Europe, explained. One story at a time.
Defence, policing and public safety across Europe.
The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg ruled on the second day of proceedings that the trial of former Ukrainian officer Serhii Kuznetsov must go ahead, rejecting a defence bid to swear him to secrecy. Prosecutors allege a seven-member team planted explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022.
Prosecutors in the United Kingdom have charged two 24-year-old men over a September incident at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a base used by the United States. One is alleged to have assisted Iran's intelligence service; the other is alleged to have entered a prohibited location. The allegations have not been proven in court.
A cyberattack on the IT system of Italy's Chamber of Deputies affected the parliamentary email accounts of several lawmakers, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's. Her office said the targeted account is not the one used for government communications, and no security emergency has been declared.
Poland will host the only European maintenance centre for Patriot PAC-3 missiles outside the United States, the government announced on 27 October. The centre, worth about one billion zlotys, beat bids from Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, and is expected to be operational in about a dozen months.
Mediator Qatar urged Iran to stop threatening Gulf states and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran threatened legal action against a South Korean shipping line and the shadow of a renewed American strike hung over the talks.
Dozens of Somali soldiers were killed in a major battle with al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, soldiers told Reuters, while the defence ministry said government forces killed about 75 militants — and a former president demanded an investigation into the losses.