Whether in streets draped in anti-drone nets or deep in urban basements, Kherson residents go about their everyday activities with the constant threat of Russian bombing
Galyna Lutsenko, a crisis psychologist, is moving busily among a small group of children seated around a table in a basement in Kherson, unique in being Ukraine’s only leading city almost directly on the frontline with Russian forces – and one where people live with the daily threat of attack.
She dangles a plasticine butterfly on a thread over a playhouse on the table. Her own house in the city, she says, was hit by Russian shelling in 2024, injuring her in the leg and stomach.
She’s gone from ‘queen of the soaps’ to Loose Woman known for her outspoken opinions and rockstar son Matty Healy. Now sober, she is enjoying another reinvention
Denise Welch doesn’t seem the kind of woman who would turn up with an entourage. But here she is having her hair primped in a makeshift changing room by two people. One tickling her fringe, the other tweaking her tufts. Blimey, I say, have you got two assistants? She grins. “No. There are three.” And now it turns out she’s got a fourth. I offer to make her a cup of coffee. She warns me she’s fussy. “Three teaspoons of Coffee-Mate, please.”
Welch is having a moment. She calls it, with a fabulously camp flourish, her renaissance. The actor and Loose Women regular has hardly been invisible in recent years. But this is on another level. For most of the 2000s, she has been best known for dishing out blithe opinions about anything and everything, and being the mother of the 1975’s frontman, Matty Healy. Now, though, it’s the acting that’s getting the attention. Earlier this month, she returned to the drama series Waterloo Road as the hopeless French teacher Steph Haydock after a 15‑year absence. This time around, she’s a supply teacher and is even more hopeless. Welch has also got parts in the new Russell T Davies drama series Tip Toe, the Josh Pugh sitcom Stepping Up, both on Channel 4, and the adaptation of Graham Norton’s novel Forever Home.
You’re already doing all the right things for your premenstrual dysphoric disorder, but perhaps it’s time to ask others for more help
I’m 32, andwas recently diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), though I suspect I have had it for around five years.It severely affects every area of my life.
For 10 days every monthI become irritable and impatient, and have debilitating brain fog. At my worst, I am depressed, with uncontrollable crying and suicidal ideation. I go to weekly therapy sessions, take a variety of supplements, and live a healthy lifestyle – exercise, minimal alcohol, eating well, etc, but all these habits become almost impossible during my luteal phase after ovulation and I feel as though I am completely stuck.
The Doomsday Clock is ticking ever more loudly as arms-control mechanisms fail and leaders become more reckless. The time to be alarmed is now
Keir Starmer’s tentative pivot to the Dragon Throne has played well in Beijing, though not in Trumpland. That’s partly because, like other needy western leaders, Britain’s prime minister did not dwell on awkward subjects such as human rights abuses, the Jimmy Lai travesty, spying and Taiwan. But in talks with President Xi Jinping, one vital issue was avoided altogether and should not have been: China’s dangerous, unexplained, secretive and rapid buildup of nuclear weapons.
More than the climate crisis, global hunger, Kaiser Trump’s Prussian militarism and the ever prevalent threat of pandemic disease, the uncontrolled proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the most immediate, existential threat to humanity. Last week, the Doomsday Clock advanced to 85 seconds to midnight – closer to Armageddon than ever before. “Nuclear and other global risks are escalating fast and in unprecedented ways,” warned the clock-watchers, via the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Plaintiffs in case say they were lured from Japan, exploited for labour and cut off from families for generations
It has been more than six decades since Eiko Kawasaki left Japan to begin a new life in North Korea. Then 17, she was among tens of thousands of people with Korean heritage who had been lured to the communist state by the promise of a “paradise on Earth”.
Instead, they encountered something closer to a living hell. They were denied basic human rights and forced to endure extreme hardship. Official promises of free education and healthcare plus guaranteed jobs and housing had been a cruel mirage. And to their horror, they were prevented from travelling to Japan to visit the families they had left behind.
Same judge previously ordered pair not removed from US, after preschooler detained with father on 20 January
A US judge has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center by Tuesday after they were taken into custody by immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian boy, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis on 20 January after returning from school with his father. Images of the Minnesota preschooler wearing a bunny hat and a plaid coat went viral online, sparking outrage across the country after claims that the child, who was on the driveway of his home during the arrest, was used as bait to try to arrest his mother inside the house.
Alfredo Mancillas was reportedly slumped in vehicle and ‘covered in vomit’ when state troopers found him in St Paul
A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee was recently arrested amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota after state troopers reportedly found him “covered in vomit” and unconscious in a car.
Alfredo Mancillas Jr, 31, faces charges of drunken driving after his arrest early Tuesday morning, jail records show.
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller was involved in one of the more unusual moments in recent boxing history on Saturday night when his hairpiece was dislodged during his heavyweight victory over Kingsley Ibeh on the undercard of the Teófimo López–Shakur Stevenson card at Madison Square Garden.
