Ukraine-Russia war latest: Biden hits out at Putin in Nato summit speech after ‘hell of attack’ on Kyiv hospital - The Independent

Zelensky says China trying to undermine Ukraine peace summit

Support truly
independent journalism

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Editor

Joe Biden said Ukraine “can and will stop” Vladimir Putin as he pledged to forcefully defend the war-hit nation as the Nato summit began in Washington. “Putin wants nothing less, nothing less, than Ukraine’s total subjugation… and to wipe Ukraine off the map,” the US president said about his Russian counterpart in his welcome speech to Nato member states.

The summit, which will mark the 75th anniversary of the Western alliance, begin in Washington DC yesterday. Leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and support for Kyiv at the summit.

Last week, it was revealed Nato allies agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with €40bn ($43bn) over the next year.

Mr Zelensky, who arrived in Washington yesterday and is due to meet with Mr Biden tomorrow, has said Ukraine needed a minimum of seven Patriot systems, a goal met by the fresh deliveries announced last night. “We are fighting for additional security guarantees for Ukraine – and these are weapons and finances, political support,” he said on social media.

1720600823

Death toll in Kyiv rises to 33

The death toll from Russia’s multiple attacks on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday has risen to 33, the state emergency service has announced.

It comes after they found the body of a girl born in 2006 buried beneath the rubble of a destroyed building in the northwest Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv.

Two buildings were destroyed in that district, including the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. The girl’s body was discovered in the second destroyed building.

Tom Watling10 July 2024 09:40

1720599623

Russia attacks energy facility in Ukraine's Rivne region, national grid operator says

Russia-launched drones attacked an energy facility in Ukraine‘s Rivne region, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday.

Fire has been localized at the site and no casualties were reported, according to Rivne regional governor Oleksandr Koval.

The attack caused temporary power cuts for consumers in the region, Ukrenergo said.

Tom Watling10 July 2024 09:20

1720598423

Russian attack on Odesa region kills two, damages port infrastructure, governor says

A Russian missile attack on the Odesa region killed two people and damaged port infrastructure on Wednesday, the region’s governor said.

The attack damaged warehouses, trucks and a civilian ship, the governor said. One person was also injured, he said.

Tom Watling10 July 2024 09:00

1720597223

Here are the latest photos from Ukraine

Good morning.

Below are some of the latest photos coming out of Ukraine.

A Ukrainian soldier makes rehabilitation exercises at a rehabilitation center for Ukrainian soldiers in Ourem, Portugal (AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Washington, DC (AFP via Getty Images)

Oksana Femeniuk shows the backpack of her daughter Solomiia, a day after they survived a Russian missile strike on Okhmatdyt children's hospital, in Kyiv, (AP)

Tom Watling10 July 2024 08:40

1720596023

‘The whole room was covered in blood’: Inside the Russian missile strike on a Kyiv children’s hospital

Tom Watling10 July 2024 08:20

1720594835

A hospital interrupts a teen's dialysis as Kyiv's bombardment shows the cost of improved war tactics

The sky was crystal clear as Oksana Femeniuk took her daughter to Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital for routine dialysis.

Around 10 a.m, air-raid sirens blared. Sixteen-year old Solomiia was undergoing the treatment that required her to sit still for up to five hours and could not be interrupted. Her mother had to flee to the hospital’s basement shelter without her.

Hurtling toward them at 700-800 kilometers (435-497 miles) per hour was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, according to Ukraine’s security service, the United Nations and open-source investigators. Using painstaking trial and error, Russia has modified the weapon over the last year to defeat Ukraine’s air defense systems by flying at low altititude and hugging terrain, according to military analysts.

Arpan Rai10 July 2024 08:00

1720592980

Biden seeks to quell domestic fears over his fitness with Nato address

75 years after 12 countries came together in Washington to sign a historic mutual defense pact in the wake of the Second World War, the president touted the alliance’s progress before leaders representing the 32 treaty signatories at the annual NATO leaders’ summit.

Speaking before an audience of NATO leaders, including newly-minted British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Biden said the North Atlantic Treaty, that the alliance birthed 75 years ago, is stronger and more vital than ever and promised it would continue to support Ukraine’s defense needs.

“We know Putin won’t stop at Ukraine, but make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” he said. The US and partner nations intend to provide Ukraine with five “strategic air defense systems” in the coming months and “dozens” of “tactical air defense systems”, Biden added.

Arpan Rai10 July 2024 07:29

1720591449

Biden says Nato will send dozens of air defences to Ukraine

Joe Biden has announced another major air defence package for Ukraine, and said the war-hit nation’s allies will back Ukrainian forces for as long as needed.

