Category Archives: Europe

Freedom and fairness: Covid vaccine passport plans cause global unease

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Schemes are in development from Sweden to China, but there are fears around transmission and social unrest

It is the question being asked with increasing urgency around the world, at least in countries where the vaccine is already available: how much freedom to live life as it was before the pandemic should be granted to those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19?

Its impacts range from the speed at which economies can open, to when grandparents and grandchildren can hug again, but it is causing growing unease among decision-makers who warn there is a danger of dividing societies already under huge strain due to pandemic restraints.

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Outrage over French girl’s rape case sparks demand for law to protect minors

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Campaigners call for the introduction of an age of consent as 20 firefighters face charges

Protests will take place across France on Sunday in support of a woman allegedly raped by 20 firefighters when she was between 13 and 15 years old. Her case is being examined in the country’s highest court this week and campaigners hope it will lead to an age of sexual consent being enshrined in law as it is in the rest of the European Union.

Julie* says she was raped by Parisian firefighters over a period of two years, having been groomed by Pierre, a firefighter who had assisted her during a severe anxiety seizure when she was 13 in early 2008. Three of the accused have admitted they had sex with her but say it was consensual. In a journal written shortly afterwards Julie says she was “terrified and paralysed with fear” at the time.

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Poet, pioneer… can family finally honour legacy of Franco victim?

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DNA tests will confirm if exhumed body is Republican heroine, María Domínguez Remón, who overcame poverty to become the first female mayor

The hair that the clips and comb once held in place, probably in a bun, is long gone, as are the feet that filled the sandals, and the clothes to which the two buttons belong.

All that survives of the middle-aged woman who was murdered in 1936 and exhumed from the cemetery of the small Aragonese town of Fuendejalón last weekend is her skeleton, its split skull punched through by a bullet.

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The growing Brexit threat to Ireland

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Northern Ireland has become a touchstone for Brexit Britain as trade barriers threaten wider disruption. In the port of Larne, the challenges being faced offer useful lessons for the wider UK

The union jack flew proudly on Friday over the Victoria Orange Hall, a community centre in the Northern Irish port of Larne. Ferries arrived and trucks rolled off. In many ways it appeared to be business – and trade – as usual.

But tensions have been high in recent days because of post-Brexit border issues. Across much of Northern Ireland, supermarkets are struggling to fill shelves because exporters from Great Britain were unprepared for new checks – so consignments have not arrived.

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Coronavirus live: ‘We had clear focus on being quick but no blank cheque,’ says UK ex-vaccine chief of rollout success

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Kate Bingham says ‘the UK had a very strategic approach … to secure vaccines quickly. The European approach … was more about making sure you got the best value for money’

Venetians have celebrated a very different carnival this year, without the usual crowds of tourists, Reuters reported.

“It’s totally surreal,” said 47-year-old carnival-goer Chiara Ragazzon, an office worker. “What hits me most is the silence. You’ve always been able to hear music during the carnival, people having fun. But Venice in the fog - it’s still a magical place.”

Ragazzon and her husband had ventured into Venice from their home around 50 kilometres (30 miles) away.

More than 12 million people in the UK have now received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to government data up to and including 6 February.

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I crossed the world to see my dying dad – then the pandemic took me on a wild Europe odyssey

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When I tried to return from Jersey to Australia, I had no idea the journey would lead me through 16 cities in nine countries, and take nearly five months

On the morning of 1 July last year, while sitting in my apartment in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, I got the phone call I had dreaded since I moved to Australia.

My dad was dying.

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US return to the world stage presents huge opportunity for Britain

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Analysis: From Yemen and the Middle East, to Russia and China, the UK has to step up diplomatically

Joe Biden’s promise that the US is back on the world stage as an advocate of multilateralism holds huge opportunities for the UK so long as it steps up a gear diplomatically, uses its presidency of the G7 well and shifts its stance in the Middle East.

In the short term, Biden’s promise to end support for offensive operations in Yemen has led to calls for the UK to suspend its arms sales to Saudi Arabia, including from the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, Tobias Ellwood, and the shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy.

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Angela Merkel: Russia’s expulsion of diplomats over Navalny protests ‘unjustified’

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German chancellor condemns expulsion of European diplomats as Alexei Navalny appears in court again

Angela Merkel has condemned as “unjustified” Russia’s expulsion of European diplomats for participating in unauthorised demonstrations in support of the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

“We consider these expulsions to be unjustified. We believe it is yet another aspect that can be observed right now of Russia being quite far from the rule of law,” the German chancellor said on Friday at an online press conference with France’s president, Emmanuel Macron.

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Orthodox Church under fire in Romania after baby dies following baptism

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Six-week-old suffered cardiac arrest during ceremony, which involves three immersions in holy water

The Orthodox Church in Romania is facing growing pressure to change baptism rituals after a baby died following a ceremony which involves immersing infants three times in holy water.

The six-week-old suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital on Monday but he died a few hours later, the autopsy revealing liquid in his lungs. Prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation against the priest in the north-eastern city of Suceava.

