Category Archives: Europe

Putin orders troops into eastern Ukraine on ‘peacekeeping duties’

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Russian deployment follows decision to recognise territories in south-east will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation

Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to enter the Russian-controlled areas of southeast Ukraine following a decision to recognise the territories as independent states.

The decision to dispatch his troops to perform “peacekeeping duties” will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation of the region and likely trigger tough sanctions and a Ukrainian military response.

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‘Dumb and lazy’: the flawed films of Ukrainian ‘attacks’ made by Russia’s ‘fake factory’

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Bellingcat founder Elliot Higgins says Russia’s propaganda films have got worse but that Russian viewers, especially the older generation, tend to believe fake TV footage

The video shows a ghostly scene. A night-time battle is taking place in a forest. There are flashes and mysterious bangs. An unidentified figure cries out in pain. The wounded man is wearing a helmet. Otherwise there are few clues as to where the footage was shot, or what exactly is going on.

A TV report by Russia’s state-run channel one gave the answer. The man seen in eerie silhouette was a Ukrainian saboteur, it said. He was part of a diversionary team sent across enemy lines into pro-Russian separatist territory. His mission? To blow up a local chlorine plant in the rebel-held town of Horlivka, the channel said.

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Putin’s absurd, angry spectacle will be a turning point in his long reign

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This was a supreme leader marshalling his minions for a decision that will change the security architecture in Europe and may well lead to horrific war

Sitting alone at a desk in a grand, columned Kremlin room, Vladimir Putin looked across an expanse of parquet floor at his security council and asked if anyone wished to express an alternative opinion.

He was met with silence.

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Abandoned burning ship ‘had $400m cargo of luxury cars’

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Estimate by insurers comes as Felicity Ace is ‘still assumed to remain on fire south of the Azores’

An abandoned ship that caught fire in the mid-Atlantic last week was carrying $401m (£295m) worth of cars, including Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini models, an insurance estimate has revealed.

Felicity Ace, a specialist cargo ship carrying more than 4,000 cars, caught alight near the Azores on Wednesday evening. The vessel’s 22 crew members were evacuated but the fire continued to burn for several days, fuelled by lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles on board.

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Accidental killing of hiker fuels bitter debate over hunting in France

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Woman hit by stray bullet during wild boar hunt sparks row over stricter regulations before presidential election

The accidental killing of a hiker by a teenager who was hunting wild boar has rekindled a bitter debate over stricter regulations of France’s hunting tradition before the presidential election in April.

The 25-year-old woman was walking with a friend along a marked trail near Aurillac in the heavily forested Cantal region when she was hit by a stray bullet on Saturday. She died instantly.

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Final piece of 17th-century tapestry stolen 42 years ago found by Spanish police

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Flemish work taken by notorious art thief ‘Erik the Belgian’ tracked down by officer doing academic research on art thefts

Spanish police have recovered the final piece of a 17th-century tapestry that was stolen 42 years ago by a notorious art thief.

The 4-metre by 6.5-metre tapestry, known as La apoteosis de las artes (The Apotheosis of the Arts), was one of six Flemish tapestries taken from the church of Santo Domingo in the town of Castrojeriz in northern Spain, in the early hours of 7 November 1980.

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Germany hopes protein-based Covid vaccine will sway sceptics

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About 1.4m doses of Nuvaxovid to arrive in country this week, after EU approval in December

Germany will offer its population a new protein-based Covid-19 vaccine comparable to conventional flu jabs this week, in the hope of swaying a sizeable minority that remains sceptical of the novel mRNA technology used in the most commonly used vaccines.

About 1.4m doses of the Nuvaxovid vaccine developed by the US biotech company Novavax are to arrive in Germany this week, the country’s health minister, Karl Lauterbach, confirmed last Friday. A further million doses are to arrive the week after, with the German government’s total order for the year 2022 amounting to 34m doses.

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Macron paves way for potential Putin-Biden summit on Ukraine crisis

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Flurry of phone calls by French president leads to ‘in principle agreement’, as US warns war is imminent

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has invited Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to attend a summit aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis, and the leaders have agreed in principle, Macron’s office has announced, amid further US warnings that war is imminent.

The Élysée Palace put out a statement on Sunday evening following last-minute diplomatic efforts by the French president to try to dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine.

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Italy’s ambassador to Australia dies in fall from balcony in home town

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Francesca Tardioli, 56, was found dead outside her house in Foligno, Umbria

The Italian ambassador to Australia has died after falling from a balcony in her home town in Foligno in the Umbria region.

According to reports, Ambassador Francesca Tardioli, 56, was found dead outside her house after apparently falling from the third floor. The incident is being investigated by the police in Italy.

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‘All you can do is cry’: Donbas evacuees face uncertain future in Russia

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Border regions appear unprepared for hundreds of people arriving from separatist-controlled areas in Ukraine

The first stop for Ella Fyodorova after she fled her home in eastern Ukraine was a windblown tent camp just across the Russian border, part of a mass evacuation effort that observers fear may become the pretext for Russia to launch a formal intervention in Ukraine.

“I wanted to stay, but my husband came home, and said: ‘Get your things together, we’re going,’” she said as she wrestled her two-year-old son into a blue snowsuit to walk to the public toilets nearby.

