US right capitalizes on fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina

Far right points to lax criminal justice system and racist narratives, not mental health system failures as experts say

The random and unprovoked killing of a young woman in North Carolina several weeks ago has become a viral video, a political football, and a powerful rightwing talking point – even as the horror and anger her death has provoked obscures what experts say is a vital story about the failures of the American mental health system.

The alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, has a long history of problems with the law and mental health issues. He had been arrested 14 times and served a five-year stint for armed robbery. Brown had also come to believe that there was something alien and malevolent inside him – a “man-made material”, he told people, possibly a computer chip implanted by the government that was fighting him for control of his body.

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Russian drone incursion into Poland ‘was Kremlin test on Nato’

Polish minister says Moscow sought to gauge reaction without starting war as Romania reports new incursion

Poland’s foreign minister has said the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace was an attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s reactions by incremental escalations without prompting a full-scale response, as Romania became the second Nato country to report an incursion in a matter of days.

Radosław Sikorski confirmed that while the drones that entered Poland last week were capable of carrying ammunition, they were not loaded with explosives. “Interestingly, they were all duds, which suggests to me that Russia tried to test us without starting a war,” Sikorski told the Guardian in Kyiv.

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Romania says Russian drone incursions pose ‘new challenge’ to Black Sea security

Country’s defence ministry condemns ‘irresponsible actions’ after drone entered its airspace on Saturday

Romania has strongly condemned the entry of a Russian drone into its airspace during an attack on neighbouring Ukraine, saying Moscow’s actions pose a “new challenge” to Black Sea security.

Poland had already denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace last week, calling on Moscow to avoid further “provocations”. Polish fighter jets scrambled on Saturday in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.

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Poland deploys planes due to threat of drone strikes in nearby Ukraine

‘Preventive operations’ included putting air defence systems on high alert and followed serious Russian incursion earlier in the week

Polish and allied aircraft have been deployed in a “preventive” operation in Poland’s airspace because of a threat of drone strikes in neighbouring areas of Ukraine, and the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed, authorities have said.

The alert on Saturday lasted about two hours. On Wednesday multiple Russian drones had crossed into Poland, prompting Nato to send fighter jets to shoot them down, underlining long-held concerns about the expansion of Russia’s more than three-year war in Ukraine.

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Ukraine drone starts fire at one of Russia’s largest oil plants

Head of Bashkortostan region reports second drone shot down and minor damage to Bashneft’s Ufa refinery

A Ukrainian drone has crashed into one of Russia’s largest oil-refining complexes, sparking a fire and causing minor damage, a Russian official has said.

The complex, which belongs to Russian oil company Bashneft, lies on the outskirts of the central Russian city of Ufa about 870 miles (1,400km) from the frontline in Ukraine.

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UK should work with Nato on new missile defence system to counter Russia, experts say

After Russian drones entered Polish airspace, two authors of the UK strategic defence review said Europe would need to build up its defences

Britain should work with Nato allies in developing an integrated air and missile defence system after the incursion of nearly 20 Russian drones into Poland, according to two authors of the UK strategic defence review.

Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser, said that Russia was “testing the limits” of Europe’s defences at a time when the military commitment of the US to Nato was uncertain.

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Trump asks EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China

In effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, US president proposes tariffs targeting Putin allies and trade partners

Donald Trump has asked the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China as part of an effort to force the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine.

The US president made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia on Tuesday, according to a White House official.

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EU and US officials meet as Trump says he is ready to impose further sanctions on Russia

Europe and US consider further actions to weaken Russia after largest-ever air attack on Ukraine over the weekend

The EU’s most senior sanctions envoy is holding talks in Washington with US officials after Donald Trump said he was ready to take further action against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

David O’Sullivan, the EU sanctions envoy, is meeting US counterparts on Monday, as Europe and the US look for tougher measures to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine after Russia launched its largest-ever air attack on Ukraine over the weekend.

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Blackwater founder and Maga disciple Erik Prince pitching services in Ukraine

Sources say Prince, whose firm’s contractors committed 2007 Iraq massacre, eager to get into valuable drone sector

Amid reports that Donald Trump’s administration is considering using US private military contractors in a postwar Ukraine, multiple sources tell the Guardian one high-profile and controversial American from the “war on terror” era is already circling for business.

In the streets of Kyiv, military hawks and defense privateers have described how Erik Prince, Maga disciple and founder of the now-defunct mercenary company Blackwater, has been aggressively pitching his services and looking to buy.

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Largest Russian air attack of war sets fire to Ukrainian cabinet building

Officials say three people including mother and baby killed in strikes that also hit key government building for first time

Russia has launched its largest ever air attack on Ukraine, hitting a key government building in Kyiv for the first time and killing at least three people, including a mother and her baby, and drawing widespread condemnation, including a fresh threat of further US sanctions.

