The new laws everyone needs to know before driving abroad this year

The approaching summertime means many people will be booking holidays abroad, and planning on renting either renting or bringing their cars.

Thousands of Brits cross the channel each year in search of new locations and experiences, with many people seeing driving as a great way of keeping a trip as flexible as possible.

But driving abroad does differ in some key areas to motoring here in the UK, which is why there are some things to remember before you buckle up and head out.

Clean Air Zones are a controversial topic across Europe and it always worth checking ahead of time if your destination has one.

Speed limits also often change and are worth checking.

Here we look at a list of what you need to know before driving abroad.

1. Make your checks beforehand

Even before your car turns a wheel, we’d be making some pre-flight checks to ensure that your whole vehicle is in good working order. Tyre pressures need to be checked and increased if they’re low – according to manufacturer guidelines – while fluids such as oil, coolant and windscreen wash all need to be topped up before you head off.

If you’re going on a particularly long drive, then you might want to have your car serviced and inspected by a trained professional prior to your departure – it could flag up an issue which could cause a real headache during your trip.

2. Get your key equipment packed

There are some items that you’ll be required to carry in your car once you reach mainland Europe. You should also make sure that you’ve attached a ‘UK’ sticker to the rear of the car – these can be purchased in a variety of areas – and while in some countries a ‘UK’ badge on your number plate will suffice, countries like Spain always require a sticker too.

Other European countries are stricter when it comes to essential kit to carry with you. The following is required:

A reflective jacket for every person in the car

A warning triangle

Headlight beam deflectors (if you car cannot automatically do this for driving on the other side of the road).

First aid kit, which is mandatory for driving in Austria, France and Germany. Companies such as the AA and RAC will sell you a European driving kit bundle containing all of the above.

3. Ensure you have documents to hand

You’ll need to make sure that you have some key documentation with you when you’re travelling abroad. First and foremost you’ll need your passport, while whoever is behind the wheel will need their full and valid driving licence as well.

There are documents for your vehicle that you’ll need too. Have your car’s V5C registration document – which should be in your name – in the vehicle, while if your car is leased then you’ll need a document showing who the car belongs to and your entitlement to drive it. A hard copy of your insurance documents is required, too.

Though breakdown cover isn’t mandatory, we’d always advise having some coverage in place before you embark on a drive abroad. Just make sure that any policy you take out covers European breakdowns, naturally.

4. Speed limits

The UK’s speed limits are well known to its residents, but limits do change from country to country in Europe. It’s commonplace for a country’s speed limits to be shown when crossing a border, but you should always double-check. A 130km/h (81mph) speed limit is quite commonplace across Europe, but we’d always make sure before reaching that speed.

A number of countries, such as France, also have variable speed limits which change in periods of poor weather. So during rain, the speed limit will fall from 130km/h to 110km/h (68mph).

5. Remember stricter alcohol limits

The UK – excluding Scotland – has some of the highest blood-alcohol level limits in the world. However, this isn’t a trend which is followed by many other countries, which is why it’s worth remembering these stricter limits when you’re driving abroad.

Countries such as the Czech Republic and Hungary both have zero-tolerance approaches to blood alcohol levels, so bear this in mind when driving here.

6. Remember Clean Air Zones

It isn’t just parts of the UK which have adopted Clean Air Zones – or CAZs – as there are plenty across Europe, too. Used to tackle pollution, these zones are enforced based on a car’s age and its emissions.

You should therefore check whether or not the car you’re driving can enter such areas before you travel. In many French cities, you’ll need to get a ‘Crit’Air’ sticker for your car in order to enter a low emissions zone, or you could end up with a fine. There’s a similar setup used in Germany, too.

 

US offers help as nine die, 1,000 injured in Taiwan earthquake

At least nine people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured on Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.

Dozens of people were believed safe but unreachable in areas cut off by massive landslides triggered by the quake – many in tunnels that cut through the mountains that bisect the island from North to South.

Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in decades, and warned of more tremors in the days ahead, AFP reported.

Strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the earthquake-prone island, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.

“We were very lucky,” said a woman surnamed Chang, who lived next door to a printing press warehouse near the capital that virtually pancaked in the quake, but all 50 inside at the time were plucked to safety.

“Many of the decorations at home fell on the floor, but people were safe.”

The director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Centre, Wu Chien-fu, said the quake was the strongest since a 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.

Wednesday’s magnitude-7.4 quake hit just before 8am local time, with the United States Geological Survey putting the epicentre 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Taiwan’s Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 kilometres.

