Kyiv says electronics factory for weapon parts and oil pumping station among targets; Zelenskyy claims Ukraine outstripping Russia on battlefield. What we know on day 1,545 The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has reeled off a list of Ukrainian aerial weaponry used to destroy targets in the Moscow region over the weekend, including the RS-1 “Bars” jet-powered UAV, the Firepoint FP-1 winged drone, and a drone previously unknown to observers and analysts, dubbed the Bars-SM Gladiator. Ukraine’s SBU security service highlighted a strike on the Angstrom plant in Zelenograd, Moscow region, Russia, which “specialises in the production of hi-tech products and microcircuits for high-precision weapons … A fire was recorded on the territory of the facility. The enterprise is an important component of the Russian military-industrial complex and is involved in the production of microelectronics, radio electronics, optical systems, and robotics for the enemy’s military needs.” The SBU continued: “Also in the Moscow region, the Solnechnogorskaya pumping station was hit, which is a critical part of the ring oil pipeline around Moscow and is used for pumping, storing and shipping large volumes of gasoline and diesel fuel, in particular for the Russian army. A fire was reported on the premises.” The strikes “reduce the enemy’s ability to continue its war”, said the SBU. Russian authorities said at least four people were killed and a dozen more wounded, and reported several hits as being from “drone debris” – as they frequently do to imply that drones were shot down by Russian defences instead of striking their intended targets. Early on Monday, the Russian defence ministry sought to emphasise the role of its air defences, claiming 3,124 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the past week. Agence France-Presse said its journalists were granted access to an undisclosed location where Ukraine launched its long-range drones in what turned out to be one of the largest pummellings of Russia during the conflict. They described how battalion members prepared plane-like drones before they took off towards Russia, leaving trails of sparks and flames from their rocket boosters behind. Continue reading...

Senate parliamentarian ruled a proposal to fund $1bn in security additions for the White House failed to meet procedural rules. Key US politics stories from Sunday 17 May 2026 at a glance A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to devote taxpayer money to the contentious project. The decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, deals a blow to Trump and his administration, which has sought the money for security purposes related to the ballroom. Continue reading...

Rai shoots 65 including 68-foot birdie putt on 17th Last Englishman to triumph was Jim Barnes 107 years ago There’s never been a PGA Championship quite like the one that’s played out at Aronimink this week. At the start of the last day, there were 21 players within four shots of the lead, and eight major winners among them, every one of them sure that they had a shot at winning the Wanamaker Trophy. There was the six-time major champion Rory McIlroy, the 2022 Open champion, Cam Smith, the 2017 and 2022 PGA champion, Justin Thomas, the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters champion, Jon Rahm, and on, and on, and on, all the way down the leaderboard, past Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed and plenty of other contenders too. Continue reading...

Survey shows businesses ‘struggling to absorb latest economic shock’, while data says April vacancies down 7.7% The worsening fallout from the Iran war is forcing businesses to halt their UK investment and hiring plans, bosses have warned, as Britain enters a renewed period of political and economic instability. More than two months into the US-Israeli war on Iran, leading surveys of UK employers showed companies were increasingly prioritising cost management over growth as rising costs and global uncertainty weigh on confidence. Continue reading...

Two campaign groups claim that change to how NHS treatments are approved amounts to ‘unlawful power grab’ Campaigners against the UK’s controversial drug pricing deal with Donald Trump are threatening the government with legal action unless it scraps a key element of the plan. They claim that a change to how drug treatments are approved for use by the NHS, which could lead to it paying even higher prices for them, amounts to an “unlawful power grab”. Continue reading...

Justice secretary’s white paper will overhaul youth justice rules and could end lifelong criminal records for under-18s David Lammy has promised to cut the number of children kept in jail while they await trial by a quarter as part of an overhaul of youth justice rules that could also end lifelong criminal records for under-18s. The justice secretary is publishing a white paper on Monday that he says will reduce the number of children ending up in jail – something he admits was his greatest fear growing up in Tottenham in the 1980s. Continue reading...

Body says, on average, British women approaching retirement have half private pension savings of men – £81,000 versus £156,000 A shake-up of pensions in Britain must involve measures to close the gap in retirement savings between men and women, the revived Pensions Commission is to tell ministers. According to the government-backed body, women approaching retirement have on average half the private pension savings of men, with a median pension wealth of £81,000 versus £156,000. Continue reading...

Performer is as good as ever but her actor character is thinly conceived in a fundamentally implausible depiction of how to grapple with alcoholism It’s always a pleasure to see that funny, smart performer Adèle Exarchopoulos in Cannes – after all, she made Cannes history by being jointly awarded the Palme d’Or for the 2013 film Blue Is the Warmest Colour, sharing the big prize itself with the director Abdellatif Kechiche and her co-star Léa Seydoux. Exarchopoulos has her moments in this film from Jeanne Herry, in which she plays an actor struggling with a drinking problem. The scenes in which we see her up on stage, boisterously performing in a touring theatre for schoolkids, are genuinely great. But really this is a very glib and unsatisfying drama, whose essential naivety becomes apparent when the lead character is forced to confront the crisis in her life. Exarchopoulos plays a young actor called Garance; she adores Arletty’s character of the same name in Marcel Carné’s movie classic Les Enfants du Paradis. At the moment, she has an assistant stage manager position in a prestigious Paris repertory company, believing herself to be on the verge of getting some serious speaking parts when the next season’s casting is announced. But she is instead relegated to the touring schools company, where her undoubted talents are compromised by partying extremely hard every night and waking up with a terrible hangover every morning. Continue reading...