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Memory of 1938 hangs heavy in Munich as Ukrainian president calls for action

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‘Has the world forgotten its mistakes of the 20th century?’ asks Volodymyr Zelenskiy as invasion looms

Just 20 minutes walk from the ornate Hotel Bayerischer Hof, where world leaders gathered this weekend for the Munich security conference, lies No 12 Arcisstrasse, the shuttered brown ornamental building known as the Führerbau.

On a cold grey Sunday morning, the building, now temporarily closed and in disrepair, has a forbidding air. Near the steps at the front is a small plaque with the bare inscription in German, Czech and Slovak: “In this building, on 29 September, 1938, the Munich agreement was signed, which led to the smashing of the Czechoslovak republic.”

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‘Golden visa’ lawyers call for UK to rethink blanket ban

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Critics say end of scheme risks billions in overseas investment due to myth that ‘foreign money is dirty money’

London lawyers who help the global super-rich apply for “golden visas” to enter the UK have called on the government to reconsider its decision to abolish the Tier 1 investor visa scheme, warning that it would be “enormously damaging” to the economy.

Kyra Motley, a partner at the law firm Boodle Hatfield, said the UK was jeopardising billions of pounds in overseas investment “because of a popular myth that foreign money is dirty money”.

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UK ‘weakening threat to Kremlin by failing to close property loophole’

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EU capitals concerned UK is not ensuring identity of real estate owners known in event of sanctions

Britain has frustrated its EU allies and weakened the west’s financial threat to the Kremlin by failing to close a loophole that will ensure London real estate remains a safe haven for Russian money, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels.

New legislation, described as the “toughest ever” by the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, gives the UK government powers to freeze the assets of individuals linked to the Russian state in the event of an invasion of Ukraine but fails to “capture” property owned via anonymous offshore structures.

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Ukraine’s leader stood on platform of peace, but finds himself on brink of war

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Western governments have expressed solidarity with Volodymyr Zelenskiy but behind scenes there has been exasperation

When Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to become Ukraine’s president he stood on a platform of peace. Zelenskiy promised to sit down with Vladimir Putin and to reach a deal with Russia. He would end the unpopular war in the east and concentrate on important domestic reforms. These included ridding the country of corruption and oligarchs.

The plan didn’t work out. Nearly three years after winning a landslide victory, Zelenskiy is a president on the brink of war. About 190,000 Russian troops are poised on Ukraine’s borders. The US president, Joe Biden, has warned of an attack on Kyiv. A Kremlin military offensive – whether full-scale or more limited in scope – seems likely, possibly within hours or days.

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Ukraine crisis: Putin and Macron agree to try to secure ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and urgent summit

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Leaders spoke on the phone for 105 minutes and outcome suggests Russia might be willing to step back from brink of invasion of Ukraine

Russian media has confirmed the deaths of two Ukrainian soldiers in the government-held part of Donetsk on Saturday, claiming the servicemen were part of a “sabotage group” planning “terrorist attacks” against gas pipelines and electrical substations in the region.

The claim comes as western leaders continue to accuse Moscow and Russian-backed rebels of spreading misinformation as pretext for a possible invasion.

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Australian rivals and Brexit barriers leave UK farmers on stony ground

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Talk at this week’s NFU conference will be alive with financial, labour and competition concerns

Swapping their pastures for the concrete jungle, hundreds of Britain’s farmers will take off their wellies this week and head to a conference centre in central Birmingham for the annual shindig of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

Nearly 1,500 food producers will meet to discuss the “blueprint for the future” of British farming, against the backdrop of the biggest upheaval in a generation in agriculture, following the UK’s departure from the EU and the pandemic, and amid discussions about future land use in the face of the climate crisis.

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‘God forbid the Cossacks come’: fears of war rise in Ukraine’s frontline towns

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In divided Luhansk, residents have lived in the shadow of conflict for years. But now the shells are getting louder and closer

Raisa Malashenko was trundling her rusty bicycle, laden with bags of food, through the centre of Stanytsia Luhanska on Saturday afternoon. The 81-year-old did not flinch as booms of artillery sounded in the distance.

Her five children have all left this frontline town, some for Russia and others for safer parts of Ukraine. “It’s just me and my cow now,” she said mournfully.

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‘They torched our clubhouse’… but Sicilian rugby team won’t let mafia win

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Librino’s amateur players have to guard their new pitch and facilities every night – but it’s worth it to keep children out of the clutches of Cosa Nostra

Gloria Mertoli’s shift is over when the first light of dawn shines on the goalposts of a rugby pitch in the Librino district of Catania, a stronghold of the Cosa Nostra, the feared Sicilian mafia. Since mobsters torched the clubhouse and team bus, she and other players on the women’s rugby team, Briganti Librino RUFC, have taken turns to stay after evening practice and guard the area overnight.

Since the club started working to take children – easy targets for mafia recruitment – off the streets of Librino, the clans have tried to put it out of business. “Librino is a complex neighbourhood,” Piero Mancuso, one of the founders of the Briganti, told the Observer. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy to work here. These criminal attacks risked destroying everything we had achieved in recent years. But if I look at what we have done so far, I can say that these attacks have made us stronger.”

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EU praises ‘restraint’ of Kyiv government; Blinken denounces Kremlin claims – as it happened

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European Council urges Moscow to ‘de-escalate’ its military buildup; Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says global security architecture is failing

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron will speak by phone on Sunday, the TASS news agency reported.

A second separatist leader, Leonid Pasechnik of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), has signed a decree calling for a full military mobilisation, according to Reuters.

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