Sabtu, 08 Oktober 2022

Donegal explosion: This tiny Irish hamlet, proudly associated with the sound of music, has been left with a 'terrible silence' - Sky News

Creeslough's welcome sign, picked out in gold lettering on a black background, proudly announces that the village is the "home of Bridie Gallagher, the Girl from Donegal", a popular entertainer in the '50s and '60s known as Ireland's first international pop star. 

But in the last 24 hours, this village of just 400 people, in the northwest of Ireland, has become known around the world for a far more tragic and unwelcome reason.

When the Irish prime minister Micheal Martin arrived here this evening, he appeared visibly struck by the eerie, penetrating silence of the scene around the wrecked petrol station.

Yes, dozens of journalists and emergency workers filled the street, but they were muted. Sombre. Unusually at events of this magnitude, there have been very few bystanders at the cordon.

"There's a terrible silence," Mr Martin told reporters. It reflected, he said, the enormity of what has happened here, a "deep sadness".

Read more: Teenage girl among 10 people killed in Ireland petrol station blast is named

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin also pledged support to help the community get through the tragedy

A man who is no stranger to bereavement - he and his wife Mary have lost two children - even he seemed to struggle to find the right words when asked for a message to the grieving families.

"They've lost someone very dear to them", he said before pausing, perhaps remembering something from his personal experience. "That individual life, to each family, means so much. They must be given time and space to grieve, and to come through this."

A couple of birds chirped, and a few boots crunched over the broken glass, but it barely seemed to puncture the gloomy silence. The few locals that came to take a look weren't much in the mood to talk. One woman seemed relieved to hear the death toll was "only" ten people. She had feared it would rise much more dramatically.

Across the road, Siobhan Carr and her tireless staff at The Coffee Pod doled out hot drinks, vegetable soup, hearty ham and cheese sandwiches and delicate cupcakes to exhausted emergency workers and volunteers, all free of charge.

The Coffee Pod gave out drinks to the emergency services workers
Image: The Coffee Pod gave out drinks to emergency services workers
Pic: North West Newspix
Image: Pic: North West Newspix

They refused point-blank to take payment from the media, sheepish at the Donegal generosity being extended to them.

It's hard to imagine how exactly the village recovers from this. It's thought, police told us, that all the dead and injured are from the locality. Almost every family here will know someone dead or injured.

Ireland's deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar reflected on a "freak accident that has left many empty chairs at dinner tables. It is just too hard to fathom."

It would be hard to fathom in a large village, harder still in a village of just a few hundred.

A tiny Irish hamlet proudly associated with the sound of music, its famous starlet. Now left mute.

A devastating explosion, followed by a terrible silence.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMinQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9kb25lZ2FsLWV4cGxvc2lvbi10aGlzLXRpbnktaXJpc2gtaGFtbGV0LXByb3VkbHktYXNzb2NpYXRlZC13aXRoLXRoZS1zb3VuZC1vZi1tdXNpYy1oYXMtYmVlbi1sZWZ0LXdpdGgtYS10ZXJyaWJsZS1zaWxlbmNlLTEyNzE2MDM00gGhAWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC9kb25lZ2FsLWV4cGxvc2lvbi10aGlzLXRpbnktaXJpc2gtaGFtbGV0LXByb3VkbHktYXNzb2NpYXRlZC13aXRoLXRoZS1zb3VuZC1vZi1tdXNpYy1oYXMtYmVlbi1sZWZ0LXdpdGgtYS10ZXJyaWJsZS1zaWxlbmNlLTEyNzE2MDM0?oc=5

2022-10-08 21:32:39Z
1598996311

Crimean bridge: Excitement and fear in Ukraine after bridge blast - bbc.com

A woman and man pose in front of an artist's impression of the Crimean bridge explosion in Kyiv, UkraineEPA

Ukraine is exploding with excitement this morning.

Videos of the damaged Crimean bridge have spread like wildfire on social media; this is already being compared to the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva in April.

"The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch bridge - two notorious symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea - have gone down," tweeted Ukraine's ministry of defence.

"What's next in line, Russkies?" it went on.

Ukraine's inventive social media activists are gleefully pumping out memes to celebrate the occasion.

And Ukraine's second largest bank, Monobank, says it has already issued a new debit card design featuring the collapsed bridge.

Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council, wasn't the only one noting that the attack came just a day after Vladimir Putin's 70th birthday, tweeting a video of the damaged bridge next to Marilyn Monroe's famous performance of Happy Birthday, Mr President from 1962.

The sense of excitement is palpable.

Coming on the back of weeks of mostly good news from the battlefront, where Ukrainian forces continue to take back territory seized by Russia back in February and March, the sight of the crippled, burning bridge is a massive additional boost to morale.

How was this done? Any number of theories are doing the rounds - from a Ukrainian special forces operation to the work of partisans in Crimea, a missile strike, or even a suicide bomb.

"This is a masterpiece of clandestine sabotage," a former senior British army explosives expert told me.

"A well-planned attack from below may have been the cause," he said.

"With structural demolition, you always plan a 'collapse mechanism' which lets the weight of the structure do the majority of the work."

Two women pose with the Ukrainian flag in front of the artwork in central Kyiv, Ukraine
EPA

Ukrainian officials are giving little away, happy to apply the same level of ambiguity that followed a mysterious attack on the Russian airbase in Crimea in August.

But the attacks on the Saky base and the bridge are all part of the same wider effort: to undermine Russia's ability to use Crimea as a launch pad for its war in southern Ukraine.

The road and railway bridges are vital links in Russia's supply chain. Without them, Moscow will find it even harder to send troops and equipment to repel Ukraine's offensive north of Kherson.

Kyiv is also saying to Moscow: Crimea is ours and eventually we are going to take it back.

For all the giddy delight ricocheting across social media, some Ukrainians are anxious.

This morning, we left the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is still in shock after Russian missile attacks on Thursday, which left at least 17 civilians dead.

People there suspect that they are being punished by Russia as Moscow lashes out after its recent military failures. They fear the coming days may bring more.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1ldXJvcGUtNjMxODM0MDnSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQtZXVyb3BlLTYzMTgzNDA5LmFtcA?oc=5

2022-10-08 19:26:37Z
1599699937

Thai nursery attack: The story of the three-year-old survivor - bbc.co.uk

Emmy, sole survivor of school shooting

Three-year-old Emmy was napping next to her best friend at a day-care centre in northern Thailand when the attacker broke in, armed with a gun and a knife.

The class of 11 children, all around three years old, had earlier been busy drawing and writing. At around 10:00 local time, teachers sent photo updates to all the parents of smiling, happy children.

Two hours later, at nap time, former police officer Panya Kamrab stormed the building. Witnesses said he first shot staff, including a teacher who was eight months pregnant, before forcing his way into each of the three kindergarten classrooms.

He murdered all of Emmy's friends as they slept.

It is unclear how she survived. She was found awake, curled up next to the bodies of her classmates.

"She had no idea what was happening when she woke up," her 59-year-old grandfather Somsak Srithong tells me from the family home.

"She thought that her friends were still asleep. A police officer covered her face with a cloth and carried her away from all the blood."

Short presentational grey line

Rescuers took Emmy to the second floor to shield her from the horror. They then combed the other two classes, desperately hoping to find others alive.

She is the only child to live through the massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu on Thursday. In total 37 people died - including the wife and stepson of the attacker - and 24 of the dead are children.

"I feel very grateful that she survived. I held her so tight when I first saw her," says Somsak.

Emmy's mother, 35-year-old Panompai Srithong, works in Bangkok during the week. She had been told that all of the children at the centre had died, and needed to be convinced her daughter was still alive.

"I finally got a video call with Emmy and was filled with blessed relief," she says.

This small town is filled with grieving families, and for the first few days, Emmy's grandparents struggled to know what to tell her.

We talk quietly as she plays with her favourite Hello Kitty wellington boots in the garden. She keeps asking after her best friend, three-year-old Pattarawut, who was also known as Taching.

They always napped together with their feet touching. She also loved the day care centre and wanted to be just like her teachers.

"Her grandmother finally told her that her school friends had all died, along with her teacher, and the day care centre is closed," her mum says.

"She just wants to go to school every day. We have to keep telling her the school is closed down. She is too young to understand the concept of death."

Buddhist funeral rites and prayers for the victims are taking place at several temples in the town to mark the start of three days of mourning.

