Category Archives: Europe

Nicolas Sarkozy to enter prison for criminal conspiracy over Libyan funding

Posted on by

Former French president set to start five-year sentence for scheme to obtain campaign funds from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime

The former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will go to prison on Tuesday after a court sentenced him to five years for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Sarkozy, who was the rightwing president of France between 2007 and 2012, will become the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be jailed.

Continue reading...

Zelenskyy urges allies not to appease Russia after failing to secure US missiles

Posted on by

Ukraine’s president calls for meeting of European-led ‘coalition of the willing’ on his return from talks with Trump

Ukraine’s president has urged allies against appeasing Russia after returning from a trip to the US, where he failed to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy had flown to Washington after weeks of calls for the weaponry, hoping to capitalise on Donald Trump’s growing frustration with Vladimir Putin after a summit in Alaska failed to produce a breakthrough in the war.

Continue reading...

Chemical linked to low sperm count, obesity and cancer found in dummies, tests find

Posted on by

BPA, a synthetic chemical used in production of plastics, found in baby products made by three big European brands

A chemical linked to impaired sexual development, obesity and cancer has been found in baby dummies manufactured by three big European brands.

Dummies made by the Dutch multinational Philips, the Swiss oral health specialists Curaprox and the French toy brand Sophie la Girafe were found to contain bisphenol A (BPA), according to laboratory testing by dTest, a Czech consumer organisation. Philips said they had carried out subsequent testing and found no BPA, while Sophie la Girafe said the amount found was insignificant.

Continue reading...

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds

Posted on by

Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers

Mainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda, researchers in Germany have found, describing it as a shortcoming that had unwittingly helped the far right by legitimising their ideas and disseminating them more widely.

The findings, published in the European Journal of Political Research, were based on an automated text analysis of 520,408 articles from six German newspapers over the span of more than two decades.

Continue reading...

Burqa ban bill approved by Portugal’s parliament seen as targeting Muslim women

Posted on by

If signed into law, the bill proposed by far-right party would follow other European countries in banning face veils

Portugal’s parliament has approved a bill banning face veils worn for “gender or religious” reasons in public, in a move seen as targeting Muslim women who wear face coverings.

The measure was proposed by the far-right Chega party and would prohibit coverings such as burqas (a full-body garment that covers a woman from head to foot) and niqabs (the full-face Islamic veil with space around the eyes) from being worn in most public places. Face veils would still be allowed in airplanes, diplomatic premises and places of worship.

Continue reading...

Broken promises and political crises: how Emmanuel Macron fell from French favour

Posted on by

The president is seen to have accelerated the financial crisis, social inequalities and the rise of the far right

Three French governments have collapsed in less than a year, and the political crisis looks likely to continue, overshadowing Emmanuel Macron’s last 18 months in power and his domestic legacy.

This week, the latest minority government narrowly survived its first vote of no-confidence. But it remains the weakest cabinet in decades and could be toppled at any moment if opposition parties join together to oust it. France now faces a brutal two-month battle in parliament to achieve what once seemed the most basic element of governance: passing a budget.

Continue reading...

Giorgia Meloni condemns Italian union leader for ‘Trump courtesan’ remark

Posted on by

Prime minister says CGIL head is ‘clouded by resentment’ and accuses the left of hypocrisy towards women

Giorgia Meloni has condemned the boss of Italy’s biggest trade union after he referred to the prime minister as the “courtesan” of Donald Trump.

Maurizio Landini, the leader of CGIL, which organised several pro-Palestinian protests before the Gaza ceasefire deal, made the remarks on TV on Tuesday, the day after world leaders, including Meloni, met in Egypt for a Middle East peace summit.

Continue reading...

Bank shares lead global market fall amid jitters over US private credit

Posted on by

Signs of credit stress send markets in Europe and Asia down, while investors turn to safe haven assets

European stock markets fell on Friday and gold hit a record high after two US regional banks said they had been exposed to millions of dollars of bad loans and alleged fraud.

Signs of credit stress rattled markets across Europe and Asia. In London the FTSE 100 fell 0.9%, Germany’s Dax fell 1.8%, Italy’s FTSE Mib fell 1.5%, the Ibex in Spain was off 0.3% and France’s Cac 40 dropped 0.2%.

Continue reading...

Italian investigative journalism TV host targeted in bomb attack near Rome

Posted on by

Rudimentary but powerful device detonates outside home of Report presenter Sigfrido Ranucci in Campo Ascolano

A prominent Italian investigative journalist has been targeted in a bomb attack, with the rudimentary but powerful device almost destroying his car and damaging a neighbour’s home.

Sigfrido Ranucci, who hosts Report, an investigative programme aired by the state broadcaster, Rai, said the explosion happened about 20 minutes after he returned to his home in Campo Ascolano, close to Rome, on Thursday night.

Continue reading...

Mango founder’s son becomes alleged suspect in fashion tycoon’s death

Posted on by

Spanish media report Jonathan Andic’s status has changed from witness of father’s fatal ravine fall

The family of Isak Andic, the founder of the fashion chain Mango, have insisted on his son’s innocence after media reports suggested he was a potential suspect in the billionaire’s death.

Andic died last December, aged 71, after apparently falling 100 metres down a ravine while hiking at Montserrat, near Barcelona, with his son, Jonathan. His death prompted tributes from politicians, journalists and the fashion world.

