The former senior figures had been accused of leaking state secrets about intelligence partnership with the US
Denmark’s former defence minister and ex-spy chief have spoken of their relief after prosecutors dramatically dropped criminal charges accusing them of leaking state secrets.
Prosecutors said this week they would withdraw the cases after Denmark’s highest court made a series of rulings preventing the prosecution from holding the trials in secret.
Continue reading...Polluted water supplies and salty groundwater are making people ill, with UN warning of threat of child deaths from dehydration
Palestinians who fled to southern Gaza, after warnings from Israel to leave their homes, are standing in line for hours to get contaminated water they believe is making them ill.
Long queues of people waiting to fill jerry cans are now ubiquitous across the territory as water becomes increasingly scarce, a result of restrictions on water and power imposed by Israel.
Continue reading...US to provide $425m of additional military aid to Ukraine; Russia-appointed governor says nine dead in Ukraine missile attack in Kherson
The US will provide $425m worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration announced on Friday. The package uses the last of the funds in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a more than $18bn fund that allowed the Biden administration to buy weapons from industry, rather than pull from US weapons stocks.
A Ukrainian missile attack on Friday on an employment centre in a Russian-occupied town in the southern region of Kherson killed nine people and injured nine, the region’s Russia-appointed governor was quoted as saying.
A handful of Ukrainian troops who have reached the occupied side of the Dnipro River are clinging to a foothold in Russian-controlled territory in the south of the country despite a fierce bombardment. The marines have secured a beachhead that could allow Ukraine to reclaim more of the Kherson region that lies between Ukrainian territory and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is considering the “pros and cons” of holding presidential elections next spring, his foreign minister said. “We are not closing this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing the different pros and cons,” Dmytro Kuleba told a briefing, adding that holding elections during the war with Russia would entail “unprecedented” challenges.
Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.
Russia intends to stick to a nuclear test ban moratorium despite withdrawing its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty, the foreign ministry said.
A Russian court sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, an activist linked to the Pussy Riot group, to eight and a half years in prison for breaching Russia’s strict censorship laws. The 36-year-old was sentenced “in absentia” as he has not lived in Russia since 2020, reported MediaZona, an opposition news site that he founded.
The Kremlin has dismissed a new package of US sanctions, saying Russia had learned to “overcome” such economic hurdles since the Ukraine conflict began. Washington yesterday sanctioned several Russian energy and finance companies it said were supporting Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.
The chief of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has said the timing of a sale or spin-off of its extensive operations in Russia is largely out of his control. Russia made up 45% of RBI’s profit in the first nine months of the year, though it reported a 30% decline in the volume of its loans in Russia in the third quarter from a year earlier.
The Russian Orthodox church called for an apology from Alla Pugacheva, the country’s most renowned pop singer who returned home this week, over her criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Rescue workers reach area near epicentre of 5.8-magnitude quake in Karnali province in country’s worst earthquake since 2015
Rescue workers in Nepal began digging through the rubble of collapsed houses with their bare hands on Saturday, searching for survivors after the country’s worst earthquake in eight years killed 157 people and shook buildings as far away as Delhi.
The 5.6-magnitude quake hit the far west of the Himalayan country late on Friday and was measured by the US Geological Survey at just 11 miles (18km) deep.
Continue reading...Congressional progressives say proposed $14.3bn breaches 1997 Leahy act as assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians
Leftwing Democrats in Congress have invoked a landmark law barring assistance to security forces of governments deemed guilty of human rights abuses to challenge the Biden administration’s emergency military aid program for Israel.
Members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing say the $14.3bn package pledged by the White House after the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis breaches the Leahy Act because Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, among them 3,700 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.
Continue reading...Arthur Engoron forbids Trump’s lawyers from discussing ‘confidential communications’ between the judge and his staff
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250m fraud trial moved to gag Trump’s lawyers from talking about “confidential communications” between the judge and his staff on Friday.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already fined Trump $15,000 for attacking his clerk on social media and threatened to jail the former president if the attacks continue.
Continue reading...Netanyahu says ‘full force’ offensive will continue, despite growing concerns over civilian casualties
Israel will continue its offensive in Gaza “with full force” and will refuse any temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of more than 240 hostages held by Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu has said, rejecting US calls for a pause in the fighting.
Earlier on Friday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, flew into Israel to urge the Israeli prime minister to temporarily stop its military offensive to allow aid into the territory amid rising concerns over civilian casualties as the fighting intensifies.
Continue reading...Exhibition features objects never before seen in Europe and draws lessons from Mongol empire relevant to today
It was a major cultural row between France and China, prompting a history museum to pull the plug on one of its most important exhibitions of the decade accusing the Beijing authorities of interference and trying to rewrite history.
But now the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne history museum in Nantes has finally opened its blockbuster exhibition on Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire, with large crowds queueing to see hundreds of objects that have never been shown in Europe, some dug up by archaeologists only three years ago. It is part of a new modern reading of the geopolitical importance of the vast continental empire.
