Statue had two faces, a ‘nice’ one and ‘that of a vampire’, and was a tourist attraction but was unpopular with some locals
A wooden statue mocking Donald Trump that had been erected in Slovenia – the birthplace of his wife, Melania Trump – has been burned to the ground.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
The troubled Northern rail franchise faces financial collapse within months, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has said, as the government set out a timetable to tackle the “unacceptable services” for rail passengers in the north. My colleague Gwyn Topham has the full story here.
Related: Northern rail franchise could collapse within months, says Shapps
Nadia Whittome, the new Labour MP for Nottingham East, also says she is going to nominate Clive Lewis for Labour leader without necessarily planning to vote for him because she wants his ideas to be part of the debate. Lloyd Russell-Moyle is in this position too. (See 1.55pm.)
I have nominated @DawnButlerBrent for Deputy and @labourlewis for Leader to ensure both are on the ballot.
I haven't decided who I'll endorse but Clive's steadfast commitment to migrants' rights, and electoral reform and party democracy proposals, must be part of the debate.
Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie in ’t Veld says leaked report revealed ‘violations and abuse’
The British government has been accused of “behaving like a bunch of cowboys” after a confidential report revealed it had allowed illegal copying of an EU database.
The issue, discussed publicly for the first time on Thursday, threatens to sour talks on the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU, despite hopes on both sides for close ties in fighting crime and terrorism.
Continue reading...Victim, 26, had been in coma after being poisoned by co-worker, jailed for life last year
A man in Germany has died four years after being poisoned by a colleague and falling into a coma.
The state court in Bielefeld, which convicted the man behind the poisoning last year, confirmed the death on Thursday, the German news agency dpa reported. The 26-year-old victim’s parents had spoken about his suffering during a trial last year.
Continue reading...EU commission chief calls for focus on common ground on climate change, human rights and security
Boris Johnson and the new European commission president have had a positive first meeting about the next round of Brexit talks in which they discussed their aspirations for a deal based on friendly cooperation, shared history and interests and values, Downing Street has said.
Both sides made a concerted effort to put the bitter divisions of the past three years aside, with Ursula von der Leyen describing the meeting as the start of a new era of “old friends and new beginnings”.
Continue reading...Ninth-century Rök stone may deal with fear of cold climate crisis in Scandinavia
One of the world’s most famous runestones is now believed to have been erected by Vikings fearing a repeat of a previous cold climate crisis in Scandinavia, a study has concluded.
The Rök stone, raised in the ninth century near Lake Vättern in south central Sweden, bears the longest runic inscription in the world, with more than 700 runes covering its five sides.
Continue reading...Erdoğan and Putin make call for ceasefire, as Italian PM hosts Libyan factions in Rome
An unprecedented drive involving Europe, Russia and Turkey has been launched to broker a Libyan ceasefire, and end the risk of the country collapsing into total all-out war.
However, it is unclear to which extent the joint Russian-Turkish call for a ceasefire by 12 January should be seen as complementary or in competition to an intensified Italian-led European push to end the fighting.
Continue reading...Sarkozy is accused of trying to obtain classified information from a judge in 2014
Nicolas Sarkozy will become France’s first former president to stand trial on corruption charges in a case in which he is accused of trying to obtain classified information from a judge.
The trial will start on 5 October 2020 and will last until 22 October, a Paris court said.
Continue reading...It’s like the holocaust only worse, according to babycaust.de, the German website dedicated to abortion, or as they call it: “The mass murder of unborn children.”
Every country has its nutters. The problem with these particular nutters is that their website is your best bet if you need to find a doctor who performs abortions in Germany. It provides a full list of practitioners with the “licence to kill” by town and postcode, decorated with images of hacked-up babies in petri dishes, some of them made into gifs to show the blood still dripping. Whatever for? They obviously don’t want you to go to these doctors. But they do want to make it easier for you to report these “killers” to the police.
