Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo supports ban after three people died and 459 were injured in accidents during 2022
Parisians are voting on Sunday on whether to rid the streets of the French capital of electric scooters, although some say the city’s leaders ought to be focusing on more pressing issues.
Paris was a pioneer when it introduced e-scooters, or trottinettes, in 2018 as the city’s authorities sought to promote non-polluting forms of urban transport.
Continue reading...Report finds that 72 cases of the disease on the vessel, which was housing asylum seekers, were caused by a wastewater leak
A major outbreak of typhoid among asylum seekers living on a ship in the Netherlands has been traced to raw sewage which was allowed to mix with tanks of freshwater for drinking and cooking.
A total of 72 cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed during the spring 2022 outbreak on the Liberty Ann, an old cruise ship which was being used as emergency accommodation in Haarlem.
Continue reading...‘Absurd and destructive’ that Russia chairs security council , says Zelenskiy; top US general Milley says Ukraine unlikely to expel Russian forces this year
Continue reading...The last time Moscow held the post was in February 2022, when its troops launched invasion of Ukraine
A top Ukrainian official has criticised the “symbolic blow” of Russia assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations security council.
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, wrote on Twitter on Saturday: “It’s not just a shame. It is another symbolic blow to the rules-based system of international relations.”
Continue reading...Social media influencer posts video about release from police custody in Romania after court ruling
Andrew Tate has posted a video saying he has “absolute clarity of thought” after he was moved from police custody to house arrest.
The social media influencer was released into house arrest on Friday after a Romanian court overturned a request by prosecutors for him to be detained until late April.
Continue reading...Pope, 86, responded well to antibiotic infusion for breathing difficulties, medical team says
Pope Francis has left hospital to return to the Vatican after being treated for bronchitis, quipping to journalists before being driven away: “I’m still alive.”
The pope, 86, was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital three days ago after complaining of breathing difficulties. He had responded well to an infusion of antibiotics, his medical team has said.
Continue reading...Top Ukrainian official criticises the ‘symbolic blow’ of Russia assuming the rotating presidency. This blog is now closed
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has promised to increase the supply of munitions to the country’s forces, during a visit to the headquarters of Moscow’s troops fighting in Ukraine, according to footage published by the defence ministry on Saturday.
In the video published on Telegram, Shoigu presides over a meeting with senior military officers, including Gen Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the general staff, Reuters reports.
The volume of supplies of the most demanded ammunition has been determined. Necessary measures are being taken to increase them.
Continue reading...Long coalition talks may follow Sunday, with conservative NCP not ruling out deal with populist Finns
Four years after she became the world’s youngest prime minister, Finland’s Sanna Marin faces a battle to keep her job on Sunday in an unpredictable election so tight that it could be won by any of the country’s three main parties.
Marin, now 37, took the reins of the Social Democratic party (SDP) – and the Finnish premiership – in 2019 and has since piloted the traditionally non-aligned Nordic country through the Covid pandemic and to the brink of Nato membership.
Continue reading...The town infamous for a massacre at hands of Russia has become a symbol of Ukraine’s reconstruction effort, but experts say the influx of money from the west will bring challenges in such a corrupt country
Standing on the crumbling roof of a house, dozens of workers hammer in unison. Around them, cranes, bulldozers and trucks work frantically to repair roads and buildings destroyed by Russian artillery. It is hard to believe that this noisy construction site is in Yablonska Street, in the town of Bucha, in the north of Kyiv, at the precise crossroads where a year ago the bodies of dozens of civilians, brutally killed by Russian soldiers, were strewn over almost a mile, some with their hands bound behind their backs.
Ukraine has already repaired, and in many cases fully rebuilt, many of the sites destroyed by Moscow, including bridges, roads and government buildings. It is only the beginning of what Kyiv has described as the largest rebuilding effort since the second world war and perhaps the most expensive in history, with an estimated cost of half a trillion dollars. But managing this unprecedented influx of money in a country with a long history of corruption will bring challenges, experts say.
