Category Archives: Europe

Georgia drops bill on ‘foreign agents’ after two nights of violent protests

Posted on by

After criticism law was similar to Russian legislation used to stifle dissent, ruling party says it will withdraw bill

Georgia’s ruling party has said it will drop its bill on “foreign agents” after fierce opposition culminated in two nights of violent protests and criticism that the draft law would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

The Georgian Dream party said in a statement it would “unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations”. It cited the need to reduce “confrontation” in society.

Continue reading...

Pentagon accused of blocking effort to hand Russia war crimes evidence to ICC

Posted on by

Defence department reportedly unwilling to share intelligence over fears precedent could be set against US soldiers

The Pentagon has been accused of blocking the sharing of US intelligence with the international criminal court (ICC) about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The Biden White House and state department have been a proponent of cooperation with the Hague-based ICC, as a means of holding Russian forces accountable for widespread war crimes, but the defence department is firmly opposed on the grounds that the precedent could eventually be turned against US soldiers.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak faces clash with EU on ‘unlawful’ asylum plans

Posted on by

EU commissioner Ylva Johansson warns new migration bill breaches international law, potentially reigniting hostilities

Rishi Sunak faces a fresh clash with the EU after a senior comissioner warned that his contentious new migration bill will be in breach of human rights laws.

The intervention comes as the prime minister prepares to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, where he is expected to be asked to guarantee regular payments to stop boats carrying asylum seekers from crossing the Channel.

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, was accused by Sunak at prime minister’s question time of being “another lefty lawyer” trying to block efforts to curb migration.

MPs accused the prime minister of forsaking women smuggled for sex on International Women’s Day by pushing forward a bill that undermines trafficking laws.

The BBC was dragged into another political row over impartiality after Gary Lineker, the Match of the Day host, refused to backdown after comparing the government’s rhetoric to 1930s Germany.

The United Nations’ refugee agency warned it cannot step in as a “substitute for the right to seek asylum” after the government said it would expand its partnership with the organisation after outlawing small boat crossings.

Continue reading...

‘Greece has derailed’: tens of thousands of protesters ‘rage’ over train disaster

Posted on by

Demonstrators voice fury after revelations of staff shortages and substandard equipment revealed state of rail network

Tens of thousands have staged protest rallies in Greece as anger over a train disaster that plunged the country into mourning a week ago intensified amid widespread industrial action.

In cities nationwide, as workers staged a 24-hour general strike, demonstrators voiced fury over an accident that left 57 dead when two locomotives collided head on and at high speed outside the town of Tempe. It was the deadliest train crash on record in Greece.

Continue reading...

Protesters and police clash in Georgia for second day over ‘foreign agents’ law

Posted on by

Police fire teargas at protesters rallying against ‘Russian law’ critics say could harm efforts to join EU

Police in the Georgian capital Tbilisi used tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades late on Wednesday as they moved to break up the second straight day of protests against a “foreign agents” law which critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

Thousands of people clashed with police o taken to the streets of Georgia’s capital for a second day to rally against a “foreign agents” law that critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

Continue reading...

TikTok unveils European data security plan amid calls for US ban

Posted on by

Move comes as White House backs bill that could give it power to ban Chinese-owned app nationwide

TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app.

The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of €1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company.

Continue reading...

Russian forces unlikely to capture significantly more territory this year, says US – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. My colleagues in London will be taking you through the rest of the day’s news.

Last night Kharkiv’s street lights were switched on for the first time since the start of the war, the city’s Mayor said.

Continue reading...

‘Punk was my weapon’: the rebel power of culture in siege of Sarajevo

Posted on by

Underground community of Sarajevans recall in new documentary the years they spent trapped in their city

As a radio operator during the siege of Sarajevo, Boris Siber made use of music to blast the enemy airwaves and destroy their communication. “The Clash, Jimi Hendrix and the Sex Pistols, as loud as possible on the frequencies they were using … they changed frequency, then I found them again. That was my task.”

Siber – a member of a hit Yugoslav comedy troupe before the war forced its breakup – also kept up civilian and military morale as a radio comic. “Music and mic were my weapons.”

Continue reading...

Officials believe pro-Ukraine group may have sabotaged Nord Stream – reports

Posted on by

Kremlin dismisses tentative intelligence from European and US agencies as a bid by the perpetrators to divert attention

European and US intelligence officials have obtained tentative intelligence to suggest a pro-Ukrainian saboteur group may have been behind the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, according to reports in the New York Times and German newspaper Die Zeit.

German investigators believe the attack on the pipelines was carried out by a team of six people, using a yacht that had been hired by a company registered in Poland and owned by two Ukrainian citizens, according to Die Zeit.

Continue reading...

Police use water cannon in Georgia to disperse protests at ‘authoritarian’ law

Posted on by

Critics of ‘foreign agents’ law say it could dash Tbilisi’s hopes of joining the European Union

Police in the former Soviet state of Georgia have used water cannon and teargas in an attempt to disperse thousands of people who rallied on Tuesday night after parliament gave its initial backing to a draft law on “foreign agents” which critics say represents an authoritarian shift.

Some protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police in the centre of the capital Tbilisi, as demonstrators warned that the draft law could hurt the south Caucasus country’s hopes of EU membership.

Continue reading...

