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Member of UK armed forces killed in ‘tragic accident’ in Ukraine, says MoD

A member of the UK armed forces died on Tuesday morning after an accident in Ukraine, believed to be the first time a serving member of the British military has been killed in the country since the full-scale Russian invasion. The victim was not immediately named, though the Ministry of Defence said their family had been notified, after an incident that appears to have taken place during a weapons test at a site away from the frontlines. A spokesperson for the MoD said: “It is with deep regret that we must announce that a member of the UK armed orces died in Ukraine this morning, Tuesday 9 December. “He was injured in a tragic accident whilst observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability, away from the frontlines.” British military personnel are present in Ukraine in small numbers in support of the country’s armed forces, and to guard the British embassy, though their presence has been acknowledged only in limited and careful disclosures. There was no further detail on what had happened, other than to say that the fatal incident was not the result of hostile fire. The MoD said it would not be commenting further on Tuesday. The prime minister expressed his “deepest sympathy and condolences”. Keir Starmer said on X: “My deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of the member of our armed forces who sadly lost their life today. Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.” A Ukrainian memorial produced by the Kyiv war museum has counted that 40 Britons have died defending Ukraine, a higher number than previously thought. None are known to have been serving in the British military at the time of their death. Starmer has said the UK would be willing to deploy “boots on the ground and planes in the air” as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission in the event of a durable cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, but there is little immediate sign of Russia agreeing to a ceasefire. In a post on X, the defence secretary, John Healey, said: “Devastated by the death of a UK service person in Ukraine. My thoughts are with their family, friends and colleagues as they grieve for a loved one. Our hearts go out to them.” The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, said: “I am deeply saddened to hear the tragic news that a member of the UK armed forces died this morning in Ukraine. My sincere condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.”

US puts sanctions on network said to funnel Colombian mercenaries to Sudan

The United States has sanctioned four people and four companies accused of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group accused by Washington of committing genocide. Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US treasury said the network was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies. Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have travelled to Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has committed horrific war crimes including ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions. The Colombians’ involvement first emerged last year, when an investigation by the Bogotá-based outlet La Silla Vacía found that more than 300 former soldiers had been contracted to fight – prompting an unprecedented apology by Colombia’s foreign ministry. Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from the country’s decades of civil war, knowledge of Nato equipment, and high-level combat training. In Sudan, the Colombians have reportedly trained child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. One of the mercenaries told the Guardian and La Silla Vacía in October that he had trained children in Sudan and fought in the siege of the city of El Fasher. He said training the children was “awful and crazy” but added that “unfortunately that’s how war is”. Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer based in the United Arab Emirates. The treasury accused him of playing a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned. Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the treasury said managed a business accused of handling funds and payroll for the network that hired the Colombian fighters. “In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms associated with Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars,” the treasury statement said. Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed accused of carrying out wire transfers linked to Duque and his businesses. “The United States again calls on external actors to cease providing financial and military support to the belligerents,” the treasury said in a statement. Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a “very significant” milestone, saying that “calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go”. She added that Colombia also recently passed a law ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and transform national security policy. Sean McFate, an expert on mercenaries, urged more caution, saying that “sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism”. “It’s an illicit economy and based out of Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof,” he said. The UAE has been widely accused of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied. “Expect more Colombian mercenaries,” McFate warned.

Martin Collins obituary

My friend Martin Collins, who has died aged 75 from complications brought on by dementia, was a human rights activist and political organiser with a particular focus on Ireland. Around 1994 he began working in parliament for Kevin McNamara MP, organising the Agreed Ireland Forum, which sought support for the Good Friday agreement across the parties in Westminster. Among his papers is a handwritten note from the Northern Ireland secretary at the time, Mo Mowlam: “I know […] that you are working to build a broader base for the friends of GFA – Good luck with that and with all you are doing to underline the importance of bipartisanship toward N Ireland at Westminster. Keep up the good work and thanks again, love Mo.” Born in Bristol, Martin was the son of Robert, who worked for British Aerospace, and Margaret (nee Feasey). He went to Bristol grammar school, where he did not thrive, but after resitting his A-levels went to the University of East Anglia to study politics, sociology and philosophy. Martin joined the Labour party in the late 1970s, although he had already been politically active in the International Marxist Group, CND, trade unions and the Troops Out Movement while doing various factory jobs. But it was the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland of the early 80s that really focused his attention. He co-organised the Labour Committee on Ireland in 1982, editing the magazine Labour and Ireland. In 1985 he edited the book Ireland After Britain with contributions from, among others, Gerry Adams, Mary Robinson and Tony Benn. And in 1987 he became the campaign director of the Time to Go! movement, which led into his work on miscarriages of justice, including working on the case of the Guildford Four with Gareth Peirce. By the 90s he was director at the Britain and Ireland Human Rights Project, and launched a human rights journal, Rapporteur. The landmark Good Friday agreement was achieved in 1998. As the millennium turned, Martin became a director for the Irish Traveller Movement and later worked for Chris Ruane MP in his role as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the Irish in Britain. He also became involved in the campaign for justice over British army deaths in barracks such as Deepcut, eventually helping around 40 bereaved families in their fight for truth. Around this time he met Ginnie Lawlor from the Irish Youth Foundation, and they settled into life together in Ginnie’s house in Hampstead, north London. I first met Martin in the mid-80s as a friend of my wife. He was an inspirational, relentless, intelligent, entertaining and loyal friend and comrade. Ginnie and his brother Simon survive him.

