“Alongside managing the physical impact of MS, I carry the anxiety that others might see me as lazy, exaggerating, or unreliable.”

A Co Down woman living with multiple sclerosis (MS) has opened up about the judgement and assumptions she faces every day.

Jordanna Kalla from Holywood was speaking as new research reveals the scale of stigma experienced by people like her with MS across Northern Ireland.

Jordanna, 44, lives with relapsing remitting MS and has chosen to share her experience to mark the start of MS Awareness Week, April 20-26, to help challenge harmful misconceptions and encourage people to think again about the condition.

READ MORE: ‘I’ve survived two open heart surgeries and a stroke at just 24 years old’READ MORE: Co Down man’s new skincare brand inspired by own nine stone weight loss journey

Jordanna said: “People who know I have MS often assume that I’m ‘fine’ because I don’t necessarily look unwell. When I can’t attend gatherings or take part in things, it can be interpreted as me being difficult or simply not interested. Comments like ‘just have a rest and you’ll be okay’ can feel dismissive, as though the complexity of my symptoms isn’t fully understood.

“Alongside managing the physical impact of MS, I carry the anxiety that others might see me as lazy, exaggerating, or unreliable. That fear has meant I’ve missed opportunities for travel, celebrations and professional development, because I’m worried about how I’ll be perceived.

“When I travel and use special assistance, I often notice looks that seem to say, ‘She doesn’t look disabled.’ I’ve even offered to show a medical letter just to avoid being judged. On one occasion, I was questioned about my disability badge on a train. Experiences like that can make you anxious and constantly aware of how others perceive you. The fear of being judged has felt overwhelming and isolating at times.

“Many MS symptoms, like fatigue, pain and brain fog, are completely invisible. You can look fine on the outside but be struggling on the inside. Because others can’t see it, there can be an assumption that you’re exaggerating or being lazy, which is exhausting and can make you avoid situations altogether.”

Jordanna’s experience reflects the findings of a new survey of people living with MS, which reveals the ongoing and damaging impact of judgement and misunderstanding surrounding the condition.

The survey, conducted by leading MS charities as part of this year’s MS Awareness Week campaign, MS Think Again, gathered responses from more than 1,600 people living with MS across the UK.

In Northern Ireland, six in ten people (60%) who completed the survey said they have felt judged or treated differently because of their condition, while more than half (52%) reported feeling stigmatised by politicians for claiming the financial support they need.

The impact of judgement is also affecting work and employment. Almost half (48%) of NI respondents said they have felt underestimated at work because of their MS, while a third (33%) said others have assumed they can’t work at all. Fear of being judged or treated differently has prevented almost half (45%) from disclosing their MS diagnosis to others, and four in ten (40%) said it stopped them from applying for a job.

Judgement and misunderstanding also extend into everyday life. Over half (58%) of people with MS in Northern Ireland said they have been questioned or challenged when using accessible facilities, and the same proportion said they have avoided using those facilities for fear of being judged.

Although many people with MS rely on disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to help them stay in work, negative assumptions remain common during assessments.

Of the 77% of respondents in Northern Ireland who had applied for benefits: 59% felt their invisible symptoms weren’t understood or taken seriously during a benefits assessment; 59% felt the fluctuating nature of MS wasn’t understood or taken seriously during an assessment; 54% said they were made to feel like they were lying or exaggerating the impact of their MS during an assessment; 52% said assessors made incorrect assumptions about their condition.

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More than 5,300 people live with MS in Northern Ireland. Most are diagnosed in their 30s and 40s. Symptoms differ for everyone and are often invisible, with 97% of respondents in Northern Ireland experiencing at least one invisible symptom, such as fatigue, brain fog or pain.

Of those, almost two thirds (64%) said they have been made to feel like their invisible symptoms weren’t real. Nearly all respondents (92%) felt that a lack of knowledge about MS contributes to incorrect assumptions or judgement.

Stewart Finn, Country Director of MS Society Northern Ireland, said he findings are hard to read and a reminder that not all disabilities are visible.

“MS can be debilitating, exhausting and unpredictable, yet we continue to see remarkable resilience and strength within our community,” he added.

“This week, as people affected by MS come together in Parliament Buildings with policymakers, researchers and healthcare professionals to mark 70 years of MS Society Northern Ireland’s support, these experiences underline why challenging judgement and misunderstanding remains as vital as ever.

“We’re encouraging everyone to take time this week to listen, learn and understand MS before saying something that could hurt or offend. No one with MS should be challenged or questioned about their condition.”

To ensure you don’t miss out on all the latest from Belfast Live, be sure to make us your preferred source on Google.

Juliana Marins, 26, slipped and fell nearly 1,000 feet while climbing Mount Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia on a guided hike – and her body was found after a four-day search effort

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One backpacker tragically lost her life after a tour guide abandoned her when she fell into a volcano in Indonesia, with one haunting photo taken of her final moments.

Juliana Marins, 26, sent her mother a heartbreaking text message at the start of her South East Asian adventure.

Juliana, slipped and plummeted nearly 1,000 feet while climbing Mount Rinjani, in Lombok, on a guided hike on June 21, 2025 at around 6.30 am.

The publicist and pole dancer, originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, disappeared after falling into the crater – with her body eventually recovered following a four-day search operation.

Local police revealed Juliana had stopped to rest due to fatigue while the guide pressed on with the remainder of the group. Tragically, she was found dead upon his return.

It emerged Juliana told Estela Marins she was “fearless” and said she was determined to pursue her dreams.

In a message broadcast on Brazilian programme Fantastico, Juliana wrote: “Mami, I love you so much. I was heartbroken when we said goodbye.

“In fact, that’s the only thing that worries me: letting you, papi or my sister be disappointed. Other than that, I’m not afraid of much, much less trouble.”

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She said she had no fear of life’s hardships, crediting her upbringing by a strong woman.

“I was raised by a woman who can solve any problem and who is not afraid to take the plunge and go after her dreams,” Juliana texted, according to the BBC.

“I am like that too. I have different desires and dreams. I love you all very much! And I will always be grateful for all the support, care and affection. That is what makes me fearless.”

The initial autopsy was carried out at a hospital in Bali on June 26. The coroner concluded her death resulted from “trauma” – and that she would have died within 20 minutes.

She was found to have suffered serious fractures and haemorrhaging.

But, the exact timing of the fatal injury remains unclear, as between the moment she fell and the day before she was discovered dead, she was heard screaming and spotted on drone footage, still alive.

Agam Rinjani, a volunteer who led one of the rescue teams, told O Globo once they found her, the team stayed with Marins overnight on the edge of a 500-metre cliff.

Juliana’s family branded the rescue operation as “botched” and alleged that the tour guide abandoned her.

Her sister, Mariana Marins, said: “Juliana was in this group, but she got very tired and asked to stop for a while. They kept going, and the guide didn’t stay with her.”

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry described her death as a tragedy, stating the country’s embassy in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, had co-ordinated the rescue effort alongside local authorities. Officials did not confirm the exact time of her death.

In an Instagram post, Juliana’s family expressed their gratitude to the countless Brazilians who had prayed for their daughter’s safety.

Juliana had been living in Niteroi, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, and was travelling across Asia, having visited the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand before arriving in Indonesia.

In total, 50 people have been involved in the rescue operation, search and rescue head Mohammad Syaffi said in a statement. It was made difficult by poor visibility and rocky terrain.

The 3,726m volcano attracts thousands of visitors each year.

Several people have died trying to climb it in recent years – including a Malaysian tourist last month, Reuters news agency reported.

Cambourne Town Council has seen its precept rise by 68%, sparking anger among residents who have demanded accountability from the council

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CambridgeshireLive readers have expressed fury and cynicism over after some locals saw part of their council tax rise by 68%. They questioned who ought to shoulder the burden, how funds have been handled, and what reforms are needed going forward.

Many demanded greater accountability, while others contended that infrastructure requires consistent investment. Some said the high street and local amenities must take priority.

Residents told CambridgeshireLive that ‘mismanaged’ finances have resulted in part of their council tax bill rising by 68 per cent. The precept for Cambourne Town Council means locals have experienced bill increases exceeding those in other areas of Cambridgeshire.

