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Joe Biden’s fitness to continue as president, let alone run for the White House again, is beginning to be questioned after a special counsel investigation into the handling of classified documents said he portrayed himself as an “elderly man with a poor memory”.

Robert Hur said President Biden had “wilfully retained and disclosed classified materials” after he was vice president and when he was a “private citizen”, and his actions “present serious risks to national security”.

But the prosecutor said he chose not to bring criminal charges following a 15-month investigation because Mr Biden cooperated and would likely be difficult to convict.

“We have considered that, at trial, Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” he wrote in a report.

Mr Hur said that Mr Biden’s memory was “significantly limited” when he was interviewed by members of his prosecution team.

The report claims he could not remember when he was vice president or when his son, Beau Biden, died.

And President Biden did himself no favours in trying to convince the American public of his fitness for office when, in a news conference following the special counsel’s decision, he confused the presidents of Mexico and Egypt when discussing aid to Gaza.

Analysis: The lack of charges is not the story. The story is him and it is devastating

Former president Donald Trump, who faces a 40-count indictment for retaining classified documents, has criticised the decision not to prosecute Mr Biden as the mark of a “two-tiered system of justice”.

Insisting he “cooperated completely”, Mr Biden, whose vice presidency started in January 2009 and ended in January 2017, welcomed the conclusion and said he agreed to five hours of in-person interviews over the two days following Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October last year.

Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said mistakes when packing documents while leaving office are “unfortunately a common occurrence” and happened with every administration for the past 50 years.

But he added the White House disagreed with “a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments” in the special counsel’s report.

The report could embarrass Mr Biden, 81, amid criticism he is too old to serve another four-year term – having also tried to draw a contrast with Mr Trump on personal ethics and national security.

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Biden ‘pleased’ with special counsel’s decision

‘Classified stuff downstairs’

The investigation found Mr Biden took classified information about the US war in Afghanistan and other national security matters.

Mr Biden told a writer working on his memoir at a home he was renting in Virginia in February 2017 that he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs”.

The writer deleted audio recordings of his conversations with Mr Biden after learning about the investigation, Mr Hur said, but he kept transcripts.

Donald Trump campaign in Las Vegas last month. Pic: AP
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Donald Trump criticised the decision. Pic: AP

Mr Hur’s report said the conversation created “the best case” for charges against Mr Biden, but he also wrote the documents may have been taken to his home while he was vice president, when he had the authority.

Members of Mr Biden’s legal team found the classified papers at the office of his Washington think-tank and his personal residence in Wilmington in Delaware.

What’s the difference with Donald Trump’s case?

In a statement, Mr Trump described the report’s decision as “unconstitutional selective prosecution” as he battles his own case around the seizure of classified files.

A photo published by the U.S. Justice Department in their charging document against former U.S. President Donald Trump shows boxes of documents stored in a bathroom at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in early 2021 as seen embedded in the document released by the Justice Department in Washington, U.S. June 9, 2023. U.S. Justice Department/Handout via REUTERS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Boxes of documents at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Pic: US Justice Department via Reuters

While the two cases have similarities, there are also some notable differences.

Mr Trump was charged after prosecutors said he refused for months to turn over boxes of presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and took steps to conceal the documents after the US government demanded their return.

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An FBI search in August 2022 turned up more than 100 classified documents on the property, prosecutors alleged.

He has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of political motivations ahead of a trial scheduled for May, which is likely to be delayed.

Mr Biden’s lawyers have said they notified the National Archives after finding a “small number” of classified documents in November 2022.

Additional documents were later found in a garage and library at his Delaware home and turned over to the Justice Department.

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Biden adding ‘fuel to fire’, Kremlin says – as Ukraine allowed to fire US missiles into Russia

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Biden adding 'fuel to fire', Kremlin says - as Ukraine allowed to fire US missiles into Russia

The Kremlin has criticised President Joe Biden for adding “fuel to the fire” after giving Ukraine permission to launch US missiles into Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to… continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict.”

Russia‘s Foreign Ministry added that the action by Mr Biden‘s administration would fundamentally alter the nature of the war and trigger “an adequate and tangible” response.

The UK has refused to reveal if it plans to follow suit, for example extending the use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia.

Follow latest: Ukraine war live updates

Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons commenting would “compromise operations and security”, adding that he will speak with the US and Ukrainian defence secretaries on Monday evening.

