A Joe Biden presidency would be better for Russia than a Donald Trump one, Russian President Vladimir Putin told pro-Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin in an on-camera interview Wednesday.

Asked by Zuribin about the upcoming US presidential election, Putin said Biden would be better for Russia “because he is a more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of an old formation.”

However, he added that Russia would “work with any leader of the US that gains the trust of the American people.”

Putin has a tradition of pontificating on US presidential politics.

In late 2015, the Kremlin leader praised Donald Trump as “a bright and talented person without any doubt,” and cast Trump as the front-runner for the election months ahead of the Republican National Convention.

The Russian president also did little to conceal his dislike of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Putin would go on to deny Russian interference in the 2016 election and gloated in an interview about the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee, saying “there is nothing false about it, every single grain of it is true. And the Democratic leadership admitted it.”

US President Joe Biden has not minced words about Putin since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, calling the Russian leader a war criminal – something Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described as “absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable.”

The Russian leader’s comments also come in the wake of Trump telling a campaign rally he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines, something NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said put European and American soldiers at an increased risk.

Trump’s pledge – if delivered – would overturn the collective defense clause at the heart of the alliance. Putin has long criticized NATO and opposes its expansion.

In his interview, the Russian president said he regretted that he “didn’t start active actions in Ukraine earlier” than February 2022, claiming that Western leaders had lied to Russia about “not expanding NATO to the East.”

“We were and are concerned about the possibility of Ukraine being drawn into NATO, since this threatens our security,” Putin said.

Putin ‘didn’t fully enjoy’ Carlson interview

Putin also said that in order to judge the actions of the current US administration one should look at its “political position.”

“I believe that the position of the current administration is extremely harmful and erroneous,” Putin said in a reference to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

According to Putin, that war “could have been over a year and a half ago” if agreements during a meeting in Istanbul in March 2022 were kept.

Putin didn’t specify what agreements he was referring to, but he has in the past referred to a series of bilateral talks that took place between Russia and Ukraine in the weeks after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, suggesting a deal was in place.

Those talks eventually faltered, and Ukrainian public opinion hardened against compromise with Russia after the uncovering of the mass killings of civilians by Russian forces in the town of Bucha and other liberated areas of Ukraine.

Putin also alleged that the Minsk agreements, a ceasefire protocol signed by Ukraine and Russia in 2015, was never meant to be kept but used “to buy time to load Ukraine with additional weapons.”

The Minsk agreements called for the removal of heavy weaponry from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, constitutional reform in Ukraine as well as the restoration of Ukrainian control of its state borders, among other things.

The order in which those measures would be implemented was never fixed, lower-level fighting continued and a so-called line of contact between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists remained largely stable between 2015 and 2022.

The US and its allies only ramped up military support to Ukraine significantly on the eve of the February 2022 invasion, as Russian forces massed around Ukraine’s borders, in particular rushing deliveries of anti-tank weaponry.

In his recent interview with far-right media figure Tucker Carlson, Putin said the US could “come to an agreement with Russia” on Ukraine, a suggestion that appeared to imply that an agreement could be brokered over the heads of the Ukrainians.

The Russian leader also expressed disappointment with Carlson. dismissively referring to the media personality’s interviewing style.

“I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask tough questions. I wasn’t only ready for that, I wanted that, because it would give me the opportunity to give tough answers back,” Putin said.

“To be frank, I didn’t fully enjoy that interview,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional information and context.

Talks on a hostage and ceasefire deal for Gaza appear to be at an impasse. Israel’s top-level delegation has returned from Cairo, and there has been no word from Hamas on its position in recent days.

Hamas made a detailed proposal this month for a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed it as “delusional” at the time, but indirect talks in Cairo continued as Israel faced pressure from its allies to negotiate, and Hamas faced the prospect of a major Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are sheltering.

CIA Director Bill Burns met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea in Israel on Thursday to discuss the state of hostage negotiations, an Israeli official confirmed.

People familiar with the negotiations say there are a number of sticking points. Here’s what we know.

What’s on the table?

In response to a framework agreement presented by negotiators in Paris at the end of last month, Hamas presented a counterproposal that envisaged a three-stage process over four-and-a-half months.

During the process, Israeli troops would gradually withdraw from Gaza, hostages would be released and Palestinian prisoners in Israel – including those serving life sentences – would be freed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Hamas’ proposal. “We haven’t committed to any of the delusional demands of Hamas,” he said last week.

The Israeli leader has repeatedly said that the war in Gaza will continue until Israel destroys Hamas’ leadership and rescues the hostages.

“Qatar are talking to Hamas in Doha and waiting for their (Hamas) response to the Israeli feedback from the Cairo meeting,” the source said.

What are the sticking points?

A number of sticking points have emerged during the negotiations: the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to hostages that would be released, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the status of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Hostage talks were held Tuesday in the Egyptian capital Cairo, where a US official said the outstanding area of disagreement was the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to hostages that would be released as part of the deal.

