Vladimir Putin’s escalating strikes on Ukraine’s railway network appear to be driven by one central calculation: mounting desperation. That includes the destruction yesterday of a stationary civilian shunting locomotive near the Polish border, an attack with little obvious military value.

More than four and a half years into a war that has brought immense suffering and devastation, the Russian president is confronting the consequences of a conflict that has exacted an enormous human cost. Estimates cited put Russia’s losses at 1.5 million men.

Russian forces are reportedly suffering unprecedented monthly casualties. In both July and August, more than 40,000 troops were said to have been killed or wounded so severely that they could not return to combat.

Russia has not endured losses on this scale since the Second World War. By comparison, the Soviet Union lost around 15,000 troops during its decade-long war in Afghanistan, a conflict that contributed to the eventual collapse of communism.

Putin cannot sustain such a rate of attrition indefinitely, and he is aware of it. Russia is losing soldiers, along with North Korean fighters drawn into the conflict, faster than it can replenish its ranks without ordering a broad new mobilisation.

Yet a general mobilisation carries grave political risks. Russian mothers are unlikely to accept seeing another generation sent into the trenches of the Donbas, where Ukrainian drone warfare has made the battlefield increasingly lethal.

The pressure is also becoming more visible within Russia’s own pro-war establishment. Even some of Moscow’s loudest military commentators have begun advocating negotiations, alarmed by the effectiveness of Ukrainian drone operations and repeated attacks on major oil refineries.

For ordinary Russians, the impact is increasingly difficult to ignore. Motorists have reportedly spent hours waiting for petrol despite living in one of the world’s leading oil and gas exporters, while concerns persist that fuel sold at 28 per cent of Russian stations is poor enough to risk damaging vehicle engines.

There are limits to how long the Russian public can be expected to accept the official narrative, and to how long state-aligned media can maintain the impression that Putin’s war in Ukraine is progressing successfully.

This was supposed to be the decisive fighting season, and yet the gains have been trivial, and in some cases Putin’s forces have even been going backwards. The Russian leader is never going to take the Fortress Belt of the Donbas, not without sacrificing millions. He is never going to take the city of Zaporizhiyya. That is why he has been stepping up his attacks on the railways, sending more and more missiles at passenger trains in what can only be described as terroristic attacks. There have been more attacks on passenger trains in the past six months than in the whole of the preceding four years.

It will not work. I know the Ukrainian railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, very well. I have travelled in great comfort on their network for thousands of miles and indeed I passed through that border station shortly before yesterday’s explosion.

The company has already lost 1,700 employees to Putin’s utterly criminal attacks. They are heroes. They will not give in now. They are capable of rebuilding track and bridges with prodigious speed, and the civilian population of passengers continues to show a phlegmatic ability to endure Putin’s blitz. As one Ukrainian woman put it to me at the weekend: ‘It’s terrible to admit this, but we just learn to adapt and get on with our lives.’

MORE STORY: Hundreds Gather for World Black Pudding Throwing Championships

The only way to get this foul war over is to show Putin the truth – that he has no chance of winning. That means doing much more to help the Ukrainians.

This weekend I visited the astonishing Ukrainian drone and missile start-up, Firepoint. They are now world leaders. They make the world’s best cruise missile – the Flamingo, that has been so devastating against Putin’s oil and gas industry.

But now they need to defend the trains and the cities, against Putin’s ballistic missiles, and against the new jet-powered Shaheeds. The Ukrainians desperately need better air defences, and with so many US Patriots being used up in the Gulf region, they have to be helped to make their own.

We need to give them the ‘seeker’ tracking systems to help them to take out Putin’s fast drones and neutralise his intercontinental ballistic missiles. It can be done, but it needs to be done fast.

Ukraine faces a grim winter, in which Putin is plainly going to step up his attempts to kill and terrify civilians – at work, at home, and on their way to work.

In the face of his new cruelty, and his new ruthlessness, we need a new seriousness from the West.

We need to help them to open the Black Sea ports, and get Ukrainian grain and other produce moving again.

We need to give them Starlink access to the skies above Russia, so they can take out the missile sites and bases that are being used to attack their populations.

We need to unfreeze the hundreds of billions of Russian cash – in Brussels and other Western capitals – and allow the Ukrainians to use it to fund their effort.

Putin will squeal. He will accuse the West of escalation – as he has at every stage in this conflict, of which he was the sole author, and which he could end tomorrow.

He will squeal because he is increasingly desperate. In the attacks on passenger trains, we see the bared teeth of a cornered rat. Sooner or later, he knows he will have to desist, and the more pressure we apply now, the sooner that moment will come.

Pauline Hanson has outlined an expansive One Nation immigration policy that would aim to shrink Australia’s temporary migrant population by roughly 750,000 within three years, placing international students at the centre of the proposed crackdown.

The plan calls for net overseas migration to fall into negative territory during a three-year “reset”, followed by an ongoing annual cap of 130,000 arrivals.

