The family of the Bondi shooting's youngest victim Matilda urged the community to not let her death fuel anger, as they said a final goodbye to the 10-year-old on Thursday.

Matilda was among 15 people who were shot dead when two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the start of Hannukah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC at Matilda's funeral, her aunt Lina Chernykh said the Jewish community is right to want more action to stamp out antisemitism – she does too.

But she said Matilda was a joyous child who spread love everywhere she went, and urged the community to do the same in her honour.

"Take your anger and… just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece," Ms Chernykh said.

"I hope maybe she's an angel now. Maybe she [will] send some good vibes to the world."

Jewish community leaders have in recent days suggested the tragedy was an inevitable result of Australia struggling to address rising antisemitism.

The attack on Sunday, which targeted the Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, was the country's deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.

Ahead of Matilda's funeral on Thursday, Ms Chernykh said the family was devastated.

"I look at their faces [and] I don't know if they will be ever happy again," she said of Matilda's parents.

Matilda's younger sister, from whom she was "inseparable", is shattered and confused, she said.

"She doesn't have enough tears to cry."

At a flower memorial on Tuesday, Matilda's mother Valentyna told mourners that the family came to Australia from Ukraine more than a decade ago, thinking it would be a safe place for them.

"I couldn't imagine I'd lose my daughter here... It's just a nightmare," she said.

Ms Chernykh told the BBC she too has struggled to make sense of what is happening.

She was gardening at her home on the Gold Coast when Matilda's mother called on Sunday.

"Truly, I was thinking something happened to my father because he's 84 years old... and she says Matilda was shot," she recalled.

"How [could] someone in Australia understand, if someone tells you your kid was shot… I couldn't understand it. I was thinking I have bad reception. I asked a few times what I'm [hearing]."

Police have designated the attack a terrorist incident, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it appears to have been "motivated by Islamic State" group ideology.

Police allege that the two gunmen were a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.

Australia on Thursday announced it would strengthen laws to crack down on hate - including by introducing powers to cancel or refuse visas on grounds of antisemitism.

We're driven blindfolded to a secret location where Ukraine is making one of its latest weapons.

We're told to turn off our phones - such is the secrecy around the production of Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missile.

For Ukraine, dispersing and hiding the production of weapons like this is key to survival. Two factories belonging to the company that make it - Fire Point - have already been hit.

Inside the one we're visiting we're told not to film any features such as pillars, windows or ceilings. We're also asked not to show the faces of workers on the assembly line - where Flamingo missiles are at various stages of completion.

Even under fire, Ukraine is ramping up its arms industry. President Volodymyr Zelensky says the country now produces more than 50% of the weapons it uses on the front line. Almost its entire inventory of long-range weapons is domestically made.

At the start of the war Ukraine mostly relied on its old Soviet-era arsenal. Western military support helped modernise the country's armed forces, but it now leads much of the world in developing unmanned systems – like robots and drones.

Now, domestically produced cruise missiles are adding to Ukraine's long-range capability.

Iryna Terekh is the chief technical officer of Fire Point – one of Ukraine's largest drone and missile manufacturers whose Latin motto translates to "if not us, then who".

The 33-year-old once studied architecture, but she is now trying to help dismantle the Russian war machine.

She cuts a tiny figure in front of the giant Flamingo missile, which she tells me is painted black not pink (unlike early prototypes) "because it eats Russian oil".

The end product looks similar to the German V1 rocket from World War Two. It consists of a large jet engine placed on top of a tube the length of a London bus.

They've already been used in combat, though the company won't confirm specific targets.

The Flamingo is the kind of deep-strike weapon that Western nations have been reluctant to supply.

The cruise missile is said to have a range of 3,000km (1,900 miles). That's similar to a US-made Tomahawk – the more sophisticated and expensive weapon that US President Donald Trump refused to give Ukraine.

But deep strikes are seen as a critical part of the war, for which Ukraine mainly uses long-range drones. It is still losing ground to Russia on a front line that stretches for more than a thousand kilometres. So Ukraine is increasingly trying to target Russia's war economy, to slow those advances.

The head of Ukraine's Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, says Ukraine's long-range strikes have already cost the Russian economy more than $21.5bn this year.

Ruslan, an officer in Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, says the strategy is simple: "To reduce the enemy's military capabilities and their economic potential."

