By KEVIN ADJEI-DARKO, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 06:21 EST, 19 December 2025 | Updated: 06:46 EST, 19 December 2025

Ukraine has struck a Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker with drones in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, Kyiv revealed today.

The cargo ship was sailing in an undisclosed location around 1,243 miles from Ukraine’s borders when it was hit in a ‘new, unprecedented special operation’, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine said.

The attack on the empty vessel was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean. 

The aerial drones caused critical damage to the vessel, called the Qendil. 

Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker, the Qendil, was attacked by aerial drones

The cargo ship was sailing in an undisclosed location around 1,243 miles from Ukraine’s borders

It was hit in a ‘new, unprecedented special operation’

This is a breaking news story with more to come. 

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Russia-Ukraine war spreads to the MED as Kyiv strikes ‘shadow fleet’ tanker with drones

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A man was spotted hanging from a hotel sign four storeys in the air wearing just his boxers after he climbed out a window to avoid his wife from catching his alleged affair

Heart-stopping footage has captured the moment an alleged secret lover hangs from a sign on the side of a hotel in just his boxers to avoid being caught.

The man was spotted by neighbours as he desperately clung to the lit up sign, around four storeys up from the ground. While many may think that a man carrying out such a daring stunt would be dressed like a spy, the alleged cheater was seen wearing nothing but a pair of bright coloured underwear.

He was seen in video the clinging to the large hotel sign with both hands, while standing on its lower part after his wife found him allegedly chearting in a hotel room. People are seen moving about inside the nearby rooms, with some appearing to look out of the windows near where the man is hanging in China.

READ MORE: Coldplay kisscam woman blasts ‘hypocrite’ Gwyneth Paltrow for weighing into rowREAD MORE: ‘I hired someone to spy on my boyfriend after weird changes, then my world crumbled’The man was seen hanging from the sign around four storeys up(Image: NX)

According to reports, the man scaled along the exterior wall until he reached the sign, where he remained stuck outside. The strange scene in China left people stunned as they watched his daredevil escape in Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province. It is believed the incident took place at a Boyu Hotel, which is not a chain but a collection of independently operated hotels and guesthouses across China.

Social media users were quick to react to the dramatic escape after the man was allegedly caught cheating. Some joked about the risks of having an affair, or carrying out the affair in a city hotel, while others focused on the bizarre escape attempt made by the man. One said: “The cost of having an affair is getting higher and higher, I suggest you learn rock climbing first.”

The man was stuck out there wearing nothing but his boxers(Image: NX)

“Good thing he at least managed to slip on his shorts,” noted one person. Others were far harsher in their comments, with one saying: “Got the guts to cheat, got the guts to climb so high riskin’ his life but don’t dare face his wife. tsk…”

Another online comment read: “This isn’t catching someone cheating, it’s high-altitude extreme sports.” Others saw the similarity between the man’s actions and Banksy’s Well Hung Lover, which was painted on the side of a sexual health clinic in Bristol. The painting depicts a naked man hanging from a window ledge while an angry man, presumably the partner of the woman in her underwear, looks out the window.

Many have seen the similarities with Banksy’s Well Hung Lover(Image: Getty Images)

The artwork first appeared in 2006, and was the first legal piece of street art in the UK after Bristol City Council aquired retrospective permission and protection, despite the mural featuring nudity. In 2009 it was shot at using a blue paintball gun – though the culprit behind the vandalism remains unknown to this day. In 2018 it was defaced again, this time with black spray paint.

It comes after a woman took her ex-husband’s new wife to court, suing her over her affair with the woman’s ex. Akira Montague from North Carolina took content creator Brenay Montague to court under an alienation of affection lawsuit. The alienation of affection law allows a spouse to sue the individual they believe is responsible for an affair that destroyed their marriage.

The law originates in England, but was abolished in 1970. However, there are still six American states that uphold the legislation. Akira filed her claim in May 2024, and in November of this year, the jury ruled in her favour.