At the G20 Summit in Brazil, Sir Keir Starmer gave a similar response: “I’m not going to get into operational details because the only winner, if we were to do that, is [Vladimir] Putin, and I’m not prepared to do that.”

For over a year Ukraine has been calling on America changes its policy on the use of long-range missiles.

Joe Biden attends the G20 Summit.
Pic AP
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Joe Biden attends the G20 Summit. Pic: AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given a muted response to Mr Biden’s decision to expand the use of the American-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).

“Strikes are not made with words… the missiles will speak for themselves,” he said.

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‘The missiles will speak for themselves’

Biden risks triggering ‘World War Three’

The US has eased restrictions on the use of ATACMS, which has a range of up to 190 miles, after Russia began deploying North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces in the conflict.

Donald Trump Jr, the son of president-elect Donald Trump, suggested in a post on X that Mr Biden was risking a third world war “before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives”.

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The use of tactical missile systems for Ukraine

Hungary: Policy is ‘astonishingly dangerous’

There has been a strong, but mixed, reaction across Europe to America’s change of policy.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said the decision was “astonishingly dangerous” – although the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a close and often sympathetic relationship with Moscow.

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Why has US let Ukraine use its missiles?

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Slovakia’s leader Robert Fico, who has also fostered a stronger relationship with his Russian counterpart, said it was an “unprecedented escalation of tensions” and “a decision that thwarts hopes for the start of any peace talks”.

But other countries have been more positive.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said: “This decision was very necessary… Russia sees that Ukraine enjoys strong support and that the West’s position is unyielding and determined.”

Meanwhile, Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna was equally positive. He said easing restrictions on Ukraine was “a good thing”, adding: “We have been saying that from the beginning – that no restrictions must be put on the military support [for Ukraine].”

How could Russia respond?

In the past, Russia’s president has mentioned sending weapons to the West’s adversaries to strike Western targets abroad. He didn’t mention any nations specifically, but the assumption was it was a reference to Iran.

Moscow has also recently changed its nuclear doctrine, to allow it in theory to respond with nuclear weapons if the West attacks targets on Russian soil.

So are these threats genuine? Or is it more sabre-rattling?

The calculus in Washington seems to be that this is another bluff from Moscow, following the obliteration of previous red lines without consequence.

The West has supplied missiles, battle tanks and fighter jets to Kyiv, all without invoking the escalation that was threatened.

But could Russia respond in other, more subtle ways, which it doesn’t want to broadcast? Think sabotage, cyber attacks, closer alignment with Iran (and of course North Korea).

So in that sense, it’s not the Kremlin’s public fury the West will be worried about, it’s what happens behind the scenes.

Missiles are ‘not a game changer’

Former British ambassador to Russia Sir Toby Brenton has told Sky News: “Nobody is really expecting this to be a game changer.

“They’re expecting it to make life more difficult for the Russians, slow the Russian advance down, but… from all the stories I’m hearing, there are not actually that many of these missiles available to be used.”

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A view shows cars and a building heavily damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine November 18, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. DO NOT OBSCURE LOGO.
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A Russian missile strike on Odesa killed 10 people on Monday. Pic: Ukrainian Emergency Services/Reuters

A view shows a residential building, which was damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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A residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Sumy. Pic: Reuters

On Monday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions killed 11 people in a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine.

Another missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Tuesday marks 1,000 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022.

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Ukrainians mourn their dead after almost 1,000 days of war – but US move sparks hope

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Ukrainians mourn their dead after almost 1,000 days of war - but US move sparks hope

Barely anyone speaks – there is virtual silence apart from the sounds of passing vehicles and the wind whipping through flags and photographs commemorating the dead in a war that started 1,000 days ago when Russia invaded.

What is really striking is the sheer number of people who have died, and this memorial in Kyiv’s Maidan Square represents just some of those who gave their lives defending their country.

Soldiers in camouflage fatigues pause to pay their respects to comrades, civilians stop and stare, heads often bowed.

At the same time, on mobile phones, news alerts announce another missile strike on Ukraine. This time in the port city of Odessa.

More dead, more injured, it never stops here.

A commemoration in central Kiev

As this war grinds on, with Russia making significant gains in the east, it says something about the Ukrainian people’s resolve to keep going.

For months the Ukrainian government has been pleading with the United States and its western partners for permission to use long range weapons to attack deep inside Russia.

