Human rights groups say there have been no autopsies or identification of the 23 people killed trying to cross into Spain
Seconds after Mohamed stepped on to Spanish soil, he turned around to see how his friends had fared along the metres-high chain link fence that slices off the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco.
“It was horrible,” said the 20-year-old from Sudan. “It was a bloodbath; many of them appeared dead and many were injured.”
Continue reading...Russian ministry of defence says withdrawal is goodwill gesture to facilitate grain exports, and asks that Ukraine demine its coastal waters
The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said that one of the reasons that Russia was able to invade Ukraine was because of underspending on defence in Europe.
Appearing on Sky News, she said:
I’ve been very clear that the entire free world, the western alliance, does need to focus more on deterrence. We need to focus more on defence. And what we know is prevention is better than cure.
The lesson that Putin learned from underspending on defence was that he could invade a sovereign nation, and we simply can’t let our guard down again, we can’t allow that to happen again.
I would say that we need a full range of capabilities to deal with the threats that we face now. Whether those are cyber threats, whether those are land-based threats, naval threats, and we have the balance right. But of course we need to continue to evolve, because we’re seeing, you know, we never expected in our lifetimes to see this kind of war on in Europe.
We’ve seen the systematic rape of women. We’ve seen the attacking of civilians, including at the shopping centre this week. And what we need to make sure is not only are the Ukrainians successful in pushing Russia out of Ukraine, but also that people are held to account for these appalling crimes that have been committed.
I’ve not met Vladimir Putin. I do not know the motivations for carrying out this appalling war. All I know is that we have to make it our absolute priority to stop this war, to push Vladimir Putin and the Russian troops out of Ukraine, otherwise we will live in a much less safe Europe.
Continue reading...Nato says Moscow ‘most direct threat’ to security; Putin warns over installing military infrastructure in Finland and Sweden
Continue reading...PM says mark will be reached by end of decade as UK needs to adapt to more dangerous world
Boris Johnson has said the UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of this decade, after a cabinet row over defence spending and claims the government would ditch a key manifesto commitment on the issue.
Speaking at the end of the Nato conference in Madrid, the prime minister said: “We need to invest for the long term in vital capabilities like future combat air, while simultaneously adapting to a more dangerous and more competitive world.
Continue reading...Hungarian leader was criticised by Xavier Bettel in 2021 for introducing homophobic law
The dozens of invitees were carefully seated along the lengthy table, flanked by columns fashioned out of Bagnères marble and surrounded by paintings from Spain’s Francisco de Goya.
As photos of the Nato dinner at Spain’s royal palace filtered out, many were swift to spot what one Spanish news site described as the image of the summit: the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, seated next to Gauthier Destenay, the first same-sex spouse of a leader of an EU member state.
Continue reading...Former F1 chief calls Russian president ‘first-class person’ in GMB interview and blames war on Zelenskiy
Formula One has sought to distance itself from remarks made by its former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who said he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and described him as “a first-class person”.
Ecclestone, who reportedly has been friends with Putin since the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided if the latter’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had done more.
Continue reading...Winning back vital Black Sea island could weaken any future Russia coastal land attack
Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Russia portrayed the pullout from Snake Island off the port city of Odesa as a “goodwill gesture.” Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Ukraine says at least three people killed and five wounded after eight missiles hit southern city of Mykolaiv
More on the attack in Mykolaiv, in Ukraine’s south, near the Black Sea:
Reuters is also reporting that further east, in Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, a key battleground in Russia’s assault on the industrial heartland of Donbas, the governor reported increased military action.
Continue reading...Analysis: deal between Biden and Erdoğan is sealed in Madrid after Nordic countries vow to control support for Kurdish terrorism
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, immediately started to reap the rewards for lifting the block on allowing Sweden and Finland to join Nato when the Biden administration said it backed the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Speaking at a briefing call on Wednesday, Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary for defence for international security affairs at the Pentagon, told reporters that strong Turkish defence capabilities would reinforce Nato’s defences.
Continue reading...EU chief says UK and EU are ‘natural allies’ against Russian aggression and repeats criticism of Northern Ireland protocol bill
A senior EU official has urged Boris Johnson’s government to move on from Brexit and work with the bloc in the face of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission’s vice-president who is in charge of UK relations, repeated his criticism of the government’s “illegal” plan to rip up parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, two days after the bill cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons.
