Over the last decade or so, Donald Trump hasn’t exactly been subtle about his support for Vladimir Putin, but in recent weeks, the American president has gone to almost cartoonish lengths to reward his Russian counterpart.

The list includes instances in which the Republican has offered sanctions relief for Russian diesel fuel, echoed Kremlin talking points, pumped billions of dollars into the Russian economy, peddled false accusations against Ukraine, ignored existing U.S. laws that ban Russian oil imports, looked the other way on Russia aiding Iran during the ongoing U.S. war, and delivered diplomatic victories for Moscow — all in exchange for nothing except more deadly attacks.

On Wednesday morning, however, Trump finally claimed to have secured a concession of sorts from the Russian leader: In a statement published to his social media platform, the American president said Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher who had been imprisoned by the Putin government, has been released from detention and was headed home.

After some pointless and gratuitous whining about the Biden administration, Trump wrote that Putin agreed to free Hubbard “out of respect” for the American president, adding that the United States “was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia.”

Just 12 minutes later, the Republican published a follow-up item, which read, “Numerous people, who requested that sanctions be immediately imposed on Russia, have called to apologize to President Trump in that they didn’t know that he was negotiating the release of Stephen Hubbard, a truly big and important deal for the U.S. If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt.”

Putting aside the fact that those calls of apology almost certainly didn’t happen in reality, the second message clearly contradicted the first: After saying his administration didn’t have to give Russia anything to secure Hubbard’s release, Trump effectively conceded that he had to waive sanctions on Russia in order to secure Hubbard’s release.

Hours later, at an unrelated White House event, he did it again.

TRUMP: We gave nothing in exchange for Stephen. We never give anything in exchange for hostages.TRUMP LITERALLY MOMENTS LATER: If I implemented sanctions on Russia, Steven wouldn't be coming out right now.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-10-21T19:33:20.698Z

“We gave nothing in exchange, which is very rare,” the American president boasted. “We never give anything in exchange.” Moments later, he added that if he’d implemented sanctions on Russia, as required by the U.S. law Trump recently signed, Hubbard “wouldn’t be coming out right now, he’d be in there for another 20 years.”

Trump seemed entirely oblivious to the obvious tension between claiming that he made no concessions, except for the concessions he made.

During a Wednesday afternoon Q&A with reporters, CNN’s Kaitlin Collins pressed him on this point, subtly trying to explain to Trump that, based on his own explanation, he obviously did give Putin something in return for Hubbard’s release.

Apparently frustrated by the cognitive dissonance, Trump decided to resolve the dispute by telling Collins, “You’re a low-IQ person. You’re a dummy.”

Hours later, Russia launched a new round of attacks on Ukraine’s capital, killing one person and wounding 22, as part of an assault that targeted civilians. A day earlier, Russia also unleashed another missile and drone blitz of civilian areas in Ukraine, killing at least four people.

As recently as Monday, Trump told reporters, “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine, they haven’t been doing much.” The White House has not yet explained why the Republican routinely sounds like he’s reading from a script written by the Kremlin.

The post Trump struggles to keep his story straight on prisoner release from Russia appeared first on MS NOW.

MPs on Thursday called for tighter controls on property purchases by foreign nationals, warning that legislation restricting individual buyers could prove ineffective unless companies and other corporate structures were also covered.

The House interior committee continued examining proposed amendments to legislation governing the acquisition of property by foreigners, with discussions expected to resume in a fortnight.

The committee is awaiting the government’s next steps towards drafting a comprehensive legislative proposal regulating property acquisitions by foreign nationals.

Committee chairman and Akel MP Aristos Damianou said efforts to introduce the legislation were gathering pace, expressing hope that the process could be concluded by the end of the year.

He said consolidated drafts had been prepared in April, but the process was interrupted by the parliamentary elections in May.

Damianou described the issue as “particularly serious”, saying it concerned national security, the economy and the country’s future.