She had been after $3.5 million (£2.75m) in damages for Brenay’s affair with Akira’s then-husband, Timothy Montague. Akira accused Brenay of intentionally causing the breakdown of her marriage and criminal conversation – which means having sexual relations with someone else’s spouse.

In her claim, Akira claimed Brenay created social media content with Timothy while he was still married to Akira. She also accused her of publicly posting photographs of her children who she shares with Timothy. Brenay was ordered by a Superior Court judge to pay $1.5 million (£1.18m) for ‘alienation of afffection’ and $250,000 (£196k) for ‘criminal conversation’.

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Australia is set to launch a national gun buyback scheme in response to the Bondi Beach terrorist shootings.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens wounded on Sunday at the Sydney beach after two gunmen opened fire at people celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.

In the aftermath of the shooting, which authorities say appears to have been inspired by the Islamic State, patrols and policing across the country have been ramped up in an effort to prevent further violence.

Both the federal government and the state government of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, have pledged reforms, including tightening gun control laws, to prevent the threat of further violence in a nation with an estimated four million firearms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the government would also strengthen hate laws. Announcing the gun buyback scheme, he cited the response to a previous Australian mass shooting – when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania’s Port Arthur in 1996.

“Australia’s gun laws were last substantially reformed in the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy,” Mr Albanese said on Friday. “The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets.”

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Surfers and swimmers hold a tribute at Bondi Beach on 19 December. Pic: AP

On Friday, Australia’s Jewish community gathered at Bondi Beach for prayers, while hundreds of swimmers and surfers made a huge circle in the sea to honour the victims.

“Over the past two years, there’s been a lot of people who have been questioning whether we’re still welcome here in Australia because we saw people calling for our death on the streets on a weekly basis,” Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt from Sydney’s Central Synagogue told ABC News, after attending the paddle-out tribute.

Funerals for the victims also continued today, with Boris and Sofia Gurman, a couple killed after attempting to stop one of the gunmen, being laid to rest.

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‘All Jewish hearts are broken’

Meanwhile, Ahmed al Ahmed, the hero who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged gunmen, was handed a cheque for more than A$2.5m (£1.23m) from an online fundraiser.

Read more from Sky News:
Democrats release more Epstein photos
‘All Jewish hearts are broken’ says UK Chief Rabbi on Bondi visit

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Floral tribute at Bondi Beach on 19 December. Pic: AP

One of the Bondi terrorists – Sajid Akram, 50, who was killed at the scene – held a firearm licence and had six guns registered.

If a man in Sydney’s suburbs needs “six high-powered rifles and is able to get them under existing licensing schemes, then there’s something wrong,” Mr Albanese said.

He said the government would work with states to target surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms, adding that the costs would be shared between the federal and state governments.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns announced on Friday the state government would be recalled next week to enact the “toughest gun law reforms in the country”.

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Gunmen ‘must never have had love’

Changes would include limiting firearms to four per person, tightening licensing requirements and restricting access to high-risk weapons and components.

Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, Australia secured the surrender of about 640,000 prohibited firearms nationwide. The total cost of compensation to owners was about A$304m (£150m).

Mr Albanese has faced pressure from critics who say his centre-left government has not done enough to deal with a surge in antisemitism since the start of the war in Gaza.

The government said it had consistently called out antisemitism over the last two years and passed legislation to criminalise hate speech.

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After three girls die of cancer in a town in Mexico, a group of mothers and a scientist investigate the water supply.

When three young girls die from leukaemia within a year in a Mexican town, the authorities insist that the water is not contaminated. A teacher and local mothers demand answers and form an action group to investigate the cause. When they team up with a scientist, they find out their water is highly radioactive.

Corporate agriculture for export has depleted the aquifers, leaving behind an ancient layer of groundwater that is poisoning their town. This revelation prompts national outrage and leads the government to cut off the town’s water supply, while some officials still claim that the water is safe.

