Category Archives: Europe

Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy arrives in France to meet Macron after Germany visit

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Ukrainian president will hold talks with French president over dinner following rip to Berlin

The UK Ministry of Defence has posted an update on the situation in Ukraine.

It states that while Russian forces retain the same organisational structure to when it invaded Ukraine last February, it is, in fact, a very different military force.

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Irish Times apologises for hoax AI article about women’s use of fake tan

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The piece ran on 11 May and accused people who use fake tan of mocking those with naturally dark skin

The Irish Times has apologised for running an article about Irish women’s use of fake tan that was submitted by a hoaxer who used artificial intelligence.

The editor, Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, said on Sunday that it had fallen victim to “a deliberate and coordinated deception” that showed a need for stronger controls.

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Spanish PM offers €2 cinema tickets for over-65s ahead of regional elections

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Pedro Sánchez announces subsidy as his Socialist party lags behind conservative opposition in polls

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a new scheme that will allow over-65s to go to the cinema every Tuesday for just €2 (£1.76) two weeks before the country heads to the polls for crucial regional and municipal elections.

The subsidy, announced during a campaign event in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, comes a year after Sánchez’s minority coalition government introduced a youth culture voucher scheme that gives Spaniards turning 18 €400 to spend on books, records, digital subscriptions, festivals, concerts, plays, exhibitions and films.

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Ukraine can defeat Russia by end of year with western help, Zelenskiy says

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President travels to Berlin to meet German chancellor, who announces new military aid package including Leopard tanks

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine can defeat Russia by the end of this year with western help, and thanked Germany during a visit to Berlin for its “big” military and economic support.

Speaking after a meeting with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Ukrainian president said Germany was the second biggest contributor to Kyiv after the US. Scholz’s coalition government announced a new aid package to coincide with Zelenskiy’s visit, his first to Berlin since last year’s full-scale Russian invasion.

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Red faces in Ireland over coronation quips by Leo Varadkar’s partner

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Matt Barrett’s Instagram posts from Westminster Abbey cause embarrassment after Irish delegation sets precedent by attending

When Ireland’s leaders attended the coronation of King Charles III, it was hailed as a milestone in relations between Dublin and London.

The Irish president, Michael D Higgins, the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, set the precedent – their predecessors had shunned previous coronations – to show respect to their neighbour.

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Ukraine minister ‘confused’ by Eurovision refusal to let Zelenskiy speak

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Exclusive: Culture minister says he was puzzled about reasoning for not allowing president to address song contest

Ukraine’s culture minister has said he was “surprised” and “confused” that Volodymyr Zelenskiy was barred from making a televised speech during the Eurovision grand final.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the owner of Eurovision, said last week that allowing the Ukrainian president to address the contest, which is watched around the world, risked jeopardising its “non-political nature”.

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Russian missiles strike home town of Ukraine’s Eurovision entry during contest

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University town of Ternopil, home of Tvorchi, targeted by missiles with two people injured

The home town of Ukraine’s Eurovision entry came under fire from Russian missiles during the song contest on Saturday.

Ternopil, the university home town of electronic music duo Tvorchi, was among the places targeted, according to Dame Melinda Simmons, the British ambassador to Ukraine.

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Zelenskiy and pope discuss peace in Ukraine as Russia retreats in Bakhmut

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Pope Francis offers help repatriating Ukrainian children from Russia as Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets select leaders in Italy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv’s peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

The Ukrainian president was in Rome for a one-day whistle-stop visit, also meeting Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

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Two Russian jets and two helicopters reportedly shot down – as it happened

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Russian reports suggest two warplanes and two helicopters downed on Saturday, though unclear if due to friendly fire or Ukrainian attacks

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Saturday, a political source told Reuters.

Confirming the visit on Twitter, the Ukrainian president said it was important for “approaching victory of Ukraine”.

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Ukraine aims for repeat victory in most political Eurovision in years

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Four-hour broadcast will feature taunts at Putin and a singalong of a Liverpool anthem

There will be rockets, soldiers and moustachioed men in their underpants lampooning Vladimir Putin as a “crocodile psychopath” – and that’s just the Croatian act.