Aaron Kersey described the rise as ‘ridiculous’. “Other people make mistakes and we have to pay for it,” he said. He added: “We have roots growing in our parking spaces that they need to sort out, but they aren’t doing anything about. We’ve noticed that our joint account has gone down, but all bills are going up. Our tax has gone up by about £240 a year.”

The town council does not receive funding from central government. A spokesperson said the authority “acknowledges and sincerely apologises” for the increase.

A 63-year-old man has now been arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with the precept rise. A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “On Wednesday (April 15), a 63-year-old man from St Ives was arrested on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position. He has been bailed until July 15.”

One reader, Vulcan559, says: “I find it extremely difficult to understand why no one appears to have been brought to book over this mismanagement of what is public money. There has been no announcement from the town Council regarding the culprit or culprits that caused this problem, nor the diligence of the whole council that allowed this calamity. Come on, stand up and come out with an announcement and the future designs on stopping any recurrence. And finally sort out the High Street, so we look like a town going forward.”

Calumen Nomen writes: “Really is time complete amateurs with no demonstrable expertise were forbidden from public office. This is our money gurgling down the plug-hole, not theirs.”

Skipper thinks: “On the other hand, if the lycra lot were made to pay for the proliferation of underused push bike tracks, the rest of us could have a welcome reduction in the horrendously expensive, poor value, council tax that we are ripped off.”

Liveincrete simply says: “Heads should roll.”

Over on our Facebook page, Steve N comments: “These funds must now be replenished and the projects they were intended for delivered.’ Just do what normal householders do; spend the money when you have it, not just expect residents to over-contribute to do it for you. Take some responsibility.”

Adam Bond writes: “Councils and local authorities, people are getting sick of you… you will be held accountable in due course, so don’t expect to keep your jobs!”

Are you surprised by how much the hike is? Comment HERE or below to join in the conversation.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors said a 44-year-old Los Angeles woman was arrested Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of helping Iran traffic weapons to Sudan, which is in its fourth year of a bloody civil war.

Shamim Mafi will face charges that she brokered the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition” between Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, First U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday on social media.

A phone number for Mafi could not be located and it wasn’t known Sunday if she has an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Essayli posted a photo of someone in an FBI jacket escorting a woman into the back of a sedan outside a terminal at LAX.

Mafi is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016, Essayli said.

A criminal complaint dated March 12 alleges that Mafi and an unnamed co-conspirator operated a company in Oman called Atlas International Business through which weapons and ammunition were trafficked. The company received over $7 million in payments in 2025.

Separately, Mafi and the co-conspirator brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, according to the court documents.

“In connection with the transaction, Mafi submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (‘IRGC’) to purchase the bomb fuses for Sudan,” the complaint said.

Mafi is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

The Sudanese civil war has created a humanitarian crisis in the North African country where food supplies are dwindling and millions of people have fled their homes.

And this is the nub of it: history.

Alex Higgins and baby daughter Lauren in 1982. Dennis Taylor wagging his finger in ’85. Ronnie O’Sullivan’s five-minute maximum. White the exasperated nearly man. The dominant Davis and Stephen Hendry decades.

Rob Maul covers snooker for the Sun and Shane McDermott has been a mainstay of the media room for the Mirror.

As Maul says: “You can’t ignore the history. It’s a pilgrimage I’ve done since 2018 and I feel honoured to do it, but there are people in that building who have done it for decades and decades and decades.

“That’s the unique thing about snooker: they’ve kept the Hendrys in the sport, and they’re still working. John Parrott’s commentating. And that legacy is something you don’t throw away lightly.

“When you walk around the city, you see Steve Davis, and Jimmy White will come by if he’s working. And so much has changed in other sports, but snooker’s fundamentally the same game that these legends were playing.”

McDermott says: “You see the same faces year on year, people who have been coming every year since 1977. Sadly some of them are coming less and less because of age.

“I can remember after matches perhaps nipping out of the press room for a minute and bumping into John Virgo as he left the commentary box. You’d have a little nod and say hello. That’s one thing everyone will miss this year.”

