List of All Articles with Tag 'europe'

France is all set to ban Muslim abaya dress – a full-length, loose-fitting billowy robe worn by some Muslim women as a sign of piety – in state schools, the country’s education minister said ahead of the upcoming school season. French education minister Gabriel Attal said in an interview on Sunday that he would ban Muslim schoolgirls from wearing the abaya in classrooms. “I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” Mr Attal, 34, said in an interview with TV channel TF1. “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them.” He said he will give “clear rules at the national level” to school heads just as they return to classes nationwide from 4 September, Le Monde reported. “Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” Mr Attal said and described the abaya as “a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic toward the secular sanctuary that school must constitute”. Mr Attal was appointed education minister by French president Emmanuel Macron just last month. France – known for implementing a strict prohibition on religious symbols within state schools and government buildings – has encountered challenges in modernising its directives to address the country’s expanding Muslim minority. Local media quoted Eric Ciotto, head of the opposition right-wing Republicans party as saying: “We called for the ban on abayas in our schools several times.” Clementine Autain of the left-wing opposition France Unbowed party criticised the “policing of clothing”. She said Mr Attal’s announcement was “unconstitutional” and against the founding principles of France’s secular values. She said the ban was symptomatic of the government’s “obsessive rejection of Muslims”. The French Council of Muslim Faith, which consists of several Muslim associations, has meanwhile said that clothing alone is not “a religious sign”. In French public schools, the wearing of sizable crosses, the Jewish kippah or Islamic headscarve is not allowed. In 2004, the nation implemented a prohibition on headscarves within schools, and in 2010, it enacted a ban on full-face veils, or niqab, in public spaces, causing frustration among a significant portion of its Muslim community, which comprises around five million people. In contrast to headscarves, abayas existed in a somewhat undefined space in the country and had not been subject to a complete ban until this point. Read More French minister Marlène Schiappa to appear on Playboy front cover Italian leader tones down divisive rhetoric but carries on with pursuit of far-right agenda It is thanks to the Conservatives’ incompetence that food prices are rising faster than any other G7 country More than one in 10 flats and terraces classed ‘overcrowded’ in parts of England Danish government to present draft law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts Shein and Forever 21 team up in hopes of expanding reach of both fast-fashion retailers