Israel continues to insist on a three-to-one ratio of Palestinian prisoners to hostages that was included in the deal in November 2023.

Netanyahu last month said he “will not release thousands of terrorists,” as part of a deal with Hamas, and said that Israel would not pull troops out of Gaza.

A third point of contention is the status of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Only Muslims are allowed to pray in the compound under a status quo arrangement originally reached more than a century ago. Non-Muslim visitors are allowed visits at certain times and only to certain areas of the complex.  But many in the Muslim world fear that the right to be the sole worshipers there has been eroded and that the sites themselves are being threatened by a growing far-right Jewish movement and Israel’s hard-right government. 
“The status of al-Aqsa is not going to be resolved in a negotiation over hostages,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday, calling it one of the “obvious nonstarters” from Hamas.

Another complicating factor is the difficulty in communicating with Hamas’ senior leadership in Gaza. Even as talks continue in Cairo, the Israeli military has been conducting operations in Gaza designed to hunt down top Hamas figures.

Why is Netanyahu holding out?

Netanyahu leads the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Some members of that government are strongly opposed to any compromise that involves releasing Palestinian prisoners or withdrawing from Gaza. If those ministers resign, Netanyahu’s coalition could fall apart, leading to new elections, possibly spelling the end of his political career at a time when he is also facing corruption charges.

Against that backdrop, US officials are increasingly concerned about whether Netanyahu is genuinely interested in reaching a hostage deal at the present time. People briefed on the discussions have also noted that his top security officials from Mossad and Shin Bet, who have been acting as envoys for the hostage talks, are seen as much more pragmatic in trying to hammer out an agreement with other mediators. There are others in the War Cabinet, like former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, who have criticized Netanyahu’s failure to prioritize the hostages.

Since the onset of the war, US officials have been highly sensitive to the domestic politics that are at play for Netanyahu – and how they have shaped some of his key decisions and public stances surrounding the conflict. Netanyahu’s political future has been a wild card of sorts that administration officials have contended with.

The Israeli prime minister on Wednesday said that Hamas must change its negotiating position before talks can continue in Cairo.

“In Cairo, Israel was not given any new proposal by Hamas for the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “A change in Hamas’ positions will allow progress in the negotiations.”

Netanyahu, however, is also under intense pressure from families of hostages to prevent the deaths of the remaining captives in Gaza and return to negotiations. On Thursday, the families intensified their efforts to ensure that the government doesn’t “sacrifice the hostages.”

What does the US think?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that he believes an agreement to release the hostages and secure a “humanitarian pause” is both “possible” and also “imperative.”

“We’re now in the process with our counterparts from Qatar, from Egypt, from Israel, in working on that and working very intensely on that with the goal of trying to find an agreement,” he said at a press conference in Albania. “There are some very, very hard issues that have to be resolved, but we’re committed to doing everything we can to move forward and to see if we can reach an agreement.”

US President Joe Biden has said he hopes that a ceasefire deal, which would see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, could lead to a more lasting peace “on the basis of the two-state solution.”

The US is working with its Arab partners to try to establish a plan for Israel and Gaza after the conflict ends, one that includes “a concrete, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel, with the necessary security assurances.”

A senior State Department official said if there is a cessation in the fighting, the US wants “to be in a position to move as quickly as possible on the various pieces of the ‘day after.’”

A similar report about a “comprehensive plan” for peace including a two-state solution published in The Washington Post was met with strong rejection from Netanyahu’s office as well as Israeli politicians. A spokesperson in Netanyahu’s office on Thursday rejected any discussion, for the moment, about a Palestinian state, saying that “now is not the time to be speaking about gifts for the Palestinian people.”

Miller, the State Department spokesperson, said Wednesday that he would not “give a day-by-day, step-by-step update or assessment on the talks, or the status of them, or where they might stand; but we continue to believe that it is possible to achieve a deal.”

“We continue to believe it’s in the national security interest of the United States to achieve deal,” he said. “We believe it’s in the interest of both Israel and, of course, the Palestinian people. So we will continue to work to try and achieve an agreement that would not just secure the release of hostages, but, of course, enable – allow a pause that would enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance that would alleviate the suffering on the ground in Gaza.”

The Greek parliament on Thursday passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage, in a landmark victory for human rights in Greece and making it the first majority Orthodox Christian country to establish marriage equality for all.

The decision, supported by 176 out of 300 lawmakers in parliament and with 76 against, follows months of polarized political and public discourse, and has been welcomed as a long-awaited vindication by the country’s LGBTQ+ couples.

“This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece – a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values,” Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a post on X following the vote.

Parental and children’s rights are a cornerstone of the legislation, which will allow same-sex couples to adopt and receive full parental recognition.

Although Greece introduced civil partnerships for gay couples nearly a decade ago under the left-wing Syriza government, only the biological parents of children in those relationships were recognized as legal guardians. Now, same-sex parents can both be recognized as legal parents to their children.

