The 34-year-old veteran was in the country working as a medic when his vehicle was hit in the east of the country
An American medic has been killed while working on the frontlines in Ukraine, just weeks after arriving in the country.
Pete Reed, 34, was killed on Thursday while he was helping evacuate civilians when his vehicle was reportedly hit by a missile in Bakhmut, the eastern city which has become a focus of fierce fighting.
Continue reading...Survivors tell Italian authorities vessel carrying about 50 people lost its way trying to cross from Tunisia
A baby was among nine people including his mother and a pregnant woman who died of cold and thirst on a boat carrying about 50 migrants across the central Mediterranean, Italian authorities have said.
Survivors who landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa after being rescued late on Thursday told investigators the four-month-old baby slipped out of the boat after his mother, who was holding him, collapsed and died from exposure.
Continue reading...Researchers hail ‘world-class discovery’ that suggests cave bears may have lived farther south than thought
Researchers exploring a cave system in south-east Spain have discovered a huge cavern, sealed off for millennia, hung with huge stalactites and gouged by the claws of long-extinct cave bears, which, they claim, “opens a new door on prehistory”.
The find was made at the Cueva del Arco, a collection of caves in the Almadenes gorge near the Murcian town of Cieza. Although the site had already yielded evidence of settlements stretching back 50,000 years – making it one of the few places in the eastern Iberian peninsula where the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans can be documented – experts digging there suspected it harboured further discoveries.
Continue reading...Eccentric designer became known for his space-age metal dresses and signature range of fragrances
The Spanish fashion designer Paco Rabanne, best known for his space-age metal dresses, bestselling fragrances and eccentric pronouncements, has died at the age of 88.
His death was announced on Friday in a statement by the Puig group, which owns the Paco Rabanne brand. “I am profoundly saddened by the death of Paco Rabanne,” the group’s chief executive, Marc Puig, said in a statement. “Through his great personality, he transmitted a unique aesthetic and a daring, revolutionary and provocative vision of the world of fashion.”
Continue reading...Package of 29 older tanks could be sent to help fight Russia as soon as refurbishments done, reports say
Germany has approved the export of older Leopard 1 battle tanks, which would add to the raft of fighting vehicles Berlin promised last week it would send to Ukraine.
A spokesperson said on Friday that Olaf Scholz’s government had granted an export licence for the German-made tanks first produced in the 1960s and replaced within Germany’s own military by Leopard 2 tanks in 2003. Further details would be provided in the coming days and weeks, they said.
Continue reading...New US $2.175bn military aid also includes precision-guided rockets and HAWK air defence firing units. This live blog is now closed
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, has posted to Telegram, responding to the Ukrainian president’s comments about the slowing down of western sanctions on Russia.
She quotes the media saying “Zelenskiy complained that the pace of sanctions in Europe has slowed down, and Russia has become faster to adapt to restrictions” and goes on to write:
Western Europe, falling into recession, having long lost the habit of survival, is sinking, with Ukraine tied to its feet.
At night, the Russian military attacked the Barvinkove community in the Kharkiv region. A private house was destroyed and a 70-year-old man was rescued from the rubble. Two men died.
Also at night, the Russian army shelled Kherson. They hit one of the shopping centres, a fire started there. People were not injured. Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region also came under fire. There are no dead or injured.
Continue reading...Norway’s sovereign wealth titan threatens to vote against boards on firms it holds investments with over lax climate and social targets
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor, has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election to the board if they don’t up their game on tackling the climate crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity.
Carine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance and compliance officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages more than 13tn Norwegian kroner (£1tn) on behalf of the Norwegian people, said the fund was preparing to vote against the re-election of at least 80 company boards for failing to set or hit environmental or social targets.
Continue reading...Rare exhibition assembles 28 paintings by enigmatic Dutch master in one place
For once, say its curators, “the chance of a lifetime” may be right: never before have so many works by Johannes Vermeer, the luminous 17th-century Dutch master, been assembled in the same place – and it is highly unlikely they will be again.
Of the fewer than 40 paintings most experts attribute to the artist, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has obtained 28. Opening next week, its first Vermeer retrospective has sold more advance tickets than any show in the museum’s history.
Continue reading...Zelenskiy urges west to supply long-range weapons; EU offers support to Ukraine in Kyiv meeting but no promises on membership
Continue reading...EU leaders will try to temper Kyiv’s expectations while avoiding negative public statements that could weaken morale
EU leaders will seek to cool Ukraine’s expectations of a fast track to membership at a summit with Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, as the bloc spars over how much encouragement to give its war-torn neighbour.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, are due to meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Friday for wide-ranging talks on the war, further sanctions on Russia and integrating Ukraine into the EU’s internal market.
Continue reading...Brussels exhibition is latest EU effort to appeal to the public by seeking to explain its work
There is a virtual reality plane trip, a quiz, a presentation from the world’s “most powerful woman”, and a souvenir photo: it is all part of the offer at one of the latest tourist attractions to arrive in Brussels – the European Commission exhibition centre.
