Artem Bolshakov/Getty Images The bronze statue of Molly Malone has become discoloured by people touching it Dublin’s Molly Malone statue should be protected to prevent members of the public from “violating” it by groping the sculpture’s breasts, a campaigner has said. Tilly Cripwell pointed out that the bronze artwork has …

Milica Radenković Jeremić and Lara Owen BBC World Service Reporting fromBelgrade and London Getty Images Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Belgrade to protest systemic corruption in Serbia For a few seconds, there was only pure panic, as chaos and fear surged through the crowd at a major anti-government …

German lawmakers have voted to allow a huge increase in defence and infrastructure spending – a seismic shift for the country that could reshape European defence. A two-thirds majority of Bundestag parliamentarians, required for the change, approved the vote on Tuesday. The law will exempt spending on defence and security …

Poland and the Baltic states have announced plans to withdraw from a key international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, citing the rising threat from Russia. In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said since signing the Ottawa Treaty, threats from Moscow and its ally Belarus …

Frank Gardner Security correspondent Reuters Germany has been Europe’s main donor of weapons to Ukraine What happens today, here in Berlin, will impact the entire future of Europe’s defence and its ongoing support for Ukraine. Germany’s Parliament, the Bundestag, is voting on whether to take the brakes off defence spending. …

Guy Delauney BBC Balkans correspondent Reuters North Macedonia has begun a week of mourning Thousands of people have protested in the North Macedonian town of Kocani, demanding justice and action against corruption after a nightclub fire killed 59 people, many of them teenagers. “Nobody should die like that – nobody,” …

George Wright and Cachella Smith BBC News “I lost everything”: Survivors and relatives speak of their grief Marija Taseva was enjoying a night out with her sister at the Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Saturday when disaster struck. They were watching DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the …

Two European politicians, dressed symbolically in red and white, sent a message last week to Canada on social media declaring “we’ve got your back”. Also signalling support was King Charles, who planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and wore his Canadian medals during a high …

Survivors and relatives of those who died in a fire at a night clubin North Macedonia have spoken of their grief and anger. Among the survivors was 19-year-old Marija Taseva, who said she felt people stomping on her as they all tried to get out via one exit at the …

Tens of thousands of people have descended on Serbia’s capital to protest against the deaths of 15 people in a railway station collapse. The government has put attendance at 107,000 across Belgrade. Organisers and independent monitors have yet to give their estimates. Either way, it probably ranks as the largest …

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to “sabotage” diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire. In a post on social media, he urged the US to put more pressure on the Russian president, saying only the “strength of America” could end the war. The Ukrainian leader …

Greenland’s leading political parties have issued a joint statement to condemn Donald Trump’s “unacceptable behaviour”, after the US president seemed to escalate his campaign to take over the island. The show of unity saw all leaders of parties in the Inatsisartut – the parliament – release a joint message saying …

Paul Kirby Europe digital editor Reuters The deal is a personal victory for Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Germany’s conservative leader, Friedrich Merz, has clinched an enormous financial package to revamp defence and infrastructure, ahead of a crunch vote in parliament next Tuesday. Merz, who aims to lead a government with …

Legendary avant-garde composer Sofia Gubaidulina has died in Germany, where she spent more than 30 years of her life after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Gubaidulina, who was 93, was one of a group of composers blacklisted in the Soviet Union in 1979. But her work eventually reached the …

James Landale Reporting fromKyiv, Ukraine Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that “questions” remained about the nature of a truce as he set out a number of tough conditions. The Russian president was responding to a plan for …

Jeremy Bowen International editor BBC The president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has repeated his call for the US to base nuclear weapons on Polish soil. In the presidential palace in Warsaw, he told me that it would make Poland stronger and safer, as it faces Russia. Viewed from Poland, President …

Laura Gozzi and Paul Kirby BBC News Watch: Putin responds to US ceasefire proposal Russia is ready for a halt in fighting, says Vladimir Putin, but “there are nuances”. Those nuances that he laid out ahead of talks with US envoys at the Kremlin are so key to his thinking …

US and Russian officials are due to meet in Moscow to discuss a 30-day ceasefire proposal BBC News

Jonathan Beale Defence correspondent, BBC News Reporting fromEastern Ukraine BBC Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield say they don’t expect to see the war end any time soon While Moscow considers a temporary ceasefire, its military machine continues to press its advantage on the front line. Diplomatic negotiations can be slow …

Reuters The rise is attributed to increasing scepticism about immunisation The number of measles cases in the European region doubled last year to reach the highest level in 25 years, health officials say. A joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children’s fund, Unicef, said children …