As life across Europe gets back to normal, Covid-19 prepares the next wave of outbreaks
Category Archives: Europe
French coronavirus study finds black immigrant deaths doubled at peak
Statistics agency is first in France to cross-check Covid-19 fatalities with country of origin
Death rates among immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa doubled in France and tripled in the Paris region at the height of France’s coronavirus outbreak, finds a study from the French government’s statistics agency.
The INSEE agency’s findings, published on Tuesday, are the closest France has come to acknowledging with numbers the disproportionate impact of the virus on the country’s black immigrants and members of other overlooked minority groups.
Continue reading...Dutch arrests after discovery of ‘torture chamber’ in sea containers
Police raids offer chilling insight into increasingly violent criminal underworld
Dutch police have arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed “torture chamber” complete with a dentist’s chair, tools including pliers and scalpels and handcuffs, a high-ranking officer announced.
Authorities said police conducted the raid before the converted containers could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding.
Continue reading...Russian space official accused of passing state secrets to west
Former journalist Ivan Safronov could face up to 20 years in prison in treason case
Russian security services have opened a treason case against a former journalist who recently began working as an adviser to the head of the country’s space agency.
Ivan Safronov was arrested on Tuesday morning by agents from the FSB, the successor agency of the KGB. He could face up to 20 years in prison.
Continue reading...‘Magnitsky sanctions’: who are those being targeted by UK?
Forty-nine individuals and organisations from four nations are accused of rights abuses
The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has announced sanctions against 49 individuals and organisations accused of human rights abuses from four different countries.
Continue reading...Extend US Facebook boycott to Europe, campaigners urge
Calls follow Mark Zuckerberg’s dismissal of anti-hate-speech campaign in meeting with staff
Campaigners are calling for an advertising boycott of Facebook in the US to be extended to Europe, after its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, dismissed the effects of the campaign in a meeting with staff.
A growing number of companies have halted advertising on Facebook after criticism that the platform was not doing enough to counter hate speech on its sites.
Continue reading...Ennio Morricone, Oscar-winning Italian film composer, dies aged 91
Morricone’s work helped define the western but he went on to work across all film genres
Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose symphonic scores backed everything from spaghetti westerns to romance, horror and sci-fi films, has died aged 91.
Morricone had broken his femur days ago and died during the night in a clinic in Rome. His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma. In a statement, Assumma said that the composer “died at dawn on 6 July in Rome with the comfort of faith. He preserved until the final moment full lucidity and great dignity.
Continue reading...Armada docudrama shows dark history of Normal People’s Sligo
Armada 1588: Shipwreck and Survival tells turbulent tale on bucolic stretch of Irish coast
Streedagh beach was the setting for young love in the TV drama Normal People, but its latest screen depiction reveals a dark history of plunder and slaughter on the golden sand.
Instead of romance among the dunes, viewers encounter drownings, stabbings and hangings on this bucolic stretch of Ireland’s Atlantic coast. And unlike the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, it’s all true.
Continue reading...Algae turns Italian Alps pink, prompting concerns over melting
Pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier believed to be caused by plant that makes the ice darker, causing it to melt faster
Scientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change.
There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy’s National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant found in Greenland.
Continue reading...Bolton: Trump claim he wasn’t told of Russia bounty report is ‘not how system works’
Ex-national security adviser also says any decision to withhold intelligence would ‘certainly not’ be ‘made only by the briefer’
Donald Trump’s claim not to have been briefed about intelligence suggesting Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US soldiers is “just not the way the system works”, former national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday.
Related: Trump’s niece says 2001 NDA based on ‘fraudulent’ financial information
Continue reading...Russians arrested in Austria over killing of Chechen dissident
Government critic found dead with gunshot wounds near Vienna on Saturday
Austrian police have arrested two Russians from Chechnya over the fatal shooting of a Chechen dissident.
A 43-year-old man was found dead with gunshot wounds in Gerasdorf, near Vienna, on Saturday. Police arrested a 47-year-old in Linz, 125 miles (200km) from the capital. A second Russian, 37, also from Chechnya and living in Austria, was detained on Sunday for investigations into the murder of his fellow Russian citizen.
