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In 2021, the UK set out a bold ambition to become a ‘global leader on hydrogen’ by 2030.

Every family in Ukraine’s northeastern village of Hroza was affected after a missile strike killed 52 people on Thursday, obliterating a sixth of the local population, say locals. However, it may take several months before DNA analysis can identify the majority of the remains. For now, the names are scrawled on cardboard or white plastic squares, and strings mark the boundaries of the fresh graves. Dozens of people gathered in the local cafe for a meal to honour Andrii Kozyr, a soldier who died in the war against Russia, with almost every household in the village sending someone to mourn the native son. When the gathering was struck by a precision missile that Ukrainian officials said was fired by Russia, entire families perished in an instant. In all, 52 people died out of a population of 300, while only six people in the cafe survived, with villagers suspecting that a local may have tipped off Russian forces. “From every household, there were people present,” said interior minister Ihor Klymenko. “My neighbours, my neighbours,” Valentina Kozeinko, a 73-year-old retiree, wailed in agony. “A lot of our people died there,” she told CNN. “It was a powerful strike, very powerful, I came out and everything was burning,” she recalled. “It was so scary … The corpses were burned and there was blood everywhere.” Among the dead was Valeriy Kozyr’s daughter, Olya, who was survived by her three children. Mr Kozyr’s son-in-law died in the attack as well. "It would have been better if I had died," he said quietly as he wept. "Oh God, you cannot punish me like this. To leave the father and take the children!" Wiping tears from his face, the 61-year-old explained that he must now work out how to care for his three grand-children aged 10, 15 and 17. Mr Kozyr wants to bury Olya and her husband side-by-side in a single grave. Like much of the region east of the regional capital of Kharkiv, Hroza was under Russian occupation for six months, until September 2022, when Ukrainian troops liberated the area. Locals say it is strictly a civilian area. There has never been any military base, whether Russian or Ukrainian. They said only civilians or family came to the funeral and wake, and residents were the only people who would have known where and when it was taking place. Moscow denies targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion, a position it repeated on Friday in response to the Hroza strike. Thousands have been killed in a bombing campaign that has hit apartment blocks and restaurants as well as power stations, bridges and grain silos. Ukrainian officials said the weapon was a precision Iskander-style missile, which is said to have an accuracy of five to seven meters. Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the regional prosecutor, said investigators are looking into whether someone from the area transmitted the cafe’s coordinates to the Russians — a betrayal to everyone now grieving in Hroza. Many share that suspicion, describing a strike timed to kill the maximum number of people. The date of the funeral was set a few weeks ago, and the time was shared throughout the village late last week. Not all of the victims have been identified. Regional police investigator Serhiy Bolvinov told reporters late on Thursday that authorities would have to use DNA to identify some of the victims because their remains were beyond recognition. "Corpses lay there in that yard, and nobody could identify them," said Valentyna Kozienko, 73, speaking near her home close to the site. "Half the village is gone, families are gone," said Kozyr, standing beside his wife as she wept. "All the time they miss. Well, this time, they hit. "Now I’ll have to cross out half my phone book." Additional reporting from the wires Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s ‘inhuman’ missile strike hit area with no military targets, says Kyiv Precision missile strike on cafe hosting soldier's wake decimates Ukrainian village ‘You can still smell the blood’: Inside the village where more than 50 were killed by a Russian missile

They are playing at home which could be an advantage but also a pressure point, writes Suresh Menon.

