31 hours ago The mysterious novelist who foresaw Putin’s Russia – and then came to symbolise its moral decay

Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist?Fiction has a habit of coming to life in Russia. On the evening of 2 April 2023, the military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky appeared at an event in St Petersburg organised by Cyber Front Z, a group of semi-professional keyboard warriors who boost Kremlin war propaganda online. With more than half a million followers, Tatarsky was a mid-tier celebrity on Telegram, the social media app that has become a hub of Russian news and political debate.As guests mingled, a young woman with long, salon-waved blond hair approached Tatarsky. She presented him with an unusual gift: a gold-painted statue of himself. About two minutes later, the statue exploded, killing Tatarsky and injuring 42 people. The blond woman – 26-year-old St Petersburg native Darya Trepova – was arrested the next ...

Politics

13 hours ago Lakers postpone Hornets game as coach JJ Redick loses home in LA wildfires

Wildfires are burning fiercely across Los Angeles regionLA Rams playoff game still expected to go aheadThe NBA has postponed Thursday’s game between the Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets in Los Angeles due to the wildfires in the region, but the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams still expect their home playoff game on Monday to go ahead.At least five people have been killed, thousands of structures have been incinerated and nearly 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes during the disaster. Lakers head coach JJ Redick lost his house in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in the fires, ESPN reported on Thursday. Continue reading...

Sport

1 hour ago LA wildfires: Everything we know as 10 people killed and celebrity homes destroyed

The death toll of Los Angeles' raging wildfires has now risen to 10, with entire neighbourhoods decimated and hundreds of thousands of terrified locals fleeing to safety

Events

1 hour ago LA fires: Donald Trump's climate denying ways will only inflict more damage

Donald Trump's blasé attitude towards environmental issues has been thrown into stark relief in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires that have killed at least 10 people

Events

2 hours ago Kate Garraway issues 'breaking news' update on GMB as stars' homes destroyed in California wildfires

Kate Garraway and Paul Brand issued a breaking news update on Friday's Good Morning Britain amid the deadly California wildfires, with at least 10 people killed.

Events

3 hours ago Myanmar junta airstrike kills 40 people and burns down 500 houses in Rakhine – reports

Strike on Arakan Army stronghold sparks massive fire

Events

6 hours ago What ignited the deadly California wildfires? Investigators consider an array of possibilities

Investigators are considering an array of possible ignition sources for the huge fires that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area

Events

12 hours ago Burned homes and rattled nerves: Altadena residents grapple with toll of deadly LA blaze

Intense winds scattered embers across huge swaths of land, burning down some houses while leaving some unscathedTell us: how have the California wildfires affected you?Ash was falling gently over the Historic Highlands neighborhood of Pasadena, California, on Thursday as residents began to grapple with the toll of the Eaton fire still being fought in the mountains above.This area was under an evacuation order on Wednesday, and the next day the streets were still littered with fallen branches from Tuesday night’s intense windstorm. The fire broke out early in the evening and spread rapidly amid the powerful gusts, killing at least four people and destroying more than 5,000 structures in the area, which also includes the Altadena and Sierra Madre neighborhoods. As of Thursday afternoon, the blaze had burned 13,690 acres and remained 0% contained. Continue reading...

Events

14 hours ago New Orleans truck attack victims sue city for neglecting to protect them

Lawsuit claims contractors and city failed to implement an effective system for deterring a known threat, the suit saysSix people who were injured and the father of a man who was killed in the New Year’s truck attack filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of New Orleans and two contractors, claiming they failed to protect revelers from an army veteran who sped around a police blockade and raced down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring at least 30.The attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar was tragic but preventable, leaving the six victims with broken bones, physical suffering and mental anguish and killing Brandon Taylor, according to the lawsuit filed in Orleans parish civil district court by Matthew Hemmer with the Morris Bart law firm. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police. Continue reading...

Events

20 hours ago An army airstrike on a village in western Myanmar has killed at least 40 people, reports say

An airstrike by Myanmar’s army on a village under the control of an armed ethnic minority group has killed about 40 people and injured at least 20 others, officials of the group and a local charity say

Events

21 hours ago Podcaster Professor Huberman claims he saw people starting garden blaze in Los Angeles as devastating wildfires kill five and destroy swathes of city

Top scientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman shared footage of what he said was people lighting fires in Los Angeles during the brutal wildfires.

Events

21 hours ago Wildfires latest: Winds subside as firefighters battle devastating blazes in Los Angeles area

Firefighters are battling to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes

Events

24 hours ago World's most wanted ISIS woman terrorist living free despite orchestrating five murders

Hayat Boumeddiene has been on the run for a decade after her husband killed five people in Paris on this date in 2015, as his wife escaped and is believed to now be in Syria

Events

25 hours ago Oscar nominations delayed by Los Angeles wildfires: ‘We are thinking of you’

Fires have killed at least five people and burned nearly 1,000 homes

Events

27 hours ago California fires live: five people killed and landmarks threatened as wildfires rage across Los Angeles

Now 130,000 people under evacuation orders as communities affected from the Pacific Coast to inland PasadenaFull report: overwhelmed firefighters struggle to contain blazesVisual explainer: why are the LA wildfires so bad?Californians: have you been affected by the wildfires?Five people have died in the Eaton fire in Altadena, an increase from the two reported deaths earlier today, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from the wildfires raging though Los Angeles County. Continue reading...

Events

28 hours ago New wildfire rips through Hollywood Hills triggering fresh evacuations as blazes sweep across LA: Live

At least five people have been killed and more than 150,000 are under evacuation orders

Events

28 hours ago New wildfire rips through Hollywood Hills triggering fresh evacuations as blazes remain 0% contained across LA: Live

At least five people have been killed and more than 150,000 are under evacuation orders

Events

29 hours ago LA fires: devastation as wildfires rip through Los Angeles – in pictures

Wildfires continued to burn across LA, with at least five people killed and more than 1,500 buildings destroyed. A new blaze broke out in the Hollywood Hills and evacuation orders were extended to Santa Monica. Winds had eased, but the danger was far from overCalifornia fires live: follow the latest newsAt least five dead as firefighters struggle to contain LA blazes Continue reading...

Events

30 hours ago Academy pushes 2025 Oscars nominations back and extends voting period amid Los Angeles wildfires

Fires have killed at least five people and burned nearly 1,000 homes

Events

30 hours ago California fires live: sixth wildfire breaks out in Los Angeles as five people killed and landmarks threatened

Evacuations ordered from Hollywood Hills due to new Sunset fire, as fire crews battle to contain destructive blazesFull report: overwhelmed firefighters struggle to contain blazesVisual explainer: why are the LA wildfires so bad?Californians: have you been affected by the wildfires?Five people have died in the Eaton fire in Altadena, an increase from the two reported deaths earlier today, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from the wildfires raging though Los Angeles County. Continue reading...

Events

31 hours ago Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes and Eugene Levy among celebrities to lose homes in California fires

Crystal ‘heartbroken’ after losing family home of 46 years in historic fires that have killed five and destroyed more than 1,100 buildingsCalifornia fires live: sixth wildfire breaks out in Los Angeles as five people killedVisual explainer: why are the LA wildfires so bad?Californians: have you been affected by the wildfires?Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton and Eugene Levy are among celebrities who have lost their homes in the wildfires tearing through several neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, which have killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,100 buildings so far.Six wildfires were raging across Los Angeles county. The affluent Pacific Palisades, where many famous Hollywood names live, has been devastated since the fires began on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, another fire broke out in Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, with the Los Angeles fire department ordering an immediate evacuation of parts of the neighbourhood. Continue reading...

Events