List of All Articles with Tag 'europe'

Floodwaters have started to recede four days after the destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam, laying bare environmental destruction

KKR & Co. raised its bid for Telecom Italia SpA’s landline network, giving the US private equity firm

The man suspected of stabbing four children in a playground in France has been held on charges of attempted murder. French judges handed the preliminary charges to the 31-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, who has not been named, on Saturday. He is due to appear in court this afternoon. The stabbings left four children - including a three-year-old British child - fighting for their lives. Two adults were also injured in the attack which unfolded on Thursday morning in the picturesque town of Annecy in the French Alps. The lead prosecutor, Line Bonnet-Mathis, said the victims are no longer in life-threatening condition after Thursday’s attack. In a translated statement, she said: “The prosecution service of Annecy immediately opened a case and the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police have also been involved. “The assailant at 9.47am was put into custody. “The prosecution service of Annecy opened a judicial case for attempted murder. The prosecution service put the assailant in provisional custody. “And this afternoon (Saturday) he was going to be taken to court and he will appear before the judge.” Read More Man accused of knife attack on four children in Annecy held on attempted murder charges Syrian man handed preliminary attempted murder charges after children stabbed French stabbing suspect faces charges as injured toddlers remain hospitalized

Italian authorities boarded a Turkish vessel off the southern city of Naples after the crew detected a group of unidentified people on board. During an event on Friday, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto announced that there were 15 “illegal migrants” on board the ship named Galatea Seaways which was bound for France. According to reports, 13 men and two women, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, had allegedly snuck into the ship in the hope of finding asylum in Europe. The Guardian reported that the immigrants were “armed with knives and attempted to hijack the vessel”. Ansa news agency additionally reported that once the immigrants were discovered by the crew of the ship, they allegedly tried to take some of the sailors hostage inside the bridge using knives. The captain of the ship was somehow able to get his hands on the radio, sending an SOS request to Ankara, which ended up reporting the incident to the Italian authorities. “An operation is underway on a vessel boarded by pirates … The stowaways were using what seem to be weapons like daggers” Mr Crosetto told reporters at the time. “The San Marco battalion had to intervene.” He added: “What is known about the hijackers is that they are illegal immigrants. Let’s hope it ends as quickly as possible without consequences for anyone.” It reportedly took seven hours for Italian special forces to intervene and regain control of the ship. They reportedly arrested the immigrants, some of whom found a place to hide in the depths of the ship. After the mission was successful, the Italian ministry said: “The ship has now been recaptured and the entire 22-man crew of the Turkish ship is safe.” Mr Crosetto also issued a statement on Twitter, writing: “Everything ended well. “My congratulations to the guys of the San Marco battalion and the police, who completed a wonderful operation,” he added. Read More Boris Johnson quits as MP and claims he is victim of ‘Partygate and Brexit witch-hunt’ Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Kyiv makes ‘good progress’ against Putin after ‘significant’ operations Russian man screams ‘papa’ as he is mauled to death by shark in Egypt Turkish lira declines to record lows following start of Erdogan's new presidential term Turkish forces arrive in Kosovo to bolster NATO-led peacekeepers after recent violence US sanctions Iranians over alleged assassination plots of former US officials, dissidents

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Kyiv for a previously unannounced visit. He paid respect to fallen

Smaller coins sank in a sharp crypto market selloff as a Securities and Exchange Commission crackdown on key

Ukraine has “penetrated” the first line of Russian defences in some areas and is making “good progress” in its counteroffensive, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said. Kyiv has conducted “significant operations” over the past 48 hours in southern and eastern parts of the country, it added. Earlier, Vladimir Putin announced Russia would start deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus next month – Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian president said the weapons would be deployed after special storage facilities are ready in just under a month’s time. It comes after he, last month, announced he wanted to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, in an apparent warning to Nato over its support for Ukraine. “Everything is going according to plan,” Mr Putin told his ally and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. “Preparation of the relevant facilities ends on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin activities related to the deployment of appropriate types of weapons on your territory,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse

People in Turkey are running to the crypto market as a haven against the collapsing lira currency. Local

Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus next month – Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian president said the weapons would be deployed after special storage facilities are ready in just under a month’s time. It comes after he, last month, announced he wanted to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, in an apparent warning to Nato over its support for Ukraine. “Everything is going according to plan,” Mr Putin told his ally and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. “Preparation of the relevant facilities ends on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin activities related to the deployment of appropriate types of weapons on your territory,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. Earlier, Ukraine‘s domestic security service said it had intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian “sabotage group” blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam in southern Ukraine. The destruction of the facility on Tuesday unleashed mass flooding, forcing thousands of residents to flee and wreaking environmental havoc. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse

British workers have missed out on a Europe-wide trend toward more leisure time and fewer hours on the

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A British three-year-old girl who was stabbed in a playground attack in France was awake and watching television on Friday Emmanuel Macron said – as he also praised the heroism of a young Catholic pilgrim who fended off the knifeman with a backpack. The French president said he had heard “positive” news about the four children – aged between 22 months and three years old – injured in the attack in a lakeside park in Annecy. Two men in their 70s were also injured. Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte, visited three of the children and their families in hospital in Grenoble about 100km (62 miles) from Annecy. The British girl who received surgery, named as Ettie, had “woken up” and was “watching TV”, said President Macron. According to Agence-France Presse, he added: “Doctors are optimistic” suggesting that “everything is going the right way”. A Dutch toddler – who was being treated in Geneva – and two French cousins aged two and three, were also said to be in a stable condition. Mr and Ms Macron later travelled to Annecy, where they sat at the bedside of one of the injured men, who was both knifed and wounded by a shot that police fired as they detained the suspected attacker. Mr Macron said he is regaining consciousness. The second injured adult was discharged from a hospital and was among dozens of people that Mr Macron met and thanked, his left elbow still bandaged. “The first thing doctors told me ... is that these children were saved by the swiftness of the collective intervention,” Mr Macron said. “Thank you immeasurably for your courage.” One of those was Henri, 24, a Catholic pilgrim who is on a nine-month walking and hitchhiking tour of France’s cathedrals and happened to be in the Alpine town of Annecy when the attack occurred. French media hailed Henri as “the hero with a backpack” after he was shown in a video using a weighty backpack he was carrying to swing at the assailant and fend off his blade. “You experienced very hard moments, traumatising,” Mr Macron said. “I am very proud of you.” Henri had a heavy backpack and was holding another in his hand when the attacker slashed at him. Henri continued to harass him, pursuing the man inside a playground – where he stabbed a child in a stroller – and then out of the park again, carrying his backpacks. Henri appeared to hurl one at the assailant at one point and then pick it up again to take another swing. Henri said he was powered by his Catholic faith. “When you know that you’re loved by God and that he saved our lives, you can act without thinking too much about your own [life] to try and save those of the children,” he told French broadcaster BFMTV. Henri asked Mr Macron to be invited to the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris next year, following repairs to the cathedral damaged in a fire in 2019. “I’ll take care of it personally,” the French leader replied. The management graduate said to BFMTV that that he was not the only civilian who put themselves in harm’s way. He had “acted like any French person would”, he said. “Many other people intervened in whatever way they could. I saw a park employee try to hit the attacker with his big plastic spade.” Henri’s father, Francois, said he believed that his son’s dogged pursuit helped dissuade the attacker from stabbing more victims before police wrestled him to the ground. “He took a lot of risks – when he wasn’t armed, with just his backpacks,” the father said. “He didn’t stop running after him for many minutes, to stop him from coming back and massacring the kids even more ... Really very courageous.” Francois asked that their last name not be published, expressing concerns about their family being thrust suddenly and inadvertently into the public eye at a time of shock and outrage in France provoked by the attack. Henri had posted on Instagram in late May about being two months into a nine-month pilgrimage which would see him walk and hitchhike across France, having started in Provence. Many flocked to his social media pages to hail his courage, with one person writing: “May God bless you. You did what you could at that moment, you did not give up, you did not run. You are an angel.” “Bravo for your courage and bravery, you saved lives today, you can be proud of yourself my friend,” wrote one commenter, while another said: “France has a hero tonight, a humble hero.” Many of the hundreds who wrote to share their thanks and “deep respect” for his “incredible” bravery called for him to be awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit, while others living across France offered to host him as he continues his pilgrimage. The suspect – a Syrian man with refugee status in Sweden – has had his custody extended and is due to undergo a psychiatric assessment. The 31-year-old is thought to have been living homeless in Annecy and recently had an asylum claim rejected in France, thanks to already holding the status in Sweden. On that French application he said he was a “Syrian Christian”. No terrorist motive is suspected. Commenting on the suggestion that the suspect in Thursday’s attacks also identifies as a Christian, Henri said it was “profoundly unchristian to attack the vulnerable”. A mass was held in Annecy Cathedral in tribute to the victims and their families later on Friday, church authorities said. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More ‘You are an angel’: France hails ‘backpack hero’ who confronted knifeman in ‘unspeakable’ Annecy attack Everything we know about suspected France playground attacker after toddlers stabbed British girl injured in Annecy stabbing was on holiday at time of attack British girl injured in Annecy stabbing was on holiday at time of attack France hails ‘backpack hero’ who confronted knifeman in ‘unspeakable’ Annecy attack Annecy locals attend mass as Mayor says injured children are ‘stable’