Many woke up dazed in the Ukraine’s Hroza on Friday – with the village in the northeast of the country having lost a fifth of residents in the devastation caused by a Russian missile strike the previous day. Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has said the village only had 330 residents – and that at least 52 had been killed in the assault. He added that every family had at least one person they knew at the wake for Ukrainian soldier Andrii Kozyr inside the cafe (and grocery shop) that was wrecked by the missile. That wake followed a funeral that had been an attempt to rebury a father who had been killed in Russian-occupied territory last year. Now candles mark the spot where the lives of those mourners were lost. Residents have said that the cafe, Hrozivske, had been closed for much of the time since Russia’s invasion began in February last year, and that the wake had marked one of the first major events of its reopening. The strike that followed is one of the deadliest of the war. Alina, 23 – who only wanted to be known by her first name – moved to the village after marrying a local three years ago. Alina says herself and her husband were due to be at the memorial, but their car engine faltered and they couldn’t make it in time. “We were meant to be there. We were meant to be dead,” she says. Now all she feels is anger at the missile strike. “They were just normal people living a normal life,” she says of those who died. “Most of them were farmers, working with wheat and barley.” The village, in the Kharkiv region, was founded in 1922, and its name translates as “thunderstorm”. It was first occupied by Russian forces in February 2022 and was liberated by Ukrainian forces that September. Alina says that when the village was occupied by Moscow’s forces, mostly older people stayed behind as the younger residents fled. When the village was due to celebrate its centennial anniversary last year, she says that residents spent the time hiding in their cellars. “We felt enormous joy when Russian forces left,” she continues. “It was great to be Ukraine again. [Now] I have no words for what’s happened.” Hroza had 501 inhabitants before the invasion according to local journalist Iryna Antoniuk, who is a correspondent with the My-Ukraina [We Are Ukraine] TV Channel. She says that half of the 300 or so who remained in the village had been in attendance at the wake. In a morning visit to the village, less than 24 hours after the attack Ms Antoniuk says “you can still smell the blood” among the wreckage. “It’s a tiny little village,” says Ms Antoniuk. “This building that was hit, was in the very centre, so it’s so noticeable. Immediately, when you enter the village, you notice it. People have started bringing flowers now to pay tribute.” Workers at the local cemetery cut down trees and mowed grass to prepare graves for those killed. They are to be buried not far from the soldier Kozyr, whose wake they were attending. Residents also gathered to mourn in groups in the village centre, which was largely deserted except for people picking up humanitarian aid, including materials to repair their damaged houses. Dr Robert Dale, Senior Lecturer of Russian History at Newcastle University says: “Hroza... has seen much bombardment during the Russian offensive. “This is a location that as a borderland area has long been a site of conflict, and at the sharp end of wars. The Kharkiv region suffered very badly in the ‘Russian’ Civil War, the Holodomor, and the area changed hands repeatedly in the Second World War... Perhaps one reason for why Hroza seems to have so little recorded history is that these rural regions have been ravaged throughout the twentieth century.” He added: “The Kharkiv region’s proximity to the Russian border means that it has born much of the brunt of... this conflict.” The Hroza victims made up most of the 54 civilians killed in the country over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine's presidential office said Friday. The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the attack. In a sign of the continuing assault Ukrainians face in the Kharkiv region. On Friday morning, Ukrainian officials said another two Russian missiles had killed a 10-year-old boy and his grandmother in the city of Kharkiv itself. Emergency crews pulled the boy's body from the rubble of a building. He was wearing pyjamas with a Spider Man design. The strike also killed the boy's grandmother and wounded an 11-month-old child, the interior minister Klymenko said. The regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said that in all, 30 people were wounded. Rescue operations were continuing. Officials said preliminary information indicated that the Kremlin's forces used two Iskander missiles in the attack, the same as in the strike on Hroza. The attack may have only lasted seconds, but Alina says she will feel the hurt for a long time. “I knew every single person that has died. They were our buddies, our friends, our family and neighbours,” she says. Read More Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Iranian women’s rights ‘freedom fighter’ Narges Mohammadi Ukraine-Russia war – live: Latest missile strike by Putin’s forces kills boy and his grandmother in Kharkiv Berlin exists on the border of freedom and chaos – it’s why I keep coming back

Devastated families speak out as Creeslough marks one year since an explosion which killed 10 people.