As the community turns against the women, they face a difficult choice. They must either give up their activism or keep fighting for clean water and environmental justice.

The Age of Water is a documentary film by Isabel Alcantara Atalaya and Alfredo Alcantara.

Published On 19 Dec 202519 Dec 2025

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The Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance, has struck a deal with US and global investors to operate its business in America, TikTok’s boss told employees on Thursday.

ByteDance has been under pressure from Washington to sell its US operations over national security concerns.

As BBC Asia business correspondent Suranjana Tewari explains, it is still unclear what sort of experience TikTok users in the US will get.

Read more on this story here.

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Holiday season is here, but who has time to clean between family celebrations and parties with friends? We have a tip: Switch out your heavy old vacuum for a sleek, cordless model that makes daily cleaning quick and painless.

Right now, you’ll pay just $75 for the Vipsun Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, which one user described as a “great all-in-one cordless vacuum.” With up to 30,000 pascals, its powerful suction effectively picks up dirt, crumbs, pet hair, and debris from hardwood floors, carpets, and tile, according to users.

The vacuum weighs just over 6 pounds, so you can effortlessly carry it from room to room. Plus, it has LED lights to illuminate small particles of dirt so nothing is missed. With its motorized brush head that can swivel up to 180 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically, maneuvering around bulky furniture is not a problem. And its battery life is more than enough to clean a small home in one single charge.

Vipsun Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

Amazon

Other notable features? The compact vacuum converts into a handheld device for daily messes and spills above the floor. It comes with multiple attachments to target spots like stairs, curtains, and upholstery, too. Also, the vacuum’s multi-stage filtration system captures too-small-to-see particles while you clean. 

The vacuum cleaner has racked up nearly 1,500 perfect ratings from reviewers, with multiple people calling it “the best” they’ve ever owned. Plus, more than 5,000 shoppers have snagged one in the past month alone.

“This cordless vacuum cleaner is a total game changer for anyone with fur babies or just messy humans,” one reviewer enthused. “Keeping my floors fur-free has never been this easy — or this satisfying.”

Another person shared that the vacuum is “better than a Dyson, Shark, and Tineco.” And a final user shared that it has “incredible suction.” They continued: “This vacuum is exceeding all expectations. It was easy to assemble, weighs very little, and sufficiently collects everything!”

We don’t know how long this vacuum will be on sale, so head to Amazon now to pick up the Vipsun Cordless Vacuum Cleaner while it’s just $75. Keep scrolling to check out more floor cleaners.

Dyson V11 Origin Cordless Vacuum

Amazon

Shark Steam Pocket Mop

Amazon

Hoover PowerScrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner

Amazon

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The horrifying cause of death of Emile Soleil has been revealed over two years after his disappearance from the French village of Haut-Vernet.

The latest expert report also revealed disturbing details about how the toddler’s body may have been stored by the killer.

Two-year-old Emile vanished from his grandparents’ home on July 8, 2023, and despite days of searching, the child was not found. 

His remains were then discovered nearly a year later by a hiker in March 2024, only 1.7 km from the village.

According to Le Parisien, analysis of the bones has now revealed an injury on the cheekbone area, next to the right zygomatic bone. 

The new report’s leading hypothesis is that the lesion occurred from a deliberate blow causing ‘violent facial trauma,’ potentially inflicted using an object.

In addition, pollen and insect examinations revealed that the child’s body had been kept ‘for many months in an enclosed space, sheltered from the elements, but not very airtight.’

Places fitting this description could include a barn, stable or a similar agricultural setting. 

Two-year-old Emile vanished from his grandparent’s home on July 8, 2023

His remains were discovered nearly a year later by a hiker in March 2024, only 1.7 km from the village

The yellow t-shirt Emile had been wearing when he disappeared showed no signs of organic decomposition, and only pollen found in the Haut-Vernon area was detected.