British Chambers of Commerce survey shows firms ‘are dealing with rising levels of theft, fraud and cyber-attacks’ UK business leaders have warned that crime is becoming an increasingly “serious barrier” to growing Britain’s economy amid a rise in shoplifting, fraud and cyber-attacks against companies. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents tens of thousands of businesses across the country, called on the government to provide “a step change in the support businesses can count on” as it said two-fifths of companies had experienced some form of crime in the past year. Continue reading...

Four crew members are safe after incident involving aircraft during weekend air show at military base in western Idaho Four crew members are safe after two navy jets collided and crashed to the ground on Sunday at an air show at Mountain Home air force base in western Idaho, officials said. The collision involved two US navy EA-18G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr Amelia Umayam, a spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet. Continue reading...

The second series of this cheery Welsh cosy crime is as gentle as a pillow – and if it feels dangerously close to a spoof, that’s all part of the fun What a curious confection Death Valley is. It’s as cosy as crime drama gets and yet, thanks to its show-within-a-show concept, it manages to be oddly arch and knowing, too. Its body count challenges that of The Sopranos, but in its soothing episodic rhythms and Welsh valley quaintness, it remains as comfortable and predictable as Christmas. As we return, everything and nothing has changed. Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) has been promoted to detective inspector and is wondering if her seniority means she can no longer call herself “J-Dog”. She remains charming but also goofy and tactless; at one point, she complains about a teabag being left in a cuppa made for her by the wife of a recent murder victim. Continue reading...

Concern that England’s women are not being challenged fails to acknowledge what it takes for consistent excellence There are a couple of reasons why England’s latest Six Nations grand slam is worthy of glowing appreciation. The first is that consistent excellence should always receive due recognition. And the second is that England had to do far more than simply show up and tick off the kind of routine runaway victory that leaves even their most loyal fans slightly underwhelmed. A 15-point margin might not instantly suggest a full-blooded contest but France more than fulfilled their part of the bargain. The nagging concern within women’s rugby is that the Red Roses are not being sufficiently challenged. On this occasion no one could level that accusation at the determined hosts who had England’s golden girls pinned back for lengthy periods. Continue reading...

White House-backed event billed as ‘One Nation Under God’ criticized for blurring lines between church and state Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally on Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God”. Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus. Arched stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal building, depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross. Continue reading...

Abu Dhabi denounces ‘dangerous escalation’ as Iran war ceasefire grows more precarious The United Arab Emirates has blamed a fire near its nuclear power plant on a drone launched by Iran or one of its proxies in what the UAE called a “dangerous escalation”. The fire was just outside the Barakah nuclear plant and caused no injuries or radiation alerts, but it came at an extremely tense moment in the sixth week of a ceasefire in the Iran war, with peace talks stalled and Donald Trump voicing impatience at the deadlock. Continue reading...

Cannes film festival: Barnaby Thompson’s documentary on the great British director is an exhilarating delve into the ebb and flow of Lean’s peerless career and sometimes complex personal life – with a grand cast of talking heads Barnaby Thompson’s thoroughly exhilarating and enjoyable documentary about movie director David Lean is proof of the old maxim – fortune favours the bold. Lean’s career feels like more than ever like a dashing military adventure; like Napoleon or the young Winston Churchill in Sudan or, indeed, TE Lawrence in his greatest film, Lawrence of Arabia. It involved brilliantly improvising strategy in hostile terrain and imperiously imposing his command over troops who had to be subdued by force of will, as well as a mastery of the theatre involved in leadership, displaying an almost hammy sense of one’s own skill in oratory and the eroticism of giving orders. Watching this documentary, you can appreciate how Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence is in many ways a comic, absurd figure – dressed up in borrowed and culturally appropriated Arab robes – but one that no one would dare mock. Perhaps Lean, in his director’s robes, could see what his subordinates wouldn’t, or couldn’t; he could see his own faults, and suffer from impostor syndrome and secret doubts. The movie repeatedly tells us that he could be impossibly bad-tempered and dictatorial on set – but there is no film or audio record of this, just Lean himself in various interviews being endlessly charming and self-deprecating. (Although I suspect that patrician accent perhaps reverted a little, at times, to something a bit rougher under duress.) Continue reading...

