Mayor of Algar (pop 1,400) says the tradition is the ‘opposite of social media’ and good for mental healthIt’s a nightly summer ritual across much of Spain: as the sweltering heat of the day eases off, chairs are hauled out to the street for an alfresc…
Call centre used by UK firms accused of intrusively monitoring home workers
Unions say Teleperformance also asked some staff based overseas to give biometric and medical dataA multinational call centre used by dozens of leading UK companies has been criticised for what unions have called the intrusive monitoring of home-workin…
DNA from thin air: a new way to detect rare wildlife in hostile environments
Discovery that traces of genetic material are all around us opens a non-invasive way to boost biodiversityDNA is in the air – literally. It is wafted around by all the Earth’s creatures, and now scientists have found a way to detect these invisible tra…
‘If you talk, you live well’: the remote Sardinian village with eight centenarians
Books, clean air and socialising thought to have helped the latest five mark their 100th birthdays in Perdasdefogu this yearIf there’s one thing the remote mountain village of Perdasdefogu needs to ensure it always has a steady supply of, it’s birthday…
‘I’d never seen a boat come in with so many bodies’: mortal cost of Atlantic migrant route
Every year thousands of refugees from conflict, climate and instability in Africa board vessels in search of a new life in Europe but hundreds never arrive At 6.30am on Friday 28 May, three fishermen at work four miles off the southern coast of Tobago …
Macron tells critics: vaccine passport will protect all our freedoms
French protests expected to enter fourth week but president’s hardline strategy is succeedingCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen the Great Plague struck Marseille in 1720, killing more than half of the city’s population, tr…
Reputed mafia ‘godmother’ arrested at Rome airport
Prosecutors allege Maria Licciardi, 70, ran extortion rackets as head of Naples-based Camorra crime syndicateA reputed top Naples crime syndicate boss was arrested as she was about to board a flight to Spain, Italian authorities said.The interior minis…
UK sends firefighters to Greece to help the battle against wildfires
At least 400 wildfires are raging across the country, which have killed one and injured 20 so farBritish firefighters are to be sent to Greece this weekend to lend their support in the battle against wildfires that have spiralled out of control over th…
‘Apocalyptic’ scenes hit Greece as Athens besieged by fire
The city is surrounded by flames. On the ground, there are tales of heroism – and fear for the futureLittle had prepared any of us on the Athens-bound flight for the sight of the great fire-induced clouds that swept either side of the plane as it made …
What is it about Viktor Orbán that attracts so many rightwing sycophants? | Nick Cohen
Hungary’s leader and Fox News are natural bedfellows in peddling paranoia politicsTucker Carlson is not much to look at. A little man with a face screwed into the scowl of a junior manager passed over for promotion, you might walk by him in the street …