He says Ukraine's Special Operations Forces have carried out hundreds of strikes on oil refineries, weapons factories and ammunition dumps - deep inside enemy territory.

Of course Russia has been doing the same, and on a greater scale. On average it has been launching around 200 Shahed drones a day; Ukraine's response has been about half that number.

Nor is Russia limiting its strikes to military targets. Its long-range missile and drone attacks have led to massive power cuts right across the country – making life harder for millions of civilians. "I'd like to launch as many drones as Russia does," Ruslan says. "But we're scaling up very quickly".

Ms Tarekh, of Fire Point, says Ukraine may not be able to match Russia's resources, but, she says, "we are trying to fight with brains and tactics".

Denys Shtilerman, the chief designer and co-founder of the company, admits there is no "Wunderwaffe" – or wonder weapon.

"The game changer is our will to win," he says.

Fire Point didn't even exist before Russia's full-scale invasion. But the start-up is now producing 200 drones a day. Its FP1 and FP2 drones, each the size of a small aeroplane, have carried out 60% of Ukraine's long-range strikes. Each drone costs around $50,000 – three times cheaper than a Russian Shahed drone. Russia is still producing nearly 3,000 of those a month.

Ukraine still needs outside help, not least with intelligence, targeting and money. But it is trying to be more self-sufficient.

Ms Terekh says they've made a deliberate decision to source as many of their components as possible from within Ukraine.

"We are following the principle that no one can influence the weapons we build," she says. They avoid parts from two specific countries – China and the United States.

Asked why there should be no American components, she says "we're on an emotional roller coaster [with the US]. Tomorrow somebody may want to shut it down, and we would not be able to use our own weapons."

Until the end of last year, under President Biden, the United States supplied nearly $70bn-worth of military support to Ukraine. That was soon stopped under President Trump – instead he has set up a scheme to allow European Nato to purchase US weapons. The US is no longer Ukraine's biggest military backer, and Europe has struggled to fill the gap left by America or to match its previous support.

Concerns about future US support spills over into talk of future US security guarantees – a key issue of the current peace talks. Ms Terekh dismisses the ongoing negotiations as "capitulation talks", and says that Ukraine making its own weapons "is the only way to really provide security guarantees".

The former architecture student also hopes that the rest of Europe will be watching, and learning lessons.

"We are a bloody example," she says, "in terms of being prepared for war."

Ms Terekh says she wants to shock them into action, and believes that if any other country had faced the same onslaught as Ukraine "then they'd already have been conquered."

Additional reporting by Volodymyr Lozhko and Kyla Herrmannsen.

A student who worked as a sales assistant has settled a sexual harassment case against her former employer JD Sports for £65,000.

Jayla Boyd worked part time in a Belfast store while studying for her A-levels.

During a shift, Ms Boyd, who was 17 at the time, was slapped on the bottom by a male supervisor and was upset that her employer failed to offer her support after the incident.

In settling the case, JD Sports Fashion PLC acknowledged and apologised for the significant upset to Ms Boyd. It also agreed to liaise with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), who supported the case, to review its policies.

Muscle memory

A JD Sports Fashion plc spokesperson said the individual involved is no longer employed by the company.

In a statement the company said: "This incident occurred in July 2024 and was promptly addressed in line with our policies."

They also apologised to Ms Boyd.

Following the incident, on the same day, Ms Boyd made a report to her manager and was told that CCTV had captured the incident.

However, the supervisor was allowed to continue to work alongside her for the rest of the shift.

She said he approached her twice during that time to talk to her and apologised for what he had done, explaining that it was "muscle memory".

Despite raising a complaint of sexual harassment, Ms Boyd claimed that while she made a written statement, she was not formally interviewed about her experience.

She said she felt upset and distressed that her employer failed to offer her support after the incident, so she used some annual leave to take time away from her job.

Upon her return, she said no return-to-work meeting was arranged.

Ms Boyd said she was not updated about the investigation or outcome of her complaint.

"I didn't really ever hear much, I didn't want to ask because I thought it was standard procedure that I was kept out of an investigation... I learned that wasn't really standard procedure and I should have been involved," Ms Boyd told BBC News NI.

She also believes that her personal information relating to the incident was seen by other staff on a manager's computer.

