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☆ Colorado shooting suspect's previous case dismissed for lack of witnesses, records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A person looks on at the flowers and mementos left at a memorial at Club Q after a mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. November 26, 2022. Allen said he wanted to counter what he called a "false narrative" about the 2021 case suggesting authorities did not pursue it or missed an opportunity to prevent the deadly shooting nearly three weeks ago. At Thursday's news conference, Allen said that after initially giving statements implicating Aldrich in the 2021 case, Aldrich's mother and grandparents testified on the suspect's behalf for a bail reduction. After the alleged victims declined to testify for the prosecution, the judge threw out the case, Allen said. A different rifle and handgun were recovered from the Club Q shooting.

☆ Fitch affirms United Kingdom rating at 'AA-'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Peter NichollsDec 9 (Reuters) - Rating agency Fitch maintained United Kingdom's sovereign debt rating at "AA-" on Friday, citing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's macroeconomic policy framework, deep capital markets and the sterling's international reserve currency status. The agency affirmed its outlook for the country at "negative", due to high public and external debt, as well as rising energy prices. Despite concerns about a potential recession, investors have pinned hopes that the new government leadership will reinstill confidence in the country's fiscal health. "The new fiscal strategy has contributed to improved financial markets confidence," Fitch said. The agency also affirmed Bank of England's rating at "AA-", with a negative outlook.

☆ There Is Beer at the World Cup—if You Can Find It
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Stephen Kalin | Donna Abdulaziz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DOHA, Qatar—Duncan Farr, a stockbroker from Scotland, arrived at his five-star hotel here for the World Cup only to learn the establishment was dry. So he set out to build his schedule not only around soccer, but also around finding cold beer. “There’s no spontaneity,” Mr. Farr concedes. By his fourth day in the country, he was downing Stella Artois at the Irish Pub on the 14th floor of a Best Western hotel. “You’ve got to plan it,” he adds.

☆ The year in review: What happened -- and what did not
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Simon Robinson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With distant artillery fire booming across the capital, Ukraine's defence ministry urged residents to build petrol bombs to repel the invaders. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy filmed himself with aides on the streets of the city, vowing to defend his country's independence. Many in Moscow had expected Russia's military to sweep to victory, oust Zelenskiy's government and install a Russia-friendly regime. The big exception was China, whose zero-COVID policy has sparked protests and unrest in the past few weeks. Over the coming few weeks we'll recap the biggest, dig into why they mattered, and ask where they may be headed.

☆ Colorado suspect set to be charged for LGBTQ club shooting that killed five
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Flowers, candles, and mementos are left at a memorial after a mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. November 26, 2022. DowningDENVER, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The suspect in the fatal shooting of five people in a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub last month is set to be formally charged on Tuesday, potentially facing dozens of counts including murder, attempted murder, assault and hate crimes. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, has been held without bond at the El Paso County jail stemming from the Nov. 19 rampage at Club Q in Colorado Springs. Although authorities have not publicly identified a motive, the Colorado shooting was reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florid, where a gunman killed 49 people before police shot him dead. If convicted of first-degree murder, Aldrich faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

☆ Dutch prosecutors won't appeal in MH17 case, making verdicts final
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors said on Thursday they would not file an appeal regarding the outcome in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, making the verdicts final although the suspects remain at large. A Dutch court last month convicted three men and sentenced them to life in prison for the shooting-down of the Malaysian airliner as it flew over eastern Ukraine on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. The three convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. Prosecutors said on Thursday they were satisfied with the "clarity" the case had brought to relatives of the victims about what had happened to MH17. Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

After explosions - whose cause is under investigation - damaged the Nord Stream Russian gas pipeline system to Europe under the Baltic Sea, Putin in October proposed setting up a gas hub in Turkey, building on a southern route for exports. "Does Europe need the project, given the determination of the EU countries to forego Russian gas in the nearest future?" A source in Russia's pipeline gas exporting monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said be believed the hub would facilitate sales. "That will not be Russian gas, but gas from the hub," said the source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Neither Gazprom, nor the Kremlin provided a cost estimate for the Turkish hub idea.

CNN —Severe storms and tornadoes swept through parts of the South from Tuesday into Wednesday morning, killing at least two people in Alabama and damaging homes, other buildings and downing trees in several states, officials said. Tornadoes decimate parts of AlabamaThe tornado that killed two in the Flatwood area near Montgomery had winds estimated at 110 mph, the National Weather Service said. The storm, which might have included a tornado, sounded “like a train coming through,” Perkins told CNN on Wednesday. “We were successful in getting (to) some people that had to hunker down in their homes that were messed up,” Austin told CNN on Wednesday. Some parts of the South, including between Huntsville and Birmingham in Alabama, saw between 2 and 4 inches of rain Tuesday.