The bombardment of the capital with a large number of drones and missiles injured at least 18 people and set scores of buildings on fire. Explosions were also reported in the cities of Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih. Authorities triggered a countrywide air-raid warning at 6.06am local time and later accused Russia of deliberately striking civilian targets.

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UK couple may have to evict Ukrainian refugees owing to planning rules

Rosemary Duckett, 80, and her husband, Anthony, 88, say situation is ‘bureaucracy gone mad’

A couple who the prime minister thanked for housing Ukrainian refugees have been told by their local council they may have to evict their current guest due to planning rules which the couple describe as “bureaucracy gone mad”.

Rosemary Duckett, 80, a retired magistrate and former chair of her local YMCA, and her husband, Anthony, 88, have been providing accommodation in a room above their garage to Ukrainian refugees since 2022.

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Western troops in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate targets’, Putin says

Russian president’s threat follows French proposal for postwar support for Kyiv that would include presence of Nato countries’ forces

Vladimir Putin has said any western troops placed in Ukraine would be “legitimate targets” for Russian strikes, upping the stakes as Kyiv’s allies scramble to come up with a convincing offer of postwar support to Ukraine.

Speaking a day after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced still-vague plans for a package of support for Ukraine backed by 26 nations, Putin on Friday said any guarantees that involved boots on the ground would violate Moscow’s longstanding objections to Nato troops in Ukraine.

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Russia is leader in prosthetic limbs thanks to Ukraine war, says Kremlin official

Deputy defence minister Anna Tsivilyova said those coming back from the battlefield had become a ‘driver’ in pushing Russia’s innovation in prosthetics

A Kremlin official has said that the number of soldiers wounded fighting in Ukraine had helped to make Russia a world leader in the manufacture of prosthetic limbs.

Deputy defence minister Anna Tsivilyova, reportedly a relative of President Vladimir Putin, told a conference in Vladivostok that those coming back from the battlefield had become a “driver” in pushing Russia’s innovation in prosthetics.

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Macron says 26 nations ready to provide postwar military backing to Ukraine

French president says allies would either deploy ‘reassurance force’ troops to Ukraine, or be present in the area on land, sea or in the air

Twenty-six nations have pledged to provide postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, including an international force on land and sea and in the air, Emmanuel Macron said after a summit at which European leaders sought to pin down Donald Trump on the level of support he is willing to give Kyiv.

“The day the conflict stops, the security guarantees will be deployed,” the French president told a press conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris, standing alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Scotland bans arms companies that supply IDF from receiving financial aid

Devolved government says contractors seeking support must prove products will not be used by Israeli military

The Scottish government has banned arms companies which supply the IDF from getting grants and investment support, and will freeze support for trade with Israel.

John Swinney, the first minister, said on Wednesday any defence contractors who wanted financial help in Scotland would have to prove their products would not be used by the Israel Defense Forces.

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Kim Jong-un promises to do ‘everything to assist’ Moscow after Putin meeting

North Korean leader invited to visit Russia as Zelenskyy says Putin is displaying ‘impunity’ with new Ukraine strikes

Vladimir Putin has invited Kim Jong-un to visit Russia during a lengthy meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s biggest military parade, as Kim promised to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.

North Korea has supported Russia in its war against Ukraine with weapons and troops, and the Russian president praised North Korean fighters for acting “courageously and heroically”.

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Vladimir Putin arrives in China for security summit – Ukraine war live

Russian president and Indian prime minister among more than 20 world leaders attending Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin

At an emergency meeting of the UN security council on Friday, the US warned Russia to move toward some sort of peace settlement and meet with Ukraine or face possible sanctions.

The meeting was called after a major Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday that killed more than 20 people.

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Investigation launched into ‘horrific murder’ of Ukrainian politician in Lviv

Former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy shot dead as EU ministers meet to discuss measures to force Moscow to the negotiating table

A Ukrainian former parliamentary speaker was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday, authorities said, as European foreign ministers met to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.

Andriy Parubiy, a member of parliament who served as parliamentary speaker from 2016 to 2019 and a key figure in Ukraine’s 2013 pro-European Maidan revolution, was shot dead, prosecutors said. A murder investigation has been launched and the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the killing as a “horrific murder”.

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Ukrainian lawmaker shot dead in Lviv as Zelenskyy says hunt for killer is under way – as it happened

This live blog is now closed

Andriy Parubiy, a Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker, has been shot dead in western city of Lviv, say officials.

Confirming the news, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X:

Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko and prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported the first known circumstances of the horrendous murder in Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was killed.

My condolences to his family and loved ones. All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer.

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Putin embarks on China visit with Ukraine war top of agenda

Analysts say Putin and Xi will aim to align positions during Russian leader’s unusually long stay

Vladimir Putin will travel to China this weekend for what the Kremlin has called a “truly unprecedented” visit to his most important ally, which comes at a crunch moment in talks over Ukraine.

During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week – unusually long for the Russian leader – he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing’s Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba.

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