This may suggest that the toddler’s body was undressed very soon after his death.

Detectives had previously said they believed the remains of Emile were likely preserved in a protected, almost sterile environment like a freezer before being moved and found.

The new report comes as Emile’s grandparents, aunt and uncle have been questioned for the first time since he vanished.

His grandparents, Philippe and Anne Vedovini, and two of their children, Maximin and Marthe Vedovini spoke to the investigating judges of the criminal division of Aix-en-Provence on December 9.

According to local reports, each family member was heard for an hour as civil parties by the two magistrates in charge of the case.

On March 25, 2024, the group of four were taken into custody for ‘voluntary homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, before being released 48 hours later without charge.

But the public prosecutor of Aix-en-Provence, Jean-Luc Blachon said the possibility of a family connection has not been ruled out. Since then the family members have filed civil suits in the case.

The new report comes as Emile’s grandparents, aunt and uncle have been questioned for the first time since he vanished.

The group of four were taken into custody for ‘voluntary homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, before being released

The Vedovini family reportedly fell out with Father Gilliot after he shared a photo of Emile with the media

‘This is obviously a very important step for my client, given that her last hearings were conducted while she was in police custody.This time, she was being heard as a civil party,’ Anne Vedovini’s lawyer, Julien Pinelli, told Le Parisien.

The mystery surrounding Emile’s disappearance and death deepened as it emerged in March this year that the family’s Roman Catholic priest who baptised Emile before he went missing had ‘taken his own life’, according to reports.

Father Claude Gilliot, 85, is said to have died from a ‘massive overdose’ at his home in Aix-en-Provence, French media reported.

Claims have been made that he fell out with the Vedovini family before his death after providing a photo of the little boy to the media. 

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Russell Brand launched a verbal attack on former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who’s been pop star Katy Perry since the summer

Russell Brand used a US political rally to take a swipe at his ex-wife Katy Perry and her new relationship with Justin Trudeau(Image: Getty Images)

Russell Brand took aim at his ex-wife Katy Perry’s new romance with Justin Trudeau during a US political event.

Brand launched a verbal attack on the former Canadian Prime Minister, who’s been with the pop star since the summer, over his policies. He also detailed his hatred of authority raged against the current Labour government. The former stand-up comic also praised Donald Trump’s actions and ‘performed near miracles” in The White House in 2025. He took swipes at Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and made a joke about his son Hunter’s drug addictions.

The Brit added that he is ‘done with Hollywood”, but didn’t discuss being charged in the UK over a series of alleged sexual assaults. However, he declared that he will never “trust human authority.” The 50-year-old was given a mixed reception as he spoke onstage at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest event in Phoenix, run by the wife of assassinated activist Charlie Kirk.

Brand did not hide his disdain for Trudeau while appearing on stage in America(Image: Getty Images)

Out of nowhere during his speech about politics and his faith, Brand started discussing Perry, 41, dating the politician. In the audience was his former mother-in-law, Mary Hudson.

After first reflecting on his love for his current wife, he then turned to his ex, saying: “I love my wife. Oh man, my ex-wife’s parents are here. They’re Christians, and I love them. I love Mary Perry. God bless you. Thank you for bringing the message to me.

‘I’ve got to say, though, look, Katie Perry, I was married to her. I love her still. And I’m glad that her mom’s in the room to see me say this. But look, I was okay with Orlando Bloom, but Justin Trudeau?

“Come on man. Don’t put me in a category with that guy. That globalist stooge.” He then changed the subject: “Alright, praise Jesus. Come on kids. God’s real,” But later he circled back to attack Trudeau. “I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Katy Perry or indeed anybody. Justin Trudeau on the other end. Oh man.

“Look, the biggest threat to our society is political leaders that have no authentic power, that seem to be operating on behalf of global bureaucracies that seem to get kind of auditioned into political power. We have it in my country, in France, we have it everywhere. We know these are not real political leaders or real political figures. You can see it by looking at them. They are the operatives of deeper interest, shall we say. Whether that’s the when or the who or something more occult that I don’t understand.