Faces in the crowd, faces in the commentary box, faces at the table. Here one year, gone the next.

In recent times, snooker has lost Virgo, Ray Reardon, Willie Thorne and Terry Griffiths, among others. Broadcaster and journalist Clive Everton and Bafta-nominated former BBC snooker executive producer Nick Hunter have left us too.

The booming voice and laughter of Thorne, the gentle humour of Griffiths, the wisdom of Everton, the dry wit of Virgo.

They were part of the fixtures and fittings.

And in their own particular ways, they each played a telling role in the Crucible becoming what it was never built to be: snooker’s home.

The woman had been fit, healthy and independent, before Benjamin Watson, 39, crashed into her as she was using the pedestrian crossing in Scarcroft Road where it meets Bishopthorpe Road, York Crown Court heard.

Her injuries were so bad, she spent months in Leeds General Hospital and then more months in York Hospital.

Today, three years later, she is able to move around the house where she has lived for 60 years unaided and can walk outside, with a stick or a walker. 

Her determination to overcome her injuries earned her Judge Simon Hickey’s praise, who called her an “obviously feisty 86-year-old woman”.

“When I was run over, it changed my life forever,” she said in a personal statement.

“I must have spent a year in hospital. The surgeons said I would not walk again.

“If someone says I cannot do it, I am determined to do it. 

“It took me quite a while but I can now walk independently in the house.”

She said her real recovery began after she left hospital. She had lost a lot of weight, but, with the help of different medical professionals including physiotherapists, set about learning how to walk again.

She had major modifications made to her house including chair lifts and now is able to walk outside the house, with a stick or walker.

She has even managed to return to the junction where her life changed forever, though she said it took her a long time to find the courage to do so.

Benjamin Watson, of Grosvenor Terrace, Clifton, pleaded guilty to causing her serious injury by careless driving and was given a seven-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. He was also banned from driving for 18 months.

York Crown Court heard that the woman had suffered 51 broken bones, including her shoulder blade, leg and ribs, partially collapsed lungs, a bleed on the brain and continues to have constant headaches, and other lasting effects.

Before the crash, she regularly did the shopping for three friends, riding on her bicycle and would walk her dogs.

Iain Packer is serving life for the murder of Emma Caldwell and the rape and sexual assault of 22 other women.

Emma Caldwell killer Iain Packer tried to force his way on to a bus where women involved in prostitution were taking refuge.

Anne McIlveen operated the safe haven from a converted double-decker providing hot food and clothing and got to know Emma well.

She recalled how Packer regularly came to the bus looking for girls, acting in a threatening and intimidating manner, and her husband would have to order him to leave.

Anne thinks Packer might have been looking for certain women, including Emma, and was angry because they were not out on the street.

Anne, who is now in her late 60’s, added:”He had a terrible darkness about him.

“He didn’t have one iota of respect.

“He’s seen it as it was his right to come and target whoever he wanted to target, but he wasn’t doing it in my bus.”

Anne says Packer was one of a number of men who came to the bus looking for the women but he stood out the most.

It was run by the Christian Salt and Light outreach charity based in a nearby church in the city’s Govanhill.

She added: “He never spoke to me. He would speak to other people around about the bus, where’s such and such.

“My husband, used to just go up and say to him, move. He did that with a lot of the folk that we knew that were abusing the lassies. The lassies were getting some doings up that town. It was It was awful.”

Emma. then 27, was one of seven women involved in prostitution who were murdered between 1991 and 2005 while working in Glasgow.

Packer is serving life for the murder of Emma and the rape and sexual assault of 22 other women.

Anne was speaking out in the latest episode of the Clyde1 podcast Beware Book, about the killings

The title refers to a diary at a drop­ in centre where women like Emma logged dangerous clients’ names.

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Anne also recalled the day she learned Emma’s body was found in Limefield Woods in Biggar, Lanarkshire in May 2005 after she had been reported missing the previous month.

At the time the double decker was kept in the church car park next to the hostel in Inglefield Street on the south-side of Glasgow where Emma had lived.

