Testimony from asylum seekers alleging brutal border pushbacks, including sexual abuse, adds to calls for EU to investigate
People on the Balkans migrant trail have allegedly been whipped, robbed and, in one case, sexually abused by members of the Croatian police.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has documented a series of brutal pushbacks on the Bosnia-Croatian border involving dozens of asylum seekers between 12 and 16 October.
Continue reading...Use of oily substance across three galleries reportedly related to claims they are centre of ‘global satanism’
At least 70 artworks and ancient artefacts across three galleries on Berlin’s museum island were vandalised with an oily substance earlier this month, German media has reported.
Objects including Egyptian sarcophagi, stone sculptures and 19th-century paintings held at the Pergamon Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Neues Museum sustained visible damage during the attack on 3 October, according to reports in the weekly Die Zeit and broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Parent had campaigned against teacher’s use of Muhammad cartoons before beheading
A parent accused of organising a campaign against the history teacher decapitated outside his school near Paris last week exchanged text messages and phone calls with the killer, French media have reported.
Citing police sources, Europe 1 radio said investigators had uncovered traces of several text messages between the father of a pupil at the school and the 18-year-old killer in the days leading up to Samuel Paty’s death last Friday, along with phone conversations.
Continue reading...European aerospace giant and two Israeli arms firms win EU contracts totalling €100m
Airbus and two Israeli arms companies will be paid €100m (£91m) to operate unmanned drones to spot refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea to Europe, according to EU contracts.
Drone operations over the Mediterranean will start next year, after testing carried out on the Greek island of Crete.
Continue reading...Brazilian president’s stance on deforestation remains stumbling block for South America agreement
Brussels is in talks with Brazil’s far-right nationalist president, Jair Bolsonaro, over commitments on the future of the Amazon as it seeks to persuade Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders and parliaments to ratify the trade deal the bloc has negotiated with South America.
The ratification of the draft trade agreement between the EU and the “Mercosur” or Southern Common Market free-trade zone – which spans Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina – has been in doubt almost since it was announced last June.
Continue reading...Brussels says schemes selling citizenship to wealthy investors are illegal
Brussels has launched legal action against Cyprus and Malta over their “golden passport” schemes for wealthy investors, saying they were illegal and undermined EU citizenship.
The European commission has written to the two countries, which both joined the EU in 2004, to demand explanations, warning that the schemes increased the risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.
Continue reading...Parts of Spain and Italy facing restrictions as Ireland set to become first EU country to reimpose national lockdown
Regions in Spain and Italy have returned to lockdown and Ireland will do so from Wednesday as countries across Europe continue to report new Covid infection highs and governments struggle to contain the second wave of the pandemic.
The northern Spanish Navarre region, where the number of cases per 100,000 people is 945 against 312 nationally, announced a two-week lockdown from Thursday that will be stricter than measures imposed on Madrid by central government.
Continue reading...Regional health minister of Madrid described state of emergency as ‘attack on people of Madrid’
Lockdown tensions between central government and regional authorities are not confined to the UK.
On 9 October, Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government was forced to declare a state of emergency to put Madrid and eight surrounding towns into a limited lockdown after the regional government flip-flopped, protested and mounted a legal challenge to the restrictions.
Continue reading...Madsen, convicted of murdering Kim Wall in 2017, arrested shortly after escaping from Copenhagen jail
A Danish man convicted of torturing and murdering a Swedish journalist has been recaptured after escaping from his suburban jail in Copenhagen by taking a psychologist hostage.
Peter Madsen threatened a prison employee with what appeared to be a homemade explosive device before fleeing from Herstedvester jail, pursued by guards, who alerted a nearby police patrol.
Continue reading...Peter Madsen, a Danish man convicted of torturing and murdering a Swedish journalist on his homemade submarine, escaped the suburban Copenhagen jail where he is serving a life sentence – but was recaptured nearby on Tuesday. Danish media showed video of Madsen sitting in the grass with his hands behind his back and police at a distance
Continue reading...Spain’s tourist sector – including the new Four Seasons hotel – is bearing the brunt of Covid, with the capital’s occupancy rates at 15%
Madrid’s first new grand hotel in almost half a century has more than enough to recommend it to even the most discerning and demanding of visitors.
