KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian military personnel have shot down Iranian-designed Shahed drones in multiple Middle Eastern countries during the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing the operations as part of a broader effort to help partners counter the same weapons used by Russia in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy made his first public acknowledgment of the operations Wednesday in remarks to reporters that were embargoed until Friday. He said Ukrainian forces took part in active operations abroad using domestically produced interceptor drones proven in countering Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia in Ukraine.

“This was not about a training mission or exercises, but about support in building a modern air defense system that can actually work,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine took part in the defensive operations before the tentative ceasefire in the Middle East was reached among Iran, the United States and Israel this week.

Zelenskyy did not identify the countries involved but said Ukrainian personnel operated across several nations, helping strengthen their air defense systems. He previously said that 228 Ukrainian experts were deployed in the region.

In exchange, Ukraine is receiving weapons to protect its energy infrastructure, along with oil, diesel and, in some cases, financial arrangements, he said.

The Ukrainian leader said the agreements would bolster Ukraine’s energy stability and described the partnerships as something that would “be marketed” as Kyiv seeks to formalize and expand its defense export role.

“We are helping strengthen their security in exchange for contributions to our country’s resilience,” he said. “This is far more than simply receiving money.”

Ukraine will face more pressure

The disclosure comes amid concerns that conflict in the Middle East could divert Western military support from Ukraine, particularly air defense supplies.

But Zelenskyy said that partners were continuing to supply missiles for Patriot systems, adding that a new batch had arrived in recent days and that Ukraine was working with all partners to ensure its air defense remained in place.

He warned that the coming spring and summer would be difficult for Ukraine, with growing political and battlefield pressure as the United States turns to domestic politics and elections.

Zelenskyy said he had urged U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to visit Kyiv and proposed a trilateral format with Moscow. It remains unclear whether they will come or if talks will instead take place in a third country.

U.S.-led talks have made no progress on key issues, as Washington’s attention shifts to the Middle East conflict while Russian and Ukrainian forces remain locked in fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to mirror any ceasefire steps after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter truce.

“We proposed a ceasefire during the Easter holidays this year and will act accordingly”, Zelenskyy said Friday on X. “People need an Easter free from threats and real movement toward peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well”.

Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4 p.m. Saturday until the end of Sunday.

Previous ceasefire attempts have had little impact, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Putin’s move as a “humanitarian” gesture, but said Moscow remains focused on a comprehensive settlement based on its longstanding demands — a key sticking point that has prevented the two sides from reaching an agreement.

Peskov also confirmed that Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is in the United States for meetings focused on economic issues. He noted that Dmitriev is conducting the meetings within the framework of a group on economic issues that he has led, adding that he is not involved in the talks on the war in Ukraine and his trip “doesn’t mean the resumption of the talks.”

Dmitriev’s visit to the U.S. comes just before the termination of the 30-day sanctions waiver for Russian oil.

The incident occurred on the Ravenhill Road in the city on Thursday evening, April 9

A man has been taken to hospital after being punched and then attacked on the ground during an assault in Belfast.

Police are appealing for information following the attack which took place at around 11.40pm in the Ravenhill Road area on Thursday evening, April 9, when a man was reportedly punched in the face and then assaulted as he lay on the ground by another male. The victim suffered facial injuries and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Police are asking anyone who may have information regarding the attack or dashcam footage of the area at the time to contact them.

READ MORE: Police thank public for reporting man armed with a machete on Shankill RoadREAD MORE: Man who skipped bail extradited from Germany to face NI court

Detective Sergeant Stevenson said: “It was reported at around 11.40pm that a man was punched in the face and assaulted as he lay on the ground by another male.

“The victim sustained facial injuries as a result of the incident, and was taken to hospital for treatment.

“Our enquiries are ongoing, and we are asking anyone who witnessed what happened, or who might have any information which might assist, to get in touch. We would be particularly keen to hear from anyone who might have any dash cam footage which might assist.