Ms Boyd experienced further embarrassment during a staff training session when an example involving a woman being slapped on the bottom by a supervisor was discussed.

She felt certain the example referred to her own experience.

Ms Boyd later resigned from her job.

'I never expected this to happen to me'

"I never expected this to happen to me. The initial incident was embarrassing, but it was made worse because I felt like they were trying to ignore what had happened to me instead of dealing with it properly," Ms Boyd said.

"I had to remain working with this male supervisor after he had sexually harassed me. Everyone deserves to feel safe and supported at work.

"It took me a long time to understand that it was really serious and I think that came from the stigma around it, I was so worried about what other people thought... because of how people would see me... but now I am so glad I said something," she continued.

"I hope that by speaking out I can give others the confidence to challenge this type of behaviour."

Zero-tolerance approach

In a statement, Chief Commissioner Geraldine McGahey said a "zero-tolerance approach" by employers to sexual harassment in the workplace "will remind everyone how seriously it will be dealt with should any instances arise".

"In order to prevent it, employers must ensure that all staff know what behaviour is acceptable, and unacceptable, in the workplace," she added.

"Employers must have clear policies and procedures in place to deal with harassment, and managers must be trained to use them appropriately. This type of behaviour must be investigated thoroughly, with the complaint dealt with sensitively and in a timely manner."

In settling the case, ECNI said JD Sports Fashion PLC "acknowledged and apologised for the significant upset, distress, and injury to feelings experienced by Ms Boyd".

The company reaffirmed its strong commitment to the principle of equality of opportunity.

It has also agreed to liaise with the commission to review its policies, practices and procedures, the ECNI added.

Policymakers at the Bank of England are expected to cut interest rates - bringing the Bank rate down to its lowest level since February 2023.

Analysts are widely predicting a fall from 4% to 3.75%, although they do not expect a unanimous decision among the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

This would be the sixth cut in interest rates from August last year.

The Bank rate heavily influences the cost of borrowing by consumers, but also the returns given to savers.

The MPC has a target to keep inflation - which charts the rising cost of living - to 2%. The Bank rate is the committee's primary tool for achieving its ambition.

The latest inflation data, published on Wednesday, showed a bigger drop to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation than analysts had been expecting.

The rate of CPI fell to 3.2% in November, from 3.6% in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

While inflation remains above the Bank's target, the latest fall in the rate and signs of rising unemployment and a relatively stagnant economy are likely to push the committee towards an interest rate cut.

At the previous meeting in November, the four members of the MPC who voted for a cut were only just outvoted by the five who wanted to keep rates on hold.

At the time, the Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, said he would "prefer to wait and see" whether inflation continued to drop back.

James Smith, developed market economist for ING, said the sharp drop in the November rate of inflation "green lights" a rate cut.

He said the "latest drop in inflation fits into a broader body of evidence suggesting that price pressures are cooling".

He is forecasting another two cuts to interest rates in February and April next year, although not all analysts agree with this suggestion.

Impact on borrowing and savings

About 500,000 homeowners have a mortgage that "tracks" the Bank of England's rate. If a 0.25 percentage point cut does come, it is likely to mean a typical reduction of £29 in their monthly repayments.

For the additional 500,000 homeowners on standard variable rates, there would typically be a £14 a month fall, assuming there is a cut in the Bank rate and lenders pass on the cut to their customers.

The vast majority of mortgage customers have fixed-rate deals. Rates on these deals have been falling recently, owing to the expectation among lenders of a Bank rate cut in December.

As of 17 December, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate was 4.82%, according to financial information company Moneyfacts. A five-year rate was 4.90%.

Mortgage rate cuts should also reduce some financial pressure on landlords, and perhaps ease the likelihood of rent rises for tenants.

However, savers are likely to see a further fall in returns as a result of any Bank rate falls.

The current average rate on an easy-access savings account is 2.56%, according to Moneyfacts.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil the agenda for the next phase of his government in the immediate aftermath of May's crucial elections.

The King's Speech has been pencilled in for May 12 or 13 next year, the BBC has been told, just days after elections across Britain on 7 May.

The elections in May cover the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Senedd as well as thousands of council seats in England and a handful of directly elected mayoralties.

Labour is braced for a bad night at the polls, which many Labour MPs believe could precipitate a challenge to Sir Keir's leadership.

