Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Research by Der Spiegel, Bellingcat and The Insider found suspect’s passport could be linked to Russian military
A suspect arrested last week over the killing of a Chechen dissident in Berlin was carrying a passport whose number linked him to Russian security services, news magazine Der Spiegel and others reported on Friday.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought against Russia during the second Chechen war in the early 2000s, was shot twice in the head at close range in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in central Berlin just before midday last Friday.
As leaders gather for commemoration in Poland, nationalists exploit the events of 1939
Shortly before 5am on 1 September 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired at a garrison of Polish soldiers stationed on the Westerplatte peninsula, part of what was then the internationally administered city of Danzig, now Polish Gdańsk. The attack marked the start of a war that would eventually kill millions and go down as the most appalling conflict in the history of humanity.
As the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war approaches on Sunday and European leaders head to Poland for commemorations, the bloody events of 80 years ago are being politicised and exploited more than ever across the continent.
Andreas Kalbitz is vying to become rightwing German party’s first state premier
A German olitician vying to become the first state premier for the rightwing populist Alternative für Deutschland in elections this Sunday took part in a neo-Nazi rally in Athens in 2007, documents leaked to the media show.
Andreas Kalbitz, 46, is the AfD’s lead candidate for Brandenburg, where polls suggest the party is competing with the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) in the race to become the state’s strongest political force.
Czech officials shocked by the ‘cobbled together’ vehicles offered to tourists for sightseeing rides
Czech officials have vowed to force imitation vintage cars offering tourists open-topped sightseeing rides from the streets of Prague after nearly all of them were found to be dangerous and unroadworthy.
Interior minister calls for ‘day of mobilisation’ in protest at moves to sideline League
Matteo Salvini has called on his supporters to descend on Rome as Italy moves towards ousting his far-right League from power after his attempt to collapse the Italian government and force snap elections.
Salvini earmarked 19 October for a “peaceful day of Italian pride” against a potential government made up of his former ally, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), and the centre-left Democratic party (PD).
Priti Patel discusses increasing financial support amid hike in attempted crossings
The UK government is considering increasing the amount it pays France to help deal with people trying to make the perilous Channel crossing to England using small boats, Paris has said.
The proposal was discussed during talks on Thursday between the British home secretary, Priti Patel, and her French counterpart, Christophe Castaner, that were prompted by an increase in the number of such attempted crossings over the summer.
Astronauts will no longer be able to urinate on bus that picks them up for launch
Russia has unveiled a new space suit but the design may have to be changed to continue a decades-old tradition – making a stop to pee on the way to the launch.
The Sokol-M prototype suit was designed as a replacement for suits worn during launches to the International Space Station (ISS) on Soyuz spacecraft.
Far-right League leader licks his wounds after gambit to collapse Italian government fails
Less than a month ago, Matteo Salvini was in his element, drinking mojitos, DJing and posing for countless selfies at Papeete, his favourite beach club in the seaside resort town of Milano Marittima. He had good reason for his ebullient mood: his far-right League party in Italy was nearing 39% in the polls.
Move could help some Britons seeking EU passports who were rejected after the referendum
The German government has said it will ease the process for descendants of people persecuted by the Nazis to regain citizenship, after a campaign by a British-based group.
The interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said on Thursday he had issued a decree that would overturn the rejections of those previously considered ineligible. These are most commonly descendants of women who fled Nazi Germany and who lost their citizenship after marrying non-German men.
La Tomatina festival in Buñol, a town in eastern Spain, began in 1945 but was banned for much of General Franco’s regime. Last year, 22,000 attendees threw about 150 tonnes of ripe tomatoes
If the past few years of Brexit debate have passed you by, here is what you need to know
If you’ve lost track of Brexit’s seemingly endless “cliff edges”, now is the time to pay attention as three years of argument appears set to come to a head.
Measles kills 37 in first half of 2019 as number of cases tops figure for whole of last year
The dramatic surge in measles across Europe is putting lives at risk, experts have said, as official figures showed the number of cases in the first half of 2019 outstripped that for the whole of last year.
Data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed nearly 90,000 cases and 37 deaths were reported across 48 of the 53 countries in the WHO European region in the first six months of 2019.
Authorities say there are 17 known cases so far after hair loss treatment mistakenly put in reflux medicine bottles
At least 17 children developed so-called “werewolf syndrome” after a major medicine mix-up, Spain’s health ministry has said.
The children – some of them babies – began growing hair all over their body after being given what was thought to be omeprazole, a drug that helps with gastric reflux.
Parties to try to form government in move that would avert snap elections
Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic party (PD) have agreed to try to form a new government in a move that could avert snap elections and push the far-right League into opposition.
Italy's Stromboli volcano has erupted, spewing plumes of ash and smoke into the air and sending a river of lava into the sea. It comes almost two months after an eruption killed a hiker. The summit of Stromboli, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, had already been closed because of increased activity, including lesser eruptions earlier in the week
Boris Johnson has confirmed he has asked the Queen for permission to suspend parliament for five weeks from early September.
The prime minister claimed MPs would have “ample time” to debate Brexit, as he wrote to MPs on Wednesday, saying he had spoken to the Queen and asked her to suspend parliament from “the second sitting week in September”.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has responded to an invitation from MPs to chair a “citizens’ forum on Brexit” in which alternatives to a no deal would be discussed.
It’s an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair the proposed Citizens’ Forum on Brexit. In the past such gatherings have opened the way for careful deliberation. I’m open in principle – provided the Forum doesn’t aim to stop or delay Brexit, and has cross-party support. https://t.co/pYLYUDFzwJ
It is an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair this proposed citizens’ forum on Brexit. In the past this kind of gathering has, in many places and in difficult situations, opened the way for careful deliberation if at the right time and genuinely representative.
I am honoured to be approached and would be willing to accept in principle, subject to some conditions which have not yet been met. The main three are first, and indispensably, that the forum should not be a Trojan horse intended to delay or prevent Brexit in any particular form. That power can only be exercised by the government and MPs in parliament. A forum must be open to all possibilities. Second, that it has cross-party support (although its members will not be politicians). Third, the process must have time to be properly organised.
I generally don’t criticise the archbishop but he shouldn’t allow himself to be tempted into what is essentially a very political issue right now. This assembly is designed to destabilise Boris Johnson’s position. As such I hope he will recognise the deeply political nature of this.
Jeremy Corbyn was not at today’s meeting of opposition leaders at Church House – the shadow chancellor said he was busy in meetings – but the Labour leader has spoken to broadcast media this afternoon.
Lecarrow, Tahilla and Scoil an Ghleanna will reopen as multi-denominational schools
Three schools in Ireland are expected to make history this week by becoming the first to abandon their Catholic ethos and become multi-denominational state-run schools.
The transfer in patronage reflects an ebbing of the Catholic church’s dominance in education – it runs about 90% of primary schools – and efforts by small rural schools to attract more pupils to avoid closure.
NGOs Pilotes Volontaires and Sea-Watch blocked from using aircraft for Mediterranean rescues
Italy has grounded two planes used by NGOs to search for migrant boats in distress in the Mediterranean.
The planes – Moonbird and Colibri – are operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch and the French NGO Pilotes Volontaires respectively and have been flying reconnaissance missions over the Mediterranean since 2017.