The Kremlin has been forced to respond to leaked European intelligence that Vladimir Putin has starting hiding in an underground property for weeks at a time out of fears for his safety.

A leaked report from an unnamed agency – shared by CNN this week – claimed the Russian president has spent significant periods hiding in upgraded bunkers hours away from Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The report suggested how Putin had stopped using his home in Moscow or his summer property in Valdai town after unsubstantiated claims Ukraine was trying to target the president at his personal residence.

The report also noted that Putin has not visited a military facility this year so far despite making regular trips throughout 2025.

Personal security has been increased and surveillance systems have been installed in his homes.

Bodyguards, cooks and photographers have to be screened twice before gaining access to the autocrat, too, according to the leaked intel.

The employees can only use phones without internet access and are not allowed to travel on public transport.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, also said it had seen “corroborating evidence of enhanced security measures for Putin and high-ranking Russian officials”.

But the Kremlin dismissed any suggestions that extra security has been installed around Putin out of fears of a coup or assassination attempt.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “What ‘European intelligence agency’ are you referring to? I am not aware that such an agency exists. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is.”

According to Russian state news agency TASS, he added: “I don’t read such material.”

But, the spokesperson did admit extra security has been installed for Putin in case of a Ukrainian attack on May 9 celebrations, the date when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Peskov added: “You know that on the eve of major holidays, and, of course, perhaps most importantly, Victory Day in our country, additional security measures are always taken by the relevant special services.”

Russia tried to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine for May 8-9, dates which coincide with the Victory Day parade.

However, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the suggestion, claiming it was a move to protect the celebration – not a step towards peace.

Zelenskyy had already suggested a ceasefire starting from May 6 which would last until after the parade.

But that proposal was ignored by Russia as Moscow continued to target areas across Ukraine.

“We have repeatedly offered the Russian leadership the option of moving toward peace. In response, we have received only new Russian strikes,” the Ukraiian president said in a post on X on Thursday.

“That is exactly why Ukraine’s long-range sanctions are extending to distant locations in Russia linked to its military-industrial complex, war infrastructure, and the financing of its aggression.

“Every day, Russia can make a choice and end its war.

“And not for a few hours in order to receive our permission to hold a parade in Moscow, but in a way that protects human lives.”

He added that Russia had failed to respond to his longstanding calls for a ceasefire, saying: “human life is incomparably more valuable than the ‘celebration’ of any anniversary”.

Moscow also sent a note to foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations warning that it would launch a “retaliatory” strike on Kyiv – including against “decision-making centre” – if Ukraine disturbed the Victory Day celebrations.

The message called for a “timely evacuation of personnel from diplomatic and other missions, as well as citizens from the city of Kyiv”.

Zelenskyy hit back: “If the one person in Moscow who cannot live without war is interested only in a parade and nothing else, that is another matter.

“Russia has fought to the point where even their main parade now depends on us.”

Moscow also declared last week that for security reasons May 8 would be a slimmed-down format, and weaponry like tanks and missiles will not be on display, unlike usual.

It comes after a high-rise building was hit by a drone on Monday. Russia also claimed its air defences had destroyed 32 drones heading to the capital on Thursday.

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Alan Cumming has made it clear we shouldn’t expect to see him back at the helm of the Baftas next year.

Exacerbating the furore even further was the fact that the incident made it into the BBC’s coverage of the event, uncensored, despite it airing on a two-hour delay.

“It was an international scandal,” the Scottish actor and presenter told The Times in an interview published on Thursday.

“Then poor John gave this interview saying, ‘I’m not a racist. I called Alan Cumming a paedophile too’. Oh great! He’s equal opportunities and my name and ‘paedophile’ were in the same sentences all over the world.”

Alan went on to criticise Baftas organisers for their part in the incident, lamenting: “It was bad, bad, bad, bad leadership. Bad people who weren’t doing their jobs properly, who really had not prepared and let people down.”

The Traitors US host claimed that because of the earpiece he had to wear on stage, he couldn’t “hear very specifically” what went on during the ceremony, casting doubt on whether the Sinners stars would have “heard the actual slur” in the moment, either.

Later on in the ceremony, he apologised on behalf of Bafta, without understanding exactly what it was he was addressing.