The motive for the attack is not yet known, but police said Kamrab was fired from his job in June for drug use.

This small rural town in north-eastern Thailand is trying to support the anguished families in their grief. But many are also asking about the widespread availability of deadly weapons and the country's pervasive problem with drugs.

"Parents are asking: 'Where is a safe place for their children?' I'm so sad and I beg that any authority would strengthen our safety," pleads Emmy's uncle Veerachai Srithong.

line

More on the Thai nursery killings

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWFzaWEtNjMxODYyOTLSAQA?oc=5

2022-10-08 13:32:53Z
1593925668

Jumat, 07 Oktober 2022

Ukraine round-up: Nobel peace prize and Putin's fading dreams - BBC

Staff at the Centre for Civil Liberties celebrate winning the Nobel Peace PrizeGetty Images

In what has been viewed by many as a rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Belarusian activist and two groups from Russia and Ukraine have been given the Nobel Peace Prize for championing human rights and democracy.

The Nobel Committee said the prize was "not awarded against anyone".

Belarusian Ales Bialiatsky, who is being held in prison without trial, is the founder of a human rights centre which supports people jailed for protesting against the country's authorities. We have this profile of him.

Memorial is a Russian human rights group, disbanded last year by authorities.

And the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties (CCL) documents persecution by Russian forces in Ukraine.

line

Exiled Russian journalists

On a similar theme, BBC Monitoring's Jennifer Monaghan has spoken to journalists who fled Russia after facing threats over their reporting on Ukraine.

Almost all of Russia's leading independent media outlets are now based abroad.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

line

Putin's dream of Russian victory slipping away

Analysis box by Sarah Rainsford, Moscow correspondent

Even as Russia's president signed his illegal annexation treaties in the Kremlin, Ukrainian forces were advancing inside the areas he had just seized.

Hundreds of thousands of men have been fleeing Russia rather than be drafted to fight in an expanding war.

And things are going so badly on the battlefield that Mr Putin and his loyalists are now reframing what they once claimed was the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine and the protection of Russian speakers as an existential fight against the entire "collective" West.

That is the truth and none of it is on Russia's side.

line

Zelensky: Russians being prepared for nuclear war

Ukraine's President Zelensky speaks with the BBC's John Simpson

Following the latest series of warnings and threats over nuclear war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian officials have begun to "prepare their society" for the possible use of nuclear weapons, but he adds that he does not believe Russia is ready to use them.

In an interview in Kyiv with the BBC's John Simpson and Hugo Bachega, he said: "They are not ready to do it, to use it. But they begin to communicate. They don't know whether they'll use or not use it."

"I think it's dangerous to even speak about it," he added.

He also called for further sanctions on Russia.

line

Europe's energy crisis

A woman turns the heating down
Getty Images

Europe is continuing to prepare for an energy crisis in winter over a drop in Russian gas supplies since the invasion of Ukraine.

People will be told to turn their heating down by one degree, and off for an extra hour a day, while the heating in public buildings will also be reduced.

Meanwhile in the UK, the prime minister's office has blocked a plan to encourage household energy-saving.

line

Putin's unusual birthday present

We're not sure if a tractor was Mr Putin's dream gift when he turned 70 on Friday, but that didn't stop his Belarusian ally, Alexander Lukashenko, whose country boasts a tractor works.

A Belarusian tractor
Getty Images

Mr Lukashenko was visiting his fellow strongman's home city, St Petersburg, for talks.

Some social media users noted the irony of such a gift: the humble tractor became an early symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion after farmers were seen towing away abandoned military vehicles.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiMGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWV1cm9wZS02MzE3NzYzNdIBNGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWV1cm9wZS02MzE3NzYzNS5hbXA?oc=5

2022-10-07 20:33:32Z
1585669392

UK energy crisis will be worse next year than this year, expert warns - Daily Mail

Think this winter's energy crisis will be bad? Next year's will be WORSE: As Britons are warned of blackouts, expert says we'll be harder-hit than Germany and the crisis could last YEARS

  • Britain has been warned of blackouts this winter if conditions turn harsh, after Russia cut off gas to Europe 
  • But expert has told MailOnline that next winter will be tougher, after we burn through stockpiled gas supply 
  • Britain is potentially in a worse position than Germany - which was hugely reliant on Russian supplies - because our economy uses more gas overall and we buy a lot of it from Europe 
  • And crisis may continue for up to a decade until transfer from fossil fuels to renewables is complete, he adds 

Amidst warnings of three-day blackouts and industry shut-downs in Britain if the months ahead turn particularly cold, you might be forgiven for thinking that this is the winter of our discontent.

