69 m. ago Ukraine war briefing: Multiple injuries as Russia attacks Kyiv with drones and missiles

Explosions heard across capital and fires ignited while Russia and Ukraine begin largest prisoner swap of war. What we know on day 1,186See all our Ukraine war coverage Kyiv came under heavy drone and missile attack by Russian forces overnight into Saturday, triggering fires and injuring at least eight people, the Ukrainian capital’s mayor said. Explosions and machine-gun fire were heard throughout the city and many Kyiv residents took shelter in underground subway stations. Debris fell in at least four districts, said the Kyiv military administration, with six people requiring medical care. Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it.Russia and Ukraine on Friday began a major, complicated exchange of military prisoners of war and civilians, write Peter Beaumont and Pjotr Sauer. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians,...

Events

11 h. ago Hundreds of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians released in biggest prisoner swap of war

Russia and Ukraine had each agreed after two hours of peace talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners

Events

12 h. ago Ukraine and Russia exchange 800 PoWs in largest prisoner swap of war so far

Russian foreign minister continues to question Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as first phase of ‘1,000 for 1,000’ deal takes placesUkraine and Russia have begun the largest prisoner exchange of the three-year war, with almost 800 captives returned on both sides in a process expected to last several days.Confirming the first phase of the exchange had taken place, the Ukrainian president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine had returned 390 people to Russia and that the process would continue with further groups on Saturday and Sunday. Continue reading...

Events

12 h. ago Hundreds of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers released in biggest prisoner swap of war

Russia and Ukraine had each agreed after two hours of peace talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners

Events

39 h. ago Watch live: Justice secretary update on prisons review as chemical castration considered for sex offenders

Watch live as the justice secretary delivers an update on UK prisons reform, in what is the biggest shakeup of sentencing in more than 30 years, in Parliament on Thursday (22 May).

Society

46 h. ago Biggest reset of prisons in 30 years as plans call for MAJOR jail time change

Keir Starmer has been warned he must 'act with bravery' after years of political demands to be 'tough on crime' have resulted in a huge overcrowding crisis in prisons

Events

57 h. ago Militants kill 2 soldiers in attack on Russian air base in Syria

Militants attacked a Russian air base in Syria, killing two soldiers, a Syrian government official and a local activist have said

Events

3 d. ago ‘I think of those I left behind in prison’: Iran’s Jafar Panahi on life as a banned film

He’s been jailed, gone on hunger strike and been forced to sell his house for bail. In his first newspaper interview for 15 years, the great director explains why every film is worth the consequencesIn February 2023 Jafar Panahi walked free from Iran’s Evin prison after nearly seven months behind bars. Friends and supporters had gathered to greet him, but the moment of release felt bittersweet and he struggled to adjust back to civilian life afterwards. In the weeks that followed he developed a habit. He’d drive his car back and forth on the road that paralleled the high prison walls, pining for those who were still inside. “These people had become my people,” he says. “I thought, ‘How could I go and leave them behind?’”Panahi makes humane, heartfelt pictures about life in Iran. He refers to these as “social films”, although this definition cuts no ice with the Iranian government, which has ruled them to be “propaganda against the system” and therefore hazardous, offensive material....

Events

3 d. ago Vladimir Putin loses most decorated sniper as he's killed on Ukraine frontline

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to honour one of his soldiers who was considered the 'legend of sniping' - Vitaly Shapovalov, 51, has been buried with full military honours

Events

6 d. ago Trump to talk to Putin on Monday about Ukraine ceasefire proposal and trade

In social media posts, president also slammed Walmart for price increases and spread anti-Clinton conspiracy theoriesDonald Trump has said that he will speak to both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to stop what he called the “bloodbath” war in Ukraine, in a barrage of new social media posts that included baseless conspiracy theories and a demand that Walmart not raise prices for customers because of tariffs he has imposed.Trump, posting on his Truth Social account on Saturday, wrote that he will speak to Putin on Monday morning. “THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH’ THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE,” Trump wrote, in his customary all-capitalized prose. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Harrowing moment Russian deserters 'punished by enlisted murderers’ in Putin’s army

WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Russian soldiers who refuse to fight are seen being subjected to horrific punishments, including being starved inside a pit, in new footage from the frontline

Politics

1 week ago Criminals will be freed after serving just one THIRD of their jail sentences under new plans set to be revealed

Labour's long-awaited sentencing review is expected to suggest the biggest-ever reductions in the time prisoners must serve, in exchange for good behaviour while they are behind bars.

Events

1 week ago Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexually assaulting two women

French actor, 76, convicted of assaulting set dresser and assistant director during film shoot in Paris in 2021Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.Depardieu, France’s biggest film star who has made more than 200 films and TV series, is the highest-profile figure in the French film industry to be convicted of sexual assault since the #MeToo movement. His name will be added to the sex offender register in France, the judge ruled. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Release of Ukrainian prisoners in Russia key to any peace deal, rights groups say

Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties says tortured inmates bypassed amid focus on territory and security guaranteesUkrainian and Russian civil society leaders have called for the unconditional release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in Russian captivity, pushing for world leaders to make it a central part of any peace deal.Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, said most of the discussion on ending the conflict, led by Donald Trump’s administration, focused solely on territories and potential security guarantees. Continue reading...

Economics

4 w. ago 3 men sentenced to over a century in prison after plot to kill a ringleader in UK's biggest heist

Three men who plotted to kill a former cage fighter, who years before had been convicted of being one of the ringleaders in the U.K.’s biggest-ever heist, have been sentenced to a collective term of over a century in prison

Events