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In response to rising energy prices, Germans will receive a €9 monthly travel allowance

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In an effort to combat rising living costs, Germans will be able to travel the country for just €9 per month for the next three months.

The government’s initiative covers all local and regional transportation via trains, buses, and metro, but not intercity trains. The low-cost tickets are also intended to encourage people to abandon their automobiles.

However, the fuel tax has been reduced by around 30 cents per litre, bringing petrol prices below €2. For the next three months, the tax has been reduced to the EU minimum, which means diesel prices will drop by around 14 cents per litre.

The €9-a-month tickets, according to Transport Minister Volker Wissing, are a fantastic opportunity: “We’ve already sold seven million tickets, which is a huge success.”

However, Deutsche Bahn is already experiencing overcrowding, delays, and cancellations, and the plan’s prospect of millions of additional passengers has sparked criticism. In April, fewer than 70% of long-distance trains arrived on time, but Mr Wissing claims the rail network is only operating at 80% capacity. In the hours following the scheme’s implementation on Wednesday morning, no major rail issues were reported.

The federal government, which includes the Green Party, has promised €2.5 billion in compensation to Germany’s 16 state governments to cover the expected increases in staffing and fuel costs. Although the €9 ticket does not include intercity travel, regional trains can be used to travel across the country.

The scheme prompted German social media users to debate whether they should use the ticket to go to work or to the beach on Sylt, a North Sea holiday island. The library in Cologne made a witty announcement: “The social media team meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow in Sylt. FYI”.

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News Trending War

Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a journalist for BFMTV in France, was killed in Ukraine

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A French journalist working in Ukraine was killed near the eastern city of Severodonetsk, which has been hit by fighting. Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, was killed while covering an evacuation operation for BFMTV.

Officials say shrapnel pierced the armoured vehicle he was riding in, inflicting a fatal neck wound. According to reports, his colleague Maxime Brandstaetter was also hurt. Mr. Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine for the second time to cover the conflict. For the previous six years, he had been employed by BFMTV.

“This tragic event reminds us of the dangers faced by all journalists who have been reporting this conflict at the risk of their lives for more than three months now,” BFMTV said in an online tribute to him. Graphic images of what appears to be the aftermath have been circulated online, according to BBC correspondent James Waterhouse, showing a badly damaged lorry with a smashed windscreen and blood on the interior.

A local Ukrainian journalist who was travelling with Mr Leclerc-Imhoff was not hurt. “I would like to reiterate France’s unconditional support,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter in a tribute to Mr. Leclerc-Imhoff and other journalists reporting on the frontlines from war zones.

“Journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff travelled to Ukraine to document the war’s reality. He was fatally shot on board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee Russian bombs.”

Meanwhile, France’s foreign ministry has demanded a “transparent investigation” into what happened as soon as possible. Brent Renaud, a US journalist, was the first foreign journalist killed while covering the conflict in Ukraine in March.

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Man disguised as old woman smears cake on Mona Lisa portrait at Louvre

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A man dressed as an elderly woman in a wheelchair threw a cake at the iconic Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which is on display at the Louvre in Paris. The painting, however, was unaffected due to the protective glass that encased it.

Witness testimony revealed that the perpetrator was a man in a wheelchair wearing a large wig, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca. To everyone’s surprise, he suddenly stood up and attempted to smash the Mona Lisa’s bulletproof glass before smearing cake on the glass.

Even as the crowd continued to photograph the situation, the museum’s security staff rushed to eject the man from the room shortly after the incident.

As seen in the viral videos, museum employees were seen removing the assailant and cleaning the tarnished glass.

The Mona Lisa, an Italian Renaissance half-length portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci, is regarded as the archetypal masterpiece. It is housed in the Louvre’s largest room, the Salle des États, which also houses other notable Venetian paintings such as Veronese’s The Wedding Feast at Cana. It is described as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.”

Several attempts to steal or destroy the painting have been made over the years. An employee stole it from the museum in 1911, and Bolivian Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at it while it was on display in 1956. In the years that followed, several more incidents occurred. The subject’s mysterious identity, her enigmatic expression, and the painter’s unmatched art techniques draw thousands of visitors each year.

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Entertainment News Trending

Heard’s team has changed their mind about Johnny Depp’s testimony

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According to a source close to Amber Heard, her team will not call Johnny Depp to the stand in the high-profile trial’s final days.

Ms. Heard’s team had planned to question Mr. Depp further on Monday, but at midday, they abruptly changed course. Mr Depp, 58, is suing his ex-wife for $50 million (£40 million) over a column she wrote in which she claimed to have been the victim of domestic abuse. Ms. Heard, 36, has filed a counterclaim.

This week is expected to be the end of the case. In the remaining days of the defamation trial, British supermodel Kate Moss, a former girlfriend of Mr Depp, is expected to testify.

Ms Heard’s team called several witnesses, including psychologist David Spiegel, to testify in court on Monday in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mr. Depp, according to Dr. Spiegel, “has behaviours that are consistent with both someone who has substance use disorder and someone who is a perpetrator of intimate partner violence.” Dr. Spiegel told jurors that 40-60% of intimate partner violence is committed while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

On cross-examination, Mr. Depp’s lawyers tried to discredit this testimony by pointing out that Dr. Spiegel reached his conclusions without speaking with Mr. Depp.

