Alex Batty was 11 when allegedly abducted by mother and grandfather to give him ‘alternative lifestyle’
A British boy who has not been seen by his legal guardian since he went missing on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 has been found in France.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 and under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana when he was allegedly abducted by his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.
Continue reading...Decision after hours of tense negotiations in Brussels is critical boost to Volodymyr Zelenskiy
The EU has decided to open membership negotiations with Ukraine, in an unexpected move that will be a critical boost to Volodymyr Zelenskiy and deal a blow to Vladimir Putin.
The announcement, made on Thursday after eight hours of tense negotiations in Brussels, came despite the opposition of Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orbán, had for weeks said it would veto any opening of accession talks.
Continue reading...Three held in Germany and one in Netherlands over plans for possible attacks on Jewish institutions, prosecutor says
Four people have been arrested in Germany and the Netherlands on suspicion of being part of a cross-border Hamas terror plot that German prosecutors said aimed to obtain weapons to target Jewish institutions in Europe.
Three others were arrested in Denmark on separate terrorism offences, and the country’s politicians indicated they were also Hamas related, while the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the threat was “as serious as it gets”.
Continue reading...Architect of Brexit calls for closer Anglo-Greek cultural ties, with sections held elsewhere in Europe also sent back
Britain should be part of a pan-European effort to bring the Parthenon marbles back to Greece, according to an architect of Brexit, who said the UK should make a grand gesture to create closer diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries.
David Frost, a chief Brexit negotiator, called for a deal between Britain and Greece that would put the long-running dispute to bed, with the sculptures returned to Greece for the first time since the early 1800s when they were taken by Lord Elgin. At present they are in the British Museum’s collection.
Continue reading...Helsinki accuses Moscow of orchestrated ‘hybrid operation’ that Kremlin denies after 36 people cross from east
Finland has reopened its border with Russia only to shut it again within hours, in the latest stage of a row over asylum seekers in which Helsinki accused Moscow of staging a “hybrid operation” on the EU’s most easterly edge.
After a two-week period of total closure of the border, two of the eight crossings on the 830-mile land frontier were reopened briefly.
Continue reading...Russian leader conducts first end of year press conference since start of invasion
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia on espionage charges, lost an appeal on Thursday to be released from jail and will remain in custody at least until 30 January.
Gershkovich was arrested on 29 March in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison.
Continue reading...Bloc’s leaders decide to open negotiations after hours of talks as Viktor Orbán says Hungary does not want to take part in ‘bad decision’
The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, told reporters at the summit this morning that the European Commission unfroze part of Hungary’s EU funding yesterday because “the rules are the rules”.
Addressing today’s summit, he said:
I’ve been attending European Council meetings for six or seven years now.
This is probably one of the most important ones that I’ve attended, precisely because of the big decisions we have to make in relation to Ukraine: a financial decision and also a decision on whether to begin negotiations.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International claim that authorities failed to mobilise ‘appropriate resources’, while Greece says the ship’s crew refused assistance
Human rights groups have deplored the lack of progress made by Greek authorities in their investigation into the controversial circumstances in which a migrant ship sank off the Peloponnese – leaving more than 500 dead – in one of the Mediterranean’s worst ever boat disasters.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International claim there are credible allegations that the Hellenic Coast Guard’s “actions and omissions” contributed to the 14 June shipwreck.
Continue reading...EU leaders prepare for showdown with Hungary over Ukrainian membership talks; more than 50 injured in Russian missile attack on Kyiv
Russia launched a massive missile attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday in an apparent show of strength, minutes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met his US counterpart Joe Biden for talks in Washington. Ukraine’s air defences shot down all 10 Russian missiles targeting the capital but least 53 people were injured by falling debris.
EU leaders were heading into a high-stakes summit for Ukraine, with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán threatening to block both the start of EU membership talks and 50bn euros ($54bn) in financial aid for Kyiv. If EU leaders give a green light, Kyiv will be able to claim a geopolitical victory just as the Biden administration is struggling to get a Ukraine aid package through the US congress.
Ahead of Thursday’s summit, Zelenskiy said that Orban had no reason to block Ukraine’s EU membership. “I was very direct … He has no reasons to block Ukrainian membership in the EU. I asked him to tell me one reason … I’m [still] waiting for an answer,” Zelenskiy said about his short encounter with Orban in Argentina on Sunday.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also urged EU countries to recognise that Ukraine has “much to offer” the bloc. “Values-wise and ideologically, Ukraine is an indisputable part of Europe – which is precisely why Russia attacked us … Without Ukraine, the ‘Europe’ puzzle cannot come together,” he said.
