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☆ U.K. Nurse Lucy Letby Handed Whole Life Sentence for Killing Newborns
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Lucy Letby, the British nurse convicted last week of killing seven newborns and trying to kill six others, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison without parole, the culmination of a yearslong case that has horrified Britain and led to questions over the management culture that allowed her crimes to continue for so long. Judge James Goss handed Ms. Letby a “whole life order,” meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison, a sentence reserved for the country’s worst offenses. She is only the fourth woman to have ever been handed the sentence. The verdicts reached last week made Ms. Letby the most prolific serial killer of children in modern British history. Judge Goss told the courtroom that Ms. Letby “acted completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies” and that her actions caused a majority of her victims to suffer “acute pain.”

Persons: Lucy Letby, James Goss, Letby, Judge Goss, Letby “, ” Locations: Britain

☆ British Nurse Is Convicted of Killing Seven Newborns
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A British nurse was found guilty on Friday in the deaths of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six others at Manchester Crown Court, according to the police department responsible for the investigation, ending a yearslong case that has haunted England since a string of deaths in the neonatal unit where the nurse worked came to light in 2016. The nurse, Lucy Letby, 33, was accused of killing seven babies and trying to kill 10 others while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the city of Chester, in northwestern England, between June 2015 and June 2016. She was first charged in 2020. Over the course of the trial, which began in October, jurors heard that Ms. Letby had harmed the babies in her care in a number of ways, including by poisoning them and injecting them with milk, air, and insulin. She denied those accusations.

Persons: Lucy Letby, Countess, Letby Organizations: Manchester Crown, Chester Hospital Locations: England, Chester

☆ The Tiny Irish Village Where Sinéad O’Connor Escaped the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Few people come to Knockananna without good reason, the journey requiring a long, serpentine drive up the country roads that wind through Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains. Cellphone service is patchy, adding to the world-apart feeling. But some people do find their way to Knockananna, among them Sinéad O’Connor, who enjoyed a sanctuary of sorts in the village during some of the final years of her life. “Down the mountain, as I call it, nobody can forget about Sinéad O’Connor,” the musician said in a 2021 interview. In the village, she said, nobody much cared — “which is beautiful for me.”

Persons: Sinéad O’Connor, “, —, ” Locations: Wicklow, Knockananna

☆ Ukrainian Children With Cancer Fight Their Own War Within a War
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mykola has spent the entirety of his short life in the hospital. His cancer was diagnosed at birth, just a month before Russian forces invaded Ukraine. “It’s like you have two wars to fight,” said his mother, Anna Kolesnikova. “Two wars in your life: one is to save your child’s life, and the other war is for your country.”Across Ukraine, families of children with cancer are facing the dual agonies of life-threatening illness and a country engulfed by war. For many, the Russian invasion has meant displacement from their homes, fear of airstrikes and separation from loved ones, including family members serving in the military.

Persons: Mykola clutched, Mykola, “, ”, Anna Kolesnikova Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine

The chief of Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, said on Wednesday that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had “cut a deal” with Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, during Mr. Prigozhin’s failed rebellion last month. The Wagner leader staged a mutiny against Russia’s military last month, which saw his mercenary forces marching toward the capital before abruptly halting. More than two weeks later, the Kremlin disclosed that Mr. Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders had met with Mr. Putin for three hours in the days after the rebellion ended. “I think he probably feels under some pressure,” Mr. Moore said of Mr. Putin, speaking at the British ambassador’s residence in the Czech capital. He really didn’t fight back against Prigozhin; he cut a deal to save his skin using the good offices of the leader of Belarus.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Prigozhin’s, Richard Moore, Prigozhin, “, Mr, Moore, “ Prigozhin, ” Organizations: Politico, Kremlin, Mr, Prigozhin Locations: Russia, Prague, British, Czech, “, Belarus

☆ Barge to House Asylum Seekers Meets Several Shades of Anger in U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a rough reception for the Bibby Stockholm, a hulking metal barge intended to house up to 500 asylum seekers, as it pulled into its new berth in Portland, on England’s picturesque southern coast, on Tuesday. Protesters holding signs reading “No to the barge” and “No floating prison” gathered at the dock as television crews filmed them. The barge will be docked in the port for at least 18 months, according to the government, and will eventually house adult male asylum seekers who have entered Britain by crossing the English Channel on small boats. From next week, about 50 asylum seekers will be moved onboard the vessel according to the Home Office, before the number is increased over the next few months. The barge showed up in Portland at a time when the political rhetoric around asylum seekers in Britain has grown increasingly heated.

