Maltese journalist was killed by car bomb on Mediterranean island in 2017
A prominent Maltese businessman has been arrested onboard his yacht as it was heading out to sea, in an operation linked to the murder of the Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Armed forces personnel boarded a vessel at about 5.30am on Wednesday and detained Yorgen Fenech.
Continue reading...Kurt Volker, witness requested by Republicans, says the investigations Trump requested amounted to ‘conspiracy theories’
Two witnesses in the impeachment inquiry have described their concern over an “unusual” call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president in July, in which Trump ignored official talking points about fighting corruption to instead “demand” an investigation tied to Joe Biden.
Related: Donald Trump has dragged America's global reputation to an all-time low | Simon Tisdall
Continue reading...Twenty-five people reportedly found on ship travelling from the Netherlands to the UK
Dutch authorities have discovered 25 migrants stowed away inside a refrigerated container on a ferry bound for England.
According to a statement published on a local government website, all those found onboard were alive, with one of them thought to be a child.
Continue reading...The house where Adolf Hitler was born will be turned into a police station, Austria’s interior ministry has announced, after years of legal wrangling as the government looks to prevent the building from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
The yellow corner house in the northern town of Braunau on the border with Germany, where Hitler was born on 20 April 1889, was taken into government control in 2016.
Continue reading...New neighbours of smallholding failed in €5,200 claim for lost sleep due to loud birds
The ducks on a smallholding in south-west France will live to quack another day.
In another symbolic story of the disharmony between town and country folk, a French court has ruled that the noise from the flock kept by a retired farmer does not warrant them being silenced permanently.
Continue reading...Key witness testifies publicly on Trump’s Ukraine call and says ‘vile’ character attacks on those testifying ‘reprehensible’ – follow the latest live
Republican representative Chris Stewart pressed Lt Col Alexander Vindman on why he corrected Devin Nunes after the GOP ranking member incorrectly called the Iraq war veteran “Mr Vindman.”
“You always insist on civilians calling you by your rank?” Stewart asked. Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, replied that he considered the correction appropriate given that he is in his military uniform and because he has been the subject of attacks meant to “marginalize” his service.
Okay guys can we please stop making this a thing? Active duty service members are literally required to wear their dress uniforms when appearing on Capitol Hill in an official capacity. https://t.co/DWXD9LchoU
Lt Col Alexander Vindman testified that after he reported his concerns on Trump’s July call with the Ukrainian president, he was excluded from several meetings he usually would have attended in his capacity as the top Ukraine expert on the NSC.
Vindman says that after he reported on the July 25 call he was excluded from several meetings & “it was out of the course of normal affairs” to not have him participate.
Continue reading...Thousands converge in bid to beat numbers drawn to League leader’s pre-election rallies
An estimated 7,000 people have crammed together in the northern Italian city of Modena as part of a growing “sardines” movement against the politics of the far-right leader, Matteo Salvini, in which opponents attempt to beat the numbers he draws to his rallies.
Protesters converged under the rain at Piazza Grande on Monday night as the former interior minister campaigned in the city before crucial regional elections in Emilia-Romagna, a leftwing stronghold.
Continue reading...Verdicts against two PSOE members embarrassing for Spain’s acting prime minister
Two former socialist presidents of the southern Spanish region of Andalucía have been found guilty of misconduct and misuse of public funds over their roles in a decade-long, €680m (£582m) fraud that led to one of the country’s biggest corruption trials.
The verdicts will be acutely embarrassing for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) as its leader, Pedro Sánchez, the acting prime minister, struggles to form a government after winning another inconclusive election nine days ago.
Continue reading...Prosecutor says country will not proceed with investigation into WikiLeaks founder
Swedish authorities have discontinued an investigation into a rape allegation against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, after a review of the evidence.
The deputy chief prosecutor, Eva-Marie Persson, said the complainant’s evidence was deemed credible and reliable, but that after nearly a decade, witnesses’ memories had faded.
Continue reading...Alleged middleman offered pardon in return for sharing evidence on death of journalist
A suspected middleman in the murder of the prominent Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been offered a presidential pardon in return for sharing potentially crucial evidence.
Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, confirmed what could be a major breakthrough in the hunt for those who ordered the killing in a statement on the steps of his office on Tuesday morning.
Continue reading...Money sent home by relatives working abroad has transformed Kamza over the past decade
Driving out of Albania’s capital, Tirana, into nearby Kamza, blocks of communist-era apartments give way to a chaotic jumble of houses of different colours, shapes and heights. Many are half-finished or being rebuilt. Some are just exposed brick, while others are painted near-fluorescent greens, oranges or yellows.
