Category Archives: Europe

UK court sides with Icelandic firm over artist’s spoof corruption apology

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Judge considering complaint by fishing firm Samherji rules artist Odee unlikely to be able to defend work as parody

The property rights of Iceland’s largest fishing company prevail over the right to artistic expression of an artist who spoofed the firm’s website to draw attention to a high-profile corruption scandal, London’s high court has ruled.

For his 2023 work We’re Sorry, the Icelandic artist Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, who goes by the moniker Odee, copied the corporate identity of Samherji, a major supplier to Britain’s fish and chips industry, and uploaded on to the spoof website a statement titled “Samherji Apologizes, Pledges Restitution and Cooperation with Authorities”.

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Banana-phobe Swedish minister’s staff insisted on ‘no traces in the room’

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Colleagues speak up in Paulina Brandberg’s support after leaked emails reveal efforts to spare her from the fruit

A Swedish government minister’s fear of bananas has become a national talking point after emails revealed that such is the strength of her aversion that aides try to clear rooms of the fruit before she enters.

Paulina Brandberg, the minister for gender equality and work life, has previously spoken out about her issue with bananas, describing it as “the world’s weirdest phobia”.

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Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show

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Police reveal ages and genders of the 216 people who died in Valencia, along with eight other victims elsewhere in Spain

Almost half of the 216 people known to have died in the catastrophic floods that hit the eastern Spanish region of Valencia at the end of October were 70 or above, according to a police analysis.

Figures from the data integration centre set up after the disaster show that 131 of the victims were male, 85 were female and 104 were aged over 70, including 15 aged over 90.

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Gulag History Museum in Moscow temporarily closed ‘for safety reasons’

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Kremlin critics fear move is part of Russia’s efforts to whitewash Soviet past and shut independent cultural institutions

Moscow’s award-winning Gulag History Museum announced its surprise closure on Thursday, a move critics attribute to the Kremlin’s efforts to whitewash Russia’s Soviet past.

The closure was officially put down to alleged violations of fire safety regulations but comes amid an intense campaign by Russian officials against independent civil society and those who question the state’s interpretation of history.

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French military systems in Sudan may break UN arms embargo, says Amnesty

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Group says it has identified the Galix defence system on armoured vehicles imported from the UAE and calls for government to investigate

France must investigate the use of its military systems by Sudan’s paramilitary forces, which could be in breach of an arms embargo, Amnesty International has said.

The group said it had identified the French-made Galix defence system being used in Sudan on armoured vehicles manufactured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – considered a key supplier of weapons to the Rapid Support Force (RSF).

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Dutch authorities investigate alleged police violence after pro-Palestinian protest

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Amsterdam police say they are aware of footage that appears to show officers beating protesters after banned rally

Dutch authorities have said they are investigating reports of police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters after a banned rally on Wednesday evening had been broken up.

Amsterdam police said on X that they were aware of online footage, which seemed to show police officers beating protesters who had already been released after being taken away from the site of the protest.

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Monaco Grand Prix’s long-term future resolved with F1 extension until 2031

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  • Race remains on F1 calendar after six-year deal agreed
  • Contest has been part of motor sport scene since 1950

Formula One’s iconic Monaco Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until at least 2031 after a six-year extension was announced on Thursday, with a date change to June that also avoids future clashes with the Indianapolis 500.

The race around the streets of Monte Carlo was part of the first world championship season in 1950 and has been present since, with the exception of 2020 during the global pandemic.

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Paris prosecutor seeks jail and public office ban for Marine Le Pen

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Request in embezzlement trial threatens to undermine National Rally’s efforts to polish image before 2027 polls

A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.

The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win.

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Dead drops, PR stunts and punishment beatings: the rapid rise of Russia’s powerful darknet drug industry

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Tech-savvy organised crime groups profiting from billion-dollar enterprise that is spreading beyond Russian borders

At any one moment in towns and cities across Russia, thousands of drug packages lie buried in the ground, attached by magnets to lamp-posts or taped underneath window sills, waiting to be picked up by their intended customers.

From the streets of Moscow to remote towns in Siberia, hand-to-hand buying of illegal drugs – as is the norm in most of the world – is on the wane. Instead, retail-size bags of drugs are secreted using spycraft by an army of young kladmen (stash men) who upload dead-drop locations, which are unlocked when customers make an online purchase.

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Loyalty the key as impulsive Trump picks team for America First agenda

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President-elect’s team has China hawks, an alleged Assad defender and a Fox News host – all have been vocally loyal

As Donald Trump rushes to fill out his cabinet and enact his America First agenda in the United States and abroad, a clear throughline for his foreign policy and national security team has been a vocal loyalty to the president-elect – at least in this election cycle.

The rapidly expanding roster includes established – and some Maga supporters would say establishment – foreign policy hawks, and a neophyte defense secretary who until this week was still a conservative commentator on Fox News.

