In Transylvania, fear haunts Romaniaโs troubled democracyย
The birthplace of modern Romania is losing faith in politics, 36 years after Communism fell, amid threats of reprisals at Sundayโs election.
river
โRight now all of us loseโ: Shakhtar claim Ukrainian Cup in glimpse of past life
Final against Dynamo Kyiv had edge, flares and burning Russian flags but some of the enmity has gone; as one fan says: โAggression must stay in the war zoneโValeriy Bondar vaults a perfunctory metal fence, is handed a flare from somewhere in the melee …
Record number of river-blocking barriers removed in Europe, report says
Hundreds of dams, weirs, culverts and sluices dismantled in 2024 to help waterways resume natural courseEurope dismantled 542 river-blocking dams, weirs, culverts and sluices in 2024, a report has found, helping a record number of waterways resume thei…
Trumpโs election maestro works to topple Albanian prime minister
Albaniaโs embattled opposition party is mounting a dramatic election push after years sidelined by Edi Ramaโs ruling Socialists.
Bulgaria has agreed to provide water to Greece for the next 5 years
The water from the Arda River is critically important for agriculture in Northern Greece.
Cocaine, corruption and bribes: the German port under siege by Europeโs criminal drug gangs
After seizure in Hamburg of 16 tonnes of high-purity powder, state attorney is accused of being on payroll of gang he was supposed to be prosecutingIn Hamburgโs spring sunshine, 200,000-tonne cargo ships almost half a mile long, piled high with the sam…
Inside the grassroots movement rebuilding flood-ravaged Valencia
Residents are demanding a role in the reconstruction of their cities.
The mechanics behind Spainโs mega-blackout
People rarely think about Europeโs criss-crossing energy system. We tell you how it works, what went wrong (and right) on Monday and what happens next.
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy calls Putinโs offer of brief ceasefire โmanipulationโ
Ukraine president urges month-long truce after Russia suggests three-day one to mark a world war two victory. What we know on day 1,161Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for an immediate month-long ceasefire after Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced a th…
The jaded English town where Nigel Farage could hammer Labour
Westminster is champing at the bit to see if Reform UK wins a crucial by-election against Labour next week. Locals are indifferent.
The most gripping thing Iโm watching on my phone? Swedish moose migrating in real time | Claire Cohen
No music, no script, no narration, no editing โ slow TV like this is exactly the balm we need these daysDo you reach for your phone first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up? Me too. Only, for the past week, itโs not my WhatsApp, email or socia…
Mediterranean megaflood carved out hills in Sicily, study reveals
Rock deposits provide first land-based evidence of Earthโs largest flood, when water surged through strait of Gibraltar The event that refilled the Mediterranean basin 5m years ago is thought to have been the largest flood in Earthโs history, with wate…
Severe weather in Italy leaves at least three dead, heavy snow reported in the Alps
The alert level remains high for the storm affecting the north and central parts of Italy: Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna are at risk of flooding due to the rising waters of the River Po.
Two bodies believed to be migrants retrieved from river on Poland-Belarus border
Authorities said they believe the two people found in the river are migrants who attempted to illegally cross the border. Investigators are performing an autopsy to determine their identities and cause of death.
The Romanian election scenarios scaring Brussels
POLITICO analyzes all the data on the most likely presidential runoff races ahead of next month’s existential vote.
Millions tune in for three-week live stream of Swedenโs moose migration
Slow TV is attracting viewers with hits such as a knitting marathon, burning firewood and swimming salmonMost of the time, nothing much happens. A wide Nordic river, melting snow still lining its banks, meanders peacefully through a pristine forest of …
Deadly floods and storms affected more than 400,000 people in Europe in 2024
European State of the Climate report โlays bareโ impact of fossil fuels on continent during its hottest 12 months on recordThe home-wrecking storms and floods that swept Europe last year affected 413,000 people, a report has found, as fossil fuel pollu…
Spring drought threatens Europeโs farms and rivers
Central and Eastern European countries are missing April showers, creating possible trouble for supply chains and farmers.