This time round, Charles III hosted the first state visit of his reign and welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the UK. The South African state visit was Charles’s first big diplomatic test. But this week, the prominence of the Prince and Princess of Wales during the state visit indicated that the couple have been elevated into crucial central roles. PHOTOS OF THE WEEKHere’s a few of our favorite shots from the first state visit King Charles hosted as monarch. Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty ImagesThe state visit also allowed UK PM Rishi Sunak the opportunity to welcome Ramaphosa to 10 Downing Street for a bilateral meeting.

☆ Ancient anti-aircraft guns are taking on a new mission amid Russia's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia and Ukraine have both turned to older anti-aircraft guns to bolster their air defenses. During World War II, half of the Allied bombers shot down over Germany may have victims of "flak" — a shortened version of a German word for 1930s-era anti-aircraft guns. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty ImagesRussia and Ukraine are both using Soviet-made S-60 anti-aircraft guns that date to the 1940s. Older anti-aircraft guns also offer a political advantage. Even as more sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons have been deployed, anti-aircraft guns have remained useful, albeit in more limited roles.

☆ Netherlands protests 'despicable' Russian response to MH17 verdict
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Friday it had summoned the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over what it called Moscow's "utterly despicable" response to the verdict in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17. Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court's decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader for shooting down the Malaysian airliner "neglected impartiality". Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said these remarks by Russia, which invaded Ukraine nine months ago, were "utterly despicable" and totally removed from reality. We can't let this pass ... and have to show that we do respect the rule of law and do have an independent judiciary," Hoekstra told Dutch newspaper AD. Reporting by Bart Meijer and Stephanie van den Berg Editing by Mark Potter and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK's Hunt says next two years will be challenging
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt walks at Downing Street in London, Britain, November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said Britain would face a challenging next two years but his new budget plans would help to tackle inflation and put the economy on a stronger footing. "There is nothing Conservative about spending money that you haven't got," he said. There's nothing Conservative about ducking difficult decisions that put the economy on track." Reporting by Muvija M and Farouq Suleiman; writing by Kate Holton; editing by William SchombergOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Malaysia says back decision by Dutch court on MH17 sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday said his country supported the decision by a Dutch court to sentence three suspects for their role in the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. The court on Thursday handed down life jail sentences to thee suspects, and ordered them to pay at least 16 million euros ($16.5 million) in compensation to relatives of the victims. Reporting by Mei Mei Chu Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain’s Big Swing Back to Austerity Isn’t Market-Friendly
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Jon Sindreu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt departs Downing Street with his Autumn Statement for parliament in London on Thursday. TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCKInvestors hated how former British Prime Minister Liz Truss rushed out a half-baked fiscal-stimulus plan in September, triggering a violent selloff in sovereign bonds. But belt tightening as the economy heads into a recession, based on the premise of dubious debt forecasts, isn’t quite what they ordered either. Financial markets were eagerly awaiting Thursday’s end-of-year update by the U.K.’s new Treasury chief, Jeremy Hunt . Much recent analysis of Britain’s economy has focused on a “black hole” in the government coffers, which Mr. Hunt gauged at around £55 billion ($66 billion).

☆ MH17 verdict: 2 Russians, 1 Ukrainian convicted of murders
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A Dutch court on Thursday convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian separatist in absentia of the murders of 298 people who died in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine. None of the defendants appeared for the trial that began in March 2020 and if they are convicted, it’s unlikely they will serve any sentence anytime soon. “The truth on the table — that is the most important thing,” said Anton Kotte, who lost his son, daughter-in-law and his 6-year-old grandson when MH17 was shot down. The most senior defendant convicted is Igor Girkin, a 51-year-old former colonel in Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. Oleg Pulatovis the only one of the suspects who was acquited represented by defense lawyers at the trial.

He froze until 2028 a threshold at which employers start to pay social security contributions, which will cost companies more. Public spending would grow more slowly than the economy but rise in overall terms, he said. It now expects gross domestic product to contract by 1.4% next year compared with its projection in March for growth of 1.8%. The OBR forecasts GDP growth of 1.3% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025, compared with previous forecasts of 2.1% and 1.8% respectively. Thursday's forecasts by the OBR showed that target would be met in the 2027/28 financial year.

