Free speech groups criticise German ban on Russian journalists’ book

Russian businessman claims book defamed him, while authors say aim is to destroy their reputation

A Russian businessman has successfully taken legal action to ban a book in Germany about the Kremlin and its spy agencies, in a case that freedom of speech groups have described as an alarming attack on public interest reporting.

Two London-based Russian journalists, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, say they interviewed the businessman, Alexey Kozlov, for their 2019 book The Compatriots because of his family’s historical connections to Soviet intelligence. He has now won a court injunction against the book’s publisher.

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Greek PM criticises Rishi Sunak for cancelling planned meeting at No 10

Tory source says ‘it became impossible for meeting to go ahead’ after Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged return of Parthenon marbles to Athens

Greece’s prime minister has criticised the decision of his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to cancel planned talks at which he had hoped to raise the issue of the Parthenon marbles, as disagreements over the antiquities erupted with renewed vigour.

As aides described Sunak’s move as “wrong and undignified”, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is visiting London, voiced irritation at the scheduled Downing Street meeting being called off at the 11th hour.

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Gucci design staff strike in protest at plan to relocate to Milan

About 50 workers take part in action, claiming move from Rome would be tantamount to collective dismissal

About 50 Gucci employees in Italy have gone on strike in protest against plans to relocate a significant part of its design studio team from Rome to Milan in what they claim is a “mass redundancy in disguise”.

Gucci, which is owned by the French-based luxury goods group Kering, announced in October it would move 153 of its 219 design employees from the Italian capital to Milan, 380 miles away in Lombardy.

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Tesla sues Sweden’s transport agency in escalation of strike row

US carmaker claims ‘discriminatory attack’ after industrial action stops new cars receiving Swedish plates

Tesla is suing the Swedish transport agency, accusing it of a “discriminatory attack” on the US electric carmaker, after strike action prevented its new vehicles from getting licence plates in Sweden.

The lawsuit is an escalation in a row that started between the car company and the union representing Swedish Telsa workers, who are calling for collective bargaining rights and have been on strike for five weeks.

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Geert Wilders wants former minister as new ‘scout’, reports say, after first one resigns over fraud claims – as it happened

Gom van Strien’s planned talks with party leaders have been cancelled after he stepped down. This live blog is closed

Irish police are expected to make sweeping arrests of suspected ringleaders of Thursday’s riot in Dublin and to obtain wider rights to use facial recognition technology to help identify suspects in any future disorder.

The moves come amid mounting pressure on the government and police chiefs over the violence on 24 November when an estimated 500 anti-immigrant activists and gangs of young people looted shops, burned vehicles and attacked officers, leaving swathes of Ireland’s capital resembling a war zone.

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Geert Wilders: effort to form Netherlands coalition not off to ‘dream start’

Blow to far-right leader as man chosen to oversee coalition talks quits over fraud claims

The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has admitted that he was not off to a “dream start” in his attempts to form a government, after a man he appointed to oversee coalition talks quit over fraud allegations before getting started in the role.

Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV) look to have won almost a quarter of seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament in last Wednesday’s elections, about 10 seats more than predicted.

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Ukraine to change conscription policies in drive to sustain fighting capacity

Changes to include use of commercial recruitment firms to carry out more targeted conscription, say officials

The Ukrainian government is planning to change its conscription practices as it seeks to sustain fighting capacity after nearly two years of full-fledged war with Russia.

The changes, expected to be announced this week, will include the use of commercial recruitment companies to carry out more targeted conscription and to reassure conscripts they will be deployed in roles that match their skills and not simply sent to the front, according to one senior official.

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Israeli foreign minister accuses Irish taoiseach of legitimising terror over hostage statement

Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’

The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.

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Greek PM bemoans lack of progress on return of Parthenon marbles

Kyriakos Mitsotakis to raise issue of ‘reunification’ of sculptures when he meets Rishi Sunak this week

Talks over a possible return of the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum to Greece are not advancing quick enough, the Greek prime minister has said before his meeting with Rishi Sunak this week.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis likened the British Museum’s possession of the sculptures – also known as the Elgin marbles – to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half, saying it was not a question of ownership but “reunification”.

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Russian troops continue attempts to advance near Avdiivka in effort to encircle city – as it happened

Russia has conducted airstrikes in support of ground operations as it aims to surround city on outskirts of Donetsk. This live blog is closed

It’s just after 2.30pm in Kyiv. Here are the day’s main developments so far:

Russia has brought down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region and three other provinces to the south and west, the Russian defence ministry and the Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin have reported in a series of Telegram updates. One person was injured in Tula when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, the region’s governor, Alexei Dyumin, said.

The spokesman for Ukraine’s ground forces, Volodymyr Fitio, has told the United News telethon that Russian soldiers “seek to reoccupy” the town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.

Russia has placed the Meta spokesperson Andy Stone on a wanted list, according to the state-run TASS news agency. TASS said the Russian interior ministry had opened a criminal investigation against Stone but had not disclosed the details of the investigation or charges.

The UK government has been urged to take immediate action to disrupt supply of technology used in electronic warfare. A dossier, compiled by Ukraine and circulated to the leading countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, identifies key Russian companies involved in the development and production of electronic military equipment. It says the UK and other countries have not yet imposed sanctions on some of the firms involved.