Same River, Twice: Putinโs War on Women by Sofi Oksanen โย review
This harrowing study of the Russian leaderโs weaponising of sexual violence argues that misogyny goes hand in hand with imperialismIn 1944, the Red Army pushed the Germans out of the Baltic state of Estonia. Soon afterwards, Soviet officers took away S…
โParkinsonโs is a man-made diseaseโ
Europeโs flawed oversight of pesticides may be fueling a silent epidemic, warns Dutch neurologist Bas Bloem. His fight for reform pits him against industry, regulators โ and time.
Pilot of crashed New York helicopter was reportedly low on fuel and headed back to helipad
Search resumes for six killed aboard plane, the unnamed pilot and a Spanish family with children age 11, five and fourThe pilot of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed into New Yorkโs Hudson River on Thursday killing all six people aboard reportedly s…
Spanish family die in New York helicopter crash
The five tourists were killed along with their pilot when it came down in the Hudson River.
Postcard from London: a high-speed tour of the Thames
Launching this week, a new thrill ride shows visitors the sights at 30 knots โ and underlines the riverโs transformation from industrial artery to leisure opportunity
2,300 troops from 12 NATO countries take part in annual military drill in the Black Sea
The drill is conducted โon the Danube river and on Romania’s Black sea coast, aiming to strengthen collaboration between NATO allies, naval, air and land forces.
National treasures: an expert guide to mudlarking on the Thames
Every low tide, the riverโs foreshore surrenders pieces of Londonโs past. Hereโs where โ and how โ to safely look
How Trump is forcing Europe to get real on steel
The EU wants to rearm, reindustrialize and refinance as Donald Trumpโs United States abandons the role of global policeman.
5 takeaways in the EUโs frothy wine packageย
Brussels tries to help an aging sector in terminal decline.
The Ukrainian teens who took on Putinโs gulag archipelago โ and won
When Vlad and his friends realized the Kremlin would not return them home, they staged an open revolt.
Jeremy Clarkson taunts โidiotโ Elon Musk over Tesla vandalism
โWhat makes it so juicy is that heโs being pecked to death by the very people who put him on the pedestal in the first place. The eco hippies.”
Meet the Czech Millennial Whoโs Building a Utopia in the California Hayfields
Armed with tech billions, Jan Sramek has dreams of creating a new, affordable, walkable city. If, that is, California lets him.
Trumpโs demand that US could take over Ukraineโs reactors is not credible
US presidentโs plan for American firms to run power plants is unrealistic and is opposed by Putin and ZelenskyyAs a demand, it is Donald Trump at his most confusing. The American president appears, at least according to Marco Rubio, the US secretary of…
Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv officials to meet Trump aides in Saudi Arabia
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says โrealistic proposals on the tableโ in talks; Donald Trump hints US may be close to lifting intelligence pause. What we know on day 1,111See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageTop Ukrainian officials are due in Saudi Arabia to m…
Russia sending โsuicidal missionsโ to win foothold over Dnipro River, says Ukraine
Moscow trying to improve its claim to entire Kherson region in time for peace negotiations, says governorRussian forces are repeatedly trying to seize a foothold across Ukraineโs Dnipro River, dispatching troops on high-casualty missions to gain territ…
High heels and risky selfies: Etna eruptions cause despair among mountain rescuers
Thousands of tourists arrived to see lava in recent weeks, but not all were prepared for treks up the Sicilian volcanoA river of fire from the depths of the Earth carves its way through the black rocks of a mountain blanketed white with snow. Above, th…
Trump has sold Ukraine down the river โ and shown the UK what ‘America first’ means in practice | Gaby Hinsliff
A superpower that once built alliances across the west is dramatically reorienting itself โ and so too must its former alliesWrapped in a flag and clutching a beer, Marc Fogel looked understandably overwhelmed. The 63-year-old teacher from Pennsylvania…
