Category Archives: Europe

Confusion over the Alaska summit shows Vladimir Putin still calls the shots

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Donald Trump rewarding the Kremlin’s hardline attitude shows Russia can still sideline Ukraine from deal to end war

In the five months since Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at the Oval Office in late February, Ukrainian officials have worked hard to repair the damage of that day, which ended with the Ukrainian president being kicked out of the White House.

With advice from European allies, Zelenskyy recalibrated his strategy for dealing with the Trump administration, and there was a feeling it was broadly going well. “We managed to reset communications, to find a new language to work with Trump,” said one senior official in Kyiv a week ago.

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Elon Musk’s Tesla applies to supply electricity to households in Great Britain

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US carmaker makes move for licence that would allow it to provide energy to domestic and business premises

Elon Musk’s Tesla is gearing up to launch a household electricity supplier in Great Britain in the coming months.

The US electric car manufacturer run by the world’s richest man has formally applied to the energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, for an electricity supply licence, according to a notice published on the watchdog’s website.

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UK family killed in car crash on holiday in southern Portugal

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Four members of family from Thetford, Norfolk, died after car collided with another vehicle in Alentejo region

A UK family have been killed in a car accident while holidaying in southern Portugal, local authorities have confirmed.

Domingos Serrano, 55, his wife, Maria, 51, and their 20-year-old twin sons, Afonso and Domingos, died when their car collided with another vehicle on Saturday on the IP2 motorway near Castro Verde, in the Alentejo region.

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‘Why is this happening?’: violent attacks terrify Ireland’s immigrant community

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Spate of physical incidents includes attack on a six-year-old girl at a County Waterford housing estate

In the west Dublin suburb of Tallaght, a group of teenagers accosted, beat and partially stripped an Indian man, who was then filmed staggering and bleeding. Days later a gang attacked another Indian man in the nearby suburb of Clondalkin, hitting him in the face, chest, back and legs, leaving him with a fracture, gashes and multiple bruises.

Days later again, two male passengers turned on an Indian taxi driver in the north Dublin suburb of Ballymun, striking him across the face with a bottle and shouting: “Go back to your country.”

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Iran and Russia stand to lose from US deal with Azerbaijan and Armenia

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Trump-brokered peace treaty predicted to suffocate geopolitical influence of Washington’s rivals in region

Iran expressed concern about foreign interference on Saturday, fearing it had been carved out of a declaration brokered by Donald Trump between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two countries have come closer to ending 35 years of enmity by signing a peace treaty in Washington and agreeing to a US private consortium taking control of a strategic corridor on Iran’s border.

The corridor passing through southern Armenia will link Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, a longstanding demand of Baku. The US will operate the corridor under Armenian sovereignty on a 99-year land lease, changing the balance of power in the region. Some Iranian commentators claimed the deal amounts to “Iran’s geopolitical suffocation in the region”.

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Women call out ‘creepy’ experiences on Vinted as trolls and image thieves target site

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Scrutiny of selling platforms grows as female users warning of harassment on sites after photos stolen and sexualised

Users of secondhand clothing websites such as Vinted are warning about the danger their images will be used against their will on pornography sites, and sounding the alarm about the spread of sexually charged harassment under their posts.

The potential for hijacking photos posted on the internet for real or faked erotic content has long been known, but victims and their advocates say culprits appear to have zeroed in on Vinted with targeted campaigns.

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Path to peace cannot be decided without Ukraine, says Europe

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Ukrainian and European partners to join UK foreign secretary and US vice-president at Chevening for talks

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, held a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners in Britain on Saturday to discuss the drive for peace in Ukraine.

The summit comes before a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for next Friday in Alaska. In a comment that that was met with pushback from Kyiv, the US president said that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers”.

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Azerbaijan and Armenia sign peace deal at White House that creates a ‘Trump Route’ in region

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Deal to end four-decade conflict includes creation of transit corridor named ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity’

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace agreement at the White House on Friday, in a deal brokered by the US that brings decades of conflict to an end.

The two countries in the South Caucasus signed agreements with each other, as well as the US, that will reopen key transportation routes while allowing the US to seize on Russia’s declining influence in the region. The deal includes an agreement that will create a major transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, with the United States owning development rights to the corridor. It was to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said.

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Italians turn away from private beaches amid debate over rising prices

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Figures suggest shift from country’s traditional summer culture, with lounger and parasol rentals up to €90 a day

Italians appear to be snubbing beaches this summer, amid claims they are rebelling against the high prices charged by the owners of private beach concessions.

Going to the beach and renting cabins, loungers and parasols – usually at the same location – has long been an ingrained habit of Italian summer holiday culture.

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Amsterdam nightclub scheme becomes flashpoint in Dutch city planning rows

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Heritage concerns overruled as developers say planning approvals too slow in nation aiming to build 1m more homes

Amsterdam was once famous for its alternative nightlife but now a planned new multi-storey building that will be home to a club, cafe and apartments has become a flashpoint in the battle between preserving heritage buildings and rowdy entertainment.

