Category Archives: Europe

Pregnant woman’s death causes outrage over crisis-hit Portugal health service

Posted on by

Health minister quit this week after woman, 34, died while being moved from hospital due to lack of space

The death of a pregnant woman who could not receive treatment in Lisbon’s main hospital because of a lack of capacity has been met with outrage in Portugal, where a months-long health crisis has shut emergency services across the country and put maternity care under extreme pressure.

The 34-year-old woman was admitted to Lisbon’s Santa Maria hospital on 23 August with respiratory problems and high blood pressure. Owing to a lack of space in the neonatal service, she was transferred to another hospital, but she died after a heart attack in the ambulance.

Continue reading...

Putin will not attend Gorbachev funeral, Kremlin says

Posted on by

Russian president lays wreath at hospital where Soviet leader died but will snub funeral

Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin has said, in what will be seen as an extraordinary snub by the Russian president.

Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at 91, will also not receive an official state funeral, a Kremlin spokesperson indicated, making him the first leader since Nikita Khrushchev not to be given that honour.

Continue reading...

Russia-linked firm could gain stake in company behind UK’s national lottery

Posted on by

PPF in line to acquire shares in Allwyn Entertainment, whose UK arm won lottery licence from Camelot

A Czech investment firm with significant interests in Russia could end up owning a 5% stake in the company behind the UK’s national lottery, it has emerged.

První Privatizační Fond (PPF) is poised to acquire shares in Allwyn Entertainment AG via the listing of an investment vehicle in New York in September. Allwyn’s UK subsidiary won the licence to operate the lottery from Camelot this year.

Continue reading...

Energy price inflation: how the UK and EU could fight it

Posted on by

What can be done about rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?

Governments across Europe have been funding relief measures to help people with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.

As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options?

Continue reading...

Short breaks can help boost energy at work, study suggests

Posted on by

Romanian research shows ‘micro-breaks’ of up to 10 minutes may help to reduce fatigue

It may not be long enough to pop to the shops or head out for a run, but taking a work break of less than 10 minutes could still boost wellbeing, research suggests.

The team behind the analysis say “micro-breaks” appear to reduce fatigue and help workers feel more vigorous.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow could expand conflict and should not be underestimated, warns Germany – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog has now closed. You can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak said the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev will be “remembered by us all” and that he helped “bring peace to Europe”.

Boris Johnson has paid tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev, describing him as a man “who changed the world and unquestionably changed it for the better”.

Mikhail Gorbachev is one of those people who changed the world and unquestionably changed it for the better. When you look at what he did to make Europe whole, free, to give freedom to the countries of the former Soviet Union – it was quite an extraordinary thing.

And of course, Mikhail Gorbachev is one of those people who triggered a change, a series of changes, that perhaps he didn’t anticipate.

Continue reading...

Gazprom to pay Kremlin £8.6bn after record profits

Posted on by

Politicians wait to see whether Russia switches back on Nord Stream 1 gas supply to Europe

Russian state-backed energy firm Gazprom is poised to hand a bumper £8.6bn payout to the Kremlin after notching up record profits.

The company reported a net profit of 2.5tn roubles (£35.8bn) for the first six months of this year. Oil and gas prices soared during that period, pushed higher by concerns over supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Trump boasted he had ‘intelligence’ on Macron’s sex life

Posted on by

Inventory of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago caused ‘transatlantic freakout’ between Paris and Washington

Donald Trump boasted to close associates that he knew secrets about Emmanuel Macron’s sex life from US intelligence sources, it has been reported.

The report in Rolling Stone magazine comes in the wake of the release of court documents on the classified and national defence documents found in a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on 8 August, which mention a file referred to as “info re: President of France”.

Continue reading...

Works by Mexican writer Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz recovered from auction

Posted on by

Two books containing 17th-century works by pioneering feminist poet and nun saved from US auction and returned to Spain

Two precious and well-travelled books containing works by the Mexican nun, writer, composer, poet and proto-feminist Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz have been saved from auction in New York and returned to Spain, where they were printed almost three-and-a-half centuries ago.

Sister Juana, who was born in mid-17th century Mexico to a Spanish father and a Mexican mother of Spanish descent, possessed a thirst for knowledge and a mind that would eventually mark her out as one of the greatest figures of the Golden Age of Spanish literature.

Continue reading...

