Category Archives: Europe

Italy moves closer to fresh elections that could bolster far right

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Matteo Salvini reiterates call for snap vote as his party plans motion to dismantle coalition

Italy appears set for fresh elections that could push the country further toward the far right.

Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, reiterated his calls for a snap vote on Friday, adding that any attempt to block his wishes and install a new ruling coalition would be unacceptable. His League party said it would present a no-confidence motion in the senate in its push to dismantle the tempestuous coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).

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Outdoor smoking ban escalates war over Barcelona’s restaurant terraces

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Restaurateurs say ban on top of new regulations on outdoor space threatens their survival – while residents claim the city’s real issues are being ignored

Enjoying a refreshing drink or a cup of coffee on the sunlit terrace of a bar or restaurant is a cherished pastime in Barcelona – and a fundamental feature of Mediterranean life.

“Terraces are part of who we are and how we live,” says Roger Pallarols, president of the Barcelona restaurateurs association. “For many people, the terrace is like their living room, especially as most of us don’t live in large apartments. If France is Europe’s kitchen, Spain is its terrace.”

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Italy’s Matteo Salvini calls for fresh elections as coalition fractures

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Far-right leader says it is pointless continuing government with Five Star Movement

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and the leader of the far-right League party, has called for a snap election, urging the prime minister to reconvene parliament to confirm that the coalition government is no longer viable.

The dramatic move on Thursday came after months of fighting between the League and its coalition partners, the anti-establishement Five Star Movement (M5S).

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Five French men held on suspicion of Benidorm gang-rape

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Men, all aged between 18 and 19, are alleged to have attacked Norwegian woman aged 20

Five French tourists have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a 20-year-old Norwegian woman in the Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm, Spanish police have said.

Sexual violence has gained prominence as an issue in social and political campaigning in Spain in recent years, notably after five Spaniards calling themselves the “wolf pack” were accused of gang-raping a young woman at the San Fermín bull-running festival in 2016. Their initial light prison sentences sparked mass protests across the country.

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Notre Dame fire: lead decontamination of schools begins

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Work to protect children from risks of poisoning to be completed before schools open

Workers have started decontaminating schools in Paris that were found to have unsafe levels of lead following the blaze at the Notre Dame Cathedral, as part of efforts to protect children from risks of poisoning.

Related: Notre Dame fire: activists launch lawsuit over 'toxic fallout'

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Venice cruise ships could be rerouted from city centre next month

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Italian minister proposes plan for diverting a third of big ships to other ports by next year

Italy’s transport minister has proposed a plan for diverting massive cruise ships from Venice’s historic centre, with a view to rerouting a third of the vessels by next year.

Danilo Toninelli told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that the ships could gradually be shifted away from the Marittima terminal and instead dock at Fusina, a small port on mainland Venice, or Lombardia, a privately owned terminal. The minister suggested that the rerouting process could begin in September.

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Two dead and radiation spike reported after Russia rocket test blast

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Explosion at military range in Arkhangelsk is second deadly defence incident in week

Two people have been killed and radiation levels reportedly spiked after a rocket engine exploded during a test in northern Russia, in the second deadly incident at a Russian defence installation this week.

There was a sudden rise in radiation levels in the nearby city of Severodvinsk, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported, citing municipal officials.

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‘We are human beings too’: migrant-led walking tours tackle hate in Italian cities

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Guides show Italians the wealth of contributions made to their home cities by migrants

Essediya Magboul leads a group across the open-air market of Porta Palazzo in Turin on a windy Saturday morning. Stopping at a stall, she picks up a bottle of laban, and gives a detailed account of the meticulous mixing needed to prepare the Middle Eastern yoghurt drink. “It’s a Ramadan must,” she adds, smiling, before continuing to an Arab-owned bakery where the owners offer samples of ghoriba cookies and answer questions.

In the space of a few streets, she takes her guests from Eastern Europe to East Asia, via the Middle East. The walkers could easily be mistaken for tourists, but they are in fact locals.

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Luxembourg to be first European country to legalise cannabis

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Health minister confirms plans and calls on neighbouring countries to relax their laws

Luxembourg has called on its EU neighbours to relax their drug laws as its health minister confirmed plans to become the first European country to legalise cannabis production and consumption.