“We are a partially occupied state, part of whose territory is occupied by Turkey, whilst part of its territory is under the control of British bases,” he said, stressing the need to establish clear criteria and restrictions on property acquisitions.

He also raised concerns about property transactions conducted through contracts that, he said, were often not made public, allowing foreign interests to acquire property through companies and other intermediary arrangements.

Damianou warned that legislation focusing exclusively on individuals would be insufficient.

“If issues concerning natural persons, companies, funds and all those who purchase property in Cyprus in a concealed manner are not also regulated, then regulating natural persons alone will be insufficient,” he said.

Disy MP Nikoletta Konstantinou also called for a comprehensive approach, saying the proposed legislation concerned the Republic’s strategic interests and national security.

She expressed concern that restrictions applying only to individuals could undermine the effectiveness of the legislation, arguing that both natural and legal persons should be covered.

“There is little point in discussing whether a natural person will be unable to purchase a property, be it 1,000, 2,000 or 4,000 square metres, if the beneficial owner themselves will ultimately be able to acquire property through a corporate structure,” she said.

Konstantinou argued that the government should have presented a comprehensive proposal taking into account European law, the property market and Cyprus’ investment policy.

“Our aim must be a framework that genuinely protects national security and the Republic’s strategic interests, without creating unjustified or disproportionate restrictions that ultimately cause problems for the country’s economic and investment activity,” she said.

Meanwhile, Diko MP Panikos Leonidou called for immediate action to regulate land purchases by third-country nationals.

He said the situation had reached “uncontrolled proportions” and was causing concern among citizens.

Leonidou urged Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou and his ministry to take the initiative and introduce comprehensive legislation.

“The ministry of the interior must immediately table a bill covering all aspects of this problem,” he said.

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An explosion hit the 75th Arsenal, a Russian army plant in Serpukhov south of Moscow, overnight on 22 October, Russian Telegram channel Astra reported. Russian officials also claimed drone attacks on the Moscow region, Tula, and Lipetsk that night.

As Russia presses its full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s long-range drones and missiles keep hitting military plants and refineries deep inside Russia. Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi says this plant specializes in repairing Buk and S-300 air defense systems. Astra describes it more broadly, as making weapons and ammunition and repairing military equipment. If Militarnyi is right, the blast hit a site that fixes Russian air defenses. It came the night Moscow’s mayor credited air defenses with stopping hundreds of drones.

Blast at the arsenal

An Astra OSINT analyst placed the explosion inside the site from a video, the channel said. Residents claimed in local chats that blasts followed passing drones, then at least three missiles. Astra did not confirm the missile count. Serpukhov lies about 99 km south of Moscow. Ukraine has sanctioned the plant, and the US Treasury has listed it too. As of the morning of 22 October, no Russian official had confirmed the blast.

More footage of the attack on the arsenal in Serpukhov. We are awaiting satellite images. pic.twitter.com/tTsgc18W3L

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) October 22, 2026

630 drones, by Moscow’s count

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that 630 drones flew toward the Moscow region from 20:30 on 21 October to 04:00 on 22 October. He claimed most were destroyed far out and 163 were neutralized on approach to Moscow. Two people were injured in Voronovo, in New Moscow, he stated.

Tula Oblast Governor Dmitry Milyaev claimed air defenses downed 70 Ukrainian drones over his region. Private homes were damaged in Tula and the Zaoksky district, he stated.

Lipetsk governor claims homes and a clinic damaged

Earlier in the night, Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ posted footage of commotion in Lipetsk after explosions. Lipetsk Oblast Governor Igor Artamonov claimed a drone strike damaged homes, apartment blocks, and a closed polyclinic. A man born in 2001 was injured and hospitalized, Artamonov claimed.

Lipetsk, moment of the explosion. https://t.co/wCX6GVThQr pic.twitter.com/bGwGLbUm2d

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) October 21, 2026

In May, Ukrainian intelligence said Russia was deploying more regiments against strike drones. In September, Ukrainian units hit more Russian air defense systems and radars than in any month since 2024, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. Analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko counted 76 destroyed in September with days of the month still to go and argued Russia cannot replace such losses. If Militarnyi’s description holds, losing repair capacity would deepen that gap.