Four thousand civilians in Bakhmut, says Ukraine, as west says Russia has sustained up to 30,000 casualties there – as it happened

Posted on by

Ukraine deputy PM says around 38 children remain in besieged city as western officials estimate Russia has sustained heavy losses there

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports on its Telegram channel for Sumy that Bilopillia, a city in the north-east of Ukraine, close to the border with Russia, has been hit by mortar fire this morning. No damage or casualties were reported. The claim has not been independently verified.

Russian forces carried out 50 airstrikes and five missile strikes overnight and Ukrainian forces repelled 37 attacks in the area around Bakhmut, according to the latest update by the General staff of the armed forces of Ukraine.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

Continue reading...

UK will miss out on EU’s ‘massive’ increase in arms spending for Ukraine

Posted on by

Only EU and Norwegian firms will be able to take advantage of joint procurement agreement, says leaked paper

Britain’s defence industry is to be blocked from profiting from the EU’s vast increase in spending on arms for Ukraine, under a leaked plan seen by the Guardian.

A “massive order” of ammunition, ranging from small arms to 155mm artillery rounds, is being prepared in Brussels but only EU and Norwegian manufacturers will be able to take advantage.

Continue reading...

Nationwide strikes in France over plan to raise pension age to 64

Posted on by

Protesters aim to ‘bring France to standstill’ as President Macron struggles to delay retirements by 2 years

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in France on Tuesday as rail workers and refinery staff began rolling strikes and trade unions stepped up their campaign to try to stop Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age to 64.

For the sixth time since the start of the year, trade unions called a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations. Many protest rallies attracted bigger crowds than those organised since mid-January, including in Marseille, one of France’s biggest cities, authorities and local media said.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy vows to ‘find the murderers’ of PoW allegedly shot dead by Russians

Posted on by

Ukrainian president’s comments come after video appears to show killing of unarmed combatant

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to “find the murderers” of an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war apparently shot dead by Russian troops as the Ukrainian military named the man it said was in the footage that spread rapidly across social media on Monday.

In the graphic 12-second clip that first circulated on Telegram and was widely shared on Twitter, a detained combatant, named by the Ukrainian military as Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura, is seen standing in a shallow trench smoking a cigarette. The soldier, in uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm, says “Glory to Ukraine” and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons.

Continue reading...

Spain approves draft law for gender quotas in business and politics

Posted on by

Legislation aims to increase number of women in decision-making roles such as in company boardrooms

Spain’s government has approved a draft law that aims to bolster the presence of women in decision-making spheres by setting out quotas for women in politics, business and professional associations.

“This is useful policy that changes people’s lives,” the country’s finance minister, Nadia Calviño, said on Tuesday. “It’s clear that we’ve come a long way … but there is still a lot to do.”

Continue reading...

Poland’s ruling party under fire after suicide of opposition MP’s son

Posted on by

Mikolaj Filiks, 15, killed himself after state-run radio station helped identify him as victim of paedophile

Poland’s ruling Law & Justice party has come under fire over the death of an opposition MP’s 15-year-old son, who killed himself after a report by a state-run radio station led to his identification as the victim of a paedophile.

The Polish parliament, the Sejm, stood for a minute’s silence on Tuesday during the funeral of Mikolaj Filiks. His mother, Magdalena Filiks, an MP from Poland’s main opposition party, Civic Platform, said last week that he had died in February.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.e

Continue reading...

China foreign minister warns of potential for conflict with US and hails Russia ties

Posted on by

In a bellicose first press conference, Qin Gang rebuked Washington over its Taiwan policy and the balloon incident, while praising Beijing’s relationship with Russia

The US and China are heading towards inevitable conflict if Washington does not change its approach, China’s new foreign minister has said in a fiery press conference in which he defended his country’s strengthening relationship with Russia.

In his first media appearance as foreign minister, held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the “two sessions” political gathering, Qin Gang outlined China’s foreign policy agenda for the coming years, presenting China and its relationship with Russia as a beacon of strength and stability, and the US and its allies as a source of tension and conflict.

Continue reading...

Ukraine urges ICC to investigate video appearing to show Russians killing PoW

Posted on by

Graphic clip shows detained combatant standing in a shallow trench before being apparently shot

Ukraine has urged the international criminal court to investigate footage circulating on social media that appeared to show Russian fighters killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war.

In the graphic clip that first circulated on Telegram, a detained combatant is seen standing in a shallow trench and smoking a cigarette. The soldier says “Glory to Ukraine” and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons.

Continue reading...

Pair jailed after €1.6m wine heist at high-end restaurant in Spain

Posted on by

Priscila Guevara and Constantín Dumitru also ordered to pay €750,000 to insurers over the theft of 45 bottles

A court in Spain has sentenced two people to four and half years in prison after the theft of €1.6m (£1.4m) worth of expensive wine from a high-end restaurant in a heist that made headlines around the world.

In October 2021 one of the owners of Atrio hotel and restaurant in the city of Cáceres sounded the alarm after discovering 45 bottles of wine – including a 217-year-old bottle of Château d’Yquem worth €350,000 – were missing from the cellar.

Continue reading...

Estonia’s Kaja Kallas weighs up coalition options after historic election win

Posted on by

PM welcomes endorsement of liberal values and support for Ukraine as far-right rival loses assembly seats

Estonia’s popular centre-right prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has begun weighing options for a new governing coalition after a sweeping election victory in which she received more personal votes than any politician in the country’s history.

The centre-right leader, one of Europe’s strongest pro-Kyiv voices, said on Monday she felt “humble and grateful” for a result that showed Estonians “overwhelmingly value liberal values, security founded on EU and Nato, and firm support to Ukraine”.

Continue reading...