“The new law will finally provide same-sex parents some peace of mind on fundamental issues including parental rights to a surviving parent in the event of their partner’s death,” said Katerina Trimmi, a member of the Greek National Commission of Human Rights and a lawyer from the organization Rainbow Families. She noted however that such parents will need to go through formal adoption procedures, saying that parental rights could have been established “in a simpler way.”

Same-sex couples can now also adopt in Greece, but not have a baby through a surrogate. Like in much of the EU, surrogacy remains a thorny issue and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who tabled the legislation as “a matter of equality,” clarified early on that this was not something he was willing to tackle. “The idea of women who are turned into child-producing machines on demand … that is not going to happen.”

However the new legislation does recognize the status of existing offspring, including those adopted or born to surrogates abroad.

Divided society

The build-up to the vote has been an uphill battle with emotions running high. It was never going to be easy. In Greece the push came from a center-right party with many of its voters supporting traditional family values.

Fifteen of the European Union’s 27 members have already legalized same-sex marriage and Mitsotakis, empowered by a recent fresh mandate, stuck to his guns to see the bill through, signaling his intention for his government to be further aligned with the more progressive EU forces.

Polls show that Greek society at its core remains a country of traditional family values and structures, while it continues to lag other Western countries in issues of gender equality. In 2022, Athens placed last in the EU’s Gender Equality Index with only slight improvement in 2023.

A recent poll carried out by Metron Analysis showed that although 62% of respondents said they were in favor of same-sex marriage, 69% were against same-sex parenthood. Surveys directed exclusively at young respondents showed higher support rates.

The same-sex marriage bill has drawn the wrath of the influential Greek Orthodox Church to which more than 80% of the population belong.

In a letter addressed to all 300 of Greece’s parliamentarians ahead of the vote, the Church’s governing body said the bill places the rights of homosexual adults above the interests of future children, by allowing them “to be parented by same-sex couples and grow up without a father or mother in an environment of confusing gender roles.”

Senior bishops have threatened mobilizations. At a protest rally outside parliament, crucifix-holding protesters, including robed priests, joined far-right supporters in chanting: “Take your hands off our children.”

The center-right New Democracy government that sponsored the bill failed to garner the support of some of its own 158 politicians in the 300 seat parliament, requiring votes from center and left opposition parties for the legislation to pass.

IT student Alexis Rafailides, 21, said Thursday’s vote was important because there is “so much” discrimination against the community in Greece. “I didn’t feel like I could be myself for such a long time until I met more people that are like me,” he said.

Political boost

Days into his second term, empowered by a landslide election win which saw the centrist and center-left suffer catastrophic losses, Mitsotakis pledged his support for same-sex marriage legislation.

The rise of Stefanos Kasselakis, an openly gay Greek-American political unknown whose communication skills helped catapult him to the helm of Syriza, the main opposition party, in September, may have served as a political boost. “It felt to me like Mitsotakis was giving the progressive forces a carrot that he would use at a convenient time but without providing specifics,” Kasselakis said.

Accompanied by his longtime American partner Tyler McBeth throughout his campaign, Kasselakis kept his same-sex relationship in the Greek public eye.

In October, the couple married in the US. Addressing Greek media at the time, Kasselakis stirred further controversy: “We would like to have two boys, Apollo and Elias… through a surrogate mother.”

He said the new law was a step in the right direction “I’ve been very fortunate. I have lived in very open societies. But not everyone in Greece has.”

Freedom to dream

The political timing is significant beyond Greece’s borders. The legislation brings the country in line with 20 other European nations and strengthens its human rights credentials ahead of upcoming European elections. It also helps distance the ruling party from recent allegations of wiretapping opponents, migrant pushbacks and a media freedom backslide. Greece came last among EU countries in Reporters Without Borders 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

Yet there is a political risk. The last Greek elections saw the far right surge, with three fringe parties entering parliament. Together they hold a bloc of more than 30 seats. All three voted against the same-sex marriage law, and the legislation could still push some angry voters to the right ahead of European elections in June.

For activists and members of the LGBTQ+ community like 24-year-old Angelo, who left his village near the agricultural town of Karditsa to live with his boyfriend in Athens and who declined to give his last name “to make sure his family does not find out,” a battle in their birthplace – the birthplace of democracy – has been won.

This is a breaking news story. More details to come.

India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, said Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by federal tax authorities, just weeks before an expected nationwide election.

Authorities later temporarily restored access to the accounts, the party said, but not before the move drew widespread criticism from the Congress and its allies, who accused the government of conducting an attack on democracy.

Congress Treasurer Ajay Maken told a news conference the accounts had been frozen after an investigation of the party’s income tax returns for the 2018-19 financial year. He added that the Income Tax Department had issued a payment demand for 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) in connection to the ongoing probe.

“The Congress party’s bank accounts haven’t been frozen. It’s the democracy that has been frozen,” Maken said. “Will there be only a one party system in this country?”

On Friday, Congress supporters gathered in Delhi’s iconic Jantar Mantar area to protest the action, as party chief Mallikarjun Kharge called on the judiciary to “save the multi-party system in this country and protect India’s Democracy.”