“The number to call is 101, quoting reference number 1789 of 09/04/26.

“You can also submit a report or information online using the non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Since the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. was announced, leaders in President Donald Trump’s administration have been quick to say Iranian military and arms capacity have been all but wiped out during weeks of fighting.

But there is also an acknowledgment that Tehran retains some capabilities, whether to strike back or defend itself.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this week said the U.S. military has hit more than 13,000 targets. He listed high percentages for attacks or destruction to Iran’s air defenses, navy and weapons factories.

However, the totals stop short of Iran’s military capabilities being “decimated” as the Republican president has asserted.

Independent data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a U.S.-based group that tracks conflicts around the world, shows Iranian strikes persisted at a relatively steady and uninterrupted pace since the war began Feb. 28 through Wednesday.

Here’s a look at what the U.S. says has been targeted, has been degraded or remains from Iran, by the numbers:

About 80% of Iran’s air defense systems ‘destroyed’

Caine told reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon that the U.S. has struck more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities and 800 one-way attack drone storage facilities. He said, “All of these systems are gone.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth similarly claimed that “Iran no longer has an air defense” and that “we own their skies” before conceding soon afterward that Iran “can still shoot — we know that.”

Hegseth later elaborated, saying that while the Iranians may “have a system here or there,” they no longer had an air defense “system that’s capable of defending their skies.”

Neither Caine nor Hegseth said what the remaining 20% of Iran’s air defenses looked like or which parts of the country have the ability to carry out the sporadic fire they described.

Caine offered no new details about what kind of weapon the Iranians used to shoot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle last week. It was the first time an American military jet was shot down during the war, showing Tehran’s continued ability to hit back despite assertions from the Trump administration.

Trump described it on Monday as a “handheld shoulder missile, heat-seeking missile.”

More than 90% of Iran’s regular Navy fleet ‘sunk’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that the Iranian navy was “completely annihilated.”

While 150 Iranian ships “are at the bottom of the ocean,” Caine said, only half the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s small attack boats — ships the government used to swarm and harass warships and merchants in the Strait of Hormuz — have been sunk.

Caine also said that after more than 700 strikes, the military believed it has destroyed more than 95% of Iran’s naval mines.

The message is likely designed to be a pressure tactic as Iran, Israel and the United States head into negotiations this weekend in Pakistan. Independent analysts say they have seen no change in merchant traffic through the strait since the tenuous ceasefire began this week.

About 90% of Iran’s weapons factories ‘attacked’

Caine said Wednesday that the military “destroyed Iran’s defense industrial base” while pointing to the fact that the U.S. and allies attacked “approximately 90% of their weapons factories.”

He also said, “nearly 80% of Iran’s nuclear industrial base was hit, further degrading their attempts to attain a nuclear weapon.”

While he noted that Iran was no longer able to produce certain components like solid rocket motors, he stopped short of saying that Iran could not eventually rebuild or get weapons in other ways or that the factories attacked had actually been destroyed or rendered unusable.

Trump acknowledged this possibility when he warned countries against arming Iran.

“A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday.

More than 90% interception rate in Israel

Meanwhile, Israel’s military pointed to how many drones or missiles it has been able to stop from landing. It said it had an interception rate of more than 90% through its aerial defense systems.

Over the decades, Israel has developed a sophisticated system capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if a projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure.

Israeli leaders say the system isn’t 100% guaranteed but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties.

___

Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

The co-owner said they want guests to feels as though they have been “transported to an island”

A venue offering crazy golf with a karaoke and cocktail bar that feels as though you have been “transported to an island” is set to open in a Cambridgeshire town where there is “nothing quite like it”. Starting renovation in December last year, Volcano Valley is due to open on Saturday, April 11, in Wisbech.

The venue will open in the former Frankie & Benny’s unit on Cromwell Leisure Park in Wisbech. Developed by Chris Atkins and Chris Gooderson, the new venue will feature indoor crazy golf, a cocktail bar, karaoke rooms, and SMARTS darts. The venue aims to provide a family-friendly daytime activity and an evening venue for adults.

