Category Archives: Europe

Death of Berlusconi turns spotlight on to fortune he left behind

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Billionaire had an estimated wealth of $7.4bn and left no indication of who would take over after his death

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving prime minister since the second world war, was a billionaire who had investments in everything from property and banking to the media and football. His death, at the age of 86, raises questions over the fate of an empire that was closely entwined with a political career that spanned almost three decades.

Berlusconi had an estimated fortune of $7.4bn (£5.8bn) as of April 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But he left no indication, at least not publicly, of who would take over his empire after his death.

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Tesco boss: food inflation has probably peaked but prices will stay high

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Ken Murphy says higher costs of grocery imports because of Brexit are partly to blame for rising prices

The chief executive of Tesco has said food inflation has probably peaked but warns that prices are likely to stay high.

Ken Murphy, the head of the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, said the price of milk, bread, cooking oil and some vegetables such as broccoli had come down this month but inflation continued in other essentials, including rice and potatoes, as aweather issues and locked-in increases in the price of labour and energy continued to bite.

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UN nuclear chief says situation at Zaporizhzhia plant is ‘serious’ but it can operate safely for ‘some time’

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Rafael Grossi visited the Russian-controlled plant amid concerns for water levels in cooling pools after dam breach

The head of the UN atomic energy agency has said the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine is “serious” and that ensuring water for cooling was a priority of his visit, adding that the station could operate safely for “some time”.

Rafael Grossi, of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was inspecting the state of Europe’s largest nuclear plant following last week’s breach in the Kakhovka dam downstream on the Dnipro River. He said IAEA inspectors would remain at the site.

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‘Where are they?’ Hope fades among relatives of missing after Greek shipwreck

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As anguished family members arrive in Kalamata, search operation continues with negligible progress

Hope dies last and for Kassem Abo Zeed it was running out fast. Hope was the force that had led him to board a plane from Hamburg and fly to Greece after he heard that a boat carrying his wife had capsized off the country’s southern coast.

But by 2pm on Thursday, 36 hours after the blue fishing trawler packed with migrants and refugees had sunk in one of the worst maritime disasters in recent Greek history, hope was fading in a way he had prayed would never happen.

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Rammstein: sexual assault allegations against Till Lindemann to be investigated

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Berlin prosecutors say investigation against German singer is based on suspicion of abuse after concerts

Berlin state prosecutors have launched an investigation into sexual assault allegations against the lead singer of the German metal band Rammstein, Till Lindemann.

The prosecutors confirmed to German media that the investigation was based on the initial suspicion of sexual abuse as well as drug-related activity. The announcement follows allegations made by a number of women that they were picked out to have sex with Lindemann at concerts.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian fighter pilots learning to fly F-16 jets as Kyiv claims progress in counteroffensive – as it happened

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Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says Ukrainian personnel being trained so when planes are delivered, pilots are ready

Norway and Denmark have agreed to donate an additional 9,000 rounds of artillery to Ukraine.

Norway will send shells and Denmark fuses and propellant charges, the Norwegian government announced.

Ukraine has an urgent need for artillery ammunition. We have therefore decided to join forces with Denmark for a new donation, so that Ukraine receives the ammunition as quickly as possible.

It is important that we continue to stand together in demonstrating our support of Ukraine. Norway will continue to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion forces as long as it is needed.

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Greece shipwreck: up to 100 children were below deck, survivors say

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Women also said to have been in the hold, amid fears 78 so far confirmed dead could rise into the hundreds

Survivors from an overcrowded fishing boat that capsized and sank on Wednesday off the Greek coast in one of the worst disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years have told doctors and police that women and children were travelling in the hold of the vessel.

Seventy-eight people have been confirmed dead, but there are fears the number of victims could run into the hundreds.

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Beyoncé concert in Stockholm blamed for unexpectedly high Swedish inflation

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Start of superstar’s world tour ‘seems to have coloured inflation’, says economist, after tens of thousands of fans flocked to the capital for concerts

Swedish inflation fell below 10% in May, official statistics showed, but was still higher than expected with some analysts suggesting superstar Beyoncé had tipped the scales.

Consumer prices rose by 9.7% in May year-on-year, down from 10.5% in April, the first time inflation has come in under 10% in over six months.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine taking significant casualties and making slow progress towards Russian defence, say western officials – as it happened

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Counteroffensive is still ‘going in the right direction’ says officials, in one of west’s first assessments of Ukrainian action launched on 4 June

Dmitry Medvedev, long-term ally of Vladimir Putin and currently deputy chair of the security council of Russia, has said on Telegram that Russia needs to put in a demilitarised zone as far west as Ukraine’s Lviv, which he referred to by its Russian name Lvov and German name Lemberg.

He went on to say that, as a result of the Nord Stream sabotage, for which he cited “western complicity”, that Russia should have “no restrictions left to refrain from destroying the cable communications of our enemies, laid along the ocean floor”.

