Category Archives: Europe

Pope urges Italians to help migrants as far right tipped to win election

Posted on by

Francis said migrants and refugees should be able to ‘live in peace and with dignity’ at open-air mass in Matera

Pope Francis has urged Italians to help migrants as voting proceeded in a general election widely expected to bring an anti-immigration rightwing coalition into power.

Speaking at the end of an open-air mass in the southern Italian city of Matera, the pope recalled that Sunday coincided with the Catholic church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated,” he told the assembled faithful.

Continue reading...

Italy: internal rivalry could threaten the stability of a Meloni-led coalition

Posted on by

Matteo Salvini has described Giorgia Meloni as a ‘pain in the ass’, while Silvio Berlusconi is rumoured to be unsupportive

Giorgia Meloni has spent three decades fighting her way to the top of Italian politics. But despite her political prowess, the 45-year-old from Rome, whose strong will and determination has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, has limited government experience.

If Meloni is confirmed as prime minister over the next few weeks, she will be in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, dealing with mammoth challenges from the energy crisis and high inflation to a possible recession and a winter wave of Covid-19.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy vows to liberate all of Ukraine as Russian ‘vote’ continues

Posted on by

Reports suggest local population in occupied areas has overwhelmingly boycotted Kremlin’s referendum

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has vowed to liberate the entire country as Russia pressed on with its supposed referendum in occupied areas of Ukraine and so-called election workers accompanied by masked gunmen knocked on doors to get people to vote.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s armed forces would throw the Russian forces out and retaliate against “every strike of the aggressor”. He pledged that Ukraine’s armed forces would regain control of the southern Kherson region and the eastern Donbas, which includes Luhansk province and Crimea.

Continue reading...

Richard Marles condemns Russia’s ‘appalling’ nuclear threat and pledges long-term Ukraine support

Posted on by

Australia’s defence minister says Vladimir Putin’s threat ‘cannot be allowed to stand’

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has condemned the latest nuclear threat from Russia as “appalling”, and says Australia is preparing to support Ukraine for a protracted military conflict.

Speaking on Sunday, the deputy prime minister said the threat from the Russian president Vladimir Putin last week to use the country’s nuclear arsenal as part of its ongoing war with Ukraine could “not be allowed to stand”.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Russia’s allies China and India call for negotiations to end Ukraine war

Posted on by

Moscow isolated at United Nations assembly, with no major country siding with it

China and India have called for a negotiated end to the Ukraine war, stopping short of robust support for traditional ally Russia.

After a week of pressure at the United Nations general assembly, Russia’s foreign minister took the general assembly rostrum to deliver a fiery rebuke to western nations for what he termed a “grotesque” campaign against Russians.

Continue reading...

Roger Waters cancels gigs in Poland amid row over Ukraine war comments

Posted on by

Pink Floyd co-founder's stance on Russia's war against Ukraine has sparked ‘indignation’ in Kraków

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has cancelled concerts planned in Poland amid outrage over his stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, Polish media reported on Saturday.

An official with the Tauron Arena in Kraków, where the musician was scheduled to perform two concerts in April 2023, said they would no longer take place.

Continue reading...

Expect dissent to rise as Putin’s call-up brings Ukraine war home to Russians

Posted on by

As men of fighting age flee the draft, observers say Kremlin should be more worried about mounting anger away from the cities

In a caricature by the country’s most prominent political cartoonist, Sergey Elkin, Vladimir Putin is standing on top of the Kremlin wall with his arms outstretched.

“So what else do I need to do for you guys to finally start rebelling,” Putin asks, with a look of desperation.

Continue reading...

Italy braces for sharp move to the right after election voting closes

Posted on by

Giorgia Meloni, who leads Brothers of Italy, looks likely to become the first woman to head a government

Italians were braced for seismic change on Saturday, on the eve of an election forecasted to hand Italy the most rightwing government since the second world war.

Giorgia Meloni, the head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, is widely tipped to become the country’s first woman to head a government.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: at least 730 protesters detained in Russia; Europe urged to accept Russians fleeing draft – as it happened

Posted on by

Arrests made in 32 cities at rallies against mobilisation; border crossings from Russia to Finland have doubled and 10km queue reported at frontier with Georgia. This blog is now closed

Russian forces launched new strikes on Saturday, targeting infrastructure facilities, Zaporizhzhia city’s administrative head, Oleksandr Starukh, said via his Telegram channel.

One missile hit an apartment building causing a fire, killing one person and injuring seven others.

