8 h. ago Putin races to grab territory in Ukraine with lightning advance days before meeting with Trump

Battlefield reports claim Russian sabotage and reconnaisance teams have breached weak points in eastern Ukraine, advancing up to six miles past the front line in two days

Politics

23 h. ago Georgina Hayden’s recipe for grilled peach, gorgonzola and thyme tartine

Griddled, tiger-striped peaches with thyme and chilli on top of oozy gorgonzola and rocket? You’ll never think of ‘cheese on toast’ in the same way again Essentially a fancy name for “things on toast”, a tartine is a topless sandwich that can be piled high with delicious things with no threat of being squished together. I love the simplicity and elegance of this recipe: it is the perfect balance of sweet and sour, spicy and salty, and it feels special at the same time. Griddle and marinate the peaches ahead of time, if you like, and feel free to switch them for nectarines, apricots or whatever you have to hand that looks good for griddling. Continue reading...

Politics

44 h. ago Soldiers under bombardment in eastern Ukraine say peace still feels far away

‘We are preparing for a long war. We have no illusions that Russia will stop’

Events

8 d. ago James Whale dies aged 74 after devastating terminal kidney cancer battle

Broadcaster James Whale, who was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000, has sadly passed after re-locating to a hospice and admitting he "feels at peace" in the facility

Events

8 d. ago Terminally ill James Whale, 74, says he's 'happy to go now and feels at peace' after moving to hospice amid kidney cancer battle

The legendary DJ and radio presenter, 74, was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in February 2020, which sadly later spread to his spine, brain and lungs.

Events

9 d. ago ‘Poetry pulled me out of the abyss’: keeping culture alive in Kharkiv – picture essay

Eastern Ukraine’s biggest city is unsettlingly close to the Russian border and vulnerable to missile strikes, but there is a determination to maintain a cultural life, and a poetry festival is testament to the resilience and creativity of its peopleThe city of Kharkiv, just 18 miles from the Russian border, is a paradoxical mix of tended-to and broken. Public sculptures are wrapped and coddled in sandbags to protect them from missiles. Flowerbeds in parks are punctiliously maintained. The life of the streets is several notches quieter than you would expect from a European country’s second city – and yet, bookshops, coffee shops and restaurants are open and doing a steady business.People browsing the books at Pochaina market Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Russia launches ‘hellish’ aerial attack on eastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad

Six-hour bombardment of the strategic hub in the Dnipropetrovsk region came at the same time as airstrikes killed one person in OdesaRussia launched its biggest ever attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad early on Saturday, as part of a large wave of strikes across the country involving hundreds of kamikaze drones and ballistic missiles.The six-hour bombardment was the worst in the city’s history. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergey Lysak, said a factory was damaged, a fire station destroyed and a five-storey residential building hit. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago ‘The soldiers want you to see what they’re going through’: the heartbreaking follow

While Mstyslav Chernov was on the Oscars circuit with his first Ukraine war film, soldiers in his latest – made using bodycams – were dying. He explains why he needed to join them in the trenchesIt was in Sloviansk, in the rear of eastern Ukraine’s frontline, that I first met journalist and film-maker Mstyslav Chernov. It was the autumn of 2023 and he was telling me about the film that would later win him and his team an Oscar: 20 Days in Mariupol, a horrifying documentary assembled from the news footage he and his team had gathered there, in the first month of the full-scale invasion. That September day of our interview, though – amid what would turn out to be Ukraine’s disappointing counteroffensive of 2023 – he was making his second film, one that took him to the heart of the combat zone, called 2,000 Meters to Andriivka. It is, if anything, even more powerful than its predecessor: a piece of frontline reporting that truly deserves the name, its footage gathered from soldiers’ ow...

Events