“People pay a lot of attention to the aesthetics of the houses,” says Njazi Murrja, who lives locally. “They show the culture and the wealth of the family.”
Continue reading...Expert warns of ‘huge inequality’ in capital, while Lithuanian males live shortest lives
Men from west London, one of the wealthiest areas of the UK, have the longest life expectancy of males in Europe with a newborn baby expected to live to the age of 82, according to statistics published to mark International Men’s Day.
The data from the EU department Eurostat suggests that only men from the city centre of the Spanish capital, Madrid, tend to live as long as the fortunate subset of Londoners.
Continue reading...Several feared missing after suspension bridge falls into river near Toulouse
A 15-year-old girl was killed after a suspension bridge over a river in south-west France collapsed, causing a car, a truck and possibly a third vehicle to plunge into the water, local authorities said.
Four people were rescued but several others were feared missing after the collapse of the bridge between Mirepoix-sur-Tarn and Bessières, 18 miles north of Toulouse, said the Haute-Garonne department’s security chief, Étienne Guyot.
Continue reading...The country’s traditional powerhouses on the centre-left and the centre-right face a moment of reckoning
Postwar German politics has a reputation for being moderate, consensual and a touch on the dull side. But there have been moments of high drama. In November 1959, for example, the Social Democratic party (SPD) abandoned its historic ambition to replace capitalism with socialism, dropped the Marxist account of class struggle and began to pitch itself as a broad-based Volkspartei (people’s party). History vindicated the decision. For the next 50 years or so, the SPD vied for power with the country’s other great political force, the CDU (and its CSU Bavarian ally), as both parties regularly achieved a vote share of over 40%.
Famed for their practice of big-tent politics, what the CDU and SPD would give for such numbers now. The agonies of Brexit and the rise of rightwing populism have claimed the political limelight around Europe. But those looking for clues to the continent’s future would do well to watch Germany closely over the coming weeks.
Continue reading...Italian city suffers worst series of high tides since 1872, with an estimated cost of €1bn
Venice has closed St Mark’s Square as the city suffered a third major flooding in less than a week, while rain lashed the rest of Italy and warnings were issued in Florence and Pisa.
Venice was hit with an “acqua alta”, or high water, of 150cm (5ft) on Sunday, lower than Tuesday’s 187cm – the highest level in half a century – but still dangerous.
Continue reading...Times have changed dramatically since Monsignor Václav Malý endured interrogations, beatings and the indignities of being barred from the priesthood while being forced to clean toilets as the price of campaigning against Czechoslovakia’s communist regime.
As a signatory and then spokesman for Charter 77, a civic initiative demanding respect for human rights that was led by, among others, the dissident playwright Václav Havel, the clergyman was on the frontline of opponents targeted by the hated secret police. Yet this weekend, exactly 30 years after the Velvet Revolution began, ushering in the overthrow of the totalitarian system, Malý – now Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Prague – is exhorting a new generation to fight new threats to their hard won freedom.
Continue reading...Venice authorities have called on people around the world to help restore the stricken lagoon city following a series of devastating floods.
The mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has opened a bank account for contributions, writing on social media that Venice is “the pride of Italy and everyone’s heritage”. “Thanks to your help, it will shine again,” he added.
Continue reading...Thirty years ago, Czech photographer Bohumil Eichler was working for a dissident student-run news agency when the Velvet Revolution began. His work from Prague has rarely been seen, until now.
Continue reading...City of Apeldoorn is hosting nationally televised arrival of St Nicholas and ‘Black Pete’
Antiracism campaigners are protesting in cities across the Netherlands as Dutch children anticipate the annual arrival of St Nicholas and a blackface character who traditionally accompanies him.
The character of “Black Pete”, usually portrayed by white people in black face paint wearing frizzy wigs and prominent red lipstick, has provoked intense discussion, and sometimes violent clashes, in recent years.
Continue reading...Police forces fire teargas and water cannon against protesters in French capital
The gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement marked a year of weekend demonstrations with protests across France. In Paris, groups of black-clad youths caused damages at a central square, smashing bus shelters, a bank and torching vehicles.
Police responded by firing teargas and using water cannon against the protesters, only a few of whom were wearing the yellow vests affiliated with the movement. French media blamed “ultra radical” black bloc protesters for the violence.
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