Continue reading...Fiuto restaurant offers poké-style bowls to attract Italy’s growing number of dog owners
In the kitchen of a restaurant in the north of Rome, chef Luca Grammatico delicately blends nuggets of chicken and courgette with pureed potato.
He then reaches for a fancy bowl, positions the mix inside and uses a shaper to fashion a food tower before garnishing it with courgette sauce. Grammatico’s next task is to create a biscuit, shaped like a bear, for a guest celebrating her birthday.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s son back in court after repeatedly saying ‘I don’t recall’ processes surrounding financial statements on first day of testimony
Eric Trump’s testimony has started again.
The testimony of Donald Trump’s younger son follows the testimony of his brother, Donald Trump Jr, earlier this week.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war continues here
On Friday afternoon, the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, is to make a highly anticipated speech. The head of the influential Iran-backed Shia militant group will break weeks of silence with a broadcast from Beirut, which comes in the wake of a rise in violence on Israel’s northern border.
Hezbollah said on Thursday it had simultaneously attacked 19 positions in Israel on Thursday evening. The clashes have so far been mostly contained to the frontier, and Hezbollah has used only a fraction of the firepower that Nasrallah has been threatening with Israel for years.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
One missing person in Tuscany has been found alive, Ansa reports.
Spain’s state meteorological agency has published data on yesterday’s strong winds.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here
Russian shelling in Kherson has interrupted water and electricity supply in parts of the city, Suspilne reports. It cites the head of the city administration, saying: “Repair crews are working, electricity is planned to be restored during the day.”
Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks early on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For the latest reporting on US politics’ involvement with the Israel-Hamas war, read our latest report:
One minute after the House approved an Israel aid package that excluded providing similar assistance to Ukraine, the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, tweeted this:
This what some would call a “subtweet”: McConnell does not mention the House proposal at all nor its architect, Republican speaker Mike Johnson, but he is clearly referring to the just-passed bill. While some Republicans are ready to cut off aid to Kyiv, McConnell remains a steadfast backer of the country’s defense against Russia.
Continue reading...World leaders will reconvene in Abu Dhabi before UAE’s Cop28 after talks broke down two weeks ago
Governments will meet this weekend for a last-ditch attempt to bridge deep divisions between rich and poor countries over how to get money to vulnerable people afflicted by climate disaster.
Talks over funds for “loss and damage”, which refers to the rescue and rehabilitation of countries and communities experiencing the effects of extreme weather, started in March but broke down in rancour two weeks ago.
Continue reading...IDF spokesperson says military ‘powerfully deployed’ north of Gaza and civilians still urged to move south
Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City and are attacking Hamas infrastructure and destroying tunnels used by militants to launch attacks, the Israeli military said.
Airstrikes continued alongside the intensifying ground offensive in what Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described as the second stage of the war.
Continue reading...Scotland first minister’s parents-in-law among those evacuated, amid concerns for those stuck in northern Gaza
The first people in a group of about 100 Britons due to leave Gaza on Friday have made the crossing into Egypt, amid concerns about whether individuals in the north of the Palestinian territory will be able to make it to the southern Rafah crossing.
By Friday, there were 127 people on the UK list to be evacuated into Egypt since the crossing opened on Wednesday, more than three weeks after the conflict began in which thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed. Among those able to leave Gaza were the parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, who described the last four weeks as a “living nightmare” for the family of his wife, Nadia El-Nakla.
Continue reading...Entertainer has reportedly bought up 12 properties in rural Ngātīmoti and objected to a cycle trail proposal
He has wowed millions of TV viewers in the UK, taken on a big bank and loves working out in the dark. Now Noel Edmonds has brought his positive energy to a tiny town in New Zealand, where he has reportedly bought up NZ$30m (£14.5m) worth of property and is making his mark on the community.
Edmonds, 74, who found fame presenting shows such as Noel’s House Party, Top of the Pops and Deal Or No Deal, moved to New Zealand in 2019 – first to Matakana, north of Auckland, and then to the South Island in 2022.
Continue reading...Jamie Raskin says it was ‘an easy call’ because Santos hasn’t been convicted of a crime, though he faces 23 federal criminal charges
Thirty-one Democrats voted not to expel the Republican lawmaker George Santos from the US House of Representatives because he has not been convicted of any crime and to eject him would set a dangerous precedent for Republicans to expel their ideological opponents, a leading congressman said.
“For me this was an easy call,” said Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a law professor and influential progressive who sat on the January 6 committee and was lead manager in Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the attack on Congress.
Continue reading...Tuscany is in a state of emergency and three people died when their sailing boat capsized off Portugal
At least six people have died in severe flooding in Tuscany, central Italy and three in Portugal, bringing to 15 the provisional death toll across western Europe from the torrential rain and record winds brought by Storm Ciarán.
Eugenio Giani, the president of Tuscany, announced a state of emergency on Friday, describing the situation as “really very serious”. It had been “a long and complex night for the entire regional civil protection system”, he said.
Continue reading...