France has suspended the glue-trapping of songbirds this year but stopped short of abolishing the controversial practice which is criticised as barbaric by bird lovers and banned under European Union regulations. President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Thursday that, following a meeting with environment minister Barbara Pompili and hunting federation president Willy Schraen, the quota for hunting thrushes and blackbirds with glue traps will be set to zero this year. France is the only country to still allow the catching of birds with glue traps – and other…
Read MoreMonth: August 2020
Three Swedes condemned to life in jail for double gang murder
A court in Denmark has jailed three Swedish men for life and two others for 20 years each over a double murder in Copenhagen, part of a running battle between rival Stockholm gangs. The two men sentenced to 20 years were both under 18 at the time of the killings but their involvement in gang crime left them open to the highest possible sentence for minors under Danish law, said the prosecutor, Rasmus Kim Petersen. The killers belonged to the Death Patrol gang from Rinkeby on the outskirts of Stockholm,…
Read MorePolitical protests from NBA players ‘will lead to the destruction of basketball,’ Trump said
Donald Trump has claimed that what he viewed as political activity by the National Basketball Association would destroy the sport. After star players such as Lebron James refused to take the court for playoff games this week in protest at the Kenosha police shooting, the US president expanded his attack on the boycott. “I think what they’re doing to the NBA in particular is gonna destroy basketball,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday night. He said it would be “threatening” to the NBA. NBA players halted play…
Read MoreEU pays 336 million euros to secure potential vaccine AstraZeneca against COVID-19
The European Commission has made a €336 million downpayment to British drug maker AstraZeneca to secure at least 300 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesman said on Thursday (27 August). The deal covers development, liability and other costs faced by the vaccine maker. The EU has also secured an option to buy 100 million additional doses of the vaccine under development. The 27 EU states could buy it at a later stage, should the vaccine prove successful. The overall price they will pay to acquire the doses…
Read MoreEU imposes sanctions on Turkey’s energy sector and advocates de-escalation
EU foreign ministers agreed on Friday (28 August) on a list of sanctions against Turkey in the event that Ankara does not de-escalate its actions in the increasingly tense Eastern Mediterranean, including illegal drilling for oil and gas. The first phase of sanctions concern Turkey’s energy sector, i.e. companies involved in the illegal drillings in the Eastern Mediterranean in the exclusive economic zones of Greece and Cyprus. Asked what these measures might entail, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said sanctions could be extended to ships or other assets involved…
Read MoreThere is not enough time to analyze EU threats as security problems of the bloc multiply
EU defence ministers agreed at an informal meeting in Berlin on Wednesday (26 August) to work closer together militarily and develop a common strategic culture, highlighting the growing need for Europe’s common defence policy at a time of escalating challenges in the bloc’s neighbourhood. “We see the development in Mali, we see the demonstrations in Belarus, we see the increasing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean,” German defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters, stressing it would be necessary for Europe to be more capable of acting to uphold its own security….
Read MoreTopshop owner accused of possible violation of redundancy laws
The owner of Topshop and Topman has been accused of potential breaching employment law by offering staff being made redundant less favourable terms for their notice periods, linked to the government’s furlough scheme. Sir Philip Green’s struggling Arcadia Group, which also owns Miss Selfridge, Evans, Wallis, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, is making up to 500 head office staff redundant after a slowdown in trade during the pandemic. While some of those workers will receive full notice pay, furloughed workers who are contractually owed more than the government’s statutory minimum have…
Read MoreGermany demands de-escalation of the conflict between Greece and Turkey
EU powerhouse Germany told Turkey and Greece on Tuesday (25 August) to defuse their escalating row over gas exploration in the Mediterranean or risk sparking a “catastrophe”. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas issued the warning after meeting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and other Greek officials in Athens on the first leg of a mission to try to end the standoff. The discovery of major gas deposits in waters surrounding Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete has triggered a scramble for energy riches and revived old regional rivalries. “The spiral…
Read MoreLionel Messi told Barcelona that he wants to leave, but faces legal action over the clause
Lionel Messi has told Barcelona that he wants to leave the club immediately – and on a free transfer. The Argentinian, who according to RAC1 radio had told the new manager, Ronald Koeman, that he felt “more out than in”, has sent a fax to Barcelona informing them of his desire to go. Messi’s camp believes that a clause in his contract means he can walk away for no fee. Barcelona, by contrast, insist that he is still bound by a €700m (£629m) buy-out clause. The bombshell dropped on Tuesday…
Read MoreEU calls for “independent and transparent” investigation into Navalny’s case
The European Union’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell on Monday (24 August) called on the Russian authorities to launch an “independent and transparent investigation” into the apparent poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. “The European Union strongly condemns what seems to be an attempt on Mr Navalny’s life,” said Borrell, speaking hours after the German hospital treating the Russian campaigner said their tests indicated he had been poisoned. “It is imperative that the Russian authorities initiate an independent and transparent investigation on the poisoning of Mr Navalny without delay,” his statement…
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