Ukraine is mourning the loss of three fighter pilots killed as two training aircraft collided in the skies some 90 miles west of Kyiv. Singled out for particular praise by president Volodymr Zelensky and Ukraine’s airforce is Captain Andriy Pilshchykov, a pilot who went by the military callsign “Juice”. The late pilot, who was 30 years old when the crash occured over the western Zhytomyr region on Friday, had become known not just for his defence of Ukraine, but also for his passionate advocacy for the United States to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. The Mig-29 pilot first won fame in Ukraine as he took part in “dogfights” with Moscow’s fighter jets in the skies above Kyiv during the initial months of Russia’s invasion, according to Ukrainian news outlets. As Russian air sorties over Kyiv grew fewer, Pilshchykov continued to defend Ukraine’s skies as he sought to intercept Russian cruise missiles and drones before they struck targets on the ground – and by last May had already racked up 500 hours of combat flights. Last summer, he was one of two Ukrainian pilots chosen to travel to Washington to lobby members of the US Congress to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, which Joe Biden’s administration eventually agreed to do in May. “Juice” also gave multiple interviews with Western media outlets, speaking to Sky News, the BBC, CNN and Washington Post to name a few, as he fought Ukraine’s case to be provided with the jets. In one interview with the BBC, he said of his missions: “Intercepting the cruise missiles, your mission is to save the lives on the ground, to save the city. If you are not able, it's a terrible feeling that somebody will die. Somebody will die in minutes and you didn't prevent that.” In another broadcast with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he said: “All of us are ready to fight, just with our jets, with our guns, even just in the fields with rifles. “So our people, including me, we are ready to fight Russians, and we are ready to defend our country, to defend our people in absolutely any ways. But we need tools, effective tools, to do this efficiently.” His call sign, “Juice”, was reportedly given to him by US pilots during a joint training exercise because he did not drink alcohol, and air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat hailed him as a “main driver of an advocacy group promoting many decisions on the F-16s”, who was “in constant contact with Californian pilots”. Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Ihnat also praised “Juice” as a driver of reforms in the air force was “trying to bring Nato standards into Ukraine … and even western traditions, such as the burning of pianos to honour a fallen pilot”. His death has struck a chord in Ukraine, where official footage on Sunday appeared to show troops lined up on a runway to commemorate Pilshchykov and his two fallen comrades Major Viacheslav Minka and Major Serhii Prokazin, as a piano played a sombre lament and was set alight in tribute. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office has opened a criminal investigation into whether flight preparation rules were violated prior to the fatal crash on Friday, which involved two L-39 training aircraft. As he vowed that the investigation would clarify the circumstances of the crash, Mr Zelensky hailed “Juice” in his nightly address on Saturday as “one of those who helped our country a lot”, adding: “Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended Ukraine’s free sky. May they always be remembered.” Mr Ihnat, of Ukraine’s air force, described Pilshchykov as a “mega talent”, adding: “You can't even imagine how much he wanted to fly an F-16. But now that American planes are actually on the horizon, he will not fly them.” Writing on Facebook, Mr Ihnat added: “Andriy Pilshchykov was not just a pilot, he was a young officer with great knowledge and great talent. He was an excellent communicator, the driver of reforms in Air Force aircraft, a participant in many projects. “I often supported his crazy ideas, which gave incredible results.” Nolan Peterson, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think-tank was among Western commentators to pay tribute to the pilot, saying: “The stories he told me about flying his MiG-29 in combat against Russia are the stuff of epics. He is a hero and will be rightly remembered as such.” Read More Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv claims five Moscow fighter jets hit by drones, as Prigozhin ‘confirmed dead’ Ukrainian high jumper Mahuchikh takes gold in emotional close to world championships Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed dead by Russian investigators after plane crash Ukraine investigates incident that killed 3 pilots while Russia attacks with cruise missiles ‘Gangster’ Putin committed ‘most ostentatious’ act of savagery in our lifetimes, says Boris

Hundreds have gathered for a vigil to mourn the deaths of four young people, including two siblings, who were killed in a car crash in Co Tipperary. Young people in the crowd were seen comforting each other as they grieved the loss of 24-year-old Luke McSweeney, his sister Grace McSweeney, Zoey Coffey and Nicole Murphy, all aged 18. Classmates of McSweeney and Coffey from Presentation secondary school wore lilac jumpers that commemorate their graduate class of 2023. Grieving family members were also present at the Kickham Plaza gathering on Sunday evening. The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, told the crowd it was “amazing” to see so many people at the vigil, and that there was a “goodness” in people coming together to console one another. He said people would support one another in the coming days and “find a strength in that”. Mayor of Clonmel Richie Molloy addressed the vigil by saying that the tragedy was the worst in living memory. He added: “It’s very hard to know what the families are feeling this evening, and while we can imagine, it’s very hard to know. “All I can say as the mayor, the people of the town really want to show the families the feeling of unity that’s out there.” Father Michael Toomey, a chaplain at CBS High School – which Mr McSweeney attended, said that people in the Clonmel area and around the country had been left speechless by the tragedy. He said that some people will be struggling to make sense of it, and wondered “why them?” “The question we will certainly never get the answer to, not in this life anyway,” he added. “The deaths of Zoe, Nicole, Luke and Grace, it’s like a massive stone that hit a stilled lake, the rippled effects have sent shockwaves right across our family, our schools, our town, our country. “As I said to the girls in Loreto the other day, and the lads in the High School, none of us would ever get over their deaths. But we will learn to live with it. “It will become part of us and, as I also said, it will make us stronger once we grieve properly.” Young men and women embraced one another and cried as the vigil came to a close with the song Rise Up by Andra Day. Mr McSweeney was driving the teenagers to a bus on Friday when the car overturned and crashed into a wall in the town. The youngsters were on their way to celebrate their Leaving Cert exam results, which they had received earlier on Friday. Bouquets of flowers, notes and candles have continued to be left at the wall of Loreto Secondary School, where Ms Murphy went to school and which is around the corner from the scene of the crash. On Sunday, as Mountain Road was reopened, people covered a corner of a stone wall with more flowers, notes and candles. People also stopped their cars to stand in front of the scene and pay their respects. Earlier on Sunday, students attended Loreto secondary school and Presentation secondary school to mourn together. Education minister Norma Foley said that immediate support would be offered from schools and their staff, with the National Educational Psychological Service offering any further support. “Those services will be in place as long as they’re required by the schools and we’re very cognisant of the fact that different schools will have different needs,” she said. “I’m very conscious that the class of 2023 have technically moved on from the school but it is so important that they would know that the school continues to be there for them, the door of the school is always open to a student, whether they are an immediate student, or a past student, and so the supports will be ongoing as they’re required.” When asked about other tragedies involving school leavers that took place this summer, the minister said she had engaged with some of those schools involved and found they can help one another. “I’ve always been struck where they have pointed out that they have been raised up, their hearts have been lifted by that enormous solidarity from other schools.” Irish president Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were among those who expressed their sympathies, with Mr Varadkar saying the nation is in mourning. Mountain Road reopened on Sunday after a Garda forensic examination of the scene. Gardai are appealing for witnesses and said their investigation is focusing on preparing a report for the local coroner. Adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, including heavy downpours at the scene when first responders arrived, will be considered as part of the inquiry. Read More Support for Clonmel students will be in place for as long as needed – minister Locals grieve after one of worst tragedies to befall Co Tipperary town Leaving Cert students had received ‘excellent’ exam results hours before fatal crash Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Oil rose for a third day after China announced measures to boost its stock and property markets, helping

