There were 67 passengers and five crew members on board the Azerbaijan airlines fight from Azerbaijan capital Baku to Russian city Grozny.

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The young princess could be seen giggling and laughing with her two brothers

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The 100-seater Azerbaijan Airlines flight circled Aktau Airport several times before crash landing in a fireball on the ground, with 67 passengers and five crew said to be on board at the time

Events

The writers, philosophers and politicians who have raided Milton’s epic poem for inspirationIn 1818 Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, the story of a man who trespasses on God’s turf by crafting a new form of life. She took its epigraph from Book X of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, when Adam rages at God like a teenager who didn’t ask to be born. Shelley returned to Milton for 1826’s The Last Man, a grim, grief-sodden read about an annihilating pandemic: “Let no man seek / Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall / Him or his children.” One novel describes the creation of life, the other its destruction, and both open with Paradise Lost.It is no surprise that Milton’s epic figured in the genesis of science fiction. Orlando Reade suggests that it “might be the most influential poem in English”, frequently stripped for parts. In relatively recent years, it has furnished the titles of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand, influenced the collapse...

Politics

I would elbow my mum when she spoke Italian in England, until I realised each part of my identity is more than just a ‘half’In our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at homeSince I was small, I have liked sitting on stairs to read. In my childhood home, in Nuneaton, I favoured the square of carpet between the two flights, positioned directly opposite the wall-mounted clock, so I could keep an eye on how many pages I could squeeze in before bed. My favourite place to read, though, has always been the red tiled steps that lead to the front door of my nonna’s house in Puglia. There are photos of me and my cousins on those steps at every age. If I close my eyes, I can feel the terracotta under my hands, somehow always warm, even in deepest winter.Throughout my childhood, I grappled with the question: “Ti senti più inglese o più italiana?” – do you feel more English or more Italian? I’m British-Italian, and most of my family live...

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PlayStation Plus is Sony's three-tiered subscription service that you'll need to sign up to if you want to play online or enjoy the membership perks, like free monthly games and more.

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At the Royal Carols service, a subtle shift in Kate Middleton's demeanour caught the eye of a body language expert, hinting at a year of transformation.

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Rory Carroll and Helen Pidd meet the Kabin Crew and the Lisdoonvarna Crew – creators of a song that has notched up more than a billion plays on TikTok – as they perform at the Electric Picnic music festivalThis week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This episode was first broadcast on 13 September.“Think you can stop what we do? I doubt it. We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it. I searched for my spark and I found it. Everybody in the crowd, start bouncing.” Continue reading...

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Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said the weather will be good for anyone travelling on Christmas Day but might not feel very festive.

Politics

Judy Finnigan was spotted looking emotional at Kate Middleton's star-studded Christmas carol service, which aired on ITV on Tuesday night.

Politics