He claimed: “I watched myself back. I was very smiley, I didn’t do it with the gravitas and tone I would have used had I known. That pissed me off.”

Alan added: “You could say they didn’t know [what might happen], but they clearly did, because apparently John had said the n-word at a party the day before.”

Ending the interview, Alan ruled out the possibility of hosting the Baftas for a second year, claiming that before the event had even begun, he’d asked his agent to “remind me, I never want to do this again”, as the job itself had already proved to be so “tough”.

The week after the Baftas, Alan addressed the controversy for the first time, writing on Instagram: “What should have been an evening celebrating creativity as well as diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma-triggering shitshow.”

He continued: “I’m so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt at hearing that word echoed round the world.

“I’m so sorry the Tourette’s community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition.”

After Delroy Lindo publicly voiced his disappointment over how Bafta had handled the incident, the awards body issued a public apology, and accepted “full responsibility” for what transpired.

If you’re a fan of a British drama, you’re definitely going to want to check out Netflix’s latest true crime adaptation.

On Thursday morning, the streaming giant unveiled Legends, a star-studded drama telling the story of the undercover customs investigators who took part in an elaborate operation to take down a gang of illegal drug traffickers.

An official synopsis for the show teases: “In the early 1990s, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise was losing its battle with illegal drug smuggling across Britain’s borders. The solution was extraordinary. In a top-secret operation, a small team of Customs employees were sent undercover. Their task – to infiltrate Britain’s most dangerous drug gangs.

“But these were not trained spies. They were normal men and women, plucked from ordinary lives around the UK, put through a basic training regime and tasked with building new identities in the criminal underworld. These identities were called Legends.”

So far, critics have been heaping praise on the “gripping” series, praising performances by cast members Steve Coogan and Tom Burke, and indicating that it’s perfect for binge-viewing.

Here’s a selection of what the reviews have been saying…

“Together with directors Brady Hood and Julian Holmes as well as a uniformly strong cast, led by a gravel-voiced [Steve Coogan] and Tom Burke as Don’s star pupil, Forsyth makes Legends a gripping tale of found potential and assumed identity.”

“While everyone in this strong ensemble cast delivers, the standout performance comes from Burke […] This is glossy, big-budget drama filled with adrenaline — and a mighty fine early Nineties soundtrack — but it’s not without moments of comic relief, giving it a British feel that will undoubtedly please fans of Forsyth’s previous work on the BBC.”

“Forsyth’s skill for paring a narrative down to just the fun parts makes this irresistible. Steve Coogan is in his element […] Don’s lone-wolf eccentricities, boosted by Coogan’s gift for the little tics and gestures that say a character has formed their own unique view of the world, give Legends a running seam of humour.”

“Neil Forsyth has turned this little-known episode in British history into a sure-footed six-part thriller. You will never stop marvelling throughout at the fact that it really happened.”

“There are too many names and too many side players running at once, and somewhere between Liverpool and Green Lanes, you start wishing someone had taken a red pen to the cast sheet. None of that ruins it, though. If anything, the messiness is part of why the show feels so alive.”

“Perhaps because Legends tells a less well-known story, Forsyth’s dialogue works overtime to remind us of the stakes involved. Within the space of a few minutes, we’re told that the operatives are trying to ‘pull off the biggest result in customs history’ while the smugglers are plotting the ‘biggest heroin importation the country has ever seen’.

“Thankfully, there’s enough intrigue to keep you persevering through some protracted moments.”

“In its competence, Legends feels like it was born to be on BBC One but has somehow ended up on Netflix. How the series will play to international audiences remains to be seen, but it lacks the pizzazz of Peaky Blinders or the relentless rug pulls of Line of Duty.

“What’s left is Forsyth’s trademark brand of period drama: engaging but not gripping, authentic but not original, well-crafted but not striking. Legends, is, in short, what a lot of British telly is: an exercise in risk-free repetition.”

“The energy spent keeping things serious prevents the series catching fire. But it remains a brilliant story, here well told.”

All six episodes of Legends are now streaming on Netflix.

We’ve written before about how everything from a paintbrush to a pot full of water can help you look after your garden.

And now, it seems a cup of chamomile tea may help those with seedlings and young plants.

It can save them from “damping off”, a wilting process which involves fungal pathogens like Pythium and Rhizoctonia. These can sometimes take out an entire tray of young plants in a matter of hours.