But if you get into the Russian army, sabotage any activity of the enemy, hinder any Russian operations, provide us with any important information about the occupiers – their bases, headquarters, warehouses with ammunition. And at the first opportunity, switch to our positions.

Continue reading...

Cycling journalist believes governing body blocked him from world championships for critical reporting

Posted on by

Iain Treloar says Union Cycliste International blacklisted him after he examined its links to a Turkmen autocrat and a Russian billionaire

A respected cycling journalist who was twice blocked from attending the Wollongong world cycling championships believes he has been blacklisted for reporting on the governing body’s links to a notoriously repressive regime and a Russian billionaire under sanctions.

Investigative journalist Iain Treloar’s recent reporting has posed uncomfortable questions for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – the powerful governing body for world cycling.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Russians flee to avoid draft as west says Putin faces ‘major challenges’ to recruit 300,000 – as it happened

Posted on by

Western officials say true target could be higher but significant hurdles remain to mobilise stated target of 300,000

The British Ministry of Defence has giving its latest intelligence update on how it sees the situation on the ground in the war. It says that “the battle situation remains complex” but that “Ukraine is now putting pressure on territory that Russia considers essential to its war aims”, with fighting along the Oskil River, and a Ukrainian assault on the town of Lyman, Donetsk, which Russia captured in May.

This is Martin Belam in London with the live blog now for the next few hours. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

Continue reading...

Border queues build as people flee Russia to escape Putin’s call-up

Posted on by

Miles-long traffic jams form as Russia’s neighbours debate whether to welcome those trying to avoid military draft

Long lines of vehicles continue to form at Russia’s border crossings on the second day full day of Vladimir Putin’s military mobilisation, with some men waiting over 24 hours as western leaders disagree over whether Europe should welcome those fleeing the call-up to fight in Ukraine.

The Russian president’s decision to announce the first mobilisation since the second world war has led to a rush among men of military age to leave the country, likely sparking a new, possibly unprecedented brain drain in the coming days and weeks.

Continue reading...

‘Why bother voting?’: apathy in Ukraine amid so-called referendums

Posted on by

Hastily arranged polls in Russia-controlled regions have seen little campaigning, but there are reports of door-to-door searches and repression

With minimal preparation, armed soldiers standing guard and the booms of war often audible in the distance, so-called referendums got under way on Friday in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops.

Residents in Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were told to vote on proposals for the four areas to declare independence and then join Russia.

Continue reading...

Berlusconi claims Russians ‘pushed’ Putin into Ukraine war

Posted on by

Italian former PM’s party is part of coalition expected to win Sunday’s general election

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s three-time former prime minister, whose party is forecast to return to government after the general election on Sunday, has sparked a row after defending the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine.

The 85-year-old billionaire told Italian TV that Putin, an old friend of his, was pushed to invade Ukraine by the Russian people and by ministers who wanted Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration replaced with “decent people”.

Continue reading...

France sets minimum book delivery fee in anti-Amazon struggle

Posted on by

€3 charge aims to gives independent booksellers a chance against e-commerce firms that use free delivery loophole

France’s crusade to protect independent booksellers against huge online retailers was stepped up on Friday as the government proposed a €3 (£2.66) minimum delivery fee for all online book orders of less than €35.

The government’s fixed fee for online deliveries is part of a quest to support independent bookshops against the domination of big tech firms, such as Amazon.

Continue reading...

Saudi foreign minister defends role in securing Ukraine prisoner swaps

Posted on by

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud decries as ‘cynical’ accusations his country was trying to improve its image after Khashoggi killing

It would be cynical to see Saudi Arabia’s efforts to secure the release of international prisoners held by Russian proxies in Ukraine as an attempt to improve the country’s image after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, its foreign minister has said.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud said on Friday that Riyadh had first approached the UK government in April, shortly after Aiden Aslin, a British citizen, and others were captured at Mariupol, and had acted for compassionate reasons, hoping to negotiate their release.

This story was amended on Friday 23 September 2022 to correct the name of the Saudi foreign minister.

Continue reading...

Patience with Putin may be ebbing among friendlier countries

Posted on by

Turkey, India and China respond cooly to news of planned referendums in Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia

Signs that some countries willing to tolerate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are losing patience have emerged as Turkey, India and China responded cooly to the announcement that four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia were planning referendums on joining the Russian Federation.

Turkey, which has been at the centre of mediation between the west and Russia, issued a sharp rebuke, saying in a statement that it was concerned by attempts to stage unilateral referendums.

Continue reading...