Anne added:”I was standing outside with the lassies. We didn’t know what had happened to her. And the reporter from the Daily Record, she came and told us that Emma’s body had been found. “So, we opened the church up and all the lassies bailed into the church because they were all in total shock. “We also had the police come out on the bus for 10 months and they took statements from all the girls.”

Anne received an MBE in 2016 for her work with Salt and Light.

She added:”We used the bus as a drop-in during the days, and the girls came over and had their tea.

“When you go all over it and you go back over it and you think we could maybe have done some things different, but I don’t think it would have prevented what happened to Emma.

“What was going to happen to Emma was going to happen to her regardless of what anybody else could do.

“Her mum and dad. My heart broke for them. They were out looking for her nightly. It was just awful. It was a horrible time and the lassies were really frightened.”

Anne also talks about the violence women like Emma regularly experienced while working Glasgow’s red light district, known as The Drag.

She added:”The girls were frightened. They knew that somebody was out there and they were frightened going to work. These lasses were living in a knife edge every night when they were going out there selling their bodies. There was girls being raped up lanes.

“A lot of lassies were treated like something in your shoe, but these were vulnerable women that didn’t get the help that they desperately needed.

“When Salt and Light was set up in the early 90s. there was a real need for the women in the streets. We had the double-decker bus kitted out. It had a soup kitchen on the lower deck, and on the upper deck was the girls. That was their safe haven. That was their space.”

Anne also recalls how she she was threatened by a man with a bar outside the double decker but he ran off when she got out of her car.

She added:”I never needed to worry about being on that bus. Because the people that actually came and got fed, they stood up for us.”

Packer, now 53, was overlooked as a prime suspect in the original 2005 investigation even though he admitted taking Emma and other women to Limefield Woods for sex.

Instead senior officers focussed their attention on four Turks who were charged with Emma’s murder in 2007 but had the charges dropped the following year.

A public inquiry into the original investigation by Strathclyde Police has begun and is due to hear evidence later this year.

* The latest episode of Beware Book is available on the Rayo app, Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Aboard an oil tanker plying the tense waters between the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi Captain Rahman Al-Jubouri continues to work in one of the world’s most volatile maritime corridors, where the U.S.-Israel war with Iran has disrupted global trade and left some crews stranded and exposed to attacks.

The hostilities are not new for al-Jubouri, a veteran who has worked at sea since 1984 and lived through decades of upheaval, including the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War. Once again, he finds himself operating in high-risk waters, as sporadic military strikes threaten vessels seeking to navigate through chokepoints like Bab el-Mandeb and the Persian Gulf.

“Work has become a real risk; we don’t know when we might be bombed. We’re sailing over a ball of fire,” he said.

Al-Jubouri has been on board his tanker, the Palau-flagged Sea Moon, for four months. Currently he and his crew are sailing from the Gulf of Aden toward the Gulf of Oman to unload oil at Ras Isa port in Yemen. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone.

The war has put commercial vessels in the crossfire of the regional war amid the ongoing standoff between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz. Several tankers have been targeted in attacks carried out by Iranian forces and allied groups. Intermittent disruptions and threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil flows, has also left vessels delayed, rerouted, or stranded in the Gulf.

On Sunday, American military forces forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to get around a naval blockade near the strait, the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.

The dangers of his work mean his crew undergoes regular safety drills to prepare for potential attacks. “We’ve trained them on how to respond if the ship comes under fire, God forbid,” he said.

Last year, while docked at a Yemeni port, his vessel came under bombardment. “I immediately cut the ropes, prepared the engines, and left the port at my own risk to protect the crew and the ship,” he said.

Shrapnel struck the tanker as it pulled away, causing minor damage, but the crew escaped unharmed. Despite the ongoing threat, the vessel later returned to port operations and resumed its planned route.

Not all of al-Jubouri’s crew can bear the dangers of the job, however. His team has thinned from 27 sailors to 17, he said. Fear drove them away.

The psychological toll is compounded by long stretches at sea. For four months, al-Jubouri has not seen his family. Like many sailors, he struggles with homesickness.

The national head of Ukraine’s police patrol division, Yevhen Zhukov, ⁠has resigned after a video showed officers running away during a shooting in Kyiv.

