Category Archives: Europe

David Gauke expresses ‘grave concerns’ about no-deal Brexit

Posted on by

Justice secretary says leaving EU without deal would have ‘very adverse effect’

The justice secretary has said he has grave concerns about the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal, saying it would have a “very adverse effect” on the UK’s economy, security and union with Northern Ireland.

David Gauke said the government was planning for the contingency of no deal, but suggested he would support extending article 50 if a deal between the UK and EU was not reached, since a no-deal Brexit was not in the national interest. He added that he expected the government to act responsibly if the current deadlock prevailed.

Continue reading...

German minister calls for ban on conversion therapy

Posted on by

‘Homosexuality is not an illness,’ says health minister Jens Spahn

The German health minister, Jens Spahn, has said that he will seek to ban “conversion therapies” that claim to change sexual orientation. “Homosexuality is not an illness, which is why it does not need to be treated,” Spahn, who is gay himself, told the left-leaning Berlin daily Die Tageszeitung.

Related: ‘I still have flashbacks’: the ‘global epidemic’ of LGBT conversion therapy

Continue reading...

Porsche asks UK buyers to commit to 10% no-deal Brexit surcharge

Posted on by

Company says move is a precaution in case WTO tariffs apply to EU-UK trade

Porsche is asking British customers to sign a contract committing them to pay a surcharge of up to 10% of their vehicles’ purchase price if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Cars made in Europe could attract tariffs of 10% if imported to the UK under the terms of the World Trade Organization, the default trading relationship if the UK and the EU are unable to agree a transition period before 29 March.

Continue reading...

Germany rebukes Trump over criticism of Nato spending

Posted on by

Defence minister’s comments at Munich conference reflect deepening transatlantic rift

The Nato alliance is about decency and dependability, not just cash and contributions, Germany’s defence minister has said in a rebuke to Donald Trump over his insistence that European countries rapidly increase their defence spending.

Ursula von der Leyen told a gathering of defence ministers in Munich the alliance was about fairness in collective decision-making, and not just during military missions.

Continue reading...

Spain heads into election unknown as Sánchez runs out of road

Posted on by

Political landscape fragmented amid Catalan secession crisis and re-emergence of far-right

Spain is heading into what could be months of political uncertainty after its Socialist prime minister called a snap general election for April – the country’s third in less than four years – against the backdrop of a continuing Catalan secession crisis.

It was always improbable that Pedro Sánchez, whose administration will be the shortest in Spain’s modern democratic history, would last long. He came to power in June only because his predecessor, the conservative Mariano Rajoy, lost a no-confidence vote after a string of corruption revelations about his People’s Party (PP).

Continue reading...

Spain’s PM calls snap general election for 28 April

Posted on by

Country’s third general election in less than four years comes after national budget rejected

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called a snap election for 28 April.

The country’s third general election in less than four years was seen as an inevitability after Catalan secessionists joined rightwing parties in rejecting the socialist government’s national budget on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Salisbury poisoning: website says it has identified third GRU suspect

Posted on by

Denis Sergeyev named as involved in suspected poisoning in Bulgaria in 2015 by website Bellingcat

A third suspect linked to the poisoning of the former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury has been identified as a high-ranking officer in Russian military intelligence by the investigative website Bellingcat.

Bellingcat reported that Denis Sergeyev, a graduate of the Military Diplomatic Academy, a training ground for intelligence officers, is the real identity of a man operating under the cover persona of Sergey Fedotov.

Continue reading...

Brexit: blow to May’s authority as MPs reject her motion by 303 votes to 258 – Politics live

Posted on by

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the latest Commons debate and votes on what should happen next with Brexit

Anna Soubry, the Conservative pro-European, described the result as a “body blow” to Theresa May. Soubry said:

The prime minister has been dealt yet another body blow. This is really serious stuff.

What is happening is a profound lack of leadership from the very top of government.

We have a Conservative party - the party of business, of economic competence and prosperity - gambling with the real lives of my constituents, their futures, their jobs, their children and grandchildren.

This is outrageous and, from the Conservative Party in particular, it is not acceptable any longer.

How MPs voted on the government motion.

For (258)

Continue reading...

Ukraine deports Orthodox bishop after stripping citizenship

Posted on by

Russia condemns move as row escalates over Ukrainian church’s autonomy

Ukraine has stripped an Orthodox bishop of his citizenship and barred him from entering the country as a dispute escalates over the Ukrainian and Russian branches of the church.

Ukrainian border guards on Thursday said they had detained and then deported Bishop Gedeon, the abbot of a Kiev monastery, because he allegedly held dual Ukraine-US citizenship. The deportation was condemned by Russian officials, who called on the US to intervene.

Continue reading...

Stunningly preserved fresco of Narcissus discovered in Pompeii

Posted on by

Mythological hunter is depicted enraptured by his own reflection

Archaeologists working in a richly decorated house in ancient Pompeii have discovered a stunningly preserved fresco depicting the mythological hunter Narcissus enraptured by his own reflection in a pool of water.

The figure of Narcissus, who according to the myth fell in love with his own image to the point that he melted from the fire of passion burning inside him, was a fairly common theme in the first-century Roman city.

Continue reading...