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Mysterious 300-carat diamond necklace fetches £3.8m in Geneva auction

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Worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, the necklace has possible links to the downfall of Marie Antoinette

A mysterious diamond-laden necklace with possible links to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Marie Antoinette has sold for $4.8m (£3.8m) at an auction in Geneva.

The 18th-century item of jewellery containing approximately 300 carats of diamonds had been estimated to sell at the Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels sale for $1.8-2.8m.

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Amsterdam police detain pro-Palestine protesters defying ban

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Dozens held under emergency measures imposed after violence that erupted around football match

Police have detained pro-Palestinian protesters rallying in central Amsterdam in defiance of a ban imposed after violence stemming from a football match between Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Dozens of demonstrators, some with Palestinian flags, chanted “Amsterdam is saying no to genocide” and “Free Palestine”.

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Ireland orders X, TikTok and Instagram to curb terrorist content

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Regulator issues online safety ruling after finding weak processes leave networks ‘exposed to terrorist content’

Elon Musk’s X, TikTok and Meta’s Instagram have been ordered by Irish media regulators to take “necessary measures” to prevent terrorist content being platformed in order to comply with sweeping new online safety legislation.

The Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, said it issued the ruling after its investigations determined that the social media networks were “exposed to terrorist content” due to weak processes.

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Olaf Scholz delivers plea for German unity ahead of confidence vote

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Chancellor makes fiery appeal in parliament for opposition support ‘for the good of the country’

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has defended his decision to oust his finance minister, which has led to the break up of his government, arguing that the survival of the alliance would have come at the expense of national stability and international security.

Scholz used his first speech to parliament since his “traffic light coalition” lost its majority to plead for national cohesion. He called on opposition parties to support his minority government in the months before early elections to prevent Germany from becoming as polarised as the US.

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Schools closed and people evacuated as torrential rain returns in Spain

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Large parts of east and south under alerts as schools are shut and riverside neighbourhoods evacuated in Andalucía

Authorities in eastern and southern Spain have closed schools and begun evacuating some residents as the country is pounded by further torrential rains two weeks after the catastrophic floods that killed at least 215 people and unleashed a bitter political blame game.

On Wednesday morning, the state meteorological agency, Aemet, put large parts of eastern and southern Spain on amber alert and issued the highest level of warning for the provinces Tarragona in Catalonia and Málaga in Andalucía.

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‘Minuscule’ amount of novichok could have been fatal, scientist tells inquiry

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Witness from Porton Down laboratory says ‘many lethal doses’ of nerve agent were applied to Sergei Skripal’s door

A “minuscule” amount of the nerve agent used in the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal – as small as a sixth of a grain of salt – could have been enough to prove fatal, a government scientist has told an inquiry.

The scientist, an expert in chemical and biological weapons, said “many lethal doses” of novichok were daubed on the handle of the former Russian spy’s front door in Salisbury and it was so pure that it must have been manufactured by a sophisticated laboratory.

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Macron to visit Notre Dame Cathedral before reopening after 2019 fire

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French president to give ‘republican and secular’ speech outside monument days before it reopens to public

As firefighters doused the embers of the blaze that threatened to destroy Notre Dame Cathedral on 16 April 2019, Emmanuel Macron promised the church would be restored “more beautiful than ever” within five years.

In two weeks, the French president will visit the monument that has been returned to its former glory with the help of millions in donations and hundreds of specialist artisans using age-old skills.

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Swedish firm censured for use of C-word in ads for vaginal health supplements

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Regulator deems posters offensive, though Elexir Pharma argues term is ‘not loaded in the same way as in the UK’

The Swedish advertising ombudsman has criticised a company for using the C-word in posters to promote vaginal health supplements, saying the use of the “gross profanity” is offensive to consumers.

The ads, displayed on public transport in Stockholm and Gothenburg, feature the phrase “you can cunt on us” in pink writing.

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Spanish police arrest ex-fraud chief after €20m found in walls of his house

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Investigation into country’s largest cocaine bust reveals cash in home of former head of anti-money laundering

Spain has arrested one of its top police officers after €20m (£17m) was found hidden in the walls of his house, as part of an investigation into the country’s largest-ever cocaine bust.

Óscar Sánchez Gil was until recently the head of the fraud and anti-money laundering division of Spain’s national police force in Madrid.

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Norway apologises to Sami, Forest Finns and Kvens for forced assimilation policy

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Parliament votes to express ‘deepest regret’ over more than a century of ‘Norwegianisation’ of minorities

The Norwegian parliament has apologised unreservedly to minority groups and Indigenous people for more than a century of historical injustices committed against them as part of its “Norwegianisation” policy.

The forced assimilation policy – which included state-run boarding schools that banned minority languages and the forced relocation of whole villages – pursued by Norwegian authorities dated back to the 18th century and became official policy from 1851. Although parts were phased out in the 1960s, much of the policy continued into the 1980s.

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