Category Archives: Europe

Germany to extend energy subsidies to smaller firms amid closure fears

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Economy minister says ‘demand shock’ must be addressed, as economists raise fears of recession

Germany plans to extend a scheme subsidising energy costs for big businesses that are heavily dependent on energy to all small and medium-sized businesses, as part of a package of measures designed to avoid a wave of insolvencies.

Robert Habeck, the economy minister, said he anticipated that the subsidies would be in place for a limited time, until efforts on the national and European level to bring down high electricity and gas prices take effect.

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French dentist jailed for mutilating patients with unnecessary work

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Lionel Guedj got rich by carrying out work on healthy teeth of low-income people in Marseille, court told

A multi-millionaire dentist in France has been jailed for deliberately mutilating patients from low-income neighbourhoods of Marseille, in a money-making scheme in which he performed thousands of unnecessary procedures.

Lionel Guedj, 41, was jailed for eight years and his father, Carnot Guedj, 70, who worked part-time for him, was jailed for five years after a court heard harrowing accounts of patients who had booked an appointment for minor issues, such as a cavity or loose crown, and ended up having scores of healthy teeth removed for no medical reason.

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Ukraine launches surprise counterattack in Kharkiv region

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Zelenskiy reports ‘good news’ from northern front as Donetsk People’s Republic says Balakliia ‘encircled’

Ukraine has launched a surprise counterattack in the north-east Kharkiv region, stretching Russian forces who are also facing Ukrainian attacks in the south.

An official representing the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces “encircled” Balakliia, an eastern town of 27,000 people situated between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izium.

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Body of British aid worker captured by Russian proxies shows ‘signs of torture’

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Paul Urey was charged with ‘mercenary activities’ by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who say he died of ‘stress’

The body of a British aid worker who was captured by Russian proxies in April has been handed to Ukraine with “possible signs of unspeakable torture”, according to the country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

Paul Urey, 45, from Warrington, Cheshire, was captured in April by pro-Russian separatists, along with another Briton, Dylan Healey.

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German inmate’s escape ends in fatal crash in France

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Man on day release hijacked car at gunpoint in Mannheim and then died in head-on collision near Nancy

A German man’s escape from a prison day-release scheme resulted in a cross-border manhunt that ended hours later in a fatal crash in neighbouring France, police said on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old fugitive hijacked a car at gunpoint in Mannheim, 190 miles (300km) south-west of Berlin, on Monday, forcing the driver to take off down a highway before he left her at a rest stop.

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Vineyards await Saint-Émilion wine rankings after 10-year row over 2012 results

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Rankings in 2012 were subject of lengthy legal proceedings, and several top châteaux have pulled out this year

Winemakers in the historic vineyards of Saint-Émilion in France are hoping that prestigious wine rankings unveiled on Thursday will put an end to more than a decade of court cases, legal wrangling and controversy.

The sedate area of Saint-Émilion, with its Romanesque architecture and collection of vineyards classed as a world heritage site, has been at the centre of a long-running row over its famous rankings, which are decided every 10 years.

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German chancellor rejects calls to reverse nuclear power plant closures

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Olaf Scholz says country has enough energy to get through winter after Russia cut gas supplies

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has rejected calls for his government to commit to a longer-term extension of the life of the country’s nuclear power plants and insisted that Europe’s largest economy would have enough energy to get through the winter.

Scholz shut down criticism from the opposition conservative alliance and at least one leading economist, who have described his coalition’s decision to keep two remaining reactors in emergency reserve rather than letting them produce electricity, as “madness” while the government refuses to reverse its long-term plan to close down the last remaining plants.

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Putin threatens to ‘freeze’ west by cutting oil and gas supplies if EU imposes price cap – as it happened

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Britain’s new prime minister Liz Truss and her US counterpart Joe Biden have promised to strengthen their relationship in the face of Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

Truss’s call to Biden on Tuesday night followed a conversation with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and focused on what she called ”extreme economic problems caused by Putin’s war”.

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‘New PM, old problems’: Europe’s media reacts to Liz Truss’s first speech as prime minister

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Spain’s El País greets new PM saying ‘lack of charisma can be a political advantage in times of uncertainty’

Liz Truss’s purported lack of charisma and the “disastrous” economic situation facing Britain is the focus for much of the European media following the appointment of the country’s new prime minister.

The apparent differences in style between Boris Johnson and his successor was picked up by newspapers and websites across the political spectrum but the conclusions on Truss’s first speech in office were generally generous.

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Putin says Truss victory in Tory leadership vote ‘far from democratic’

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Russian president alludes to fact prime minister was chosen by party members, not by whole country

Vladimir Putin has said the way Britain chooses its leaders is “far from democratic”, a day after Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson as prime minister.

In his first public comments on Truss’s appointment, the Russian president alluded to the fact she was chosen in a leadership ballot by members of the Conservative party, not by the whole country.

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‘Deep roots in racist organisations’: Sweden’s PM Magdalena Andersson on the far-right threat in the election

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Andersson says Sweden Democrats entering government would change tone of politics

Sweden’s Social Democratic prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, has said the country is at a pivotal moment as it prepares for its most critical election in years, in which rightwing populists with neo-Nazi roots are likely to become the second biggest party.