Well, think again. 

James Rogers, co-founder of the think-tank Council on Geostrategy, has warned MailOnline that next winter actually looks bleaker. He explains that we will have burned through our gas stockpiles by then and won't be able to refill them using cheap Russian imports, because we've sanctioned them.

And, despite this country's relatively low reliance on gas directly from Russia, he believes we are likely facing a harder time than Germany - which was hugely dependent on Kremlin fuel before Putin cut the supply - because we depend on gas for more of our total energy use. 

The solution is to swap away from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear, he argues, but such a project may take a decade to complete and Europe'e energy supply will remain vulnerable until then. 

'In Germany the problem is quite extreme but it is mostly a political problem, because gas provides only around 15% of their power needs,' he explained. That means Germany can make up the shortfall from sources such as nuclear and coal - provided the government can get the militant green lobby on side.

Whereas in the UK 'we have become just so dependent on gas,' Mr Rodgers adds. 'We have come to rely on gas for over 40% of our power needs. The problem here is that North Sea supplies have been drying up since the late 1990s, forcing us to buy more from the world market. 

'But due to Russia's aggression, Europe is competing with us to buy up gas internationally.'

Top: A heat map shows how dependent each country is on gas for its energy, which is also shown in the table bottom left. Bottom right, a second table shows how much of that gas each country gets from Russia
While Britain imports almost none of its gas directly from Russia, we do import a lot from Europe - which is running short after Putin turned off the taps. And we rely on gas for a greater share of our energy than almost any other European nation

Mr Rogers is of the belief that the energy crisis this year should be manageable under reasonable-case scenarios. But next winter, he argues, will be a different story.

That's because most European storage was filled this year using gas bought from Russia, before supplies were placed under sanction and Putin turned the taps off.

Come next spring, a lot of that stored gas will have been burned and the continent won't be able to fall back on Russia as a supplier of last resort. The US, where fracking has led to a plentiful supply, will try to make up some of the shortfall by liquefying it and shipping it across the Atlantic in special cargo vessels. 

Gulf states, the other big exporters of liquid gas, have so-far proved unwilling or unable to increase supplies. 

But most European countries lack the highly-specialised ports needed to receive the liquid gas, and don't have the pipe networks in place to get it from the few ports they do have to countries where it is needed.

He added: 'Due to its storage capacity, the EU is in a situation where it can probably see out this winter, but what about next winter when the storages have run out? 

'At the moment there aren’t enough [liquid gas] facilities in Poland, Germany, or the Baltics to import it. We need to be opening up gas fields in North Sea, improving connectivity between Atlantic Coast and Central Europe and building more processing facilities in the Baltics and southern Europe so gas can come from the US and the Gulf. 

'It can be done but it is going to require a strong political and economic effort. 

'Countries in Central Europe are all pretty firmly allied, it would be politically difficult for any of them to start buying Russian gas again - with the exception of Hungary. 

'It remains to be seen whether countries in Western and Southern Europe will crack, including Germany, particularly if there is a particularly cold winter. If a significant recession bites then it will increase pressure.

Europe is criss-crossed by gas pipes running from Russia, but Nord Stream 1 and 2 are out of action after being hit by explosions, Yarmal was turned off after Poland refused to pay Russian in rubles, and Russia is now threatening to shut down the Transgas line that runs through Ukraine

'There is no quick, easy fix. It is politically and economically costly no matter what solution you come to and that cost will keep going up.'

And, under the UK's government's current plans, it is households that will bear the cost because it will be paid for out of general taxation.

Mr Rogers also predicts that it could be up to a decade for the crisis to be fully resolved if the UK follows EU plans to switch to renewables. And even then, the plan could face problems.

That's because renewables aren't reliable. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. There has to be some backup built into the system that can be quickly and easily turned on and off to cover shortfalls.

Mr Rogers says: 'That's where things like small, modular nuclear reactors come in. In theory, you could have one in every city to make up for the shortfalls.