Arriving at the summit in Brussels, Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk, said that “apathy on Ukraine” was “unacceptable”. Poland’s previous government had become embroiled in a row with Ukraine over grain exports but new foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski also stressed that supporting Ukraine would be a “priority” for the new administration.
The five Nordic nations told Zelenskiy during previously unannounced talks in Oslo that they would support his country “for as long as it takes” in its struggle to drive out Russian forces. Together, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland have provided aid to Ukraine worth 11bn euros since Russia invaded in February 2022 and are ready to continue giving extensive military, economic and humanitarian support, the five nations said in a joint statement.
Denmark’s government would present a new support package for Ukraine worth 1 bn euros ($1.08bn) to parliament on Thursday, prime minister Mette Frederiksen said at a press conference in Oslo with the Nordic leaders and Zelenskiy in Oslo.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is expected to hold his annual end of the year press conference on 14 December. The event will include a call-in known as the “direct line”, in which Russians can ask Putin for his advice. “On December 14, Vladimir Putin will sum up the results of the year. It will be a combined format of the direct line and the president’s final press conference,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday.
Ukraine’s top mobile phone operator, Kyivstar, started restoring voice services to some clients a day after its networks were knocked out by a major cyber-attack, Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said, with data and other services to follow. The company, which provides services to more than half of Ukraine’s population, sustained “huge” damage during the attack on Tuesday, Komarov told Reuters, calling it “the biggest cyber-attack on telco infrastructure in the world”.
A hacking group believed by Kyiv to be affiliated with Russian military intelligence claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack. A group of activist hackers, or “hacktivists”, called Solntsepyok said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that it carried out the cyber-attack, and published screenshots appearing to show that the hackers had accessed Kyivstar’s servers.
Continue reading...Commission says Hungary has fulfilled set of judiciary reforms while critics say funds could have been unlocked to persuade Orbán to stop blocking Ukraine-related decisions
The leaders of major political groups in the European parliament have sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, outlining their objections to unfreezing EU funds for Hungary.
In the letter, seen by the Guardian, the political group presidents wrote:
We would like to express our deep concern as regards the imminent positive assessment of the Hungarian judicial reforms and their fulfilment of the four judicial milestones set out in the horizontal enabling condition under the Common Provisions Regulation.
In our view, the horizontal enabling condition referring to the independence of the judiciary has not been fulfilled.
We are most concerned about the implementation requirement regarding the strengthening of the National Judicial Council.
We need to live up to our commitments on Ukraine and continue to be a reliable and strong partner. We must provide Ukraine with continued and sustainable political, financial and military support and, in particular, come to an agreement on providing €50bn for its long term stability.
We also have to agree to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, thereby giving it a necessary signal and bringing it yet closer to our European family.
A pivotal European Council lies ahead of us. Now is the time for decision-making. I call on you all to come equipped with a spirit of compromise, a sense of collective responsibility, with the union’s interests and values at the forefront of your minds.
Continue reading...Viktor Orbán’s threat to block funds and membership to Ukraine strikes at the heart of decision-making in the bloc
In the past three years, European leaders have weathered Brexit, the pandemic and the energy crisis, but it turns out that the biggest threat to the EU’s unity and security has come from within.
All week, ministers and EU leaders have been closing ranks to try to prevent the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, from derailing plans to greenlight the start of EU membership talks with Ukraine and a new €50bn (£43bn) facility to help the country pay its bills over the coming years.
Continue reading...Hungarian prime minister has threatened to block extra €50bn and also Ukraine’s EU membership plans
EU leaders hope to face down the Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán and keep their promise to find another €50bn (£43bn) for Ukraine despite his threat to veto extra funds during a crunch summit.
“There is no [one] plan B, there are plan Bs and if need be, we can go to Z,” said one diplomat, expressing the determination of the EU to ensure Orbán’s threats are not a barrier to Ukraine securing much-needed financial and military assistance to fight Russian invasion forces.
Continue reading...Pontiff tells Mexican broadcaster he will break with tradition and simplify papal funeral
Pope Francis has said he has “already prepared” his tomb in a Rome basilica in a further sign of the pontiff’s quest to break from longstanding Vatican tradition.
Francis, who turns 87 on 17 December, told the Mexican broadcaster N+ that he would be laid to rest in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino neighbourhood in Rome, where he goes to pray before and after trips overseas.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s capital comes under attack, with mayor saying children’s hospital damaged
Norway will donate 3bn crowns (£220m) to Ukraine, the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, told a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
The funds are part of a package agreed previously by Norway’s parliament, of 75bn crowns over five years.
Russia has lost 341,500 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces claimed today.