Experience Europe, which has been open just under a year, seeks to explain the work of the commission, which proposes and enforces EU law, and for many is the epitome of “Brussels”. It is the latest example of how the bloc is trying to appeal to the public. Stung by criticism of being an elite project with bamboozling and opaque processes, the EU has sharpened up communication efforts in the last 15 years. The European parliament opened a visitors’ centre, the Parlamentarium, in 2011, followed by a museum dedicated to European history in 2017.
Continue reading...As it happened: Prime minister speaks in interview on TalkTV to mark his 100th day in office
On the subject of Rishi Sunak reaching his 100th day in office, my colleague Jessica Elgot has a great assessment of how it’s going. Here is an extract.
After Liz Truss left office, polls suggested that voters wanted to keep an open mind about Sunak and rated him significantly higher than his party.
That is now beginning to turn. According to senior Labour figures, their most recent focus groups, with swing voters in Southampton, Dewsbury and Bury last week, were described as being “utterly brutal for Sunak”, with participants engaging in “open mockery” of the prime minister. Even the most pessimistic members of Keir Starmer’s team say they have seen a decisive shift.
In the coming weeks, our new stop the boats bill will change the law to send a message loud and clear.
If you come here illegally, you will be detained and removed.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary rejects suggestion by Penny Wong that Britain needs to do more to confront its colonial past
James Cleverly has rejected suggestions Britain needs to do more to confront its colonial past, pointing out that he is “the black foreign secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain”.
He was responding to questions after a speech by the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, while on a visit to London this week in which she said Britain needed to reflect on its past.
Continue reading...Konstantin Yefremov escaped Russia after serving three months as a lieutenant in Zaporizhzhia oblast
A senior Russian lieutenant who fled after serving in Ukraine has described how his country’s troops tortured prisoners of war and threatened some with rape.
Konstantin Yefremov left Russia in December after spending three months in the parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia oblast that were occupied in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...EU to train an extra 15,000 soldiers and prepare new sanctions against Russia
The EU has pledged to double a military aid programme for Ukraine by training an extra 15,000 soldiers as part of a blizzard of announcements aimed at showing that it will “stand by Ukraine for the long-haul”.
Speaking at the start of a two-day trip to Kyiv, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated that the EU aimed to have a tenth package of sanctions against Russia in place by 24 February, the first anniversary of the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin.
Continue reading...With western tanks yet to arrive, invaders may be in a better position in early spring than Ukrainian defenders
A fresh Russian assault around the southern Donbas town of Vuhledar, which began towards the end of January, demonstrates that Moscow’s forces are becoming more capable before a critical – and increasingly uncertain – spring period.
Russian forces have not yet made significant gains across the open fields of the region, where the Ukrainians have been dug in for months. But in parallel with the seemingly never-ending Wagner Group-led assault on Bakhmut, 70 miles to the north-east, it shows the invaders trying to push forward at a second point.
Continue reading...Retailer and green groups warn of ‘high environmental cost’ of fish aggregating devices to tuna stocks and other endangered marine life
The EU is under pressure to significantly restrict its huge fleet of fishing vessels from using “fish aggregating devices” that make it easier to catch huge numbers of fish and contribute further to overfishing.
A letter signed by Marks & Spencer and more than 100 environmental groups, including the International Pole and Line Foundation, warns EU officials that the devices (FADs) are one of the main contributors to overfishing of yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean, because they catch high numbers of juveniles.
Continue reading...Mateusz Morawiecki would supply F-16 fighters if decision were taken with Nato allies. This live blog is closed
The Ministry of Defence says Russia’s role as a “reliable arms exporter” is “highly likely” being undermined by its invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions.
In the latest intelligence update published on Thursday morning, the MoD said prior to the invasion Russia’s share of the international arms market was declining.
Continue reading...Sunak government under pressure after gas prices fuel ‘outrageous’ doubling of profits at Anglo-Dutch group
The government is under pressure to rethink its windfall tax on energy companies after Shell reported one of the largest profits in UK corporate history, with the surge in energy prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushing the oil company’s annual takings to $40bn (£32bn).
Opposition parties and trade unions described Shell’s bonanza, the biggest in its 115 year history, as “outrageous” and accused Rishi Sunak of letting fossil fuel companies “off the hook”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dutch MEP hopes site will give early warning of suspicious tactics such as use of front organisations
A group of MEPs are launching a website for European parliament staff and EU officials to raise the alarm about “shady lobbying” by big tech firms and other interest groups.
Paul Tang, a Dutch Social Democrat MEP who is co-leading the initiative, said the “lobby leaks hotline” would be an early warning system and was necessary as the parliament had faced “shady lobbying” from powerful tech companies seeking to influence its decisions. He cited practices such as so-called astroturfing, where large companies use front organisations to represent their interests by the back door.
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