Kyiv was supposed to fall in three days. That’s what talking heads and pundits in media were saying, rather dismissively, before the February 2022 Russian invasion on Ukraine. They suggested the fight would be swift and decisive but instead the Ukrainian resistance persisted. Never mind, three days. The war is now pushing towards three years. … Read more
Opening summary Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. I’m Tom Ambrose. Russian air defences shot down 11 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, “one of the largest” such strikes ever against the capital, officials said on Wednesday. “Eleven drones were destroyed” over Moscow and its surrounding region, the defence ministry said. “This … Read more
For many years, certain car manufacturers sought to obstruct the transition to electric vehicles. It’s not hard to see why: when you have invested heavily in an existing technology, you want to extract every last drop before disinvesting. But devious as in some cases these efforts were, they seem almost innocent in comparison with the … Read more
Introduction: UK borrowing hits £3.1bn in July Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. The health, or unsoundness, of Britain’s public finances is a key issue for Westminster and the City of London, with a painful autumn budget looming. And the latest public finances data, … Read more
All Hollywood stars embarking on a romance secretly hope for just one thing: official condemnation from the Vatican. When it emerged that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were having an affair on the set of Cleopatra, the Holy See issued a letter describing Taylor as “an avaricious vamp who destroys families and devours husbands”. (To … Read more
Family photo Sadik Duraku’s daughter Zana said her father’s imprisonment in Serbia was “tearing us apart” The family of a British man held in a Serbian prison is appealing for more assistance from the UK government, claiming that charges against him are baseless and politically motivated. Sadik Duraku, a 54-year-old father of three from Brighton, … Read more
1. Barack Obama’s keynote speech: ‘Yes she can’ The former president ended the second night of the convention with a characteristic call to action: “We’ll elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we believe in. And together, we too will build a country that is more secure … Read more
A cool breeze swept across the courtyard, bringing relief to those who could not squeeze into the small courtroom and so stood outside in the sun, waiting for the proceedings to be relayed out by others. Inside, Thomas Kwoyelo, dressed in a black suit and red tie, was convicted of 44 charges of murder, kidnap … Read more
Westminster is witnessing an outbreak of Torschlusspanik. The translation from German is “panic at the gate shutting”, commonly associated with age: the dread of missing opportunities that will never come again. That might sound like a perverse anxiety to find around a new government basking in a glow of abundant potential. But this is also … Read more
Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court ruled that revenue divisional officers have no suo motu power to call for and examine the record of any recording authority and to modify, annul or reverse the same. The panel was dealing with a batch of pleas, including a public interest litigation relating to the … Read more