Moscow has been hit by a heatwave this week, with temperatures reaching a 120-year record high due to the effects of the climate emergency, Russia’s weather service has said
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Covid news: UK removes quarantine requirement for arrivals from Balearics, Malta and some Caribbean islands
Latest updates: territories are added to UK’s green list or green watchlist, while more countries added to red list
- Portuguese PM hints at tighter Covid rules for tourists from UK
- Public inquiry into Covid must begin now, says senior judge
- No 10 says mass event pilot findings will be published ‘shortly’
- Long Covid sufferers face new ordeals as sick pay runs out
- Coronavirus global updates – live
Rory Boland, travel editor for consumer group Which?, said travellers still needed to be “extremely cautious” about booking trips abroad.
He said: “Countries can be downgraded quickly and with little warning, as we saw with Portugal, while several European countries have introduced quarantine requirements for UK residents. “Restrictions around international travel are changing regularly and when they do, the cost to holidaymakers is significant. “Most providers will not pay refunds if a country is moved from green to amber, and ‘free’ amendments are often anything but, with many companies requiring significant notice of any changes and bookings for new dates usually costing hundreds of pounds. Travel insurance is also unlikely to pay out in these circumstances. “It is only advisable to book if you are able to do 14 days’ quarantine, can be flexible about destination and dates, and book with a provider that guarantees refunds in the event of traffic light changes or quarantine requirements.”
Eluned Morgan MS, minister for health and social services in Wales, said: “International travel is resuming but the pandemic is not over and protecting people’s health remains our main priority.
“Our strong advice continues to be not to travel overseas unless it is essential because of the risk of contracting coronavirus, especially new and emerging variants of concern.
Continue reading...After 16 years of Merkel, EU summit could mark end of an era
Analysis: Outgoing German chancellor attended her first summit in 2005 with likes of Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac
When Angela Merkel attended her first EU summit in December 2005, her fellow leaders included Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac. It was a different world from the one that exists now as she attends what could be her last.
Europe’s divisions over the Iraq war were still raw. Blair was running the European Council, as the British held the EU’s rotating presidency. During the summit, the UK brokered a deal on the EU budget that cut the British rebate to pay for enlargement into central and eastern Europe.
Continue reading...Greek police arrest Dutch journalist for helping Afghan asylum seeker
Ingeborg Beugel was detained for ‘facilitating the illegal stay of a foreigner’ and faces up to a year in jail
A Dutch journalist based in Greece has been arrested on the Greek island of Hydra for hosting an Afghan asylum seeker in her home and could face up to a year in prison if charged and convicted.
Ingeborg Beugel, 61, a freelance correspondent for Dutch media who has lived on Hydra for almost 40 years, was arrested on 13 June accused of “facilitating the illegal stay of a foreigner in Greece”. The charge carries a 12-month prison sentence and a fine of €5,000 (£4,300).
Continue reading...Britain acknowledges surprise at speed of Russian reaction to warship
Kremlin summons UK ambassador as Boris Johnson says HMS Defender’s deployment ‘wholly appropriate’
British officials acknowledged they were taken by surprise by the speed of the Russian reaction to HMS Defender’s 36-minute passage through Crimean waters on Wednesday as the British ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Kremlin.
Although a Russian response to the Royal Navy warship’s passage within the 12-mile territorial limit was anticipated, the UK Ministry of Defence did not expect the Kremlin to speedily declare that warning shots had been fired.
Continue reading...Violence towards refugees at Libyan detention centres forces MSF to pull out
Medical charity says abuse and attacks have escalated as more migrants are intercepted at sea and camps become increasingly overcrowded
Increasing violence towards refugees and migrants held in Libyan detention centres has forced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to suspend its operations at two facilities, the medical charity said.
MSF said its teams witnessed guards beating detainees, including those seeking treatment from MSF doctors, during a visit to the Mabani detention centre in Tripoli last week.
Continue reading...UK-Russian naval dispute: both sides will claim victory
Analysis: Royal Navy ship sailing near Crimea may also be test of Beijing reaction to territorial reach
British ministers will have been under no illusions that the decision to sail HMS Defender into disputed waters off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea would provoke a reaction from the Kremlin.
A dispute about whether warning shots were fired or not is beside the point – although if they were, they were miles out of range. Because even if the west considers Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, to be still part of Ukraine, the Russians do not and will act accordingly.
Continue reading...Seven Greek Orthodox bishops hurt in acid attack by priest
Priest undergoing disciplinary hearing in Athens is suspected of attack that put clerics in hospital
Seven bishops from the Greek Orthodox Church have been hurt in an acid attack by a priest undergoing a disciplinary hearing in Athens, police said.
Three of the bishops were still in hospital following the attack late on Wednesday, while a police officer who was at the scene was also being treated, police added. Local media in Greece reported that those attacked had suffered burns, mostly on their faces.
Continue reading...Royal Navy ship off Crimea sparks diplomatic row between Russia and UK
MoD and Moscow disagree over whether shots were fired at destroyer near disputed territory
Britain was unexpectedly embroiled in a diplomatic and military dispute with Russia on Wednesday after Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender briefly sailed through territorial waters off the coast of the disputed territory of Crimea.
The warship sailed for about an hour in the morning within the 12-mile limit off Cape Fiolent on a direct route between the Ukrainian port of Odesa and Georgia, prompting Russian complaints and a disagreement about whether warning shots were fired.
Continue reading...French state sued for ‘failing to protect’ woman who killed rapist husband
Lawyers say Valérie Bacot, on trial for murder, is victim of authorities’ gross negligence
Lawyers representing a woman who killed her stepfather turned husband after 24 years of violence that started when he raped her at 12 are taking legal action against the French state for “gross negligence” after claims the authorities failed to act on reports she was being abused.
