Ukraine and Russia complete prisoner exchange
Ukraine and Russia completed the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each on Sunday. Each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each had released 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday and 390 on Friday. The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each was the only concrete step towards peace to emerge from talks in Istanbul
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Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
World No1 Aryna Sabalenka calls for 'equal treatment' in scheduling as French Open sexism row rolls on - with NO women's matches featuring in prime time night slot
World No1 Aryna Sabalenka has voiced her discontent with the scheduling of her quarter-final clash with Zheng Qinwen amid a roiling sexism row at this year's French Open. The controversy is not new to the tournament, who have come under fire since the inception of the night session for failing to adequately schedule women's matches in the prime-time slot. Former Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur decried the lack of visibility given to women's tennis, hinting that tournament organisers were 'ignoring' the greatness of the game with the unequal billing. The world No36's well-crafted missive was shared on the heels of the head of the French tennis federation Gilles Moretton claiming that the tournament needed 'better matches' at night. Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo was similarly unwilling to criticise the schedule, refusing to answer a number of questions on the subject during a tense meeting with the media last week. But while many female players on the tour have been reticent to share their views beyond personal preferences against playing in the night session, Sabalenka was keen to allow people greater opportunities to watch women's tennis. After her straight-sets victory to Zheng, Sabalenka was first questioned over the half-empty stadium, with many of the lower tiers - typically more expensive or hospitality seats - unoccupied. While Sabalenka insisted that she didn't focus on the crowd, she did agree that the lunch time scheduling was not befitting of match between the best player in the world and the Olympic champion in Zheng. 'It was a big match, and probably (it) would have made more sense to put us a little bit later just so more people could watch it,' Sabalenka said. 'At the same time, I'm happy to finish earlier and then I have a half day off and I can just enjoy the city and do all the things that I have to do. (But) talking about that, I definitely think that would make more sense to move our match a little bit later.' On the subject of the night sessions not making it seem as if men and women's matches were treated equally, she was more forthright, continuing: 'I definitely agree with that, and I definitely have to say, we deserve the equal treatment. 'There was a lot of great battles, a lot of great matches (on the women's side) which would be cool to see as a night session, just more people in the stands watching these incredible battles. And just to show ourselves to more people. So I definitely agree that we deserve to be put in a bigger stage, you know, like better timing, more people watching.' Earlier in the tournament, US number one Jessica Pegula was similarly outspoken when she claimed that the treatment women players received at the Grand Slam made her feel like 'hitting her head against a wall'. Jessica Pegula said that receiving unequal treatment in Paris made her feel like she was 'hitting her head against the wall' 'Every year it's the same thing. It's never equal,' Pegula said on Saturday. 'We are an event that is supposed to be equal. Why not give us some more chances to be? 'It feels like just hitting my head against the wall because I feel like we have been talking about this for two, three, four (years) - probably forever, to be honest, because it's never been equal.' Mauresmo said in her charged press conference on Friday that 'the message has never been the girls are not worthy of playing at night'. But both of the women's quarter-finals scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday have been the two first matches on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with men's matches played as the last of the day sessions, and the prime-time night session. Should the tournament wish to break its duck in the semi-finals, the powers that be have a gift in the form of Sabalenka's next match-up. The three-time Grand Slam title-holder is set to play defending champion and four-time Roland-Garros winner Iga Swiatek in just their second-ever Grand Slam meeting.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Reeves and Starmer face cabinet revolt over spending review
Rachel Reeves is facing a cabinet revolt over her spending review amid fears departmental cuts will lead to key manifesto spending promises being ditched. In what is being described as a 'proxy war', the chancellor is facing a push to consider taxes on the wealthy instead of cuts before she outlines her government spending plans next week. Room for manoeuvre is further restricted by an expectation that the government will U-turn on cancelling winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, as well as ending the two-child benefit cap, which could cost Ms Reeves as much as £5bn. The row follows reports that major departments, including Yvette Cooper's Home Office and Angela Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have still not settled on an agreement for the spending review due to be unveiled on Wednesday, 11 June. The mounting pressure on the chancellor comes as former adviser Lord Jim O'Neill has told Ms Reeves that she needs to borrow more for major projects to kickstart growth as the latest forecasts have seen another downgrade for the UK economy, leaving Ms Reeves with less wiggle room. And there are fears that a further squeeze on public finances, dubbed ' austerity 2.0 ' by critics, will open the door for Nigel Farage 's Reform to seize power 'as Britain's first far-right government'. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday downgraded its estimate for the UK's economic growth this year to 1.3 per cent, from 1.4 per cent, and to 1 per cent, from 1.2 per cent, in 2026. Meanwhile, the government's crisis over whether it can afford to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been exacerbated by Nato's decision to tell member states, including the UK, to hike it even further to 3.5 per cent. A senior Labour source told The Independent that the chancellor's decisions over the next week will 'see the ending of a number of manifesto pledges as actually being deliverable'. With Ms Reeves already being accused of trying to bring in 'austerity 2.0' - a reference to sweeping cuts brought in by former Tory chancellor George Osborne, it is understood that a growing number of Labour MPs and trade unions are now pushing for her to go for wealth taxes instead. The idea featured in a leaked memo from Ms Rayner, in which the deputy prime minister proposed eight different wealth taxes, including increasing dividend tax rates for higher earners and targeting property traders who use corporate structures to avoid stamp duty. A senior Labour source told The Independent: "I think the spending review is becoming a proxy war to desperately try and stop Labour facing an existential crisis — the breathtaking collapse in support continues, and to just try and deliver some of its manifesto so that ordinary voters can see and feel that they have." They added: "I cannot see how Rachel Reeves lasts." With fears that cuts will mean having to row back on promises on border control, policing, housing and social care, the source warned: "I think this spending review will realistically see the ending of a number of manifesto pledges as actually being deliverable.' Ms Reeves' strict rules on borrowing and her refusal to increase income tax, VAT or employee national insurance, there are concerns within Labour that 'the fiscal rules are destroying Labour politically and on delivery of their agenda". But the biggest fear is that a new wave of austerity will open the door to handing Nigel Farage and Reform UK power. The senior source noted: 'People are starting to get real and get vocal. People are realising the Reform threat is not just a crazy blip. It could be the legacy of this Labour government that they usher in the first far-right government in Britain's history. That cannot be allowed to happen.' Meanwhile, economist Lord O'Neill, who was brought in as an adviser to Ms Reeves, has warned that she will have to borrow more to kickstart growth. He urged her to invest in major projects he dubs 'big positive multipliers', such as Northern Powerhouse Rail or small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The investment is expected to be the subject of a major speech by the chancellor tomorrow as she tries to regain the initiative. However, the government is still struggling to explain how it plans to pay for defence pledges made in its strategic review on Monday. The 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2034 pledge has been downgraded to 'an ambition', but now Nato's new general secretary Mark Rutte is set to put up a proposal for the next summit of the defence bloc for all members to pay 3.5 per cent. One senior insider said Britain would 'without a doubt' sign up, but was unable to say where the money would come from. On Tuesday, Defence Secretary John Healey failed to rule out tax rises to make Britain 'war-ready', amid concerns that the government does not have enough money to fund the plans unveiled on Monday. He said the government would 'set out how we'll pay for future increases in the future' when quizzed over how Britain can afford to boost its military funding to 3 per cent. Mr Healey said he is '100 per cent confident' the target would be met — but he struggled to say how it would be paid for after economists warned that significant tax rises would be needed.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine hits Putin's bridge to Crimea with underwater bomb attack
Ukraine has targeted a bridge linking Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula in the latest long-range attacks against Moscow. Ukraine's security services, the SBU, said on Tuesday that it had hit the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula below the water level with explosives. In a statement, the SBU said it had used 1,100 kilograms of explosives that were detonated early in the morning and damaged underwater pillars of the bridge, a key supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine in the past. The official Russian outlet that provides regular status updates on the bridge said its operation had been suspended for about three hours between 4am and 7am local time. It gave no reason for the temporary closure, but said the bridge had been reopened and was functioning as normal. 'Previously, we hit the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition underwater,' the SBU said in its statement, adding that the operation had been prepared over several months. The SBU shared video footage that showed an explosion next to one of the many support pillars of the bridge. The bridge, built after Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, was a flagship project for the Russian president. He led a convoy of orange trucks across the bridge during its opening in 2018. He drove across the bridge again in December 2022 after it was attacked by a Ukrainian drone in October. Ukraine has stepped up its assaults on Russia and in occupied regions as Kyiv claims that Moscow is continuing to stall peace negotiations. The second round of talks in Turkey on Monday barely lasted an hour and, yet again, failed to make significant strides towards securing a lasting peace. Over the weekend, Ukraine targeted at least four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets. They destroyed several strategic bombers. The SBU claimed responsibility for the operation, called 'Spider's Web', and said that in total 41 Russian warplanes were hit. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack, which struck targets up to 2,670 miles from the frontlines of the war, 'absolutely brilliant'. Andriy Kovalenko, an official on Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said that of more than 40 planes struck, 13 were destroyed. Ukrainian drones and shelling, meanwhile, targeted the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and the Kherson region in the south on Tuesday, damaging electricity substations and leaving at least 700,000 people without power, Russia-installed officials said. Ukrainian officials were quick to praise the latest SBU attacks. Ruslan Stefanchuk, chair of the government, said, 'Every empire has its pillar. Then — a crack. And another. And then — the empire falls. Such is the fate that awaits the entire kremlin regime.'
