Category Archives: Europe

US claims Russia planning ‘false-flag’ operation to justify Ukraine invasion

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  • 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.

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Djokovic’s fans at home vent fury – but Serbian politicians tone rhetoric down

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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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£576,000 office renovations will save taxpayers money, EU official insists

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German MEP Rainer Wieland spent £20,000 on a light fitting and the same amount on bespoke doors

A vice-president of the European parliament is facing questions after it was revealed he had spent nearly €690,000 (£576,000) on lavish office renovations.

Rainer Wieland, a Christian Democrat MEP from Germany, spent €486,011 on a state-of-the-art office and €134,774 “showroom” next door, both built from scratch on the 15th floor of the European parliament in Brussels, according to a leaked report seen by the Guardian.

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Election battle lines set as Macron pits himself against France’s unvaccinated

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Growing political divisions over Covid rules have emerged in run-up to presidential election in April

Emmanuel Macron is facing growing political divisions over Covid rules in the run-up to the spring presidential election, after his proposed vaccine pass was delayed and teachers took strike action, amid ongoing street demonstrations and a rise in violent threats against politicians.

With an increasing mood of fatigue among French voters after two years of the pandemic and a significant mistrust of the political class, the president –– who is likely to hold off declaring his re-election bid for several weeks as the coronavirus health crisis continues –– wants to be seen as reliable but firm.

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Italian police object to being sent pink face masks to wear on duty

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Union chief writes to head of police saying ‘eccentric’ masks could damage image of the institution

Fashion-conscious Italian police are in revolt after receiving batches of pink face masks to wear on duty, arguing that the “eccentric” colour is ill-matched with their uniforms.

Police units in six cities were sent the FFP2 masks from the office of Italy’s Covid-19 emergency commissioner, Francesco Paolo Figliuolo.

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The princess and the Caravaggio: bitter dispute rages over Roman villa

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‘It’s like a museum,’ says princess caught in inheritance feud over one of the world’s most expensive homes

As legend goes, tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain guarantees a return visit to Rome. When, as a 16-year-old American tourist, Rita Carpenter participated in the ritual and made a wish to one day marry a Roman and live in the Italian capital, little did she know that almost five decades on she would return to marry a prince and home would be a 16th-century villa stuffed with history, including the only ceiling mural ever painted by Caravaggio.

But now Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi is facing the prospect of having to move out of the sprawling Villa Aurora, and the vast treasures it contains are at risk of being closed off to the public.

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La Palma’s volcanic headache: what to do with all the lava and ash

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In recent days many evacuees have come home, as the island scrambles to find a use for the spewed matter

For three months they were subject to whims of a roaring volcano. Now residents on the small Spanish island of La Palma are wrestling with another dilemma: what do with the millions of cubic metres of lava and ash it left behind.

The volcano rumbled for 85 days, ejecting ash and rivers of lava that swallowed more than 1,000 homes, cut off highways and suffocated the lush banana plantations that drive the island’s economy.

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Low key and loyal: the domestic response to Russian troop buildup

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Analysis: After eight years of conflict with the west, many Russians appear resigned to whatever course Putin chooses

Russia’s buildup of a potential invasion force on Ukraine’s borders has produced little reaction at home despite western threats of devastating economic consequences that would harm tycoons, top businesspeople and the general public alike.

Since 2014, recurrent rounds of sanctions over the annexation of Crimea, the shooting down of the MH17 jetliner, the 2016 US elections interference, the Salisbury poisonings, the attempted assassination of Alexei Navalny and other international scandals have steeled Vladimir Putin’s elite supporters and prepared them for the worst.

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Covid live: Poland advisers quit over concerns government not following science; Netherlands to lift some curbs

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More than two thirds of Poland’s Covid-19 medical advisory body resigns; restrictions in the Netherlands will be eased from Saturday

South Korea will extend tougher social distancing rules for three more weeks amid concerns over a looming Omicron wave ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, officials said on Friday.

The curbs were restored a month ago just six weeks after being eased under a “living with Covid-19” scheme, as record-breaking numbers of new cases and critically ill patients threatened to saturate the country’s medical system.

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Ukraine hit by ‘massive’ cyber-attack on government websites

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Suspected Russian hackers leave message warning: ‘Ukrainians … be afraid and expect worse’

Ukraine has been hit by a “massive” cyber-attack, with the websites of several government departments including the ministry of foreign affairs and the education ministry knocked out.

Officials said it was too early to draw any conclusions but they pointed to a “long record” of Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine, with the attack coming after security talks between Moscow and the US and its allies this week ended in stalemate.