'Fracking is potentially a short-term solution to the problem's we're facing, but we're a small country with a dense population. It shouldn't be discounted but it can't be seen as a long-term solution.'

Whatever the long-term solution is, Europe looks set to pay a high price for decades of over-reliance on Russian energy over the short and medium term. Having missing opportunities to wean ourselves off the supply, we must now face the reality of having to go cold turkey.

That legacy is partly an accident. Huge parts of what is now Europe - Poland, the Baltics, and Ukraine - found themselves reliant on Russian energy supplies after the Soviet Union collapsed.

But it was also the result of deliberate policy-making, particularly in West German where the theory of Ostpolitik - 'eastern policy' - took hold in the late 1960s and sought rapprochement instead of conflict with the eastern bloc.

The theory was that, instead of out-competing the Communists in East Germany and beyond, the best way to win them over was through cooperation and trade that would convince them to change their ways.

Russia has cut most gas supplies to Europe: The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipes (file) shut down before suffering an attack that has rendered them inoperable. The Yarmal pipe has been closed off, and Moscow is threatening to close another in Ukraine

A particularly fruitful avenue for trade was in energy: West Germany needed gas, Russia had it in abundance, so pipelines were built and the supplies started flowing in the early 1980s.

That policy continued through the 1990s and deepened even further with the advent of the environmentalist movement, because burning gas emits less carbon that other fossil fuels and was seen as a useful stop-gap between coal-fired power stations and renewables.

Britain largely avoided becoming linked into Russian pipeline networks because during this period we were supplying almost all our own energy from gas and oil reserves in the North Sea.

But, as the North Sea fields dried up in the 2000s, we steadily became more reliant on imports from Europe - buying from the likes of Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. 

Until February, when Putin invaded Ukraine using billions of dollars gained from Russia's energy exports to finance his war, European policy was actually geared towards becoming even more dependent on gas from Moscow.

The huge Nord Stream 2 pipe connecting Russia with Germany had just been completed and only awaited a sign-off from Berlin to begin pumping, which would have doubled the amount of gas flowing under the Baltic Sea.

But Chancellor Scholz ruled out opening the pipe almost as soon as Russian troops crossed the border - and it has since suffered an underwater sabotage attack which German engineers believe may have put it out of action permanently. Nord Stream 1, the other pipe running to Germany, was also blown up.

While Russia does still have some pipelines running into Europe - through Poland, Ukraine and Turkey - they have only a fraction of the capacity, and the Polish line was turned off earlier this year after the government refused to pay Putin in rubles. The Kremlin is also threatening to turn off the Ukraine pipe.

All of which means there is no easy way back for European governments, even if they wanted to, and they are now having to rush forward with plans that would otherwise have taken decades to play out.

While few doubt that the result will be beneficial - greater energy security for Europe from more-sustainable sources that do less damage to the environment - the adjustment is likely to be brutal.

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtMTEyODc4NDMvVUstZW5lcmd5LWNyaXNpcy13b3JzZS15ZWFyLXllYXItZXhwZXJ0LXdhcm5zLmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5

2022-10-07 12:58:51Z
1584730821

Kamis, 06 Oktober 2022

Thailand shooting: 38 killed by ex-policeman in nursery gun and knife attack - The Times

Twenty-four young children, some aged only two, were among 38 people shot and stabbed to death by a former police officer who went on a rampage at a nursery school in Thailand yesterday.

Video of the aftermath of the attack showed parents wailing and hugging each other after rushing to the scene of the atrocity in a small community in Nong Bua Lamphu province in the rural northeast. Hours earlier, they had dropped off their toddlers for the day at the pre-school centre, a pink, single- storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees, in Uthai Sawan, 310 miles northeast of Bangkok.

The gunman — identified as Panya Khamrab, 34, — fled in his car after the massacre, running down more people and

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXRpbWVzLmNvLnVrL2FydGljbGUvdGhhaWxhbmQtc2hvb3RpbmctYXR0YWNrLXNjaG9vbC1udXJzZXJ5LXM5amNkZnoyctIBAA?oc=5

2022-10-06 18:35:00Z
1593925668

EU and Norway agree 'joint tools' to tackle Europe's gas crisis - Financial Times

Norway and the EU have agreed to “jointly develop tools” aimed at reducing Europe’s high gas prices, as Brussels rushes to find both effective and politically acceptable measures to tackle a looming energy crisis this winter.