He went on: “I’d like to be positive and forgiving and loving is a message of forgiveness and loving that I need to share.” He then poked fun at Trudeau for being caught in a black face scandal: “And I will say he’s got a nice haircut, so black up less – hairdressers more.”

At the end of his speech, he raised the Canadian again: “I’ve been glib and flippant about Justin Trudeau; he’s a child of God. He deserves love, and he deserves respect, and he deserves happiness. And I pray for that for him. I pray for it for all of you. As long as we are picking favourites, we are not acting like our Lord, for he has no favourites.”

Earlier this year, Brand was charged with five counts of assault and rape stemming from allegations from four women.

He has denied the accusations, saying he “absolutely refutes” the claims. Brand never addressed his court cases, but expressed his loathing of authority.

Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry have been dating since the Summer

He stated: “I don’t like the idea that we are meant to submit to human authority unless it’s backed by the Lord because I don’t trust human authority and I’ll never trust them.” He later yelled: “Yield to no human power. Don’t trust them.

“Get used to disobeying authority, man….I never like being told what to do. I’ve never trusted authority. It makes me a bad driver. I’ll tell you that because I think, alright, for example, stop signs or traffic lights, these are perfectly reasonable systems in the event of an evident contraflow of traffic.

“If there’s a red traffic light and there’s a car coming, he wins. I get the game, I get red.

“The colour of blood, the colour of fire, I get it. But in the event that it’s the middle of the night and there’s a red traffic light, I’m taking my freedom as an American because the world has been captured by evil and they’re training you to be obedient….break rules every day just to remind yourself, you can bow down to the only true authority, not a made up phony authorities (who) turn up here telling us what to do.”

Ends

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United States President Donald Trump has often said that since he took office in January, the US has received trillions of dollars in promises of investments, and the dollar amount he cites changes.

On his second day in office, January 21, Trump said the US had “already secured nearly $3 trillion of new investments”.

By May 8, that figure had risen to “close to $10 trillion“. It eventually peaked on October 29 during a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok: “I think by the end of my first term, we should have $21 or $22 trillion dollars invested in the United States from other people and countries,” Trump said.

Since then, Trump has reported varied investment figures:

• On November 27 and December 2, he said they were worth nearly $20 trillion.
• On December 2, December 3, December 4 and December 9, he said about $18 trillion, a figure he had first cited on October 10.

Sometimes Trump has phrased the commitments as approaching a dollar figure; other times, he’s said they’ve already hit that number.

In May, when Trump said, “We have now close to $10 trillion” in investments, we rated that False. The White House had documented at least $4.9 trillion less than what Trump claimed.

That $10 trillion number has about doubled in the seven months since, according to Trump, but it’s unsubstantiated. On the higher end, $22 trillion would be equal to about three-quarters of the United States’ entire 2024 annual gross domestic product (GDP), an extraordinary total for the richest country in the history of the world.

The White House website documents $9.6 trillion, and not everything cited on the website was newly pledged during Trump’s second term. Experts say there’s no guarantee the full amounts promised will come to fruition, and some of this investment would have occurred regardless of who was president.

The White House did not respond to PolitiFact’s questions about Trump’s statements.

One way to benchmark Trump’s investment figure is to look at what the White House officially documented.

The White House launched a webpage in April that includes a list of countries and companies it said have announced investments during Trump’s second term.

Using the internet archive Wayback Machine, we tracked the amount of investment the White House website cited over time. The figures Trump has used were usually at least double the amount listed on the website.

In recent weeks, as Trump cited figures from $18 trillion to $22 trillion, the White House website reported $9.6 trillion.

Is Trump accurately framing the foreign and corporate investments?

