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Constellation bar co-owner arrested, held in custody, source tells Guardian
Angela Giuffrida
The Constellation bar co-owner Jacques Moretti was arrested and is held in custody after being questioned by prosecutors on Friday morning, a source confirmed to the Guardian.
Key events
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Constellation bar co-owner arrested, held in custody, source tells Guardian
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Switzerland honours victims of Le Constellation fire during day of national mourning
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Operator of Swiss bar ‘Le Constellation’ detained due to flight risk – media report
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Italy’s change of mind critical to EU-Mercosur deal adoption
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Poland’s Tusk says prospect of Ukraine peace ‘still remains distant’
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European leaders condemn Russian strikes on Ukraine
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Russian strikes on Ukraine ‘escalatory and unacceptable,’ with Kremlin ‘using fabricated allegations to justify attack’, UK says
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We are getting a bit more detail on the decision, via the Swiss media, with SWI reporting that the decision to detain co-owner Jacques Moretti was taken after a six-hour hearing.
24 Heures reported that the prosecutors decided on his detention after he was considered a flight risk given his French citizenship and “extensive mobility” in recent years.
Constellation bar co-owner arrested, held in custody, source tells Guardian
Angela Giuffrida
The Constellation bar co-owner Jacques Moretti was arrested and is held in custody after being questioned by prosecutors on Friday morning, a source confirmed to the Guardian.
Switzerland honours victims of Le Constellation fire during day of national mourning
Earlier today, Swiss leaders, victims’ families and firefighters were joined by the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at a ceremony on Friday in the city of Martigny, where a minute’s silence was held to remember the victims of the fire.
Dozens of people also stood near the shuttered bar in nearby Crans-Montana in silence, heads bowed, Reuters reported. Authorities placed hundreds of letters, teddy bears and bouquets of flowers for the fire victims beneath an igloo to protect them from snowfall.
Elsewhere, Swiss residents also paid their tributes as church bells across Switzerland rang for five minutes, and a minute of silence was held as part of a national day of mourning, commemorating the 40 people killed in the fire.
French news agency Agence France-Presse is now also reporting that the co-owner is in custody, confirming 24 Heures’s report (15:33).
Earlier today, Swiss media and Reuters reported that the country’s prosecutors summoned the owners of the ski resort bar amid growing frustration with the handling of the probe.
Reuters said that the owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, did not answer reporters’ questions as they entered the prosecutors’ office in the nearby town of Sion on Friday, which Swiss authorities have designated a national day of mourning.
The couple have expressed their grief over the fire and said they would cooperate fully with the investigation.
Operator of Swiss bar ‘Le Constellation’ detained due to flight risk – media report
We are getting a major news line from Switzerland, with local media reporting that the operator of the bar “Le Constellation” in which 40 people died and more than 100 were injured on the New Year’s Eve has been detained.
Regional daily 24 Heures has reported the 49-year-old man was put under arrest after it was deemed he posed a “flight risk,” in what the publication says was a change of heart for the investigators after they previously decided against such a move.
More on this when we have it or when we get the official information.
French opposition to seek to topple government on back of opposition to Mercosur deal
Lisa O’Carroll
France’s far-right and far-left opposition parties will try and topple the government on the back of opposition to the Mercosur deal between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraquay and Uraquay.
Mathilde Panot, deputy leader of the parliamentary group of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, has already filed a no confidence motion, saying the prime minister Sébastien Lecornu and president Emmanuel Macron “must go.
As trade falls within the exclusive competence of the EU, no further approval from member states is needed allowing the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to sign it as early as Monday.
In France it also presents yet another opportunity to try and collapse the government with support from farmers who have spent years blocading the streets with tractors and slurry.
The no-confidence motions underlines the continued fragility of Macron’s position as the French government battles to pass an already-late 2026 budget through a truculent parliament.
France, along with Poland, Hungary, Austria and Ireland voted against the deal but with Italy on board it was not enough to stop the majority approval needed.
Italy’s change of mind critical to EU-Mercosur deal adoption
Going back to Mercosur for a bit, Italy’s change of mind has proved to be critical to the expected adoption of the trade deal, after the country blocked the original deal last month.
But foreign minister Antonio Tajani now hailed it as “good news for Italy,” saying that while the deal required a long negotiation, Italy had secured protections for its farmers, “especially regarding production standards,” AFP reported.
Speaking at her press conference earlier today, prime minister Giorgia Meloni insisted she never had “any ideological objections” to the Mercosur agreement.
“We have always said we will be in favor of it when there are sufficient guarantees for our farmers,” she said. “The agreement’s potential is good, but not at the expense of the excellence of our products.”
Poland’s Tusk says prospect of Ukraine peace ‘still remains distant’
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has just responded to the overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine, saying “the world today is being shaken by various disturbing events,” and “first and foremost, Ukraine, the Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
But he conceded that “the prospect of peace, or at least a ceasefire, certainly still remains distant,” despite this week’s discussions on EU and US security guarantees for Ukraine in Paris.
European leaders condemn Russian strikes on Ukraine
We also had other reactions from top EU politicians to the overnight strikes on Ukraine, including the Oreshnik strike on western city of Lviv.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X that “Russia’s reported use of an Oreshnik missile is a clear escalation against Ukraine and meant as a warning to Europe and to the US.”
“EU countries must dig deeper into their air defence stocks and deliver now. We must also further raise the cost of this war for Moscow, including through tougher sanctions.”
Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal said that “Russia’s answer to Ukraine’s and its partners’ efforts for peace is ballistic missiles, damage, civilians killed and wounded.”
“Homes without heat, electricity, or water in the middle of winter. This is not a step toward negotiation. This is terror. Russia deliberately prolongs the war.”
He added the EU needs to keep pressure on Russia as it “does not respond to goodwill; it responds only to force.”
Meanwhile, German chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted that “threatening gestures are intended to instil fear, but they will not work.”
We stand with Ukraine.
Kyiv mayor calls for temporary evacuation as blackouts continue
Following the Russian attack overnight, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged the residents of the capital to consider temporarily leaving the city “for places with alternative sources of power and heat” amid worsening weather conditions and extensive blackouts caused by the strikes.
It’s currently -8 degree Celsius in Kyiv and it’s set to fall to -17 tomorrow night.
But AFP journalists at train and bus stations in the capital saw no signs of large crowds or panic.
Russian strikes on Ukraine ‘escalatory and unacceptable,’ with Kremlin ‘using fabricated allegations to justify attack’, UK says
UK prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor Friedrich Merz have condemned Russia’s use of the hypersonic Oreshnik missile in western Ukraine as “escalatory and unacceptable,” Downing Street said.
The three leaders spoke on the phone this afternoon to coordinate on foreign policy issues, it said.
A spokesperson for Starmer said the leaders “reflected on the strong unity in support of Ukraine at Tuesday’s meeting” in Paris and “the good progress made on next steps.”
Starmer said that “it was clear Russia was using fabricated allegations to justify the attack,” his spokesperson said.
The three leaders also discussed “security in the High North” – read: Greenland – with Starmer saying “the Nato alliance needed to step up in the region to deter adversaries such as Russia.”
They also talked about Iran, stressing the need to closely coordinate their responses to the events unfolding there.
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