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A quarter of people in France, Germany and the US may refuse Covid vaccine

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Survey finds hesitancy related to trust in government, and more acute in younger people

Nearly four in ten people in France, more than 25% of those in the US and 23% in Germany say they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a survey that underlines the challenge facing governments.

Hesitancy was markedly lower in Italy (12%), the UK (14%) and the Netherlands (17%), according to the seven-country survey, which revealed a close correlation between people’s reluctance to be vaccinated and their trust in central government.

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US supreme court sides with Germany in Nazi art dispute

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Court ruled unanimously that Germany had sovereign immunity in US courts from claims over the Guelph collection

The US supreme court rejected a suit on Wednesday by the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers for compensation from Germany for a storied collection of medieval art treasures.

Related: Nazi art dispute goes to US supreme court in landmark case

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Enter the Draghi: can ‘Super Mario’ save Italy as he did the euro?

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Called on to lead Italy’s government in crisis, the former central banker will need all the skills he honed saving the European currency

“Whatever it takes.” Three simple words that tamed the financial markets, saved the euro from possible collapse and turned Mario Draghi from an Italian technocrat into the central banker of his generation.

And an obvious choice to head a new coalition government in Rome at a time when the country is facing the triple whammy of Covid-19, economic collapse and political chaos.

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Court convicts French state for failure to address climate crisis

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State found guilty of ‘non-respect of its engagements’ aimed at fighting global warming

A Paris court has convicted the French state of failing to address the climate crisis and not keeping its promises to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

In what has been hailed as a historic ruling, the court found the state guilty of “non-respect of its engagements” aimed at combating global warming.

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Mario Draghi accepts mandate to form new Italian government

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Former ECB chief summoned by President Mattarella after collapse of Conte’s coalition in January

Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief, has accepted a mandate to try to form a new Italian government as the country seeks a way out of the political crisis triggered by the collapse of its most recent coalition.

Draghi, nicknamed “Super Mario” for his role in saving the European single currency, will have to galvanise support in parliament to quickly build a technical administration needed to manage the coronavirus pandemic and revive its battered economy.

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Fears rise that Polish libel trial could threaten future Holocaust research

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Case brought in wake of rightwing government criminalising blame of Polish nation for Nazi crimes could have implications for further research

Two Polish historians are facing a libel trial over a book examining Poles’ behaviour during the second world war, a case whose outcome is expected to determine the future of independent Holocaust research under Poland’s nationalist government.

A verdict is expected in Warsaw’s district court on 9 February in the case against Barbara Engelking, a historian with the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research in Warsaw, and Jan Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa. While the case is a libel trial, it comes in the wake of a 2018 law that makes it a crime to falsely accuse the Polish nation of crimes committed by Nazi Germany. The law caused a major diplomatic spat with Israel.

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Kremlin tries to downplay Navalny’s jailing as thousands arrested

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1,438 more reportedly arrested amid brutal police crackdown following opposition leader’s imprisonment

The Kremlin has attempted to play down the jailing of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying that his 32-month imprisonment will have not have “significant influence” on Russian politics or lead to a mass protest movement similar to the one in neighbouring Belarus.

Meanwhile, protesters detained at recent rallies in support of Navalny have complained of inhumane conditions as police hold them in overcrowded jails or on buses in subzero temperatures days after their arrest.

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Italian president Sergio Mattarella to seek a ‘high-profile’ government

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Media speculations suggest former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi could become prime minister

Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, has said he would seek a “high profile” government, as speculation grew that it may be led by the former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.

Mattarella made the announcement after ruling coalition partners failed to form a majority following Giuseppe Conte’s resignation as prime minister last week.

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Denmark’s former immigration minister to face impeachment trial for anti-migrant policies

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Parliament votes to try Inger Støjberg over 2016 order aimed at separating asylum-seeking couples

Denmark’s parliament has overwhelmingly voted to try a former immigration minister at the rarely used court of impeachment over a 2016 order aimed at separating asylum-seeking couples where one partner is under 18.

The 179-member Folketing voted 139-30 to try Inger Støjberg, who served in the previous government from June 2015 to 2019. The court will convene for the first time in 26 years.

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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny jailed for two years and eight months

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Court locks up Putin’s foe despite threat of protests and international condemnation

A Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison colony in a landmark decision for Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on the country’s leading opposition figure.

Navalny, who has accused the Russian president and his allies of stealing billions, was jailed for violating parole from a 2014 sentence for embezzlement in a case he has said was politically motivated.

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Vienna man’s body lay in apartment for months ‘forgotten’ by city department

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Man’s neighbor notified police of his death in November, but found in January that no one had come to collect his body

For two months, Vienna’s funeral services “forgot” to pick up the body of an elderly man who had died in his apartment, according to a city official.

The 66-year-old man had been living alone and had been ill for a long time, and was found dead in his flat on 11 November by a neighbour who had been helping him.

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