Alice Weidel: The far-right leader shaping Germany’s AfD
Mali’s army says investigating soldiers accused of killing 24 civilians
Man Utd survive late VAR penalty drama to fightback for draw at Everton
Allowing racist tropes about Romani people to persist is dangerous
Germany: Will the far right beat the ‘firewall’?
Final push for votes as German frontrunner vows to lead in Europe
UK-wide parking app may be out of road after government funding withdrawn
Five-year-old platform intended to make drivers’ lives easier will only be supported until the end of March
- ‘Those without smartphones unfairly penalised, say campaigners
- How to navigate apps: from checking safety to recalling passwords
- UK-wide parking app may be out of road after funding withdrawn
It was hailed as “the future of UK parking”, intended to remove one of the bugbears of modern life: the need to sign up to a plethora of different apps in order to park your car.
But a big question mark now hangs over the future of the National Parking Platform (NPP), a government-funded scheme designed to make drivers’ lives easier by letting them use one app of their choice to pay for all their parking.
Continue reading...Germany’s front-runner Merz: Risk-taker who flirted with far right
Hamas releases six Israeli captives in Gaza as part of ceasefire deal
Russia and US could meet again within weeks to discuss Ukraine, Moscow says – Europe live
Moscow and Washington held their first talks on ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine on Tuesday
Some 62% of Britons believe Ukraine should be allowed into Nato, according to new polling.
The research by YouGov also suggested 68% think the UK should maintain its commitment to defend allies in the military bloc, but when asked specifically about defending the US this figure fell to 42%.
Continue reading...NHS facing ‘crisis of public trust’ as most people fear being failed by A&E services
Public concern about NHS is worrying and frightening, says leading emergency doctor after poll revealed
Three in four people in the UK fear getting stuck on a trolley in a hospital corridor or an ambulance not arriving after dialling 999, prompting claims that the NHS is facing “a crisis of public trust”.
Huge numbers also worry about their local A&E not having enough beds (77%) and not being able to get care at their GP surgery (70%), research also found.
Continue reading...China conducts second live-fire drill near New Zealand
Report from New Zealand navy personnel comes a day after similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand
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China’s navy has reportedly conducted a second live-fire exercise in international waters, a day after a similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand.
New Zealand navy personnel advised live rounds were fired from a Chinese warship in international waters near the island nation on Saturday.
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Continue reading...Salman Rushdie attacker found guilty of attempted murder
Americans sharply divided over Trump’s embrace of Putin
While US allies are alarmed at changing loyalties, new poll finds starkly partisan reaction to president’s Ukraine policy
Donald Trump’s shocking and mendacious attack this week on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “dictator” while cozying up to the Russian president and indicating that traditional US security support for Europe is waning may have alarmed US allies abroad but has prompted a more starkly divided response among Americans at home.
Reflecting the country’s deeply partisan attitude to the new president and his “America first” foreign policy doctrine, polling suggests that Republicans are much more likely to oppose additional help for war-torn Ukraine. A Pew Research Center survey earlier this month found that 47% of Republicans but just 14% of Democrats thought the US was providing too much support to Ukraine – views that have changed dramatically since the war began three years ago, when just 7% of all American adults (9% of Republicans and 5% of Democrats) said the US was providing too much support to Ukraine.
Continue reading...Far-right links and Putin praise: fears over £600m UK history theme park plan
French family behind project visited Kremlin in 2014 to discuss building ‘Tsarland’ in annexed Crimea
With its spectacular shows featuring Viking longboats, Roman charioteers and sword-wielding knights who perform death-defying stunts, Puy du Fou in France is consistently ranked among the world’s best theme parks. Each performance of its centrepiece Cinéscénie show, which depicts 700 years of French history, features more than 1,000 actors, hundreds of horses and about 800 fireworks.
Now the company has set its sights on bringing its brand of immersive history to the UK via a £600m investment to build its mock medieval castles, hotels and restaurants on farmland just off the M40 in Oxfordshire. It has asked the upmarket property firm Savills to help with its planning applications and is expected to look for British co-investors for a project that it says will create thousands of jobs.
Continue reading...British Library acquires torn-out drafts of Edward Elgar masterpiece
Exclusive: sketches for Introduction and Allegro for Strings had been removed from sketchbook by composer in 1930
The British Library has acquired previously unknown sketches and drafts by Sir Edward Elgar for one of his best-known masterpieces, Introduction and Allegro for Strings.
Spanning 15 pages, they shed light on the creative process of Britain’s most revered composer. One bears the beginnings of an unknown organ piece on which he had started work.
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