Continue reading...Two rangers have been killed in three months and whistleblowers face intimidation and ostracism
In the hamlet of Deia, nestled in the forested hills of Suceava county in northern Romania, Ilie Bucșă and his brother Dumitru have become pariahs. Recently an angry mob attacked the brothers, leaving Ilie with concussion and wounds all over his body. Old friends cross the road to avoid the brothers, having been warned to stay away or face losing their jobs. One night, someone even poured anti-freeze into the brothers’ fish pond, killing half their fish.
Their sin? They have been methodically filing complaints about illegal logging in the area.
Continue reading...All she wanted was one last summer adventure before buckling down to the beginnings of adult life.
If all had gone to plan, the 19-year-old would have flown home from Cyprus with nothing more than a few lively gap year stories to show for it, and by now would presumably have been happily settled into university life.
Continue reading...Woman convicted of lying about rape has many obstacles to overcome to overturn the court’s ruling
The legal challenge facing the 19-year-old British woman who wants to clear her name after being convicted of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus is formidable.
Continue reading...Pedro Sánchez secures backing in parliament to govern with anti-austerity alliance group
Spain will be led by a coalition government for the first time in 80 years after the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, narrowly secured parliamentary approval for a joint administration between his Socialist party and the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos alliance.
The investiture vote on Tuesday, which Sánchez won by 167 votes to 165, with 18 abstentions, ends the nine months of political deadlock resulting from two inconclusive general elections last year.
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen expected to talk up future negotiations during visit to London
The EU’s opening negotiating position on the future relationship will lack detailed demands to avoid an early clash with Boris Johnson as both sides seek to take the heat out of the coming post-Brexit trade and security talks.
In that vein, the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to talk up the prospects of the coming negotiations during a visit to London on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: leaked resolution by main political groups follows threats of deportation made by British minister
The European parliament will express its “grave concern” about the attitude of Boris Johnson’s government to the 3.3 million EU citizens living in the UK following threats of deportation made by a British minister.
In a leaked resolution drafted by the main political groups and due to be backed by MEPs next Wednesday, Johnson’s administration is accused of creating “anxiety” in recent months.
Continue reading...Brain scans of Romanian orphans adopted in UK show early neglect left its mark
Children who experience severe deprivation early in life have smaller brains in adulthood, researchers have found.
The findings are based on scans of young adults who were adopted as children into UK families from Romania’s orphanages that rose under the regime of the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu.
Continue reading...Zoran Milanović wins runoff against conservative incumbent after election trail marked by rightward shift
Croatia’s newly elected centre-left president has pledged to make the country a more tolerant place after denying a second term to the rightwing incumbent, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
Zoran Milanović won 52.7% of the vote in a second-round runoff against Grabar-Kitarović on Sunday, a few days after the country assumed the rotating presidency of the EU.
Continue reading...Tributes paid to wine producer who ‘raised the Beaujolais flag around the world’
Tributes have been paid to the wine merchant Georges Duboeuf, known in France as the “king of Beaujolais” for his production and promotion of the famous wine variety.
Duboeuf, who has died aged 86, founded Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, one of the largest wine companies in France, and was almost single-handedly responsible for making Beaujolais nouveau popular.
Continue reading...Farmers blame ‘ecological emergency’ on inadequate treatment of sewage
A gastroenteritis epidemic sweeping France has hit oyster farmers in Brittany after the virus was found in shellfish.
Health authorities have banned the fishing and selling of oysters in the bay around Mont-Saint-Michel and other shellfish farming areas on France’s north-western coast until further notice.
Continue reading...Prime minister also intends to press his Brexit bill through Commons in three days
Boris Johnson will host the president of the European commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, in Downing Street this week as he prepares to take Britain out of the EU at the end of this month, kicking off a race against time to secure a free trade deal.
The prime minister will use the comfortable majority he won at last month’s general election to press his Brexit bill through the House of Commons in three days when MPs return to Westminster on Tuesday.
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