Indeed, Russian invaders have not abandoned their intentions to attack … to advance toward the town of Kupiansk. They seek to reoccupy it. In this area, Ukrainian defenders repelled four enemy attacks. It was near Usenkivka and Ivanivka. The enemy intends to advance to the settlement of Sinkivka in order to develop their further success in the offensive on Kupiansk.

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Ukraine’s arms industry boss calls for country to be ‘arsenal of the free world’

Oleksandr Kamyshin aims to revive state sector and coordinate private enterprises to boost export of weapons

Oleksandr Kamyshin, the man tasked with reviving Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, has a dream for his country’s future. Even when the war with Russia is over, he believes, Ukraine should focus on arms production, turning itself into the “arsenal of the free world” and providing weapons for export.

“For the next decades, defence should be the major industry in Ukraine. After the war it should be our core export product,” said Kamyshin, in a recent interview at his office in an unmarked building in central Kyiv.

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Success of Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV raises fears for Dutch climate policies

The party has a hostile stance on attempts to cut carbon emissions but got more votes than any other in general election

The shocking success of Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV party in Dutch elections has left climate activists fearful of a drastic shift to fossil fuels and a rollback of climate policies if it manages to form a government.

Best known abroad for its rhetoric against Muslims, the PVV, which came first in Wednesday’s election but may struggle to find coalition partners, has taken a hard line on policies to stop the planet getting hotter.

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Russia wages electronic warfare ‘using UK-made tech’, Ukraine dossier claims

Report calls on government to take immediate action to disrupt supply of technology used in electronic warfare

Many of the countries that have sanctioned Russia over the war in Ukraine need to take urgent action to disrupt the supply of technology for its electronic warfare campaign, according to a new report.

The dossier compiled by Ukraine and circulated to the major countries which have imposed sanctions identifies key Russian firms involved in the development and production of electronic military equipment. It says the UK and other countries have not yet sanctioned some of the firms involved.

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‘They thought I had cancer’: painkiller banned in UK linked to Britons’ deaths in Spain

Patients’ group says reactions to metamizole can cause sepsis and organ failure – and British and Irish people are at higher risk

A patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the potentially fatal side effects of one of the country’s most popular painkillers, involved in a series of serious illnesses and deaths.

The drug metamizole, commonly sold in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, is banned in several countries, including Britain, the US, India and Australia. It can cause a condition known as agranulocytosis, which reduces white blood cells, increasing the risk of potentially fatal infection.

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Geert Wilders vows to become Dutch PM by compromising with other parties

Anti-Islam MP who won recent election says he will ‘continue to moderate’ his positions to gain power

Veteran Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders on Saturday vowed to be prime minister of the Netherlands, after an election in which his party won the most seats.

In a long post on X, formerly Twitter, that expressed frustration at other parties for their apparent unwillingness to cooperate with his Freedom party (PVV), Wilders said he would “continue to moderate” his positions if necessary to gain power.

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Kosovo zoo rescue lion and bears come out to play in winter snow

Sanctuary sets up heaters to take chill off rescue animals that have lost habit of entering full hibernation

Workers at a bear sanctuary in Pristina are working hard to look after a lion that wants to play in the snow and bears who were removed from their natural habitat when they were cubs and also enjoy the snowy conditions because they do not hibernate any more.

As the winter’s first snowfall covered Bear Sanctuary Prishtina in the Kosovan capital, visitors enjoyed the sight of a lion playing before quickly taking shelter indoors where a heater was installed to fend off temperatures which fell below freezing.

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Keir Starmer open to return of Parthenon marbles, reports say

Labour leader gives strongest hint yet of support for loan deal with Greece if his party wins next election

The Greek government has been assured by Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, that in the event of electoral victory next year he will not block a prospective arrangement to return the Parthenon marbles to Athens.

Speaking through aides before talks in London with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Starmer gave his strongest hint yet of his support for a loan deal that would see the antiquities return to the country where they were carved 2,500 years ago.

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Almost £300,000 raised for delivery driver who intervened in Dublin attack

Brazilian Deliveroo worker Caio Benicio used motorbike helmet to hit assailant who was attacking children outside a school

Almost £300,000 has been raised for a delivery driver who intervened in an attack by a man suspected of attacking children outside a school in Dublin.

Caio Benicio was on his motorbike in Dublin city centre when he spotted the attack on Thursday. He said he used his helmet to hit the assailant “with all my power”.

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Critics of Napoleon epic have fallen for emperor’s fibs, says film’s military expert

The ex-para who advised Ridley Scott on the new movie’s battle scenes claims historians who attacked it have fallen for Bonaparte’s own hype

Critics of the “damaging” and “inaccurate” portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte in Ridley Scott’s new cinematic epic Napoleon are just victims of the French emperor’s enduring propaganda, according to the military adviser behind the film’s vast battle scenes.

Paul Biddiss claims that “Old Boney”, as he was known to the Duke of Wellington’s British troops, was promoted largely because he elaborated on his own successes. Bonaparte’s fibs impressed all France and intimidated his enemies – until, that is, he met his Waterloo in 1815.

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Hospital tests on Pope Francis rule out respiratory problems

Pope cancelled Saturday activities due to ‘light flu’ a week before key climate address

Pope Francis has undergone hospital tests after he came down with the flu but the results ruled out any respiratory problems, the Vatican said.

Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, underwent a Cat scan, the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said.

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