More than 9,000 children in Gaza hospitalised for acute malnutrition in October, UN says

Malnutrition continues to take a toll among Gaza’s young despite a ceasefire declared two months ago, with more than 9,000 children hospitalised for acute malnutrition in October alone, according to the latest UN figures. While the immediate threat of famine has receded for most of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza after the ceasefire announcement on 10 October, the UN and other aid agencies report continuing Israeli restrictions on their humanitarian aid shipments, which they say fall well below the needs of a population weakened and traumatised by two years of war, homelessness and living in flimsy shelters. Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for the UN child protection agency Unicef, said: “In Gaza’s hospitals I have met several newborns who weighed less than one kilogramme, their tiny chests heaving with the effort of staying alive.” According to Unicef figures, 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October. That is significantly less than the peak of 14,000 children in August, but much more than the child malnutrition rate during the previous ceasefire in February and March of this year. “It’s still a shockingly high number,” Ingram said, briefing journalists by video from Gaza. In October, about 8,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women were also hospitalised for acute malnutrition. “This pattern is a grave warning and it will likely result in low birthweight babies being born in the Gaza Strip for months to come,” Ingram added. “This is not over. Generations of families, including those being born now into this ceasefire, have been forever altered by what was inflicted upon them.” Unicef and other UN agencies say that aid deliveries crossing into Gaza have increased since the height of the war, but are still completely inadequate in relation to the humanitarian needs. An average of 140 aid trucks a day have crossed so far in December, in convoys organised by the UN and the International Organisation for Migration. That is well below the target of 600 trucks a day set as part of the ceasefire. Those figures do not include bilateral aid donations and commercial shipments, which have increased more sharply than UN-coordinated deliveries under the ceasefire. They have brought down market prices for many commodities, but they remain beyond the reach of the overwhelming majority of people in Gaza who have had no income for more than two years and who have depleted their savings. Since the ceasefire, aid has been coordinated through a multinational hub called the Civil-Military Coordination Centre led by the US and Israel and involving representatives of other countries supporting the ceasefire. However, diplomats and aid officials say that the Israeli army still has the final say in what is allowed in to Gaza. The UN reported that out of eight humanitarian convoys coordinated with Israeli authorities on Sunday, only four had been facilitated.

Ukraine and Europe will be ready to present ‘refined’ peace plan to US ‘in near future’, Zelenskyy says – as it happened

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today! Donald Trump has hinted he could walk away from supporting Ukraine as he doubled down on his administration’s recent criticism of Europe, describing it as “weak” and “decaying” and claiming it was “destroying itself” through immigration (12:36, 12:44,) Trump also said that there was “no question” that Russia was in a stronger negotiating position in talks over ending the Ukraine war (13:11), saying Ukraine’s Zelenskyy will “have to get on the ball and start accepting things” (13:13). Trump also pointedly criticised EU leaders to “taking too much,” but “not producing,” as “the war just keeps going on” (13:17). His latest tirade – in an interview with Politico after named ‘the most powerful person shaping Europe’ – will make an already complicated relationship even more awkward (13:22). Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticised parts of US narrative in recent days, saying it was “unacceptable” from the European point of view (11:43), with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas (11:27, 11:53) and the European Council president António Costa (15:36) also expressing their frustration with the tone coming from Washington. In other news, 71-year-old controversial billionaire and Trump fan Andrej Babiš has been appointed the next Czech prime minister, two months on from the parliamentary election in October (9:49, 10:14, 10:27, 10:31). Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued his Europe tour meeting Pope Leo (10:53, 12:23) and Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni (9:57, 14:46, 16:40, 17:05) as he seeks to consolidate the European support for Ukraine. Lithuania has declared a state of emergency and asked parliament to authorise military support for police and border guards after a wave of smuggler balloons from Belarus repeatedly disrupted air traffic in recent months (13:57). And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Oslo appearance by Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado cancelled

