Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. His Great-Grandfather Was Executed By Stalin's Secret Police. Now He's Being Sued.

MOSCOW -- Denis Karagodin has spent almost a decade compiling a meticulous record of evidence about the murder of his great-grandfather by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's secret police, running a website that lists, by name, every individual he deems complicit.

The Siberia-based designer has been tipped for prestigious human rights prizes, and leading Western publications have spotlighted his work and the website he runs.

The people he ties to the killing of Stepan Karagodin, a peasant swept up in Stalin's Great Terror in the 1930s, have passed away. But their relatives are now making sure Karagodin's accusations don't go unchallenged.

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It's unclear what specific charges Karagodin faces, but his work has courted controversy from the outset. The 38-year-old began the research in 2012, publishing on his website each document and every shred of evidence he could find about the case. The result is a detailed account of the fate of his great-grandfather, a Cossack farmer and father of nine who was executed on the trumped-up accusation that he was a Japanese spy.

https://www.rferl.org/a/siberian-man-published-names-stalin-era-officers-executed-great-grandfather/31136918.html

2.Switzerland to ban wearing of burqa and niqab in public places

Switzerland will follow France, Belgium and Austria after narrowly voting in a referendum to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public spaces.

Just over 51% of Swiss voters cast their ballots in favour of the initiative to ban people from covering their face completely on the street, in shops and restaurants.

Full facial veils will still be allowed to be worn inside places of prayer and for “native customs”, such as carnival.

Face coverings worn for health and safety reasons are also exempt from the ban, meaning face masks worn because of the Covid-19 pandemic will not be affected by the new law.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/07/switzerland-on-course-to-ban-wearing-of-burqa-and-niqab-in-public-places

3. Russian Energy Company Says Siberia Fuel Leak Poses No Harm To Locals

A pipeline rupture that caused fuel to spill into and catch fire on the Ob River in western Siberia poses "no risk to the population and environment," according to a spokesperson for SiburTyumenGas.

The spokesperson told Interfax on March 6 that the rupture of the underwater pipeline in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug sent "light hydrocarbons" -- highly flammable fuels that include propane and butane -- into the river.

The fuel then ignited on the surface and was burning over an area of about 1,000 square meters.

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In February, a court in Siberia ordered the Russian metallurgical giant Norilsk Nickel to pay more than 146 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) for a spill that dumped thousands of tons of diesel fuel into the Russian Arctic last year.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-energy-company-siberia-fuel-leak-siburtyumengas/31137436.html

4. Hospitals forced to repay millions after falsely claiming their maternity units were safe

NHS hospitals have been forced to pay millions of pounds to regulators after wrongly claiming their maternity units were among the safest in the country.

Seven NHS trusts, including some now at the centre of major care scandals, will have to pay back a total of £8.5m after self-assessments of their maternity services were found to be false.

Families whose babies died as a result of avoidable errors at some of the hospitals told The Independent it was further evidence of poor governance and management failings.

NHS Resolution, which acts as the health service’s insurer for clinical negligence, launched the maternity incentive scheme in 2018 in an effort to focus action on 10 key safety areas in maternity.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/maternity-safety-nhs-hospitals-shrewsbury-b1804683.html

5. Sinkholes open up in Croatia after December's deadly earthquake

Sinkholes have been appearing across central Croatia after December's deadly earthquake.

A number of craters have been found in a sparsely-inhabited region, around 40 kilometres southwest of the capital, Zagreb.

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"These are so-called dropout sinkholes," said geologist Josip Terzic of the Croatian Geological Survey.

"They appeared because of the specific geological composition of this area, as the soil rests on limestone rocks heavily saturated with groundwater."

https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/05/sinkholes-open-up-in-croatia-after-december-s-deadly-earthquake

[byronius]

1. Thanks for this post. Informative.

[niyad]

2. Thank you for this interesting information.

[malaise]

3. K & R

Thanks