When it came to choosing a location, co-owner Chris Atkins said: “I just looked at it [the site] and thought this would be absolutely perfect”. He added that this business idea was ideal in Wisbech because “there is nothing quite like it in the area”.

He said: “What we find ourselves is whenever we want to go and do something, we end up having to either drive to Cambridge or Norwich or Peterborough to do it, and I thought, how many other people think the same thing.”

Combined with sand flooring, blue ceilings, a tiki bar with a thatched roof, and the golf course, Chris Atkins said that the “second you walk in we want to make you feel transported off to an island”.

The golf course takes you through three zones starting at the beach, going to the jungle, and finishing off at the volcano area. The course is priced at £8.95 for adults and £5.95 for children. The darts will be £25 for each lane per hour and a private karaoke room for guests to sing their hearts away in will be £25 for the hour.

Volcano Valley will be open from 10am to 6pm on Mondays to Thursdays, 10am to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10am to 5pm on Sundays.

Locals are divided over England’s first ever cycle street being built in Cambridge. Some say that it offers a ‘sustainable option’, while others believe “there are better things to invest money in”.

The project is hoping to create safer travel for cyclists around the city and is part of the Greater Cambridge Partnerships (GCP) Comberton Greenway.

Work on turning Adams Road into a cycle street started on Monday, October 13, and is expected to take around 30 weeks to complete. The road has been blocked off to cars with signs providing drivers with diversions around the area.

Adams Road is one of the busiest cycle routes in Cambridge and is used by around 3,000 cyclists at peak times. The project aims to improve the safety of cyclists by reducing on-road parking to remove blind spots, redesign junctions, and offer wider footpaths.

Jenna McKone, 33, has lived in Cambridge for five years. She said: “I am always for better cycling infrastructures and I think if we can pair better infrastructure with fixing the main roads for cars that would be ideal.”

Jenna explained that she “loves that Cambridge is a friendly city for cycling” especially because she cycles to most places. On the other hand, she also regularly drives for work, and in general, she likes that money is being spent on cycling infrastructure but “would like to see it equal on other roads”.

Mary Stillman, 21, said that the cycle street “sounds like a pretty good idea” and will contribute to “help traffic flow better”. However, Mary raised concerns about whether it could cause safety hazards for pedestrians and put them at risk.

She added: “I imagine there are better things to invest money in. It will also take a while so there’s a lot of blocks which is quite inconvenient.” The 21-year-old explained that she used to cycle a lot and that the new cycle street would encourage her to start again.

A 25-year-old, Emma Noble, who has lived in Cambridge for over a year, works for a climate organisation. Due to this, she thinks the new cycle route is “really exciting” and said she is looking forward to seeing “more sustainable options”.

Emma is hoping to start cycling again and now there’s a “safer option” for cyclists, it has encouraged her to do so. The 25-year-old believes that it is a “good use of money” and it is “good for the climate and people”. Promoting and creating a cycle street will encourage more people to use a bike rather than a car, she believes.

A lady, gave her name as Kris, commented that she thinks it is a good idea because she believed it is a very bike-orientated city.

Yuening Du is 23 and lives in Cambridge. Yuening believed that it is “causing inconvenience due to the road construction” and it is taking “more time to get to the destination”.

The 23-year-old dislikes that there has been “a lot of noise” made by the construction team. However, she cycles in Cambridge so believes it “is an improvement to have somewhere specific you can cycle”.

Undertone is the terrifying feature film debut from Canadian director Ian Tuason, which promises to be the “scariest movie you will ever hear”.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcast host caring for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet) at home. Told only from Evy’s perspective, the film moves from initially creepy to utterly horrifying over a tense, tight 93-minute running time.

