Europe Calling

A huge fire has broken out in a block of flats and offices near London's Algate East underground station - sending 'glass panels crashing hundreds of meters to the ground'. Around 125 firefighters in 20 vehicles are currently at the scene of the inferno on the 17th floor of a high rise building on Whitechapel High Street in Aldgate, east London. Calls are growing for people to boycott Coca-Cola as they have yet to pull operations out of Russia despite Putin's invasion of Ukraine entering its twelfth day. Trends on Twitter including #BoycottCocaCola surfaced over the weekend as it emerged the company, which has 10 bottling plants in Russia, is not making any changes to operations following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

A huge fire has broken out in a block of flats and offices near London's Algate East underground station - sending 'glass panels crashing hundreds of meters to the ground'. Around 125 firefighters in 20 vehicles are currently at the scene of the inferno on the 17th floor of a high rise building on Whitechapel High Street in Aldgate, east London. Calls are growing for people to boycott Coca-Cola as they have yet to pull operations out of Russia despite Putin's invasion of Ukraine entering its twelfth day. Trends on Twitter including #BoycottCocaCola surfaced over the weekend as it emerged the company, which has 10 bottling plants in Russia, is not making any changes to operations following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

From Dolly Trolley to Erik the Belgian

Headteachers at schools in Brighton have sparked anger from parents by cancelling the words 'mum' and 'dad' and replacing them with 'grown ups' - to avoid discriminating against 'non-traditional' families. .Anti-racism campaigners have criticised new Government guidance on political impartiality in the classroom as 'disturbing', while teachers' leaders have said it will stop pupils from engaging with challenging issues in the classroom. The Government released guidance on Thursday aimed at helping teachers avoid 'promoting contested theories as fact' in England.It suggests that the teaching of historical figures should focus on 'factual information' about them, and that teaching of the British empire should be presented in 'a balanced manner'.

A retired Spanish doctor who has been campaigning to maintain face-to-face customer services at banks, presented a petition in Madrid on Tuesday with more than 600,000 signatures to the secretary of state for the treasury, Carlos Cuerpo, at the Economy Ministry. He also presented his petition to the Bank of Spain. Carlos San Juan, aged 78 and from the Valencia Region, used the slogan of ‘SoyMayorNOidiota’ (‘I’m old, not an idiot’) for his campaign against the Spanish banks’ growing use of digital services.

PARENTS have blasted a school's decision to go permanently "meat free". Students at Barrowford Primary School near Nelson, Lancashire, are only offered vegetarian dinners - and kids are also urged not to bring meat in their packed lunches. The new rule was brought in last year, but a letter informing parents of the change was only sent out on Thursday.

Spain will be a pioneer in the creation of the world’s first octopus farm. It is expected that in the summer of 2022 it will come true with the goal of being commercialized and sold as food in 2023, although many experts have already shown their outrage that they consider that these creatures are capable of feeling pain and emotions.

The Queen has used her Platinum Jubilee message to the nation to back the Duchess of Cornwall in a significant move to shape the future of the monarchy on her historic milestone. In a statement that ends years of uncertainty, Elizabeth II has expressed her 'sincere wish' that Camilla be given the title when Charles ascends to the throne, telling the public 'I know you will give them the same support you have given me'.

According to data from the European Active Population Survey, published this Tuesday, February 1, by Eurostat, Spain finished 2021 with the highest unemployment figure in the entire European Union. An unemployment level of 13 per cent was recorded in December, a figure that is only close to Greece at 12.7 per cent, and which, moreover, is double the European average of 6.4 per cent.December was the seventh consecutive month in which Spain leads with this statistic in Europe. ‘The data once again reflects the progress of Spain’s recovery,’ Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted. El paro baja y ya encadena 10 meses consecutivos de descensos, algo que no había sucedido en toda la serie histórica. Los datos vuelven a reflejar el avance de la recuperación en España. No nos detenemos. Trabajamos para combatir la precariedad y seguir creando empleo de calidad.

Cyclists are already asserting their new powers as they take to the middle of the road legally for the first time today after a major revamp of the Highway Code. Under the new rules, cyclistsare now advised to ride in the centre of lanes on quieter roads, in slower-moving traffic, and when approaching junctions, to make themselves as visible as possible. A teacher who was banned from working in schools after it was discovered he had been posting images of students onto a Russian website used by paedophiles has landed a job as a lecturer at Lancaster University. Emma Raducanu has said she no longer feels safe in her own home after a stalker visited it three times and stole her father's shoe as a 'souvenir', a court heard yesterday. Dr Konstancja Duff, then 24, had intervened in a police stop and search in East London in May 2013 by trying to hand the detainee a card showing him his rights and declining to give her own name. Cliff Richard…........the worst time was the middle of the night, when he would jolt awake in the darkness, heart pounding, pulse racing. Mel Gibson says he believes the Catholic Church should undergo a 'housecleaning' following years of scandals that have destroyed its reputation. Crowdfunders are paying for puberty-blockers taken by children, as well as for operations by private surgeons who remove teenagers’ breasts or construct them, remodel their genitalia to simulate a penis or vagina, and remove internal female or male anatomy — including the womb— to match their preferred sex. Sitting down with the minister and industry representatives, including Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, Prince Charles told them: ‘It just occurred while we’re making rather a mess of this planet, that it might be useful to have an environmental management agreement for space.’