Beavers save Czech taxpayers ยฃ1m by flooding ex-army training site
Herbivorous rodents built a dam in area officials were planning to make a barrier to shield Klabava RiverBeavers have saved Czech taxpayers $1.2m (ยฃ1m) by flooding a protected former army training site where a long-stalled dam was planned.Officials had…
โHeartbreakingโ: Icelandโs pioneering female fishing guides fear for wild salmon
First women working as fishing guides on Laxรก River, featured in new film, call for action after farmed fish escapeFor seven generations, Andrea รsk Hermรณรฐsdรณttirโs family have been fishing on the Laxรก River in Aรฐaldalur. Iceland has a reputation as a …
Students lead Danube bridge blockade in protest over Serbia’s leadership
Serbiaโs student population were the driving force behind mass demonstrations that blocked bridges over the River Danube in the city of Novi Sad on Saturday. Persistent protests have been part of a growing anti-corruption movement that forced the resi…
Body of second woman found in search for missing sisters in Aberdeen
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32 and originally from Hungary, were last seen on CCTV near harbour on 7 JanuaryThe body of a second woman has been found in the search for two sisters who went missing in Aberdeen last month.Eliza and Henrietta Huszti,…
โNothing short of a nightmareโ: Jet, helicopter collide near Reagan National Airport
A regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army helicopter late Wednesday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in what appeared to be the most serious aviation collision in the U.S. in more than 11 years. The American Airlines jet had 60 passengers and four crew members, CNN reported, citing the airline. Authorities did not [โฆ]
Ukraine war briefing: Moscow claims control of Velyka Novosilka but Ukrainians say fight continues
Warehouse strike in Russia โdestroys 200 Shahed dronesโ; Ryazan oil refinery hit again, says Kyivโs military. What we know on day 1,069Russia on Sunday claimed its troops had captured Velyka Novosilka, a strategically important town in the Donetsk regi…
Slovenes brace for โMelania effectโ as new Trump termย begins
Slovenia has drawn global attention and its fair share of misinterpretation. Now its residents are saying enough is enough.
Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv ready to swap North Korean soldiers for Ukrainian PoWs, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president says there โshould be no doubt leftโ that Russia is dependent on military assistance from North Korea. What we know on day 1,055See all our Ukraine coverageUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday he was ready to hand …
Greenland today, Svalbard tomorrow? Arctic shivers at specter of Trump and Putin
The incoming U.S. administration admits that its stunning polar gambit is about warding off Russian ambitions.
Ukraine war briefing: fierce fighting reported in Russiaโs Kursk region amid new Ukrainian offensive
Moscowโs forces coming under heavy pressure, according to Russian military bloggers; blasts heard near Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant. What we know on day 1,047See all our Ukraine war coverageRussia says Ukraine has launched a new attack in the Kursk regio…
โIt was a light in the darkโ: how a bakery transformed lives in war-torn Mostar
Jasmin Elezoviฤ says he and his family would not be who they are today without War Child, the charity that grew out of bitter conflictDonate to our charity appeal hereJasmin Elezoviฤ was six years old when his home became a war zone.It was 1993 and the…
2024: A year in pictures
OPTICS 2024: A year in pictures Photos by: Jalaa Marey, K M Asad, Miguel J. Rodriguez, Carrillo, Andy Buchanan, Bashar Taleb, Jeff Pachoud, Cristina Quicler, Luis Acosta, Thomas Kienzle, Theo Rouby, Bakr al Kassem, Gagan Nayar, Giorgi Arjevanidze, Anselmo Cunh, Luis Tato/AFP & Peter Nicholls, Kate Green, Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Estoniaโs city at the โend of the free worldโ stares across a frozen border at Russia
Estonia’s third-largest city is struggling to face off threats from Russia.