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At least 78 people drown as refugee boat sinks off Greece

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Hundreds more feared missing from overcrowded fishing vessel that reportedly sailed from Libya for Italy

At least 78 people have died and hundreds more are feared missing in the deadliest refugee shipwreck off Greece this year.

The victims, nearly all of them men from Afghanistan and Pakistan, drowned when the large trawler they were travelling in capsized off the southern Peloponnese.

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Germany coalition staves off implosion with 11th-hour heating law amendment

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Environmental groups criticise revision of law that would have banned installation of gas and oil systems

The German government has staved off a power battle that threatened to cause the ruling coalition to implode after finally agreeing an 11th-hour amendment to a controversial new heating law.

Negotiations over the legislation have dominated the headlines for weeks, with the economy minister, Robert Habeck, of the Greens clashing with the pro-liberal Free Democratic party (FDP) over how much consumers should be burdened with the costs of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with cleaner, climate-neutral energy.

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EU regulator orders Google to sell part of ad-tech business

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Competition commission accuses firm of favouring its own services to detriment of rivals

The EU has ordered Google to sell part of its advertising business, as the bloc’s competition regulator steps up its enforcement of big tech’s monopolies.

The competition commission said it had taken issue “with Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers”.

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Ukraine’s failed Mala Tokmachka assault lays bare counteroffensive challenges

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Russia has had 12 months to prepare defensive positions supported by superior air power

The footage that began circulating on Russian social media channels last week depicted what was portrayed as a significant military setback for Ukraine at the beginning of its counteroffensive.

In a flat, open area south of Zaporizhzhia – bisected by hedges and a wide muddy track – about 12 Ukrainian armoured vehicles had become pinned down, bunched too close together near a minefield.

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Discrimination is a bigger AI risk than human extinction – EU commissioner

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Commissioner says existential threat unlikely, but ‘guardrails’ needed for decisions affecting livelihoods

Discrimination is a bigger threat posed by artificial intelligence than possible extinction of the human race, according to the EU’s competition commissioner.

Margrethe Vestager said although the existential risk from advances in AI may be a concern, it was unlikely, whereas discrimination from the technology was a real problem.

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US House unanimously calls on Russia to release journalist Evan Gershkovich

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Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges, which both he and his employer, the Wall Street Journal, deny

The US House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday for a resolution calling for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for three months.

The vote was 422-0 in favor of the nonbinding measure.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 476 of the invasion

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Volodmyr Zelenskiy meets head of UN nuclear watchdog; US House of Representatives votes unanimously to call for return of detained US journalist

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has met President Volodomyr Zelenskiy to discuss risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ahead of a planned visit to the facility on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy has praised Ukrainian troops in his nighttime address and singled out units operating near Bakhmut, saying “there is forward movement in various areas”.

Putin has claimed Ukrainian losses during the conflict are near “catastrophic” and that the counterattack had not been successful in any area. The Russian president made the claim during televised meetings with war correspondents and military bloggers. “This is a massive counteroffensive, using strategic reserves that were prepared for this task,” Putin said. “They lost over 160, we lost 54 tanks, and some of them are subject to restoration and repair.”

The US House of Representatives has voted unanimously on a resolution calling for Russia to immediately release imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich.

Moscow has also flagged it may withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, after Putin says he has been cheated by the west who have failed to deliver on a promise to help bring Russian agricultural goods to world markets.

A Russian missile strike on an apartment in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine has killed 11 and injured more than 30 people, according to an updated casualty list provided by Volodymr Zelenskiy on Tuesday.

The US government has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $325m which includes artillery rounds, anti-aircraft systems and 15 new Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a $115m air defence package for Ukraine. Latvia has allocated another $460,000 in aid to Ukraine following the Kakhova Dam disaster.

Ukrainian forces have been confirmed to have liberated the village of Neskuchne on Tuesday after Reuters journalists were able to reach the area. Russia has yet acknowledge any gains.

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Putin denies Zelenskiy’s claims of counteroffensive success for Ukraine

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President admits Russia has lost 54 tanks in the opening assaults but insists Ukraine’s losses are greater

Vladimir Putin has denied Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s claims of early success in Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive, which has seen Kyiv’s troops regain some territory, while admitting that Russia had lost 54 tanks in the opening assaults.

In a televised meeting with military bloggers, Russia’s president conceded that his forces had taken losses but insisted that Ukraine had lost 25% to 30% of its foreign-supplied military vehicles including 160 tanks.

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French engineer goes on trial accused of killing three women over job losses

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Gabriel Fortin, 48, is alleged to have killed two HR directors and a jobs centre worker and wounded a fourth person in 2021 attacks

An unemployed French engineer has gone on trial accused of shooting dead three women he blamed for his failure to find a job.

Gabriel Fortin, 48, allegedly killed two human resources directors and a jobs centre employee, and attempted to kill another worker, after a string of dismissals.

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