“The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with… five additional strategic air defence systems,” Mr Biden said.

“In the coming months, the United States and our partners intend to provide Ukraine with dozens of additional tactical air defence systems. The United States will make sure that when we export critical air defence interceptors, Ukraine goes to the front of the line,” the US president said in Washington as Nato summit began.

The outgoing Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance had signed the Stinger contract.

“There is no way to provide strong defence without a strong defense industry,” Mr Stoltenberg said while announcing the contract.

Arpan Rai10 July 2024 07:04

1720591200

Why does it take Russia bombing a children’s hospital to make us care about Ukraine?

Alexander Butler10 July 2024 07:00

1720589997

Football fan Starmer will have to rely on notes from officials to keep up with England game

The new prime minister, an avid Arsenal fan, will be unable to watch one of his favourite players Bukayo Saka and his team mates take on the Dutch on Wednesday for the right to play Spain in Sunday’s final.

Worse still, Sir Keir’s phone will be taken off him for security reasons as he joins other Nato leaders for talks on Ukraine at the Nato summit in Washington DC.

It means that he will not be able to quietly check the score in the middle of the talks on how to deal with Vladimir Putin.

Arpan Rai10 July 2024 06:39

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrcmFpbmUtcnVzc2lhLXB1dGluLW5hdG8tc3VtbWl0LWxpdmUtaG9zcGl0YWwtYXR0YWNrLWIyNTc3MDkxLmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5

2024-07-10 08:33:40Z
CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrcmFpbmUtcnVzc2lhLXB1dGluLW5hdG8tc3VtbWl0LWxpdmUtaG9zcGl0YWwtYXR0YWNrLWIyNTc3MDkxLmh0bWzSAQA

UN says ‘high likelihood’ a Russian cruise missile hit Ukraine’s main children’s hospital - CNN

CNN  — 

Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital likely took a direct hit from a Russian missile on Monday, a United Nations assessment has found, as NATO agreed to strengthen Kyiv’s air defenses in the wake of the attack.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting the hospital in Kyiv and alleged, without evidence, that a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile caused the blast. But a UN human rights official said evidence suggested Moscow’s forces were responsible for the deadly strike.

“Analysis of the video footage and assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damages due to an intercepted weapons system,” Danielle Bell, head of the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told reporters Tuesday.

Bell said the attack damaged the intensive care, surgical and oncology wards at Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt hospital, which has been vital in the care of some of the sickest children from across the country, adding that Ukrainian officials have since transferred 600 children to other hospitals.

“This terrible attack shows that nowhere is safe in Ukraine,” Bell added.

Two adults were killed in the strike and 16 others - including seven children - were injured, according to Ukrainian officials, as Russia launched a brazen daytime aerial assault on targets in cities across Ukraine during morning rush hour, killing at least 43 people in total.

The strikes across Ukraine were “strongly” condemned by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while the UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk called for “prompt, thorough and independent investigations” into the attacks.

The Russian attacks came as NATO leaders gathered in Washington, where the United States and NATO allies agreed to give Ukraine more Patriot batteries and additional systems to strengthen Kyiv’s air defenses, members of the defense alliance said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden also announced plans to supply new air defenses to Ukraine in a speech opening the NATO summit – providing much-needed support for the country at a critical juncture in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

During his speech on Tuesday, Biden vowed that “the United States will make sure that when we export critical air defense interceptors, Ukraine goes to the front of the line.”

‘Targeted attack by Russia’

Images and video from the aftermath of the strike on the Kyiv hospital show children with cancer being treated outside the facility and an injured toddler with blood on his face and arms.

A CNN team at the site on Tuesday said the level of destruction there showed how forceful the explosion must have been. A pile of debris could be seen in place of where part of the facility once stood, while underneath a section of flooring lay the remnants of a car that was completely flattened when the building came crashing down.

The UN’s monitoring mission said it was likely that a KH-101 cruise missile launched by Russia struck the children’s hospital. It made the determination “based on video footage, which shows the technical specification of the type of weapon that was used” and that such footage “shows the weapon directly impacting the hospital rather than being intercepted in the air,” Bell said.

A military expert who visited the site following the blast said the damage is “consistent with a direct hit,” according to Bell.

The UN mission’s assessment matches analysis from weapons experts who told CNN that footage of the hospital strike is consistent with a cruise missile rather than a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Washington on Tuesday that “Russia always knows where its missiles hit. Always.”

On Tuesday, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia reiterated Moscow’s denial that it had targeted the children’s hospital.

“We have not bombed the children’s hospital,” Nebenzia said at a special meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) convened following the attack. “If this had been a Russian strike, there would have been nothing left of the building at all. All the children and most of the adults would have been killed, not wounded.”