Baby mammoth in Russia is the โbest-preservedโ ever found
The 50,000-year-old female, nicknamed Yana, is one of only seven whole remains discovered in worldRussian scientists have displayed the remarkably well-preserved remains of a baby mammoth found in the permafrost-covered region of Yakutia in Siberia.The…
Florenceโs 16th-century Vasari corridor opens to public for first time
Elevated passageway connecting Uffizi Galleries with Pitti Palace was for centuries used only by those with powerOver history, dukes, dictators and Europeโs illustrious elite have walked through the Vasari corridor, a narrow, 750-metre-long elevated pa…
Putinโs relentless assault intensifies as Russia hits Kyiv with ballistic missiles
Kremlin says it was a revenge strike for Kyiv’s attack on a military plant in Rostov 2 days ago.
Notre Dame rises from the ashes at last: world leaders join embattled Macron for grand reopening
Ceremony gives French president moment of glory in company of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he delivers on promise to restore cathedral It was like stepping back into a medieval age and reliving the breathtaking awe Notre Dame cathedral would…
Undefeatable: Odesa in Love & War by Julian Evans review โ a โsleeping beautyโ now besieged
A stylish love letter to the Ukrainian port charts its transformation from exotic mafia capital to beacon of freedom and, now, battered Russian targetIn 1994 the writer Julian Evans went on a 10-day cruise down the Dnipro River. Ukraine had won its ind…
Ireland dodges bullet as Dublin voters narrowly reject gangland boss
Gerry “The Monk” Hutch led through 10 nail-biting election rounds โ but Irelandโs EU heavyweight knocked him out at the final bell.
Madeleine Riffaud obituary
Member of the French resistance during the second world war arrested and tortured for her dramatic act of revoltOn a bright Sunday morning in occupied Paris, 23 July 1943, a German soldier was standing at the Pont de Solfรฉrino, watching the river go by…
Trumpโs effect on the Middle East
For good or ill, Trump is already shaping the calculations of combatants in the region, but much depends on how Hezbollahโs bosses in Tehran proceed.
Valenciaโs leader apologizes for โmistakesโ in handling deadly floods โ but wonโt resign
Regional boss Carlos Mazรณn faces ongoing fury for botched response to disaster.
Watch: Mรกlaga flood turns street into river
Video shows people in Calle Alcazabilla struggling to cross a road as flood water surges through it.
Kyivโs backers take comfort in Trumpโs Cabinet picks
Theyโre very cautiously optimistic that Trumpโs first national security nominees are bad news for Putin.
Why exporting endangered eels to Russia makes sense | Letter
The plan to transport millions of River Severn elvers to the pristine Vistula and Curonian lagoons is a viable way to conserve the species, says Peter WoodMillions of critically endangered eels have indeed been exported from Britain to Russia this year…
Who killed Ukraine’s Seym River? Investigation into accusations of ecocide
The river flowing northeast of Kyiv, from Russia to Ukraine, suffered severe pollution in the summer of 2024, eliminating all traces of life from its waters. The environmental catastrophe could also have poisoned Ukrainian drinking water networks.
Ukraine war briefing: UN chief โvery concernedโ about reports of North Korean troops in Russia
US intelligence has said North Korean forces have made their way to Russiaโs Kursk border region; Pro-Eu president wins Moldovan vote. What we know on day 985United Nations Secretary-General Antรณnio Guterres has said he is โvery concernedโ about report…
โInside we are screamingโ: Kupiansk trembles as Russian forces close in again
Russiaโs apparent plan is to flatten then reoccupy the Ukrainian city, where the situation has become dramatically worse since the beginning of October Nina Marchenko was in her kitchen when a bomb fell on her cottage. It blew off the roof, demolished …
โWelfare for the richโ: how farm subsidies wrecked Europeโs landscapes
The steep and stark environmental decline was not supposed to happen under the common agricultural policy The Rhine overflowed last winter, covering fields miles from the river and in some places leaving just the tops of trees visible.But Thomas Bollig…
Finland exports snow-saving mats to ski resorts hit by climate crisis
Preserving previous yearโs snow for start of season can combat increasingly unpredictable wintersBefore the arrival of electric fridges and freezers, people across Finland would saw a block of ice from a river or lake before the spring thaw, thickly co…
Weather tracker: More rain forecast in Spain as storms push in
Heightened risk Cรกdiz river could overflow, with yellow and orange rainfall warnings for southern regionsThe low-pressure system responsible for Spainโs most devastating floods in decades in Valencia also set new rainfall records across south-eastern S…
Why Spainโs floods were so deadly
The day his people drowned, Valenciaโs president accepted a certificate.