Evy’s Undertone podcast explores supernatural phenomena. Her co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) is in another time zone, so they record online in the middle of the night, Evy’s time. This veers close to the “witching hour”, but as Evy is the podcast’s resident sceptic – the voice of reason opposing Justin’s belief in the paranormal – she is unbothered. Until she’s not.

For this week’s instalment, Evy and Justin react to a series of mysterious recordings involving a couple: Jessa (Keana Lyn Bastidas), who has begun talking in her sleep, and her husband Mike (Jeff Yung), who records her. These clips lend the story a naturally escalating structure, as the material grows increasingly distressing and the sense of dread intensifies.

As elements from the recordings seep into Evy’s world and her sense of reality begins to shift, Kiri proves superb in the role. Alone onscreen aside from her unconscious mother, she balances a raw fragility with intense emotional control. Kiri carries the film almost entirely, with supporting characters reduced to voices in her headphones or on her phone.

Undertone’s domestic setting has an uncanny familiarity to it, with soft furnishings, lamps and religious artwork bathed in cold, often unpredictably flickering light. Compounding the disquiet is the fact that Tuason used his childhood home in Toronto as his filming location, inspired by caring for his own ailing parents.

The result is an uneasy intimacy which blurs the line between personal memory and horror. This, combined with Evy’s mother’s impending death and the harrowing implications of the audio clips, makes the film a disturbing yet consistently absorbing experience.

At times, though, Tuason leans too heavily on religious iconography to generate unease, diluting some of the originality. The film also flirts with shock value using inherently distressing subject matter, rather than fully earning its impact.

Sound as terror

Sound design is Undertone’s real strength. As podcast host Justin says: “Don’t be afraid of the dark, be afraid of the silence.”

The film captures the sound of podcasting with close, warm, immaculately clear voices and achieves an intimate, studio-polished quality. Building the sense of unease, there are authentic-sounding sleep-talking recordings, nursery rhymes played backwards, exaggerated household noises such as taps and whistling kettles, and prolonged silences.

Other horror films such as Berberian Sound Studio, The Black Phone and Keeper have harnessed the unsettling potential of sound in recent years, exploring the eerie power of disembodied voices.

This is a lineage Undertone joins while carving out a more intimate horror. Tuason’s film also makes narrative use of the podcast hosts’ editing skills to great effect, as they speed up, slow down, reverse and replay the recordings over and over, trying to glean some sense from them. In doing so, sound becomes Undertone’s primary source of terror, placing its audience in the same position as Evy.

Undertone is a confident debut from Tuason, who understands exactly where the film’s power lies. By grounding its horror in voice and sound, the film becomes an experience that feels immediate and inescapable.

In placing us so firmly within Evy’s singular perspective, Undertone crosses the boundary between listener and participant, resulting in a work which fulfils its promise of terror. It is not for the faint of heart.

A new book has been published to mark 100 years since the birth of east Belfast man Danny Blanchflower

He was born in Belfast, in a place where the streets were narrow and the arguments were not. It was a city that demanded something of you early — a willingness to stand your ground. Danny Blanchflower learned those lessons long before he became a footballer. Identity came first. Football followed.

There is a new book out now — Danny Blanchflower: A Glorious Life by Mike Donovan — published to mark 100 years since his birth. It arrives not as a nostalgic exercise but as a timely reminder. Because Blanchflower does not sit easily in the modern game. He belongs to a different tradition — one where football was never just about the transaction.

He once explained his relationship with the sport in a way that felt disarmingly simple.

Danny Blanchflower never fell out of love with football. “Because I never had illusions to start with.”

There is honesty and a kind of defiance in that. He saw the game clearly — its beauty, its flaws, its limits — and chose to believe in it anyway. Not blindly but deliberately.

For all that clarity, he still spent a career striving for something close to perfection. Not perfection in the modern, statistical sense, but in the way a team should play, the way players should think, the way a dressing room should function.

Donovan’s book sets out to ensure that legacy endures.

“I want to make sure these players are not forgotten,” the author says. “Particularly Danny Blanchflower, because he was the guy who orchestrated everything. The ’61 side was the greatest in Spurs’ history. And he was the leader of that team.”

