Tag • #europe

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Two people die attempting to cross Channel in dinghy

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 13:15

About 50 people were rescued by helicopter on Sunday morning, French authorities have said

Two people died attempting to cross the Channel in a dinghy on Sunday morning, according to the French authorities, bringing the death toll since mid-July to at least nine.

The maritime prefecture for the Channel in Calais issued a brief statement confirming the deaths and have said that Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, was going to the scene to supervise the rescue operations.

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Paris 2024 Olympics: lifts, laughs and love on day 16 – in pictures

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 13:10

As the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad draws to a close, we take a look at of the best images from day 16 in Paris

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Sweden’s ‘snitch law’ immigration plan prompts alarm across society

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 10:31

Proposal, which would force public sector workers to report undocumented people, decried as ‘utterly inhumane’

Doctors, social workers and librarians are among those in Sweden who have sounded the alarm over a proposal being explored by a government-appointed committee that would force public sector workers to report undocumented people to authorities.

The proposal – referred to as the “snitch law” by some – was among the many measures included in a 2022 agreement struck between four rightwing parties in the country. The deal paved the way for a coalition government involving three of the country’s centre-right parties with parliamentary support from the far-right anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD).

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Thousands of Ukrainian troops aim to ‘destabilise’ Russia with Kursk incursion

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 10:10

Kyiv seeking to ‘stretch the enemy’ as White House says western partners have been ‘indirectly’ involved

Thousands of Ukrainian troops are taking part in an incursion aiming to destabilise Russia by showing up its weaknesses, a top Ukrainian official has said as the assault entered its sixth day.

“We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official said on condition of anonymity.

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Startling genome discovery in butterfly project reveals impact of climate change in Europe

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 09:00

Project to study all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths finds ‘two species in the act of being created from one’

The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer.

Then there is their close and unusual relationship with ants. Caterpillars of Lysandra coridon – found across Europe – exude a type of honeydew that is milked by ants and provides them with energy. In return, they are given protection in cells below ground especially created for them by the ants. Chalkhill blues thrive as a result, though their numbers are now coming under threat .

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‘Sometimes you really have to let go’: can Olympians embrace retirement?

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 07:00

Alice Dearing, the first Black swimmer to represent Team GB, ended her career in April – and has some advice for those retiring after the Paris Olympics

Alice Dearing knew she would retire if she failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics. So when things began to go “catastrophically wrong” for the 27-year-old Team GB swimmer in the middle of a qualifying event earlier this year, she was forced to confront not only the demise of her dream of Paris, but the end of her career.

Dearing, who made history as the first Black female swimmer to represent Team GB at Tokyo 2020, officially announced her retirement in April. The decision was not easy: “It’s a challenge for athletes because you want that high,” she said. “My whole point of trying to go to Paris was that I just wanted a better result [than] Tokyo. To finish on probably one of the worst races of my career was a bit of a weird one.”

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Macron has been hugging France’s heroes as though he dare not let the Olympics go | Angelique Chrisafis

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 05:00

Medal success has offered the president welcome weeks of respite in his country’s fraught political climate – but what happens when the athletes go home?

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is famed for his enthusiastic hugging of sports stars – as the footballer Kylian Mbappé can attest. Macron walked on to the pitch, somewhat awkwardly pulled Mbappé to his chest and patted his head to console him after defeat to Argentina in the last World Cup.

But at the Paris Olympics, Macron’s touchy-feely approach to the nation’s athletes has exceeded anything that had gone before.

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Ukraine war briefing: Deadly bombing hits Kyiv, Russia hurries Kursk evacuation

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 04:11

Kursk governor orders officials to ‘speed up’ civilian exodus; Russian defence ministry claims Ukrainian advance halted. What we know on day 900

See all our Ukraine war coverage

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Oleg Orlov: the veteran dissident who accepted jail to ‘show there is resistance inside Russia’

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 11 August - 04:00

The trenchant critic of Putin was released this month, but says he saw captivity as an integral part of his campaign

For many people, if they had recently turned 70 and were faced with the prospect of a long stint in a Russian prison, their first instinct would be to dash to the airport and escape the country as quickly as possible. Oleg Orlov, one of Russia’s most experienced and respected human rights advocates, had that opportunity but never considered it an option.

Orlov, whose organisation, Memorial, won the Nobel peace prize in 2022, remained in the country after being accused of “discrediting the Russian army” for his commentary on the war in Ukraine. In February this year, he was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.