Oslo said it would work with Brussels to “stabilise energy markets and limit the impact of market manipulation and of price volatility”, in a move that could spur efforts to narrow EU divisions on how to tackle soaring prices caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Norway, which replaced Russia as the EU’s biggest supplier of gas after the invasion, said it would continue to boost production and take steps “to reduce excessively high prices in a meaningful way in the short and longer term”, in a joint statement released by Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Oslo’s pledge came as a meeting of 44 leaders in Prague on Thursday aimed at showing a united front against Russia’s war was overshadowed by rifts inside the EU on whether to impose a price cap on wholesale gas.

That initiative is opposed by countries including Germany and the Netherlands which fear it could result in lower supplies as producers secure higher prices elsewhere. Arriving at the Prague summit, Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said “it cannot be the case that the EU’s energy policy is dictated by Germany”.

Støre used his speech to the summit plenary to say Oslo had “flexibility” to increase exports and that it was “ready to explore” EU proposals, according to two people briefed on his remarks.

Kaja Kallas, prime minister of Estonia, said EU states would on Friday discuss the wider implications of Norway’s commitment, adding that Tallinn is keen to bring down prices but also afraid of driving away suppliers.

“[Liquefied natural gas] can go to anywhere in the world. So if there is a price cap, then our security of supply could be in danger,” she told the Financial Times.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 6 2022
France’s president Emmanuel Macron, left, talks with Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, centre, at the meeting in Prague, Czech Republic © Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty Images

Proposed by Paris as a means to co-ordinate views from Lisbon to Ankara, the European Political Community grouping saw UK prime minister Liz Truss and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan huddle with the EU’s 27 leaders and those from 15 other states.

Ahead of the meeting, Truss said it was a chance to “find common cause with our European friends and allies” as they try to defeat Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Moscow and its client state Belarus are the only two continental powers that were not invited to the forum, which will discuss other issues such as European defence.

The participation of Truss was seen by many EU officials as a sign that London could be open to compromise over trading arrangements that have dogged the post-Brexit relationship.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, hailed the event as “extremely important”. The meeting would “try to renew the co-ordination and co-operation in order to have more stability, more security, more peace”, he said.

As he arrived at Prague castle, Emmanuel Macron, president of France, said the summit sent a “message of unity”, but went on to criticise the planned gas pipeline connecting Spain and France, which Germany wants to see built in order to access the Iberian gas market.

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz maintained his position on Berlin’s €200bn energy aid package, saying on his way into the meeting that other countries were also passing measures to offer relief to citizens struggling with energy bills.

While British officials were keen to steer clear of Brexit, Mark Rutte, prime minister of Netherlands, told reporters on Thursday: “The relationship between the UK and the EU will be on the agenda.”

The UK and EU have agreed to restart technical talks over trade arrangements in Northern Ireland that could solve the dispute. London’s non-compliance with the deal it signed has triggered legal action by Brussels.

But the UK’s commitment to the EPC could wane if there are not concrete achievements, British officials have said.

One ally of Truss said: “The PM remains sceptical for a number of reasons — it can’t just be a talking shop, it needs to not cut across Nato and the G7, and must have strong involvement from non-EU countries. It has to show it can deliver.

“But given the situation in Ukraine and the energy crisis it’s right we attend. We played a huge role in setting the agenda on energy and migration.”

Truss’s key demand is that the EU and Norway keep supplying power to the UK.

Truss has also said she wanted joint action with France and the Netherlands to stop criminal gangs helping migrants cross the English Channel. She was scheduled to meet Macron and Rutte on the margins of the summit.

EU leaders are staying on for an informal European Council meeting on Friday, which is likely to focus on the energy crisis.

Additional reporting by George Parker in London and Valentina Pop in Prague

Adblock test (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzVlMzg2Y2MzLTQ2M2QtNDQxNy1hZmRmLTdjMTAwOWJjOTQ4YtIBAA?oc=5

2022-10-06 15:40:53Z
CAIiEGqDvBTs4l_ERyzLNc1Q-GEqFwgEKg8IACoHCAow-4fWBzD4z0gw0tp6