COP26 has been a ‘failure’ – Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg has told a mass rally in Glasgow that the COP26 climate summit has been a “failure”, adding that “immediate and drastic” cuts to emissions are needed. The Swedish activist had earlier joined thousands of young people – including striking school pupils – for a march through the city.The march was organised by ‘Fridays for Future Scotland’, a group founded by youngsters inspired by Thunberg.

‘Energy crisis caused by Brussels’ – Orban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that energy utility prices have risen due to the Brussels’ climate protection programme, which he described as “unnecessary interference in daily life”. During his usual Friday radio interview,      Orban pointed out that the cost of climate change should be paid by polluting companies, not people. He said the Brussels idea of taxing homes and cars in the EU is a plan by Western European countries opposed to central ones, and it will be a big issue at the December 27 leaders’ summit.

EU warns of ‘serious consequences’ if UK triggers Article 16

Europe’s top Brexit negotiator has warned of “serious consequences” if the UK makes good on its threat to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol amid an ongoing row with Brussels over how goods can be shipped between the territory and the UK mainland. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic told a press conference on Friday that while the EU had proposed a solution to the impasse which avoided trade delays between the UK and Northern Ireland and “cut red tape in half”, the UK had so far refused to engage. Article 16 is a mechanism that allows either party to unilaterally take safeguard measures in the event that the protocol leads to “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade”.

Austria sends unvaccinated people to “lockdown”.

People in Austria who are not immunised will no longer be able to access restaurants, nightlife, hotels, sports, and cultural events and will be excluded from free time initiatives. The Austrian government has foreseen a transition period of four weeks, during which the first dose combined with a PCR buffer will suffice. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg justified the measure with the sharp increase in COVID cases in Austria (9,388 yesterday alone). “When we get in the car we put on the seat belt, the anti-COVID vaccine is our belt,” he said.

Cleo kidnapper in maximum security prison

Terence Darrell Kelly, the 36-year-old accused of kidnapping little Cleo Smith, has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Perth after several attempts to harm himself while in custody. The next hearing of the trial is scheduled for December. Meanwhile, the police continue to investigate the kidnapping case and for the moment it seems that Kelly, who has no relationship with the child’s family, acted alone.

Ex-Macron bodyguard jailed

President Emmanuel Macron’s former bodyguard has received a three-year sentence for assaulting two young demonstrators during an anti-capitalist protest in 2018. Alexandre Benalla – who will not set foot in prison after the court suspended two of the three years and ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet for one year – was also convicted of faking documents and illegally carrying a firearm. Macron, who had made integrity in office a cornerstone of his 2017 election campaign, fired Benalla after a video emerged showing him striking a young man and grabbing a young woman by the neck at a May Day protest in Paris.

Clooney tells media: ‘Enough photos of our children’

Actor George Clooney has appealed to the world media not to continue publishing photos of celebrities’ children on the covers of tabloids, adding “you need to respect their privacy. In an open letter addressed to The Daily Mail and other tabloids, the actor acknowledged that as a public figure he must accept that his photos, even intrusive ones, are published as “part of the price to pay to do my job” but, he adds, “my children did not make this commitment”. Clooney wrote, “My wife’s work sees her face and put terrorist groups on trial and we take all possible precautions to keep our family safe. We would never publish their photos because doing so would put their lives at risk. This is not a paranoid danger, but real world problems, with real world consequences.”