The wreckage of a building in Odessa
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A ruined building in Odessa

Follow latest: Moscow warns US over missile decision
Analysis: Moscow’s words won’t worry the West – but what will happen behind the scenes?

These weapons would allow Ukraine to target airfields and bases where drones and missiles are launched against Ukraine, and to attack supply routes and military camps. In effect – to take the fight to Russia.

Time and again civilians and soldiers alike tell me the West and the United States are scared of annoying or provoking Russia. Wrongly or rightly, most believe the West is happy for Ukraine to hold the line but not beat Russia.

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Ukraine allowed to use US long-range missiles in Russia

News that President Biden, in the twilight of his time in office, has changed his position allowing American missiles to be fired into Russia, has been greeted with euphoria.

Although it’s tempered by his decision to allow them to be used only in the Kursk region of Russia, where North Korean troops are augmenting the Russian military.

MP Lesia Vasylenko says spirits have been lifted by president Biden's decision to allow long-range weapons to be fired into Russia.
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MP Lesia Vasylenko

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I met Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko in the capital, she heard the news as she arrived back in Ukraine from a trip abroad.

She says the decision has “lifted spirits here” and calls the move “extremely significant” but says it needs to go further.

“As members of parliament we have been echoing the president in every single meeting we have abroad, asking for the permission to strike inside Russia’s territory, what this means is permission to liquidate 16 airbases from which Russia on a daily and nightly bases sends airplanes carrying missiles that are hitting Ukrainian homes, Ukrainian infrastructure, and basically making civilian life impossible in the country,” she told me.

She continued: “Having permission to strike inside of all of Russia would really change things round for the people of Ukraine first and foremost, but also on the battlefield.”

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She told me that despite the war dragging on, the Ukrainian people remain resolute and united.

“The resilience is still there, for us this resilience equals survival, if Ukraine stops fighting there will be no Ukraine, there will be no us as Ukrainians, there will be no housing, we would not be allowed to live under the Ukrainian flag, so the only option here is to make sure that Russia stops fighting and that Russia can never fight again.”

Over the past almost two weeks I have driven from the west to the east of this huge country.

It strikes me that you can barely pass a town or a village cemetery without the blue and gold colours of the Ukrainian flag punctuating the grey skies – marking the graves of the war dead.

Flags mark the graves of Ukraine's war dead
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Flags mark the graves of Ukraine’s war dead across the country

A thousand days since the Russian invasion began, soldiers and civilians alike are still dying, but Ukraine is still fighting.

A thousand days ago, few thought that was likely.

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Sabotage suspected after Baltic Sea telecoms cable C-Lion1 suddenly stops working

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Sabotage suspected after Baltic Sea telecoms cable C-Lion1 suddenly stops working

An undersea fibre optic cable between Germany and Finland has stopped working and might have been deliberately cut by an unknown party, according to authorities.

The 729 mile (1,173km) C-Lion1 cable under the Baltic Sea from Helsinki to Rostock went offline just after 2am GMT on Monday.

The outage was reported by Finnish state-controlled cyber security and telecoms company Cinia.

A physical inspection has not yet been done but the abrupt nature suggests it was completely severed by an outside force, said chief executive Ari-Jussi Knaapila.

Germany and Finland‘s foreign ministers said they were “deeply concerned” and it “immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage”.

A joint statement said: “Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors.

“Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies.”

Cinia said “corrective measures” were under way and a repair ship was being prepared.

The damage to the fibre optic cable could take around five to 15 days to fix, Mr Knaapila told reporters.

The pipe runs under the Baltic Sea between Helsinki and Rostock
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The pipe runs under the Baltic Sea between Helsinki and Rostock

He said the damage occurred near the southern tip of Sweden’s Oland island and that Cinia was working with authorities to investigate.

The cable links central European telecoms networks to Finland, other Nordic countries and Asia.

Handout picture of the damaged Balticconnector gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea
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A Chinese ship was blamed for damaging another cable, the Balticconnector gas pipeline, last year. Pic: Finnish Border Guard/Reuters

Another submerged gas line and several telecoms cables were seriously damaged last year in the Baltic Sea.

A Chinese container ship dragging its anchor was named as prime suspect by Finnish police. However, they have not said if they think the damage was intentional.

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Read more from Sky News:
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Two years ago, a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany – the Nord Steam – was also damaged by explosions.

Many suspected Moscow of foul play but German authorities are still investigating the case.

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