Former Catalan vice-president tells trial he is political prisoner

Posted on by

Oriol Junqueras refuses to recognise Madrid court trying 12 people for independence bid

The chief defendant in the trial of Catalan independence leaders declared himself a political prisoner as he took the stand on Thursday in the Madrid court where he and 11 others face charges over the 2017 bid to break away from Spain.

Oriol Junqueras, the former Catalan vice-president, effectively refused to recognise the court, agreeing only to take questions from his defence lawyer and not the prosecution. “This is a political trial and I refuse to answer to my accusers,” he said. “I am a political prisoner and I am on trial for my ideas.”

Continue reading...

Sweden investigates its Beijing ambassador over ‘strange’ meetings

Posted on by

Daughter of Swedish bookseller jailed in China says Anna Lindstedt set up meetings in Stockholm

Sweden is investigating its ambassador to China after she was accused of orchestrating a bizarre series of meetings between the daughter of a Swedish bookseller jailed in China and businessmen who said they could help secure his release.

The story is detailed in a blogpost by Angela Gui, the daughter of Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish bookseller who has disappeared twice and is currently held in Chinese custody.

Continue reading...

Brexit is national crisis, former diplomats tell Theresa May

Posted on by

Ex-ambassadors and high commissioners say UK is weakened by ‘fiasco’

More than 40 former British ambassadors and high commissioners have written to Theresa May warning her that Brexit has turned into a “national crisis” and urging her to delay proceedings until the government has greater clarity about Britain’s likely future relationship with Europe.

The letter, signed by many of the most senior diplomats of the last 20 years, underlines concerns that British influence in the world will wane if the country leaves Europe’s trading and foreign policy bloc.

Continue reading...

The surprising truth about Brexit Britain – we’re a country full of moderates| Adrian Chiles

Posted on by

There are plenty of thoughtful, pragmatic remainers and leavers. They’re just not getting any airtime

Brexit has divided Britain – everyone says so. Families have been fractured, friendships blighted. Fury – yes, fury – hangs heavy in the air. Well, maybe. Perhaps it’s just the furious – the politicians, the punters, the pundits – who are getting all the airtime.

Just after the referendum I made a Panorama documentary in the West Midlands asking people why they had voted the way they had. The leavers, the majority, thumped their tubs in triumph. The remainers hung their heads in despair at the simple-mindedness of the leavers. Standard stuff.

Continue reading...

Spanish PM may call snap general election if budget rejected

Posted on by

Catalan secessionists likely to join right against Pedro Sánchez’s government

Spain’s socialist government could be forced to call a snap general election if rightwing parties and Catalan secessionists make good on their threats to reject the national budget in a key vote on Wednesday.

The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, faces an uphill battle to secure approval for the budget in the face of opposition from critics of his minority government.

Continue reading...

How to make an incinerator popular? Put a ski slope on it

Posted on by

Idea of topping municipal plant in Copenhagen with urban ski resort won accolades for Danish architecture firm

It might be the first waste incinerator the neighbours actually want next door. The shop at the foot of the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy project in Copenhagen is packed with families desperate to be among the first to try its unique selling point: the ski slope on the roof.

“I live so close by that I could follow the development,” says Ole Fredslund, who lives in neighbouring Amager, as he helped his sons Felix and Victor strap on their boots as the slope opened its lifts for the first time on Tuesday. “I guess 90% of the focus is on the fact that there’s a skiing hill coming, so in a way it’s very clever. Everybody talks about the ski hill to be, not the waste plant to be.”

Continue reading...

Cooper wins wider Tory support for new plan to allow MPs to block no-deal Brexit – Politics live

Posted on by

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May’s statement to MPs about Brexit

This amendment would stop the government from running down the clock on the Brexit negotiations, hoping members of parliament can be blackmailed into supporting a botched deal.

The Labour MP Yvette Cooper has published details of her latest plan to ensure that MPs get the chance to vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit. Here are the key points.

This bill would require the prime minister and parliament to take crucial decisions by the middle of March at the very latest on whether the UK is leaving with a deal, without a deal or seeking an extension to article 50.

It forces the prime minister to tell us whether she wants to leave with no deal or to extend article 50 if she still hasn’t got a deal in place by the middle of March. This bill creates a parliamentary safeguard to prevent us drifting into no deal by accident, and to prevent those crucial decisions being left until the final fortnight. The risks to jobs, the NHS and security from no deal are too great for us to stand back and let the government drift.

Continue reading...

Italy split by Inspector Montalbano’s pro-migrant message on TV

Posted on by

Sicilian detective recovers body of drowned migrant in episode of drama series

Italy’s most famous fictional detective has delivered a pro-migrant message on TV, angering supporters of the far-right deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.

In a scene from a new episode of the TV series Inspector Montalbano that aired in Italy on Monday night, the Sicilian investigator, played by the Roman actor Luca Zingaretti, jumps into the sea to recover the body of a migrant who drowned attempting to reach the shore.

Continue reading...

European powers to present cool front at Warsaw summit

Posted on by

Lack of participation at Middle East event reflects anger over US policy on Iran and Syria

Key European powers will offer only limited participation in a high-profile Trump administration summit on the Middle East starting on Wednesday, reflecting their growing anger over unilateral US policymaking on Iran and Syria.

The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will leave the Warsaw summit early, pleading Brexit Commons business, while France is sending a civil servant and Germany its junior foreign minister.

Continue reading...