Category Archives: Europe

Kremlin says its strategic aim is to create a ‘new world order’ – as it happened

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Foreign minister says Russia rejects a ‘unipolar world order led by one hegemon’. This blog is now closed

At a Chinese foreign ministry briefing this morning, spokesperson Mao Ning has asserted that China is in contact with all sides of the conflict in Ukraine. Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency quotes the spokesperson saying:

As for the Ukrainian conflict, China maintains a dialogue with all parties involved, including Ukraine. China always stands for a peaceful settlement and is ready to cooperate with the international community to achieve peace.

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Birds of a feather cast asunder by Brexit

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New rules require Britain’s rare canaries to be tested for five diseases before they can travel between UK and EU

Cute fluffy yellow plumes may be synonymous with Easter, but bird hobbyists have warned that a rare canary species bred for centuries in Britain may become a thing of the past because of Brexit.

Access to the birds, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium where canary and budgie breeding is also popular, has been lethally impeded by new rules. Each bird now has to be tested and certified for five diseases before it can travel between the UK and the EU.

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Paris brasserie favoured by Macron set alight as pension protests continue

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Awning of La Rotonde briefly in flames as hundreds of thousands of mostly peaceful demonstrators again take to streets across France

Hundreds of thousands of people have continued to demonstrate across France against Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the pension age to 64, with clashes breaking out between demonstrators and police on the edges of protests in cities including Lyon, Nantes and Paris.

In the capital, protesters briefly set fire to the awning of the Left Bank brasserie La Rotonde, well known for hosting Macron’s controversial evening of celebrations when he led the first-round vote in the 2017 presidential election. Police said several hundred of what they described as “radical elements” set bins alight and threw projectiles at officers near the restaurant.

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Russia-Ukraine war: EU warns China against arming Putin and says Xi should reach out to Zelenskiy – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Overnight news broke that the Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an anti-war sketch at school has been taken from the facility by her mother.

Reuters is carrying quotes from Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova about the situation. It quotes her saying:

Masha did not want to go to her mother at first, and her opinion is legally required to be taken into account. Now her position has changed – she told me this herself on the phone.

Olga has already taken Masha from the social rehabilitation centre. Let’s hope that everything will work out for mum and daughter. I am glad about the beginning of the reunion of daughter and mother.

As claimed on Russian social media, the Russian MoD has highly likely dismissed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine.

The EGF under Muradov has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar.

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Silvio Berlusconi living with leukaemia for some time, doctor confirms

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Former prime minister, 86, is being treated for lung infection at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been suffering from leukaemia for some time and is in intensive care, his doctor has confirmed.

The 86-year-old was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday, where he is being treated for a lung infection.

This article was amended on 6 April 2023 to correct the type of cancer which Berlusconi overcame in 1997.

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State actor still main suspect behind Nord Stream sabotage, says investigator

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Swedish prosecutor casts doubt over theories that independent group was responsible for pipeline blasts

The Swedish prosecutor investigating the Nord Stream sabotage attack has said the “clear main scenario” was that a state-sponsored group had been involved, seemingly casting doubt over theories that posited an independent group was responsible for the pipeline blasts.

Mats Ljungqvist told Reuters on Thursday that though a non-state-backed plot was still theoretically possible, the type of explosive used in the bombings ruled out a “large portion of actors”.

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Ukraine may be willing to hold talks on Crimea, suggests Zelenskiy adviser

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Andriy Sybiha expresses Kyiv’s interest in negotiations with Moscow should Ukrainian forces reach region

Ukraine may be willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if its forces reach the border of the Russian-occupied peninsula, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy has suggested.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Andriy Sybiha, the deputy head of the president’s office, expressed Kyiv’s interest in negotiations should Ukrainian forces reach the region’s administrative border as a result of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive many expect will begin in the coming months.

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Macron urges Xi to bring Russia ‘back to reason’ over Ukraine

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French president makes plea as two leaders hold first of series of high-level meetings in Beijing

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has urged China’s Xi Jinping to bring Russia “back to reason” over the war in Ukraine, as the two held the first of a series of high-level meetings in Beijing.

“The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to [international] stability,” Macron told Xi, standing alongside the Chinese leader outside the Great Hall of the People before their meeting. “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.”

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French unions to hold day of strikes after talks with prime minister fail

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First meeting since pension changes were presented in January was over in an hour, and unions emerged calling for more protests

Hundreds of thousands of people across France are expected to protest on Thursday against Emmanuel Macron’s rise in the minimum pension age from 62 to 64, after talks between trade unions and the prime minister failed to ease tensions.

France will face another day of strikes affecting transport, schools and refineries, amid anger over the government’s use of an executive order to push through the pensions changes without a parliamentary vote last month.