Southbank Centre, London Between a sci-fi concert for eggs and an interview with a bee, the scarecrow broadcasters in Philippe Quesne’s oddball performance piece make the case for art as salvation and for farms as the lifeblood of humanity Bump into one of these scarecrows at night and you’d be forgiven for running a mile. But stick around to listen to this hay-laden gang of crop-protector castaways, who no longer have crops to protect nor birds to scare thanks to the climate crisis, and you’ll see they have only good intentions. The sensorily ambitious Farm Fatale joins five scarecrows with faces of melted plastic and voices of children swallowed by machines in the artificial studio of their pirate radio station. It is set in the near future, when the air is hard to breathe and birdsong is recorded. The only people getting by are the industrial farmers capitalising on the ruin of others. When the scarecrows interview a bee, with a microphone charmingly taped to a pitchfork, the little creature is described as one of the last in Europe. Continue reading...

It was a decision that threatens to keep Nuno Espírito Santo awake for many nights to come. Why, oh why, West Ham’s manager will doubtless wonder, did he opt to start with a back three on Tyneside? Continue reading...

Reform, which won more than 50% of the local election vote, is likely to focus heavily on immigration and Brexit Andy Burnham faces a perilous race to win the Makerfield seat, his allies have warned, as he gears up to fight a byelection that could decide the long-term future of Labour and the country. The Greater Manchester mayor is likely to be confirmed as Labour’s candidate for the north-west constituency later this week, but those close to him say he faces an uphill battle to beat Reform UK. Nigel Farage’s party won more than 50% of the vote at the local elections and polling suggests Burnham is only marginally ahead. Continue reading...

Canal+ head says he will not work with hundreds of actors and directors who signed protest against Vincent Bolloré’s political sway The head of France’s biggest film producer, Canal+, has said the group will no longer work with hundreds of cinema figures who signed a petition voicing concern over the growing influence of the rightwing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré. The open letter, published earlier this week to coincide with the opening of the Cannes film festival, was signed by more than 600 figures, including the actor-director Juliette Binoche, the director and photographer Raymond Depardon, the French-Iranian film-maker Sepideh Farsi and the director Arthur Harari, who co-wrote the Oscar-winning Anatomy of a Fall and is premiering his film The Unknown in the main competition in Cannes. Continue reading...

France 28-43 England Kildunne and Breach score twice as Red Roses triumph Dominant, impenetrable, invincible. There are so many words to describe this England team. No matter what is thrown at them, they win matches and lift trophies. The Red Roses have an almost untouchable air around them as, despite experiencing the worst injury and unavailability crisis this team has seen for a decade, they swept aside each opponent in the Women’s Six Nations to seal their eighth consecutive title and fifth grand slam in a row. With a legacy already in the bag with their 2025 World Cup win, England set out in this Women’s Six Nations to start to build a dynasty and they have certainly laid the foundations in this tournament. The Red Roses not only claimed the clean sweep after dismantling France in a sunny but windy Bordeaux but they also became the first team to win the tournament immediately after claiming the World Cup. Continue reading...

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World No 1 is first Italian to win title in 50 years 6-4, 6-4 victory completes set of ATP Masters 1000 titles Jannik Sinner continued his reign of terror over men’s tennis on the red clay courts of Europe as he effortlessly recovered from a slow start to overpower Casper Ruud, the 23rd seed, 6-4, 6-4 and become the first Italian man in 50 years to win the Italian Open. It is difficult to overstate the historic nature of this triumph. Sinner is just the second man in history to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles. This feat, one of the most impressive in the sport, was first achieved by Novak Djokovic in 2018 at the age of 31. Sinner has completed his set at just 24 years old, still seemingly with so much more to achieve in the sport. Continue reading...

Excluding capital would be ‘missed opportunity’, says Sadiq Khan, given existing assets and ‘world-class infrastructure’ The mayor of London has criticised plans to explore a bid for the north of England to host the Olympics, saying that excluding London would be a “missed opportunity”. Ministers have commissioned an assessment by UK Sport which could inform a bid for the international sporting event in the 2040s. If the campaign were successful, it would be the first time the Olympic Games and Paralympics were hosted in Britain since London 2012. Continue reading...

️ Updates from the final round at Aronimink Golf Club ️ Official live leaderboard | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Scott Scottie Scheffler hasn’t had the start he wanted. The world number one started the day at -1, in a tie for 23rd, and no player has ever won a major from outside the top 20 after 54 holes. A flyer out of the blocks was almost essential, and birdie at 2 helped his cause, but his tee shot at the par-three 5th toppled into the fringe at the back of the green, and he hit a slightly hot chip coming back out. The ball rolled ten feet past, and he couldn’t make the par saver coming back. He’s now level for his round through 6, still at -1 with a third of his round – and two-thirds of the theoretically easier nine – gone. … so this is where Kitayama currently sits on the current leaderboard. A fine morning’s shift. Continue reading...

Bulgaria’s first-ever win in European song contest delivers ray of hope at turbulent time after years of political instability Bulgarians have rejoiced in their country’s first victory at the Eurovision song contest as fans welcomed home the singer whose party anthem Bangaranga proved an unexpected breakthrough hit. “Dara is yet more proof that Bulgaria can win,” declared the new prime minister, Rumen Radev, of Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, known simply as Dara. He hailed “a young artist who, thanks to her talent and professionalism, has managed to rise above all the complexities and prejudices surrounding the [Eurovision] voting process”. Continue reading...