Russia buying millions of rockets and shells from North Korea, US intelligence says

Official says deal shows Russia continues to face supply shortages as invasion of Ukraine grinds on

Russia is buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a newly declassified US intelligence finding.

A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that the fact Russia’s defence ministry had turned to Pyongyang demonstrated that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”.

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Russian journalist Ivan Safronov sentenced to 22 years in prison

Reporter handed a record sentence for trumped-up treason charges that shocked supporters inside the court

A Russian court has sentenced the journalist Ivan Safronov to 22 years in prison on trumped-up treason charges, a record sentence that has shocked friends and supporters who gathered in court on Monday to protest against his imprisonment.

Safronov, a former defence reporter for the Kommersant and Vedomosti dailies, was tried on secret evidence. But case files revealed by Proekt showed that much of the case against him came from public data in his articles and alleged ties to foreigners that were not backed up by evidence.

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Instagram owner Meta fined €405m over handling of teens’ data

Penalty follows investigation into Instagram setting that allowed teenagers to set up accounts that displayed contact details

Instagram owner Meta has been fined €405m (£349m) by the Irish data watchdog for letting teenagers set up accounts that publicly displayed their phone numbers and email addresses.

The Data Protection Commission confirmed the penalty after a two-year investigation into potential breaches of the European Union’s general data protection regulation (GDPR).

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Germany to delay phase-out of nuclear plants to shore up energy security

Last two working plants were due to be mothballed, but will be used as emergency reserve into 2023 after Russia cuts off gas

Germany is to temporarily halt the phasing-out of two nuclear power plants in an effort to shore up energy security after Russia cut supplies of gas to Europe’s largest economy.

The economy minister, Robert Habeck, announced on Monday that the power plants, Neckarwestheim in Baden Württemberg and Isar 2 in Bavaria, are to be kept running longer than planned in order to be used as an emergency reserve until the middle of next year.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine says it has pushed Russian forces back near Kramatorsk; last Zaporizhzhia reactor disconnected after Russian shelling – as it happened

Operator Energoatom says last transmission line cut because of a fire caused by shelling; EU and Ukraine sign aid deal

European gas prices rocketed as much as 30% on Monday after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely, stoking renewed fears about shortages and gas rationing in the EU this winter.

Reuters reports:

The benchmark gas price surged as high as 272 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) when the market opened after Russia said on Friday that a leak in Nord Stream 1 pipeline equipment meant it would stay shut beyond last week’s three-day maintenance halt.

The Dutch TTF October gas contract had eased to 256 euros, up 23% on the day by 0723 GMT but almost 400% higher than a year ago. This year’s price surge has squeezed struggling already consumers and forced some industries to halt production.

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‘The world is so quick to pull the trigger of judgment’: Colin Farrell praises ‘discourse’ over cancel culture

Actor speaks ahead of Venice premiere of the Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites him with Martin McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson for first time since In Bruges

Discourse and the exchange of ideas are a “gorgeous thing” in a world that’s “quick to pull the trigger of judgment” and cancel people, actor Colin Farrell has said.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the premiere of Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin in Venice, the actor spoke passionately about how the film could act as a counter to today’s “information age” that “takes us away from the intimacy that’s required and interests that are needed to exist”.

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Eight go on trial in France over Bastille Day truck attack in Nice

Seven men and one woman accused of helping gunman who drove a vehicle into crowds, killing 86 people

Seven men and one woman have gone on trial over the 2016 Bastille day attack in Nice, when a gunman drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd gathered to watch fireworks on the Riviera seafront, killing 86 people and injuring more than 400.

The attack – the second most deadly massacre in peacetime France – happened eight months after the Paris attacks on bars, restaurants, the national stadium and Bataclan concert hall, which killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State.

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Over-consumption and drought reduce lake in vital Spanish wetland to puddle

Experts and environmentalists say aquifer feeding Doñana national park, a Unesco heritage site, has been overexploited for tourism and to water fruit farms

The largest permanent lake in Spain’s Doñana national park, one of Europe’s biggest and most important wetlands, has shrivelled to a small puddle as years of drought and overexploitation take their toll on the aquifer that feeds the area and sustains millions of migrating birds.

On Monday, experts from Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) said the Santa Olalla lake, which sits in a Unesco world heritage site, had dried up for the third time in 50 years.

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Russia will not resume gas supplies to Europe until sanctions lifted, says Moscow

Kremlin blames western sanctions for failure to deliver gas through Nord Stream 1 pipeline

Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said, as concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions “introduced against our country by western countries including Germany and the UK” for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

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Ukraine offensive prompts Kherson separatists to ‘pause’ poll on joining Russia

Russian state news agency says referendum plans on hold as Ukrainian attacks on key bridge over Dnieper River put pressure on troops

Russia-appointed officials in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine say they are “pausing” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia because of attacks by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine last week said it had launched offensives in several directions in the southern region but has since released few details and continues to insist on a “regime of silence” for strategic reasons.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.

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Two Russians among those killed in suicide attack near Kabul embassy

Moscow says two embassy staff killed and several people injured, as Afghan official says attacker was shot dead

A suicide bomber struck near the Russian embassy in Kabul, killing two staff from the diplomatic mission and wounding several other people, the foreign ministry in Moscow has said.