The White House website’s figure includes aspirational goals over multiple years and counts future purchases of products rather than capital investments. For some of the biggest line items – such as commitments by the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – the pledges are multiple times those countries’ annual gross domestic product, which calls their feasibility into question.

A Bloomberg Economics’ analysis found that of the $9.6 trillion the White House listed on its website in late November, $7 trillion could be considered “real investment pledges”. The remaining $2.6 trillion included countries’ agreements to purchase items such as natural gas or to expand future trade. The analysis characterised some of the investment pledges by other countries as “amorphous”.

More than 80 percent of the investments from private companies stemmed from artificial intelligence-related spending.

“Many of the pledges cited by the White House are part of overlapping multi-company projects, making it difficult to determine how much may be counted more than once,” Bloomberg said.

Ten items on the White House’s website accounted for the vast majority of the $9.6 trillion the White House detailed. Some of the White House’s documentation includes details such as specific companies getting involved and the types of facilities or infrastructure envisioned; other examples are more vague. Some involve conventional investments, while others have to do with projected trade increases.

1. United Arab Emirates: $1.4 trillion. The White House says this investment focuses on AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, quantum computing, biotechnology and manufacturing. Companies cited in a White House news release include Boeing, GE Aerospace, Emirates Global Aluminum, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Qualcomm and Amazon Web Services. It’s unclear how much of this investment would come from new investments.

The UAE’s 2024 gross domestic product was $537bn, making the pledge equal to three years of the country’s entire economic output.

2. Qatar: $1.2 trillion. The White House press release described this as an “economic exchange”, rather than a one-way investment. It cited the involvement of companies including Boeing, GE Aerospace, Raytheon, General Atomics, ExxonMobil and Chevron Phillips. The announcement described a mixture of trade deals, purchase agreements and investment intentions – items that analysts say often include future-looking efforts rather than capital injections.

In 2024, Qatar’s gross domestic product was $218bn, making this pledge equivalent to nearly six years of the country’s entire economy.

3. Japan: $1 trillion. The White House has said Japan is moving towards $1 trillion, following an initial agreement to invest $550bn in sectors such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, energy, pharmaceuticals, metals and minerals by the end of Trump’s term. Japan also disputes that this will be a one-way flow of cash into the US. Bloomberg News quoted Japanese trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa saying, “It’s not that $550bn in cash will be sent to the US” but rather a combination of investments, loans and loan guarantees provided by financial institutions backed by the Japanese government.

4. Meta: $600bn. The White House and the social media company said $600bn is tied to Meta’s US AI infrastructure and workforce expansion plans through to 2028.

5. Apple: $600bn. Apple’s long history of multi-year domestic investment pledges  means the $600bn figure incorporates prior commitments plus recent accelerations. Apple’s news release described a new $100bn boost to bring its total US commitment to $600bn over several years. The release cites a new American Manufacturing Program, supplier investments and training programmes.

6. Saudi Arabia: $600bn. The administration said $600bn from Saudi Arabia would involve the energy, critical minerals and defence sectors.

The amount cited would be equal to about half of Saudi Arabia’s 2024 gross domestic product.

7. European Union companies: $600bn. The EU said in August that “European companies are expected to invest an additional $600bn across strategic sectors in the United States through 2028.” However, the statement frames this as aspirational, not as a commitment.

8. Stargate: $500bn. This consortium between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle was unveiled during a January 21 White House event. Stargate said $100bn will be invested “immediately” and that the consortium “intends to invest” a total of $500bn over the next four years. OpenAI, among others, published blog posts describing its plans for five new sites that would bring the project to “over $400bn” in near-term investment, positioning it on a path to the $500bn target.

9. NVIDIA: $500bn. The White House said NVIDIA has pledged to build $500bn-worth of AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years. NVIDIA has said it is pursuing “ambitious” manufacturing and server production in the US, but the $500bn figure remains a goal.

