Category Archives: Europe

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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A Bosnian winter: families bid to reach Europe’s heart – in pictures

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Through mud and ice, parents and children from Afghanistan and elsewhere attempt the desperate crossing into Croatia. Few make it. Most are reportedly pushed back, time and again, often brutally. The Guardian followed some migrants on their exhausting journeys

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Northern Ireland suspends Brexit checks amid safety fears for port staff

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Decision came after council withdrew 12 staff at Larne following reports of ‘menacing behaviour’

Brexit checks on animal and food products arriving into Belfast and Larne ports have been suspended amid fears over the safety of staff, Northern Ireland’s agriculture ministry has said.

The decision came after Mid and East Antrim borough council agreed on Monday night to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port with immediate effect, following an “upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks”.

A spokesman for Stormont’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) said: “On the basis of information received today and pending further discussions with the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland], Daera has decided in the interests of the wellbeing of staff to temporarily suspend physical inspections of products of animal origin at Larne and Belfast.

“The situation will be kept under review and in the meantime full documentary checks will continue to be carried out as usual.”

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Navalny prosecutors seek three-and-a-half-year jail term

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Putin spokesman says Moscow will ignore US pleas for opposition leader to be freed in wake of protests

Russian state prosecutors are poised to jail the opposition leader Alexei Navalny for three-and-a-half years, with the Kremlin shrugging off US complaints about his case on Monday ahead of a crucial court hearing on Tuesday.

Navalny – who was jailed after flying back to Moscow last month – faces the prospect of a lengthy spell behind bars. Vladimir Putin’s press spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would ignore statements from the Biden administration, following Sunday’s mass pro-Navalny protests.

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Germany considering Russian and Chinese vaccines to boost Covid inoculation drive

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Health minister’s comments come before summit on country’s sluggish programme

Germany should use the Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccines if they win EU approval, the health minister has said, as the French president said Europe must step up its vaccine roll-out and several European countries began easing restrictions.

Speaking ahead of an emergency summit with vaccine manufacturers to tackle the country’s sluggish rollout, Jens Spahn said that if a vaccine “can be considered safe and effective, regardless of what country it has been produced in, then it could help”.

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French minister criticises UK’s ‘risky’ Covid vaccine strategy

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Clément Beaune says French would not accept such risks, as he defends EU’s slower progress

Britain has taken “a lot of risks” in its Covid vaccination programme that would be intolerable to the French public, France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, has said in defence of the EU’s record on vaccines.

With 14% of the UK adult population having received a first jab, compared with 3% of people across the 27 EU member states, there is growing discontent in the bloc.

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Dante’s descendant seeks to overturn poet’s 1302 corruption conviction

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Seven centuries after the poet was found guilty in Florence, Sperello di Serego Alighieri has begun a campaign to clear his ancestor’s name

The reputation of Dante Alighieri needs little burnishing: his Divine Comedy, tracing the poet’s journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, is widely regarded as one of the greatest works ever written. But more than 700 years after Dante was accused of corruption and condemned to be burned to death, his descendant is looking to clear his name.

Sperello di Serego Alighieri, an astrophysicist, and the law professor Alessandro Traversi are working to see if Dante’s 1302 sentencing for corruption in political office can be reversed.

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‘Police searched my baby’s nappy’: migrant families on the perilous Balkan route

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‘The game’ of crossing the Croatian-Bosnian border with children often results in degrading treatment and violent pushbacks, refugees say

An Afghan girl pulls her baby sister along in a pram through the mud and snow. Saman is six and baby Darya is 10 months old. They and their family have been pushed back into Bosnia 11 times by the Croatian police, who stripped Darya bare to check if the parents had hidden mobile phones or money in her nappy.

“They searched her as though she were an adult. I could not believe my eyes,” says Darya’s mother, Maryam, 40, limping through the mud and clinging to a stick.

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Estonia’s first female prime minister vows to tackle climate crisis

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Kaja Kallas, 43, took power on Tuesday after the previous coalition collapsed due to a corruption scandal

Estonia’s first female prime minister has promised to implement changes in both style and substance in the governance of the Baltic nation, as she takes charge after two years in which a far-right party was in the ruling coalition.

Kaja Kallas, a 43-year-old lawyer and head of Estonia’s Reform party, was sworn into office on Tuesday.

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UK may help EU before domestic vaccination programme complete, says Liz Truss

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Trade secretary had previously hinted supplies may not be diverted until UK population was vaccinated

The UK could help the EU and other nations with coronavirus vaccine supplies even before the domestic vaccination programme has been completed, the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has said.

As ministers sought to smooth relations with Brussels after the EU’s much-criticised and swiftly rescinded decision to impose a vaccine border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Truss sought to stress the need for international cooperation.

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Alexei Navalny protests: Moscow in lockdown as police detain thousands

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Riot police and national guard troops close central metro stations and block off streets

Police have paralysed the centres of Russia’s largest cities, including Moscow, as the Kremlin sought to beat back rallies in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the country’s most significant protests in a decade.

Supporters of the Kremlin critic took to the streets to protest against his jailing, despite the biting cold and threat of arrest. At least 4,700 people, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, were detained as the rallies across the country entered a second week.

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Swedish nurse to be sole attendee of film festival on remote island

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Lisa Enroth was chosen from 12,000 applicants to be Gothenburg film festival’s castaway on Pater Noster

Scandinavia’s biggest film festival is going ahead this year despite the coronavirus pandemic, but will be hosted on an isolated island and admit only one attendee – a healthcare worker, who has been selected from 12,000 applicants.

Lisa Enroth, a Swedish nurse and film fan, was chosen to be the 2021 Gothenburg film festival’s castaway who will spend a week on the remote island of Pater Noster watching film after film.

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Dogs’ barking prompts owners’ rescue from Swiss avalanche

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Two people caught in avalanche in Switzerland were rescued after their dogs barked for help

Two people caught in an avalanche in Switzerland were rescued after their dogs barked for help, attracting the attention of nearby snow-shoers who were able to dig them out, the air ambulance service Rega said on Sunday.

The avalanche swept the pair off a hiking trail in the Avers Valley of south-western Switzerland, near the Italian border and west of St Moritz, shortly after 3pm on Saturday, Rega said in a statement.

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The Greeks had a word for it … until now, as language is deluged by English terms

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A leading linguist pleads for moderation as a huge outbreak of ‘Greenglish’, much of it Covid-related, spreads

Usually, Professor Georgios Babiniotis would take pride in the fact that the Greek word “pandemic” – previously hardly ever uttered – had become the word on everyone’s lips.

After all, the term that conjures the scourge of our times offers cast-iron proof of the legacy of Europe’s oldest language. Wholly Greek in derivation – pan means all, demos means people – its usage shot up by more than 57,000% last year according to Oxford English Dictionary lexicographers.

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