A small number of people are injured after a P&O cruise ship that was carrying thousands of British holidaymakers crashed into a petrol tanker. The ship broke free of its moorings during a storm in Mallorca, Spain and collided with a freight vessel. Port authorities in the capital Palma said the ship collided with a petrol tanker because of high winds. One passenger Gavin McCoy told the BBC that the incident happened while “the local fire service and crew were carrying out an emergency drill”. He added: “A sudden rain and wind storm ripped us away from our dockside moorings, breaking tethering lines, water hoses, and causing the walkway to fall into the sea.” He said he was sitting by the windown in the coffee shop when he saw “the blue dockside reception marquee tents blowing through the air”. Another passenger told Wales Online: “We were docked overnight in Palma and the wind was so strong our anchors broke and we blew out into another ship. “We were browsing our phones in bed and heard the big horn after the bang. It was panic stations, I was bawling my eyes out.” A spokesperson for P&O Cruises said: “P&O cruises Britannia was involved in a weather-related incident while alongside in Palma de Mallorca. A small number of individuals sustained minor injuries and are being cared for by the onboard medical centre.” “To allow our technical teams to make an assessment Britannia will remain alongside in Palma de Mallorca tonight with onboard entertainment and activities scheduled.” Britannia, which entered service in 2015, is 330 metres long and weights 143,000 tons, according to the company’s website. It has 13 guest decks and an operating capacity of 3,647 guests and 1,350 crew. Torrential rain has lashed the islands of Mallorca, with the conditions leading the cancellation of over 20 flights. Read More Spanish FA launches ‘sexual violence protocol’ against Luis Rubiales ahead of urgent meeting Two dead after black Mercedes driven into flooded road in Liverpool College student fatally shot after trying to enter wrong house on his street Kyiv claims five Moscow fighter jets hit by drones - Ukraine war live Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed dead by Russia after plane crash

The education minister says female Muslim students will not be allowed to wear the loose-fitting robe.

Ukraine hit five of Moscow’s fighter jets with an overnight drone strike on Russian soil, a source in Kyiv’s security service has told Ukrainian outlets. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have shot down two drones in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, which both border Ukraine, giving no information about possible damages or casualties. But the Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda both cited sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service as claiming that just three of more than a dozen drones were brought down, claiming strikes on four Russian Su-30 fighter jets and one MiG-29 at an airfield in Kursk. It came as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed by Russia’s Investigative Committee to have died in a plane crash near Moscow on Wednesday, citing the results of genetic tests it said confirmed the identities of the 10 bodies found in the wreckage. Western politicians and commentators have speculated that Mr Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed as punishment for Wagner’s brief mutiny in June. Meanwhile, a resurfaced clip of Prigozhin talking about a “plane falling apart in the sky” has resurfaced on social media. Read More What we know — and don't know — about the crash of a Russian mercenary's plane Putin says Wagner chief had ‘complicated fate’ – as officials suggest explosion on plane caused fatal crash While world media speculates on Wagner chief's presumed death, Russian state media shies away Wagner has been decapitated – the mercenaries should fear the future

Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash. The committee said in a statement Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site of the crash were identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest.” Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of those on board the plane that crashed Wednesday. “As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app. “According to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established. They correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” it said. Prigozhin’s private jet came down north-west of Moscow, killing all those on board. His right-hand man Dmitry Utkin was also on board the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, according to the passenger list. The Kremlin has denied speculation it was to blame for the crash. During a conference call with journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “lots of speculation” around the “tragic” deaths. “In the West, of course, this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie,” Mr Peskov went on. Prigozhin’s plane crash comes just two months after his abortive mutiny on Russia’s top military chiefs, which culminated in a march on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offered his condolences to the families of those that died in the crash. Once a businessman with a catering empire and an ally of Putin since the 1990s, Prigozhin went on to establish the Wagner Group in 2014, the mercenary force that has fought many of the hardest battles in Ukraine. More follows on this breaking news story.... Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

A resurfaced clip of the Wagner leader feared dead in a plane crash has resurfaced on social media, stoking conspiracy theories about his presumed demise. In the 40-second clip, the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin compared Russia’s trajectory in the war to a plane that will “fall apart in the air”. The ominous comparison has now added fuel to fire in the theory the Wagner chief was killed the order of Russian president Vladimir Putin, after Prigozhin is said to be one of the passengers on a private jet that crashed northwest of Moscow with no survivors on Wednesday. The incident occurred just two months after he shocked the global stage by leading a mutiny against Putin, before abruptly calling off the half-baked uprising at the eleventh hour. In the video taken from an interview originally published on April 29 with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, Prigozhin said he would rather be killed than lie to his country, and talked about a plane disintegrating in the sky. “Today we have reached the boiling point,” he said in the clip published on Grey Zone, Wagner’s Telegram channel. “Why am I speaking so honestly? Because I don’t have the right, before those people who will live on in this country. They are now being lied to. Better kill me.” He added: “But I will not lie, I must say honestly that Russia is on the brink of disaster. And if these cogs are not adjusted today, then the plane will fall apart in the air.” Hundreds of responses had been posted on Grey Zone within a few hours. “But he knew,” a Telegram user whose name translates to “outpost” wrote in the first response. Some posts speculated Prigozhin was still alive, with one claiming he would “soon jump out of a snuffbox and make the devils c*** themselves.” The Kremlin has said Western suggestions he had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie.” Read More Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance following Prigozhin plane crash If the Wagner mercenary chief is dead, he got the death he deserved Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s strongest line of defence ‘broken by Kyiv forces’ Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance after Prigozhin death

Ukraine’s forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defences in the south and will now be able to advance “faster”, a commander has said. Ukrainian forces said on Wednesday they had raised the national flag in the settlement of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, about 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv. “We don’t stop here,” said a commander, Skala, who led some of the troops into Robotyne. “Next we have (the town of) Berdiansk, and then more. I made it clear to my fighters at once: our goal is not Robotyne, our goal is (the Sea of) Azov.” Robotyne is about 100 km from Berdiansk, a port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and 85 km from the strategic city of Melitopol. Both are occupied by Russian forces following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February last year. “We have passed the main roads that were mined. We are coming to those lines where we can go (forward). I’m sure we’ll go faster from here,” Skala said. Read More What we know — and don't know — about the crash of a Russian mercenary's plane Putin says Wagner chief had ‘complicated fate’ – as officials suggest explosion on plane caused fatal crash While world media speculates on Wagner chief's presumed death, Russian state media shies away Wagner has been decapitated – the mercenaries should fear the future

Saudi Arabia is interested in discussions about joining Europe’s top football club tournament, the Champions League, as the

A vigil will be held later in memory of four young people who died in a County Tipperary car crash.