10. India: $500bn. What is being called “Mission 500” aims to reach $500bn in annual bilateral trade by 2030. But it is a trade goal, not an investment pledge, and its end date would come after the end of Trump’s term. Further, the framework seems to allow US purchases of Indian goods to count towards the goal, which does not foster US investment and production.

Importantly, experts said, some of these pledges won’t materialise.

“Historically, large-scale investment announcements often overpromise and underdeliver,” Roman V Yampolskiy, an AI specialist at the University of Louisville told PolitiFact in May. “There is a performative element to them, especially in politically charged contexts. They function as political theatre as much as economic commitment.”

Trump isn’t the first to overstate new investments. President Joe Biden said in 2024 that his bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act had attracted $640bn in private investments; economists told PolitiFact that Biden’s numbers were based on what companies had announced, which is not the same as dollars already spent.

Our ruling

Trump says the US has received investment commitments totalling $18 trillion to $22 trillion since he took office in January.

The number Trump cites is about double what the White House’s website lists. And experts say the website’s current figure, $9.6 trillion, should be viewed with caution.

It includes aspirational, multi-year goals that might or might not come to fruition, and some items are future purchases or sales of products, rather than capital investments.

For the two biggest line items – commitments from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – the amounts are multiple times those countries’ annual gross domestic product.

We rate Trump’s statement False.

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Hungary’s Orbán calls EU loan for Ukraine ‘extremely bad decision’ and ‘lost money’

Babiš’s partner in the opt-out three, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, made it clear overnight that he wasn’t a fan of the agreed solution, and didn’t want his country to have anything to do with it.

Leaving the summit, he said “Hungary is totally out of that.”

“I think it’s a bad decision. All the others, except the Czechs and Slovaks, think that it was a good decision. I think it was an extremely bad decision, which brings Europe closer to the war.”

He continued:

“It looks like a loan, but of course, the Ukrainians will never be able to pay it back, so it’s basically lost money, and those who are behind that loan will take the responsibility and the financial consequences of that.

[The] three countries decided not to be part of it, that’s an opt out for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. So we are innocent.”

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Ukraine loan turned out ‘exactly as I promised,’ Czech Republic’s Babiš says

New Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš is also very pleased with the outcome of the summit, particularly with the Ukraine loan, which he says has turned out “exactly as I promised”: politically supported, but not financially guaranteed by the Czech Republic.

The country is one of the three – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – that backed the idea, but refused to provide guarantees.

Here is how it reads in the actual summit document:

“By means of enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) in respect of the instrument based on Article 212 TFEU, any mobilisation of resources of the Union’s budget as a guarantee for this loan will not have an impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.”

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Updated at 09.31 CET

Spain’s Sánchez backs EU decision on loan as right politically, legally and morally

Sam Jones

in Madrid

Speaking to the press early this morning, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez described the EU’s €90bn loan to Ukraine as the right course of action politically, legally and morally.

“As I told President Zelenskyy in a bilateral meeting earlier, the European Union has to support the Ukraine financially, but it has to do so for moral reasons and in the interest of justice – but also because it’s legal,” he said. “This decision is backed by international law.”

ShareJakub Krupa

It’s Jakub Krupa here, picking up the blog to bring you the latest reaction from Europe and Ukraine to the overnight deal in Brussels.

Good morning.

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French president Emmanuel Macron has hailed the deal as a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets “was the most realistic and practical way” to fund Ukraine and its war efforts.

Associated Press reports that the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also hailed the decision.

“The financial package for Ukraine has been finalised,” Merz said in a statement, noting that “Ukraine is granted a zero-interest loan.”

“These funds are sufficient to cover the military and budgetary needs of Ukraine for the two years to come,” Merz added. He said the frozen assets will remain blocked until Russia has paid war reparations to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that would cost over €600bn.

“If Russia does not pay reparations we will — in full accordance with international law — make use of Russian immobilised assets for paying back the loan,” Merz said.

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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán agreed not to block the huge EU-backed loan to Ukraine as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt.

