The severe thunderstorms that have been lashing parts of Europe over recent days are expected to give way to high temperatures this week. Several regions could climb to 10C (50F) above seasonal norms, with Italy braced for the full force of the heat. Florence in Tuscany is forecast to soar to a sweltering 39C on … Read more
With Europe’s political kaleidoscope spinning wildly in the populist winds, a group of northern countries is gaining weight as a geopolitical anchor. Known as the Nordic-Baltic eight (NB8 in diplomatic jargon), it brings together small northern European states that, individually, might have little clout in international security and politics. But since Russia’s full-scale invasion of … Read more
This week, large parts of Europe have been affected by a series of intense thunderstorms, bringing torrential rain, damaging winds and large hail. Central France was particularly badly affected by the severe weather, as powerful storm systems swept south-westward across the country. The departments of Loire and Puy-de-Dôme were among the hardest hit, experiencing significant … Read more
Among the layers of life in Paris that energise me, I might list: peeling back the city’s music scene all the way to figuring out where, and when, the musicians go to jam together; the unassuming flair of even a basic brasserie; the way one can pivot, in the span of a week, from an … Read more
Truss should be banned from being allowed to run as Tory candidate again to show ‘we get it’, says former minister Conor Burns, a fomer Tory minister who lost his seat at the election, has welcomed Mel Stride’s speech this morning (see 10.19am), but urged the party to go further – and rule out Liz … Read more
Labour is using post-Brexit freedoms to override EU nature laws and allow chalk streams and nightingale habitats to be destroyed, MPs have said. The planning and infrastructure bill going through parliament will allow developers to circumvent EU-derived environmental protections and instead pay into a nature restoration fund. This would override the habitats directive, which protects … Read more
When I first moved to Italy in 2012, I had no idea that more than a decade later I’d still be here. Back then, being British I had the luxury of EU citizenship, and thus of not overthinking things. I was excited by the prospect of spending time in a country that I’d always been … Read more
Germany’s new conservative leader, Friedrich Merz, is due in Washington on Thursday for his first official meeting with Donald Trump, putting political Berlin on tenterhooks like no other transatlantic encounter in living memory. Discussions between the German chancellor and the US president will focus on Ukraine, the Middle East and trade policies. How well or … Read more
It is a gamble that Geert Wilders may live to regret. Increasingly frustrated by his coalition partners’ unwillingness to embrace his promised “strictest asylum policy in Europe”, the Dutch far-right leader brought down the government. Wilders’ calculation, if it is more than a fit of political pique, appears simple: if he can turn this autumn’s … Read more
In Denmark, we like to think of ourselves as being in the vanguard of freedom of expression. We were the first country in the world to legalise pornography. We insisted on the right to publish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Rather than marginalise so-called rightwing populists in parliament, we invited them in to political cooperation. … Read more