Government officials meet as teachers refuse to work following the latest reported infestation.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been to imprisoned activist Narges Mohammadi for fighting oppression of women in Iran and broader human rights and freedom for all. The Nobel committee's decision to award the prize to Mohammadi comes after more than a year of protests in Iran spearheaded by women. They were sparked in September 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old, died in the custody of Iran's morality police. The unrest rapidly spread across the country, with demands ranging from more freedoms to an overthrow of the state. “She fights for women against systematic discrimination and oppression,” the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said in announcing the prize in Oslo. Ms Reiss-Andersen said that Mohammadi supports the struggle for women to live "full and dignified lives". Hailing Mohammadi as a "freedom fighter", Ms Reiss-Andersen said, started her speech by saying, in Farsi, the words for "woman, life, freedom" - one of the slogans of the protests. Images of Iranian women defiantly setting their headscarves on fire and chanting the phrase spread around the world. Mohammadi was behind bars as the protests grew nationwide, sparking one of the most-intense challenges ever to Iran's theocracy since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. More than 500 people were killed in a heavy security crackdown while more than 22,000 others have been arrested. In piece for The New York Times from behind bars, Mohammadi wrote: "What the government may not understand is that the more of us they lock up, the stronger we become". Ms Reiss-Andersen said the peace prize award also recognised the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Iranian discrimination and oppression of women. "This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran, with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," she said. "Only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve the fraternity between nations that [prize founder] Alfred Nobel sought to promote," she said. Authorities arrested Mohammadi in November after she attended a memorial for a victim of 2019 protests that started over a rise in fuel prices but morphed into a broader show of dissent that was crushed by security forces in another bloody crackdown. Mohammadi is currently serving multiple sentences in Tehran's Evin Prison amounting to about 12 years imprisonment, according to the Front Line Defenders rights organisation. Charges against her – which the international community have decried – include spreading propaganda against the state. Mohammadi has a long history of imprisonment, harsh sentences and international calls for reviews of her case. "If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release her so that she can be present to receive this honour, which is what we primarily hope for," Ms Reiss-Andersen said. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said he award highlights the courage of Mohammadi and women like her. "We've seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell said. "[Women] been harassed for what they do or don't wear. There are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them. This really is something that highlights the courage and determination of the women of Iran and how they are an inspiration to the world." Mohammedi is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman, after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003. Before being jailed, Mohammadi was vice president of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. Ebadi founded the centre. Ebadi left Iran after the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 that touched off unprecedented protests and harsh crackdowns by authorities. In 2018, Mohammadi, an engineer, was awarded the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize. According to the will of Alfred Nobel, the prize should be awarded to the person "who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses". Previous winners of the prize – which can be awarded to individuals or organisations – include Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Aung San Suu Kyi and the United Nations. In recent years there has been a broad interpretation of that declaration in Nobel’s will. Last year’s prize was won by human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, in what was seen as a strong rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of his invasion of Ukraine, which used Belarus as a staging post. Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, Nobel decreed that the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee. The independent panel is appointed by the Norwegian parliament. This year, the committee received 351 nominations — 259 for individuals and 92 for organisations. People who can make nominations include former Nobel Peace Prize winners, members of the committee, heads of states, members of parliaments and professors of political science, history and international law. The prizes are handed out at awards ceremonies in December in Oslo and Stockholm. They carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (about £820,000). Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and diploma. Read More Moment Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Iranian campaigner Narges Mohammadi Russian missile attack kills 52 as Putin delivers rambling speech Ukraine says gains made in intense fighting in east despite Russia’s aerial dominance Russian missile attack kills 52 as Putin delivers rambling speech Ukraine says gains made in intense fighting in east despite Russia’s aerial dominance Putin says plane of Wagner chief Prigozhin blown up by hand grenades on board

Goldman Sachs expects economic growth in the euro area to recover to 1.25%-1.5% in 2024, more than double