The incident occurred late in the second round as Ibeh landed a flurry of punches along the ropes. One shot snapped Miller’s head backward and caused his hairpiece to lift from the front, briefly exposing a large bald patch before the wig folded backward. The sequence drew gasps and laughter from the crowd.
Steve Witkoff encouraged ‘that Russia is working toward securing peace’ as Ukraine president looks to meetings ‘next week’. What we know on day 1,439
The US envoy Steve Witkoff has said he held constructive talks with a Russian envoy in Florida as part of Washington’s drive to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting on Saturday came just a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to halt the conflict.
“Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the US mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff posted on X. “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine.” He said the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks. Neither side released details of what was discussed.
The second round of peace talks in Abu Dhabi were set to start on Sunday, even if the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggested earlier this week that it might be postponed because of the US-Iran crisis. Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday his negotiators were also waiting to hear from the US on further meetings. “Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” Zelenskyy said. “It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
Teams from Ukraine and Russia met last week in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations on a plan being pushed by Trump. The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a postwar settlement, according to Kyiv.
An overnight Russian strike in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk killed two people, authorities said on Sunday. A man and a woman in the city of Dnipro “died due to an enemy UAV strike”, Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the regional military administration, said in a statement posted on Telegram. Ganzha said the drone caused a fire, destroyed a house and caused damage to two more residences and a car.
Emergency power cuts swept across several Ukrainian cities and neighbouring Moldova on Saturday, officials said, amid a commitment from Russia to pause strikes on Kyiv as Ukraine battles one of its bleakest winters in years. Donald Trump on Thursday claimed Vladimir Putin had agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Trump “made a personal request” to Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Sunday “in order to create favourable conditions for negotiations”. In a post on social media, Zelenskyy noted Russia has turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks.
Ukraine’s energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said that the outages on Saturday had been caused by a technical malfunction affecting power lines linking Ukraine and Moldova. The failure “caused a cascading outage in Ukraine’s power grid”, triggering automatic protection systems, he said. Blackouts were reported in Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions, in the centre and north-east of the country respectively.
The outage cut water supplies to the Ukrainian capital, officials said, while the city’s subway system was temporarily suspended because of low voltage on the network. The state emergency service said its teams led 500 stranded passengers out of metro stations.
Moldova also experienced major power outages, including in the capital Chisinau, officials said. “Due to the loss of power lines on the territory of Ukraine, the automatic protection system was triggered, which disconnected the electricity supply,” Moldova’s energy minister Dorin Junghietu said in a post on Facebook. “I encourage the population to stay calm until electricity is restored.”
The large-scale outage followed weeks of Russian strikes against Ukraine’s already struggling energy grid, which have triggered long stretches of severe power shortages. Moscow has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponising winter”.
Forecasters say Ukraine will experience a brutally cold period stretching into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, authorities said.
Premiering his new Loop tour in Australia, the crowd-pleasing British singer-songwriter navigates a few teething issues in an otherwise assured stadium outing
Before Ed Sheeran sets foot on stage, his origin story is already rolling. A pre-recorded video looms across the giant screen, as he narrates his own ascent: “I just pushed and pushed. I was so focused on seeing how far I could take being an acoustic singer-songwriter from Suffolk.”
Then the screen cuts. A hidden platform rises from the centre of the audience and Sheeran appears, charging into his 2011 track You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.
Military says ‘terrorists’ carried out attacks in Balochistan province in what analysts described it as the deadliest day for militants in decades
Pakistan’s military said on Saturday that multiple suicide and gun attacks by “terrorists” across the restive south-western province of Balochistan killed 33 people, including civilians, while security forces responding to the violence killed 92 assailants.
Analysts described it as the deadliest single day for militants in decades.
Less than two weeks before convicted abuser was found dead, lawyers met with Manhattan federal prosecutors
Less than two weeks before Jeffrey Epstein’s death in jail, his lawyers and Manhattan federal prosecutors met and discussed his potential cooperation, several documents within a cache of newly released investigative files state.
“On July 29, 2019, FBI and [prosecutors] met with Epstein’s attorneys, who, in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant’s cooperation,” an FBI document titled “Epstein Investigation Summary & Timeline” statement.
There has never been a better time to be a hiker in Australia. Once solely the province of experienced backcountry bushwalkers, the country’s ever-expanding network of hiking trails now offers something for walkers of all abilities.
According to Ausplay, almost 4 million Australians go bushwalking each year, making it the third-most popular form of physical activity in the country, and in 2025 the AllTrails app saw an almost 300% year-on-year increase in distance walked by Australian users. The largest growth has been in long-distance hikes, and it’s no surprise the boom in trail construction is continuing across the country, with multiple big-ticket walks slated to break ground this year.
