Category Archives: Europe

Biden and Pelosi warn UK over risking Good Friday agreement

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Leading Democrats tell UK foreign secretary that Northern Ireland peace deal cannot be casualty of Brexit

Joe Biden on Wednesday joined the clamour of Democrats warning Boris Johnson not to let the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement become a casualty of his Brexit talks.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is in Washington trying to repair relations with pro-Irish Democrats amid concerns that the UK’s attempt to leave the EU on its own terms will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.

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Irish health minister tests negative after Covid-19 scare

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Stephen Donnelly was taken ill after unveiling country’s pandemic plan

Ireland’s government suffered a Covid-19 scare on Tuesday after the health minister reported feeling unwell after a cabinet meeting.

Cabinet ministers were told to restrict their movements and parliament was suspended pending a coronavirus test for Stephen Donnelly. Hours later it came back negative, averting the spectre of an outbreak at the heart of government.

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Wooden Melania Trump statue replaced with bronze after arson attack

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Original carving near US first lady’s hometown in Slovenia was badly damaged in fire

A bronze statue of the US first lady, Melania Trump, has been unveiled near her hometown in Slovenia, to replace a wooden carving of her that was burnt in an arson attack two months ago.

The new work – like the original – is a collaboration between Brad Downey, a Berlin-based artist from Louisville, Kentucky, and a local craftsman, Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, who have invited residents of Melania’s hometown of Sevnica to see the work in nearby Rozno, south-eastern Slovenia.

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Sweden records its fewest daily Covid-19 cases since March

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Chief epidemiologist puts low number of cases down to light-touch ‘sustainable’ approach

While many European countries are seeing their infection rates surge to levels not seen since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sweden – whose light-touch approach has made it an international outlier – has recorded the fewest daily cases since the virus emerged.

The Scandinavian country’s rolling seven-day average of new cases stood at 108 on Tuesday, its lowest level since 13 March. Data from the Swedish national health agency showed only 1.2% of its 120,000 tests last week came back positive.

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MPs passed the Brexit bill – but what happens now?

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The internal market bill will face opposition in the Lords and amendments from Tory backbenchers

The internal market bill, described by the government as a key element of Brexit legislation, has cleared its first Commons hurdle, with two Tory MPs voting against it and nearly 30 more abstaining. But why is the bill so significant?

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First funeral held using ‘living coffin’ made of mushroom fibre

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Netherlands-based startup company behind eco-friendly fungi mycelium casket

After months of testing, the first funeral has taken place in the Netherlands using a fast-composting “living coffin” made of mycelium, the mat of fibres that forms the underground part of fungi.

“I didn’t actually go, but I talked to a relative beforehand – it was a moving moment, we discussed the cycle of life,” Bob Hendrikx, the founder of Loop, the startup producing the Living Cocoon, told the Metro newspaper.

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‘Hi, this is Navalny’: poisoned Russian opposition leader posts hospital photo

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Alexei Navalny says he can breathe independently in Instagram post sent from hospital in Berlin

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has said he is nowable to breathe without any external support, in his first public statement since he was poisoned last month.

Navalny, who German authorities said was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, posted a photograph on Instagram of himself sitting up in a hospital bed surrounded by his wife and their two children.

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Brexit: barristers question selection of legal team leading UK drive to override deal

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Critics say advice should have been sought from lawyers without views on EU debate

The government is facing increasing scrutiny over its decision to use “committed Brexiteer” lawyers to provide advice on the legality of breaching the EU withdrawal agreement.

On Saturday, the attorney general, Suella Braverman QC, who chaired the annual general meeting of the Bar Council that represents barristers in England and Wales, faced repeated criticism over her role as the government’s chief legal adviser, according to those present.

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Brexit: Ed Miliband accuses Boris Johnson of ‘failure of governance’ in internal market debate – live

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Former chancellor Sajid Javid becomes most senior Tory MP to say he cannot back bill in its current form

The politics live blog will be paused for now, thank you all for reading along so far. We may be back later as the debate continues.

Heald also expressed his unhappiness at the UK government claiming precedent for breaking international law.

He said:

Can I just also say that I was surprised to see this justified by the precedent, allegedly, of the Finance Act 2013 General Anti-Abuse Rule by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

I was a law officer at the time, Dominic Grieve was attorney general. And one thing I can say about Dominic Grieve is that he was very correct and made sure that Government legislation did not offend the rule of law - he was extremely painstaking.

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Refugees demand rescue from Lesbos after Moria camp blaze

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Greek authorities struggle to persuade former camp residents to move to a new temporary site as protests continue

Greece is facing mounting demands from refugees displaced by the devastating Moria refugee camp fire to either let them leave Lesbos or deport them.