But the US also blamed Russia for the hospital strike. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UNSC meeting that the Russian “attack makes abundantly clear: Putin is not interested in peace.”

Kyiv described the strike as a “targeted attack by Russia,” with the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) saying a Russian long-range cruise missile struck the facility.

“Relevant evidence has already been found at the scene of the tragedy: in particular, fragments of the rear part of the Kh-101 missile with a serial number and part of the steering wheel of the same missile,” the SBU said.

SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk vowed the agency would respond to what he said were Russian war crimes.

“This retribution will be both legal and moral,” he said.

CNN’s Sahar Akbarzai, Richard Roth, Daria Tarasova, Eve Brennan, Niamh Kennedy, Oren Liebermann and Kayla Tausche contributed reporting.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyNC8wNy8xMC9ldXJvcGUvcnVzc2lhbi1taXNzaWxlLXN0cmlrZS1reWl2LWhvc3BpdGFsLXVuLWludGwtaG5rL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAVpodHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDI0LzA3LzEwL2V1cm9wZS9ydXNzaWFuLW1pc3NpbGUtc3RyaWtlLWt5aXYtaG9zcGl0YWwtdW4taW50bC1obms?oc=5

2024-07-10 04:26:00Z
CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyNC8wNy8xMC9ldXJvcGUvcnVzc2lhbi1taXNzaWxlLXN0cmlrZS1reWl2LWhvc3BpdGFsLXVuLWludGwtaG5rL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAVpodHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDI0LzA3LzEwL2V1cm9wZS9ydXNzaWFuLW1pc3NpbGUtc3RyaWtlLWt5aXYtaG9zcGl0YWwtdW4taW50bC1obms

Kyiv mourns 41 dead in mass strikes by Putin's forces ahead of key Nato summit - The Independent

Zelensky says China trying to undermine Ukraine peace summit

Support truly
independent journalism

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Editor

Ukraine is observing a day of mourning after dozens of missiles fired by Russia struck a number of cities across the country, killing at least 41 people and wounding more than 150. Officials have prohibited entertainment events and lowered the flags.

One of the 38 missiles fired by Vladimir Putin’s forces hit the Okhmatdyt hospital, which was treating children in the oncology department among others in the deadliest attack the war-hit nation has seen in months.

More than 100 buildings were damaged, including the children’s hospital and a maternity centre in Kyiv, children’s nurseries and a business centre and homes, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“The Russian terrorists must answer for this,” he wrote. “Being concerned does not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon.” Ukraine’s central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro and two eastern cities were also hit, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.

Vladimir Putin’s latest attack amounts to a war crime, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani alleged, calling for condemnation from the entire international community.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation would take revenge for the strikes, which his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described as “genocide”.

1720506084

Here are some of the latest photos from Ukraine

Good morning.

Below are some of the latest photos coming out of Ukraine.

Ukrainians, a few of them displaced from Mariupol during the war, practice rowing on the Dnipro River as the sun sets, in Dnipro, central Ukraine (AP)

Vasilisa plays with her mother, Polina Ihrak, during a boxing tournament in honor of her father, Maksym Halinichev, who was killed during fighting with Russian forces in March 2023, in Romny, Sumy region (AP)

Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine (REUTERS)

Tom Watling9 July 2024 07:21

1720505002

Russian airports restrict flights after drone attack – report

Russia’s Astrakhan and Volgograd airports restricted flights this morning after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 38 drones that Ukraine launched overnight on several Russian regions, Russia’s defence ministry said earlier.

Additionally, one person reportedly died while two power substations and an oil depot caught fire, after Ukraine launched tens of drones in attacks on several regions.

Russian air defence systems claim to have destroyed 38 drones, including 21 over the southern region of Rostov and seven over Kursk, both of which border Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.

The total number of drones launched by Ukraine was not immediately clear.

Explosions were heard in the town of Kalach-on-the-Don in Russia’s southern region of Volgograd, said the Baza Telegram channel, which has sources in Russian law enforcement.

In a Telegram post, regional governor Andrei Bocharov said a power sub-station and an oil depot were set ablaze by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russian air defence systems.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 07:03

1720504800

Kremlin denies hospital attack

The Kremlin said Kyiv’s claim Russian troops targeted the hospital was “absolutely untrue” and the destruction was caused by Ukrainian air defence missiles.

A spokesperson said: “The objectives of the strike have been achieved. Designated targets are hit. Statements by representatives of the Kyiv regime about an allegedly intentional missile strike by Russia on civilian targets are absolutely untrue.”

In response to the attack, Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov urged the country’s allies to provide more air defence technology to the country.