One government source told the BBC: "It will be much harder for somebody to challenge the PM and say we need to go in a different direction when the King is about to come to parliament to announce what we're doing for the next year."

Others dispute that there is any connection between the threat to Sir Keir's leadership and the date selected for the King's Speech, pointing out that in some recent years - most recently 2022 - the speech has taken place in May, when local elections are always held.

The speech also took place very soon after local elections in 2021 and in 2016.

The King's Speech is part of the state opening of Parliament, a ceremonial event marking the start of a parliamentary session, which typically lasts for a year but can run for much longer.

The current session is on the long side, having begun after the general election in July 2024.

The speech is written by the government but read by the Monarch from a throne in the House of Lords.

It sets out the government's agenda for the coming session, specifying what pieces of legislation the government intends to pass.

Cabinet ministers began the process of formally "bidding" for legislation they want to be included in the King's Speech around early October.

Most ministers now know which bills Sir Keir wants to include in his post-May agenda, a source said.

BP has appointed a new chief executive, making Meg O'Neill the first woman to run a major global oil firm.

The London-based energy giant said its current boss Murray Auchincloss would step down less than two years after he replaced Bernard Looney, who was found to have committed "serious misconduct" in failing to disclose relationships with colleagues.

BP executive vice president Carol Howle will serve as interim chief executive until Ms O'Neill, who has led Australian energy firm Woodside Energy since 2021, takes up her new role on 1 April.

Ms O'Neill said she looks forward to helping BP "do our part to meet the world's energy needs".

Mr Auchincloss, who took over from Mr Looney in September 2024, said he had told BP's chairman in September that he was open to stepping down "were an appropriate leader identified".

"I am confident that BP is now well positioned for significant growth and I look forward to watching the company's future progress," he said after Ms O'Neill's appointment was announced. He will serve in an advisory role until December 2026.

Ms O'Neill said she would prioritise re-establishing the oil giant's market leadership, as well as advancing safety and driving innovation and sustainability.

BP praised Ms O'Neill's time as chief executive of Woodside Energy, pointing to the firm's takeover of BHP Petroleum International in 2022.

It said she had grown the business into the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Before joining Woodside, Ms O'Neill spent 23 years in technical, operational and leadership positions at Texas-based energy firm ExxonMobil.

Mr Looney was dismissed without notice, and forfeited up to £32.4m ($43.3m) in salary and benefits, after admitting that he was not "fully transparent" about his past personal relationships.

BP's board said they had been "knowingly misled" by Mr Looney.

At the time, Mr Looney said in a statement that he was "disappointed with the way this situation has been handled".

Ms O'Neill's appointment comes as BP is cutting its renewable energy investments and instead focusing on increasing oil and gas production.

In February, the energy giant said it would shift its strategy following pressure from some investors who were frustrated that its profits and share price had lagged behind rivals.

Rivals Shell and Norwegian company Equinor have also scaled back plans to invest in green energy and US President Donald Trump's call to "drill baby drill" has encouraged firms to invest in fossil fuels.

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European Union leaders begin two days of talks in Brussels with a momentous decision to be taken on whether to loan tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to fund its military and economic needs.

Most of Russia's €210bn (£185bn; $245bn) worth of assets in the EU are held by Belgium-based organisation Euroclear, and so far Belgium and some other members of the bloc have said they are opposed to using the cash.

Without a boost in funding, Ukraine's finances are set to run dry in a matter of months.

One European government official described being "cautiously optimistic, not overly optimistic" that a deal would be agreed. Russia has warned the EU against using its money.

It has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court in a bid to get its money back.

The Brussels summit comes at a pivotal moment.

US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war - which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - is "closer now than we have been ever".

Although Russia has not responded to the latest peace proposals, the Kremlin has stressed that plans for a European-led multinational force for Ukraine supported by the US would not be acceptable.

President Vladimir Putin made his feelings towards Europe clear on Wednesday, when he said the continent was in a state of "total degradation" and "European piglets" - a derogatory description of Ukraine's European allies - were hoping to profit from Russia's collapse.

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has proposed loaning Kyiv about €90bn (£79bn) over the next two years - out of the €210bn of Russian assets sitting in Europe.

That is about two-thirds of the €137bn that Kyiv is thought to need to get through 2026 and 2027.

