5 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian oil rig hit in Caspian Sea over 700km from Ukraine

Kyiv continues campaign of attacks on Russia-linked maritime targets; latest US idea is three-way peace talks. What we know on day 1,397 Ukrainian drones hit an oil rig at Russia’s Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea – more than 700km (435 miles) from Ukraine’s nearest border, as well as the military patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraine’s military general staff said in a statement on Saturday. It said the ship was patrolling near the platform. The extent of the damage was being assessed. The attack continues Kyiv’s recent campaign of strikes on Russia-linked maritime targets far from Ukrainian territory.Ukrainian drones struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed two Russian fighter jets were also destroyed at an airfield in occupied Crimea.Since Thursday, Russian forces have at least five times hit a bridge on the Dniester River near the village of Mayaky, south-w...

Events

14 h. ago Sunderland grind out goalless draw at Brighton as fantastic campaign continues

Brighton 0-0 Sunderland: The Black Cats ground out a goalless draw in what has been a season to remember so far

Politics

15 h. ago Sunderland’s fantastic campaign continues with a point at Brighton

It has been a season to remember so far for the Black Cats.

Politics

38 h. ago Kylie Minogue gets her – and Amazon’s – first Christmas No 1, with Xmas

Exclusive song for online retailer prevents a hat trick of Christmas No 1s for Wham!, as Kylie becomes first woman to secure UK No 1 singles in four different decadesKylie Minogue has scored her first UK Christmas No 1, and eighth No 1 single overall, with the song Xmas.She beat competition from Wham!’s mega-streaming Last Christmas, which has been Christmas No 1 for the past two years: it was last week’s chart-topper but drops to No 2. Also in the race was Lullaby from the charity campaign Together for Palestine, which reached No 5. Continue reading...

Politics

48 h. ago EastEnders icon addresses Roxy Mitchell's return after 'hardest job of the year'

EXCLUSIVE: EastEnders legend Rita Simons, who played Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap, has opened up about a potential return to the square as fans continue their campaign

Politics

63 h. ago Shouty Swinney ends year with mudslinging FMQs as SNP's record takes back seat at Holyrood

As a hostile Holyrood breaks for a well-needed breather - will the toxicity continue into next year’s election campaign?

Politics

3 d. ago US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four, as Trump accuses Venezuela of taking ‘our oil’

The announcement from Pete Hegseth comes a day after Trump issued a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving VenezuelaThe US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, as Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking US oil.On Wednesday Hegseth said the “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel engaged in “narco-trafficking operations” had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Arsenal ease past Leuven but settle for Women’s Champions League playoffs

Arsenal secured a seeded spot for the Women’s Champions League knockout playoffs with a comfortable 3-0 victory away at OH Leuven. Olivia Smith, Beth Mead and a Saar Janssen own goal helped Renée Slegers’ team end the league phase in fifth place.Slegers was delighted with her side’s maturity in front of a raucous crowd at the Den Dreef as they earned their fourth win of the campaign against the plucky hosts. Continue reading...

Sport

4 d. ago Relatives of Chinook crash victims have ‘constructive’ meeting with ministers

The defence minister said the UK Government has committed to continued engagement with the Chinook Justice Campaign.

Events

5 d. ago Venezuela accuses Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in US seizure of oil tanker

Maduro regime accuses Caribbean nation of participating in ‘theft of Venezuelan oil’ as tensions mount in regionVenezuela has accused the government of Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast last week, as Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro continues to reverberate across the region.In a statement on Monday, the Maduro regime accused Trinidad and Tobago of participating in “the theft of Venezuelan oil, committed by the US administration on 10 December with the assault on a vessel transporting this strategic Venezuelan product”. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Patients 'may die' in Christmas NHS meltdown as militant junior doctors humiliate Streeting by pushing ahead with strikes

Thousands of medics - previously known as junior doctors - will walk out in the run-up to Christmas from December 17 to December 22.

Events

5 d. ago Patients 'could die' in Christmas NHS meltdown as militant junior doctors humiliate Streeting by pushing ahead with strikes

Thousands of medics - previously known as junior doctors - will walk out in the run-up to Christmas from December 17 to December 22.

Events

5 d. ago Militant junior doctors WILL still strike despite desperate Government offer as 'superflu' continues to batter hospitals

Thousands of medics - previously known as junior doctors - will walk out in the run-up to Christmas from December 17 to December 22.

Science

5 d. ago Militant doctors WILL still strike despite desperate Government offer as 'superflu' continues to batter hospitals

Thousands of medics - previously known as junior doctors - will walk out in the run-up to Christmasfrom December 17 to December 22.

Science

8 d. ago Harry Byrne kicks Leinster to Champions Cup victory at Leicester

Leicester 15-23 LeinsterGibson-Park and Sheehan score visitors’ triesHarry Byrne’s goal-kicking proved the difference as error-strewn Leinster held off a determined Leicester to claim a 23-15 Investec Champions Cup victory at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.Each team scored two tries but three penalties and a conversion from Byrne were decisive as the bottom side Leicester’s European campaign continued to falter and they remain pointless after their opening two fixtures. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Transition is irreversible’: María Corina Machado says not too late for Maduro’s peaceful handover

Nobel peace laureate says Maduro’s political downfall is inevitable after her fraught journey to freedom by boat‘Dangerous and scary’: how a US special forces vet helped María Corina Machado flee VenezuelaNicolás Maduro’s political downfall is inevitable, the Nobel laureate María Corina Machado has claimed, rejecting claims that the dictator’s demise would plunge Venezuela into a Syria-style civil war.Speaking to journalists in Oslo two days after being awarded the Nobel peace prize, Machado voiced confidence that her country was on the cusp of a new political era amid an intensifying US campaign to unseat Maduro. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Silver price hits record high and is now up 80% in the past year

The precious metal is up more than 80 per cent in the past year to around $61 an ounce, well above its previous 1980 peak of $49.50.

Events

2 w. ago Maduro says the real reason for Trump’s Venezuela fixation is oil – is he right?

The South American country facing a huge US military buildup has almost a fifth of known global reservesVisual guide to US military presence in the CaribbeanVenezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, says the real motive behind the massive US military buildup in the Caribbean is oil: his country has the largest proven reserves in the world.The US state department denies this, insisting that the airstrikes on boats that have killed more than 80 people and the vast military deployment off South America are part of a campaign against drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Is Olivia Nuzzi’s nascent Vanity Fair comeback already over?

Nuzzi is on a temporary contract that ends this month – but it remains unclear whether she’s staying after former fiance Ryan Lizza’s exposés about herIn September, under the leadership of new top editor Mark Guiducci, a thirtysomething favorite of Condé Nast eminence Anna Wintour, Vanity Fair announced a slate of new hires that included one prominent name that hadn’t been heard from in a while: the political writer Olivia Nuzzi.At seemingly the height of her rapidly ascendant career, Nuzzi was cut loose by New York Magazine last October after the media newsletter Status broke the news that she had maintained a relationship with Robert F Kennedy Jr, whose presidential campaign she had covered for the magazine. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Calvin Harris 'plans to build his own luxury Cotswolds estate' as he and wife Vick Hope continue to renovate their £3.5million mansion

Calvin Harris ' plans to build his very own luxury estate in the Cotswolds have been revealed as he continues to renovate his countryside mansion.

Economics