In the latest urban planning tussle to hit one of Europe’s most densely populated countries, neighbours of Amsterdam’s planned “Institute for Night Culture” (INC) fear it will shake their foundations.

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Madrid cultural diversity festival ban is ideological, its organisers claim

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Kúpula se Mueve, which celebrates African and Latin culture, has been held without problems since 2013

Madrid city council has banned a festival celebrating cultural diversity, claiming that it may lead to public disorder and complaints about noise from residents.

The Kúpula se Mueve (Kúpula Moves) festival has been held without incident since 2013. Josias Ndanga, president of the association, insists the claims are an excuse, saying: “We’re convinced we’re being discriminated against on ideological grounds.”

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Timetables, tricky tickets and high prices: the problems with European cross-border rail travel

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For all the fanfare over new routes, fast and efficient rail services between major cities remain a rarity

At 9.55am every day since December, a German ICE high-speed train has left the Gare de l’Est in Paris headed, via Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt, for Berlin Hauptbahnhof, where – all being well – it pulls in just over eight hours later.

Remarkably, the service is the first direct, high-speed, centre-to-centre rail link between the capitals of the EU’s two biggest countries. Run by Deutsche Bahn (DB) and France’s SNCF, it has been hailed as a milestone in European train travel.

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‘Freeze’ in Ukraine war may be close, says Tusk, as US and Russia plan talks

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Polish PM makes remarks after speaking with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amid White House efforts to end the conflict

A “freeze” in the war in Ukraine may be close, the Polish prime minister said on Friday, as the White House and the Kremlin push forward with discussions for a high-level summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

Donald Tusk’s remarks came after he spoke with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has communicated with Trump and European leaders in recent days as the White House continues to try to broker an end to the three-and-a-half-year war.

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Russian football clubs secure €10.8m in Uefa ‘solidarity’ funds since Ukraine invasion

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Exclusive: Five Ukraine clubs failed to win similar payments due to allegedly being located in ‘zone of military operations’

Uefa has paid more than €10.8m (£9.4m) in “solidarity” funds to Russian football clubs since they were banned from taking part in European tournaments after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal.

The payments were made despite five Ukrainian clubs failing to receive similar such funds allegedly due to their locations being in a “zone of military operations”.

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Plan to reintroduce banned pesticide in France overruled by constitutional council

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‘Duplomb law’ provision to allow use of acetamiprid, toxic to pollinators, found not to abide by environmental charter

France’s top constitutional authority has ruled against the reintroduction of a pesticide that is harmful to ecosystems, saying it is unconstitutional.

The decision on Thursday night deals a blow to the government. It comes after weeks of opposition from the left, environmentalists and doctors, and a record-breaking 2m signatures on a petition against a bill that would have allowed a pesticide banned in France in 2020 to come back into use.

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Thousands of hotels in Europe to sue Booking.com over ‘abusive’ practices

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Class action lawsuit argues the online travel platform distorted market with ‘best price’ clauses

Booking.com is facing a class-action lawsuit from more than 10,000 European hotels arguing that the accommodation mega-site used its muscle to distort the market to their detriment over a 20-year period.

The Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes in Europe (Hotrec), which represents the industry within the EU and is bringing the legal action, recently extended to 29 August a deadline for hotel owners to join the suit because of high demand.

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Anniversary of birth of Irish hero Daniel O’Connell rekindles mystery of missing heart

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250th celebrations renew interest in searching for organ that disappeared from college in Rome

On his deathbed Daniel O’Connell, the man known in his time as “the Liberator” of Ireland, made a request: “My body to Ireland, my heart to Rome and my soul to heaven.”

On Wednesday Ireland marked the 250th anniversary of his birth with speeches and pomp and a nagging question: where is the heart?

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‘Unprecedented’ wildfire burns area size of Paris in southern France

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Advancing blaze scorches 16,000 hectares near Spanish border, destroying homes and forcing people to flee

Hundreds of firefighters are battling to stop the spread of a fast-moving wildfire in southern France after one woman died and nine people were injured as the blaze scorched a vast area of the Corbières hills.

The blaze burned an area the size of Paris over one afternoon and night and was still burning on Wednesday evening, making it the second biggest fire in France in 50 years.

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Outrage as Spanish town bans Muslim religious festivals from public spaces

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Conservative People’s party in Jumilla votes to stop civic centres and gyms being used for activities ‘alien to our identity’

A local authority in south-east Spain has banned Muslims from using public facilities such as civic centres and gyms to celebrate the religious festivals Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha.

The ban in Jumilla, in Murcia, is a first in Spain. It was introduced by the conservative People’s party (PP) and passed with the abstention of the far-right Vox party and the opposition of local leftwing parties.

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Shares in European drug companies hit four-month low as Trump tariffs loom

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President repeats threat to bring in levies ‘within next week or so’ in attempt to get companies to move production to US

Shares in European pharmaceutical companies have sunk to a four-month low, after Donald Trump repeated his threats to introduce tariffs on drug imports “within the next week or so”.

Europe’s Stoxx Health Care index slid by 2.8% on Wednesday, falling to its lowest level since mid-April, shortly after the US president’s initial “liberation day” tariff announcements.

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