Why Trump is backing Putin over energy ceasefire deal

Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin “wants to make a deal more than” Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as an “energy ceasefire” brokered over the weekend between Russia and Ukraine broke down overnight.

Ceasefire called into question

The US President announced a truce on striking energy facilities on Sunday, to the apparent surprise of both Russia and Ukraine.

While Ukraine claims no Russian sites have since been hit, they say Moscow has struck six plants, killing 33 people. Russia said yesterday that “contact is continuing”.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told other dignitaries at the Warsaw Security Forum today that they needed to “take seriously” the “full energy ceasefire” and that Putin should be held to to it.

He also told the assembled officials from Poland, Norway and Germany that the resolve of Europe is “being tested” by hybrid attacks on Nato countries, but that Russia is “not winning this war”.

Two ships hit off Bulgarian coast by Russian drones

• One ship sunk and another was badly damaged last night.
• President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the attack as “unacceptable”.

How you can help boost dwindling hedgehog numbers

A “call to action” has been issued by researchers who found a dramatic drop in hedgehog populations since the 80s.

The study by the conservation group at the University of Cambridge found a 71 per cent drop in hedgehog populations between 1981 and 2023.

The number of rural areas where they live fell by 80 per cent between 2002 and 2023, but the numbers living in urban areas rose between 2004 and 2024.

Why are hedgehogs in decline?

“The fact that they’re doing really badly should be a call for action”

Assistant research professor Silviu Petrovan said the hot, dry summer means hedgehogs will have less to eat than usual, as the slugs and worms they like thrive in wet weather.

The intensification of agriculture and increase in roads has caused the hedgehog’s habitat to shrink over the past few decades.

The study combined data from surveys which were not specifically looking for hedgehogs, such as roadkill figures and garden birdwatches, so they may point an overly negative picture.

Gardens can act as refuges for hedgehogs, and conservationists advise leaving wild corners for the animals and small holes in fences so they can move freely. Replacing fences with hedges can also help, and pesticides should be avoided.

Terrorists could attack UK with bioweapons, warns MI5 chief

Terrorists could harness artificial intelligence to create destructive biological weapons, the head of MI5 warned today, as he launched a new spy-led AI Threat Assessment Centre to assess the risks of the emerging technology.

Head of MI5 gives annual address on nation’s security

“Many terrorists would dearly love to have some kind of capability of getting [a] biological or meteorological weapon. This is not yet manifest. But one risk is that AI could allow dangerous knowledge to get into their hands”

Sir ken mccallum, director general of mi5

New AI Threat Assessment Centre

• The centre will combine information from spies and open sources.
• The aim is to “seize the huge opportunities of Al and manage the risks thrown up by its misuse”.

The head of MI5 warned the Prime Minister not to re-run old battles at risk of amplifying the Russian trolls and bots who sowed division by interfering with elections.

This came after Burnham told MPs yesterday that there was evidence Russia had interfered with the result of the 2019 general election.

Greatest threats to the UK

“Russia remains aggressor number one, as Putin’s Kremlin continues to lash out at the UK and its allies”

McCallum said Russia is “escalating” attempts at hybrid warfare, whilst avoiding “conventional conflict”.

He also mentioned Iran “attempting to expand” a similar hybrid campaign and “extreme right-wing terrorism” especially among young people.

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What we know about Christa Pike’s botched execution

Recordings of the calls made to emergency services after the failed execution of Christa Pike reveal confusion and delays to her care, as her lawyers fight to get her off death row.

• The 50-year-old was given the death penalty for killing her 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
• She was set to be the first woman executed in Tennesee for more than 200 years before the botched injection.

Pike’s lawyers are now arguing for her sentenced to be commuted to life without parole, arguing she cannot be subjected to the death penalty twice.

Help was delayed by half an hour

Ambulance workers were not cleared to enter Riverbend Prison in Tennessee until half an hour after the first call was made, recordings obtained by the reveal.

The initial call came at 8.40pm on 30 September, an hour after the two attempted lethal injections, and crews were let into the prison at 9.11pm.

The recording of the first call has not been released, but at 9.03pm, a dispatcher said it was a “false call” and there was “no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison”. At 9.07pm officials from the prison’s central control confirmed they “did not make” the initial call.

At the same time, a first responder said there was someone “outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in”, and asked for someone from the prison to come out to speak to them.

Pike taken to hospital

• Pike was taken to hospital at 9.34pm.
• She has now been discharged after 10 days.

Tom Cruise film Digger forecast to lose $245m at box office

With ticket sales slumping in the film’s third week in cinemas, is set to lose its studio, Warner Bros, hundreds of millions as it fails to recoup its $280 (£211m) production and marketing costs.

On course to be a historic flop

Tom Cruise’s satirical comedy, in which he stars as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, has taken just $35m at the box office so far, with ticket sales dropping by 60 per cent this weekend.

It is on track to take $50m according to , which would make it one of only a handful of films to lose a nine-figure sum.

How bad is it?

• Critics say Cruise gives a poor performance and have labelled the film his “vanity project”.
• The secret twist is said to be too “meta” and the script not funny.

Women’s autoimmune conditions more likely to be misdiagnosed

Women are up to 75 per cent more likely to have an autoimmune condition misdiagnosed as psychosomatic than men, and face longer waits for treatment, according to new research.

A study of 6,607 patients found that

43%

of women reported their autoimmune symptoms had been misdiagnosed as psychiatric, compared to 33 per cent of men.

Women were overall 46 per cent more likely to receive a psychiatric misdiagnosis.

34%

of women received a psychosomatic (physical symptoms caused or worsened by psychological factors) misdiagnosis compared to 22 percent of men.

What is an autoimmune condition?

These occur when the body mistakenly attacks its own tissues, and many are more common in women. Diseases include multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and symptoms range from fatigue and low mood to pain and digestive issues.

Women reported a longer period between onset of these symptoms and diagnosis than men, with more appointments in between.

Women struggle to be believed, says researcher

Although labels such as hysteria are outdated, and fortunately rarely used nowadays, as women we still often have a harder time having our symptoms believed and therefore addressed accurately

Shaista Tayabali, co-author and patient partner at the University of Cambridge and University of East Anglia

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