Chamomile oil has been found to have properties that could help to ward off unwanted fungi. And another paper found that the plant’s tea is antifungal too.

Per Gardening Know How, those benefits may help to keep damping off at bay.

That’s because, they explain, the drink is high in tannins and compounds like apigenin and chamazulene.

These contribute to the beverage’s potential fungus-fighting power. And they mimic the same fungicidal process sulphur achieves in plants, but more gently, and in a way that’s delivered straight to the plant’s roots.

Additionally, the tannins could provide a slightly more stressful environment than usual for new spores without affecting your seedling’s growth.

A word of caution, though. The strongest evidence-based results have come from chamomile oil, and not its weaker, harder-to-titrate tea counterpart.

Gardening company Vego Garden shared in a TikTok video that you should take the following steps:

1. Brew some chamomile tea and let it cool,
2. Pour it into a spray bottle, and
3. Spray the mixture over your seedlings to help protect them.

If you like, you can add some cinnamon to the mix, which may be helpful because it contains cinnamaldehyde.

This is another natural antifungal agent, though it might not be as suitable for very young plants, as it’s a little stronger than chamomile.

Keir Starmer knows his premiership is in danger.

Pollsters have been charting his decline in popularity over the last 22 months, with divisive policies – such as scrapping the winter fuel payments – and a mounting pile of U-turns, setting voters against Labour.

And that’s before the scandal surrounding Starmer’s decision to make Peter Mandelson – friend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – the UK’s ambassador to the US dominated the national conversation.

Thursday marks the first major test of public opinion towards the government since its landslide victory in July 2024.

It’s also the biggest threat Starmer’s faced since winning the Labour leadership in 2020.

With almost 5,000 councils in England up for re-election, along with the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the political scene in the UK could be turned upside-down over just a few days.

The results are expected to be brutal for Labour.

The party is on course to lose control of the Senedd altogether after more than a century of dominance in Wales.

Some forecasts suggest Labour could lose 1,860 councillors in England too, while also failing to make any breakthrough in Scotland against the SNP.

All eyes are on Labour MPs to see if they will choose to oust the prime minister in response to the anticipated upheaval.

The party’s rules state any challenger within the Commons needs the support of 20% (81) of all Labour MPs to successfully topple the leader.

This would trigger a leadership contest and Starmer’s name would automatically on the ballot paper.

The party has struggled to unite over regicide in the past, and failed to oust Jeremy Corbyn, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Some MPs fear chopping and changing No.10′s occupant would not help improve the party’s popularity, especially when most of the public want assistance with the cost of living, not another leadership race.

However, allies of Starmer’s rivals have been briefing journalists for weeks about their plans.

Friends of health secretary Wes Streeting claim he has the support of enough MPs to pose a clear challenge to Starmer – despite speculation about how popular he really is within the party.

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner also appears to be on manoeuvres, and allegedly has the backing of various trade unions – though she is still haunted by the tax affair which saw her quit government last year.

Andy Burnham, currently the Greater Manchester mayor, is not an MP and so would need to be elected into parliament before he could pose a serious leadership challenge.

But reports suggest he has a plan up his sleeve to be parachuted into a safe seat, with some Labour MPs supposedly willing to step aside for him.

The prime minister is not willing to go quietly, though.

Senior government figures have told HuffPost UK that Downing Street is assembling a top team to save Starmer’s job in anticipation of a challenge in the days after the May elections.

Could the summer end up being a bloody Labour civil war?

Listen to this week’s Commons People as we unpick the trouble ahead for Starmer – and what party insiders are really thinking about Labour’s future.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Amidst what can sometimes feel like a barrage of exercise advice, the NHS says that the benefits of a simple walk often go “overlooked”.

The movement, after all, is linked to better heart, brain, and mental health.

And, some posit, “Nordic walking” may be even better for you than the “regular” kind.

It’s been associated with higher calorie expenditure and less joint pain than going for a normal stroll, while some research suggests it may even ease chronic fatigue.

Here, we spoke to Dr Giuseppe Aragona, GP and medical adviser for Prescription Doctor, about why “Nordic walking” seems to be so good for us – and how it stacks up against the oft-repeated 10,000 steps rule.