Three people among a group of seven on an early-morning hike through the hills that surround the city were crushed to death by boulders loosened by the earthquake, officials said.

AFP further reports that separately, three died while driving when their vehicles were hit by tumbling rocks, while another died at a quarry.

The National Fire Agency said all the fatalities had been in Hualien county, adding that 1,011 people across Taiwan had sustained injuries without specifying how serious.

US offers help

The United States “stands ready to provide any necessary assistance” to Taiwan following a huge earthquake that injured hundreds and killed at least nine people, the White House said on Wednesday.

“We are monitoring reports of the earthquake impacting Taiwan and continue to monitor its potential impact on Japan,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson added in a statement.

 

Russia’s neighbours urge Nato allies to bring back military service

Rain drips down the glasses of new recruit Toivo Saabas, tracing the contours of the green and black face paint that completes his camouflage.

Lying on the saturated ground, and peering through the sight of his gun, the only frailty that threatens to give away his position is the plume of air he breathes out silently into the icy Estonian forest.

Then comes the deafening call to attack.

The 25-year-old springs to his feet. Forming a line with his brothers in arms, he bounds through the trees towards the Russian border.

As he advances to the clatter of enemy fire, the Southampton University mechanical engineering graduate knows that one day this could all be for real.

“We’re practicing for any threat,” he says.

“We’re ready for anything that comes to Estonia and we’re ready to defend the country.”

Toivo, from the capital Tallinn, is among the current crop of young Estonians undergoing their military service – a duty all men over 18 are asked to carry out. For women, it’s voluntary.

As the Cold War ended, and relations with post-Soviet Russia warmed in the 1990s, conscription appeared consigned to history in many parts of Europe.

But not in Estonia, where it would have been impossible for the collective pain of occupation and deportation to have faded away.

And now, following President Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, conscription is being rebooted and expanded across Europe, with those living on Russia’s doorstep urging their Nato allies further afield, including the UK, to follow suit.

This week Norway announced it was increasing the number of conscripted soldiers after Denmark said last month it intends to extend conscription to women and increase the duration of service.

Latvia and Sweden recently restarted military service and Lithuania brought it back after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“It takes a toll on you,” says a drenched Toivo, explaining that the training has been the toughest experience of his life.

“But in the end, it’s service for your country. Being prepared for anything is better than kind of sneaking off and trying to evade this service.”

Rain has turned to hail and then to snow in a matter of minutes.

Everyone is soaked to their skin. But as the simulation ends, relief quickly leads to animated conversation and laughter eclipsing the hardship of the previous hours.

“It’s the conscripts in Ukraine I feel sorry for,” says Captain Mikk Haabma who is overseeing proceedings.

“They are fighting for their lives.”

Standing more than 2m tall, the 38-year-old has a natural advantage when it comes to surveying the progress of his new intake.

“Our country is based on reserves and these guys are filling the slots all the time. But also, they’re getting the skills to get by in life – especially building their confidence. In a few weeks from now, these guys will be ready to fight the enemy.”

He means Russia.

‘In the end we have Nato’

Russia has never attacked a country within Nato, whose collective defence pact means that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all. Indeed, the Kremlin ridicules suggestions it might.

Three Nato countries – the UK, the US and France – each have nuclear weapons, as does Russia, so there would be concerns over the risk of nuclear escalation as a result of such a conflict.

However, if the Russians did attack, I ask, what would they be confronted with?

“A massive defeat,” Captain Haabma replies.

“Of course, they have the numbers, but in the end on a strategic level we have Nato and the technical superiority.”

The transatlantic military alliance – now a club of 32 including new members Finland and Sweden – is celebrating its 75th anniversary this week.

So what is the overwhelming feeling in Estonia today?

A sense of security being part of an enlarged alliance? Or fear about what Vladimir Putin may do next?

“I think it’s both,” replies Kaja Kallas in her prime ministerial office in Tallinn.

For her, Nato allies keeping their promise to spend 2% of GDP on defence is what’s crucial.

“In 1938, it was clear that the war was coming so the defence expenditure was increased by 100% but it was already too late.”

She continues, “This is what we have to do now in order to preserve our way of living, in order to preserve peace in Europe.”

However, in 2024, fewer than two thirds of Nato members are on course to reach their 2% funding goal, a shortfall that perpetually irked US President Donald Trump during his time in the White House.