Allies of the Congress party have repeatedly claimed democracy is being stifled in India, with Friday’s case the latest in a series of investigations targeting prominent opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Former Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the scion of a political dynasty that produced three prime ministers, was last year disqualified as a lawmaker, and handed a two-year jail sentence for defamation, in a ruling his supporters say was politically motivated. Gandhi was later reinstated as a lawmaker following an intervention from India’s Supreme Court.

Gandhi on Friday said his party will “fight tooth and nail” to protect India’s democracy.

“We have never bowed down before dictatorship, nor will we ever bow down,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Congress party, a once formidable force in Indian politics, has been languishing in the polls since Modi rose to power a decade ago with the promise of economic growth and a prosperous society for all.

The Congress Party attempted to form an alliance of opposition groups in a bid to unseat Modi’s BJP in the upcoming election. But that alliance is already starting to see cracks emerge as support for the BJP surges, just weeks before an estimated 900 million Indians are expected to head to the polls.

Often called the world’s largest experiment in democracy, the Indian election comes at a crucial time for the country, as it gains prominence on the world stage with Modi presenting himself as a statesman who is cementing the South Asian nation as a modern superpower.

But tensions are running high at home, with minorities feeling sidelined under the BJP’s majoritarian Hindu nationalist policies.

In its most recent gauge of voter sentiment, the Congress Party lost three out of four regional votes in key state elections in December, giving a boost to Modi and his BJP.

This is a developing story. More to follow…

A Ukrainian drone spots Russian soldiers hiding amid the remains of what was once someone’s home, in the middle of a lunar-like landscape of charred ground, craters and sapless trunks.

Another drone carrying a small warhead moves in and detonates on impact. A second one follows. Then a third. Finally, the Russian unit is eliminated.

For the drone operators, it is a victory, but such wins are becoming rare in this part of Ukraine, as Moscow throws everything it has at the small, battered and now largely deserted town.

In an apparent nod to the importance of Avdiivka, which lies to the northwest of Donetsk city, Ukraine’s new army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov this week visited soldiers on the front lines there.

“The operational situation is extremely complicated and tense,” Syrskyi acknowledged. “We are doing everything possible to prevent the enemy from advancing deeper into our territory and to hold our positions.”

Quelling rumors that Ukraine was considering a withdrawal from Avdiivka, Syrskyi has instead sent in reinforcements.

He’s deployed one of Ukraine’s most battle-hardened units – the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade – which earned praise for its daring attacks on Russian forces around Bakhmut.

“We made a number of important decisions aimed at strengthening the combat capabilities of our military units and preventing enemy actions,” Syrskyi explained during his visit to the front line.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised “maximum attention” for the eastern front and said the new army chief’s visit to the area would help address the issues facing units on the ground.

“The existing problems are being solved – manning the units, reinforcement, command and control,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “We will be reinforced with drones, electronic warfare, and command positions will also be strengthened.”

But just a couple of days later, amid the ongoing Russian onslaught, even the reinforcements were describing “hellish” conditions.

“Our brigade is carrying out combat missions in conditions that even we could hardly imagine,” Maksym Zhorin, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade’s deputy commander said in a battlefield report on Thursday. “The battles in Avdiivka are several times more hellish than the hottest battles of this phase of the war, which took place in Bakhmut.”

Much as it did in Bakhmut this time last year, Russia is throwing everything it has at Avdiivka in pursuit of victory, pummeling the town with airstrikes and artillery, while launching wave after wave of ground assaults by armored vehicles and soldiers.

It’s turned the town into what Ukrainian soldiers call a “meat grinder.”

During the offensive Russia has suffered immense losses — so large it might make other militaries regroup and rethink — but Moscow appears to be calculating these losses are worth it, given its numerical advantage.

“The enemy is huge, coming from all sides,” Zhorin added.

‘I’m not going anywhere’

Other video footage from Avdiivka shows a quite different side to the town’s plight.

He shies away as the policeman approach, holding up a smartphone. The man’s adult daughter is on the other end, trying to convince him to leave.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he tells her.

“I’ll send you money and you will come to me, in Kherson,” his daughter pleads in desperation. “I’ll pay for travel and accommodation.”

But her cries fall on deaf ears.

The officers who approached the man with the phone are part of a special Ukrainian police unit known as the “White Angels,” which has been tasked with helping vulnerable civilians flee the town, home to 30,000 people two years ago.

Already this year they’ve evacuated more than 120 people, mostly elderly, but also some children. Many of these battle-worn citizens have been living through some level of conflict ever since Avdiivka – about 20km from the city of Donetsk – became the front line against Russian-backed fighters in 2015.

Reluctant to leave, many resisted the first thrust of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, holding out until they could no longer bear it. Now, with Russian shelling intensifying since the end of last year, there’s little left to cling to.