Until now the EU has handed Ukraine the interest generated by the cash but not the cash itself.

"This is a crunch time for Ukraine to keep fighting for the next year," a Finnish government official told the BBC. "There are of course peace negotiations but this gives Ukraine leverage to say 'we're not desperate and we have the funds to continue fighting'."

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says it will also ramp up the cost of war for Russia.

Russia's frozen assets are not the only option on the table for EU leaders. Another idea, backed by Belgium, is based on the EU borrowing the money on the international markets.

However, that would require a unanimous vote and Hungary's Viktor Orban has made it clear he will not allow any more EU money to help Ukraine.

For Ukraine, the hours ahead are significant and President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the EU summit.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, EU leaders were keen to stress the momentous nature of the decision.

"We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has played a leading role in pushing for the Russian assets to be used, telling the Bundestag on the eve of the summit it was about sending a "clear signal" to Moscow that continuing the war was pointless.

EU officials are confident they have a sound legal basis to use the frozen Russian assets, but so far Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever remains unconvinced.

His Defence Minister Theo Francken warned ahead of the talks that it would be a big mistake to loan the Euroclear cash.

Hungary is seen as the biggest opponent of the move and, ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Orban and his entourage even suggested that the frozen assets plan had been removed from the summit agenda. A European Commission official stressed that was not the case and it would be a matter for the 27 member states at the summit.

Slovakia's Robert Fico has also opposed using the Russian assets, if it means the money being used to procure weapons rather than for reconstruction needs.

When the pivotal vote does finally take place, it will require a majority of about two-thirds of member states to go through. Whatever happens, European Council President António Costa has promised not to go over the heads of the Belgians.

"We're not going to vote against Belgium," he told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. "We'll continue to work very intensively with the Belgian government because we don't want to approve something that might not be acceptable for Belgium."

Belgium will also be aware that ratings agency Fitch has placed Euroclear on a negative watch, partly because of "low" legal risks to its balance sheet from the European Commission's plans to use the Russian assets. Euroclear's chief executive has also warned against the plan.

"There are many hiccups and obstacles of course still on the way. We have to find a way to respond to Belgium's worries," the Finnish official added. "We are on the same side as Belgium. We will find a solution together to make sure all the risks are checked as much as they can be checked."

However, Belgium is not the only country to have doubts, and a majority is not guaranteed.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told Italian MPs she will endorse the deal "if the legal basis is solid".

"If the legal basis for this initiative were not solid, we would be handing Russia its first real victory since the beginning of this conflict."

Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also said to be unconvinced by the controversial proposals.

If the deal is passed and the Russian assets are given to Ukraine, the worst-case scenario for Belgium would be one in which a court would order it to hand the money back to Russia.

Some countries have said they would be prepared to provide billions of euros in financial guarantees, but Belgium will want to see the numbers add up.

At any rate, Commission officials are confident that the only way for Russia to get it back would be by paying reparations to Ukraine - at which point Ukraine would hand its "reparations loan" back to the EU.

European Union leaders begin two days of talks in Brussels with a momentous decision to be taken on whether to loan tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to fund its military and economic needs.

Most of Russia's €210bn (£185bn; $245bn) worth of assets in the EU are held by Belgium-based organisation Euroclear, and so far Belgium and some other members of the bloc have said they are opposed to using the cash.

Without a boost in funding, Ukraine's finances are set to run dry in a matter of months.

One European government official described being "cautiously optimistic, not overly optimistic" that a deal would be agreed. Russia has warned the EU against using its money.

It has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court in a bid to get its money back.

The Brussels summit comes at a pivotal moment.

US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war - which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - is "closer now than we have been ever".

Although Russia has not responded to the latest peace proposals, the Kremlin has stressed that plans for a European-led multinational force for Ukraine supported by the US would not be acceptable.

President Vladimir Putin made his feelings towards Europe clear on Wednesday, when he said the continent was in a state of "total degradation" and "European piglets" - a derogatory description of Ukraine's European allies - were hoping to profit from Russia's collapse.

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has proposed loaning Kyiv about €90bn (£79bn) over the next two years - out of the €210bn of Russian assets sitting in Europe.

That is about two-thirds of the €137bn that Kyiv is thought to need to get through 2026 and 2027.

