Category Archives: Europe

Eurostar calls for ‘credible’ Channel rail strategy as monopoly decision looms

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Operator says if rivals are allowed to squeeze into existing facilities it could jeopardise its investment

Eurostar has urged the UK government to choose a “credible long-term strategy” for international rail or risk “falling behind” the rest of Europe, before a crucial decision by the regulator that could end its cross-Channel monopoly.

The high-speed train operator warned that a “premature” ruling from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to allow competitors to squeeze trains into existing facilities could jeopardise its planned investment and expansion.

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Zelenskyy defends bill stripping anti-corruption bodies’ independence amid protests

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Move by Ukrainian president widely opposed and may prove a setback to hopes of country one day joining the EU

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has defended his approval of a contentious bill that weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies as its passage into law triggered the first serious protests against his government.

The move on Tuesday has put the president on a collision course with civil society activists and some of Ukraine’s veterans, and is likely to dismay Ukraine’s European partners.

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Israeli cruise ship turned away from Greek island by Gaza war protest

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Tourists greeted on Syros by banner saying Stop the Genocide and prevented from disembarking

A cruise liner carrying Israeli tourists has been forced to reroute to Cyprus after being turned away from the Greek island of Syros after a quayside protest over the Gaza war.

Around 1,600 Israeli passengers on board the Crown Iris were prevented from disembarking amid safety concerns when more than 300 demonstrators on the Cycladic isle made clear they were unwelcome over Israel’s conduct of the war and treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. A large banner emblazoned with the words Stop the Genocide was held aloft alongside Palestinian flags.

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French culture minister to be tried for alleged corruption while an MEP, source says

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Rachida Dati denies lobbying for Renault-Nissan carmaker

The French culture minister, Rachida Dati, is to go on trial over alleged corruption and abuse of power while she was a member of the European parliament, a judicial source has said.

Dati, 59, who had hoped to run for Paris mayor in next spring’s municipal elections, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the Renault-Nissan carmaking group while an MEP. She has denied the allegations and has repeatedly sought without success to have the charges quashed.

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‘No long sermons’: how influencer Catholic priests are spreading the word of God online

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Vatican invites 1,000 social media missionaries to digital jubilee conference

Mixing prayer and gospel with poetry, art and bodybuilding, the rising stars in the influencer world are not just those flaunting fashion and travel but also Roman Catholic priests spreading the word of God.

Pope Francis latched on to the trend and, just months before his death in April, made the mission of evangelising on social media a priority for the church.

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Russia using children to design and test its military drones, investigation finds

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Teenagers who take part in video games tell of being headhunted to work on technology used against Ukraine

Russian authorities have systematically involved children in the design and testing of drones for the country’s war in Ukraine through nationwide competitions that begin with innocent-seeming video games and end up with the most talented students headhunted by defence companies, an investigation has found.

The revelations, part of an investigation by the exiled Russian news outlet the Insider, are the latest to show just how much Russia’s leaders are dragging the country’s youth into the war effort in Ukraine, with “patriotic” and militarised education often spilling over into outright participation.

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Man rescued trying to reach Spain from Morocco in rubber ring and flippers

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Family in yacht pulled young man from the sea off Costa del Sol

A man who was apparently trying to reach Spain from Morocco using a rubber ring and flippers has been rescued after he was spotted by a family sailing to the Balearic islands.

The family were on their yacht 13 nautical miles south of the Andalucían town of Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol, on 16 July when they manoeuvred around the stern of an oil tanker and saw something moving on the waves.

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Large rise in abuse claims at mines that may be vital to EU’s energy transition, report says

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Researchers find 270 allegations at mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year

Mines on the EU’s periphery that could be critical to its energy transition have recorded a large rise in allegations of abuse ranging from workplace deaths to soil pollution, a report has found, with a threefold increase in 2024 from the average of the five previous years.

The nonprofit Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) found 270 allegations of environmental and human rights abuses in transition mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year, up from 92 the year before.

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Ibiza venue cancels music events after deaths of two British men in two weeks

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Ice hockey player Gary Kelly died at Ibiza Rocks Hotel as did fellow Scot Evan Thomson, who fell to his death on 7 July

An Ibiza hotel and music venue has cancelled a number of music events after the deaths of two British men on its premises in the space of two weeks.

Gary Kelly, 19, who was a professional ice hockey player for the Dundee Stars, died at the Ibiza Rocks hotel on Monday. His club paid tribute to the “hugely talented and charismatic individual” who “had a great future ahead of him”.

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Corrupt foreign border officials face being banned from the UK

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David Lammy announces sanctions regime to target anyone who helps people smugglers

Corrupt foreign officials, including police officers who profit from people smuggling, face being banned from the UK and having their assets frozen.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has announced a sanctions regime that from Wednesday will target anyone involved in assisting illegal immigration.