Ms Kallas, who’s led Estonia since 2021, sees conscription as another integral part of both providing a deterrence to Russia but also stronger defence if it does attack.

“We have a reserve army of 44,000 people that would equal, for Great Britain, around two million people. Two million people who are ready to defend their country and know what they have to do.”

After she mentions Britain unprompted, I ask whether she would in fact recommend conscription to the UK.

“Of course, every country decides for themselves, we are all democracies, but I recommend this in many aspects.”

‘We lost our independence once before’

When I recall that the head of the British Army was rebuked by Downing Street after saying Britain should train a “citizen army” ready to fight a war on land in the future, Kallas widens her eyes.

“Well it doesn’t surprise me because we have different historical backgrounds. We have lost our independence and freedom once and we don’t want to lose it again. They say that you only understand freedom and what it means when you don’t have it.”

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the BBC there is “absolutely no suggestion of a return to conscription”.

The British government says £50bn is being invested in its armed forces in 2024 to tackle multiple threats, including Russian aggression in Ukraine, and that “increasing recruitment and improving retention across the services is a top priority”.

Military service may well be going through a renaissance, but that doesn’t mean all young Estonians are filled with unbridled enthusiasm for it.

The warmth and buzz of F-Hoone bar in the centre of the capital is a far cry from the rain-soaked forest where the conscripts have been toiling away.

The capital is gearing up for Tallinn Music Week, an annual celebration with live performances embracing a range of genres.

Among those taking the stage will be The Boondocks – a four piece indie rock band originally formed in Pärnu, the coastal city in the south west of the country.

“I’m not a soldier” sings 25-year-old Villem Sarapuu in their track Smokin’ Aces.

But every morning for two months he did in fact pull on military fatigues for his national service.

“To begin with, I really didn’t want to do it,” he confides.

“I don’t think there are many people who are voluntarily going there.”

He says at first it took a considerable mental toll.

“You’re isolated from everyone and the wider world, but you’re still in Tallinn so it’s like a weird limbo.”

After the initial physical training, Villem spent his remaining six months with the military orchestra ultimately performing at the Independence Day parade.

“My friends doing the real service were laughing at me – in a positive way. But I was doing the same thing: it’s representing your country, you don’t have to be in the trenches.

Sitting next to him is band member Hendrik Tamberg, 28.

As a conscientious objector, he was spared military service and instead spent a year caring for vulnerable adults with mental health problems.

“I found it incredibly rewarding but I didn’t have the camaraderie of people going through the tough forest hikes. I did feel that I missed out on something.”

As for lead singer Villem, he says he now looks back at his military training with happy memories and says it’s a stark contrast to a deep collective unease his generation feels at the prospect that Russia may attack.

“If I think about the free will of people, conscription isn’t a very nice thing to force people to do,” he muses.

“But when it comes to a country such as Estonia, pretty small, it’s absolutely necessary to recruit people to do this. Or this country won’t exist any more.”

 

South African footballer shot dead in car hijacking

South African footballer Luke Fleurs has been shot dead in a car hijacking, his team says.

The shooting took place at a petrol station on Wednesday night in the Johannesburg suburb of Florida.

The 24-year-old was waiting to be attended to when he was approached by unknown gunmen, who ordered him to get out of the vehicle.

One of the suspects fled the scene with Fleurs’ car after the shooting.

“The suspects pointed [at] him with a firearm and took him out of his vehicle, then shot him once on the upper body,” Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told local media.

His team, Kaizer Chiefs, says the death was “tragic”.

It said police were handling the matter and further details would be communicated in due course.

Defender Fleurs joined Kaiser Chiefs last year. He previously played for SuperSport United.

On its website, Kaiser Chiefs describes Fleurs as a “classy defender” with “great technical abilities”.

He began his career in 2013 in the Ubuntu Cape Town Academy, according to local media.

Football fans have taken to social media to mourn him.

 

South Africa parliament speaker turns herself into police

South Africa’s Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has handed herself over to police a day after she resigned over corruption allegations.

Ms Mapisa-Nqakula arrived at a police station in Centurion, 40km (24 miles) from Johannesburg on Thursday.

She is due to make her first court appearance at Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption.

The politician is accused of soliciting bribes in return for awarding contracts during her time as defence minister.

After weeks of investigations, xMs Mapisa-Nqakula resigned on Wednesday, saying the move wasn’t an “indication or admission of guilt”.

She said given the “seriousness” of the probe she could not continue her role.

