Category Archives: Europe

Bulgarian woman in Russian spy ring is no George Blake, Old Bailey told

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Katrin Ivanova’s barrister says her sentence should reflect her admin duties and not equate her with ‘classic spy cases’

A woman said to be “chief minion” in a ring of Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia in Britain should not be treated like George Blake, the double agent sentenced to four decades in jail in the 1960s, the Old Bailey has heard.

Katrin Ivanova was said by her barrister, Rupert Bowers KC, to have been manipulated by her partner, Biser Dzhambazov, and to then have endured the discovery of his affair with a fellow member of the spy ring while in prison.

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Stockholm rejects ‘bizarre’ US letter urging city to scrap diversity initiatives

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City official says it will not comply with request seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures

A city official in Stockholm has said the municipality has no plans to comply after one of its offices received a letter seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures, in what is believed to be the first such missive sent to a foreign government.

“It’s so bizarre,” said Jan Valeskog, Stockholm’s vice-mayor for planning. “It’s our political priorities that count, not the ones from this embassy or any other embassies.”

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Netherlands museum rethinks lending works to US amid Trump arts cuts

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Mauritshuis in The Hague says guarantees would be needed of artworks’ safety amid uncertainty caused by US funding cuts

A leading museum in the Netherlands has said it is reconsidering lending works from its collection to museums in the US amid the uncertainty wreaked by Donald Trump’s funding cuts and ideological impositions.

Martine Gosselink, the director of the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, whose collection includes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, said the turmoil had left her team wary of lending pieces to the US.

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EU targets US aircraft and car exports in new list of potential tariffs

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Move would hit Boeing, as Brussels also starts consultation on possible litigation over Trump’s blanket 20% tariffs

The EU is considering imposing tariffs on US aircraft and car exports in a fresh attempt to persuade Donald Trump to drop his current and proposed tariffs against the EU.

If acted on they will hit Boeing hard but also include further categories of US exports including chemicals, electrical equipment including cameras, health-related products and some foods such as sweet potato and nuts.

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Irish broadcaster requests discussion over Israel’s Eurovision participation

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RTÉ asks European Broadcasting Union for talks after 72 former contestants call for ban on Israeli broadcaster

Ireland’s public broadcaster has asked the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for a discussion about Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision song contest, as 72 former contestants called for the Israeli broadcaster Kan to be banned from next week’s event in the Swiss city of Basel.

The director general of Ireland’s RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was “appalled by the ongoing events in the Middle East and by the horrific impact on civilians in Gaza, and the fate of Israeli hostages”.

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Xi hails ‘confident’ China-Russia ties as Putin welcomes ‘dear friend’ to Kremlin

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Chinese leader calls Russian counterpart his ‘old friend’ on visit for Victory Day commemorations

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin exchanged warm words in the Kremlin on Thursday during a grand ceremony welcoming the Chinese leader for his 11th visit to Russia.

Xi said the Sino-Russian relationship was “confident, stable and resilient” in the new era and that China was willing to work with Russia to promote a multipolar world.

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Vance says Russia asking ‘too much’ in ceasefire talks with Ukraine

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Trump says ‘it’s possible that’s right’ about the vice-president’s remarks amid frustrations with Russia

JD Vance has said that Russia is asking for “too much” in its negotiations with Ukraine in the latest sign of growing frustration from Washington with ceasefire talks to end the war between the two countries.

Speaking at a security conference of senior military and diplomatic leaders in Washington, the US vice-president said that the White House is focused on getting the two sides to hold direct talks and is ready to walk away if certain benchmarks are not reached.

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Norwegian fan trades five kilos of fish for ticket to Bodø/Glimt v Tottenham

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  • Supporter with spare ticket took the bait over offer
  • Around 50,000 supporters vying for just 480 seats

A Norwegian bartered five kilos of semi-dried fish for a ticket to Thursday’s semi-final clash between Bodø/Glimt and Tottenham in the Arctic Circle, as the hosts aim to become the first Norwegian club to reach a European final.

Some 50,000 fans were vying for just 480 remaining tickets to the second leg of Bodø/Glimt’s Europa League semi-final.

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Netherlands urges review of EU-Israel trade deal over ‘catastrophic’ Gaza aid block

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Foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp tells top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas he believes Israel is in breach of rights obligations linked to trade agreement

The Dutch government, seen as one of Israel’s most loyal allies in the European Union, is calling for an urgent review of the EU Israel association agreement, the basis for the EU-Israeli free trade agreement, the Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp told the Guardian.

Veldkamp described the Israeli ban on the supply of aid into Gaza as “catastrophic, truly dismal” and in clear breach of international humanitarian law.