The deal will not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the EU agreement said.

Moscow-friendly Hungary had previously said it would oppose the deal, just as it opposed the use of frozen Russian assets.

Viktor Orbán speaks to media at the end of the European Council summit in Brussels. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty Images

The deal followed hours of discussions among leaders on the technical details of a loan based on frozen Russian assets, which turned out to be too complex or politically demanding to sort out at this stage, diplomats said.

“We have gone from saving Ukraine to saving face, at least that of those who have been pushing for the use of the frozen assets,” one said.

You can read more on the deal as well as other developments in the Ukraine war – including Russian strikes near the Black Sea port of Odesa – in our daily briefing here:

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Updated at 08.22 CET

The EU agreement to provide Kyiv with an €90bn interest-free loan will cover most of Ukraine’s urgent financial needs but be secured against EU borrowing rather than frozen Russian assets.

As Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels, after the summit talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the European Council president, António Costa, told reporters: “We committed and we delivered.”

He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make the €90bn (£92bn/$105bn) loan to Ukraine for the next two years backed by the EU budget, which Kyiv would repay only once Russia paid reparations.

Costa added: “The union reserves its right to make use of the immobilised assets to repay this loan.”

EU leaders entered the summit on Thursday with many wanting to secure the urgently needed loan against some of Russia’s €210bn frozen assets on the continent. But the plan fell over on the demand of Belgium, which hosts 88% of the Russian funds in the EU, to have unlimited budget guarantees from other member states if Moscow won a successful claim for damages.

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, said the reparations loan was not a good idea and had a lot of loose ends. “And if you start pulling at the loose ends in the strings, the thing collapses.”

You can read the full report here:

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Updated at 08.23 CET

Opening summary

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Ukraine war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is grateful to European Union leaders after they agreed on a plan to provide Ukraine a €90bn ($105bn) loan to cover its looming budget shortfalls.

“This is significant support that truly strengthens our resilience,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X on Friday.

The EU leaders’ agreement came at summit talks in Brussels, but they failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to make up the loan funds.

Zelenskyy said: “It is important that Russian assets remain immobilised and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years. Thank you for the result and for unity. Together, we are defending the future of our continent.”

The agreement came after EU leaders settled on granting an interest-free loan for the next two years backed by the bloc’s common budget, providing Kyiv a lifeline as Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s near-four-year war in Ukraine.

“Today’s decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend itself and to support the Ukrainian people,” said European Council head Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit.

Meanwhile, US and Russian representatives are set to hold fresh talks on Ukraine in Miami at the weekend as Trump urged Kyiv to move “quickly” on reaching a peace deal.

In key developments:

• The leading option at the EU summit had been to tap about €200bn of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Kyiv but that fell through after Belgium – where the bulk of the assets are held – demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries. Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said as the summit wrapped up that he believed “rationality has prevailed”.

• German chancellor Friedrich Merz had pushed hard for using Russia’s frozen assets but still said the final decision on the EU-backed loan “sends a clear signal” to Vladimir Putin. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine would need to repay the loan only once Moscow paid for the damages it has caused.

Merz and von der Leyen at the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: ANP/Shutterstock

• Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, agreed not to block the loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt. The deal would not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the agreement said.

• Zelenskyy had urged EU leaders at the start of the summit to use the frozen Russian assets, saying: “It’s moral, it’s fair, it’s legal.” The EU estimates Ukraine needs an extra €135bn to stay afloat over the next two years.

• In Washington, Donald Trump urged Ukraine to move swiftly on a peace deal ahead of fresh talks expected in Miami this weekend. The US president told reporters in the Oval Office: “Well, they’re getting close to something, but I hope Ukraine moves quickly. I hope Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there. And you know, every time they take too much time, then Russia changes their mind.” Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to meet Russian officials in Florida, a White House official said, after the envoys held talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Berlin last Sunday and Monday.
  With agencies

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Updated at 08.31 CET

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