Six people were killed in the mass shooting while another eight, including a child, were injured, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

“The police officers acted unprofessionally and disgracefully. As police officers, they should have been helping and rescuing our citizens. But they failed to assess the situation properly and left civilians in danger,” Zhukov said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence ministry said it was working to procure 25,000 ground robotic systems to be deployed to the frontline in the first half of this year, its defence ministry said.

“Our goal — 100 per cent of frontline logistics should be performed by robotic systems,” defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.

Last week, president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine’s army robots were able to recapture land from surrendering Russian forces in a battlefield first.

Watch: Kyiv attack probed as officers accused of fleeing scene, says Zelenskyy

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 06:23

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Watch: Pope Leo calls for ‘weapons to fall silent’ in Ukraine and commends ceasefire in Lebanon

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 05:40

Ukraine to replace soldiers with 25,000 ground robots in bid to save lives

Ukrainian military is working to procure 25,000 ground robotic systems to send in the warzone against invading Russian forces in the first half of this year, its defence ministry said.

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Defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine will double the total procured robotic systems throughout 2025.

“Our goal — 100 per cent of frontline logistics should be performed by robotic systems,” he said, adding that the expansion follows a meeting with domestic manufacturers of unmanned ground systems, where the ministry outlined its goal of scaling robotic support across the battlefield.

This comes just days after president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that in a rare historic battlefield first, Ukraine’s ground robotic systems of drones and ammunitions were able to recapture land from the Russian forces and saved 22,000 lives in the process.

Ukrainian forces carried out more than 9,000 logistics and evacuation missions using ground robots in March alone, and approximately 21,500 missions during the first quarter of 2026, according to the government.

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Arpan Rai20 April 2026 05:24

One dead in ‘massive’ drone attack on Russia’s Tuapse port

One man has died and another ⁠injured in a “massive” Ukrainian drone ⁠attack ​on Russia’s ⁠Black Sea port ⁠of Tuapse, ​which ⁠has been ‌set ablaze, local governor Veniamin ‌Kondratiev said ‌this morning citing preliminary ⁠information.

He also said debris from drones damaged several buildings in the city, ‌including a ​kindergarten, ‌primary ⁠school, church ⁠and residential apartment block.

Tuapse is one of Russia’s major southern ports, ⁠serving as an oil product export hub and ​also ⁠handles dry bulk ‌cargo such as coal and fertiliser. It is also home to a major oil ‌refinery of the same name owned ‌by Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer.

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Ukraine has increasingly attacked the facility in the past week, with the last attack on Thursday, killing two.

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 05:12

Ukraine attacks Russian oil refineries after Trump removes sanctions on Moscow’s oil

Ukraine drone strikes targeted industrial areas in Novokuibyshevsk and Syzran in Russia’s Samara region, local governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on Saturday.

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He did not give further details, but the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement that it had hit major oil refineries in both cities.

It also said that its attacks had sparked fires at the Vystosk oil terminal in Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region and an oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region, with the blazes later confirmed by Russian officials.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities in the past, but the strategy has gained more attention since the Trump administration gave Russian oil a temporary waiver from sanctions to ease supply constraints.

The US treasury department extended its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments on Friday, despite complaints from Kyiv officials that Russia will use the additional revenue on new weapons to hit Ukraine harder.

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The so-called general license means US sanctions will not apply for 30 days on deliveries of Russian oil that has been loaded on tankers as of Friday. It extended a similar 30-day license issued in March for Russian oil that had been loaded by 11 March.

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 05:00

Hungary’s Magyar kicks off early EU talks to unblock funds for Ukraine

Hungary’s ​incoming prime minister Peter Magyar has announced talks with EU officials in Budapest, saying there is no time to waste in his efforts to unblock ⁠funds frozen by the bloc over disputes with his predecessor.

Magyar, whose landslide victory in the 12 April election spelled the end of nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule, said he would kickstart the discussions by setting out points where he and the ⁠EU already agreed.

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“I expect a constructive ​negotiation. ⁠It will not be easy because we have very little time,” he told a news conference.