Persons: Bibby Organizations: Home Office Locations: Bibby Stockholm, Portland, Britain, Rwanda

BUCHA, Ukraine — There is a line of tidy houses on Vokzalna Street, where crumbling homes once lined a roadway littered with burned-out Russian tanks. There are neat sidewalks and fresh pavement with blue and yellow bunting hanging overhead. And there are backhoes and bulldozers plowing across a construction site where a new home goods store will replace a previous one that was burned to the ground. More than a year after Ukrainian forces wrested back Bucha from Russian troops, the town has drawn international investment that has physically transformed it, and it has become a stopping point for delegations of foreign leaders who come through almost weekly. And yet behind the veneer of revitalization, the pain that suffused Bucha during its month of horror under Russian occupation still lingers.

Locations: BUCHA, Ukraine, Kyiv

Like many other soldiers, Pavlo Vyshebaba, 37, a platoon commander with the 68th Brigade, had long been collecting donations to procure supplies for his unit, in his case using his poetry as an appeal. But donations, which once flooded in via the web, have been lagging lately as the war drags on. Mr. Vyshebaba recently took two weeks off from the war to give readings around the country in a push to ramp up contributions in person. “I saw that the fund-raising on the internet at the beginning of 2023 stopped being effective, that maybe my audience was exhausted and we didn’t have victories for a long time,” he said. “But we still needed all this stuff.”

Persons: Pavlo Vyshebaba, Vyshebaba, “, ” Organizations: 68th Brigade Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine

☆ When Missiles Strike Kyiv, These Psychologists Race to Help
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

and more than a dozen other partners have also begun a program to train primary care physicians on how to treat patients with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal behavior and substance abuse. But programs like the emergency team of psychologists try to provide an early intervention in moments of crisis. “If you don’t deal with stress right away, it can turn into long-term stress, which can turn into P.T.S.D.,” said Ms. Kirnos. Days after the missile attack on Kyiv, Ms. Davydenko said team members were working with their own therapists to process what they had seen. “Of course,” she said, “I am also a human being.”Oleksandr Chubko and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting.

Persons: ”, Kirnos, “ It’s, Davydenko, “, Oleksandr Chubko, Oleksandra Mykolyshyn Organizations: of Health Locations: P.T.S.D, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine Says It Is Ready for Arrival of Wagner Troops in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Belarus has ratcheted up its messaging about plans to offer refuge — and possibly work — to Wagner group mercenaries after a failed rebellion in Russia, Ukrainian forces say they are ready for any potential threat from their neighbor to the north. In recent days, Ukrainian officials have tried to tamp down concerns while heralding their preparations, with President Volodymyr Zelensky nodding to plans for reinforcing the border in his overnight address into Saturday and top commanders emphasizing that no current threat had been found. Mr. Zelensky indicated that Ukrainian intelligence was monitoring the situation closely, adding, “We very carefully analyze every fact and any prospects in all directions.” Ukraine’s top generals were “instructed to strengthen the northern direction — to guarantee peace,” he said. This week, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the Kremlin-aligned autocratic leader of Belarus, invited members of the Wagner group who had participated in a rebellion against Russian forces to relocate to an “abandoned” military base in his country. New satellite imagery from Thursday and Friday, analyzed by The New York Times, shows that more than 250 tents, enough to house thousands of troops, have been erected in the past five days at an unused base.

