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Many European diplomats avoid lavish ceremony amid war in Ukraine and his disputed landslide electionVladimir Putin has been sworn in for a new six-year presidential term. He is now making his inaugural address. There are a few colourful charecters at the ceremony, including American actor Steven Seagal.Alexander Zaldostanov also known as “Khirurg” (The Surgeon), a leader of the Night Wolves bikers’ club, is also...

Chinese premier to have lunch with Emmanuel Macron before heading to Serbia on his closely watched trip to EuropeThe Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has hit out against Nato over the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Serbia, when three people died in 1999 after a US strike accidentally hit the compound during Nato’s air campaign against Serb forces occupying Kosovo.In a letter to Serbian...

Price rise for mass-market types expected as global production falls to lowest level in more than 10 yearsOlive oil prices are set to climb further this year – heading to more than £16 a litre for a bottle of extra virgin – amid a drop in global production to the lowest level in more than a decade.Lower production in Greece, Morocco and Turkey as...

Die Linke party is among those calling for a Dönerpreisbremse or price cap on the hugely popular street foodThe soaring cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy programme to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable as politicians report it is frequently cited as a concern in doorstep conversations with voters.The chancellor, Olaf...

Officials say Staff Sgt Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to TexasAn American soldier has been arrested in Russia and accused of stealing, according to two US officials.US officials said the soldier, Staff Sgt Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in...

Researchers say more bodies of Herero and Nama people from early 20th century concentration camp could be in waters around portThe Namibian authorities are being urged to halt plans to extend a port on the Shark Island peninsula after the discovery of unmarked graves and artefacts relating to the Herero and Nama genocide.Forensic Architecture, a non-profit research agency, said it had located sites of...

Russia has said it would hold a military exercise that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weaponsFrench president Emmanuel Macron has told China’s President Xi Jinping that it is essential they co-ordinate on Ukraine.To read more about the talks between these two leaders, you can follow our colleagues’ reporting on the Europe blog here: Continue reading...

On his first visit to Europe since 2019, Xi is set to meet with Emmanuel Macron before heading to Serbia and HungaryXi Jinping has lauded China’s ties with France as a model for the international community as he arrived in Paris amid threats of a trade war over Chinese electric cars and French cognac.On his first visit to the EU in five years, China’s...

Seven out of 10 have outside work with six earning more with work than as parliamentary representatives, analysis showsHalf a dozen members of the European parliament earn more from second jobs than as EU lawmakers, according to analysis that raises questions about potential conflicts of interest.The campaign group Transparency International EU found that 70% of the European parliament’s 705 members have side jobs. Just...

Unaffordable rents and property prices risk becoming a key political battleground across the continentHigher costs and cramped conditions: the impact of Europe’s housing crisis‘Everything’s just … on hold’: the Netherlands’ next-level housing crisisSpiralling rents and sky-high property prices risk becoming a key battleground of European politics as far-right and populist parties start to exploit growing public anger over the continent’s housing crisis, experts have...

Affording a home has become a political issue as rents and prices soar and supply plummetsFix Europe’s housing crisis or risk fuelling the far-right, UN expert warns‘Everything’s just … on hold’: the Netherlands’ next-level housing crisisDecades in the making, Europe’s housing crisis is being felt from the Netherlands to Portugal, Greece to Germany, and in Britain. Prices and rents have soared, availability and affordability...

Singer says her country needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasionUkraine’s former Eurovision winner Jamala has said her country “cannot afford” to boycott the song contest because it needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion.There have been calls for artists to refuse to participate over Israel’s inclusion in the music competition while the war in Gaza continues. Continue reading...

Third-party hospitality packages are outlawed, yet agency part-owned by associates of Rafael Nadal and LeBron James promises access to top events as well as to starsMembers of the global super-rich are spending as much as $500,000 (£400,000) on “ultra-exclusive” packages for the Paris 2024 Olympics that promoters claim include meeting athletes, access to the athletes’ village and “the chance to be part of the...

China’s president arrives as EU anti-subsidy investigations and tensions over espionage, Ukraine and Taiwan continueChina’s president, Xi Jinping, is to visit Europe next week for the first time in five years, in a tour that will take in the unlikely trifecta of France, Hungary and Serbia.The visit comes as China pushes to avoid a trade war with the EU, while attitudes towards Beijing in...

Berlin’s finance minister says property owned by Hitler’s propaganda minister will be demolished if taker not foundBerlin’s government is offering to give away a villa once owned by Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, hoping to end a decades-long debate on whether to repurpose or bulldoze a sprawling disused site in the countryside north of the German capital.“I offer to anyone who would like...

University students air frustration that sit-ins motivated by peace are being shut down instead of heededJack, 22, a student in public administration, was dragged out of his university building by the arms and legs on Friday, as police forcibly removed several dozen students who had been occupying Paris’s Sciences Po university overnight in a protest against civilian deaths in Gaza.“We’ll keep going,” said the...

Move puts forces in close proximity at a time when military and diplomatic rivalry is increasing over UkraineUkraine will at some point have to enter into talks with Russia to bring an end to their more than two-year-old war, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official said in an interview published on Thursday.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly ruled out talks with the Kremlin, and a...

Irakli Kobakhidze tries to draw a parallel between a crackdown on protests in Georgia and police action on US campusesIn a joint statement yesterday, a group of members of the European parliament said they are “deeply worried about the situation in Georgia” and “condemn the violence against peaceful protesters and opposition politicians.”David McAllister, Marina Kaljurand and Sven Mikser said they “have already expressed our...

One tornado in Oklahoma was the first of 2024 to be rated as EF-4, the second most severe categorySevere thunderstorms affected parts of the United States last week, spawning at least 129 tornadoes across midwestern and southern states between 25 and 28 April. The majority occurred on 26 April, with most touching down in Nebraska and Iowa.Two that formed were particularly large and long-lived,...

Foreign minister says investigation found Fancy Bear group was behind attack that took down several websitesGermany has said it has evidence that Russian state-sponsored hackers were behind an “intolerable” cyber-attack last year in which several websites were knocked off line in apparent response to Berlin’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine.The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said a federal government investigation into the 2023...

The foreign secretary called the conflict ‘the challenge of our generation’ after making second trip to Kyiv to meet ZelenskiyThe UK has promised £3bn a year “for as long as it is necessary” to help Ukraine, David Cameron said on Thursday as he made his second visit to Kyiv since becoming UK foreign secretary.He also said he had no objection if weapons supplied by...

Israeli foreign minister strongly criticises decision by President Erdoğan, accusing him of acting like a ‘dictator’Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister.“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday. Continue reading...

Progressives counting on a strong performance to rein in Robert Fico’s drift away from rule of lawAs fears grow that Slovakia is following Hungary down a path away from the rule of law, the country’s opposition says it is determined to prove that citizens want a democratic future.Since coming back to power last year, Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, has taken aim at...

Ahmed Alhashimi’s seven-year-old daughter Sara was crushed to death after group of men rushed on to dinghyThe father of a seven-year-old girl crushed to death on a small boat has said they tried to cross the Channel after being informed his young family would be deported to Iraq after spending years in Europe.Ahmed Alhashimi, 41, lost grasp of his daughter, Sara, on an inflatable...