Other footage collected by Ukrainian units shows scenes of devastation, with high-rise buildings covered in holes from the constant Russian barrages. Some high-rises have been knocked over completely and most small buildings have been reduced to mounds of rubble.

Pushing back

The Russian assault on Avdiivka comes after an unconvincing Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer and as Western support for Kyiv falters. European shipments of ammunition and financial aid have been delayed by Brussels’ notorious red tape — and some resistance from Hungary — but it’s the delays in Washington that are most concerning to Kyiv.

The United States has been Ukraine’s largest backer since day one, but its continued military support has become a divisive issue among lawmakers. The reluctance of Trump-supporting Republicans to back the White House is giving Putin and Russia an edge, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“We see the impact already of the fact that the US has not been able to make a decision,” Stoltenberg said in an interview Thursday.

Seemingly outmanned and outgunned, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade admits the situation is “critical,” but insists it will continue to push back, and claims to have critically damaged two Russian brigades.

Still, even if the claim is true, the brigade is well aware that Russia has plenty more soldiers to replace its loses as it “continues to actively rotate its troops and deploy new forces and equipment to the town.”

“We are forced to fight 360 degrees against new brigades that the enemy is deploying,” says the commander of the 3rd Brigade, Andrii Biletskyi. “Our soldiers are demonstrating unprecedented heroism.”

Vasco Cotovio wrote in London, Olga Voitovych and Svietlana Vlasova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing difficult questions after his governing Conservative Party lost two seats in parliament on Thursday.

The two by-elections – special elections that take place outside of regular election cycles – were won by the main opposition party Labour in dramatic swings that if replicated on a national level would mean a large Labour majority at a general election.

The losses are particularly painful for Sunak, coming just one day after the UK officially entered recession during an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Other flagship policies are failing for Sunak. His pledge to reduce irregular migration by stopping small boats crossing into England from France is being undermined as a key government deportation policy is repeatedly held up because of accusations it breaches international law.

The Conservative Party traditionally beats Labour on issues like economics and immigration. The fact Sunak is failing on both of these is worrying his party in a year that they will have to call a general election.

While Conservatives were expecting to lose these by-elections, hopes were bolstered when Labour found itself embroiled in an antisemitism scandal earlier this week. A leaked video in which a Labour by-election candidate claimed Israel allowed the Hamas October 7 attack to take place forced the party to withdraw its endorsement. That election will take place later this month with a different candidate.

Despite the story cutting through with voters, it appeared to make no difference to them at the ballot box, if these results are anything to go by.

Some Conservatives believe that the party leadership is increasingly out-of-touch and wrecking its own electoral prospects. They think Sunak – the richest person to ever hold the office of Prime Minister – is not an appropriate leader at a time when so many people in the UK are struggling financially.

Others think he panders too much to the center-ground of his party and should be focussing on so-called “red meat” Conservative issues like cutting tax and tearing up environmental policies.

Of particular concern to Conservatives is the rise of Reform UK, the new party of Nigel Farage. Farage has spent decades being a constant thorn in the Conservatives’ side.

As leader of both the UK Independence Party and the Brexit Party, he forced the Conservatives into increasingly right-wing positions.

The rise of UKIP under Farage was what ultimately forced former PM David Cameron – now the back in government as foreign secretary – to call a referendum on leaving the EU.

These days Farage is more of a right-wing celebrity and media personality than a true politician. He is honorary president of Reform UK but still has a habit of forcing issues onto the news agenda. He was talking about illegal boat crossings and irregular migration long before the Conservative government picked up the issue. He has a daily TV show and recently appeared on the reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

His profile means he can reach the public in ways most politicians cannot. Reform UK is not a serious contender in terms of taking power, but if it can take enough Conservative votes it would make Labour’s path to government even easier.

The right of Sunak’s party is increasingly vocal and some want him to resign. Tellingly, a number of polls recently have shown Sunak is even less popular than his predecessor Liz Truss, who resigned in disgrace after her controversial economic policies caused the pound to crash and interest rates to rise in a matter of days.

Who exactly would replace Sunak is not clear. Boris Johnson no longer sits in parliament so it would be very hard to bring him back in time for the next election. He is also not as universally popular as his own diehard loyalists claim.

With so little time before Sunak has to face the public, it’s hard to see what he and his party can do to avoid what looks increasingly inevitable – being ousted from office by the voters.

The challenge for Sunak in the immediate term, however, isn’t winning over the public, but simply keeping his party together. But if the Prime Minister cannot even do that, the already narrow path to electoral victory keeps shrinking and the length of that path gets shorter.

Jailed Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who made global headlines when he was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, has died aged 47, the Russian prison service said.

Navalny had long been a thorn in the side of President Vladimir Putin, exposing corruption in high places, campaigning against the ruling United Russia party, and orchestrating some of the biggest anti-government protests seen in recent years.

He returned to Russia in 2021 and was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated. He has been incarcerated ever since. His supporters claim his arrest was a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Putin.

Navalany’s death comes shortly before Russia’s presidential election, set to take place on March 17, where Putin will bid for his fifth term in a move that could see him retain power until at least 2030.

Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August, after he was found guilty of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activists and various other crimes. He was already serving sentences of 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges he denies.

Four months later, his lawyers said they had lost contact with Navalny, who was believed to be imprisoned in a penal colony about 150 miles east of Moscow. The White House at the time said it was “deeply concerned” about the reports of Navalny’s disappearance.

He failed to appear at several scheduled court hearings in December. His legal team said on December 22 that he’d been missing for 17 days. “Navalny has never been hidden for so long,” Navalny’s team said in a Telegram post.

After filing 680 requests to locate Navalny, his team announced on December 25 that they had “found” him more than a thousand miles away at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, known as “Polar Wolf.”

“The conditions there are harsh, with a special regime in the permafrost zone. It is very difficult to get there, and there are no letter delivery systems,” said Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Imagine eating a delicious, nourishing bowl of beef rice.

No, not beef on rice — beef rice.

That’s what a team of South Korean researchers are hoping to plate up with their newly developed hybrid rice, grown in a lab with cow muscle and fat cells inside the rice grains.

The rice — which is colored pink — could offer a cheaper, more environmentally sustainable source of protein with a much lower carbon footprint than beef, the researchers say.

“Imagine obtaining all the nutrients we need from cell-cultured protein rice,” primary author Sohyeon Park said in a news release on Wednesday, when the study was published in the journal Matter. “Rice already has a high nutrient level, but adding cells from livestock can further boost it.”

Here’s how they do it: They first coat the rice in fish gelatin to help the meat cells latch on better. Then, they insert cow muscle and fat stem cells into the rice grains, which are left to culture in a petri dish.

Animals have microscopic “biological scaffolds” that help cells grow to form tissue and organs, and rice grains have a porous, organized structure that mimic this scaffolding, as well as molecules that further nourish these cells, the study said.

The meat cells then grow on the surface of the rice grain and inside the grain itself. After about 9 to 11 days, you get the final product — which the study describes as “reminiscent of microbeef sushi and has a different texture, nutritional profile, and flavor than traditional rice grains.”

The beef rice is firmer and more brittle than the typically sticky, soft texture of regular rice — and is higher in protein and fat, the study found. Scientists steamed the rice to analyze it, finding that rice with higher muscle content smelled more like beef and almonds, while rice with higher fat content smelled like cream or coconut oil.

“A novel food ingredient that can overcome humanity’s food crisis has been created,” the study declared, adding that new solutions were critical in overcoming “rising health concerns, infectious disease risks, climate change, and resource scarcity.”

Meat alternatives and new food innovations have proliferated over the past few years, from plant-based options like Beyond Meat to lab-grown meat that all aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those generated by livestock.

Livestock systems are responsible for 6.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere each year. That’s around 12% of all human-caused emissions, UN data shows. Beef production is the most carbon intensive.

But many meat alternative products have struggled to break through to the mainstream market and appeal to consumers; after an extremely successful market debut in 2019, Beyond Meat lost favor with investors and saw its revenue plummet.

But the group of Korean researchers say their product may have an advantage; it uses safe, accessible and affordable ingredients, making the final product sustainable to produce and easy on the wallet, according to the study.

Lean beef currently costs about $14.88 per kilogram, and rice costs $2.20 per kilogram, whereas the beef rice, if commercialized, could cost just $2.23. And for every 100 grams of protein produced, the hybrid rice is estimated to release less than 6.27 kilograms (about 13.8 pounds) of carbon dioxide. The same amount of beef produces 49.89 kilograms (about 110 pounds) of carbon dioxide, the study said.

In theory, cows could one day be removed from the equation entirely. The researchers used cells taken from livestock for the study — but if they or other scientists can develop a cell line, meaning cells that can continue dividing and growing over long periods of time, “we can get our cells without livestock breeding,” said Park. “After that, we can create a sustainable food system.”

Neil Ward, an agri-food and climate specialist and professor at the University of East Anglia, who was not involved in the study, said the data looked “very positive,” with potential for helping develop “healthier and more climate-friendly diets in future.”

However, he said, “a critical test is around public appetite for these sorts of lab-developed foods.”

The beef rice won’t land in restaurants quite yet — the team plans to further develop the process so the cells can grow better in the rice grain and produce more nutritional value. They also hope this can improve the texture and taste of the rice, Park said. And as for its bright pink color? That comes from the cell culture medium that the rice is kept in, not from the meat cells, and it can be colored differently if another medium is used.

But Park has high hopes. One day, it might even be rolled out across supermarkets in ready-to-eat kits or meal packages, she said.

“Now I see a world of possibilities for this grain-based hybrid food. It could one day serve as food relief for famine, military ration, or even space food,” she said in the news release.

The demolition of two mosques in India within days of each other has highlighted the deep religious divide in the country, months before voters head to the polls for a nationwide election that is expected to hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi a rare third term in power.

