Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Sasha Mezhevoy was five years old when she, her older brother and sister were sent to an orphanage in Moscow. They were told they were going to be adopted by a Russian family. But they were not orphans. They were Ukrainian children who had been forcibly removed from their father. Sasha grew up in Mariupol, the port city that endured more than 80 days of bombardment in one of the bloodiest and most destructive chapters of the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Under Ukraine's constitution, elections cannot be held under martial law. That clause exists for a reason. No democracy can conduct a free and fair national vote when its territory is being actively invaded, millions of citizens are internally displaced, and enemy forces continue to occupy towns, destroy critical energy infrastructure, and deport civilians. But Kyiv has never ruled out elections.

Antin is a European infrastructure investor with offices in Paris, London, and New York. The company focuses on investments in sectors such as digital infrastructure, energy, transportation, and social services. In the digital domain, Antin has previously invested in data center and connectivity companies in various European countries, including a regional data center platform in the United Kingdom. This has given the company experience in scaling up colocation and network services within regulated and competitive markets.

An eight-year-old boy from Wexford waited over an hour and a half for emergency services after suffering a serious injury in his home.

Portugal is bracing for a widespread impact nationally from its first general strike in 12 years, as unions urge action against the centre-right minority government's planned workers' rights reforms. Heavy disruption is expected for public transport, schools, courts and hospitals on Thursday, as workers protest against a draft law aiming to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.

Joining forces with REEN is a defining step for both companies. Together, we can scale faster, serve customers better, and lead the transformation of how cities and companies manage resources.

Almost a year ago now, the couple began the ascent of Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner (3,798 m or 12,461 ft), via its southwest ridge a long, complex route with sections that are especially treacherous in winter. They began their ascent at 6:45 a.m., and shortly after 1:00 p.m. they were less than 250 meters from the summit. At that point, coinciding with the most difficult section of the route, their progress stalled, and nightfall soon overtook them.

It's no secret by now that Iceland is one of the world's greatest destinations. First-time visitors drive jaws agape around the ring road, marvelling at the primal landscapes being moulded in front of their eyes, ancient to us but younger than most other countries on Earth. Repeat visitors delve into the hidden corners of the country, immersing themselves in the small towns that cling to precarious coastlines, undertaking epic multi-day treks, and discovering that every fjord, valley, and mountain heath holds something wonderous.

"At the current stage of the war, it is unmanned aerial vehicles that provide about 60% of all strikes on enemy targets," Syrskyi wrote. The military chief said that in November alone, Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, carried out over 304,000 missions, striking or destroying roughly 81,500 targets. "Over the past six months, this indicator has been constantly growing," Syrskyi added. Meanwhile, Ukrainian uncrewed ground vehicles, or UGVs, carried out 2,000 missions in the same timeframe, he said.

When the woman's phone began to ring one morning in June, she did not know that the news she would receive would hurtle her and her teenage daughter into a "tunnel" of medical appointments, tests and fear. On the other end of the line, she said, was the head of the fertility department at a Belgian clinic she had visited in 2011 to undergo fertility treatment, which at the time was not available to would-be single mothers in France.

Hungary's parliament voted in favor of strengthening the president's position in future, a few months before parliamentary elections where longstanding Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces the biggest challenge to his stranglehold on national politics in years. Conservative opposition leader Peter Magyar and his TISZA party currently have a roughly 10-point lead in opinion polls, with a vote likely in April 2026. Hungary's parliament voted 134 in favor of the bill, with 49 votes against and two abstentions, meeting the two-thirds majority needed for the constitutional change.

Extending across two cities, two regions, and two autonomous provinces, the competitions will be staged over more than 22,000 square kilometres of Northern Italy. Metropolitan venues in Milan are paired with longstanding Alpine centres in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, Bormio, Anterselva, and Val di Fiemme, creating a framework that bridges urban and mountain contexts. More than 90 per cent of the venues are existing or temporary facilities, reflecting a strategy centred on adaptive reuse, selective upgrades, and long-term integration into regional sport and cultural infrastructures.

A single mother to two autistic children, who had to leave her home in Bray at the end of November, has been placed in emergency accommodation over 100 kilometres away in County Wexford, despite both of her children attending primary school in the town.

A jury has viewed CCTV footage of the moment a father of four fatally stabbed a man outside his home in what he later told gardaí was an act in defence of his family and his property.

There was no threat posed by drones to President Volodomyr Zelensky on his Irish visit last week because they appeared after he had landed, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil. "His aircraft had landed quite some time before," Micheál Martin said, adding that he had been briefed on the incident and had received a report. But it was not appropriate to enter details in the public domain, he said.

The legal action alleges Ireland's national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June. The group's lead singer, Pascal Robinson-Foster, known as Bobby Vylan, led a chant of death, death to the IDF, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, making global headlines and prompting a British police investigation. RTE's allegation that the band made antisemitic chants were categorically denied and entirely untrue, Phoenix Law Solicitors, a Belfast-based firm hired by the band, said in a statement.

"The first step should always be to teach young people skills," Quentin Gartner of the German National Students' Conference. He added that minors need to learn how to behave responsibly online, rather than simply being blocked. Australia's new law, which came into effect on Wednesday, requires major platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to block accounts of users under 16 or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (30 million).

To briefly recap, it was the final round of pool matches in the Heineken Cup and Munster needed to beat Gloucester, then the leaders of the Premiership, by a margin of 27 points as well as scoring four tries to secure qualification to the knockout stages. This they duly did in the 80th minute when Ronan O'Gara converted John Kelly's try to secure a 33-6 victory.

Ireland's largest airport expects Sunday, December 21, to be the busiest day in the run-up to Christmas, when around 110,000 passengers will move through both terminals. Meanwhile, the busiest day after Christmas is set to be the following Sunday, December 28, when 115,000 passengers are to go through the airport. It comes as this Christmas will be the busiest ever for Dublin Airport, with around 1.8 million passengers set to pass through it over the festive period.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is ready for wartime elections if allies guarantee security, after Donald Trump accused him of holding on to power Zelenskyy said new components of a peace proposal hashed out with British, French and German leaders are ready for US review Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine is not willing to concede territory to Russia This is a roundup of the latest developments from Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, December 10, 2025: