About 350 out of 900 seats normally left unsold on the first services between London, Paris and Brussels
Peak time Eurostar trains are daily forced to run across the Channel with hundreds of empty seats because border police cannot process passports quick enough.
About 350 out of 900 seats are normally left unsold on the first services between London, Paris and Brussels despite “huge demand” for the greenest form of international travel, Eurostar bosses said.
Continue reading...German defence minister says he expects quick response, as application increases pressure on chancellor Olaf Scholz
The Polish government has requested Berlin’s permission to send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine after the German government appeared to say it would not block their export.
The submission of the application by Warsaw increases pressure on German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to make a swift decision after he avoided the issue at an international meeting of defence ministers on Friday.
Continue reading...Survivors of alleged abuses at hands of military unite in universal jurisdiction case over atrocities they say amount to genocide
A criminal complaint against individuals linked to Myanmar’s military has been filed in Germany by survivors from ethnic groups across Myanmar, in what activists say is a show of unity that once seemed unthinkable.
Sixteen survivors and witnesses of military abuses joined NGO Fortify Rights to file a criminal complaint with the federal public prosecutor general of Germany under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of mass atrocities in one country, even if they happened elsewhere.
Continue reading...Shadow foreign secretary to mark out diplomatic mission of a future Labour government in landmark speech
Labour will make closer cooperation with Europe across security, trade and foreign policy a central plank of a plan to reconnect “a tarnished UK” with its closest allies, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, will say in a landmark speech designed to mark out the diplomatic mission of a future Labour government.
Addressing the thinktank Chatham House on Tuesday, he will say the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not been given a clear set of goals post-Brexit. “Ideological leadership and reckless choices have left Britain increasingly disconnected from its closest allies, an economy in crisis, and a tarnished international reputation.”
Continue reading...Infrastructure deputy Vasyl Lozinskyi detained after allegedly siphoning money from winter aid budget
Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, Vasyl Lozinskyi, has been detained and dismissed from his post for allegedly stealing $400,000 (£320,000) intended for purchasing aid, including generators, according to Ukraine’s state anti-corruption detectives and prosecutors.
After the news emerged, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, vowed that the old ways of corruption would not return to Ukraine.
“I want this to be clear: there will be no return to what used to be in the past, to the way various people close to state institutions or those who spent their entire lives chasing a chair [a state position] used to live,” said Zelenskiy in his nightly address on Sunday without specifically mentioning the case.
PM Mateusz Morawiecki says Poland will ask for Germany’s go-ahead but answer is of ‘secondary importance’
Poland has reiterated that it is ready to send tanks to Ukraine without Germany’s consent, as pressure builds on Berlin to supply the heavy weapons that Kyiv has been calling for.
The Polish prime minister said his government would seek permission from Berlin to send its German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but described that consent as of “secondary importance”.
Continue reading...Four men and a woman accused of planning to abduct health minister and overthrow government
Five Germans have been charged with treason over an alleged far-right plot to overthrow the government that included plans to abduct the health minister, prosecutors have announced.
The four men and a woman were arrested in recent months over the plot, with the health minister, Karl Lauterbach – unpopular among far-right groups because of anti-Covid measures – confirming he was targeted.
Continue reading...Italy celebrates return of 60 artefacts, some dating back to first century BC, with total value of more than $20m
Italian art investigators have exhibited a fresco that survived the destruction of the ancient Roman beach town of Herculaneum in the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius only to be plundered from its ruins and smuggled to the US, among 60 relics returned to home soil.
The total value of the works, some of which date back to the first century BC, looted from Italy over the past five decades and eventually traced to the US is estimated at more than $20m (£16m). The relics, which were displayed during a press conference in Rome on Monday, include a terracotta Etruscan kylix, bronze busts, ancient vases and kitchenware.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. You can find our latest report here
Russian secret service the SVR has claimed that Ukraine is storing weapons and ammunition supplied by the west on the territory of nuclear power plants, reports Tass.
The Russian-owned news agency reports that the SVR says, without citing any evidence, that this is been done in the expectation that Russia would not target them, due to the risk of a nuclear accident.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. I will be with you for the next few hours.
It is a question of justice and fairness,” the FT quoted Michel as saying in an interview. “It must be done in line with legal principles – this is very clear.”
Continue reading...French law enforcement facing renewed accusations of excessive force in aftermath of widespread protests against pension reform
Doctors had to amputate the testicle of a young man who got clubbed in the groin by a police officer during demonstrations in Paris last week, according the man’s lawyer.
Images and footage from Thursday’s demonstrations circulating online show a policeman hitting a man on the ground between the legs, and then leaving. The man is seen holding a camera.
Continue reading...Annalena Baerbock makes clearest signal yet that European allies could deliver German-made hardware
Germany would not “stand in the way” of Poland sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine, foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said, in what appeared to be the clearest signal yet from Berlin that European allies could deliver the German-made hardware.
Asked in an interview with French television LCI what would happen if Poland sent its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval, Baerbock replied through a translator: “For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way.”
Continue reading...Growers fear a perfect storm for a tradition that has long bound rural communities together
A sharp wind shunts clouds across the low and endless skies of La Mancha as Carlos Fernández stoops to pluck the last mauve flowers of the season from the cold earth. Their petals, which stain his index finger and thumb blue, enclose an almost weightless prize whose crimson threads are treasured in Spain and across the world.
But despite the prices his crop fetches, and the weighty comparisons those prices inevitably invite, the life of a saffron grower is not without its trials, travails and frustrations.
Continue reading...Russians have replaced Ukrainians since the war began and at least 14 have been arrested in Italy, NGOs claim
People-smugglers are recruiting dozens of Russian citizens to replace Ukrainian sailors captaining boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy, NGOs have claimed.
Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at least 14 Russian nationals have been arrested by the Italian police on charges of illegally transporting asylum seekers.
A report by the Italian non-governmental organisation Arci Porco Rosso and the nonprofit Borderline Europe “noted a doubling in the number of arrests of Russian citizens” accused of piloting the vessels compared with the previous year, as well as many more arrests of ‘‘Syrians, Bengalis, and even people from landlocked countries, such as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan’’.
The Turkey to Italy route was established by a criminal network of Turkish smugglers as an alternative to the long Balkans overland route to the EU, in part in response to pushbacks, typically using small fast yachts, most often stolen or rented. About 11,000 migrants arrived on the Italian coasts of Puglia, Calabria and Sicily in 2021 from the Turkish ports of Izmir, Bodrum and Çanakkale.
Initially the smugglers almost exclusively recruited Ukrainian skippers, many of whom had fled the country to escape military service during the war against Russian-backed separatists in Donbas. But since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of Ukrainians recruited by Turkish smugglers has been decreasing.
Images found in attic taken by Polish firefighter who risked life to record how Jewish Poles fought the Nazis despite impossible odds
The photographs are blurry, composed hastily and taken surreptitiously, sometimes with heads or objects in the foreground obscuring part of the view.
But Holocaust historians say the imperfect pictures, discovered last month in a Polish attic decades after their creator died, are nonetheless priceless. They are the only known photographs from inside the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising not to be taken by Germans.
Continue reading...Former UK PM Boris Johnson makes surprise visit to Ukraine; Russia claims to have made advances in Zaporizhzhia region
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has made a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he said that it was “the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job”. Downing Street said Rishi Sunak is “supportive” of Boris Johnson’s visit, despite warnings that it would undermine the current prime minister’s authority.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz, under pressure to allow the shipment of German-made tanks to Ukraine, said on Sunday that future decisions on weapons deliveries will be made in coordination with allies, including the United States. Scholz, when asked at a news conference about providing tanks to Ukraine, said that all weapons deliveries to Ukraine so far have taken place in close coordination with western partners.
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he does not rule out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine. He was speaking at a summit with German chancellor Scholz.
The UK foreign secretary said the UK wants to see Ukraine equipped with Leopard 2 tanks. “I would like to see the Ukrainians equipped with things like the Leopard 2, as well as the artillery systems that they’ve been provided by us and by others,” he said. “I will keep having those conversations with our Nato allies and friends.”
Russia has claimed to have made advances in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. After months of stalemate in the south-eastern region, Moscow-installed officials say the front is now “mobile” while the Ukrainian army reported that 15 settlements had come under artillery fire.
Talks between government representatives from France and Germany took place in Paris, as officials mark the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty and the relationship between the two nations. It comes as the two countries seek to overcome differences exposed by differing attitudes about how the continent should proceed and whether Germany will agree to send tanks to Ukraine.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz promised that Germany will “continue to support Ukraine – for as long and as comprehensively as necessary”, adding: “Together, as Europeans – in defence of our European peace project.”
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, criticised Germany’s failure to supply tanks to Ukraine. “Germany’s attitude is unacceptable. It has been almost a year since the war began. Innocent people are dying every day,” Morawiecki said.
An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that caution and slow decision making over whether to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine is costing lives. Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Saturday his frustration at “global indecision” over arms supply to Ukraine: “Today’s indecision is killing more of our people. Every day of delay is the death of Ukrainians. Think faster.”
Baltic countries have told Germany to send the tanks “now” to Ukraine after perceived heel-dragging by the government in Berlin. The Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, tweeted they are “needed to stop Russian aggression”. The same tweet was put out by his counterparts in Estonia and Lithuania.
Continue reading...Event in front of Turkish embassy will further inflame tensions between two countries
Turkey has condemned a demonstration involving the burning of Qur’ans in Sweden on Saturday, further inflaming tensions between the two countries amid Stockholm’s Nato bid.
The protest in Stockholm, which took place under heavy police protection in front of Turkey’s embassy, gathered about 100 people and a crowd of reporters, Agence France-Presse reported.
Continue reading...A plan from Czech railways to replace the emblematic landmark with a modern structure is facing an impassioned backlash
A historic Prague railway bridge, whose importance to the city’s landscape has been compared to the Eiffel tower in Paris, has been earmarked for demolition in a move denounced by architects and preservationists.
The much-photographed Vyšehrad bridge – instantly recognisable for its parabolic lattice steel structure – is unfit to carry an anticipated rising volume of rail traffic, claims Czech Railways, which plans to replace it with a modern structure.
Continue reading...Country’s president mourns interior minister, his deputy and five other senior officials who died
A tearful Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended a memorial service on Saturday for seven senior interior ministry officials killed in a helicopter crash this week.
The former interior minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy and five other high-ranking officials were killed when their French-made Super Puma helicopter crashed into a nursery on the eastern outskirts of Kyiv in foggy conditions on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Announcement from Russian army follows heavy shelling in the region overnight. This blog is now closed
Russian attacks in the Donetsk oblast on Friday killed three civilians and injured another four, according to the region’s governor.
Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Telegram that two were killed in Bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been taking place, and another in Zhelanne, a small town on the outskirts of Donetsk city. Both are in the east of Ukraine.
Continue reading...High-cost, low-quality housing market is pushing many from war-torn country to edge of homelessness
Maria, 22, came to the UK from Ukraine in March last year shortly after the war broke out. She and her mother travelled using the Ukraine family scheme visa to stay with her aunt. But when her aunt was evicted, they became homeless. For five months, Maria and her mother have been living in temporary accommodation in south London.
“It’s horrible actually, the corridors are so old and so dirty,” Maria says. “The council haven’t been very helpful. The room is so small and it’s hard with two adults in one room.”
Continue reading...