“Our defence capabilities are still insufficient. We need more air defence systems,” Mr Umerov said on Telegram.

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 07:00

1720504504

UN says Russian missile attacks ‘abominable, particularly shocking’

The United Nations has called an emergency meeting on the Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities yesterday which killed 41 people and condemned them as “shocking”.

“Among the victims were Ukraine’s sickest children,” said Volker Türk, the UN human rights commissioner. A UN team visited the hospital shortly after it was hit and saw the children receiving cancer treatments in hospital beds set up outdoors, he added. “This is abominable, and I implore those with influence to do everything in their power to ensure these attacks stop immediately,” Mr Türk said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned yesterday’s missile strikes as “particularly shocking”, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the attacks for Tuesday at the request of France and Ecuador. Russia, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, will preside at the meeting.

The International Criminal Court’s founding charter says it is a war crime to intentionally attack “hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Security Service said it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the site and opened proceedings on war crime charges. The Kh-101 is an air-launched missile that flies low to avoid detection by radar. Ukraine said it shot down 11 of 13 Kh-101 missiles launched yesterday.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 06:55

1720501569

Debris from missile attack fell into patients’s open chest mid-surgery – Ukrainian minister

The Russian hypersonic missile attack on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital yesterday caused debris to fall into heart patients’ open chests in the middle of surgery, reported The Associated Press. Cancer patients had their beds wheeled into parks and onto the streets.

At the time of the strike, three heart operations were being performed, leading to the contamination of the patients’ open chests with blast debris, health minister Viktor Liashko said.

The hospital lost water, light and oxygen, and the patients were transferred to other hospitals, he told Ukrainian television.

Rescuers searched for victims under the rubble of a partially collapsed, two-story wing of the facility, at the hospital that was hit by a missile. At the main 10-story building, windows and doors were blown out, and walls were blackened. Blood was spattered on the floor in one room.

The intensive care unit, operating theaters and oncology departments all were damaged, officials said. Rescuers formed a line, passing bricks and other debris to each other as they sifted through rubble. Smoke rose from the building, and volunteers and emergency crews worked in protective masks. Some mothers were seen carrying their children away on their backs, while others waited in the courtyard with their children as calls to doctors’ phones rang unanswered.

It was Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months, hitting seven of the city’s 10 districts.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 06:06

1720501132

Zelensky condemns Modi’s Russian visit as Putin’s forces attack children

Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s display of hugging Vladimir Putin on the same day Russian forces bombarded Ukrainian cities, killing dozens of people.

“In Ukraine today, 37 people were killed, three of whom were children, and 170 were injured, including 13 children, as a result of Russia’s brutal missile strike. A Russian missile struck the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were buried under the rubble,” he said on X, sharing photos of the attack’s impact on children and families.

“It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,” he said.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 05:58

1720498220

Biden says deadly missile strikes are 'horrific reminder of Russia's brutality'

Joe Biden said deadly Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, including on the main children’s hospital in Kyiv, were “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality.”

“Russia’s missile strikes that today killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians and caused damage and casualties at Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital are a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality,” Mr Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

The US president said Washington and its Nato allies will be announcing this week new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.

“It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression,” Mr Biden said.

His remarks come as president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would retaliate and called on Kyiv’s Western allies to give a firm response to the attack.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 05:10

1720497600

A Ukrainian author turned soldier has a stark warning for the West: ‘Be prepared for war with Russia’

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 05:00

1720496947

Fire at Russian power substation after Ukraine drone attack

A fire broke out at a power substation in Russia’s Rostov region after Ukraine launched “tens” of drones overnight, Vasily Golubev, governor of the southern Russia region that borders Ukraine said today.

“As a result of an air attack in the Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky district, two transformers caught fire at a power substation,” Golubev said, adding that air defence systems destroyed tens of drones.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 04:49

1720495038

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina breaks down in tears at Wimbledon over missile strikes on Kyiv

Many more were left injured on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv.

Svitolina played with a black ribbon on her white top throughout the match on No.2 Court, with the 21st seed triumphing over Xinyu Wang 6-2, 6-1 after a fine performance.

And as emergency crews search the rubble for casualties back in Ukraine after the latest Russian barrage, Svitolina opened up on court about the difficulty in playing under the circumstances.

”For sure it was a good performance from my side,” Svitolina said, acknowledging her team courtside, including her partner and fellow player Gael Monfils. “It’s a very difficult day today for Ukrainian people.”