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Biden accuses Trump of ‘modern-day appeasement’ towards Russia

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In his first interview since leaving office, former US president told the BBC he fears for US-Europe relations

Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of “modern-day appeasement” in his approach to Russia and expressed fears that Europe would “lose confidence in the certainty of America” in his first interview since leaving the White House in January.

“He [Vladimir Putin] believes it [Russia] has historical rights to Ukraine,” Biden told the BBC. Anybody who thought the Russian president would stop if Kyiv conceded territory, as recently proposed by Trump, “is just foolish”, he said.

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Front row? Dublin orders tourists to leave statue’s cleavage alone

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Touching breasts of city’s Molly Malone statue is supposed to bring luck, but not everyone is happy with tradition

Each time a tourist sidled up to the statue and reached for the most famous cleavage in Dublin, a voice called out: “No touching please.”

Two city council stewards stood vigil over the landmark on Tuesday to notify would-be gropers that Molly Malone was to be left alone. After years of supposedly bringing good luck to whomever touched the breasts, they were now off-limits.

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Denmark’s museum objects at risk from ‘extreme’ new mould, say conservators

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The ‘epidemic for Golden Age paintings’ may already be a global problem, with the fungi a possible health hazard

A new type of “extreme” mould is sweeping through Denmark’s museums, threatening some of the nation’s most important paintings and cultural objects, conservators have warned.

Described as an “epidemic for Golden Age paintings”, the highly resistant mould covers objects in a white coating and has been detected in 12 of the country’s museums, including the National Museum of Denmark and Skagens Museum.

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Ukrainian drones target Moscow for second night as foreign leaders arrive

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Russia says its defences shot down two drones en route to capital, where preparations are under way for Victory Day parade

Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow on Tuesday as the first foreign leaders landed in the capital ahead of a major military parade marking the end of the second world war.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said Russian air defences shot down two drones en route to the capital on Tuesday evening.

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Pentagon stopped Ukraine military aid shipments in February without Trump’s approval

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Order to cancel 11 military aid flights – which were quickly reinstated – originated in defense head Pete Hegseth’s office

Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the US military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover air force base in Delaware and a US base in Qatar: stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry that were bound for Ukraine.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the US Transportation Command, known as TransCom, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

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Many in US and western Europe think ‘third world war likely within five to 10 years’

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Exclusive: Poll before 80th anniversary of VE Day finds tensions with Russia seen as most probable cause

Eighty years after the second world war, polling shows many Americans and western Europeans believe an even more devastating third global conflict could break out within a decade, with tensions with Russia seen as the most probable cause.

As Europe prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the YouGov polling also showed large majorities felt that events during and before the second world war were relevant today and must continue to be taught to younger generations.

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Ex-French interior minister apologises to Liverpool fans for making them a ‘scapegoat’

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Gérald Darmanin, now justice minister, called night of 2022 Champions League final ‘biggest failure’ of his career

The former French interior minister has apologised to Liverpool fans for using them as a “scapegoat” for the chaos surrounding the 2022 Champions League final in Paris, where supporters of the club, including children, were teargassed by police amid false claims they had caused a riot.

Gérald Darmanin, who is now France’s justice minister, called the night “the biggest failure” of his career. On 28 May 2022, Liverpool supporters said they feared for their lives as they were forced to enter Stade de France via a narrow subway and boxed-in lanes that could not accommodate the thousands of people that had arrived.

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Romania’s pro-EU prime minister resigns as Trump ally eyes presidency

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Marcel Ciolacu quits after coalition candidate fails to make it to run-off against nationalist George Simion

Romania’s pro-EU prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has resigned after his ruling coalition’s candidate crashed out of a presidential election rerun decisively won by a far-right Trump admirer, dramatically deepening the country’s political turmoil.

“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” Ciolacu, told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic party (PSD). “The ruling coalition has no legitimacy, at least in this formula.”

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UK access to EU crime and illegal migration data reportedly denied

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Blow to Starmer’s hopes of post-Brexit reset and efforts to clear asylum claims amid rise of populist right

A UK request for access to shared European Union crime and illegal migration data has reportedly been rejected in a blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of a post-Brexit relations “reset”.

British negotiators have been hoping to reach a deal on gaining access to the Schengen Information System (SIS), a vital tool for sharing police alerts across borders within the area where 29 countries have abolished passport controls.

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Spain: cable theft that caused rail chaos was ‘act of sabotage’, says minister

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Signalling cable taken from four locations, delaying high-speed services between Madrid and Seville, week after massive power cut

Spain’s transport minister has said the country’s rail network suffered “an act of serious sabotage” after vital signalling cable was stolen over the busy bank holiday weekend, bringing severe delays to high-speed services between Madrid and Seville that affected more than 10,000 travellers.

Government sources said the problems on the line between the capital and the southern region of Andalucía had been caused by the theft of copper cable from five different locations in the Toledo area, south of Madrid, late on Sunday.

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