☆ UK economy set to shrink next year, Hunt says in budget speech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Since then, Britain's economy has come under strain from an inflation rate now above 11%, a slowing global economy and political and severe financial market volatility during Liz Truss's brief term as prime minister. Hunt said the OBR forecasts laid out "starkly the impact of global headwinds on the UK economy" as he started a speech to parliament on Thursday. The OBR forecast gross domestic product would grow by 1.3% in 2024 and by 2.6% in 2025, Hunt said, compared with its previous forecasts for growth of 2.1% and 1.8% respectively. Hunt said the OBR judged that Britain - where high inflation is creating a cost-of-living crisis - is already in recession. Hunt had warned of more pain in his budget statement in the days leading up to Thursday's announcement.

☆ MH17 Trial Finds Three Guilty Over Downing of Plane
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Isabel Coles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The verdict session of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 trial near Amsterdam. A panel of Dutch judges found three men guilty over the shooting down of a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014. All 298 passengers and crew were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed after being struck by an antiaircraft missile that prosecutors said was launched from a field in an area controlled by Russia.

☆ Morning Bid: Good is bad? Depends on who or what you are
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Wayne Cole | Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. Good is bad again - or vice versa - as markets worry upbeat U.S. retail sales will lead to higher interest rates for longer. What's bad for Wall Street might be good for everyone else. What's good for bonds will be bad for everyone else. So what's good for markets has to be bad for everyone else.

☆ Dutch court hands life sentences to men convicted of MH17 downing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A Dutch court on Thursday handed down life long jail sentences to three suspects it convicted of murder for their role in shooting down Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. The convicted men, two Russian former intelligence officers and a Ukrainian separatist leader, were also ordered to pay at least 16 million euros ($16.5 million) in compensation to relatives of the victims. The men remain fugitives. They are all believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

It was a rare, candid glimpse of the Chinese leader and a reminder of Beijing's testy relations with the West. Besides Biden, Trudeau and Australia's Anthony Albanese, Xi also met the leaders of South Korea, Italy, Argentina, Holland and France for bilateral talks in Bali. Xi was ferried around Bali in his own Hongqi (Red Flag) limousine - Mao Zedong used an earlier model - China's version of the U.S. presidential "Beast" limo. Returning to in-person diplomacy also gives Xi a platform to push Chinese initiatives that further cement its stature as leader of the emerging world. "I think in the coming years you'll see China indeed making a serious effort to implement its major power diplomacy," he said.

☆ Dutch Court Convicts 3 of Murder for 2014 Downing of Airliner in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

On Thursday, the court said there was “very convincing evidence” that the Buk missile had been deliberately fired from an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi, a city in eastern Ukraine. Even if separatist forces had intended to shoot down a Ukrainian military aircraft and not an airliner, the court said, the strike was nevertheless premeditated and constituted a crime. The downing of MH17 occurred against a backdrop of vicious fighting between the separatists and the Ukrainian military after an uprising that deposed the country’s Russian-aligned president in February. The crash scattered bodies and wreckage across fields of wheat and sunflowers, in scenes both harrowing and poignant. Most of the victims were Dutch, but the flight also carried passengers from Australia, Britain, Malaysia and several other countries.

☆ Dutch court says Russia had 'overall control' of separatists in Ukraine at time of MH17 downing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis inspects the reconstruction of the MH17 wreckage, as part of the murder trial ahead of the beginning of a critical stage, in Reijen, Netherlands, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/PoolAMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Dutch court handling the trial of four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on Thursday said Russia had overall control of the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine at the time when the plane was shot down. "From half May 2014 Russia had so called overall control over the People's Republic of Donetsk," presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said referring to the region where the passenger flight was show down on July 17, 2014. In the ongoing ruling, the court had earlier said the plane was shot down by a Russian-made missile. Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dutch court confirms that MH 17 was shot down by Russian-made missile
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Lawyers attend the judges' inspection of the reconstruction of the MH17 wreckage, as part of the murder trial ahead of the beginning of a critical stage, in Reijen, Netherlands, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool/File PhotoAMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in 2014 by a Russian-made missile fired from a field in eastern Ukraine, the Dutch court handling the trial of four suspects in the downing of the plane said on Thursday. "The court is of the opinion that MH17 was brought down by the firing of a BUK missile from a farm field near Pervomaisk, killing al 283 passengers and 15 crew members," presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said. Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer; Editing by Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Judges to rule in murder trial for 2014 downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MH17 was a passenger flight shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. At the time, the area was the scene of fighting between pro-Russian separatist and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of this year's conflict. Moscow denies any involvement or responsibility for MH17's downing and in 2014 it also denied any presence in Ukraine. They were charged with shooting down an airplane and with murder in a trial held under Dutch law. Judges will begin reading the verdict at 1:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) at the high-security court next to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

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