Denmark’s parliament has voted to abolish a springtime public holiday to boost spending on the military. Lawmakers voted 95-68 to scrap Great Prayer Day, a religious holiday observed since the 17th century. The cancellation will provide an additional three billion kroner (£355m; $427m) to be used on the defence budget, the government says. But there has been opposition from opposition politicians, trade unions and religious figures. At the start of the month, some 50,000 protesters gathered outside parliament in Copenhagen to protest the plan. “Stop the thief,” Karsten Honge, a member of the Socialist People’s Party, said during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “The government is ordering people to work one day more.” However, there was not enough opposition in parliament to call a referendum. Despite the opposition, Denmark’s government coalition said the extra money was needed to raise the defence budget to Nato’s target of 2% of GDP by 2030, instead of 2033 as previously planned.(BBC)…[+]

A drone has crashed in the Moscow region in what was likely an attempt to target civilian infrastructure, the regional governor said. Andrei Vorobyov was speaking after the defence ministry reported downing two Ukrainian drones in southern Russia. Ukraine does not claim responsibility for attacks inside Russia. Russian energy giant Gazprom operates a facility near the village of Gubastovo, about 100 km (62 miles) from Moscow, where the drone crashed. Gazprom told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti that its operations in the Kolomna district had not been interrupted. The target of the drone in Kolomna “was probably a civilian infrastructure facility, which was not damaged”, Mr Vorobyov posted on Telegram. “There are no casualties or damage on the ground. The FSB (Russian security service) and other competent authorities are investigating,” he added. Images shared by Russian media and officials show a damaged drone in a snow-covered field in front of a forest of birch trees. The area around the Gazprom facility is heavily forested.(BBC)…[+]

Police in Italy have arrested three people on suspicion of people-smuggling following the deaths of at least 67 migrants in a shipwreck off the country’s southern coast on Sunday. The three detained were a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals. Most of those on the wooden vessel, thought to carry 200 people, were said to be from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Officials have warned the final death toll could climb to more than 100. Rescuers pulled another body from the sea, that of a man, on Tuesday morning. The three men arrested are said to have sailed the boat from Izmir in Turkey to Calabria in Italy despite bad weather conditions. Police say they allegedly asked the migrants for about €8,000 (£7,000; $8,500) each to make the long journey. The vessel is reported to have sunk after it crashed against rocks in rough weather, while trying to land near Crotone. The coastguard said 80 people had been found alive, “including some who managed to reach the shore after the sinking”, meaning many more remained unaccounted for.(BBC)…[+]