Continue reading...144 Ukrainian soldiers have been released, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol
Ukraine has announced the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
“This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion,” said Ukrainian military intelligence in a Telegram message on Wednesday. “Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders.”
Continue reading...Abdeslam was only survivor of 10-man terrorist unit that struck in city, killing 130 people, in 2015
Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the 10-man unit that carried out coordinated terror attacks in Paris in 2015, has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to full life in prison, the toughest sentence available under French law.
Abdeslam, 32, a Brussels-born French citizen, was found guilty of taking part in the series of bombings and shootings across the French capital, which killed 130 people and injured more than 490.
Continue reading...Foreign ministry accuses Nato of ‘focusing on efforts to destabilise Russian society’
Russian officials have reacted angrily to Nato’s offer of membership to Finland and Sweden, calling it a “destabilising” effort that will increase tensions in the region.
“We condemn the irresponsible course of the North Atlantic Alliance that is ruining the European architecture, or what’s left of it,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Defence minister blames Coalition for submarine delay; NSW parliamentary inquiry into Barilaro appointment begins; David Hurley apologises for promoting builder; Chris Bowen addresses National Press Club; NSW records 11 Covid deaths, Tasmania one. Follow live
Turnbull says Albanese ‘is not Scott Morrison and that’s a big advantage’
Australia’s new prime minister will have an easier time mending relations with the French “because he is not Scott Morrison and that’s a big advantage”, the former leader Malcolm Turnbull has told journalists in Paris.
Continue reading...President Zelenskiy has urged G7 leaders to urgently send more heavy weapons to Ukraine to bring the war to an end before winter. But, as Dan Sabbagh reports, there is no clear resolution in sight
World leaders are gathering in Madrid today for the Nato conference, and one issue will loom above all else: the war in Ukraine. The conflict has been described as the biggest security challenge to the west since 9/11 and, alongside practical considerations of military aid, leaders are desperate to project an image of unity.
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh, who is in Madrid for the conference, has just returned from eastern Ukraine, where he witnessed the relentless shelling of Ukrainian troops. He talks to Michael Safi about a frontline that has come to resemble the battlefields of the first world war.
Continue reading...Prime minister says Russian president’s gender a contributory factor to Ukraine invasion
Boris Johnson has claimed that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he was a woman and believes that the war is a “perfect example of toxic masculinity”.
In an interview with German media following the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, the prime minister cited the Russian president’s gender as a contributory factor to the conflict.
Continue reading...The tournament is understood to have made a rare exception to its dress code, with some players wearing ribbons in solidarity
Wimbledon is abandoning its strict all-white rule for players who want to show solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, it is understood.
Poland’s Iga Świątek, the women’s world No 1, wore a blue and yellow ribbon on her cap today in a sign of unity with Ukraine. The Ukrainian players Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina are also expected to wear ribbons when they come up against each other on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Ankara had previously blocked the Nordic countries from joining the alliance over concerns about arms exports and terrorism
A last minute agreement has been reached between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to allow the two Nordic countries to become Nato members on the eve of the military alliance’s summit in Madrid.
Nato said a trilateral deal had been reached at a meeting between Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, in the Spanish capital.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and Liz Truss among those saying Ukraine war highlights potential Chinese threat to Taiwan
Boris Johnson and his ministers are going into the Nato summit with fresh warnings that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the need for extra vigilance and caution over potential Chinese action against Taiwan.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, who is joining the prime minister at the Nato gathering in Madrid, was most explicit, calling for faster action to help Taiwan with defensive weapons, a key requirement for Ukraine since the invasion.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, we will be returning in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments.
The Ukrainian authorities of Mariupol have posted a message from the city’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, expressing concern for the fate of the elderly in the city under the occupying forces of Russia. It quotes him saying:
People of respectable age were taken care of in Mariupol. They created conditions for them to meet a decent old age. But the Russian occupiers took it away from them. Instead, they are forced to somehow survive without quality medical care, without medication and care. Most of them are children of World War II, for whom the Russian occupiers repeated what the whole world says “never again.” Staying in the city is dangerous for their health, because they will be the first to suffer from infectious outbreaks.
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