Andersson, who took over from Stefan Löfven in November to become Sweden’s first female leader, told the Guardian in an interview while campaigning near Stockholm that the repercussions would be considerable if the right-leaning parties win Sunday’s vote.

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Ukraine war and energy crisis on Truss agenda as British PM speaks to Biden

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The new British prime minister also spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskiy on her first day in office, pledging UK ‘assistance for the long term’

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing global energy crisis have emerged as a leading foreign policy priorities for Britain’s new prime minister Liz Truss, as she and her US counterpart Joe Biden promised to strengthen their relationship in face of Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

Truss’s call to Biden on Tuesday night followed a conversation with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and focused on what she called “the extreme economic problems caused by Putin’s war”. Biden and Truss “reinforced their commitment to strengthening global liberty, tackling the risks posed by autocracies and ensuring Putin fails in Ukraine”, according to Downing Street.

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UN calls for demilitarised zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

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Secretary general says agreement must be secured to commit Russian forces to withdraw and Ukrainian forces not to move in

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has called for a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, involving the withdrawal of Russian occupying troops and the agreement of Ukrainian forces not to move in.

Guterres was addressing a UN security council session on Tuesday, at which he supported the recommendations put forward Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who led an inspection visit to the occupied Zaporizhzhia plant last week, and presented a report to the security council. The report confirmed the presence of Russian soldiers and military equipment at the plant, including army vehicles.

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Cost of living and climate are higher global priorities than Ukraine, poll finds

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But there remains strong support in many countries for Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, survey finds

The cost of living is ranked by most voters globally as a more important issue than liberating Ukraine from Russian occupation, but there is still strong support for a Russian military withdrawal, according to a survey showing global preoccupations.

Majorities in 16 of the 22 largest countries believe Russia should leave the territory it has occupied in Ukraine, the survey shows. The polling in 22 countries of more than 21,000 citizens also underlines the extent to which the global south is less engaged with the war in Ukraine than Europeans.

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Russia-Ukraine war: US to blame to Europe’s gas crisis, says Moscow; Ukraine says troops ‘gain foothold’ in Luhansk – live

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Russia’s foreign ministry says US has pushed European leaders to cut economic and energy cooperation with Moscow

UK’s defence secretary Ben Wallace will be going to Germany this week to discuss longer-term funding for Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence says.

President Vladimir Putin attended large-scale military exercises on Tuesday involving China and several other Russia-friendly countries, Kremlin, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told local news agencies.

Putin was meeting with defence minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov at the Sergeevski military range and could observe the final phase of the military exercises later, Peskov was quoted as saying.

The military drills, called Vostok-2022, started on 1 September and are due to take place until 7 September across several training grounds in Russia’s far east and in the waters off its eastern coast.

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American tourist fined for eating ice-cream on steps of Rome fountain

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Man falls victim to ‘urban decorum’ restrictions after sitting down to eat at historic site in early hours

An American tourist has been fined €450 (£385) for breaking one of Rome’s “urban decorum” rules by eating an ice-cream on the steps of a fountain.

The 55-year-old, who also had a beer in hand, was reprimanded by police in the early hours of Saturday at the Fontana dei Catecumeni, on a small, picturesque square in the Monti neighbourhood.

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Escaped chimpanzee returns to Kharkiv zoo on keeper’s bicycle

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Rare moment of joy in under-fire Ukrainian city as video shows Chichi being wheeled back on bicycle

A chimpanzee that escaped Kharkiv city zoo on Monday was persuaded to return by a zoo employee who wheeled it back on a bicycle.

Staff at the zoo in Ukraine’s second-biggest city were struggling to persuade Chichi, who had wandered around streets and a nearby park, to return to the zoo with them.

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Ben Stiller and Sean Penn banned from Russia after Ukraine comments

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Hollywood actors included on Russia’s list of 25 new names excluded from country

Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been banned from entering Russia following their outspoken support of Ukraine during the ongoing invasion.

Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs released a list on Monday of 25 new names that will be excluded from the country in response to “the ever-expanding personal sanctions by the … Biden Administration against Russian citizens”. Stiller and Penn are both included, along with political figures such as senators Mark Kelly, Rick Scott and Kyrsten Sinema.

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Dutch city becomes world’s first to ban meat adverts in public

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Haarlem’s move is part of efforts to cut consumption after meat was found to contribute to climate crisis

A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban meat adverts from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Haarlem, which lies to the west of Amsterdam and has a population of about 160,000, will enact the prohibition from 2024 after meat was added to a list of products deemed to contribute to the climate crisis.

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‘Vote for us to never see her again’: fury after Italy politician’s video with Roma woman

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Far-right councillor Alessio Di Giulio films video of himself with Roma woman in Florence

A politician with Italy’s far-right League has sparked outrage after implying that the party would rid the streets of Roma people if it wins general elections later this month.

Alessio Di Giulio, a League councillor in Florence, filmed a video of himself walking up to a Roma woman and, speaking to the camera, said: “Vote for the League on 25 September and you’ll never see her again.”

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