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What have Ukraine talks achieved, and is war now more likely?

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Russia calls talks a ‘dead end’ and it becomes clear that troop build-up is not a bluff to achieve other ends

The Guardian’s world affairs editor assesses the outcome of three rounds of talks this week about the fate of Ukraine, involving Russia, the US, Nato and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Did the talks achieve anything?

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Europe closer to war now than at any point in last 30 years, Poland warns – video

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Poland's foreign minister has warned that Europe is closer to war than it has been at any time in the last three decades, at the launch of his country's year-long chairing of the region's largest security organisation. Without naming Russia in his address on Thursday to envoys from the 57 members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Zbigniew Rau mentioned tensions in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova, all countries with active or frozen conflicts in which Russia has been alleged to be a party

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Jailing of Syrian intelligence officer ‘step towards justice’ say former detainees

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Anwar Raslan’s conviction in Germany sends signal that Assad regime systematically uses torture, say detention system survivors

For survivors of Syria’s brutal detention system, the landmark conviction of a former Syrian intelligence official for crimes against humanity represents a vital step towards justice.

“We initially hoped for a trial at the international criminal court, but nevertheless this is an important step,” said Hussein Ghrer, one of 24 former detainees of Branch 251, a military intelligence unit with its own prison in Damascus, who testified against Anwar Raslan.

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Russia says talks with Nato over Ukraine are hitting a dead end

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OSCE mission warns ‘crisis on the continent may arise’ as Polish foreign minister says Europe faces greatest risk of war in 30 years

Russia has said talks with Nato over Ukraine were hitting a dead end, while threatening to take unspecified “necessary measures” if its demands were not met.

A volley of downbeat statements from Russian senior officials emerged as Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, warned that Europe faced its greatest risk of war in 30 years.

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Two men detained in Italy over Milan new year sexual assaults

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Suspects alleged to have been part of gang that carried out attacks on at least nine women

Italian police have detained two men accused of involvement in a series of sexual assaults during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Milan.

Abdallah Bouguedra, 21, and Abdelrahman Ahmed Mahmoud Ibrahim, 18, are accused of “serious sexual assault accompanied by the robbery of mobile phones and handbags”, Milan’s acting prosecutor, Riccardo Targetti said.

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French teachers walk out of classrooms in strike over Covid strategy

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Unions accuse government of lack of consultation and say teachers have been treated with ‘disdain’

French teachers are holding one of the biggest education strikes in recent years, forcing the closure of hundreds of primary schools in protest at the government’s handling of Covid-19 measures in the education sector.

Trade unions said they expected 75% of primary teachers to walk out and 62% of secondary teachers. The education ministry gave much lower figures on Thursday morning, saying there was an average of 38.5% of teachers on strike in primary schools, and just under 24% in high schools. Teachers and education support staff were expected to join a protest march through the centre of Paris to the education ministry.

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French bakers in pain over cut-price supermarket baguettes

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Leclerc destroying ‘dignity’ of profession for selling a baguette for 29 cents (24p)

French bakers have taken aim at a major supermarket chain that is offering inflation-busting low prices for baguettes, saying the move will undermine competition in one of the country’s prized industries.

The Leclerc group said in newspaper ads on Tuesday that “because of inflation, the average price of baguettes could increase significantly. That’s unthinkable”, vowing to cut into its profit margins to cap the cost of the signature French loaf at 29 euro cents (24p).

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German court jails former Syrian intelligence officer for life

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Anwar Raslan found to have overseen murder of at least 27 people and torture of at least 4,000 at Damascus prison

A German court has sentenced a Syrian former intelligence officer to life in prison in a case the UN rights chief said could lead to accountability for other perpetrators of the war’s “unspeakable crimes”.

Anwar Raslan, a former colonel loyal to the regime who later defected and gained asylum in Germany, was deemed by the judge at Koblenz higher regional court to have verifiably overseen the murder of at least 27 and torture of at least 4,000 prisoners at a detention facility in Damascus.

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Increased repression and violence a sign of weakness, says Human Rights Watch

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Watchdog’s latest report argues autocrats around the world are getting desperate as opponents form coalitions to challenge them

Increasingly repressive and violent acts against civilian protests by autocratic leaders and military regimes around the world are signs of their desperation and weakening grip on power, Human Rights Watch says in its annual assessment of human rights across the globe.

In its world report 2022, the human rights organisation said autocratic leaders faced a significant backlash in 2021, with millions of people risking their lives to take to the streets to challenge regimes’ authority and demand democracy.

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