The requested removal of "objectionable" photos from a cultural center took place in state run by Modi's BJP. DW has more.

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© Reuters

The construction of a tramway in Limassol could cost as much as €95 million per kilometre, the city’s mayor Yiannis Armeftis said on Thursday, as he evaluated the prospects for a tramway to be built in Cyprus’ second city.

“Preliminary estimates vary significantly depending on the technology to be used, with the cost ranging from €25m to €95m per kilometre,” he told television channel Sigma, though he did stress that “such an investment should not be evaluated solely based on construction costs”.

Instead, he said, “the equation should take into account the benefits which could arise from upgrading transit areas, increasing the value of land and real estate, and improving people’s quality of life”.

On this front, he made reference to “the economic cost caused by traffic delays through lost working hours and people’s travel time”, with Limassol frequently subject to long rush-hour tailbacks on its road network.

He said that Cyprus is “excessively dependent on the private car”, and that that makes his own city’s traffic issue “particularly difficult to deal with”.

“No city has solved its traffic problem when dependence on the private car reaches around 90 per cent. Traffic can be managed properly when public transport is also used,” he said.

Govt currently spends €100m per year on public transport

At present, he said, the government spends around €100m per year on public transport, of which around a quarter is spent on Limassol.

However, he added, “despite these significant expenditures, the use of buses remains limited”. To this end, he pointed out that only three to five per cent of journeys undertaken across Cyprus involve a bus, and said that “long delays and time-consuming routes discourage people” from using the bus to travel.

“It is not convenient because it has also lost its credibility,” he said, though he did stress that on the other hand, when a bus route is both reliable and useful, the public may take to it.

He gave the example of Limassol’s number 30 bus route, which runs along its coastal road, and said that “frequent and fast routes are a basic requirement for people to choose the bus instead of the car”.

On the matter of the possibility of constructing a tramway, he said that he had attended a meeting at the transport ministry on Monday, during which “the first steps of the studies were presented, as well as preliminary data on the possibility of installing a tram in Limassol”.

“The aim of the process is to examine whether this is a realistic and sustainable option, which could function complementarily to other means of public transport,” he said.

Availability of space ‘one of the main challenges’

Asked how a tramway could be installed in a city where “available road space is already limited”, he said that “this is one of the main challenges of the project”.

Nonetheless, he pointed out that bus lanes have already been installed in Limassol, and that they could be “used as tram corridors”.

He also pointed out that “other European cities” with “even smaller populations or dense construction” have also managed to build tramways.

“Behaviour changes when there are appropriate routes and when there is appropriate infrastructure,” he said.

Prountzos had called for tramway in Nicosia

His comments come after Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos had last month renewed his call for a tramway to be built in the capital, saying that the Nicosia municipality had initially prepared a study for a 14-kilometre tram line, and that after he took office in 2024, the length of the planned line grew to 20km.

Regarding how the plans could be financed, pointed out that the European Union’s next multiannual financial framework – the bloc’s budget for the period covering the years between 2028 and 2034 – enters force “in about a year”, and said that as such, discussions about a tramway “should have already started” with a view to securing EU funding.

“What exactly are we waiting for to intervene?”.

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Un lutto improvviso colpisce i Negramaro e il mondo della musica italiana. Antonio Boccuni, personal manager di Giuliano Sangiorgi, è morto improvvisamente a 57 anni per un infarto fulminante. Originario di Genova, era un volto noto a chiunque seguisse la band salentina da vicino.

Boccuni non faceva parte del gruppo, ma per molti fan era come se ne fosse un componente. Il suo rapporto con Sangiorgi risaliva agli esordi dei Negramaro, quando il successo era ancora da costruire, e da allora lo aveva accompagnato quasi senza interruzioni: ai concerti, agli eventi pubblici, agli appuntamenti istituzionali.

