian aerospace forces, in the highest-level sacking yet of a military commander after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny in June.

The extended absence and now removal of Surovikin, a prominent commander, indicates the shock waves sent through the military establishment by Prigozhin’s armed uprising. He sent thousands of troops to seize a military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don and try to march on Moscow to protest against the dismantling of his Wagner private military company.

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Cape Verde boat survivors say some jumped out to try to reach land

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Some took parts of wooden seats for buoyancy after watching friends die on drifting vessel

Facing hunger, thirst and a rising number of deaths, some of the group of asylum seekers who were adrift for more than a month in the Atlantic resorted to breaking off chunks of the boat’s wooden seats in hopes of floating to land, a friend of three of the survivors has said.

More than 90 people are believed to have died before the rickety boat that had set off from Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal, was found off Cape Verde last week. Survivors said they left on 10 July aiming to reach Spain’s Canary Islands and spent weeks drifting at the mercy of powerful Atlantic trade winds.

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Niger observers link coup to president’s support for EU migration policies

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Experts say army received bribes from people smuggling until 2015 law associated with Mohamed Bazoum

Observers have linked Mohamed Bazoum’s support for European Union policies aimed at stifling migration routes through north Africa to his ousting as president of Niger last month.

Army officers toppled Bazoum on 26 July, as Niger became the fourth west African country since 2020 to have a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

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