Spainโs โmonsterโ floods expose Europeโs unpreparedness for climate change
National government blamed local authorities after at least 73 people died as heavy rainfall swept through homes, shops and roadways.
Christian leader sees Lebanonโs moment to defang Hezbollah
Civil war veteran Samir Geagea hopes the Shiite militia will be pressed into a position where it has no choice but to disarm.
Fears grow that Israel is seeking to reopen Lebanonโs internal fault lines
Israel wants ‘to set sectarian groups at each others’ throats’ says the spiritual leader of the Druze community.
Portugal and Spain agree onย minimum monthly water flow for River Guardiana
The Guadiana River flows through Spain and Portugal and along its border.
Ukraine war briefing: Brics summit backfired on Putin with calls for peace, says Kyiv
Xi Jinping among world leaders in Russia advising against escalation; any North Korean troops โfair gameโ on Ukraine battlefield, says US. What we know on day 974See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageThe foreign ministry in Kyiv said on Wednesday that…
โTheyโve forgotten their own recent historyโ: Why Israel wonโt move toward peace
Former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker says what he most fears is Israeli overconfidence following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
British escaperโs stolen Napoleonic uniform and journal go on display in London
PoW Charles Hare, 19, escaped in rare uniform with tall feathered hat and travelled back to Lincolnshire โ accompanied by his dogA handwritten manuscript detailing the daring escape of a British prisoner of Napoleonโs troops โ with the flamboyant Frenc…
Bulgaria, Greece close to renewing water deal over Arda river
Unofficially, Bulgaria admits Greece receives more water from the Arda and Mesta rivers than agreed.
Emmanuel Macron: We will fight hard to keep Emily in Paris in France
Hugely successful Netflix show has been a boon to French tourism but latest season takes events to RomeIt is shameless fantasy, from high heels on cobblestones to sanitised streets free of litter and dog poo, a suspiciously blue River Seine, no homeles…
Lebanon yearns for national unity as war revives specter of 1980s
Many in Lebanon are desperate not to let Israel’s attack and economic hardships reignite sectarian divisions.
Taurine torpor: bullfightingโs non-fatal French cousin fights for survival
Picasso and Hemingway believed folk sports like the course camarguaise were the height of European culture. Facing financial struggles, rowdy spectators and animal rights concerns, can its practitioners keep the custom alive?In an arena in the southern…
Israel risks a long fight in Lebanon
The 1982 invasion โ that turned into a long occupation โ was also originally styled as a mission to push back militants.
โEverything is deadโ: Ukraine rushes to stem ecocide after river poisoning
Russia is suspected of deliberately leaking chemical waste into a river, with deadly consequences for wildlifeSerhiy Kraskov picked up a twig and poked at a small fish floating in the Desna River. โItโs a roach. It died recently. You can tell because i…
Target Iran: Israel seizes its moment to reshape the Middle East
Prime Minister Netanyahu warns Iran’s clerics their days are numbered and boasts there is “nowhere” Israel cannot target.