He said the chief of ⁠staff of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen would arrive at ​around ⁠5pm local time as part ‌of a high-level delegation.

“The aim is… to map out before the new government is formed what we agree on and what are ‌the conditions that the next parliament can pass ‌as a law and comply with European conditions,” Magyar said.

The clearance of the funds will also pave for a critical loan for Ukraine, earlier blocked by Orban.

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Markets have rallied on ‌Magyar’s victory with hopes that the EU will unblock billions ​of euros of funds and help an economy at near-stagnation.

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 04:48

Ukraine patrol police chief resigns after officers flee from shooting spot

Yevhen Zhukov, ⁠the head of Ukraine’s Patrol Police – a division of the national police service whose duty is to patrol the streets – resigned yesterday after social media circulated a video showing patrol officers running away after hearing gunfire, leaving civilians without protection.

At least six people were killed and eight people, including a child, remain hospitalised in Kyiv after being wounded in a shooting, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

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“The police officers acted unprofessionally and disgracefully. As police officers, they should have been helping and rescuing our citizens. But they failed to assess the situation properly and left civilians in danger,” online media outlet RBC Ukraine quoted Zhukov as saying.

“As a combat officer, I have decided to submit my resignation from the position I ‌currently hold,” Zhukov added.

Earlier yesterday, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said the officers’ behaviour was “a disgrace to the ​entire system”. An investigation has been launched and decisions will be made regarding their superiors.

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 04:28

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Russia loses more than 1.3 million troops in Ukraine war since invasion, says Kyiv

Russia has lost at least 1,318,220 troops in Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said over the weekend.

These include 1,070 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Russia has also lost 11,882 tanks, 24,420 armoured combat vehicles, 90,397 vehicles and fuel tanks, 40,324 artillery systems, 1,748 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,349 air defence systems, 435 aircraft, 350 helicopters, 247,131 drones, 33 ships and boats, and two submarines, the Ukrainian military said in its daily update.

Arpan Rai20 April 2026 04:18

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Europe needs defence system against ballistic weapons, says Ukraine

Ukraine is holding discussions with several European nations about the creation of a new defence ​system against ballistic weapons, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“I believe, and my idea is ​that ⁠we should have a ‌European anti-ballistic missile defence system. We are in talks with several countries and are working in this ‌direction,” Zelensky told the national TV channel, ‌Marathon.

“We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defence system within a year,” he added.

Zelensky said the task ⁠is extremely difficult but realistic, and added that he had already discussed it with key European countries, though he did not name them.

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Defence against ballistic missiles is one of Ukraine’s biggest challenges in the war with Russia, since only certain types of missiles used by the American Patriot system ⁠are capable of intercepting Russian ​ballistic ⁠missiles.

Russia uses ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, destroying thermal power generation and electricity ⁠transmission systems.

Fire Point, maker of Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, told Reuters this month that it was ‌in talks with European companies to launch a ​new air defence system by next year, ‌creating a low-cost alternative ⁠to the increasingly hard-to-get Patriot system.

Patriot missiles ⁠are in short supply amid extensive deployment in the Gulf ‌against Iranian ​attacks. And Europe’s only anti-ballistic ‌system, the Italo-French SAMP/T, ​is produced in relatively small numbers.

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Arpan Rai20 April 2026 03:57

Pope Leo decries intensification of Ukraine war

Pope Leo on Sunday decried the intensification of the war in Ukraine, calling “for the weapons to fall silent and for the path of dialogue to be followed”.

The pope made the appeal after a Mass outside Angola’s capital Luanda that drew roughly 100,000 people.

The first US pope also praised the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, to end fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as a “reason for hope.”

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Joe Middleton20 April 2026 03:00

The county’s police say they want a key witness to come forward after an incident in Manham Hill in Eastfield on Wednesday, April 8 at about around 11pm.

A force spokesman said: “A woman in distress stopped a member of the public whilst crossing the road.

“We are appealing for this person or anyone else who witnessed this to come forward to see if you can assist in our enquiries.

“A 41-year-old man a has been arrested in connection with the investigation and released on bail.”

Please call North Yorkshire Police or call 101, alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference 12260062813.