Greek Orthodox cleric claimed gay men recognisable from ‘particular odour’
Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into homophobic remarks made by a controversial bishop.
At the request of the island’s attorney general, investigators will examine whether the Greek Cypriot Orthodox prelate, known popularly by his first name, Neophytos, violated hate speech laws after he claimed that homosexuality could be passed on when pregnant women had anal sex.
Continue reading...Vessel allowed entry under agreement that other countries will look after those onboard
A group of 40 migrants rescued by a German charity ship have landed in Malta and will be taken care of by other EU member states after a deal negotiated by Berlin.
The 40 people were rescued on Wednesday from a small boat off the Libyan coast by the ship Alan Kurdi, which belongs to the NGO Sea-Eye. The NGO then sailed them to southern Italy, saying the port of Lampedusa was the closest and safest harbour.
Continue reading...Scepticism and safety concerns persist before vessel begins 4,000-mile Arctic journey
“I feel like I’m one of the first cosmonauts going into space,” said Vladimir Irminku, one of the chief engineers of the Akademik Lomonosov, as he stood on the deck of the giant, box-like platform on a chilly summer morning at Kola Bay in the Barents Sea.
Russia is planning to dispatch the vessel, its first floating nuclear power station, on a 4,000-mile journey along the Northern Sea Route, in a milestone for the country’s growing use of nuclear power in its plans for Arctic expansion.
Continue reading...French inventor flies from northern France to Dover on jet-powered ‘Flyboard’
A French inventor has succeeded in crossing the Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard.
Franky Zapata achieved the feat on Sunday morning on his second attempt, after being knocked off balance during his first try last month.
Continue reading...Experts condemn move to aerial surveillance as an abrogation of ‘responsibility to save lives’
Amid the panicked shouting from the water and the smell of petrol from the sinking dinghy, the noise of an approaching engine briefly raises hope. Dozens of people fighting for their lives in the Mediterranean use their remaining energy to wave frantically for help. Nearly 2,000 miles away in the Polish capital, Warsaw, a drone operator watches their final moments via a live transmission. There is no ship to answer the SOS, just an unmanned aerial vehicle operated by the European border and coast guard agency, Frontex.
This is not a scene from some nightmarish future on Europe’s maritime borders but a present-day probability. Frontex, which is based in Warsaw, is part of a £95m investment by the EU in unmanned aerial vehicles, the Observer has learned.
Continue reading...Italian city’s port authority asks eight other port cities to ‘join forces’ to combat problem
Venice’s port authority has called on Europe’s most popular cruise ship destinations to close ranks in tackling the dangers posed by massive vessels.
The appeal to the ports of Barcelona, Amsterdam, Marseille, Dubrovnik, Zeebrugge, Hamburg, Palma and Málaga comes as Venice leaders clash with government officials over finding a solution to a problem that has long rankled Venetians.
Continue reading...Activist heading to rally against exclusion of candidates such as herself from Moscow election
Police in Moscow have detained a leading opposition figure as she was heading to an unauthorised rally protesting against the exclusion of independent and opposition candidates from the Moscow city council election.
Lyubov Sobol, who is one of the aspirants rejected from the ballot, was detained on Saturday in central Moscow and taken away in a police van.
Continue reading...UN report warns threat from Islamist extremist groups remains high
The United Nations has warned that a recent pause in international terrorist violence may soon end, with a new wave of attacks possible before the end of the year.
In a report, specialist monitors at the UN security council paint a worrying picture of a global Islamist extremist movement that continues to pose a significant threat despite recent setbacks.
Continue reading...Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe was put in deportation centre after acquittal but is now free
Italian authorities have granted refugee status to an Eritrean man who was the victim of one of the country’s most embarrassing cases of mistaken identity.
Last month a judge in Palermo acquitted Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe of being a human trafficking kingpin, confirming he was the victim of mistaken identity when he was arrested more than three years ago in a joint operation by Italian and British authorities.
Continue reading...Corine Bastide drank rainwater from chewing gum container to keep hydrated in heatwave
A Belgian woman survived six days trapped in her overturned car without food during one of the country’s hottest periods on record.
Corine Bastide came off the road and crashed into woods last week near the south-eastern city of Liège. Family friends who were putting up missing posters days later spotted her vehicle and alerted authorities.
Continue reading...US rapper has been in detention since 3 July over incident in Swedish capital
A Swedish prosecutor has demanded that A$AP Rocky serve six months in prison for assault causing actual bodily harm in a case that that has outraged the US rapper’s fans and inflamed transatlantic relations.
The prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, told the court in Stockholm the musician, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, should serve a longer sentence than two members of his crew who are also accused of attacking the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, in a street brawl in the centre of the Swedish capital on 30 June.
Continue reading...Move follows police violence during last week’s protests over forthcoming Moscow elections
Russian authorities have threatened protesters in Moscow with lengthy jail sentences in an attempt to dampen an unexpected surge in protest mood before a planned rally on Saturday.
Last weekend police detained a record number of people, some of them violently, for taking part in a peaceful protest in central Moscow over access for opposition candidates to local elections in September.
Continue reading...US pulls out of cold war-era INF treaty after Moscow’s ‘secret deployment’ of cruise missiles
A key international nuclear disarmament treaty has formally collapsed amid mutual recriminations between the west and Russia, and with Nato pledging to boost Europe’s military defences.
The alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Nato countries were facing a threat from previously banned Russian land-based cruise missiles that could “reach EU cities, with only minutes of warning time”.
Continue reading...As the Brexit deadline looms, Europe remains wary of the poker player behind the clown mask
He is clever, cultivated, charming; witty, self-deprecating, wildly entertaining and oh so terribly British. Also dissembling, dishonest, dark, duplicitous, and a danger to his country and to Europe – a poker player whose bluff is about to be called.
As Boris Johnson settles into his new role, vowing, do or die, to take the UK out of the EU without a deal in 90 days unless the 27 nations ditch an accord that took two years to negotiate, European politicians and commentators are both fascinated and appalled.
Continue reading...More than 100 portraits of president removed in symbolic civil disobedience movement
It was a quiet Monday afternoon in the picturesque town hall of Lingolsheim, outside Strasbourg. The school summer holidays had started and it was exceptionally hot. But at 4pm something extraordinary happened.
Eleven people calmly walked in, politely greeted the receptionists, then headed to the room usually reserved for council meetings. They carefully unhooked the picture of the French president, Emmanuel Macron – the type of portrait that hangs in all local administration buildings – gently placing it in a special protective pouch, and then walked out.
Continue reading...PM set out to prove his pledge to the ‘awesome foursome’ but not everything went to plan
Boris Johnson pledged his commitment to the “awesome foursome” of the UK when he was elected Conservative leader, and has since embarked on a whistlestop tour taking in the north of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But how successful were the trips? Visits that involved keeping the prime minister away from booing protesters and, in some cases, journalists? Have they allayed fears that Johnson’s hardline Brexit strategy and the continuation of the union could be mutually exclusive?
Continue reading...German carmaker’s CEO offers to travel to London to deliver message to PM saying ‘listen to business’
The boss of BMW has urged Boris Johnson to respond to calls from business to find a compromise on Brexit – and offered to travel to the UK to deliver the message to the prime minister in person.
Speaking as the German carmaker reported falling profits due to its investment in electric vehicles, BMW chief executive Harald Krüger said it would be a “lose-lose” scenario if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Continue reading...Police and transport companies have signalled unwillingness to enforce face covering ban
The Netherlands’ so-called burqa ban has been rendered largely unworkable on its first day in law after both the police and Dutch transport companies signalled an unwillingness to enforce it.
Under the terms of the Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing Act, the wearing of ski masks, full-face helmets, balaclavas, niqabs and burqas is prohibited in public buildings including schools and hospitals and on public transport.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Bipartisan bill seeks New Start extension– the last formal restraint on the world’s major arsenals
Bipartisan Senate legislation introduced on Wednesday aims to change the administration’s course on nuclear arms control, urging Donald Trump to extend the New Start treaty with Russia or provide justification for allowing it to expire.
Trump has already pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia, which is due to end on Friday.
Continue reading...From a railway run by children in Ljubljana to brutalist monuments in the Balkans, the Nonument Group maps abandoned 20th-century architecture
When he was 14, Ljubljana resident Janko Vrhunc spent every Sunday training to drive a steam locomotive. “We had to sign in, then check all the wagons, check the train, then talk to all the workers,” recalls Vrhunc, now 84. “I asked the train driver: is the fire strong enough? I asked the conductor: did we sell enough tickets to depart? Are the uniforms in order?”
After three months Vrhunc and about 20 other schoolchildren were deemed ready to run the small-gauge Pioneer Railway under adult supervision. “We moved the train from Ljubljana main station,” says Vrhunc. “The train driver stepped aside and let us do it. This is how … one of us fell under the wheels and lost a leg.”
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