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 04:17

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMif2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrcmFpbmUtY2hpbGRyZW5zLWhvc3BpdGFsLXJ1c3NpYS1wdXRpbi1oeXBlcnNvbmljLW1pc3NpbGUtYXR0YWNrLWIyNTc2Mzc0Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5

2024-07-09 07:45:19Z
CBMif2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrcmFpbmUtY2hpbGRyZW5zLWhvc3BpdGFsLXJ1c3NpYS1wdXRpbi1oeXBlcnNvbmljLW1pc3NpbGUtYXR0YWNrLWIyNTc2Mzc0Lmh0bWzSAQA

French election gridlock means yet more uncertainty for Europe - POLITICO Europe

But that’s where the good news ends as France — alongside Germany, the other big beast in the EU, which has its own internal struggles — has now been plunged into political chaos, with no party winning enough seats for a majority. The paralysis could last months — and damage the EU.

“If soon everything stalls in both Paris and Berlin because of international political disagreements, Europe will really have a problem,” said an EU diplomat who, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak freely.

Macron has been a huge presence on the European front, whether by reshaping the EU’s trade agenda, pushing for a more ambitious industrial defense and competitiveness agenda, or eyeing more strategic autonomy ahead of a potential second Donald Trump presidency. 

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s failure to grab the reins of the French parliament will have delighted mainstream pro-Europeans. | Dimitar Dilkoff/Getty Images

Now, the French president is weakened and distracted by his troubles at home. Whatever government eventually emerges from the fragmented French parliament, it is unlikely to be stable for long.

French politicians will also have the presidential election of 2027 on their minds while making decisions from now on. The teaming up of mainstream and leftist parties to keep the far-right out may not happen again, and the 2027 election could result in a far-right president.

“A new government is likely to focus on domestic issues rather than foreign policy. However, French politics will remain divisive and hard to manage, which will diminish France’s clout on the European and international stage,” said Célia Belin of the Paris office of the European Council of Foreign Relations, a think tank.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnBvbGl0aWNvLmV1L2FydGljbGUvZXVyb3BlLWVsZWN0aW9ucy0yMDI0LWZyYW5jZS1nZXJtYW55LWVtbWFudWVsLW1hY3Jvbi1vbGFmLXNjaG9sei1tYXJpbmUtbGUtcGVuLWRlYnQtY3Jpc2lzL9IBAA?oc=5

2024-07-09 03:00:00Z
CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnBvbGl0aWNvLmV1L2FydGljbGUvZXVyb3BlLWVsZWN0aW9ucy0yMDI0LWZyYW5jZS1nZXJtYW55LWVtbWFudWVsLW1hY3Jvbi1vbGFmLXNjaG9sei1tYXJpbmUtbGUtcGVuLWRlYnQtY3Jpc2lzL9IBAA

French hard-right leader Marine Le Pen faces fraud probe for 'illegal financing' days after her National Rally - Daily Mail

• **This is a breaking news story, more to follow** 

By Peter Allen

Published: 03:31 EDT, 9 July 2024 | Updated: 03:46 EDT, 9 July 2024

French criminal prosecutors today opened an investigation into ‘illegal financing’ by Marine Le Pen and her far-Right National Rally party.

It followed them being beaten into third place in parliamentary elections held over the weekend.

Judicial sources in Paris on Tuesday confirmed that the new criminal enquiry related to Ms Le Pen’s attempt to become President of France in 2022.

‘A judicial investigation was opened after a report to the courts from the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing,’ said one.

The enquiry is believed to be related to the RN (for Rassemblement National – French for National Rally) allegedly stealing taxpayer-generated funds from the European Parliament.

Ms Le Pen is already facing up to 10 years in prison and a ban on standing for elected office if she is found guilty following an embezzlement trial which opens in Paris in September.

They say there is compelling evidence that the 55-year-old illegally accessed some €620,000 (£513,000) on behalf of her party.

Ms Le Pen will appear in the dock with 12 other members of the RN, which was previously called the National Front.

On hearing about the trial last September, Ms Le Pen accused the judiciary of acting in a manner that was ‘above all political’.

She added: ‘We will present our arguments before the court on their merits.’ All those implicated deny any wrongdoing.

Ms Le Pen’s own father, Jean-Marine Le Pen, the 95-year-old founder of the FN, was also on the defendant sheet, but last week it was ruled that he was ‘unfit to stand trial,’ because of his age.

Embezzlement is a crime punishable in France by ‘up to 10 years in prison’, and penalties also available to judges include fines equivalent to around £1million.

In the Le Pen case, prosecutors are seeking ‘the additional penalty of deprivation of the right to be elected, for a maximum period of five years,’ said a source close to the case.

Ms Le Pen is currently an MP, so if she were to be convicted following trial, she would be ruled out of the 2027 presidential election, despite styling herself as a future president.

The investigation into RN fraud began in March 2015, when the European Parliament announced that it had referred possible irregularities to the EU anti-fraud office.