Until now the EU has handed Ukraine the interest generated by the cash but not the cash itself.

"This is a crunch time for Ukraine to keep fighting for the next year," a Finnish government official told the BBC. "There are of course peace negotiations but this gives Ukraine leverage to say 'we're not desperate and we have the funds to continue fighting'."

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says it will also ramp up the cost of war for Russia.

Russia's frozen assets are not the only option on the table for EU leaders. Another idea, backed by Belgium, is based on the EU borrowing the money on the international markets.

However, that would require a unanimous vote and Hungary's Viktor Orban has made it clear he will not allow any more EU money to help Ukraine.

For Ukraine, the hours ahead are significant and President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the EU summit.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, EU leaders were keen to stress the momentous nature of the decision.

"We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has played a leading role in pushing for the Russian assets to be used, telling the Bundestag on the eve of the summit it was about sending a "clear signal" to Moscow that continuing the war was pointless.

EU officials are confident they have a sound legal basis to use the frozen Russian assets, but so far Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever remains unconvinced.

His Defence Minister Theo Francken warned ahead of the talks that it would be a big mistake to loan the Euroclear cash.

Hungary is seen as the biggest opponent of the move and, ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Orban and his entourage even suggested that the frozen assets plan had been removed from the summit agenda. A European Commission official stressed that was not the case and it would be a matter for the 27 member states at the summit.

Slovakia's Robert Fico has also opposed using the Russian assets, if it means the money being used to procure weapons rather than for reconstruction needs.

When the pivotal vote does finally take place, it will require a majority of about two-thirds of member states to go through. Whatever happens, European Council President António Costa has promised not to go over the heads of the Belgians.

"We're not going to vote against Belgium," he told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. "We'll continue to work very intensively with the Belgian government because we don't want to approve something that might not be acceptable for Belgium."

Belgium will also be aware that ratings agency Fitch has placed Euroclear on a negative watch, partly because of "low" legal risks to its balance sheet from the European Commission's plans to use the Russian assets. Euroclear's chief executive has also warned against the plan.

"There are many hiccups and obstacles of course still on the way. We have to find a way to respond to Belgium's worries," the Finnish official added. "We are on the same side as Belgium. We will find a solution together to make sure all the risks are checked as much as they can be checked."

However, Belgium is not the only country to have doubts, and a majority is not guaranteed.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told Italian MPs she will endorse the deal "if the legal basis is solid".

"If the legal basis for this initiative were not solid, we would be handing Russia its first real victory since the beginning of this conflict."

Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are also said to be unconvinced by the controversial proposals.

If the deal is passed and the Russian assets are given to Ukraine, the worst-case scenario for Belgium would be one in which a court would order it to hand the money back to Russia.

Some countries have said they would be prepared to provide billions of euros in financial guarantees, but Belgium will want to see the numbers add up.

At any rate, Commission officials are confident that the only way for Russia to get it back would be by paying reparations to Ukraine - at which point Ukraine would hand its "reparations loan" back to the EU.

Dan Bongino has said he will leave his role as the FBI's deputy director in January.

In a post on X, he thanked President Donald Trump, as well as the director of the FBI and the attorney general "for the opportunity to serve with purpose".

It comes after Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the former podcast host "did a great job" in office, and "wants to go back to his show".

Bongino, who was appointed to the role by Trump in February, was previously a New York City police officer and a US Secret Service agent assigned to protect Barack Obama. In recent years, he built a large following through his podcast and other media appearances.

Bongino, a staunch Trump ally, was considered a surprise pick for the role – which had previously been held by career agents – because he had no prior experience with the agency.

The FBI Agents Association, which represents around 14,000 current and former agents, had opposed his appointment to the position.

Announcing his decision in a social media post on Wednesday, he said: "I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January. I want to thank President Trump, AG [Pam] Bondi, and Director [Kash] Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose.

"Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her."

Before joining the agency, Bongino had echoed disinformation and conspiracy theories about Trump's false claim that he won the 2020 election, and about the 6 January 2021 pipe bomb investigation.

Bongino had also questioned whether sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had taken his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial.

In July, the US justice department and FBI released a memo that said Epstein did take his own life.

The memo frustrated many of Trump's supporters, who echoed the Epstein conspiracy theories and rejected the justice department's findings.

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