The Spanish festival of Las Luminarias has been held for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
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Italian police arrest alleged Black Axe Nigerian mafia members over trafficking
Four arrests of cult-like criminal gang members made in southern Italy after Nigerian woman forced into prostitution comes forward
Four alleged members of the Nigerian mafia have been arrested in southern Italy after a young sex trafficking survivor spoke out against them.
The men, who were arrested in Palermo and Taranto in the early hours of Tuesday, allegedly belong to the feared Black Axe, a cult-like criminal gang that emerged in the 1970s at the University of Benin, according to police.
Continue reading...US and Russia to hold talks on Ukraine in potential sign ‘diplomacy is not dead’
US secretary of state Tony Blinken to meet with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov amid fears of Russian attack on Ukraine
The US and Russian foreign ministers will hold talks in Geneva on Friday in a development that a US official said suggested that “perhaps diplomacy is not dead” in the efforts to fend off a new Russian attack on Ukraine.
With the White House warning that such an attack could come “at any time”, the US secretary of state, Tony Blinken, will fly to Kyiv on Wednesday and Berlin on Thursday to consult with the Ukrainian government and European allies before the meeting the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. It comes as Nato also offered Russia a fresh round of talks.
Continue reading...Paris goes in search of its lost looks with ‘manifesto for beauty’
City leaders concede ‘trashed Paris’ campaign has a point and commit to beautification
Paris city authorities have published a “manifesto for beauty” containing plans to spruce up the City of Lights, where an online campaign highlighting ugliness and filth has piled pressure on mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said that several recent initiatives from the Socialist-Green alliance that runs the capital would be scrapped, including allowing Parisians to plant their own gardens on public space.
Continue reading...‘A voice like Sinatra’: Berlusconi woos backers in bid for Italian presidency
Disgraced former PM and one-time ship’s crooner resorts to joke phone invitations to ‘bunga bunga’ parties
The one thing missing from the list of 22 personality traits and accomplishments flaunted in a full-page newspaper advert entitled “Who is Silvio Berlusconi?” was the former Italian prime minister’s talent for singing. But the one-time cruise ship crooner, one of Italy’s most controversial leaders, well known for his myriad legal woes, is hoping his pleasant voice will seduce dozens of parliamentarians into backing his bid to become Italy’s next president.
The secret ballot begins on 24 January and Berlusconi, 85, has broken from tradition by shamelessly campaigning for the job, a largely ceremonial role with powers to resolve political crises, even without officially throwing his hat into the ring. His charm offensive, which includes telephone canvassing of unaffiliated parliamentarians whose votes could secure his victory and jokingly inviting them to his “bunga bunga party”’, is stoking tensions in Italy’s ruling coalition, blocking meaningful debate on an impartial candidate who all parties can agree on – and igniting protests among Italians who find the prospect of the scandal-plagued Berlusconi becoming head of state abominable.
Continue reading...France reports nearly half a million new cases, a record increase; Italy records 228,179 daily infections – as it happened
France registers 464,769 new Covid-19 infections over the last 24 hours; Italy’s cases jump from 83,403 a day earlier
- Nicola Sturgeon announces lifting of Omicron restrictions in Scotland
- More than 900 Covid deaths in England and Wales in first week of January
- Calls for French MP to resign after announcing Covid protocol from Ibiza
- Hong Kong to cull thousands of hamsters after Covid found on 11
- UK Covid and Boris Johnson developments – live
China’s postal service has ordered workers to disinfect international deliveries and urged the public to reduce orders from overseas after authorities claimed mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks, Agence France-Press reports.
In recent days, Chinese officials have suggested that some people could have been infected by packages from abroad, including a woman in Beijing whom authorities said had no contact with other infected people but tested positive for a variant similar to those found in North America.
Continue reading...Covid live: unvaccinated over-60s face monthly fine in Greece; UK reports another 84,429 cases and 85 deaths
Un-jabbed older people in Greece face penalties starting at a €50; UK cases continue downward trend
- Winter Olympics tickets will not be sold as China seeks to contain Covid
- Don’t buy from abroad, Chinese told as Covid threatens holidays
- ‘I have no intention of getting it’: understanding Omicron’s severity
- Moderna aims to launch single Covid and flu booster jab within two years
- Irish foreign minister orders inquiry into champagne lockdown party
Germany is reporting a daily rise of 34,145 confirmed coronavirus cases and 30 deaths, according to recently released figures from the Robert Koch Institute.
The numbers bring the cumulative total of infections to 8,000,122 and 115,649 coronavirus-related deaths.
Continue reading...Russia moves troops to Belarus for joint exercises near Ukraine border
Move likely to stoke invasion fears as war games also planned near borders of Nato members Poland and Lithuania
Russia has begun moving troops to Ukraine’s northern neighbour Belarus for joint military exercises, in a move likely to increase fears in the west that Moscow is preparing for an invasion.
The joint military exercises, named United Resolve, are to take place as Russia also musters forces along Ukraine’s eastern border, threatening a potential invasion that could unleash the largest conflict in Europe for decades.
Continue reading...The modernist marvel that Hamburg took to its heart: ‘Elphi’ turns five
As the €866m Elbphilharmonie celebrates its fifth anniversary, what could have been a costly mistake has become a symbol of the German city. London, take note
Five years ago the world felt a very different place. Pandemics belonged to disaster movies; the UK was reeling from the divisive Brexit vote but, with Theresa May newly installed as prime minister, the hope was that she might succeed in a soft Brexit and, in London; Simon Rattle’s imminent arrival as the London Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor was eagerly anticipated and along with it the city’s transformative new Centre for Music.
Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie opened in January 2017 with a glittering gala attended by celebrities and dignitaries. The spectacular concert hall was praised for its bold design, its superb acoustics and its “exceptionally exceptional exceptionalness”. But in London the hope – back then – was that the city’s own new concert hall would one day also be a world-leading arts venue to compete with Hamburg’s.
Continue reading...Far-right French presidential candidate found guilty of racist hate speech
Éric Zemmour drew widespread outrage in September 2020 after a tirade against child migrants
A French court has found the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour guilty of racist hate speech for a tirade against unaccompanied child migrants.
Zemmour drew widespread outrage in September 2020 when he told the CNews channel that child migrants were “thieves, killers, they’re rapists. That’s all they are. We should send them back.”
Continue reading...Irish foreign minister orders inquiry into champagne party during lockdown
Photo shows department officials drinking Moët & Chandon in June 2020 while strict rules were in force
The Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has ordered an inquiry into a champagne celebration involving officials in his department at the height of the first Covid lockdown.
A photo of the celebration in June 2020 showed about 20 officials drinking Moët & Chandon champagne, without wearing masks or social distancing.
Continue reading...French parliament approves vaccine pass law to tackle Covid
Law will require people to have a certificate to enter public places such as restaurants and cinemas
France’s parliament has given final approval to the government’s latest measures to tackle Covid-19, including a vaccine pass contested by anti-vaccine protesters.
Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted 215 in favour to 58 against on Sunday, paving the way for the law to enter force in the coming days.
Continue reading...Italian nurse accused of giving fake Covid jabs to anti-vaxxers arrested
Police say people were fraudulently obtaining Covid passes by having fake vaccinations in Palermo
Italian police have arrested a nurse in Palermo for allegedly pretending to give Covid vaccines to anti-vaxxer activists so they could benefit from official health certificates to travel and access bars, restaurants and public transport in the country.
Investigators used a hidden camera to film the nurse, a 58-year-old woman working at an inoculation centre in the Sicilian capital. The clip, released on Saturday on Twitter, shows the health worker apparently loading up a dose of Covid-19 vaccine and then emptying the syringe into a tissue before pretending to inject it into the arms of anti-vaxxers.
Continue reading...Ukraine says evidence points to Russia being behind cyber-attack
Claim comes as Microsoft warns hack that hit government websites could be worse than first feared
Ukraine has said it has “evidence” Russia was behind a massive cyber-attack that knocked out key government websites last week, while Microsoft warned the hack could be far worse than first thought.
Tensions are at an all-time high between Ukraine and Russia, which Kyiv accuses of having massed troops on its border before a possible invasion. Some analysts fear the cyber-attack could be the prelude to a military attack.
Continue reading...France’s divided leftwing candidates called on to back ‘people’s primary’
Activists are gaining support for move to hold popular vote to decide who stands in presidential election
A group of political activists will make one desperate last attempt this month to save the bitterly divided French left from an electoral catastrophe in the presidential election with a “people’s primary” to designate a single candidate.
The Primaire Populaire was initiated by young people dismayed by the fractures that could mean no leftwing or socialist figure will reach the second round of the election in April.
Continue reading...Finland, Sweden and Norway to cull wolf population
Conservation groups appeal to EU to take action against slaughter they allege flouts rules
Finland is joining Sweden and Norway in culling wolves this winter to control their population, as conservation groups appeal to the European Union to take action against the slaughter.
Hunters in Sweden have already shot dead most of their annual target of 27 wolves, while Finland is to authorise the killing of 20 wolves in its first “population management cull” for seven years.
Continue reading...Ashling Murphy: thousands attend vigils across Ireland for teacher killed going for run – video
Thousands have gathered in towns and cities across Ireland after the 'senseless' killing of the 23-year-old teacher, with echoes of the national reckoning that was sparked in the UK last year by the murder of Sarah Everard. Murphy was killed on Wednesday afternoon while going for a run along the banks of the Grand Canal in Tullamore in County Offaly
Continue reading...Ashling Murphy: thousands attend vigil for Irish teacher killed going for run
Killing of 23-year-old in County Offaly has provoked outpouring of grief and anger in Ireland and beyond
Thousands have gathered in the town of Tullamore in Ireland as a vigil was held for Ashling Murphy.
Other memorials were also held across Ireland after the “senseless” killing of the 23-year-old teacher, with echoes of the national reckoning that was sparked in the UK last year by the murder of Sarah Everard.
Continue reading...US claims Russia planning ‘false-flag’ operation to justify Ukraine invasion
- Officials: Moscow has already positioned saboteurs in Ukraine
- Allegation arrives on day Ukraine hit by ‘massive’ cyber-attack
The US has alleged Russia has already positioned saboteurs in Ukraine to carry out a “false flag” operation to use as a pretext for a Russian attack, which Washington says could begin in the coming month.
The allegations came on the same day as a large-scale cyber-attack on Ukrainian government websites, and amid new reports of Russian military hardware on the move from the far east heading westwards.
Continue reading...Djokovic’s fans at home vent fury – but Serbian politicians tone rhetoric down
Fans say Australia’s visa denial a witch-hunt, while Belgrade starts to distance itself from player’s anti-vaccine stance
Novak Djokovic’s supporters in Serbia have reacted furiously to Australia’s decision to cancel the world tennis No 1’s visa for a second time, but the government has yet to respond officially and previously vociferous politicians have stayed quiet.
The unvaccinated tennis star on Friday asked a court to block his deportation before the Australian Open after Australia’s immigration minister revoked his visa, citing strict Covid-19 entry regulations and stating it was in the public interest.
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