In the first attack targeting a foreign mission since the Taliban seized power in August last year, the bomber struck on Monday near the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.

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Cost of living crisis: what governments around the world are doing to help

From cancelling student loan debt to raising minimum wage, different strategies aim to reduce effects of soaring prices

The Covid pandemic, soaring food and fuel prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have dealt a triple blow to people around the world. Here is a look at what governments are doing to try to help citizens and companies weather the cost of living crisis.

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Gas prices likely to hit new highs as Russia shuts pipeline indefinitely

More UK manufacturers are cutting production or making job cuts as result of ‘out of control’ energy bills

Analysts are expecting gas prices to surge to record highs this week after Russia shut down a key pipeline to Europe.

At the same time, a growing number of UK manufacturers have said they are already cutting production or making job cuts as a direct result of “out of control” energy bills.

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Police name three young siblings killed in violent incident in Dublin

Lisa Cash, 18, and twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley, eight, killed in incident at house in Tallaght as man in his 20s arrested

Irish police have named the three young siblings who died after a violent incident at a house in Dublin.

They said that Lisa Cash, 18, and eight-year-old twins Chelsea and Christy Cawley died at a property in the Rossfield estate in Tallaght. Police were called there at about 12.30am on Sunday.

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Russian journalist facing 24-year jail term for treason refuses to sign ‘confession’

Ivan Safronov could be handed record sentence after being tried on secret evidence behind closed doors

Moments before the journalist Ivan Safronov was told he would be facing 24 years in prison, a Russian prosecutor offered him a deal.

Sign a confession, she said during a final courtroom break, and she would recommend a 12-year sentence instead. Safronov answered immediately.

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Thousands gather at ‘Czech Republic First’ rally over energy crisis

Around 70,000 demonstrators demand new gas deal with Russia and end to sanctions over war in Ukraine

The Czech Republic is facing an autumn of discontent after an estimated 70,000 demonstrators gathered in Prague to protest at soaring energy bills and demand an end to sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Far-right and extreme-left elements coalesced at a “Czech Republic First” rally to call for a new agreement with Moscow over gas supplies and a halt to the sending of arms to Ukraine, while urging the centre-right government of the prime minister, Petr Fiala, to resign.

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Mystery of US archaeologist’s Irish disappearance to be examined on TV

Many Inishbofin islanders believe Arthur Kingsley Porter did not drown, but faked his death

When Arthur Kingsley Porter vanished from the remote island of Inishbofin off Ireland’s Atlantic coast in 1933 it made the front page of the New York Times. “Archaeologist lost from boat in storm,” said the headline.

The inquest – the first in Ireland without a body – concluded the prominent Harvard university academic had in fact stumbled from a cliff while out walking and been washed away in a freak accident.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 193 of the invasion

Zelenskiy urges EU to prepare fresh sanctions; Russia hits multiple residential targets in Mykolaiv

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pushed the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to prepare a fresh package of sanctions, including a ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens.

Russian forces have hit multiple residential targets in Mykolaiv overnight, according to its governor, Vitaliy Kim. He said homes were damaged, as well as three hospitals, two education facilities, a hotel and a museum. Pictures of the damage are coming through already.

A video showing Russian multiple-launch rocket systems firing from the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been published by the Insider. The footage, taken overnight on Friday into early Saturday morning, shows the missile launchers close to a power unit.

The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, will visit Germany on Sunday – the first high-level Ukrainian official to visit the country in months. The trip is a sign of eased tensions after a rocky patch between Kyiv and Berlin.

Zelenskiy said Russia is using “poverty and political chaos” to attack the lives of all Europeans. In his evening address late on Saturday, the presidentsaid that by stopping the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Russia wanted to “destroy the normal life of every European”.

Russian forces are suffering from “morale and discipline issues” in addition to combat fatigue and high casualties, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. Troops’ main grievances probably continued to be around pay, including the high chance that “sizeable combat bonuses” were not being paid, the latest British intelligence update said.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from its last remaining main power line to the grid and is relying on a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Previously, there had been reports the plant in south-eastern Ukraine had been knocked offline in the early hours of Saturday amid sustained shelling that destroyed a key power line, according to local Russian-backed authorities.

Sweden has said it would provide liquidity guarantees to Nordic and Baltic energy companies worth “billions of dollars” in an effort to prevent a financial crisis sparked by Europe’s energy crunch.

The Russian energy company Gazprom has said Siemens Energy is ready to help repair broken equipment for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, but claimed there was nowhere available for them to carry out the work.

The European Union expects Russia to respect existing energy contracts but is prepared to meet the challenge if it fails to do so, the economic commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, said.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has told Vladimir Putin that his country can play a facilitator role regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, according to his office.

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Fears rise of energy crisis after Russia switches off the gas – again

Shutdown over ‘oil leak’ comes only hours after G7 nations agree to impose a price cap

Fears that Europe could be engulfed by a winter energy crisis reached new heights yesterday after the Russian energy supplier Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows it had imposed through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline into Germany.

The seriousness of the situation is underlined by the fact that Russia kept gas supplies to Europe flowing even at the height of the Cold War. By contrast, the pipeline has now been shut down twice since the Russian invasion of Ukraine: for 10 days in July in addition to the current indefinite closure.

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