One in four Europeans say their financial position is ‘precarious’

Study by anti-poverty NGO shows more than half feel at financial risk and 80% have already made hard spending choices

One in four Europeans describe their financial position as “precarious”, more than half see a serious risk it will become so over the coming months, and 80% have already been forced into hard spending choices, according to a survey.

As the cost of living crisis, driven by high energy prices, rampant inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine, tightens its grip, the six-country survey for the French anti-poverty NGO Secours Populaire painted an alarming picture of “a continent on the brink”.

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‘Era-defining scandal’: Ireland revisits ‘Gubu’ murders 40 years on

Scandal over Malcolm MacArthur killings destabilised a government and spawned an acronym

No single adjective could do justice to the events that rocked Ireland in July and August 1982, so the then taoiseach, Charles Haughey, used four: “Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented”. An acronym was soon born: Gubu.

That summer, Malcolm MacArthur, a socialite with a yen for bow ties and cravats, had bludgeoned a young woman to death, killed a farmer with his own shotgun and attempted to rob a retired US diplomat, sparking a huge manhunt.

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Orthodox church of Ukraine allows worshippers to celebrate Christmas on 25 December

Move away from traditional date of 7 January directed against pro-Putin head of Russian Orthodox church

For centuries Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on 7 January, the date on which Jesus was born, according to the Julian calendar.

But following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox church of Ukraine is allowing its congregations for the first time to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, in a move away from Russia and towards the west.

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Occupied Kherson loses power, as Kyiv mayor urges residents to prepare for total blackouts

The southern occupied city and surrounding settlements lost power over the weekend, the first time the region has seen such an energy cut

The occupied city of Kherson has lost power for the first time since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, as Kyiv’s mayor told residents to consider leaving the capital in the event of a complete blackout.

In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-controlled Kherson administration said electricity and water supplies were down after a “terrorist attack” damaged three power lines on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway in an occupied part of the region.

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Italy stops dozens of asylum seekers on NGO ship from coming ashore

Children and the sick were allowed off when boat run by German organisation SOS Humanity docked in Sicily

In the first test of its immigration policy, Italy’s new far-right government has prevented 35 asylum seekers from disembarking from their boat, claiming they did not qualify for asylum.

On Saturday night, Rome allowed the ship Humanity 1, run by the German search-and-rescue organisation SOS Humanity and carrying 179 people, to enter the port of Catania, in Sicily, and begin disembarking only children and sick or “vulnerable” people.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv mayor tells residents to prepare for the worst – as it happened

Residents warned they must prepare for having no electricity, water or heating as temperatures drop below freezing

Russia appointed a new acting commander of the Central Military District on 3 November, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Major General Alexander Linkov replaces Colonel General Alexander Lapin who was purportedly removed from office at the end of October 2022.

If confirmed, this follows a series of dismissals of senior Russian military commanders since the onset of the invasion in February 2022. The Commanders of the Eastern, Southern, and Western Military Districts were replaced earlier this year.

Lapin has been widely criticised for poor performance on the battlefield in Ukraine by both Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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Soaring goose prices threaten German St Martin’s Day celebrations

Martinsgans – or martin goose – is eaten around 11 November, but restaurants are dropping dish to save cash

Soaring inflation threatens to cast a shadow over one of Germany’s most popular cultural festivities, which culminates in eating roast goose.

A Martinsgans, or martin goose, is eaten on or around 11 November – St Martin’s Day – when the 4th-century Roman soldier-turned-saint who shared his cloak with a poor man is remembered throughout the country in lantern parades, song, bonfires and theatrical reenactments of his life.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 256 of the invasion

Russian troops looting Kherson city amid alleged searches in province for residents refusing to evacuate; pro-Russia judge in serious condition after assassination bid

Russian troops have been looting Kherson ahead of a potential withdrawal from the south-eastern Ukrainian city. Items taken range from art and cultural exhibits to ambulances and tractors.

There has been an assassination attempt on a judge who sentenced two Britons to death in Russian-controlled Ukraine. Alexander Nikulin, who said Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner should be shot by a firing squad, was shot in Vuhlehirsk, in Donetsk, on Friday night. The local supreme court justice is in a serious condition in hospital.

Russian troops are allegedly searching for residents in the Kherson region who are refusing to evacuate, before the forces’ potential withdrawal from the west bank of the Dnieper River.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has claimed its forces killed another 600 Russian soldiers in the past 24 hours.

Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said the country did supply Russia with drones but that it took place before President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Kyiv. The drones have been used in attacks on civilian infrastructure, notably targeting power stations and dams.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed talk of limited Iranian supplies to Russia, saying Kyiv had downed 11 drones on Friday alone. He said: “If Iran continues to lie about the obvious, it means the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia pays Iran for such cooperation.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said Iran “should realise that the consequences of complicity in the crimes of Russian aggression against Ukraine will be much larger than the benefits of Russia’s support”.