Continue reading...

Zelenskyy to make missiles case in US as Trump plans to meet Putin in Budapest

Posted on by

US president has repeatedly hinted at supplying Kyiv with Tomahawks but some in Moscow say Kremlin sees it as negotiating gambit

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to head to the White House on Friday for a crucial meeting with Donald Trump, hours after the US president said he planned to soon meet with Vladimir Putin in Budapest after a “very productive” call.

The possible supply of US Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine is expected to top the agenda during the Ukrainian president’s visit. Trump has repeatedly hinted in recent weeks that he may deliver Tomahawks, which would give Kyiv its longest-range weapon yet that would be capable of striking Moscow with accurate, destructive munitions.

Continue reading...

Woman alleged to have tortured and killed 12-year-old to stand trial in France

Posted on by

Killing of Lola Daviet three years ago led to outcry after far right was accused of exploiting her death for political gain

A woman who allegedly abused and tortured a 12-year-old girl before leaving her to suffocate will go on trial for murder on Friday in a case that has shocked France and caused political waves.

Lola Daviet’s body was found stuffed into a plastic trunk that had been dumped on the street near her home.

Continue reading...

Church of Norway says sorry to LGBTQ+ people for ‘shame, great harm and pain’

Posted on by

Presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit says discrimination and harassment should ‘never have happened’

Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”

Continue reading...

Catalonia’s Socialist president: tackling inequality can blunt separatist and far-right voices

Posted on by

In an interview, Salvador Illa tells of ‘pragmatic approach’ as he seeks to persuade voters about benefits of coexistence with Madrid

Catalonia’s Socialist president has said his party’s focus on tackling inequality can win over voters who are tempted by pro-independence and far-right voices as he seeks to persuade Catalans of the benefits of coexistence with the central government in Madrid after years of turmoil.

Salvador Illa, a close ally of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been in the post since August 2024 and leads the first Catalan parliament in 44 years without a pro-independence majority.

Continue reading...

Nestlé to axe 16,000 jobs as new chief targets sales growth

Posted on by

Almost 6% of global workforce will be cut over next two years, including 12,000 white-collar professionals

Nestlé has said it will cut 16,000 jobs over the next two years as the owner of KitKat and Nescafé attempts to reduce costs and increase sales.

The Swiss-headquartered multinational said the cuts would include 12,000 white-collar professionals and 4,000 in its manufacturing and supply chain, close to 6% of Nestlé’s global workforce.

Continue reading...

French Socialist party to fight for wealth tax as it seeks to capitalise on crisis

Posted on by

Party has promised to stand back as weakened prime minister prepares for crucial no-confidence vote

The French Socialist party says it will fight to introduce a flagship wealth tax to raise revenue by targeting France’s richest people, as the divided parliament prepares to begin debating next year’s budget.

Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist party grouping in parliament, said on Wednesday that taxing very high-wealth individuals in France was “one of our principal battles and we’re going to put all our energy into it”.

Continue reading...

‘I need to do everything now’: the Ukrainian combat medic-turned playwright

Posted on by

Since Alina Sarnatska’s first play premiered a year ago, she has documented wartime Ukraine with unflinching frankness

Eighteen months ago, Alina Sarnatska was serving as a combat medic on Ukraine’s frontline – including in the hellish battle for Bakhmut – and had barely been to the theatre.

Six months later, she was preparing to watch the premiere of her first play in Kyiv. Now Sarnatska, 38, has several dramas under her belt and is emerging as one of Ukraine’s most powerful voices in the theatre.

Continue reading...

Hamburg man charged with murder over US teen’s livestreamed death

Posted on by

German authorities issue 204 charges against 21-year-old suspect, alleged to be part of wider network of abusers

A man accused of luring children worldwide into a sadistic online abuse network has been charged by German prosecutors with hundreds of crimes, including murder, for the livestreamed death of a 13-year-old American.

Using the pseudonym “White Tiger”, the 21-year-old man from Hamburg is alleged to have victimised more than 30 children with online sexual abuse, manipulation and exploitation as a part of a virtual network of abusers known as “764”.

Continue reading...

France’s parliamentary permacrisis is the dawning of a new political reality

Posted on by

Sébastien Lecornu may have lived to see another day, but this crise de régime could yet prove terminal for the Fifth Republic

• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

In October 2022, when Rishi Sunak moved into 10 Downing St, he became the fifth British prime minister to take up the office in six years.

Unleashed on the UK by Brexit, this was unprecedented political turmoil. So how might we describe what is happening in France, now on its fifth (or sixth, depending how you count) premier in two years – three of them in the past 10 months?

Continue reading...

German coalition in row over push to bring back conscription

Posted on by

Parties blame each other after bill halted at last minute, as fears grow over voluntary service and lottery idea is vetoed

Germany’s ruling coalition is locked in a furious row over how to plug severe manpower gaps in the country’s military as it seeks to fulfil Nato obligations and prepare for the looming threat from Russia.

A scheme agreed by the governing parties over the summer under a plan laid out by the popular defence minister, Boris Pistorius of the Social Democrats (SPD), would have relied on voluntary recruitment to draw tens of thousands of young men to military service.

Continue reading...