Leader, though, feels insufficient.

Blanchflower was the axis around which everything turned. He dictated tempo, shaped matches and set standards that went beyond the pitch. He had presence. When he spoke, people listened.

“Football was never about money,” he said.

There is a story, often told, that captures that ethos. At the height of his career, Blanchflower was offered a pay rise. He refused it. Asked for it to be distributed among his team-mates instead. It was a gesture that summed up the collective purpose he believed in.

In 1961, they achieved something that had been considered beyond reach. The League and FA Cup double — the first of the 20th century. It has been repeated since, often enough that it risks feeling routine. But at the time, it was anything but.

Blanchflower believed it could be done before anyone else did.

“He was the first to say it was possible,” Donovan says. “He was adamant.”

What followed was not just success, but a style of success that has endured in memory. Spurs did not simply win. They entertained. They dominated with a kind of elegance that made the game look expansive and generous.

“They crucified teams,” Donovan says, “but did it with style and grace.”

For a brief period, they may have been the finest side in the world. Real Madrid were ageing. Spurs were at their peak. Their European campaign came a year too late to confirm it, but the sense remains.

It was the greatest team in Tottenham’s history.

And at its centre was Blanchflower – one of only four Irishmen to captain an English club to their top division title – Roy Keane, Johnny Carey and Noel Cantwell being the others.

Donovan says: “We’ve had great players — Gascoigne, Klinsmann, Greaves, Bale, Kane,” Donovan says. “But that was our best team. And Blanchflower was the leader. I would say he is the most important player in Spurs’ history.”

He influenced the game in other ways too. He is credited with pioneering the defensive wall at free-kicks, a detail that now feels so embedded it is almost invisible. He thought about the game differently. He looked for solutions others had not yet considered.

And when leadership required words, he found those as well.

Before the 1963 Cup Winners’ Cup final, he felt manager Bill Nicholson had given too much respect to Atletico Madrid. Too much caution. Blanchflower addressed the players himself. He reminded them of their own quality, their own identity.

It was a moment that mattered. Spurs won. The players credited his intervention.

“He could command a room,” Donovan says.

That authority extended beyond club football.

In 1958, Northern Ireland embarked on a World Cup journey that defied expectation. Drawn against stronger, more established nations, they progressed through qualification and then beyond the group stage itself.

Blanchflower, alongside Peter Doherty, helped shape that achievement. It was more than a football story. Catholic and Protestant, different backgrounds and experiences, united by a shared purpose.

They saw off Italy, West Germany, Argentina and Czechoslovakia to reach the quarter-finals. Fatigue ended the run, but not the significance of it.

Blanchflower later returned as manager, motivated by a sense of obligation.

“I owed the game a debt,” he said. “I owed Northern Ireland a debt.”

There was always humour too, often dry, occasionally cutting. When a player asked about a win bonus, he replied: “We have no money and we don’t win matches. Therefore there is no bonus and no problem.”

He died in 1992, his final years affected by Parkinson’s and dementia. There is a sadness in that, an unavoidable one. A man whose life was built on clarity and memory gradually losing both.

But what remains is substantial.

Players are often remembered for moments — goals, trophies, flashes of brilliance. Blanchflower is remembered for what he valued.

That is why Donovan’s book feels important now.

If we don’t write about these heroes, if we don’t remember them, then what have we got?

History matters. Men like Blanchflower created legacies. May that always be remembered. And may he never be forgotten.

• DANNY BLANCHFLOWER, A GLORIOUS LIFE The Authorised 100th Anniversary Biography of a Global Football Icon By Mike Donovan Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd

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Lava flowed from the summit of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on Thursday 9 April, with fountains reaching heights of 625ft (190M), according to the United States Geological Survey.

The geological agency said the eruption began at 11:10am local time (21:10 BST).

Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has been erupting on and off since December 2024, this latest eruption marks the 44th episode since then.