Valérie Bacot’s defence team said a summons for liability had been filed with the Paris tribunal. Her lawyers point out that her children twice went to the police to report their father – who was Bacot’s stepfather – for abusing her but no action was taken.
Continue reading...Freed Catalan leader calls on Spain to ‘think about future generations’
Jordi Cuixart and eight others have left prison after being pardoned for their roles in the failed independence bid in 2017
The head of one of Catalonia’s biggest pro-independence groups has urged the Spanish government to think about “future generations and not just parliamentary stability” as he and eight other separatist leaders were released from prison after being pardoned for their roles in the failed bid to secede almost four years ago.
Jordi Cuixart, the president of the influential grassroots association Òmnium Cultural, said he was pleased to be free after serving more than three and a half years of a nine-year sentence for sedition.
Continue reading...Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police must be ‘investigated urgently’
Council of Europe and human rights groups demand answers after footage shows man being pinned to the ground
Human rights organisations are leading calls for an urgent investigation into the death of a Czech man who died after being restrained by police, after footage of the incident went viral on social media.
The neck restraint technique used during the arrest of a Romany man was “reckless, unnecessary and disproportionate, and therefore unlawful”, according to Amnesty International, who also called on the local authorities for an immediate, impartial investigation and a ban on coercive techniques that severely restrict breathing.
Continue reading...WHO voices concerns over Sputnik V Covid vaccine plant
WHO reports issues with quality control data and test results as Slovakia announces it is offloading 160k doses
The World Health Organization has said it has concerns about the methods used at one plant producing the Sputnik V vaccine, as Slovakia announced it would sell or donate 160,000 of the 200,000 doses it has ordered of the Russian shot.
The WHO, which along with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing Sputnik V for eventual approval, said in a report on Wednesday it had issues with the integrity of quality control data and test results at one of the four production sites it had seen.
Continue reading...AI helps return Rembrandt’s The Night Watch to original size
Rijksmuseum reproduces Dutch master’s work in all its glory, 300 years after it was cut to fit between doors
The Night Watch by Rembrandt has enraptured millions visiting Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and its previous homes over the centuries, dazzling with its scale and fine detail.
But it is only from today, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence to recapture some of the Dutch master’s genius, including the sweep of his brush strokes and perspective of his eye, that it can for the first time in 300 years be enjoyed in its complete form.
Continue reading...App maps shady spots to guide Barcelona walkers along cooler routes
Cool Walks aims to help pedestrians avoid dangerous heat and find public drinking fountains
A new app promises to help Barcelona residents find the shadiest route between two places to avoid extreme heat.
Cool Walks, a routing tool for pedestrians first developed at a data visualisation contest, aims to show users a variety of walking routes to take for their intended destinations.
Continue reading...Moving on: why the EU is not missing Britain that much
On the 5th anniversary of Brexit, commentators reflect on the EU’s success at rallying together after Britain’s exit
On the night of 23 June 2016 a storm broke out over Brussels. Rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the headquarters of the European Union’s institutions.
Then in the small hours came a political thunderbolt almost no one had forecast: the UK had voted to leave the union. Five years on, the Brexit tempest has subsided – in Brussels, if not in London.
Continue reading...Assad forces’ shelling in Syria causes 5,000 civilians to flee
At least 31 people killed since start of June amid government attacks on Idlib area
About 5,000 civilians in the north-west of Syria have been forced to flee their homes after more government shelling targeting the contested area, a local aid agency said.
At least 31 people have died since the beginning of June, victims of Bashar al-Assad’s forces hitting civilian buildings in southern Idlib province. The buildings included a hospital, displacement camp school, and a White Helmets headquarters. The number of dead includes three children and a civil defence worker who was killed in an attack on the town of Qastoun on Saturday.
Continue reading...Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police compared to that of George Floyd
Video footage challenges official claims that the cause of death was unrelated to man’s arrest
Video footage of a police officer kneeling on the neck of a Romany man who later died in an ambulance is being shared among Czechs on social media, leading many to compare his treatment to that of George Floyd.
The video, shot on 19 June, shows three police officers in Teplice, a town in the north of the Czech Republic, detaining a Romany man on the floor. As one officer holds the man’s feet, another appears to kneel on his neck, and a third tries to handcuff him. Voices of several Roma bystanders are heard in the video.
Continue reading...Vatican urges Italy to stop proposed anti-homophobia law
Law calls into question the church’s ‘freedom of organisation’ and threatens ‘freedom of thought’, letter claims
The Vatican has made an unprecedented intervention urging the Italian government to change a proposed law that would criminalise homophobia over concerns it will infringe upon the Catholic church’s “freedom of thought”.
A letter delivered by British archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary of relations with states, said parts of the legislation violated a treaty made between Italy and the Catholic church in the 1920s that secured the freedoms and rights of the church, Corriere della Sera reported.
Continue reading...‘What if someone buried my son?’ Anguish of search for Armenia’s war dead
Overwhelmed labs struggle to process DNA tests after Nagorno-Karabakh war leaves 5,000 dead
Eight months after the end of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh that left more than 5,000 people dead, many soldiers are still missing. In Armenia, families are desperately looking for news about their loved ones. There is a growing lack of trust around DNA tests and a lack of information, leading to mounting pressure on the government.
Larissa Dureyan has been looking for her 20-year-old son Mxitar since October. He began his mandatory military service in July 2019 and was serving in Fizuli when war broke out in September last year.
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