Continue reading...Knife-edge Polish presidential race could slow the march of populism
As liberal Rafał Trzaskowski gains on rightwing Andrzej Duda, LGBT rights are among issues at stake in Poland and beyond
When Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, goes up against his liberal challenger in a presidential run-off next Sunday, there will be more at stake than just the medium-term political trajectory of the country. The vote is set to be one of the closest and most important European elections in recent years, and the result will resonate well beyond Poland’s borders.
Duda takes on liberal challenger Rafał Trzaskowski in a race that numerous polls suggest is too close to call. The final outcome will be watched closely by European leaders wary of Poland’s recent political direction, and by progressive politicians worldwide seeking lessons about what does or doesn’t work in taking on populists at the ballot box.
Continue reading...Stanley Johnson says Greece visit is essential to ‘Covid-proof’ villa
Boris Johnson has refused to criticise his father over trip to holiday home during lockdown
The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, has defended travelling to his villa in Greece amid growing condemnation by saying that he was making the property “Covid-proof”.
Government guidelines state that British nationals should avoid all but essential travel, but his son Boris has refused to criticise the trip and, on Friday, suggested the media should raise the issue directly with his father.
Continue reading...Poland president plans to forbid adoption by same-sex couples
Andrzej Duda, who is running for re-election, will propose a constitutional amendment later this month
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, who is running for re-election in the conservative, Catholic EU member, said on Saturday that he wanted the constitution to explicitly forbid the adoption of children by same-sex couples.
He said he planned to propose a constitutional amendment on Monday.
Continue reading...UK ponders joining EU’s coronavirus vaccine scheme
Ministers said to be weighing benefits against broader desire to cut ties with Brussels
The UK is assessing whether to join an EU programme to help secure a potential coronavirus vaccine in what could mark a bellwether for post-Brexit cooperation.
In what the Daily Express described as a “Brexit backtrack”, UK officials are thought to be considering the advantages of being part of the EU plan because the bloc would have greater purchasing power to strike deals with multinational drug companies.
Continue reading...Italy breaks up child abuse ring ‘that shared images of babies’
Police say material, including photos of acts with newborns, shared on a well-known instant messaging platform
Italian police say they have broken up a child abuse ring used to share illicit material, including photos of newborns, via an instant messaging platform.
Police said on Saturday that the crackdown involved dozens of search warrants and led to the arrest of three people for allegedly possessing what was described in a statement as “huge quantities of pornographic material depicting minors”. About 50 people are under investigation.
Continue reading...Portugal angered at being left off England’s safe travel list
Foreign minister points out his country’s death rate from Covid-19 is a fraction of the UK’s
Portugal’s tourism sector reacted with fury and disbelief at England’s decision to maintain a quarantine regime for travellers coming from the country despite the UK having a higher death toll.
Portugal was left off a list of more than 50 countries that Westminster has deemed safe enough for travel without coronavirus-related restrictions, meaning holidaymakers returning from Portugal will have to quarantine for 14 days.
Continue reading...‘Unite the nation’: Jean Castex replaces Édouard Philippe as French prime minister – video
France has a new prime minister after President Emmanuel Macron named career civil servant Jean Castex as the replacement for Édouard Philippe. Castex will be part of Macron’s ‘new course’ for the last two years of his mandate.
Castex, from the centre right of French politics, coordinated France’s successful exit from lockdown and is widely known as Monsieur Déconfinement. He will form the next government
Continue reading...Johnson’s father’s visit to Greece ‘could erode trust in guidelines’
Trip by Stanley Johnson could weaken message on Covid-19 rules, warns Sage adviser
The decision by the prime minister’s father to travel to his Greek villa in apparent breach of Foreign Office guidance has been criticised by a government scientific adviser.
Boris Johnson has refused to condemn his father, Stanley, for flying to Greece, despite current advice for British nationals to avoid all but essential international travel.
Continue reading...Man offers to resign after showering during live video meeting
Bernardo Bustillo mistakenly left his video on while attempting to multi-task by showering while listening to an online meeting
A municipal councillor in northern Spain has offered to resign after inadvertently broadcasting video of himself showering during an online council meeting that was being livestreamed.
Earlier this week councillors in Torrelavega gathered online to hash out some of the latest issues facing the municipality of some 52,000 people. Following the protocols put in place as the coronavirus tightened its grip on Spain, half a dozen councillors dialed into the videochat at 8am, streaming it online for journalists and residents.
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