One of the most stridently political Eurovision grand finals in years takes place in Liverpool on Saturday night against a backdrop of a war in Ukraine that shows little sign of ending.

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Tens of thousands march in Belgrade after mass shootings

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Marchers in Serbian capital’s second protest in a week decried populist president Aleksandar Vučić

Tens of thousands of people have marched through Belgrade, blocking a key bridge in the second large protest since two mass shootings that rattled Serbia and left 17 people dead, including many children.

Protesters gathered in front of the parliament building on Friday before filing by the government’s HQ and on to a highway bridge spanning the Sava River, where evening commuters had to turn their vehicles around to avoid getting stuck. At the head of the column was a black banner reading “Serbia against violence.”

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Sunak and Starmer criticise decision to deny Zelenskiy a Eurovision speech

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Producers of event refuse Ukraine president’s request to speak over fears of politicising contest

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have voiced their disapproval of a decision to prevent Volodymyr Zelenskiy from being able to address this year’s Eurovision.

The prime minister and the Labour leader were united in criticising the decision to block the Ukrainian president’s request to speak at Saturday evening’s grand final. They were joined in their opposition by the former prime minister Boris Johnson.

PA Media contributed to this report

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Portuguese parliament legalises euthanasia after long battle

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Decision to allow medically assisted dying has divided the deeply Catholic country

After a long battle, Portugal passed a law on Friday legalising euthanasia for people in great suffering and with incurable diseases, joining just a handful of countries around the world.

The issue has divided the deeply Catholic country and was strongly opposed by conservative president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a devout churchgoer.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy thanks UK for Storm Shadow missiles; Kremlin denies ground lost in Bakhmut – as it happened

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Ukrainian president says he thanked Rishi Sunak for long-range missiles in telephone call

The Russian-imposed mayor of occupied Donetsk has reported on Telegram that one person was killed by Ukrainian shelling of the city overnight. Alexei Kulemzin posted “As a result of the shelling of the Kyivskyi district of Donetsk region, a man of 40-50 years old was killed.”

My colleague Archie Bland looks at what a Ukrainian counter-offensive might mean in practice in today’s First Edition newsletter:

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Greek PM hails ‘tough but fair’ migration policy on election trail

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis says on visit to Lesbos he has kept his promise to protect land and sea borders

Less than 10 days before Greeks go to the polls, the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has sought to emphasise the impact of his centre-right government’s “tough but fair” migration policy.

In a campaign trip to Lesbos, the Aegean island bearing the brunt of Europe-bound migratory flows, the leader claimed he had kept his promise to protect land and sea borders, with the arrival of asylum seekers radically reduced.

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EU tells ministers they must ‘recalibrate’ China policy over support for Russia

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Josep Borrell says relations will worsen if Xi Jinping does not push Putin to withdraw from Ukraine

A Russian defeat in Ukraine will not derail China’s rise, while relations between Beijing and the EU will be “critically affected” if Xi Jinping does not push Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces, European ministers have been told.

The message comes in a paper drawn up by the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who is meeting the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Friday in Stockholm to discuss how the bloc should “recalibrate” its policy towards Beijing.

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Hosting Ukraine’s Eurovision party – podcast

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Hannah Moore reports from Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena where Britain is preparing to host the Eurovision song contest on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine

On the eve of the Eurovision song contest finals, Hannah Moore travels to Liverpool to watch the rehearsals and hear from Ukrainians running stalls in ‘Eurovision Village’.

Chris West, the author of Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest explains politics always plays a big part in the event but this year is particularly poignant.

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Eurovision organisers rebuff Zelenskiy request to give video speech at final

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European Broadcasting Union, which oversees song contest, says appearance by Ukrainian president could politicise the event

The owners of the Eurovision song contest have turned down a request from Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a video appearance during the final on Saturday in Liverpool.

The Ukrainian president had hoped to appeal to the global audience of about 160 million people to continue their support for his country in the war with Russia.

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