La notizia è stata data dagli stessi Negramaro sui social. Il gruppo ha condiviso tre fotografie e un messaggio carico di dolore; tra le immagini, una lo ritrae accanto a Sangiorgi durante un live, un’altra è un ritratto in bianco e nero. Nel testo la band scrive che il vuoto lasciato è incolmabile, ringraziandolo per essere stato parte della famiglia. Sangiorgi ha scelto a sua volta di salutarlo con una fotografia che lo ritrae sulle spalle di Boccuni, un’immagine che racconta la confidenza costruita in tanti anni di strada insieme.

Sotto il post dei Negramaro si sono moltiplicati i messaggi di cordoglio dei fan.

L'articolo È morto Antonio Boccuni, il personal manager di Giuliano Sangiorgi ha avuto un infarto fulminante. I Negramaro: “Il vuoto che lasci è incolmabile” proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

© AFP/Getty

© AFP/Getty

Hackney Council has set out proposals for more road restrictions, a bus gate and additional ‘school streets’

© Samuel Letsu / Transport for London

Marianne Hunter also launched into a racist attack on a judge

© Wales News Service

The major news headlines of the day and more.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The International Criminal Court and its embattled staff have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, an official said Thursday.

The award came just days after the Trump administration announced sweeping new sanctions on the court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, as part of its campaign to dismantle the tribunal over investigations into the United States and its allies, including Israel.

“The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognizes the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.

Her announcement at the parliament in Strasbourg, France, was greeted with a standing ovation.

The annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms.

A court under fire welcomes the award

ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan welcomed the award, saying that it “comes at a time when the court and its officials face unprecedented challenges.”

“Against this backdrop, the Sakharov Prize carries particular significance, reaffirming the importance of independent judicial institutions and of those who work to uphold international law,” she said in a statement.

The ICC opened in 2002 as a court of last resort to prosecute senior leaders it deems responsible for crimes that, according to its founding treaty, “deeply shock the conscience of humanity.” It has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.

The Trump administration’s sanctions cut off the court from U.S.-based financial services, technology companies, and even the use of U.S. dollars. They set a six-month timeline for U.S. companies and individuals that have business with the court to wind that business down.

The EU considers options to respond

In a statement after their summit last week, EU leaders said that the 27-nation bloc “deeply regrets” the Trump administration’s sanctions move and “urges the United States to reverse these latest measures.”

They noted that the U.S. has delayed the full impact of the sanctions by six months, and that “this creates space for diplomacy,” and expressed hope that the measures can ultimately be reversed.

Should diplomacy fail, however, the leaders insisted on “the EU’s readiness to take all necessary measures.”

They tasked the European Commission “to take all appropriate initiatives” to help protect the ICC and mitigate the impact of the sanctions, “specifically towards EU companies so that they can continue providing services to the Court.”

One possible retaliatory measure is the EU “blocking statute,” which could be used to protect European court staff, and possibly the Dutch-based court itself, by preventing European companies from complying with the U.S. measures.

An award for when rights and justice come under attack

The ICC and its officials were nominated for the prize by the Socialist and Democrats group in the European Parliament. The group, which unites center-left parties across Europe, said that it was “proud to have put forward their candidacy at a time when international justice is under attack.”

The Sakharov winner is chosen by the European Parliament’s president and top EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the parliament’s various political groups. The assembly says the award is “the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work.”

Imprisoned Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu and Taraneh and Romina Rahimi — twins being held in prison for taking part in demonstrations against the Iranian government — were the others to make the EU shortlist.

Last year’s prize went to journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaghlobeli, who were imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia, respectively. Metsola said at the time that “their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy.”

Several Sakharov laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, picked up the Sakharov Prize in 2024.

The post European Union awards top rights prize to International Criminal Court targeted by Trump appeared first on MS NOW.

The Shomonda virus has been detected in a human for the first time, French health officials said. Authorities see no risk to the public, adding that the victim, who died in early October, was severely immunocompromised.

© AP

© AP