Category Archives: Europe

Covid-19 mink variants discovered in humans in seven countries

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Denmark has already launched a nationwide cull of its farmed mink herd after concerns for vaccine efficacy

Seven countries are now reporting mink-related Sars-CoV-2 mutations in humans, according to new scientific analysis.

The mutations are identified as Covid-19 mink variants as they have repeatedly been found in mink and now in humans as well.

Uncertainty around the implications of the discovery of a Covid-19 mink variant in humans led Denmark, the world’s largest mink fur producer, to launch a nationwide cull earlier this month.

The cull was sparked by research from Denmark’s public health body, the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), which showed that a mink variant called C5 was harder for antibodies to neutralise and posed a potential threat to vaccine efficacy.

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Colette: former French Resistance member confronts fascism and family trauma after 75 years

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On the anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg trials, 90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the Nazi concentration camp in Germany where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she had been a member of the French resistance and had always refused to set foot in Germany. That changes when a young history student named Lucie enters her life. Prepared to reopen old wounds and revisit the terrors of that time, Marin-Catherine offers important lessons

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‘I’ll never be the same again’: facing family trauma in a Nazi concentration camp

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Filmmaker Anthony Giacchino and producer Alice Doyard explain how a young history student persuaded Colette, 90, to visit the German concentration camp where her brother died

The new Guardian documentary, Colette, follows the remarkable story of a former member of the French resistance, as she travels to Germany for the first time to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp where her brother died 75 years ago. Persuaded to go on the journey by history student Lucie, 17, the pair support one another through an emotional journey into the past. “When I cross into Germany I’ll never be the same again,” says Colette, 90.

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It was always lost on Brexiteers – but the EU is fundamentally about peace | Rafael Behr

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The 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials puts the fantasy of resistance to tyrannical Brussels into proper perspective

“I would rather not shake hands with a German of my age,” says Colette Marin-Catherine. “But I give all possible credit to the generations that came after.” There is steel in the elderly voice, but no anger.

When Colette was 16, her older brother, Jean-Pierre, was deported to a German concentration camp. He was put to work as a slave labourer in underground tunnels assembling V2 rocket-propelled bombs. He died weeks before the camp was liberated by US soldiers. Brother and sister had both been active in the French resistance, but Colette escaped capture. She refused to set foot in Germany for another 74 years.

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Failure to seal post-Brexit deal would more than halve UK growth, says KPMG

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Accountancy firm warns of stalled economic recovery without EU trade agreement

Failure to strike a post-Brexit trade deal would cut the UK’s economic growth rate by more than half next year, delaying a full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.

The accountancy firm KPMG said the economy would suffer heavily should the UK fail to secure a trade deal with the EU before the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of December, just as the country attempts to escape the deepest recession since records began.

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UK, Italy and Spain record highest daily death totals since spring – as it happened

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This blog is closing now but you can follow our continuing live coverage here. Thanks for reading.

Related: Coronavirus live news: senator Chuck Grassley tests positive; airlines offer Covid testing

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Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brückner injured in German court

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Suspect, who is serving time for drug conviction, sustains two broken ribs in incident

A suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished from a Portuguese resort 13 years ago, sustained two broken ribs in an incident in a German court, authorities have said.

The incident occurred after Christian Brückner, who is serving time for a drug conviction, was taken to Braunschweig state court on Monday for a routine hearing on that case.

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Three detained in Germany over €1bn Green Vault jewel heist

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More than 1,600 officers involved in raids in Berlin following museum robbery last November

Police have raided apartments across Berlin and detained three people suspected of involvement in a jewel heist at a museum housing one of Europe’s greatest collections of treasures.

Thieves forced their way into the Grünes Gewölbe or Green Vault Museum in Dresden in November last year and got away with at least three sets of early 18th-century jewellery, including diamonds and rubies.

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Scents of history: study hopes to recreate smells of old Europe

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Researchers plan library of scents from plague repellents to early tobacco

From the pungent scent of a cigar to the gentle fragrance of roses, smells can transport us to days gone by. Now researchers are hoping to harness the pongs of the past to do just that.

Scientists, historians and experts in artificial intelligence across the UK and Europe have announced they are teaming up for a €2.8m project labelled “Odeuropa” to identify and even recreate the aromas that would have assailed noses between the 16th and early 20th centuries.

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Greece faces legal action over alleged expulsion of Syrian to Turkey

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Man with right to asylum in Germany allegedly stripped of papers and expelled in ‘refugee pushback’ while searching for 11-year-old brother

In the latest allegation that Greek authorities are illegally expelling refugees , lawyers will this week file a case at the UN human rights committee on behalf of a Syrian man living in Germany, who says he was picked up and sent to Turkey while he searched for his brother in Greece.

The 26-year-old told the Guardian that he had been detained and forced into a boat to Turkey in November 2016. His papers were confiscated which meant he was not able to return to Germany, where he had been granted asylum, for three years.

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From Che Guevara to lockdown: photo book tells story of Madrid

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Work features images by some of the most famous photographers of the past century

One warm June weekend 61 years ago, a scruffily bearded Argentinian on his way from Cuba to Cairo stopped over in Madrid. With almost a day to kill between flights, he did what any tourist of the time would have done: explored the city, visited a bullring, had breakfast and did a little shopping.

He was, however, no ordinary tourist. A photograph taken very early that Sunday morning shows the unmistakable figure of Che Guevara standing in boots, beret and battle fatigues, one hand hooked over his belt and the other clutching a newspaper.

