Category Archives: Europe

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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Rafaella Carrà: the Italian pop star who taught Europe the joy of sex

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A new jukebox musical of Carrà’s songs caps a 60-year career for a cultural icon who revolutionised Italian entertainment – and gave women agency in the bedroom

At the beginning of Explota Explota, a new Spanish-Italian jukebox musical comedy set at the tail end of the Franco dictatorship in 1970s Spain, airport employee Maria is making a delivery at a TV studio when she catches the attention of Chimo, the director of a variety show. When she tells him she’s not a dancer, he replies: “No dancer with blood flowing in their veins can resist this rhythm.”

He plays her Bailo Bailo, a hit by Italian pop star Raffaella Carrà, who, on top of becoming one of the best known personalities in her native Italy, ended up a sensation in the 20th-century Spanish-speaking world. Where Sweden had Abba, Italy had Carrà, who sold millions of records across Europe. Sure enough, Maria can’t resist Bailo Bailo, and Chimo hires her.

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EU must assert autonomy in face of US-China dominance, says Macron

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French president says US election chance to pursue sovereignty amid rising populism

European leaders must not let up on efforts to construct an autonomous bloc that is capable of resisting the duopoly of China and the US, Emmanuel Macron has said in his first extended response to the US presidential election.

The French president said the US would only respect Europe if it was sovereign with respect to its own defence, technology and currency. Warning that US values and interests were not quite the same as Europe’s, he said: “It is not tenable that our international policies should be dependent on it or to be trailing behind it.” The same need for independence applied even more to China, he added.

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Father faces criminal charge over son’s death in migrant boat tragedy

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Afghan asylum seeker accused of endangering six-year-old’s life after family tried to reach Greek island of Samos from Turkey

The father of a six-year-old who died trying to reach the Greek island of Samos from the Turkish coast has been charged by Greek authorities with endangering his son’s life.

Abdul*, 25, from Afghanistan, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. The cause of his son’s death has not been confirmed.

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Erdoğan met by protests from Turkish Cypriots during visit

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‘Provocative’ trip to northern Cyprus angers residents as well as the south and Greece

Turkey’s president has been greeted with protests from Turkish Cypriots denouncing Ankara’s overt meddling in their domestic affairs as he visited northern Cyprus.

In a rare display of opposition for a leader whose tolerance for critics is notoriously low, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was met by demonstrators as he flew into the territory for celebrations marking its unilateral declaration of independence 37 years ago.

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Amazon ridiculed on Twitter for error reunifying Ireland

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Tech firm told Northern Ireland resident who wanted to watch rugby that he didn’t live in UK

It was an unlikely statement from one of the world’s biggest companies, but for a brief period on Saturday afternoon it appeared that Amazon had pledged its backing to a united Ireland.

The tech company has now apologised after telling a resident of Northern Ireland that he could not watch its rugby union coverage because he didn’t live in the UK.

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Doctor who tried to save Covid patients from Romania hospital fire hailed as hero

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Man named in local media as Catalin Denciu transferred to hospital in Belgium with 40% burns

A doctor left badly burned in a Romanian hospital fire that left 10 dead was been hailed as a hero after it emerged he had tried to help Covid-19 patients to safety.

After suffering second and third degree burns to 40%, the doctor, named in local media as Catalin Denciu, was transferred to Belgium’s Queen Astrid military hospital on Sunday for specialised treatment.

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Belgian racing pigeon sets fanciers’ hearts aflutter in €1.6m sale

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Record auction price for New Kim beats last year’s €1.25m for Armando, another Belgian

A two-year-old Belgian racing pigeon called New Kim has been sold for a world-record €1.6m (£1.4m) in an auction that ended on Sunday.

Offers for the pigeon had already hit €1.32m in the past week, surpassing the previous record of €1,252,000 set in March 2019 for another Belgian pigeon, Armando. They then went higher in a frantic last 30 minutes of bidding on Sunday.

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Marina Litvinenko submits €3.5m ECHR claim against Russia

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Exclusive: widow seeks damages for 2006 murder and payment of lost income

The widow of Alexander Litvinenko has submitted a claim against Russia to the European court of human rights (ECHR), seeking €3.5m (£3.1m) in compensation for his murder by radiation poisoning in London.

Marina Litvinenko is requesting punitive damages and payment for accumulated lost income. A public inquiry concluded that her husband’s murder in 2006 was probably ordered by Vladimir Putin.

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Spain’s general medical council calls for Covid health chief to be fired

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Fernando Simón appeared to blame doctors for some cases and accused of incompetence

Spain’s general medical council has called for the country’s health emergencies chief to be sacked, accusing him of “patent and prolonged incompetence” in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and of undermining the morale of overworked doctors.

Fernando Simón, the head of Spain’s coordination centre for health emergencies and alerts, has been the public face of the government’s response to the coronavirus since March.

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