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Anti-AfD protesters interrupt Alice Weidel interview live on German TV

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Broadcaster to take precautions in future after whistling, shouting and music leave parts of exchange inaudible

A German public broadcaster has said it is reviewing its procedures after a live interview with the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland was interrupted by protesters.

During the television interview with ARD on Sunday, Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, appeared at times to struggle to hear the questions being asked of her as protesters gathered below the provisional stage for the interview in Berlin.

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Belgian police question two Israelis over war crimes accusations

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Authorities interviewed Israeli pair after they were seen at Tomorrowland music festival near Antwerp

Belgian authorities have said they briefly held and questioned two Israeli citizens who attended an electronic music festival last week, after pro-Palestinian groups accused them of war crimes.

Prosecutors said they had received legal complaints alleging that two Israeli soldiers responsible for “serious violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza were spotted at the Tomorrowland festival near the northern city of Antwerp.

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Norfolk woman hands over 16th-century painting identified as stolen 50 years ago

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Exclusive: Barbara de Dozsa had argued ownership because work by Italian artist Solario had been bought in good faith

A 16th-century Madonna and Child painting that ended up with a woman in Norfolk after it was stolen from a museum in Italy half a century ago is to be returned to its rightful owner.

After years of soul-searching, and persuading by an art lawyer who was acting pro bono, Barbara de Dozsa decided to hand it over to the Civic Museum of Belluno, which last saw the painting in 1973.

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Zelenskyy accuses Russia of ‘assault on humanity’ after latest drone barrage

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Germany vows to expedite delivery of Patriot systems as drone strikes Kyiv metro station sheltering civilians

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of “an assault on humanity” after a barrage of drones and missiles hit Ukraine, as Germany promised to supply five Patriot air-defence systems to help an under-pressure Kyiv.

Ukraine’s president said Moscow had launched more than 420 drones and more than 20 missiles in its latest overnight attack, killing at least two people and targeting a metro station in the capital where people were sheltering.

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Two seriously injured as car crashes into barn roof in Germany

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Vehicle veered off road in Bohmte, hit a boy on a trampoline then catapulted into the air, police say

Police in northwestern Germany said on Sunday that several people were injured when a car veered off a road, hit a seven-year-old boy on a trampoline and crashed into a barn roof on its side.

Police said that the car first collided with a parked vehicle in the town of Bohmte, broke through a hedge and drove into a garden where it hit the boy.

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Leaked document shows boat slashing failed to stop migrants reaching UK

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Coastguard log raises new concerns over safety and viability of flagship policy to intercept dinghies crossing Channel

New concerns about the safety and viability of the flagship UK-French policy to intercept migrant dinghies at sea have emerged after a coastguard log leaked to the Guardian revealed a recent boat-slashing incident that failed to stop people reaching the UK.

Despite the government’s pledge to stop overcrowded dinghies crossing the Channel, the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats this year has increased by about 50% compared with the same period last year, with more than 21,000 crossing so far in 2025.

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Masked rioters attack highway and clash with police in Limoges, France

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Overnight violence leaves nine police wounded, say authorities, who suspect a gang turf war

Dozens of masked assailants wielding metal bars, mortars and molotov cocktails attacked cars on a highway and clashed with police early on Saturday in the city of Limoges in central France, officials said.

The overnight clashes left nine police wounded, according to authorities, who said they suspected a gang turf war.

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Ukraine proposes new round of peace talks with Russia next week

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterates willingness to meet the Russian president Vladimir Putin face to face

Kyiv has proposed to Moscow a new round of peace talks next week, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, after negotiations stalled in early June.

Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers.

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Lammy announces exposure of 18 Russian spies after UK cyber-attacks

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Foreign secretary says two agents were involved in planting spyware on a device used by poisoning victim Yulia Skripal

The UK has exposed 18 Russian spies and their units responsible for cyber-attacks in Britain and hacking one of the victims of the Salisbury poisonings, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has said.

Announcing individual sanctions, Lammy said Russia had targeted media, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions and energy infrastructure in the UK in recent years.

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Spain’s People’s party hit by alleged multimillion cash-for-favours scandal

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Claims involve former finance minister Cristóbal Montoro and dealings with gas and other energy companies

Just when Spain’s opposition People’s party thought it had the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez on the ropes over a series of corruption scandals, it has been hit by a controversy of its own over alleged trafficking of influences by Cristóbal Montoro, the former finance minister.

It is alleged that Montoro established the “economic team”, a lawyer’s office linked to the finance ministry, which took kickbacks from gas and other energy companies in return for favourable government policy. It is claimed that between 2008 and 2015 Montoro and 27 other accused, among them senior treasury officials, were paid at least €11m (£9.5m) by big energy companies.

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