Rare disease realities โ mobile
References 1 Fabry Disease. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16235-fabry-diseaseย 2 Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1444/ย 3 Autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis 4B. National Library of Medicine.ย ย https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/108615 4 European Reference Networks. European Commission. https://health.ec.europa.eu/rare-diseases-and-european-reference-networks/european-reference-networks_enย 5 CRA Insights. A Landscape Assessment of Newborn Screening (NBS) in Europe. Charles River Associates. https://media.crai.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/28135510/CRA-Insights-NBS-Policy-Updated-28-February-2024-vSTCCR.pdfย
Rare disease realities: Patient perspectives across the EU
References [1] Fabry Disease. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16235-fabry-diseaseย [2] Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1444/ย [3] Autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis 4B. National Library of Medicine.ย ย https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/108615 [4] European Reference Networks. European Commission. https://health.ec.europa.eu/rare-diseases-and-european-reference-networks/european-reference-networks_enย [5] CRA Insights. A Landscape Assessment of Newborn Screening (NBS) in Europe. Charles River Associates. https://media.crai.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/28135510/CRA-Insights-NBS-Policy-Updated-28-February-2024-vSTCCR.pdfย
Hungaryโs chief prosecutor asks EP to lift immunity of Orbรกnโs main rival
Opposition leader Pรฉter Magyar faces charges for grabbing a phone from a man filming him in a nightclub.
Israelโs message to Hezbollah is falling on deaf ears
What was meant to preempt escalation into a full-blown war is having quite the opposite effect, despite both sides knowing full well that another war would make the conflict of 2006 look like a skirmish.
โPablo Escobar of beaversโ calls on Polandโs Tusk to cover dams, not shoot animals
The wildlife manager โย and self-professed “good guy” โ says Warsaw does not need to kill beavers to protect its dams.
US sending โsmall numberโ of troops to Middle East as attacks ramp up
The troops would add to the 40,000 American forces already in the region.
Hungarian residents navigate streets in boats after excessive flooding โ video
Drone footage shows flooded streets in the village of รrsekcsanรกd in southern Hungary after heavy rainfall caused the Danube River to overflow. Parts of the region have experienced five times the average rainfall for the month of September, leaving lar…
Turkey: Young girl’s murder highlights authorities’ silence on child disappearances
The country has been in turmoil since the discovery of 8-year-old Narin Gรผran’s body in a river. Despite an apparent increase in child attacks, officials have been silent, with no relevant statistics since 2016.
War of words between Serbia and Kosovo intensifies as EU talks stall
Serbian President Vuฤiฤ says he has โno relationshipโ to Kosovo leaders as EU-led talks fail to produce results.
‘Usually it’s a harmless little river’: Austrians struck by flooding reel from ruin left in its wake
Authorities have reported 23 deaths in Central Europe, as record rainfall has caused devastation to infrastructure in small towns.
Meet JD Vanceโs English philosopher king
Conservative academic James Orr has been described as the Republican vice presidential candidate’s “British sherpa.”
People evacuated via helicopters after catastrophic flooding in central Europe โ video
The death toll from torrential rain and flooding in central and eastern Europe has risen to at least 16, with several more people missing. Authorities reported deaths in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. In Nysa, a southern Polish town, a surgeon…
Weather tracker: Storm Boris brings catastrophic flooding to central Europe
Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia among worst-hit countries as extreme rain and floods cause several deathsA deep area of low pressure over central and eastern Europe has resulted in extreme rainfall and catastrophic flooding over the past few days. …
Central Europe battles severe rain, flooding
At least 6 deaths have been reported in the region following days of heavy downpours and massive floods.
โThe game continuesโ: evacuating casualties and bombing bridges in Kursk
Drone operators and a volunteer medic on the ever-changing dynamics on the frontline of the Ukraine incursionRussia-Ukraine war โ latest news updatesDeep into one recent night, at a Ukrainian mobile drone command point hidden amid the fields and forest…
Border cops accuse Finnish students of crossing into Russia during school trip
The children reportedly filmed themselves circling a red and green pole that marks the Russian border post.
Russia cuts water to Ukrainian city amid eastern frontline push
Kremlin forces are concentrating their resources around Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian army spokesperson told POLITICO.
Ukraine war briefing: Major Russian counter-offensive reported in Kursk
Shoot down Russian missiles and drones, Ukraine urges its neighbours; hopes rise of US permission to fire long-range missiles into Russia. What we know on day 932See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageRussian forces have begun a significant counter-off…
Major bridge partially collapses into river in Dresden
The partial collapse of the Carola Bridge disrupts major traffic artery in Dresden and leaves the city without hot water.