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Macron accuses English-language media of ‘legitimising’ violence in France

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  • French president says concept of laïcité is misunderstood
  • Macron accused of targeting Muslims in wake of terror attacks

Facing protests in the Muslim world over his response to terror attacks in France, President Emmanuel Macron phoned a New York Times media columnist to rail against “bias” in the English-language media and accuse some newspapers of “legitimising this violence”.

Related: Trump adviser says it 'looks like' Biden has won and predicts 'very professional transition' – live

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Merkel forced to postpone plans to tighten lockdown rules

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German chancellor says she does not currently have the backing of state leaders

Angela Merkel has said she does not have backing among state leaders for new restrictions to give Germany’s “soft” lockdown a harder bite, postponing any decision until a further meeting between the chancellor and 16 state premiers next week.

The chancellor had been in favour of people limiting social interactions in private to only one set second household, and forgo any kind of party until Christmas Eve, according to a draft proposal cited by several news outlets including Der Spiegel.

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Italian police swoop on mafia racket extorting €50 a coffin from funeral homes

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Dawn raids in Puglia lead to about 40 arrests of suspected members of the ‘fifth mafia’

An emerging mafia that ran a protection racket extorting €50 (£45) a coffin from funeral homes has been raided by hundreds of police in one of the largest ever such busts in the southern Italian region of Puglia.

Dawn raids centred on the city of Foggia led to the arrest of some 40 alleged members of a criminal organisation described by Italian authorities as the country’s “number one public enemy”.

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EU faces crisis as Hungary and Poland veto seven-year budget

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Countries reject package over attempts to link funding to respect for rule of law

The EU is facing a crisis after Hungary and Poland vetoed the bloc’s historic €1.8tn (£1.6tn) budget and coronavirus recovery plan over attempts to link funding to respect for democratic norms.

The move unravels months of negotiations over the scale and terms of the EU’s spending and sets the stage for a stormy videoconference meeting of the bloc’s leaders on Thursday.

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Coronavirus live news: Japan may reimpose state of emergency; Sweden limits public gatherings to eight people

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Moderna is latest to reveal impressive vaccine results; Sweden cuts public gatherings limit from 300 as it blames fall in adherence to rules

South Africa has recorded 1,245 new coronavirus cases and 73 further deaths.

The caseload stands at 752,269 , while 20,314 people have died.

#COVID19 Statistics in SA as at 16 November.

Use the COVID Alert SA app to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community. Start using this privacy preserving app today. Add your phone to the fight! Download the Covid Alert SA app now! https://t.co/8YKEqaiiRF pic.twitter.com/MwMJovMXA9

The Australian state of Victoria has recorded its 18th day without a new coronavirus case or death.

Yesterday there were 0 new cases, 0 lives lost. Three active cases remain, 0 with an unknown source. #EveryTestHelps and thanks to all who were tested, there were 17,412 results received. https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz#StaySafeStayOpen #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/k0HwjYcBrE

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Coronavirus live news: Russia and Iran report worst daily increase; Merkel to push for tougher curbs in Germany

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Russia confirms over 22,000 new cases; Iran sees 13,053 new cases; German chancellor wants masks in all schools and more contact restrictions

We have more from Reuters on the tough new measures expected to be agreed in Germany, in a meeting between state leaders and the chancellor, Angela Merkel, later on Monday.

Earlier we reported how they would include compulsory mask-wearing at schools and drastic restrictions on household gatherings. A draft document of the measures, seen by Reuters, also said people would be urged to avoid private parties completely in coming weeks.

Hullo! This is Damien Gayle taking the reins on the live blog now for the rest of the working day here in the UK.

If you have any interesting coronavirus-related news, suggestions or comments from your part of the world, that you think is worth our including on the blog, please drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter DM to @damiengayle.

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Shocking footage of ‘severely injured’ pigs on Spanish farms released

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Calls for EU animal welfare rules to be enforced as country set to overtake Germany as Europe’s biggest pork producer

Footage that appears to show newborn piglets lying in faeces, pigs with pus-covered wounds and pig carcasses in varying states of decomposition has been published by animal welfare campaigners in Spain.

Spain is expected to overtake Germany this year as the EU’s biggest pork producer. In 2019, a record 53 million pigs were slaughtered across the country, fuelling demand for products such as chorizo, tenderloin and lard across the EU and around the world.

The photos and videos, recorded during undercover visits in 2019 and 2020 to more than 30 pigs farms across Spain, were published by Tras los Muros, which translates as Behind the Walls, a personal project launched by Spanish photojournalist Aitor Garmendia. Tras los Muros said the farms were in the Spanish regions of Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, home to around 17% of the country’s more than 86,000 pig farms.

Some of the pigs they found appeared to be “severely injured”, said Garmendia, who led the undercover team, and were thought to be showing signs of issues such as “hernias, abscesses, prolapses, arthritis or necrotic tissue”.

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EU vote on Brexit deal could be delayed until 28 December

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MEPs might not be able to seal any agreement until three days before transition period ends

A European parliament vote to seal a Brexit trade deal could be delayed until 28 December, three days before the end of the transition period, under an emergency EU plan.

With less than seven weeks to go before the UK leaves the single market and customs union, the negotiations remain troubled, with the talks on fishing rights in UK waters not progressing significantly since the summer.

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Major breakthrough needed to avert no-deal Brexit, says Irish minister

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Simon Coveney warns talks may collapse amid fishing rights impasse

Brexit negotiations on a trade deal resume in a crucial week, as it emerged talks on the issue of EU access to British fishing waters have not progressed since the summer.

As the two sides re-engaged in the troubled discussions, with less than seven weeks to go before the end of the transition period, Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said the negotiations were “not in a good place” on fishing rights.

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