It mainly concerned salaries paid to parliamentary assistants, and even to Ms Le Pen’s bodyguard.

Ms Le Pen is accused of personally diverting some £114,00 (€137,000) of EU funds taken illegally during her time as an MEP, between 2004 and 2017, into party coffers.

This effectively means that the party was using EU money for its own business in Paris, rather than for work in Brussels.

Ms Le Pen was runner up to Emmanuel Macron in the race to become president of France in 2022, after a similar result in 2017.

Party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen in turn came second to Jacques Chirac in the presidential election of 2002.

Mr Le Pen has already been convicted in a criminal court, notably for spreading racial hatred, for Holocaust denial, and for other anti-Semitic crimes.

Before Sunday night, the RN was confidently predicting that it would win a majority in the National Assembly in Paris, and go on to form the next government.

Ms Le Pen said she was waiting to become president in 2027, while her protégé, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, would become prime minister.

But the election was won by the New Popular Front – an alliance of Leftist and centrist parties created to block the RN – with Mr Macron’s Rennaissance / Together alliance coming second.

No party got an overall majority, meaning a hung parliament and political deadlock.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.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?oc=5

2024-07-09 07:31:59Z
CBMitAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseW1haWwuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlLTEzNjE0ODkzL0ZyZW5jaC1oYXJkLXJpZ2h0LWxlYWRlci1NYXJpbmUtTGUtUGVuLWZhY2VzLWZyYXVkLXByb2JlLWlsbGVnYWwtZmluYW5jaW5nLWRheXMtTmF0aW9uYWwtUmFsbHktc3VmZmVyZWQtc2hvY2stZWxlY3Rpb24tZGVmZWF0Lmh0bWzSAbgBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGFpbHltYWlsLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYXJ0aWNsZS0xMzYxNDg5My9hbXAvRnJlbmNoLWhhcmQtcmlnaHQtbGVhZGVyLU1hcmluZS1MZS1QZW4tZmFjZXMtZnJhdWQtcHJvYmUtaWxsZWdhbC1maW5hbmNpbmctZGF5cy1OYXRpb25hbC1SYWxseS1zdWZmZXJlZC1zaG9jay1lbGVjdGlvbi1kZWZlYXQuaHRtbA

Ukraine Russia war live: missile attack kills 37 and hits Kyiv children's hospital - The Independent

Zelensky says China trying to undermine Ukraine peace summit

Support truly
independent journalism

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Editor

Russia has been accused of a war crime after a major children’s hospital in Kyiv was hit with a missile amid a large-scale attack on Ukraine that left at least 37 people dead.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said “war crimes” must be condemned by the “entire international community” following the strike on a hospital that left two people killed and 16 others injured, seven of whom were children.

The Okhmatdyt hospital was hit amid a Russian barrage that targeted five Ukrainian cities and killed at least 37 people while injuring more than 170 others.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation would take revenge for the strikes, which his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described as “genocide”.

“They beat the cities, where there were many people. They hit the children’s hospital. There are children. It is a terror that the world must see and respond to. This is genocide,” he said.

Russia denied aiming at any civilian facilities and claimed without offering evidence that pictures from Kyiv indicated the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

1720495038

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina breaks down in tears at Wimbledon over missile strikes on Kyiv

Many more were left injured on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv.

Svitolina played with a black ribbon on her white top throughout the match on No.2 Court, with the 21st seed triumphing over Xinyu Wang 6-2, 6-1 after a fine performance.

And as emergency crews search the rubble for casualties back in Ukraine after the latest Russian barrage, Svitolina opened up on court about the difficulty in playing under the circumstances.

”For sure it was a good performance from my side,” Svitolina said, acknowledging her team courtside, including her partner and fellow player Gael Monfils. “It’s a very difficult day today for Ukrainian people.”

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 04:17

1720494576

At least 41 killed in Russia’s attack on children’s hospital in Kyiv

At least 41 civilians have been killed as Russia blasted the main children’s hospital in Kyiv with a missile in broad daylight yesterday, marking its deadliest wave of air strikes for months.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 100 buildings were damaged in the wave of attacks, including the children’s hospital and a maternity centre in Kyiv, children’s nurseries and a business centre and homes.

“The Russian terrorists must answer for this,” he wrote. “Being concerned does not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon.”

Damage was reported in the central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro and two eastern cities, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 30 of 38 missiles, the air force said.

An online video showed a missile falling towards the children’s hospital followed by a large explosion. The location of the video was verified from visible landmarks. The Russian forces likely used the Kh-101 cruise missile, said the Security Service of Ukraine, identifying the projectile.