As well as a presidential suite for VIPs and their bodyguards, there is a spa, a handy branch of Hermès, and a restaurant by the three Michelin-starred chef Dani García, whose rooftop terrace appears to float high above the busy streets of the city centre.
Continue reading...Police say mobile sirens and surveillance cameras also used to deter crossings into EU
Greece has begun extending a border wall along its frontier with Turkey to deter migrants from trying to enter the European Union, the Greek government has said, after a border standoff earlier this year which has helped drive Greek-Turkish relations to a dangerously low ebb.
A total of 16 miles (26km) of wall will be added to the existing 6 mile fence along the Evros River, which forms much of the Greek-Turkish border, the government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Monday.
Continue reading...French imams have visited the school of the teacher who was beheaded by a suspected Islamist militant to pay their respects and call on Muslims to rally behind freedom of expression. Hassen Chalghoumi, an imam at Drancy mosque, said of the victim, Samuel Paty: 'He's a martyr, he's a wise man, he taught about tolerance, about civilisation and the respect of others.'
Continue reading...Activist said she was arrested at a protest in November 2019 and fled to Germany via Taiwan
Germany has granted refugee status to a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist facing a rioting charge in connection with the 2019 protests, the protester told Reuters on Monday.
The 22-year-old university student showed Reuters a letter from the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) dated 14 October that confirmed the granting of refugee status.
Continue reading...Minister battles to rescue retailers amid fears for 50,000 shops and hundreds of thousands of jobs
The stakes for Germany’s high streets could not be greater when the economics minister, Peter Altmaier, summons trade representatives across the country this month for a series of crisis workshops to discuss how to save them from collapse.
In Germany, as elsewhere across Europe and beyond, the coronavirus pandemic has blown a huge hole in street retail – accelerating the decline in footfall precipitated by the rise of online shopping.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary condemns ‘cynical and reckless’ bid to disrupt Games, before they were postponed
Russian military intelligence services were planning a cyber-attack on the Japanese-hosted Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo this summer in an attempt to disrupt the world’s premier sporting event, the UK National Cyber Security Centre has revealed, disclosing a joint operation with the US intelligence agencies.
The Russian cyber-reconnaissance work covered the Games organisers, logistics services and sponsors and was under way before the Olympics was postponed due to coronavirus.
Continue reading...No 10 unmoved even after Barnier’s offer prompts Gove to make U-turn at dispatch box
Downing Street has refused to restart Brexit deal negotiations despite Michael Gove performing a U-turn at the dispatch box in which he praised a “constructive move” by the EU minutes after declaring the talks “effectively ended”.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, seemingly agreed to all the government’s demands for the resumption of Brexit talks in pursuit of a deal – sending a tweet just as Gove was making a statement in the Commons castigating the bloc.
Continue reading...On Saturday, Paris went under a night-time curfew that will last at least a month. France has reported another record for new coronavirus cases, with more than 32,000 registered in 24 hours
A bar on the Rue de Seine
Continue reading...Exhibition exploring how women have been treated in art world runs into criticism
The last face that meets visitors to the Prado’s first post-lockdown exhibition is one of the very few that appears to look the spectator squarely in the eye.
The cool gaze of the Portuguese-Spanish artist María Roësset – free of guilt, shame, saccharine virtue or predatory intent – comes as something of a relief after the sanctimonious, salacious and often sad series of pictures that precede it.
Continue reading...Michael Gove confirms British government’s door to re-engagement with Brussels is ‘ajar’
Brussels expects the Brexit negotiations to resume within days, as Michael Gove confirmed that despite Downing Street’s tough rhetoric the door remained “ajar” on re-engagement.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, will hold a video conference call with his British counterpart, David Frost, on Monday afternoon to discuss the structure of future talks.
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