Continue reading...Joe Biden calls on Moscow to free US journalist, ‘absurdity’ as Russia takes charge of UN security council, and Bucha atrocities remembered
Continue reading...Bucharest Court of Appeal rules in favour of divisive social media influencer who has spent months in a Romanian jail
Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer who has spent months in a Romanian jail on suspicion of organised crime and human trafficking, has won an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest.
The Bucharest court of appeal ruled in favour of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days, Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, said on Friday.
Continue reading...Charles and Camilla also remembered the Kindertransport children, during a state visit to Germany
King Charles and Germany’s president have lain wreaths in remembrance of the victims of the second world war, in the ruins of a bombed-out church in Hamburg.
The monarch joined President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, to leave floral tributes at St Nikolai memorial church, whose spire was a landmark used by bomber crews during the conflict 80 years ago and has since become a monument against war.
Continue reading...Measure is in place ‘until ChatGPT respects privacy’, says Italian Data Protection Authority
Italy’s privacy watchdog has banned ChatGPT, after raising concerns about a recent data breach and the legal basis for using personal data to train the popular chatbot.
The Italian Data Protection Authority described the move as atemporary measure “until ChatGPT respects privacy”. The watchdog said it was imposing an “immediate temporary limitation on the processing of Italian users’ data” by ChatGPT’s owner, the San Francisco-based OpenAI.
Continue reading...‘Nonno Sprint’ avoided paying by nipping in behind prepaid Telepass customers before barrier descended
An 80-year-old Italian man nicknamed “Nonno Sprint” (Granddad Sprint) risks going on trial after he brazenly dodged paying €4,000 (£3,514) worth of motorway tolls using a technique more frequently reserved for metro fare hoppers.
In his Fiat Punto, the man, whose real name is Mario, “travelled far and wide” on Italy’s motorways for two years without paying a single euro, arguing that the charges were too pricey and not worth it for the poor service, according to Corriere della Sera.
Continue reading...Pedro Sánchez encourages dialogue between Xi Jinping and Ukrainian president during China visit
Spain’s prime minister has said he conveyed concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Xi Jinping, urging Beijing to discuss peace plans with Kyiv directly, during a visit to China aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters on Friday from the Spanish embassy in Beijing, Pedro Sánchez said the talks with the Chinese president had “transmitted our concern at the illegal invasion of Ukraine”, as well as “encouraged Xi to talk to President Zelenskiy” to learn first-hand about the peace plan proposed by Kyiv.
Continue reading...UK supermarkets heavily reliant on strawberries from southern Spain, where workers allege they are regularly underpaid, have passports withheld and are forced to live in unsanitary shacks
Abusive conditions are endemic in parts of Spain’s fruit sector, a new report alleges, with workers telling the Guardian they have been regularly underpaid and forced to live in dilapidated shacks.
During the winter, at least 60% of strawberries eaten in the UK are likely to be from vast farms across the south-west Spanish province of Huelva. In 2020, the UK imported €310m (£272m) worth of the fruit from the Andalucia region, of which 91% is believed to be grown in Huelva.
Continue reading...Monthly rotation of presidency of 15-member council has been unaffected by Ukraine war
In Ukraine, Moscow is pursuing an unprovoked war of aggression. In The Hague, Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant for war crimes. But at the UN, Russia is about to take charge of a powerful international body, the security council.
From Saturday, it will be Russia’s turn to take up the monthly presidency of the 15-member council, in line with a rotation that has been unaffected by the Ukraine war.
Continue reading...Parliament in Ankara passes bill allowing membership after second-to-last objector, Hungary, voted in favour
Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato, clearing the way for Helsinki to join the western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine.
The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership, after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill this week.
Continue reading...Russia arrests US journalist; Turkey approves bill to allow Finland to join Nato
Continue reading...Doctors say 86-year-old has shown marked improvement and has been treated for bronchitis
Pope Francis has had a marked improvement in his health and could be discharged from hospital “in the next few days”, doctors treating the 86-year-old said on Thursday.
The pontiff was taken to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Wednesday afternoon after complaining of breathing difficulties and chest pain in recent days.
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