Persons: —, Wagner, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Ukraine’s, “, ”, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukrainian

After months of Russian bombardment, the town of Avdiivka in southeastern Ukraine has been reduced to rubble. The fighting remains fierce in the vicinity as Ukrainian forces have dug in to resist the Russian assault. With no electricity, running water or regular supply of food, the people who remain largely rely on aid from volunteers. The threat of a strike from Russian jets or artillery is never far off. Still, they stay.

Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine

But now, as Mr. Putin seeks to project an image of restored stability and control, he has been putting his defense minister on display, even if Mr. Shoigu has not addressed the public or even been heard speaking. Mr. Shoigu was also present on Monday as Mr. Putin convened a meeting of his top security chiefs. On Tuesday, as Mr. Putin praised his security forces in a grandly choreographed speech, Mr. Shoigu was again present, wearing his military uniform. Mr. Shoigu, who was a very popular minister of emergency situations before becoming defense minister in 2012, has had a long and friendly relationship with Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin may have kept both men in charge as part of his decades-long efforts to place the sprawling Russian military more under his control.

Persons: Vladimir V, Sergei K, Shoigu, Valery V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, ” Mr, Gerasimov, Mr, Prigozhin, Ramzan Kadyrov, —, ”, ” Andrei Guryulov, Aleksandr Dugin, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Dugin, Long, General Gerasimov, It’s, Andrei Soldatov, Putin “, ” Oleg Matsnev Organizations: Putin, Cuban, National Defense Control Center of Russia, Russian military’s Zvezda, United, Defense Ministry, General Staff Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Cuba, Russian, Ukrainian, Lyman, Chechnya, United Russia, Belarus

☆ Debris From Russian Missile Kills Three in Kyiv Apartment Building
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian forces fired more than 20 missiles at Ukraine’s capital in a predawn assault on Saturday that left at least three people dead. Moscow’s military leadership accuses Mr. Prigozhin of trying to mount a coup against Mr. Putin. Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said air defenses had shot down more than 20 missiles around the capital but that falling debris had hit a high-rise building and started a blaze that destroyed three floors. As rescuers worked at the scene, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that there might be people under the rubble. Residents carefully stepped over the broken glass and building fragments that had scattered throughout the parking lot below.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Mr, Prigozhin, Serhiy Popko, Vitali Klitschko Organizations: Interior Ministry Locations: Kyiv, Russia

Image Mr. Prigozhin and President Vladimir Putin at one of Mr. Prigozhin’s factories in St. Petersburg in 2010. Mr. Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate, on Friday. In an earlier videotaped speech, Mr. Prigozhin did not explicitly impugn Mr. Putin, instead casting him as a leader being misled by his officials. But, during the battle for Bakhmut, Mr. Prigozhin also emerged as a populist political figure, excoriating Russia’s military leadership for corruption. Others theorized that the Kremlin had orchestrated Mr. Prigozhin’s tirades against Mr. Shoigu, the defense minister, to deflect blame from Mr. Putin himself.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Mr, ” Gen, Vladimir Alekseyev, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s, ’, “, ”, GOH, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, Adam Hodge, Vladimir Putin, —, Sergei K, Shoigu, Dmitri S, diatribes, excoriating, Prigozhin’s, Igor Girkin, Girkin, ” Julian E, Barnes, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: Russian, ., Reuters, Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s, Defense Ministry, Telegram, Twitter, National Security, Associated Press, Bakhmut, Kremlin Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Rostov, Don, Russia, White, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Prigozhin, Russian, Ukraine’s, “

☆ Digging Up Old Graves to Make Room for Newly Fallen Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Megan Specia | Brendan Hoffman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For close to 15 months, the bodies of fallen soldiers have steadily filled up a hillside military cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Now, the old, unmarked graves of those killed in past wars are being exhumed to make way for the seemingly endless stream of dead since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And they said they were bracing for more deaths as the fighting grew more intense during Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Among the settlements reclaimed, she said, was the village of Piatykhatky, confirming Russian reports over the weekend. While the recapture of Piatykhatky, in the Zaporizhzhia region, is evidence that Ukraine’s forces continue to advance, it is not a significant military breakthrough.