EU foreign ministers agree to suspend visa travel deal with Russia

Posted on by

Move will curb number of Russian nationals entering the bloc but stops short of full tourist visa ban

The EU has agreed to suspend a visa travel deal with Moscow to curb the number of Russian nationals entering the bloc for holidays and shopping, stopping short of a full tourist visa ban demanded by some central and eastern European countries.

Meeting in Prague, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers promised to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it relatively easy to obtain travel documents.

Continue reading...

Tributes for Mikhail Gorbachev pour in after death of former Soviet leader – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. Follow all the latest Mikhail Gorbachev updates here

The former farm worker with the rolling south Russian accent and distinctive port-wine birthmark on his head gave notice of his bold ambition soon after winning a Kremlin power struggle in 1985, at the age of 54, Reuters reports.

Television broadcasts showed him besieged by workers in factories and farms, allowing them to vent their frustrations with Soviet life and making the case for radical change.

Continue reading...

Mikhail Gorbachev: a divisive figure loved abroad but loathed at home

Posted on by

Despite being celebrated across liberal democracies, the former Soviet leader was reviled and unpopular in Russia

Until his very last day, Mikhail Gorbachev lived in a dual reality – loved and celebrated in Washington, Paris and London, but reviled by large numbers of Russians who never forgave him for the turbulence that his reforms unleashed.

His policy of ‘glasnost’, or openness, gave Russians previously unthinkable levels of freedom, but for many, his rule will be remembered by the dramatic plunge in living standards that followed.

Continue reading...

Priti Patel meets Albanian police over fast-track removal plan

Posted on by

Home Office aims to crack down on people from ‘safe and prosperous country’ arriving via Channel

Plans to fast-track the removal of Albanian nationals entering the UK via small boat crossings have moved closer after Priti Patel met Albanian police.

Monday’s meeting was part of two days of talks on the sharing of forensics and biometrics to clamp down on anyone entering who has a criminal record in Albania, the Home Office said.

Continue reading...

Wholesale gas prices tumble as Europe prepares to intervene in energy markets

Posted on by

European Commission says it is working ‘flat out’ on emergency intervention and on longer-term structural reform

The wholesale price of gas has dropped sharply in a rare respite from recent highs on signs that Europe is preparing to intervene directly in energy markets.

The European Commission said it was working “flat out” on an emergency package, and on a longer-term “structural reform of the electricity market” to combat soaring prices while efforts to fill gas storage facilities appear to be ahead of schedule.

Continue reading...

Historic monuments resurface as severe drought shrinks Spain’s reservoirs

Posted on by

Prehistoric stone circle and 11th-century church uncovered as country’s reservoirs hit 36% of normal capacity

A huge megalithic complex and a centuries-old church are among the underwater monuments to have resurfaced in Spain as a severe drought causes water levels to plunge.

After a prolonged dry spell, Spain’s reservoirs – which supply water for cities and farms – are at just under 36% capacity, according to environment ministry figures for August.

Continue reading...

First ship carrying grain from Ukraine docks on Horn of Africa

Posted on by

Food experts say shipment is drop in bucket for drought-hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia but hope supplies pick up

The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine for people in the hungriest parts of the world has docked at Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, as areas of east Africa are badly affected by deadly drought and conflict.

Food security experts say it is a drop in the bucket for the vast needs in the worst-hit countries of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, the country to which the shipment is going. But the flow of Ukrainian grain to other hungry parts of the world is expected to continue, with another ship leaving on Tuesday for Yemen. The UN World Food Programme has said it was working on multiple ships.

Continue reading...

Spanish region urges ‘respect for bulls’ after seven deaths at fiestas

Posted on by

More than 300 festival goers also injured during 2022’s Bous al Carrer festivities

Authorities in the eastern Spanish region of Valencia are calling on festival goers not to “lose respect for bulls” after seven people were killed by the animals during this year’s Bous al Carrer bull-running fiestas.

The summer festivities – which translate as “bulls on the street”, and which are held in towns and villages across Valencia – have also resulted in more than 300 injuries in the past two months.

Continue reading...

Eurostar to axe direct trains from London to Disneyland Paris over Brexit

Posted on by

High-speed rail firm blames departure from EU and Covid for decision to halt service next summer

Eurostar has decided to stop direct services from London to Disneyland Paris from next summer, citing the fallout from Brexit and Covid.

The high-speed train operator said on Tuesday it was scrapping trains running from the British capital to the Disneyland site in Marne-la-Vallée, in the eastern Paris suburbs.

Continue reading...