“This drug policy we had over the last 50 years did not work,” Etienne Schneider told Politico. “Forbidding everything made it just more interesting to young people … I’m hoping all of us will get a more open-minded attitude toward drugs.”

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Royal Navy ship shadows Russian vessel through Channel

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HMS Forth deployed to accompany the Vasily Bykov navy patrol ship through UK waters

A Royal Navy patrol ship has been deployed to shadow a Russian ship through the Channel.

Portsmouth-based HMS Forth had just returned to UK waters from her first foreign port visit when it was scrambled to monitor the Russian patrol ship Vasily Bykov.

A Navy spokesman said: “Forth had departed Gibraltar on 31 July, before heading north at speed and conducting heavy weather trials before a quick logistics stop in Devonport.

“She then sailed and positioned herself ready to meet the Vasily Bykov as the vessel sailed from the North Sea having taken part in Russia’s Navy Days celebration in St Petersburg.”

HMS Forth’s executive officer Lt Samuel Fields said: “It has been a particularly busy time for HMS Forth as we generate for deployed operations and continue to test our ship’s capabilities.

“I am proud of the ship’s company for rising to this additional challenge.”

The Vasily Bykov was previously shadowed by HMS Forth through the UK’s area of interest last month.

Frigate HMS Westminster was also deployed during the weekend to shadow the Chinese warship Xian up the Channel.

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Brexit: no deal would harm UK security, senior officer warns

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Counter-terror chief raises ‘deep concerns’ as key crime-fighting tools will be lost

The UK’s safety and security would suffer from a no-deal Brexit and no amount of planning and preparation can erase the risk, Britain’s head of counter-terrorism has said.

The Scotland Yard assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, said key crime-fighting tools would be lost and their replacements would not be as good.

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Matteo Salvini embarks on ‘beach tour’ amid election speculation

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Far-right leader takes unusual step in effort to drum up support in south of country

Matteo Salvini is taking his perennial campaign to Italy’s beaches as the far-right leader seeks to whip up more support before widely-anticipated new elections.

The Italian parliament officially begins its summer break at the end of the week, but Salvini, deputy prime minister and interior minister, is finishing on Wednesday to begin what the Italian media are calling his “beach tour”.

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Greek police search for British woman missing on island of Ikaria

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Dr Natalie Christopher, 34, thought to have disappeared after going for morning run

Greek authorities have broadened the search for a British scientist believed to have disappeared after she went for an early morning run on the Aegean island of Ikaria.

More than 24 hours after Dr Natalie Christopher was first reported missing, the quest to locate the 34-year-old intensified as officials in Athens dispatched a helicopter equipped with infrared cameras to join the search operation.

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British Airways flight lands in Spain after smoke fills cabin

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Nearly 200 people evacuated and three taken to hospital after landing in Valencia

Nearly 200 people had to be evacuated from a British Airways flight after smoke poured into the cabin minutes before it was due to land in Valencia.

Three people were taken to hospital after the incident on Monday, and each was later discharged.

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Mass evacuation after fire triggers explosions at Siberian base

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Flying shrapnel from military base leaves one soldier dead and at least seven injured

Thousands have been evacuated from a Siberian town after an ammunition depot on a military base caught fire, triggering huge explosions that have sent deadly shrapnel flying for miles around.

One soldier was killed and at least seven other people have been injured, including several with shrapnel wounds, according to Russian state media reports.

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Pro-LGBT Coca-Cola adverts spark boycott calls in Hungary

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Campaign linked to Sziget festival criticised by senior member of ruling Fidesz party

Advertisements by Coca-Cola relating to a popular music festival in Hungary that promote gay acceptance have prompted a boycott call from a senior member of the conservative ruling party.

The posters are timed for the week-long Sziget festival – that takes the theme of “Love Revolution” and starts on Wednesday in Budapest – and show gay people and couples smiling with slogans such as “zero sugar, zero prejudice”.

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Edinburgh festival performers refuse sterling payments due to Brexit

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Artists ask to be paid in euros and dollars as pound continues to fall amid no-deal risk

Increasing numbers of artists are asking to be paid in dollars and euros instead of sterling because of Brexit uncertainty, the director of the Edinburgh international festival has said.

The three-week arts festival opened on Friday and includes 293 performances by 2,600 artists from 40 countries. Speaking during its opening weekend, Fergus Linehan, who has been its director since 2015, said many performers had refused to be paid in sterling.

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