She has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Last month a special police unit raided her Johannesburg home in connection with the corruption investigation.

The 67-year-old veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle became speaker in 2021. Before that, she served as defence minister for seven years.

Last week, Ms Mapisa-Nqakula’s lawyers filed a request for a court order to prevent her arrest, saying it would infringe on her dignity.

On Tuesday, judges rejected her bid on the basis that the matter was not urgent and they could not speculate on an arrest that was yet to happen.

Ms Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of making several demands for money, amounting to $120,000 (£96,000), from the owner of a company to secure a tender to transport army equipment back to South Africa from elsewhere on the continent, the Business Day newspaper reports.

The resignation comes ahead of next month’s general election, which some believe could be difficult for the governing African National Congress (ANC).

The party, which has been in power since 1994, has faced repeated allegations of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, which have become a key election issue.

 

Truck crash spills live salmon into wrong Oregon river

A truck carrying 102,000 live salmon in the US state of Oregon crashed last week on a creek bed, inadvertently releasing thousands of the juvenile fish into the water.

The young Chinook, also known as King, salmon were being taken from the Lookingglass Hatchery in the state’s north, to the Imnaha River, where they are listed as threatened.

But the crash caused some 77,000 fish to splash into the Lookingglass Creek, boosting the population of that waterway instead.

Wildlife officials said on Tuesday that the driver lost control around a tight turn, causing the fish tanker to roll down a rocky embankment. The driver sustained minor injuries, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) said in a statement.

The crash happened on a tight corner on 29 March, the statement says, with the 53-ft (16m) truck “rolling onto the passenger side, skidding on its side on the pavement, and then going over a rocky embankment causing it to roll onto its roof”.

Over 25,000 of the salmon smolts – fish that are around two years old – died either inside the truck’s tanker or on the creek bank.

The local sheriff’s office responded to the crash, officials said. “Small amounts of diesel fuel were quickly contained,” the release said, adding that there was no need for a hazardous material spill response.

The Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation also responded and helped by collecting and scanning transponders on the dead fish.

Salmon are anadromous, meaning they spend much of their lives in the ocean but return to freshwater rivers to spawn. Many are now raised in government-run hatcheries before being released back into their native waters to later return to those same hatcheries.

ODFW officials say the loss represents about 20% of the fish it intended to release into the Imnaha River this year.

They expect that around 500-900 fewer adult fish will return to spawn in 2026-2027 due to the loss.

The 77,000 smolts in the Lookingglass Creek will likely lead to around 350-700 additional adults returning there.

“We are thankful the ODFW employee driving the truck was not seriously injured,” said ODFW fish hatchery coordinator Andrew Gibbs.

“This should not impact our ability to collect future brood stock or maintain full production goals in the future.”

 

Pig kidney transplant patient leaves hospital

The first man to receive a genetically modified kidney transplant from a pig has been discharged from hospital.

The 62-year-old was sent home on Wednesday, two weeks after the ground-breaking surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Organ transplants from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past.

But the success of this procedure so far has been hailed by scientists as a historic milestone in the field of transplantation.

The news was shared in a press release on Wednesday by MGH, which is Harvard Medical School’s largest teaching hospital in the US city of Boston.

In the release, the hospital said the patient, Richard “Rick” Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, had been battling end-stage kidney disease and required an organ transplant.

His doctors successfully transplanted a genetically-edited pig kidney into his body over a four-hour-long surgery on 16 March.

They said Mr Slayman’s kidney is now functioning well and he is no longer on dialysis.

In a statement, Mr Slayman said being able to leave hospital and go home was “one of the happiest moments” of his life.

“I’m excited to resume spending time with my family, friends, and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years.”

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant from a deceased donor, however it began to fail last year, and doctors raised the idea of a pig kidney transplant.

“I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” he said.

The new pig kidney he received was modified by Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company eGenesis to remove “harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans,” it said.

For the procedure, the hospital said it drew from its history as being behind the world’s first successful human organ transplant – a kidney – in 1954, as well as research it had conducted with eGenesis on xenotransplantation (interspecies organ transplants) over the past five years.

The procedure was greenlit by the Food and Drug Administration, who offered a single Expanded Access Protocol – also known as compassionate use – that is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses to grant them access to experimental treatment.

The team behind the transplant hailed it as a historic step that can provide a potential solution to the world’s organ shortage, especially to those from ethnic minority communities whom the shortage disproportionately affects.

