Analysis: Investors often turn to US currency in times of uncertainty and there are plenty of reasons for them to be jittery
It is two decades since the euro was last trading below $1.00 (£0.84) against the US dollar. Now the single currency is once again teetering on the brink of parity.
There are a host of reasons why, although the prompt for the most recent slide in the currency has been the fear Europe faces an energy crunch this winter.
Continue reading...At least 86 Chinese cities issue alerts, while temperatures soar in south-west and central US and Iberian peninsula
Dangerous heatwaves are engulfing parts of China, Europe, south-west and central US this week, as dozens of cities have found themselves dealing with soaring summer temperatures.
By Tuesday afternoon, at least 86 Chinese cities in eastern and southern parts of the country had issued heat alerts. Chinese meteorologists forecast temperatures in some cities would top 40C (104F) in the next 24 hours.
Continue reading...Euro slides to a 20-year low of $1.0001 on anxiety that Europe will fall into recession, as Heathrow introduces limit on summer holiday passengers
The euro is teetering ever closer to parity with the dollar.
It’s now trading at just $1.0005, on concerns that the shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline for maintenance could become permanent.
“While we believe that a cessation of Russian gas supply to Europe is a real possibility, one that would cause a Eurozone-wide recession with three consecutive quarters of economic contraction, there are also good reasons to assume that gas supplies will resume after the maintenance.”
Continue reading...Blow for industry as government backs WHO data and vows to cut additives in ham and cured sausages
French health authorities say they have confirmed a link between nitrates added to processed meat and colon cancer, dealing a blow to the country’s prized ham and cured sausage industry.
The national food safety body Anses said its study of data published on the subject supported similar conclusions in 2015 from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Continue reading...White House says it shows how Russia’s weaponry has been depleted by its relentless bombardment of eastern Ukraine
Iran is planning to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine, according to a top US official.
Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the information received by the US supported views that Russia’s heavy bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the country’s east in recent weeks, were “coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons”.
Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Continue reading...Analysis: Kyiv says it is raising a million-strong army but it will need to carefully plan its counterattack
Ukraine hopes to assemble a “million strong” army to try to retake territory occupied by Russia, the defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said over the weekend. Its forces, he added, had also demonstrated to the US they could make good use of newly acquired longer-range rocket artillery, opening the door to the supply of more.
But however impressive sounding the claims were, it is hard to believe Ukraine is yet capable of an effective counteroffensive, even if the much-vaunted US Himars and the British M270 rocket artillery, with their range of 70km to 80km, have begun to arrive and are being put to good use. A turning of the military tide, if it happens at all, will most likely take time.
Continue reading...‘Buy now, pay later’ firm, once Europe’s most valuable private tech company, valued at less than $7bn
Klarna, the “buy now, pay later” fintech darling that was once Europe’s most valuable private tech company, has seen its value slashed by 85% to less than $7bn in its latest round of fundraising.
The company, which enjoyed stellar growth while also being criticised for potentially leading shoppers into unsustainable debt, announced the valuation after the conclusion of a difficult $800m funding round as investors continued to question the true worth of many tech businesses.
Continue reading...EU executive responds following claims Neelie Kroes lobbied Dutch PM and others
The EU executive has announced it will write to its former vice-president Neelie Kroes “for clarification” following revelations that she secretly helped Uber lobby the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and a string of other national politicians.
The European Commission has been facing calls to open an immediate inquiry and “defend the EU’s integrity” in the wake of the reports, which showed that Kroes called Dutch government authorities about Uber less than six months after leaving her post as the EU’s top official on internet policy.
Continue reading...Dior reportedly demands €100,000 compensation from Valentino after Spanish Steps show ‘hampered’ access to store
A row has broken out in the world of high fashion after the French house Dior demanded compensation from Italian rival Valentino for allegedly blocking access to a Dior boutique during a show on the Spanish Steps in Rome, according to a claim by fashion website Women’s Wear Daily.
Valentino positioned its audience of fashion editors, photographers and celebrities – among them Naomi Campbell, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway – at the foot of the 18th-century travertine staircase in Piazza di Spagna. The Dior shop on Via Condotti looks on to the piazza.
