Ukraine’s foreign minister says Russia is deliberately targeting civilians

in Brussels

The European Commission has said it is assessing whether Ukraine has a funding shortfall, amid renewed pressure to use Russia’s frozen assets to aid Kyiv.

“That [frozen assets] is not a primary focus. We have worked extensively on this and now the focus is somewhere else.”

“So we’ve got to carry out that work first. We need to establish the needs before we can potentially discuss ways of addressing it.”

⚽️ News and updates before the weekend’s football action
⚽️ Premier League: 10 things to watch out for | Mail John

Matthias Jaissle revealed that summer signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo is edging closer to starting for Newcastle.

The 21-year-old forward arrived on Tyneside from Lille on deadline day and has featured as a substitute in Newcastle’s last two matches.

Bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of experts

While the debate continues, we have a comment from Sam Royston, executive director of research and policy at Marie Curie. He said the government must address the crisis in palliative care regardless of what happens with assisted dying, calling for a new framework and funding to ensure everyone has access to compassionate end-of-life care.

He said:

Whatever happens with assisted dying, the UK government must fix the crisis in palliative care.

It is devastating that nearly one in three people die without the help they need. Too many spend their final days in pain or on busy, chaotic hospital wards, while families are left fighting for help instead of spending time with the people they love.

I think it’s absolutely right that, for instance, the prime minister and the government have said that improving palliative care must be a priority for him and his government. I think that’s something that we can all support.

I think everybody should have access to good quality palliative and hospice end-of-life care at their final moment.”