Persons: ” Hanna Malyar Locations: Ukrainian, Lviv, Ukraine, Russia, Piatykhatky, Zaporizhzhia

☆ As Floodwaters Recede, Ukrainian Authorities Brace for Possible Disease Outbreaks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly two weeks after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southeastern Ukraine, the floodwaters are receding, but local officials are grappling with a new concern: the potential for outbreaks from waterborne disease. On Saturday, local officials in Kherson and Mykolaiv, the two regions most affected by the flooding on the Dnipro River unleashed when the dam collapsed, outlined plans to ensure safe drinking water. And doctors in hospitals across those regions have been warned to prepare for the potential for an outbreak of disease. Hundreds of residential areas are still underwater, including some under Russian occupation. International humanitarian organizations have shared concerns about widespread pollution and the potential for illness, but the Ukrainian health authorities maintain that they are vigilantly monitoring for any signs of a disease outbreak.

Persons: Oleksandr Chebotarov Organizations: Kherson City Clinical Hospital, International Locations: Ukraine, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kherson City

Follow our updates as Prince Harry resumes his testimony. Prince Harry spent nearly five hours on the witness stand on Tuesday airing his longstanding grievances against Britain’s famously unbridled tabloid press. Prince Harry really doesn’t like the British news media. “Yes, that is correct,” Prince Harry replied. The British tabloids need to be held accountable, Harry said.

Persons: Prince Harry, Britain’s, Harry, ”, “, ” Prince Harry, Andrew Green, “ You’re, ’, ‘ He’s, Chelsy Davy, Meghan, ” Harry, Davy, Mr, Green, James Hewitt, Princess Diana, “ wasn’t, hadn’t, Major Hewitt, Rishi Sunak, Megan Specia Organizations: Mirror Group, Buckingham Palace, “ Locations: London, Buckingham Palace, Buckingham

☆ Prince Harry Has His Say in Court After 7 Hours of Intense Questioning
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Stephen Castle | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prince Harry ended more than seven hours of intense, sometimes confrontational, testimony in a London courtroom on Wednesday, having put the ethics of Britain’s freewheeling tabloid press on trial even as he struggled to produce conclusive proof of lawbreaking by reporters. Over two grueling days the prince spoke on the witness stand to accuse Mirror Group Newspapers of intercepting his voice mail messages and using other unlawful means to gather information about everything from his school sports injury and youthful drug use to the ins and outs of a breakup. While the cross-examination of Prince Harry produced no concrete evidence of phone-hacking, it underscored the central question confronting the trial judge: whether a pattern of suspiciously detailed reporting of the prince’s private life amounts to sufficient proof that tabloids used illegal methods. The newspaper group has denied the claims and insists that information in the 33 articles cited by the prince came from legal means, including other news reports, tipoffs and even official communications from Buckingham Palace.

Persons: Prince Harry Organizations: Newspapers Locations: Buckingham Palace

☆ Prince Harry, in Dramatic Testimony, Says Journalists Have ‘Blood on Their Hands’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Mark Landler | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prince Harry finally got his day in court against the British tabloid press that he has long reviled, taking the stand in London on Tuesday to accuse the Mirror Newspaper Group of hacking his cellphone more than a decade ago. Through five hours of polite but persistent grilling, Harry stood by his claims that the Mirror Group’s reporters intercepted his voice mail messages and used other unlawful means to dig up personal information about him, creating an atmosphere of distrust and even paranoia that has shadowed him since childhood. Yet for all the celebrity of the plaintiff, the scene in the packed High Court took on the rhythms of any other legal proceeding, as Harry’s cross-examination got underway. A lawyer for the Mirror Group, Andrew Green, repeatedly pressed him for hard evidence that its journalists had hacked his phone. Much of the information that Harry said was illegally obtained was available from other sources, the lawyer argued.

Persons: Prince Harry, Harry, King Charles III, Diana, Andrew Green Organizations: Mirror, Group Locations: London

Prince Harry’s expected testimony on Tuesday in a phone-hacking case will be the first time in over 130 years that a prominent member of Britain’s royal family is cross-examined in court. The last time it happened was in 1891, and it didn’t go well for the royal family. It was unusual then, too, for such a prominent member of the royal family — the future king, no less — to appear in court. Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator, said: “You can see from reading this why it was subsequently decided that this is not something the royal family want. Furthermore, while Harry is a high-profile member of the royal family, he is no longer a working royal.

