The Russian invasion, the EU's future
Confirmed: EU negotiations with Ukraine start on Tuesday
EU accession negotiations with Ukraine begin next week. It was decided at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday, AP reports. In addition to Ukraine, the EU will also start negotiations with Moldova.
The first meeting will be held in Luxembourg on Tuesday 25 June, but the negotiations are expected to continue for several years. In order to become a member of the EU, candidate countries must adapt their legislation to the Union and demonstrate that they meet democratic criteria.
Ukraine applied for EU membership less than a week after Russia launched its large-scale invasion, on February 24, 2022.
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The Pilgrimage to Mecca
Saudi Arabia on the criticism: "People misjudge risks"
Saudi Arabia rejects all responsibility for the more than 1,100 deaths during this year's pilgrimage to Mecca, writes AFP.
- The state has not failed, but it is a matter of people misjudging and not appreciating the risks, says a senior official in a first official comment on Friday.
Authorities have urged pilgrims to avoid the sun during the hottest hours, but many of the rituals take place outdoors during the day. Temperatures have been extreme with up to 51.8 degrees in Mecca.
The air-conditioned tents and buses provided by the state have been available only to officially registered pilgrims. Over half of the dead are Egyptians who entered by other means.
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The problems with mass tourism
Barcelona stops all rentals to tourists
The Spanish city of Barcelona wants to ban all short-term housing rentals on platforms like Airbnb from 2029, reports Bloomberg.
- We need to increase the supply of housing, so that the working middle class is not forced out of the city because they cannot afford to stay, says the city's mayor Jaume Collboni at a press conference.
More than 10,000 homes are currently registered for rental to tourists. They shall not have their licenses renewed and no new ones shall be issued, with the aim of eliminating short-term rentals entirely within five years.
Rents in Barcelona rose by 14 percent in the year to April this year. The city was visited by 16 million tourists in 2023.
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Record seizure in France: 216 kilos of methamphetamine
Six million euros worth of methamphetamine has been seized in southeastern France, AFP reports. The seizure of 216 kilograms is described by Marseille's prosecutor's office as "exceptional" - it is almost as large as the entire 2022 total seizure of 273 kilograms, writes La Provence.
Methamphetamine is described by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention as one of the biggest threats to global health, according to AFP.
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Three detained for spying against Ukrainians in Germany
Three men have been detained on suspicion of spying on a Ukrainian citizen in Germany, AP reports.
The men, who are from Russia, Ukraine and Armenia, were arrested in a cafe in Frankfurt on Wednesday. They are said to have traveled to Germany on behalf of a foreign intelligence service to gather information about the Ukrainian living there.
Several suspected spy scandals have been revealed in Germany in recent months, writes Reuters. According to a report by the security service, Russia has gradually turned to recruiting German spies after around 600 Russian diplomats were expelled from Europe.
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Greenlanders demand compensation in adoption case
Four people born in Greenland, who were adopted by Danish families, demand a total of one million Danish kroner compensation (1.5 million Swedish kronor) from the Danish state, reports DR. The group claims they have been subjected to dubious adoptions.
- The parents have agreed that their children could be placed with a Danish family that was in Greenland. But the parents have not agreed that they would take the child home, says the group's lawyer Mads Pramming to DR.
There may be several hundred other similar cases, reads the draft, according to DR.
In March, more than 140 Greenlandic women sued the Danish state for having been forced to use IUDs, despite the fact that many of them were barely in their teens, reports AFP.
According to The Guardian, some were as young as 12.
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