“An abundant supply of organs resulting from this technological advance may go far to finally achieve health equity and offer the best solution to kidney failure – a well-functioning kidney – to all patients in need,” said Winfred Williams, Mr Slayman’s doctor at MGH.

According to data by US non-profit United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 Americans need a lifesaving organ transplant.

Meanwhile, the number of donors – deceased and living – in 2023 was just under 23,500.

It is estimated that 17 people die each day in the US while waiting for an organ, and kidneys are the most common organ needed for a transplant.

While this is the first pig kidney transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in an transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients had died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs that the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

 

Top India airline to reduce flights amid protests by pilots

A major Indian airline is scaling back operations this month amid widespread flight cancellations and delays due to unavailability of its pilots.

Since 31 March, Vistara has seen nearly 150 flight cancellations and 200 flight delays.

Media reports said the disruption was caused by pilots going on mass sick leave to protest against changes post the airline’s merger with Air India.

Vistara says it is looking into better work-life balance for its pilots.

A Vistara official told the BBC the airline was “scaling back its network temporarily” and that customers would be given refunds for cancelled flights.

According to The Hindu newspaper, at meeting on Wednesday, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan apologised to pilots for “taxing schedules” and sought their “support” in resolving concerns.

Mr Kannan also said that flight cancellations would continue until the end of the month to create a pilot buffer.

The Tata Group, which holds the majority stake in Vistara, bought debt-ridden Air India – formerly India’s national carrier – from the government for $2.2bn (£1.8bn) in 2021.

It is now in the process of consolidating its airline business as it merges its various entities.

A joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, Vistara will invest $250 million for a 25.1% stake in the combined entity once the merger is complete.

Reports over the past few days say pilots at Vistara are unhappy with the new pay structure and work hours offered as part of the merger process.

Pilots have also complained of haphazard rostering practices and raised concerns about their career prospects after the merger which is expected to be completed next year.

According to an NDTV report, pilots have been falling ill with increasing frequency, “flying at the limits of the maximum duty limitations”. This had led to concerns about their health and safety.

A Vistara official told the BBC that the airline acknowledged their “rosters had been utilised to the maximum” and that it was working to modify the roster to ensure a “better work-life balance” for its pilots.

The airline, however, said there had been no significant rise in pilots reporting sick and attributed the delay in flights in March also to other factors such as “bird hits, planned maintenance, weather disruptions and congestion”.

 

Arms sales to Israel: Top judges urge UK to halt weapons trade

Three former Supreme Court justices have joined more than 600 legal experts in calling for the UK government to end weapons sales to Israel.

In a letter to the prime minister, they said exports must end because the UK risks breaking international law over a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza.

Rishi Sunak is already facing growing cross-party pressure after seven aid workers were killed in an air strike.

On Tuesday, he said the UK has a “very careful” arms licensing regime.

British sales are lower than those of other countries, including Germany and Italy, and dwarfed by the billions supplied by its largest arms supplier, the United States.

But a UK ban would add diplomatic and political pressure on Israel, at a time when its conduct in the Gaza conflict is coming under renewed international scrutiny.

Former Supreme Court president Lady Hale is among more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges who have signed a 17-page letter.

It says “serious action” is needed to “avoid UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention”.

It adds that the sale of arms and weapons systems to Israel “falls significantly short” of the government’s obligations under international law, given the “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – highlighted in a provisional judgement issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January – and the worsening humanitarian situation since.

Other signatories include former Supreme Court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, along with nine other judges and 69 senior barristers.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord Sumption emphasised the importance the provisional ruling from the UN’s highest court should have on UK policy, even though the ICJ’s final ruling has not yet been issued.

“It seems to me that if you have a duty, as we do, to prevent genocide – and there is a plausible case that is what is happening – you should do what you can to obstruct it,” he said.

The former Supreme Court judge added that the “framework of international law around war” does not mean countries can act however they want, even if they have been provoked or attacked, “however outrageously”.

He said: “It doesn’t mean to say that you can indiscriminately slaughter innocent civilians and children. It doesn’t mean to say you can attack aid convoys, you can withdraw the visas of aid workers. It doesn’t mean to say you can spend two weeks flattening hospitals.”

“There are limits to what people can do, even in self-defence.”

The growing calls for the suspension of UK export licences comes after seven aid workers – including three British citizens – were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Monday.

Australian, Palestinian, American-Canadian, and Polish nationals were also killed. The group had just unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food aid.