Kyiv’s military authorities said 27 people had died in the capital, including three children, and 82 were wounded in the main missile volley and a strike that came two hours later.

Parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack. Windows had been smashed and panels ripped off, and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris.

“It was scary. I couldn’t breathe, I was trying to cover (my baby). I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe,” Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, said.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 04:09

1720494000

The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine

The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine

Winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 04:00

1720493618

Russia displaying callous audacity, says Amnesty after Ohmatdyt strike

Russia is seeking deflection from responsibility for killing civilians in Ukraine, the Amnesty International said after a Russian missile tore through Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, sending hundreds of patients out on the streets.

“The destruction of hospitals, as well as residential buildings and essential infrastructure are abhorrent, and any acts that target or disregard civilians must be unequivocally condemned. The evidence now widely available and some of it verified by Amnesty International experts, including videos of the strike that destroyed the Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, consistently suggests that the hospital was hit by an inbound Russian cruise missile,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

She added: “Russian attempts to put the blame on Ukrainian air defence display a callous audacity, which seeks to deflect from Russia’s responsibility for killing civilians and destroying medical facilities.”

“The chilling images we have seen from the sites of two rounds of attacks in Kyiv today are a reminder of the cruelty of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The number of civilians killed across the country is growing all the time, including in other missile strikes today, on Kryvyi Rih, Pokrovsk, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, and Slovyansk,” the top human rights body’s regional director said.

“These brutal acts will not stop until those committing crimes under international law know that they will be held individually responsible. This tragic day must serve as yet another urgent alarm for the entire international community, that immediate and effective action is needed for justice to be served,” she said.

Arpan Rai9 July 2024 03:53

1720490400

China and Belarus hold ‘anti-terror’ military drills on Polish border

Chinese soldiers have landed in Belarus to take part in “anti-terror” military drills on the border with Poland.

Belarus’ Ministry of Defence said that the 11-day “joint anti-terrorist exercise” would start on Monday and “improve coordination between Belarusian and Chinese units”. Chinese media said the exercises would be held in Brest, on the Polish border.

Photographs from the Baranovichi air base on Saturday, about 100 miles south-west of Minsk, showed Chinese soldiers wearing forage caps as they unloaded their equipment from a single Xian Y-20, a heavy strategic airlifter nicknamed “Chubby Girl”.

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 03:00

1720486800

Pictures: Rescuers clear rubble amid Russian hospital strike

(AP)

(AFP via Getty Images)

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 02:00

1720483200

Russia uses hypersonic missiles in an attack on Kyiv

Alexander Butler9 July 2024 01:00

1720477825

UK’s new defence minister forced to flee to bomb shelter during first trip to Ukraine

Alexander Butler8 July 2024 23:30

1720474225

Kyiv children’s hospital devastated by Russian missile attack

Kyiv children’s hospital devastated by Russian missile attack

Alexander Butler8 July 2024 22:30

1720473661

Death toll from Russia’s missile attack on Ukraine reaches at least 37, says Zelensky

The death toll from Russia’s missile strikes on Ukraine has reached at least 37 people, including three children, the Ukrainian President has confirmed.

Sending his condolences, Volodymyr Zelensky also said more than 170 others were injured in the attack on Monday.

He added that nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a children's hospital, people’s homes, kindergartens, a maternity hospital, a college, and a business center.

Tara Cobham8 July 2024 22:21

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3J1c3NpYS11a3JhaW5lLWt5aXYtbWlzc2lsZXMtY2hpbGRyZW5zLWhvc3BpdGFsLWF0dGFjay1iMjU3NTkwNy5odG1s0gEA?oc=5

2024-07-08 22:30:25Z
CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3J1c3NpYS11a3JhaW5lLWt5aXYtbWlzc2lsZXMtY2hpbGRyZW5zLWhvc3BpdGFsLWF0dGFjay1iMjU3NTkwNy5odG1s0gEA

French left says ‘ready to govern’ as country faces hung parliament - Al Jazeera English

France’s left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon says the left is “ready to govern” after emerging as the largest political bloc in parliament, but the country faces a political deadlock as no party won a clear majority.

The New Popular Front (NFP) coalition led by Melenchon and its allies won a plurality in France’s National Assembly in the second round of the parliamentary elections on Sunday, taking 187 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, interior ministry figures show.

The result delivered a blow to President Emmanuel Macron, whose centrist Ensemble alliance managed to win 159 seats. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal offered to resign on Monday, but Macron asked him to stay on “for the time being in order to ensure the country’s stability”.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies surprisingly finished third with 142 seats despite a strong first-round showing. The centrist and leftist parties joined forces to deny the RN an opportunity to govern France.