Continue reading...Almost all European countries have reported surge in infections, driven mainly by Omicron variant BA.5
European regulators have recommended a second Covid-19 booster jab for everyone over 60 as well as all medically vulnerable people across Europe amid mounting infections and hospitalisations.
The EU’s health and medicine agencies had previously recommended a second booster for people over the age of 80 in April. But with concerns growing over the rise in cases in Europe, driven mainly by the Omicron variant BA.5, the advice has been widened effective immediately.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 18 this morning, and rescuers were still trying to reach survivors in the rubble, the emergency services said.
Rescuers were in voice contact with two people trapped in the ruins of the five-storey block in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region that was struck late on Saturday, the service said.
Continue reading...Man, 23, was trying to retrieve mobile phone and he and his family now face charges for entering forbidden area
An American tourist sustained minor injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius as he scrambled to retrieve his phone.
The 23-year-old and his family reached the 1,281m-high (4,202ft) summit of the volcano towering over the southern Italian city of Naples after bypassing a visitor turnstile and proceeding along an out-of-bounds path.
Continue reading...Parts of France and Germany likely to experience temperatures above 40C this week, while highs in Iberia could touch 47C
Europe is once again entering a period of significant heatwave conditions this week, with the possibility of some record-breaking temperatures.
Sweltering heat has already been affecting Iberia over the past few days, with temperatures 4-5C above the seasonal norm, leading to highs above 40C (104F). Through the rest of this week, the heat is likely to build even more intensely to about 7C above average, with maximum temperatures touching 46-47C in Seville, for instance.
Continue reading...Black Widow actor rails at ‘how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see’
Florence Pugh has hit back at “vulgar” social media users who criticised her body, after she posted photographs of herself wearing a sheer dress at a fashion show.
“What happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?” said Pugh in an Instagram post on Sunday to her 7.4 million followers.
Continue reading...At least 18 people dead after Russian missile attack on eastern Ukrainian town; residents in two southern regions urged to evacuate as Ukraine prepares to launch counteroffensive
Continue reading...Donetsk governor says dozens trapped after hit in town of Chasiv Yar; Volodymyr Zelenskiy says dismissals are ‘normal part of diplomatic practice
The Independent is reporting that new polling suggests public support from Britons for Ukrainian refugees is waning.
The paper said that polling undertaken by YouGov in March indicated that 75% of people supported Ukrainians settling in the UK.
Continue reading...Ministers fear flow may never restart as annual maintenance work soon begins on Nord Stream 1 pipeline
Germany is bracing itself for a potentially permanent halt to the flow of Russian gas from Monday when maintenance work begins on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that brings the fuel to Europe’s largest economy via the Baltic Sea.
The work on the 759-mile (1,220km) pipeline is an annual event and requires the gas taps to be closed for 10 to 14 days. But never before in the pipeline’s decade-long history has Germany seriously been asking whether the flow will begin again.
Continue reading...More than 24 people thought to be trapped in rubble of five-storey block in town of Chasiv Yar
At least 15 people have died and dozens were injured after a series of rockets fired by Russian forces hit a five-storey apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow was accused of raising “true hell” in Donbas, stepping up the assault on the city of Sloviansk.
Earlier in the morning, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said on Telegram that more than 24 people could be trapped under the rubble of the apartment block, as rescue operations were still under way.
Continue reading...Country’s film industry makes 20 horrors in last six years, as directors channel the vampires and banshees of traditional tales
A century after Bram Stoker introduced Dracula to the world, Irish storytellers are again conjuring vampires – as well as zombies, ghosts, changelings and grisly, mysterious diseases – and this time on the big screen.
Young film directors are channelling Ireland’s dark folklore and contemporary social ills into a wave of horror films that are finding mainstream audiences overseas.
Continue reading...Talented musician, 17, stuck in Russian occupied area after British government changes policy on travel rules
A talented 17-year-old violinist living on the frontline in south-east Ukraine has been left waiting three months for a British visa, revealing serious flaws in government promises to help unaccompanied children.
Anastasiia, who lives in the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting has been intense, has faced constant shelling while waiting to join a family in Hertfordshire.
Continue reading...