Ukrainian forces have advanced in the eastern part of the war-hit nation where officials said Vladimir Putin has deployed over 110,000 troops, but Kyiv officials reported pressure further north. The intensity of assaults have increased in the Lyman-Kupiansk sector, Ilia Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern group of forces, said. Mr Yevlash called the two towns the “most difficult area” as Russian forces use both ground and air forces. Russian forces are actively using fighter jets, Su-35 and Su-25, and helicopters Ka-52 and Mi-8 in the region, he said. They were backed by Su-35 attack aircraft and started attacking along the frontline in the direction of Makiivka in the Luhansk region. Lyman and Kupiansk towns in Kharkiv oblast were recaptured by Ukrainian troops late last year and have witnessed continuous Russian assaults since then. “The enemy has chosen a new point – Makiivka – and is directing all its main efforts into this direction. Of course, we are also repulsing enemy attacks and inflicting damage on forces and equipment," Mr Yevlash said in a daily update. Kyiv’s battle to regain ground near the ghost city of Bakhmut, which has been reduced to rubble in a warfare lasting over a year, is also continuing in the eastern theatre. Two main theatres of war – in southern Ukraine and eastern Ukraine – have cropped up during Kyiv’s four-month old counteroffensive to push back Russian forces off its soil. In its evening report, the general staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed Kyiv’s troops had "achieved success" south of Andriivka. The village south of Bakhmut was captured by Ukrainian troops last month in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian general staff said its forces were pressing on with their southward advance in the Zaporizhzhia region and had repelled a Russian attack near the village of Robotyne. The report said Russian forces had unsuccessfully tried to regain lost positions in an area further south. This was further corroborated by Russian accounts of the fighting which said Moscow’s forces had repelled two Ukrainian attacks west of the Russian-held city of Donetsk. In the southern theatre, Kyiv’s forces are pushing toward the Sea of Azov in an attempt to split Russian-occupied territory in two. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Deadly Russian attack on memorial service was no blind strike, says Zelensky Putin says Wagner chief Prigozhin’s plane blown up by hand grenades on board Putin deliberately attacked Ukrainian civilians in Kharkiv missile strike, says Zelensky A look at Russia's deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine White House condemns ‘horrifying’ Russian attack on grocery store in Ukraine

A Russian missile attack has killed 51 people at a memorial service, including a six-year-old boy, in what Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called “no blind strike”. The Russian missile slammed into a cafe and shop in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing 51 people in Hroza village in the eastern Kharkiv region. The attack – thought to have been carried out using an Iskander ballistic missile – appears to have caused one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike. Mr Zelensky, who was attending a summit with European leaders, said: “Russian troops could not have been unaware of where they were hitting. This was no blind strike.” "The terrorists deliberately carried out the attack during lunchtime, to ensure a maximum number of casualties," said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. "There were no military targets there. This is a heinous crime intended to scare Ukrainians." Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evening called the Canadian parliament's standing ovations to honour a Ukrainian war veteran who served in Nazi Waffen SS units "disgusting", and said it showed Moscow was right to "denazify" Ukraine. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month formally apologised after the speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Anthony Rota, praised 98-year-old ex-soldier Yaroslav Hunka in the chamber while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present. Rota said he had made a mistake and resigned. "He essentially lumped together Nazi collaborators, SS troops and the Ukrainian military of today who are fighting against Russia," Putin told an audience at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi in response to a question. "This only confirms our thesis that one of our goals in Ukraine is denazification." Read More Russian missile strike kills more than 50 Ukrainians gathered for wake – in deadliest such attack in months Former Russian state TV journalist gets 8 1/2-year sentence in absentia for Ukraine war criticism Russia facing ‘functional defeat’ in the Black Sea – but Kyiv allies warn they are running out of ammunition Russia may attack civilian ships with sea mines and blame Ukraine, UK warns

The UK’s aviation regulator has appointed a chairman to lead a review into the air-traffic system outage that

Oil headed for the biggest weekly drop since March as worries over the global economy clouded the demand