Nordic walking involves using two poles to propel yourself as you walk. It was first popularised in the ’90s by skiers, hoping to build their strength off-season.

Because it involves the use of your torso and arms, it engages more of your muscles (up to 90% vs regular walking’s 50-ish %, Harvard Health said).

“In many ways,” Dr Aragona told HuffPost UK, “it offers advantages over simply aiming for 10,000 steps a day”, provided you move enough to meet fitness recommendations.

After all, she explained, the figure “was never based on robust medical evidence; rather, it emerged as a marketing concept in the 1960s.

“What we now know is that meaningful health benefits can be achieved with far fewer steps, and that the quality and intensity of movement matter just as much as the number of steps taken.”

Nordic walking may be a more vigorous activity, the GP continued, because it gets more of your body moving.

“Studies suggest it can increase energy expenditure by around 20% compared with ordinary walking at the same speed, so people often achieve a moderate-intensity workout more quickly,” she stated.

“For most adults, around 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week is the recommended target, and Nordic walking is an excellent way to meet that… Nordic walking can make each step ‘count’ a little more towards cardiovascular fitness.”

Dr Aragona explained that the technique is an excellent choice for those suffering from joint pain, “including those with mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis”.

That’s because “The poles act almost like a support system, distributing some of the body weight through the arms and reducing the load going through the hips, knees, and ankles. This can make walking more comfortable and allow people to walk further or more confidently than they might otherwise manage.”

Additionally, Nordic walking encourages better posture and a longer stride – both of which the GP says can reduce stiffness.

And the added stability and balance the poles offer “can reduce the fear of falling and allow [people] to remain active, important for joint health in the long run”.

The sport, which is often associated with older people, can “be an excellent full-body workout for any age group,” as “It strengthens the core, improves coordination, and provides a cardiovascular boost without the higher impact of running,” Dr Aragona shared.

“Younger adults who find walking ‘too easy’ often enjoy the increased challenge and pace they can achieve with poles,” she ended.

“It can also be ideal for people recovering from injury, those who want a low-impact form of cross-training, or anyone looking for an outdoor activity that improves fitness and strength simultaneously.”

Watering should be so simple; pour water on thirsty plants, which gratefully sup up exactly what they need to flourish.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature is a bit more complicated than that.

There are wrong and right times to water your plants. You can over-water and under-water them. And plants lose some water through transpiration that can be hard to measure.

So, we thought we’d collect the best watering tips we’ve seen so far.

Dehydrated potted plants will feel lighter than usual as the moisture content has left the dirt. If it’s less heavy than it should be, water it.

Not only does this help to stop slugs from eating your leaves, but it is also when plants are most able to absorb water. It comes just before their most active and water-heavy part of the day, too.

It might seem like your flourishing flowers prove they’re getting enough H2O. But actually, you can’t tell if the soil beneath is properly hydrated without touching it.

Place your fingers into the soil until at least knuckle depth to see if it’s truly wet enough.

Plants in containers tend to need more water than those in the ground, because their soil isn’t as deep. When watering them, try adding 10% of the container’s volume (so 1L for a 10L pot), the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said.

Rainwater has a pH and mineral content that plants really, really love. Try to use a water butt throughout the year, keep the rainwater in your plants by mulching them, and/or place saucers under your containers.

When watering garden plants, place the nozzle of a watering can right at their base, below the foliage, so that the roots have a chance to access it.

Some potted plants, meanwhile, will benefit from having their entire base submerged in water from time to time instead of the odd sprinkling.

Plants all need a different watering schedule. But most of them share similar signs of dehydration, including dull leaves, decreased flower and fruit production, downward-facing or curling leaves, and lighter potted plant weight.

Wilting, which can also be a sign of underwatering, happens when you’ve overwatered them too; lift the plant up to see if water’s gathered at its base to see what you’re dealing with.

Other signs include yellowing leaves, mouldy patches, stem rot, and dark roots.

This can cause disease and even scald the leaves, especially “hairy” ones, in heatwaves.

I can’t remember the last summer we didn’t have a hosepipe ban (and it turns out hoses aren’t usually the most efficient watering method anyway). Embrace “grey water” from your bath, sink, and shower; soil is usually more than capable of filtering out detergents.

Having a rain butt, keeping grass clippings on your lawn after mowing, and mulching with everything from stones to coffee grounds can help too.