The Greek authorities are struggling to persuade former residents of the camp to move to a new temporary site, and many people continue to sleep on the streets of the island.

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Russia to loan Belarus $1.5bn as Lukashenko tells Putin: ‘a friend is in trouble’

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Belarusian president flies to Sochi for talks with Russian leader after month of protests

The embattled Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is holding talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a meeting seen as crucial to determining whether or not Lukashenko can survive a protest movement against him.

The pair met at Putin’s residence in Sochi, the first foreign trip Lukashenko has made since protests began a month ago.

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Alexei Navalny continues to improve, say German doctors

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Russian opposition leader taken off ventilator and can leave his bed, hospital reports

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been taken off a ventilator and is able to leave his bed for short periods of time, German doctors who have been treating him for novichok poisoning have said.

In a significant update, the Charité hospital in Berlin said Navalny’s condition “continues to improve” and hinted that he was able to talk. It said latest news of his health was made public after consultation with Navalny and his wife.

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Russia local elections: Navalny allies win council seats as Putin’s party claims victory

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Associates of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny celebrate victory in Siberia where he was poisoned

Allies of poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have said they have secured city council seats in Siberia as independent monitors condemned a reported “stream” of voting irregularities in regional polls.

In several dozen of the country’s 85 regions, Russians voted for regional governors and lawmakers in regional and city legislatures as well as in several by-elections for national MPs.

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Tory rebellion widens over Boris Johnson’s bill to override Brexit deal

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Criticism grows of plan to break international law as EU calls for bill to be dropped

Downing Street is facing a showdown with Conservative backbench rebels as criticism over its plans to break international law with a new controversial bill that could override parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement grew louder on Sunday.

It is understood that opposition among the party is growing, with dozens of Tory MPs expected to support a key amendment to the internal market bill that would give parliament a crucial veto of any changes to the agreement.

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Belarus: 100,000 join rally against Lukashenko on eve of Putin showdown

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Protesters hold placards criticising Russian support as they march on president’s Minsk residence

Attempts by Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, to crush popular protests against him failed on Sunday when more than 100,000 people marched on his residence in the capital, Minsk, with other demonstrations across the country.

There was no sign that the anti-Lukashenko movement is declining or fading away. Instead protesters took to the streets in huge numbers for the fifth weekend in a row, defying riot police who blocked off the city centre with military vehicles.

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Dazzling makeover of 90-year-old Spanish lighthouse divides opinion

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Infinite Cantabria by Okuda San Miguel is a riot of colours, geometric shapes and animals

A 90-year-old lighthouse perched on a lush cape in northern Spain is at the centre of a cultural row after a dazzling paint job by a local artist left the tower outshining its lamp – and some critics blanching.

For almost a century, the lighthouse, near the Cantabrian town of Ajo, was a mute, monochrome sentry beaming its light out over the Atlantic.

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Minister says he would resign over Brexit bill if law is broken ‘in way I find unacceptable’

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Justice secretary says he doesn’t believe international law will be broken, as discontent grows among Conservative backbenchers over internal market bill

The UK justice secretary, Robert Buckland, has said he would resign if the law was “broken in a way that I find unacceptable”, as Downing Street continued to come under pressure over planned legislation that would override parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

In a remarkable scene in the Commons last week that astonished Conservative backbenchers, the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, admitted the internal market bill “does break international law in a very specific and limited way”.

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Coronavirus: is this the start of a second wave and is the UK prepared?

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Cases are increasing here and across Europe as universities plan to reopen. What is the outlook for autumn?

Is this the start of a second wave, and if so will it be as bad as the first?
The number of Covid-19 infections has almost doubled in a week, with 3,497 cases announced yesterday. Admissions to hospital have also risen. We’ll find out soon if this is a second wave but there are some indicators of what is coming.

Cases are rising quickly…
Researchers at Imperial College London said on Friday that the number of cases had been doubling roughly every 7.7 days in England, and that the reproduction rate was as high as 1.7. If the virus continues to spread at that rate, the UK would see about 10,000 new cases a day in the next two weeks, with 300 to 400 hospital admissions a day.

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How a poet’s son is reclaiming Genoa from Italy’s tainted elite

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As Liguria prepares for next week’s regional elections, an unlikely candidate has energised the fight against the far right

A procession of about 100 people, most of them young, departs from the church of San Martino di Struppa, up a track into the mountains around Genoa. Above, every shade of green; below, the port and the sea, like an aqueous mirror reflecting the blue sky.

There’s history on these steep slopes, and that is why these people are here: the ancient paths were used by partisans during the war, and when they blew up a bridge, severing German troops from their supply lines, the priest of San Martino, Don Andrea Ricchini, was taken to Auschwitz in reprisal. He survived, and – after a funeral had been held, in absentia – returned to serve the parish for 30 more years.

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