The twin demolitions in Uttarakhand state and Delhi came just weeks after Modi inaugurated the controversial Ram Mandir, a temple built on the foundations of a centuries-old mosque that was torn down by hardline Hindu crowds in the early 1990s.

That ceremony marked a seismic shift away from modern India’s secular founding principles and was hailed by Hindu nationalists as a crowning moment in their decades-long campaign to reshape the nation.

Deadly violence erupted in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani city last week, after government officials, accompanied by police, razed a mosque and madrassa (an Islamic school), citing “illegal encroachment.”

Pushkar Dhami, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, said his government will take strict action against “rioters and miscreants.”

“Every rioter who indulged in arson and stone pelting is being identified, no miscreant who disturbs harmony and peace will be spared,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The clashes come one week after another madrassa, a centuries-old mosque, a Sufi shrine and dozens of Muslim graves were demolished by government authorities in Delhi, also for alleged “illegal encroachment,” prompting anger and outrage in the Indian capital.

Analysts say these incidents underscore an uncomfortable reality in the world’s largest democracy and fear that inter-religious tensions will increase as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continue to push their populist, yet divisive, policies in the lead up to a nationwide election in just a few months’ time.

The image of India that Modi wants to project is one of a confident, vibrant, and modern superpower. But many of the country’s 230 million Muslims say they are being sidelined and marginalized in the world’s largest democracy.

“This is the worst possible time to be a Muslim in India,” said author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, adding that it has “become normal to demolish mosques in India.”

“The stigmatization of Muslims is an old story, seen as the new normal. No longer does it shock people.”

A sectarian shift

The mosque demolitions come against a backdrop of increased religious polarization and accusations that the BJP is building a Hindu-first state in what is constitutionally meant to be a secular country.

They follow the opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya, a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by hardline Hindus some 30 years ago, setting off a wave of deadly sectarian violence not seen in India since its bloody 1947 partition.

Modi presided over a lavish consecration ceremony, where he played the role of a priest and hailed the beginning of a “new divine India.” But his vision is a far cry from the ideas of the modern country’s founding fathers, analysts say.

And during his decade in power, Modi’s BJP has isolated millions among India’s sizable minorities, analysts say.

Modi rose to power in 2014 with a pledge to reform India’s economy and usher in a new era of development – but he and his party also heavily pushed a Hindutva agenda, an ideology that believes India is inherently a land meant for Hindus.

About 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people are Hindu, but the country is home to a diverse group of religions and faiths, including Sikhs, Buddhists and one of the world’s largest Muslim populations of some 230 million.

When he stood for reelection in 2019, Modi’s Hindutva policies became more brazen, according to analysts.

A few months after winning, he announced he was stripping the statehood of India’s only Muslim-majority territory, Jammu and Kashmir, and turning it into two union territories while bringing it under federal control.

And earlier this month, the BJP-ruled state of Uttarakhand became the first in independent India to pass the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a set of contentious common laws that have been criticized by some minority groups for trying to replace their personal religious laws.

In India, a country of diverse faiths, religious groups follow their own laws for matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. But these have long been considered by some to be regressive, including by many more secular figures.

The BJP’s attempt to reform these religious laws is seen by some as a welcome move, but critics fear the government’s Hindu nationalist policies could unduly influence the legislation.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim opposition lawmaker, criticized the law, saying it forces Muslims to follow a different religion.

“I have a right to practice my religion and culture, this Bill forces me to follow a different religion and culture,” he wrote on X. “In our religion, inheritance and marriage are part of religious practice.”

Earlier this month, a report from Amnesty International said between April and June 2022, a total of 128 properties largely belonging to Muslims across five states were bulldozed by government authorities.

“The demolitions adversely impacted at least 617 people, including men, women, and children, either rendering them homeless or deprived of their sole livelihood,” the report said.

Author Mukhopadhyay added: “It is a 360 degree Islamophobic campaign that is going on in every sphere of life.”

600-year-old mosque destroyed

A sense of despair among many Muslims lingers in Delhi’s Mehrauli district, where government authorities razed the 600-year-old Akhondji Mosque to the ground late last month.

Late last month, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) – the governing body operating under India’s ruling BJP – bulldozed the structure, alleging “illegal encroachment.”

But Mohammed Zakir Hussain, the mosque’s 40-year-old cleric, says the building was under the control of the city’s Waqf Board, a statutory body established to protect Islamic affairs, and should never have been destroyed.

He felt “helpless” as he pleaded with authorities to stop tearing the building to the ground, he said.

The DDA’s lawyer Sanjay Katyal told the Delhi High Court that the body had bought the land for planned development.The case is expected to be heard again later this month.

Delhi, a metropolis of more than 20 million people, has seen rapid urbanization over the past few decades, with a vast, modern metro system, and a burgeoning middle class that has come to symbolize India’s economic growth.

But between its meandering roads stand centuries-old monuments and medieval ruins that put the Indian capital on a par with the world’s great ancient cities, historians say.