External power has been restored to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged high voltage lines, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he does not believe Russia will use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

The 300,000 troops Putin conscripted as part of the mobilisation drive are providing “little additional offensive combat capability” as the Russian military is struggling to train them, UK’s Ministry of Defence has reported.

Scheduled power cuts will take place on Sunday in seven Ukrainian provinces including major cities such as Kyiv. Other provinces affected are Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Poltava. About 500 power generators have been sent to Ukraine by 17 EU countries to help with the energy problems caused by Russian attacks.

At least 112,000 Russians have emigrated to Georgia this year, border crossing statistics show. Reuters reported that the first large wave of 43,000 arrived after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February and the second wave came after Putin announced a nationwide mobilisation drive in late September.

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Climate activists storm Amsterdam airport and block private jets

Sitdown protests are part of a day of demonstrations in and around Schiphol airport

Dutch border police arrested hundreds of climate activists who stormed Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and sat in front of the wheels of aircraft to prevent them from leaving.

More than 100 protesters, wearing white suits, entered an area where private jets are kept on Saturday as part of a day of demonstrations in and around the airport organised by environmental groups.

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Judge in Russia-occupied Ukraine in ‘serious’ condition after assassination attempt

Alexander Nikulin, who sentenced two captured Britons to death in June, had attempt made on his life in eastern Donetsk

A judge in a Ukrainian town controlled by Moscow is in a “serious” condition after surviving an assassination attempt, a separatist leader in Donetsk said.

Alexander Nikulin was on a judicial panel that in June sentenced to death two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoune, who were fighting on the Ukrainian side.

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UK must ‘step up to plate’ over Northern Ireland protocol, says Sinn Féin

Party vice-president Michelle O’Neill says government must find a way to make post-Brexit arrangements work

The Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, has said the UK government needs to “step up to the plate” and find a way to make the Northern Ireland protocol work.

On Friday, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said there will not be a Stormont election in December.

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Iran says it supplied drones to Russia before Ukraine war began

Minister says ‘small number’ of drones were sent to Russia months before invasion but denies supply continues

Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

The Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said a “small number” of drones were supplied to Russia a few months before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February. He denied Tehran that was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Kherson looted ahead of expected battle for city; Russian conscripts receiving ‘little or no training’ – as it happened

Russian troops taking vehicles, art and even religious artefacts from Kherson; UK says Russia struggling to train new recruits. This blog is now closed

About 500 power generators have been sent to Ukraine by 17 EU countries to help with the energy problems caused by Russian attacks.

Counties including Slovenia, Slovakia, Denmark, Germany and Spain sent the pieces of kit through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

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Driver ‘seriously injured’ after being run over three times by own car

Swiss woman, 45, was run over three times after she got out of her car and left the engine running

A woman in Switzerland was seriously injured after she got out of her car with the engine still on only for it to run her over three times, police said on Friday.

The 45-year-old had stepped out of her car in a residential area in St Gallen in northeastern Switzerland, probably in order to get something out of the boot, regional police said, according to the Swiss news agency ATS.

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Russia’s Wagner Group opens defence tech centre in St Petersburg

Opening is latest step by private militia’s owner Yevgeny Prigozhin in taking a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy

Russia’s Wagner Group – the once-secretive private militia controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin – has opened a military technology centre in St Petersburg, in the latest move by the Putin ally who has criticised the Kremlin’s defence top brass over the Ukraine conflict.

The opening of the “Wagner Centre” on Friday is seen as another step by Prigozhin to publicise his military credentials and take a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy.

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Infosys still operating from Russia eight months after saying it was pulling out

Exclusive: Indian firm from which Rishi Sunak’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends retains staffed Moscow office

The Indian IT services company Infosys from which the prime minister’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends is still operating from Moscow eight months after the company said it was pulling out.

The company retains a staffed office and is paying subcontractors in the Russian capital to carry out IT services for a global client although a spokesperson said they were looking to end that arrangement.

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Vladimir Putin says civilians must be evacuated from Kherson war zone

Russia digs in against expected attempt by Ukraine to take key southern city, setting scene for possible ferocious battle

Vladimir Putin has warned that civilians still living in the Ukrainian province of Kherson, which Russia declared in September it had annexed, must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone.

“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” the Russian president said during a meeting with pro-Kremlin activists.

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Russia-Ukraine war: 24-hour curfew imposed in Kherson as Putin calls for people to leave city – as it happened

This live blog has now closed, you can find more of our Ukraine coverage here

Nine Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones were shot down last night, according to the Ukrainian military.

“Our air defence forces shot down 3 ‘Shahed-136’ UAVs,” the latest report from Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces reads.

We have invited the IAEA to check, we have given them full freedom of action at the relevant facilities, and we have clear and irrefutable evidence that no one in Ukraine has created or is creating any dirty bombs,” he said.

The only thing that is dirty in our region now is the heads of those in Moscow who, unfortunately, seized control of the Russian state and are terrorising Ukraine and the whole world.”

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