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Benin bronzes made from brass mined in west Germany, study finds

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Metal used for west African artworks was acquired from manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the slave trade

Scientists have discovered that some of the Benin bronzes were made with brass mined thousands of miles away in the German Rhineland.

The Edo people in the Kingdom of Benin, modern Nigeria, created their extraordinary sculptures with melted down brass manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the transatlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.

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Klaus Teuber, creator of popular board game Catan, dies aged 70

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Introduced in 1995 and based on a set of hexagonal tiles, game has sold millions of copies and is available in more than 40 languages

Klaus Teuber, the creator of the hugely popular Catan board game, has died after a brief illness, according to a family statement. He was 70.

The board game, originally called The Settlers of Catan when introduced in 1995 and based on a set of hexagonal tiles, has sold tens of millions of copies and is available in more than 40 languages. It has spawned dozens of spinoffs and new editions, including electronic versions, not to mention products related to the game.

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Young migrants take over Paris building in protest at treatment

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Young people had been sleeping rough across city after being rejected as minors by French authorities

More than 180 homeless young migrants have taken over a disused nursery school building in the west of Paris to protest against the inhumane treatment of unaccompanied minors arriving in France from Africa.

Backed by three French charities, the young people who had been sleeping rough across Paris for months arrived overnight at the old school building, which has no running water or electricity, and slept under blankets.

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Zelenskiy welcomed with military honours on visit to Poland

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Trip is first time Ukrainian president and first lady have travelled abroad together since Russia invaded

Military honours, tributes and praise welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, to Poland in a rare wartime foray out of Ukraine for the country’s president.

While Zelenskiy has also travelled to the US, Britain, France and Belgium, the trip to Poland stood out because it was announced in advance and undertaken without the secrecy of past foreign trips.

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Paris prosecutors open criminal inquiry into air quality on Métro

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Operator investigated for possible trickery and causing involuntary injuries over pollution levels within network

Prosecutors in Paris have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that pollution in the capital’s Métro system is putting travellers’ lives at risk.

The operator of the Métro, the RATP, is being investigated for possible trickery and causing involuntary injuries after it was claimed it had deliberately underreported pollution levels and failed to inform passengers about the dangers.

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Russia-Ukraine war: anyone supporting Moscow in conflict is an ‘accomplice’, Macron says during China visit – as it happened

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

You may have noticed on Monday that we are testing a new feature across some of the Guardian’s live blogs, including the Ukraine live blog, which allows you to contact us directly. This is for people who want to message the live blogger directly, and they are not public comments.

If you have something you’ve seen you think we’ve missed, or you have questions or comments about the war or our coverage, or you have spotted one of my regular typos, please do drop me a line.

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Mackerel loses sustainable status as overfishing puts species at risk

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Marine Conservation Society calls for better regulation of how north-east Atlantic mackerel is caught as stocks decline

Mackerel populations are declining because of overfishing and the fish no longer a sustainable food choice, the Marine Conservation Society has said in its new UK guide to sustainable seafood.

North-east Atlantic mackerel has been considered an environmentally-friendly choice for consumers since before 2011, but the species has become increasingly scarce and now experts are calling for more regulation over how its caught.

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Macron arrives in China hoping to talk Xi into changing stance on Ukraine

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French leader sees Beijing as possible ‘gamechanger’ and will also discuss European trade on three-day visit

Emmanuel Macron has arrived in China for a three-day state visit during which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing.

Shortly after arriving in the Chinese capital, Macron said he wanted to push back against the idea that there was an “inescapable spiral of mounting tensions” between China and the west.

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French priest gets death threats after ‘sexy’ pole dance show held in his church

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Baroque music and performing arts group performed Pergolesi’s lyrical sequence Stabat Mater combined with pole and dance acts

A French priest has received death threats after a sold-out pole dance performance that the local paper called “sexy” was held in his church.

Daniel Boessenbacher, the priest at the Protestant Saint-Guillaume church in Strasbourg, eastern France, told AFP he had alerted police to the threats after receiving two anonymous letters.

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Furious Credit Suisse investors say bank’s board should be ‘put behind bars’

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Shareholders lash out during final AGM as boss apologises for crisis that led to takeover of lender by UBS

Furious Credit Suisse investors at its final ever annual meeting blocked executive pay plans and called for board members to be “put behind bars”, as the Swiss lender’s chair said he was “truly sorry” over the bank’s demise.

Shareholders used most of the nearly five-hour annual general meeting in Zurich – the last in the 167-year-old bank’s history – to voice fury over poor management, hitting out at excessive pay for “incompetent and greedy” bankers who they said took too many risks and endangered Switzerland’s economic prosperity.

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