Pakistan 198-5; Australia 108 (15.4 overs) | Pakistan win by 90 runs
Australia lose series with 11 days to go before T20 World Cup begins
World Cup-bound Australia have been given a hiding in Lahore, bamboozled by Pakistan’s spinners as they crumbled to a 90-run defeat and a T20I series capitulation.
Just hours after their squad for the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka was announced, Mitch Marsh’s side, featuring nine World Cup players and looking desperately in need of their absent big guns, simply could not cope with the hosts’ five-pronged spin attack on Saturday.
US president says Iran ‘negotiating’ as US naval battle group approaches, and says regional allies cannot be told plan
Donald Trump has said Iran is “talking to” the US and hinted at a deal to avoid the use of military strikes.
“[Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, otherwise we’ll see what happens … We have a big fleet heading out there,” he told Fox News. “They are negotiating.”
You could say Hugo Ekitiké was the one who got away from Newcastle last summer, except there were so many. But with a certain inevitability and a devastating, gamechanging performance, the Liverpool striker haunted Eddie Howe and the club who coveted him all the same.
Pain came in various forms for Newcastle. Superior for 40 minutes and deservedly ahead through Anthony Gordon, the visitors trailed at the interval thanks to a quick-fire brace from the player they tried to sign from Eintracht Frankfurt. Liverpool swept in for Ekitiké instead and their initial £69m outlay, rising to £79m, is proving money very well spent.
Louisiana governor says the shooting in Clinton is ‘absolutely horrific and unacceptable’
Five people, including a six-year-old child, have been wounded in a shooting during a parade in Louisiana, sending people in the crowd fleeing for cover, authorities say.
The shooting occurred shortly after the midday start of the Mardi Gras in the Country parade in Clinton, East Feliciana sheriff Jeff Travis told reporters.
Tisch denies visiting Epstein island after file release
Giants co-owner says he regrets ties with Epstein
US justice department files name Tisch over times
New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said he knew Jeffrey Epstein but denied going to his island after his name was mentioned more than 400 times in files released Friday by the US justice department.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said in a statement provided by the NFL team. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
Ibrahima Konate scored on his return after the death of his father to complete a fine Liverpool comeback
The race for the golden boot
It feels very strange to scan this page and not see the letters S-A-L-A-H. For a variety of reasons he’s scored only four league goals in 2025-26; his lowest total at in a full season at Liverpool is 18.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last year, features heavily in the latest tranche of the Epstein files
Keir Starmer has said Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor should testify before the US Congress about his links to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister, who is in Japan for a meeting with its premier, Sanae Takaichi, was asked by journalists if the former prince should apologise to the disgraced financier’s victims and give evidence about what he knew about his crimes.
There are times when trying to make sense of Chelsea is a futile task. Lurching between extremes is their speciality. They were shambolic against struggling West Ham for 45 minutes, had Stamford Bridge ready to turn on Liam Rosenior at half-time and still found a way to mount a comeback so wild it left their opponents in a state of utter, uncontrollable rage at the end of an incomprehensible London derby.
Where to begin? With the end, perhaps, and Enzo Fernández running on to a cutback from João Pedro to make it 3-2 to Chelsea in the 92nd minute. It was some turnaround. João Pedro had made the difference after coming on at the start of the second half. The forward scored Chelsea’s first, heading home just before the hour, and was cool when he broke into the West Ham area when the game ran into added time. João Pedro had options. He could have shot and he could have crossed. Instead he threw West Ham by pulling the ball back to Fernández, who is beginning to resemble Frank Lampard with his knack of deciding games with late unnoticed runs from midfield.
An estimated 80% of the population will suffer from lower back pain at some point. The good news is that preventing it is a lot easier than treating it
Getting out of bed. Picking up a coffee mug. Waving at a friend. Bending down to pat a dog. Turning to flush the toilet.
Many who have experienced “doing their back in” have been baffled by the discrepancy between the mildness of the precipitating action and the severity of the resulting pain. How could such a small, innocent movement trigger such paralysing pain that lasts for weeks, months, years or, in some cases, decades?
The 19-year-old says touring England in 2027 is a dream but as the hype around him builds the classy batter is keeping his feet on the ground
After five-year-old Ollie Peake had gone to bed in his family home in Geelong, his mother, Sarah, entered his bedroom to check on him. He was fast asleep in his cricket gear. She removed his helmet and gloves before tucking him in for the night.
The next morning she asked her son why he was sleeping in his kit.
In 2015, I moved to Sydney from north Wales in the UK. Sydney had always been my dream destination, but then the Australian immigration rules changed, meaning that to get permanent residency with my skillset as a barber, I’d have to move to Tasmania or the Northern Territory. I decided on Darwin because I feared the weather in Tasmania was too much like British weather. So in 2018, I packed my bags and moved to Darwin without knowing anything about the city.
Ben and I first chatted on Grindr and he was very welcoming, offering to show me around town. He was also very interested in my story – how did this Welsh boy end up living here? He asked if I was going to Darwin Pride.
Connexion