A press conference in Oslo with the Nobel peace prize laureate María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader in hiding, has been cancelled, the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said, adding that it was “in the dark” as to her whereabouts. Machado last appeared in public on 9 January at a demonstration in Caracas protesting against the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro for his third term as president. The press conference, traditionally held by the Nobel laureate on the eve of the award ceremony, had been expected to be the 58-year-old’s first public appearance in 11 months. It was postponed hours before it was due to start, however, and a few hours later it was cancelled. A spokesperson for the Nobel institute said: “The press conference is cancelled for today and we have no further information about how and when she is coming.” Asked whether it might be rescheduled for Wednesday, they said: “I don’t think so, you never know … We are also in the dark.” The institute said in a statement: “María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway will be. We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel peace prize ceremony.” Machado’s team did not respond to a request for comment. Machado’s family had arrived in the Norwegian capital for Wednesday’s ceremony, but journalists accredited to attend the event received messages marked “urgent” from the committee’s head of media and communication an hour and a half before the scheduled time of access. Machado was announced as the winner of this year’s peace prize in October for her dogged struggle to rescue Venezuela from its fate as a “brutal, authoritarian state”. A conservative often described as Venezuela’s Iron Lady, she dedicated the prize in a post on X to “the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” The US president has ordered a major naval buildup off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast and threatened land strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers after a more than three-month military campaign against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. Machado’s mother, Corina Parisca de Machado, arrived at Oslo airport on Monday. The 84-year-old has not seen her daughter in a year. “Every day I pray the rosary, I ask God the Father, the Virgin, both together, that we may have María Corina tomorrow,” she told Agence France-Presse. “And if we don’t have her tomorrow, it is because that is God’s will.” After the postponement of the press conference, she told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK that she was very emotional. “I am doing well, but there are a lot of emotions now,” she said. Machado’s two sons and her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, who reportedly arrived at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday night, were also due to attend. “When we see each other, I’m sure there will be tears and joy and hugs,” Sosa told NRK earlier this month. “I miss hugging her. I miss smelling her and seeing her in person. We’re going to make the most of the time we have with each other.” Machado’s location is not publicly known but some reports say she has made it to Europe and there are suggestions that she may have received help from the US to be smuggled out of Venezuela via Puerto Rico. Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, said last month that Machado had been accused of “acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism” and would be considered a “fugitive” if she travelled to Norway to accept the prize. “By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive,” Saab told AFP. Maduro refused to accept he lost to Machado’s ally Edmundo González in a presidential election in July 2024 and launched a political crackdown that forced González into exile and Machado underground. Not since 2012, when the EU was awarded the peace prize, have so many heads of state planned to attend the ceremony. Among those expected to attend are the presidents of Argentina, Panama, Ecuador and Paraguay. The Norwegian Nobel Institute shared a video of the moment its director, Kristian Berg Harpviken, woke Machado with the news by phone that she had been awarded the peace prize. “Oh my God!” she said. “I have no words … But I hope you understand that … I am just one person, I certainly don’t deserve this.”

Why has ceasefire collapsed between Thailand and Cambodia?

A long-running border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia has erupted in fierce clashes for the second time this year, despite a peace deal brokered by Donald Trump. Seven civilians have been killed in Cambodia and 20 wounded, while Thailand has confirmed three soldiers’ deaths in the latest fighting, which began with skirmishes on Sunday night. Both sides accuse the other of breaking a ceasefire, and have vowed to continue defending their territory. What is the dispute about? The competing territorial claims date back more than a century, to when France, which occupied Cambodia until 1953, mapped the land border stretching more than 508 miles (817km) between the two countries. Skirmishes have repeatedly broken out in the years since, fanned by nationalist sentiment. One of the most fiercely contested sites is the 11th-century Hindu temple Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, which both countries claim. In 1962, the international court of justice (ICJ) awarded the temple to Cambodia. However, Thailand continues to claim the surrounding land. The dispute escalated into clashes in 2008 after Cambodia sought to list Preah Vihear as a Unesco world heritage site. Why did tensions escalate this year? Various political factors have led to the escalation. In Thailand, nationalist sentiments were fanned by a government plan to negotiate with Cambodia to jointly explore energy resources, which critics perceived as a threat to Thai territory. Tensions also escalated when Cambodia referred disputes over temples in four areas to the ICJ. A breakdown in relations between Hun Sen and Thaksin Shinawatra, former leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, complicated matters further. The powerful political figures were once close friends, but fell out. Hun Sen released a full recording of a private phone call he had with Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, then prime minister, in which they discussed the border issue. The recording triggered a political crisis that brought down her government. Paetongtarn has since been replaced as prime minister by Anutin Charnvirakul, who has promised to hold elections next year. With nationalist sentiment running high, he will probably want to show a tough stance on the border issue. What role has Trump played? And why did the peace deal collapse? Trump put pressure on both sides to stop fighting in July, saying he would not negotiate a trade deal with either until the fighting stopped, at a time when both Thailand and Cambodia were facing a 36% US tariff. Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire days later after talks in Malaysia, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc. An enhanced ceasefire agreement, which included more detail on de-escalation measures, was officially signed six weeks ago in Trump’s presence. However, the ceasefire arrangements have been precarious, and both sides have accused the other of violations. On 10 November, a Thai soldier was wounded by a landmine, causing Thailand to suspend commitments in the agreement. Thailand alleged the landmine had been newly laid by Cambodia, which Cambodia has denied. What happened in May and July? Troops briefly exchanged fire at a contested area, killing a Cambodian soldier. This led to a series of tit-for-tat actions by both governments: Thailand imposed border restrictions on Cambodia, while Cambodia banned imports of fruit and vegetables, broadcasts of Thai films, and cut internet bandwidth from Thailand, among other measures. When five Thai military personnel were injured by landmines while on patrol in July, both sides withdrew ambassadors and conflict erupted along the border. The fighting lasted five days, killing 48 people and forcing 300,000 from their homes.