Persons: Prince Albert Edward, Queen Victoria, Prince Harry’s, didn’t, Prince Albert Edward — Queen Victoria’s, King Edward VII, —, baccarat, Sir William Gordon, Cumming, Gordon, Richard Fitzwilliams, Edward, ”, ” Edward, Prince Harry, Belinda Jiao, Harriet Mordaunt, Fitzwilliams, Edward —, Bertie ”, Harry’s, Harry, Harry up, won’t, he’s, ” Mr, “ faultlessly, George V Organizations: Guardian, ., New York Times Locations: London

☆ Prince Harry Puts Britain’s Press on Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Mark Landler | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To illustrate their case, Harry’s lawyers submitted 147 articles that it said were based on information obtained using illegal means. “Every facet of his life was splashed across the paper as an exclusive, a story too good not to publish,” Mr. Sherborne said. “The notion that this took place years ago is misplaced,” he said. Still, that is the nub of the case made by the Mirror Group’s lawyers. The practice of phone hacking has all but vanished since the scandal erupted in 2011, according to lawyers who specialize in these cases.

Persons: Princess Diana, Mr, Sherborne, ”, Harry, Nikki Sanderson, Michael Taylor, Fiona Wightman, Paul Whitehouse Organizations: The

☆ Takeaways From Prince Harry’s First Day of Testimony Against U.K. Tabloids
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The British tabloids need to be held accountable, Harry said. The publisher contends that the prince has provided no solid proof of phone hacking. Years before he stepped down from his official duties, Harry was worried that his place in the royal family was being undermined. In his witness statement, he cited articles based on a rumor that his biological father was James Hewitt, a former a cavalry officer and lover of Princess Diana. The prince appears to be no fan of the current British government, which is led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Persons: Harry, ”, “, Davy, Prince Harry, Mr, Green, James Hewitt, Princess Diana, “ wasn’t, hadn’t, Major Hewitt, Rishi Sunak, Megan Specia Organizations: “ Locations: Buckingham Palace

☆ El príncipe Enrique testificará en un caso de hackeo y la realeza se prepara para el disgusto
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Mark Landler | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ ‘We Have Fish, That’s Our Currency’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Megan Specia | Finbarr O Reilly | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Just before midnight, David O’Neill navigated his trawler into the harbor in Union Hall, a small port in southwestern Ireland, the wake from the vessel sending tiny waves slapping against the pier. The crew swiftly unloaded their catch, using a crane to lift ice-packed crates of haddock and hake from the hold of the Aquila under bright spotlights. Less than an hour later, the Aquila would depart for its final trip. Two days later, the crew stripped the vessel’s contents — chains, buoys, ropes, steel cables, and hooks — and ejected them onto the pier, on their way to a shipyard to be scrapped.

Persons: David O’Neill, haddock, hake, Aquila Locations: Union, Ireland, Aquila

☆ U.K. Protest Law in Spotlight as Police ‘Regret’ Some Coronation Arrests
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Megan Specia | Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The law, called the Public Order Act 2023, came into effect days before the coronation, giving the police in England and Wales extended powers to detain and charge those they suspect of mounting or of preparing potentially disruptive protests. Saturday was widely seen as the first test for the legislation, which was brought forward last year after a wave of climate protests and has drawn condemnation from rights groups and legal experts. Leila Choukroune, a professor of international law at the University of Portsmouth, said the new legislation is reflective of a growing trend in democracies around the world where governments have introduced measures to legally justify limits on personal freedoms, including the right to protest. “This is why it’s really worrying and why the U.K. and what’s just happened is an example, a very concrete example, but just one example,” she said. “There is this trend for the past 20 years to legally justify the limitation on human rights — from freedom of speech to freedom of movement during the pandemic to the right to protest today.”

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