But the rise of the far right has alarmed people, particularly minorities, as the RN become a major political player.

With none of the top three alliances winning an outright majority of 289 seats needed to form a government, the eurozone’s second largest economy faces a hung parliament, uncharted territory in its modern age.

This may push Macron to either try to build a fragile coalition with moderates from the left and right or invite the left-wing NFP camp to lead the government. He may also resort to a technocratic government with no political affiliation to handle day-to-day affairs.

The fragmented results are set to weaken France’s role in the European Union and farther afield and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda.

“He [Macron] is in quite a difficult situation,” Rainbow Murray, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera. “His party has fewer seats than it had before, but it’s still strong enough relative to the left for it not to be obvious for him to stand down either. So I think there are going to be some quite tense negotiations.”

“One of the key questions people are going to be debating is who is going to get to lead the next government.”

Who will be France’s next PM?

Al Jazeera’s Step Vassen, reporting from Paris, said Macron was likely to “take his time” and wait for the new political landscape to “settle in” before making major shifts.

The NFP alliance was quick to urge Macron to give it a chance to form a government. The coalition pledges to roll back many of Macron’s headline reforms, embark on a costly programme of public spending and take a tougher line against Israel because of its war on Gaza.

“According to the logic of our institutions, Emmanuel Macron should today officially invite the New Popular Front to nominate a prime minister,” said Green leader Marine Tondelier, one of a number of NFP figures seen as potential prime minister candidates.

“Will he or won’t he? As this president is always full of surprises, we’ll see,” she said on RTL radio.

Melenchon highlighted the potential for significant decisions to be made “by decree” on both national and international fronts, emphasising that recognising the State of Palestine would be one of their first actions “as quickly as possible”.

Macron back in February said he was open to recognition of a Palestinian state, but that such a move should “come at a useful moment” and not be “emotional.”

Will the NFP forge consensus?

It remains to be seen whether the NFP – a swath of leftist parties including Melenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communist Party – can remain unified and agree on a path forward.

Olivier Faure, centre, the first secretary of the French Socialist Party, says the leftist coalition will chose a prime minister candidate this week [Stephane de Sakutin/AFP]

LFI lawmaker Clementine Autain said the alliance needed “to decide on a balance point to be able to govern”. She said neither former Socialist President Francois Hollande nor Melenchon, a controversial figure even within his own party, should serve as prime minister.

The leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, urged “democracy” within the left-wing alliance, which it said would choose a prime ministerial candidate within its ranks by the end of the week.

Raphael Glucksmann, co-president of the smaller pro-European Place Publique party in the alliance, said in the projections, “we’re ahead, but in a divided parliament, … so people are going to have to behave like adults.”

“People are going to have to talk to each other.”

In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protege, called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a “disgraceful alliance” that he said would paralyse France.

Le Pen, who will likely be the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said, however, that Sunday’s elections, in which the RN made major gains, had sown the seeds for the future.

“Our victory has been merely delayed,” she said.

‘Cracks appearing’

Vassen said there are “cracks appearing” within the NFP camp that Macron may try to exploit for his own ends.

“This could be part of a strategy he [Macron] is playing to win some time,” Vassen said.

Macron, whose presidential term runs until 2027, called the shock snap elections shortly after support for France’s far right surged in European Parliament elections in June.

Rather than rallying behind Macron as he had hoped, millions of French people took the vote as an opportunity to vent their anger about inflation, crime, immigration and other grievances, including his style of government.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFsamF6ZWVyYS5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDI0LzcvOC9mcmVuY2gtbGVmdC1zYXlzLXJlYWR5LXRvLWdvdmVybi1hcy1jb3VudHJ5LWZhY2VzLWh1bmctcGFybGlhbWVudNIBbWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFsamF6ZWVyYS5jb20vYW1wL25ld3MvMjAyNC83LzgvZnJlbmNoLWxlZnQtc2F5cy1yZWFkeS10by1nb3Zlcm4tYXMtY291bnRyeS1mYWNlcy1odW5nLXBhcmxpYW1lbnQ?oc=5

2024-07-08 11:27:36Z
CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFsamF6ZWVyYS5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDI0LzcvOC9mcmVuY2gtbGVmdC1zYXlzLXJlYWR5LXRvLWdvdmVybi1hcy1jb3VudHJ5LWZhY2VzLWh1bmctcGFybGlhbWVudNIBbWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFsamF6ZWVyYS5jb20vYW1wL25ld3MvMjAyNC83LzgvZnJlbmNoLWxlZnQtc2F5cy1yZWFkeS10by1nb3Zlcm4tYXMtY291bnRyeS1mYWNlcy1odW5nLXBhcmxpYW1lbnQ