On Monday, a hand surgeon testified that Mr Depp’s finger was unlikely to have been cut in the way he described during a fight with Ms Heard in Australia.

When Ms Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, Mr Depp claims the tip of his middle finger was severed. Dr. Richard Moore told the jury that the damage to Mr. Depp’s finger was more consistent with being pinched by a closing door.

At the time of the accident, Dr Moore did not examine Mr Depp physically. Mr Depp’s team is expected to rest its case early this week, giving Ms Heard’s team one last chance to persuade the jury.

Mr Depp, according to Ms Heard, was prone to alcohol and drug binges, was easily triggered by jealousy, and was frequently consumed by violent rages.

Mr Depp, for his part, claimed he was a victim of Ms Heard’s erratic behaviour, telling jurors he was subjected to her verbal, emotional, and physical abuse on a regular basis.

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Miss. Tic, a 66-year-old French street artist, has died

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Miss. Tic, a well-known French street artist, died in Paris at the age of 66, according to her family. Her family said in a brief statement that the artist, whose real name was Radhia Novat, died on Sunday after suffering from an undisclosed illness.

Miss. Tic is regarded as a pioneer of stencil art, and her enigmatic female figures became a common sight in Paris thanks to her graffiti. In 1997, she was briefly detained on charges of vandalism to public property. Her work, however, was eventually shown in galleries in France and abroad. She’s also worked with fashion houses like Kenzo and Louis Vuitton.

From all over France, tributes have been paid to the artist.

Miss. Tic’s “iconic, resolutely feminist” work “will continue to poetize our streets for a long time,” France’s newly appointed Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak wrote on Twitter.

Christian Guemy, aka C215, a street artist, was hailed as “one of the founders of stencil art.” He wrote on Twitter that the walls of Paris’s 13th arrondissement, where her images are common, “will never be the same again.”

Miss. Tic was born in 1956 in Paris’s Montmartre neighbourhood to a Tunisian immigrant father and a Normandy mother.

Before moving to California, she studied applied arts and street theatre. In an interview with AFP in 2011, she said, “I had a background in street theatre, and I liked this idea of street art.”

“At first I thought, ‘I’m going to write poems’. And then, ‘we need images’ with these poems. I started with self-portraits and then turned towards other women,” she said.

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News Trending War

Russia has cut off gas deliveries to Finland

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Russia has stopped supplying natural gas to Finland, according to Gasum, the Finnish state-owned energy company.

Finland has refused to pay in roubles for its supplies. However, it comes after Finland’s announcement that it will apply to join NATO. Gasum said the move was “regrettable,” but that customers would not be inconvenienced.

Despite the conflict in Ukraine, Russia continues to provide gas to a number of European countries. Following Western sanctions over the war, Russia announced that “unfriendly” countries must pay for gas in Russian currency, a move the EU regards as blackmail.

Many consumers are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis as a result of their reliance on Russian energy. The majority of Finland’s gas is imported from Russia, but gas accounts for less than a tenth of the country’s total energy consumption.

“It is extremely unfortunate that natural gas supplies under our supply contract will now be halted,” Gasum CEO Mika Wiljanen said. “However, we have been meticulously preparing for this situation, and we will be able to supply all of our customers with gas in the coming months assuming there are no disruptions in the gas transmission network,” he added. “It is obvious that nobody is going to deliver anything for free,” a Kremlin spokesman said when asked about the situation.

Russia also cut Finland’s electricity supply on Sunday. If Finland applied to join Nato, it had threatened retaliation.

Separately, Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft announced on Friday that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had informed them that he would no longer serve on its board of directors.

Mr. Schröder’s lucrative role has sparked growing public outrage. He has refused to criticise Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, whom he considers a personal friend, over the conflict.

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News Sports Trending War

Ivan Kuliak: Russian gymnast given one-year ban for wearing pro-war symbol on podium next to Ukrainian

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Ivan Kuliak, a Russian gymnast, was given a one-year suspension for wearing a national war symbol on the podium at a competition in Qatar in March.

Kuliak took bronze in the Apparatus World Cup parallel bars final in Doha, wearing a letter ‘Z’ taped to his chest as he stood next to Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, who won gold. Kuliak must now return his medal, but he has 21 days to file an appeal.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the letter Z became symbolic. It was painted on the sides of tanks and military vehicles, and it was worn by pro-war Russian politicians.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) investigated the incident, and Kuliak was sanctioned by the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) disciplinary commission for violating FIG rules.

For the next 12 months, the 20-year-old is not permitted to compete in any FIG-sanctioned event or competition hosted by an affiliated FIG member federation. “If the protective measures preventing Russian athletes from competing are still in place on 17 May 2023, the ban shall continue and expire six months after said measures are removed,” the statement added.

Kuliak must also repay his prize money of 500 Swiss francs (£403) as well as a 2,000 Swiss francs (£1,612) contribution to the proceedings’ costs. Valentina Rodionenko, the head of the Russian delegation, and coach Igor Kalabushkin were found not to have broken any FIG rules.