Historian Rana Safvi said the architecture of the Akhondji Mosque was typical of the Sultanate era, which flourished in India between 1192 and 1526. Its arched roof and pillars of grey stone had stood for some 600 years before it was torn to the ground.

“It is like erasing a part of Indian history,” Safvi said. “It is a loss of a mosque, a safe place for one to congregate to pray, especially at a time when namaz in the open or in public areas is frowned upon.”

And along with the mosque, authorities also broke down the Islamic school that housed dozens of children, including orphans, and destroyed an old graveyard that stood beside it.

Mohammad Arif, 22, whose father, grandmother and grandfather’s graves are among those ruined, said he arrives at the site every day to try and restore what’s left of it.

“I come here every day to ask (the guards) to let me go inside and put mud to restore their graves at least. They do not allow it,” he said.

Mohammad Aman, 32, mourned the deepening divide between Hindus and Muslims.

“(The government) rationalizes everything by blaming Mughal emperors,” he said, referring to India’s ancient Islamic rulers. “But you’re doing the same thing now. What is the difference between you and him then?”

On February 4, the Grammy awards announced the first-ever winner of the new Best African Music Performance, with South Africa’s Tyla taking home the title for her hit “Water.”

Yet African artists have been honored at the Grammys since fellow South African Miriam Makeba won for Best Folk Record in 1966. And even being nominated can be a life-changing experience.

No one knows that better than Eddy Kenzo. Last year, the 34-year-old singer and music executive became Uganda’s first-ever Grammy-nominated musician, for his collaboration with US artist Matt B on the song “Gimme Love.”

Born Edrisah Kenzo Musuuza, he spent 13 years of his early life sleeping on the streets, finding solace in music and football. It was sport that eventually served as his way out, but it would be music that became his lifeline.

Today, Kenzo promotes upcoming Ugandan artists through his Big Talent Entertainment record label, and advocates for fair royalties and digital copyright as the interim president of the Uganda National Musicians Federation.

The following interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

Eddy Kenzo: No. I’ve always known that I’ll make it in music because I could feel the creativity in me. I’ve always had music. The only thing I didn’t have was the support, the studio. But I knew that one day if I ever went into a studio, I would produce good music. I used to compose music even without instruments and stuff. I used to sing on beats, so by the time I went to the studio, I would already have my songs composed on other people’s beats. I hear the beat; I start composing my own.

So, by the time I go into the studio, I start doing great music for me. I started in 2007, I made it in 2008. And I made it so big in 2010 (when) I made a song called “Stamina.” It was a very big song in the country. It trended for over two years. It was even the theme song during the campaign for the 2011 elections.

LM: How did that song change your life? 

EK: “Stamina” was my official breakthrough. It changed my story. That’s when I started receiving a little money. I was able to rent a better house and then I got more friends, more experience. I started jumping on flights for the first time.

LM: Why is dance such a key part of your act?

EK: I used to dance a lot on the street, and I love dancing. My music is for joy. What I bring out is based on my story. I suffered a lot when I was a kid. So, whenever I go to the studio, I think about being happy.

I want to make people happy because I know someone somewhere is sad about the different things they go through. When I come to the studio, I want to heal that person because I went through the same thing for a long time. That’s why I do happy music.

LM: It’s so powerful that you make music for joy when it comes from a place of pain and all the suffering that you experienced growing up.

EK: I just wanted to choose to be better, not bitter. I went through a lot, but it does not mean that someone else should go through the same. So, it is my job to heal somebody going through that and I’m grateful it’s working.

When you go to the comment section of my music, people say, ‘I was going through depression, this song is changing my life.’ I’ve been living in the US for 20 years. When I look at this video, I remember my childhood. It’s so great.

LM: Your biggest award was the Grammy nomination. How did that feel?

EK: I couldn’t believe it. I can’t even imagine how I felt. If I start telling you where I come from, what I’ve gone through as a child who did not have anyone to take care of me. At that young age, I was the boss of my own life. Today to be here, to be in the Grammys! I couldn’t stop crying when I was seated at the Grammys, seeing all these guys perform, Beyonce, all these greats of all time. I cried the whole show.

LM: Tell me about “Gimme Love” and that collaboration with Matt B, which led to the nomination.

EK: I met [American musician] Matt B through a man called Greg. Greg loved my music online when he saw kids dancing. And then he texted me. He wanted to remix one of my songs to put it on his kids’ album. I gave him permission. When I went to the US for some shows, he introduced me to the Grammys people. He invited me to one of those parties where I met Matt B, who told me how he drove from Chicago to Los Angeles with his kids in the car, to look for opportunities. I felt touched.

I played one of the beats I had on my phone. He picked one. We then composed and did the song. I’m so grateful that at least it changed our story. A Grammy nominee is a Grammy nominee. I thank God for that.

LM: What do you still hope to achieve?

EK: We want to achieve different things on different stages. I just want to keep representing my people and inspiring. I want to see a generation that is going to do way better than me after seeing what I’ve done, and they don’t make the mistakes I’ve made. That will make me so proud. I really want to promote an artist.