Speaking to the Sun newspaper after the incident, Mr Sunak called for an independent investigation, but stopped short of saying arms sales should end.

He added that the UK had been “consistently clear” with Israel that it must follow international humanitarian law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as unintended and “tragic”, and promised an independent investigation. It rejects the claim of genocide as “wholly unfounded”.

The UK has licenced arms to Israel worth over £574m since 2008, when official country-level data was made available, according to pressure group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Business Minister Greg Hands has previously told MPs the figure for 2022 – £42m – represented 0.02% of Israel’s military imports that year.

Arms export licences, which are granted by the business department, cannot be issued if there is a clear risk the weapons could be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The Labour Party has not called for a suspension, but is urging the government to publish internal legal advice on whether Israel is in breach of international law.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said there was “precedent” for suspending sales. Former PMs Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair both took the move, in 1982 and 2002 respectively.

The SNP is calling for Parliament to be recalled from its current Easter break, ending on 15 April, to debate the issue.

Conservative MP Paul Bristow said the idea British-made arms could be used in action that kills innocent civilians in Gaza “turns the stomach,” adding that the deaths of British aid workers “must be a line in the sand”.

But his fellow Tory MP and former home secretary Suella Braverman rejected the idea of a ban, telling the BBC “we owe it to Israel to stand with them”.

Speaking during a trip to Israel, she said: “I think that it would be a tragic shame if we were to walk away from our closest ally in this region”.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

About 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

More than 32,916 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

 

French couple who kept 159 cats banned from keeping pets

A French couple have been given a one-year suspended sentence for keeping dozens of animals in cruel conditions.

The couple, from Nice, had kept 159 cats and seven dogs in their 80sqm (861sqft) flat.

Animals were discovered last year living in filth, many dehydrated, suffering from malnutrition or infected with parasites.

The judge said the couple had failed to take appropriate care of the animals.

The couple, a woman, 68, and a 52-year-old man, were also issued with a permanent ban on keeping pets. They were ordered to pay more than €150,000 (£128,000) to animal rights’ charities and civil parties.

Last year, police intervened in a dispute at the couple’s flat and discovered the dozens of animals in each room. Authorities reported animal excrement everywhere.

Some of the cats and dogs subsequently died due to their poor health.

Investigators found the bodies of at least two cats and two dogs in a bathroom.

The owner of the flat told the court that the animals were “the love of her life” but that she had “screwed up”.

She had apparently taken her parents’ three cats and three dogs in 2018, before bringing around 30 cats living in an abandoned building to her flat. These animals had subsequently reproduced.

She said she would have felt herself “abandoned for leaving [the animals] abandoned”.

A psychiatric assessment diagnosed her with “Noah’s syndrome” – a psychological need to save animals, even when incapable of properly doing so.

Prosecutors had requested an 18-month prison sentence.

The couple had already been investigated in 2014 for living in an 18sqm studio with 13 cats and a dog.

 

Austrian minister aims to tighten espionage law to ban spying against international organizations

Austria’s justice minister said Thursday that she plans to tighten the country’s rules on espionage, which currently is explicitly banned if directed against Austria itself but not if it targets other countries or international organizations.

Justice Minister Alma Zadic’s push to tighten Austria’s laws comes as the arrest of a former Austrian intelligence officer on allegations of spying for Russia focuses attention on espionage activities in the country.

Austria is a European Union member that has a policy of military neutrality. Its capital, Vienna, is host to several U.N. agencies and other international groups such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.

Austria’s criminal code currently states that anyone who “sets up or operates a secret intelligence service to the detriment of the Republic of Austria or supports such an intelligence service in whatever way” faces a prison sentence of between six months and five years. It also bans setting up, operating or supporting a “military intelligence service” for “a foreign power or a supra- or international body,” which can carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

Zadic said in a statement to the Austria Press Agency that the country has long been accused of being an “island of the blessed” for intelligence services from around the world and lamented that “gaps in the law so far have allowed foreign intelligence services to spy with impunity in Austria.”

“We want to expand the espionage paragraphs so that, in the future, our law enforcement authorities can also act against foreign spies when they are not targeting Austria itself, but international organizations based here such as the U.N. or friendly states,” she said.

Zadic is a member of the junior party in Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s governing coalition, the Greens. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, a member of Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party, told Oe1 radio he sees the need for tougher penalties for spying — but also renewed a call for authorities to be allowed to eavesdrop on calls via messenger services, something the Greens have balked at.