Continue reading...Petition demanding station outside Paris does not use singer’s name has received 4,000 signatures
He was a poet-provocateur whose songs transformed French music and whose often outrageous behaviour on TV was shrugged off with a smile.
But plans to name a new Métro station east of Paris after the singer Serge Gainsbourg have sparked a row, with campaigners saying he was a misogynist whose songs glorified child abuse and should not be celebrated.
Continue reading...It was the second strike on Ukraine’s capital this week after a long period of calm
A Russian missile attack targeting the Ukrainian capital damaged a children’s hospital, with Kyiv’s mayor reporting at least 51 people injured in the “enemy attack”.
Ukraine’s air defence systems downed all 10 ballistic missiles targeting the capital, but falling debris caused injuries and destruction in four of Kyiv’s districts along the Dnipro River, which cuts through the capital, officials said.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff warns the ‘Europe puzzle’ cannot come together without Ukraine
Kyiv has increased pressure on the EU to open accession talks at a crucial summit this week, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s most senior adviser warning that without his country “the ‘Europe puzzle’ cannot come together”.
After the European Commission’s recommendation last month that formal membership talks begin, the EU’s 27 heads of government are due to discuss the proposal at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Continue reading...Scores injured in missile attack on Kyiv; Zelenskiy gets frosty reception from Republicans in Washington; Biden announces $200m military aid package
Ukraine’s capital came under a missile attack early on Wednesday, resulting in at least 45 injuries and several damaged buildings. Kyiv mayor Vitali Kitschko said on Telegram that debris from intercepted missiles fell in the eastern Dniprovskyi district, injuring at least 45 people. Eighteen people including two children were hospitalized while 27 people received medical treatment on the spot. An apartment building, a private house and several cars caught fire, while the windows of a children’s hospital were shattered, Klitschko said. Falling rocket debris also damaged the water supply system in the district.
US president Joe Biden warned Republicans they would give Russia a “Christmas gift” if they failed to provide additional military aid to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose meeting with top lawmakers concluded without a commitment for more support.
Zelenskiy travelled to Washington to plead for money to back Ukraine in its war with Russia, but he faced a sceptical reception from key Republican lawmakers. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, would not agree to support Biden’s request to give Ukraine $61.4bn, with objectors insisting on White House concessions on border security as a condition for a deal.
Biden announced an additional $200m military aid package and, amid concerns that the war had reached a stalemate, insisted that Ukraine has made significant progress. “I will not walk away from Ukraine, and neither will the American people,” Biden said.
Moscow said it was watching developments closely. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said that “tens of billions of dollars” already provided by Washington had failed to turn the tide of war and that more money would make little difference.
A declassified US intelligence report assessed that the Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, or nearly 90% of the personnel it had when the conflict began, a source familiar with the intelligence said on Tuesday. The report also assessed that Moscow’s losses in personnel and armoured vehicles to Ukraine’s military have set back Russia’s military modernisation by 18 years, the source said.
Ukraine’s biggest mobile network operator, Kyivstar, said it was the target of a major cyber-attack on Tuesday morning that temporarily knocked out its cellular and internet signal. The cyber-attack affected the air raid alert system in more than 75 settlements in the Kyiv region, the regional military administration said.
Poland will demand the full mobilisation of the free world to help Ukraine, the newly appointed prime minister, Donald Tusk, said. He said: “We will demand full mobilisation of the west to help Ukraine. I can no longer listen to politicians who talk about being tired of the situation in Ukraine.”
Russian forces in southern Ukraine have “advanced considerably” around the village of Novopokrovka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow’s occupational authorities have said. “Our units have advanced significantly forward north-east of Novopokrovka,” the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, wrote on Telegram.
Europeans are generally open to the idea of Ukraine joining the EU, despite the costs and risks, but lukewarm at best about the bloc’s prospective enlargement to also take in Georgia and countries in the western Balkans, according to a survey.
Continue reading...Rabbi says antisemitic attack, hours after Donald Tusk vowed to reform Poland, galvanised support for Jewish community
A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a vote of confidence in the new government.
Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.
Continue reading...Incoming PM tells parliament he will ‘bring back billions of euros’ of EU funds, as MPs prepare to confirm his candidacy
Donald Tusk has presented his vision of a new, progressive Poland at the heart of the EU, before a vote in parliament that is set to confirm his candidacy for prime minister.
“Poland will regain its position as a leader in the European Union,” Tusk told the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, during a speech on Tuesday. He promised to “bring back billions of euros” of EU funds to Poland, which were frozen due to a dispute between Brussels and the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) government over rule-of-law concerns.
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