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Doctor Who: David Tennant and Catherine Tate to return

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The BBC has confirmed that David Tennant and Catherine Tate will return to Doctor Who.

The duo is currently filming for the show’s 60th anniversary, which will take place in 2023. Tennant portrayed the 10th Doctor on the time travel drama from 2005 to 2010, and Tate portrayed Donna Noble, his companion. The news comes just a week after the BBC revealed that Ncuti Gatwa, star of Sex Education, will be the next Doctor.

With Tennant and Tate on board, Russell T Davies, the show’s head writer, will be reunited with them.

At the same time as Tennant, Davies, who was in charge of Doctor Who when it was successfully revived in 2005, left. Their most recent episode together aired in 2010. Tennant has previously appeared on the show, joining then-Doctor Matt Smith for the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2013.

It’s unclear whether this return will be similar to the previous one, with Tennant and Tate joining Gatwa.

Davies teased his fans by saying: “Perhaps there is an untold story here. Or a parallel universe. Or it could be a dream, a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can guarantee is that it will be spectacular, with two of our greatest stars reuniting for a once-in-a-lifetime showdown.”

With an average audience of more than eight million viewers per episode, Tennant and Tate’s 2008 series of Doctor Who is the most successful since its revival in 2005.

The 13-episode run was also well-received by critics, and it was nominated for best drama at the Bafta TV Awards that year.

The duo’s popularity could help boost ratings for a show that has seen its audience decline in the last two years, despite the fact that overall linear TV viewing has been declining.

Such announcements are frequently made in advance of Doctor Who filming in public places. The show has previously used the strategy of revealing information prior to shooting.

Later this year, Jodie Whittaker’s current incarnation of the Doctor will appear in one more special episode as part of a celebration of the BBC’s centenary. In 2023, the show will return.

Tennant has appeared in TV shows such as Good Omens, Around the World in 80 Days, and Broadchurch since leaving Doctor Who. For his role as serial killer Dennis Nilsen in Des, he won a National Television Award in 2021.

Tate has appeared in sitcoms such as Big School and has continued to play Nan in films such as The Nan Movie, which was released earlier this year.

The two have also collaborated on a number of Doctor Who audio adventures, which have been released by Big Finish Audio Drama.

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Brittney Griner has had her detention in Russia extended

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Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, has had her pre-trial detention in Russia extended for another month. Ms Griner, 31, has been detained since February, when Moscow airport officials allegedly discovered cannabis oil in her luggage as she was returning to the United States after performing in Russia. 

Officials in the United States believe she was wrongfully imprisoned and should be released. If convicted, Ms Griner, one of the best female players in the world, faces up to ten years in prison. Ms Griner is seen in an Associated Press photo wearing an orange hoodie and looking down at the court hearing in Khimki, Russia, just outside of Moscow. 

A consular official from the US State Department attended the hearing and spoke with Ms Griner on the sidelines, according to the US State Department. Ms Griner was doing “as well as can be expected in extremely difficult circumstances,” according to a spokesman. Her lawyer told the Associated Press after the hearing that Ms Griner had not expressed “any complaints about the detention conditions.”

According to state-owned Russian news agency TASS, Russia is hoping to trade Ms Griner for Viktor Bout, an arms trafficker convicted in the United States. Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States, where he was found guilty of attempting to smuggle weapons to Colombian rebels for use against US citizens.

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News Trending War

Finland will apply for NATO membership “as soon as possible”

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Finland’s president and prime minister have urged the country to join NATO “as soon as possible.”

In a joint statement, Sauli Niinisto and Sanna Marin said they expected a decision within the next few days. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, public support for Nato membership has risen dramatically.

Finland and Russia share a 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border. To avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour, it has stayed out of Nato until now.

After consideration by parliament and other senior political figures, Finland will formally announce its decision on Sunday.

Sweden has stated that it will make a similar announcement on the same day.

If the two governments abandon their long-standing policy of military non-alignment, Russia has threatened unspecified measures.

However, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that he expects Sweden and Finland to join Nato “quite quickly.”

In their statement, President Niinisto and Prime Minister Marin stated that they wanted to give the Finnish public time to discuss the issue, but that the time for a decision was approaching.

It stated that joining NATO would strengthen Finland’s security. “Finland’s membership in Nato would strengthen the entire defence alliance. Finland should apply for NATO membership as soon as possible.”

Later, in an interview with journalists, Mr Niinisto addressed Russian concerns and blamed the move on Moscow’s invasion.

“Anyone would not be against joining NATO. This was your fault. Examine yourself in the mirror “he said.

Last week, a poll found that 76 percent of Finns support joining NATO, with only 12 percent opposed, marking a significant shift toward membership since the invasion.

During World War II, Finland and the Soviet Union were on opposing sides, with the Finns famously repelling a Soviet invasion in 1939-40.

However, Finland lost 10% of its land in the final peace agreement and remained a non-aligned country throughout the Cold War.

Russia’s borders with Nato would be more than doubled if it joined the alliance. Sweden shares no borders with Russia.

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