The Ukraine crisis has entered Spanish domestic politics, showcasing division within the coalition government over Spain’s participation in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led effort to deter Russia from escalating the conflict further. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) has run into open objections from his governing partners in the leftist Unidas Podemos, and is instead finding support in the main opposition Popular Party (PP). A major initiative to promote renewable hydrogen projects across all sectors of the economy in Spain has been launched, led by global energy company Repsol. The Spanish Hydrogen Network project, known as ‘SHYNE’, brings together 22 companies and 11 associations, technology centres and universities, with the goal of promoting renewable hydrogen projects throughout Spain to speed up the expansion of this renewable energy source as part of the government’s target of decarbonisation. A new Banksy exhibition entitled ‘Banksy: the Art of Protest’ is on at Barcelona’s Museu del Disseny and displays over 70 works from the elusive artist. Long renowned as one of the most important artists of the 21st century, the Banksy exhibition also includes a range of multimedia exhibits from private collections. During the first 16 days of November, around 20 or so coordinated Twitter accounts described Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as “handsome” 100 times and “gorgeous” another 39 times. Second delight of the week is the decision by culture secretary Nadine Dorries to freeze the BBC licence fee for the next two years. This almost unbelievably biasedoperation simply must be curbed. The Duke of York last night set himself on a 'collision course with the Palace' who will be 'horrified' by his insistence on facing Virginia Roberts in a US court to deny claims they had sex three times when she was 17. She says this amounts to rape, sexual assault and battery. His lawyers said last night that the royal 'hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint' because he denies 'any and all wrongdoing'. The Catalan parliament has passed a resolution to rehabiliate the memory of more than 700 women who were tortured and executed as witches over three hundred years ago..

The Ukraine crisis has entered Spanish domestic politics, showcasing division within the coalition government over Spain’s participation in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led effort to deter Russia from escalating the conflict further. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) has run into open objections from his governing partners in the leftist Unidas Podemos, and is instead finding support in the main opposition Popular Party (PP). A major initiative to promote renewable hydrogen projects across all sectors of the economy in Spain has been launched, led by global energy company Repsol. The Spanish Hydrogen Network project, known as ‘SHYNE’, brings together 22 companies and 11 associations, technology centres and universities, with the goal of promoting renewable hydrogen projects throughout Spain to speed up the expansion of this renewable energy source as part of the government’s target of decarbonisation. A new Banksy exhibition entitled ‘Banksy: the Art of Protest’ is on at Barcelona’s Museu del Disseny and displays over 70 works from the elusive artist. Long renowned as one of the most important artists of the 21st century, the Banksy exhibition also includes a range of multimedia exhibits from private collections. During the first 16 days of November, around 20 or so coordinated Twitter accounts described Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as “handsome” 100 times and “gorgeous” another 39 times. Second delight of the week is the decision by culture secretary Nadine Dorries to freeze the BBC licence fee for the next two years. This almost unbelievably biasedoperation simply must be curbed. The Duke of York last night set himself on a 'collision course with the Palace' who will be 'horrified' by his insistence on facing Virginia Roberts in a US court to deny claims they had sex three times when she was 17. She says this amounts to rape, sexual assault and battery. His lawyers said last night that the royal 'hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint' because he denies 'any and all wrongdoing'. The Catalan parliament has passed a resolution to rehabiliate the memory of more than 700 women who were tortured and executed as witches over three hundred years ago..

The president of the Association of School and College Leaders, Pepe Di'lasio, told The Times: 'This is a nationwide issue.' Research published last year found that one in five 11- year-olds at secondary school weren't able to read to the expected standard. The UK is 14th in international league tables for reading, according to Pisa tests which evaluates the reading of 15-year-olds in 70 countries. ........................................

Emmanuel Macron has blamed Britain for migrant deaths in the English Channel and called on Brussels to be 'tough' on fishing licences as the bitter row with London continued at the European Parliament today. As France took over the presidency of the EU, Macron took the opportunity to accuse Boris Johnson of putting lives at danger because of his migration policy, with record numbers making the perilous journey across the Channel in dinghies.

The Communist spy at the heart of an MI5 Whitehall security alert boasted about her plans to install Chinese MPs in the Commons as far back as 2007, it emerged yesterday. Barbara Stange-Alvarez destroyed wine, spirits and beer when she went on the rampage in Aldi, St Albans Magistrates' Court was told. The 36-year-old from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, walked along the aisle at the local store and used her arm to sweep hundreds of bottles off the shelves, a judge heard. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries today signalled the BBC licence fee will be scrapped after 2027 as part of the Prime Minister's policy blitz dubbed Operation Red Meat that aims to deflect from the recent Partygate row. Sir Keir Starmer was last night under mounting pressure to apologise after being pictured drinking with colleagues during lockdown. The Labour leader has tried to ride out the controversy but was forced on to the defensive yesterday as Tory MPs accused him of hypocrisy.In an uncomfortable TV interview, Sir Keir said there was 'no comparison' between his drinking and the Prime Minister's attendance at an event in the Downing Street garden. Anne Frank may have been betrayed by a Jewish notary who became an informant for Nazi occupiers in order to save his own family's lives. A fitness centre receptionist who took two ecstasy pills at a music festival collapsed with organ failure and died in hospital, an inquest heard. Senior police officers who oversaw a 'boys club' have been sacked amid claims of cronyism, bullying and racking up thousands in bogus expenses claims. Chief Superintendent Paul Martin was found to have failed to declare a conflict of interest when he interviewed his friend Chief Inspector Davinder Kandohla for promotion to Superintenden