The target is significantly lower than Labor’s projected net overseas migration figures of 245,000 for the current financial year and 225,000 in the following year.

One Nation’s proposal is focused on the temporary migrant cohort, which has climbed from a little more than two million when Labor took office in 2022 to about three million people.

International student visas would be limited to 100,000 annually, with the party particularly focused on lower-tier courses that it argues can be used by some overseas students as a route to remain in Australia.

At the same time, an uncapped visa category would be created for overseas students undertaking PhDs and approved science, technology, engineering and maths courses. About 15,000 foreign students and their dependants are expected to enter through the proposed stream.

Skilled worker visas would not have a cap under the One Nation policy, although relatives would no longer be eligible for secondary visas. The party says that change would reduce the program from about 263,000 people to 160,000 over three years.

Across five key visa categories, One Nation says its three-year migration reduction plan would remove 239,923 student visa holders, 229,674 graduate visa holders, 103,448 temporary skilled workers, 112,533 bridging visa holders and 80,000 unlawful non-citizens or visa overstayers.

“We will crack down on illegal migrant employment, cutting off illicit income and encouraging departures. Illegal migrants will be given three months to leave Australia.”

‘Those who depart will be allowed to apply for a visa in the future. Those who remain unlawfully after this period will face immigration enforcement and a lifetime ban from re-entering Australia.’

RELATED: What Marilyn Monroe’s Exes Had to Say About Their Time Together

Australians have had enough of mass migration, according to Hanson.

‘I know Australians are doing it tough. Families are competing with hundreds of people for rental accommodation,’ she added.

Patients are stuck in ambulances because there are not enough hospital beds. Young Australians are being locked out of home ownership while wages and infrastructure fail to keep up.

‘The Labor-Liberal political cartel has sacrificed Australian living standards to serve vested interests demanding continued mass migration.’

If election in 2028, One Nation will return the temporary migrant population to 2017 levels and slash the international student population to 2015 levels. 

The number of temporary visa holders has surged from two million in 2022 to roughly three million, according to Hanson.

‘A larger economy on paper means nothing if Australians are poorer per person and cannot afford a home, find a hospital bed or get ahead,’ she said.

‘A larger economic pie doesn’t mean anything if individual Australians’ slice of it is getting smaller.

One Nation’s net overseas migration ceiling of 130,000 per year would then remain in place.

‘Vested interests and elite economists will shriek at the prospect of these cuts,’ Hanson said.

‘But Canada has shown you can cut migrant numbers, take pressure off rents, and still grow the economy.’

Hundreds of spectators filled the streets of Bury on Sunday for the annual World Black Pudding Throwing Championships.

The offbeat contest has been a fixture in the Greater Manchester market town for more than 30 years. It returned this year after being cancelled in 2025 following the death of its long-serving organiser.

The tradition is said to draw inspiration from a bitter clash fought in nearby Stubbins in 1455 during the War of the Roses, between the Houses of Lancaster and York.

Each challenger is given three black puddings to throw at Yorkshire puddings perched atop a 25ft scaffolding tower. Their task is simple: dislodge as many of the savoury targets as they can.

As well as the unusual sporting action, the much-loved event offers visitors live music, food stalls and activities for children.

Celebrations were in full swing as the championships made their return to Bury this weekend, with crowds packed into the street to watch the contest unfold.

Photographs showed competitors of all ages, including young children, laughing and joking as they joined the festivities, which began at about 11am and ran until 5pm.

The contestant who brings down the highest number of Yorkshire puddings receives £100, a trophy and the World Black Pudding Throwing Champion title for the next calendar year.

The championship, however, sparked controversy only last month when Animal Rights campaigners demanded vegan alternatives be used instead of black puddings. 

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation said it was wrong for the ‘blood and fat’ of pigs to be hurled ‘for a bit of fun’. 

It added: ‘It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. In the case of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship, someone does indeed get hurt: pigs.’  

MORE STORY: Rare Shark Spotted Gliding Through Crystal-Clear Pacific Waters

The campaigners also said they would pay for ‘cruelty-free’ options instead of the Yorkshire puddings and the bloody sausages thrown towards them.

Paul Jenkins, who organises the annual event, fought back by arguing that the ‘quintessential British event’ already offered vegan alternatives to its competitors.

And while he said the championships would not make the use of vegan alternatives compulsory, he said people who opted for them were ‘more than welcome to’.

The event got underway with local band the Bolton Caledonia pipers playing at 10.30am. A short time later, competitors had their black puddings at the ready. 

All proceedings from the day are being donated to Bury Hospice and the Ramsbottom Pantry.

Jacob Vahey travelled from Hull as part of his mission to complete the ‘365 Sports Challenge’, which will see him compete in 365 different sports events on every day of the year. He is doing so to raise money for the mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably. 

Jacob arrived at the very beginning of the day and stayed into the afternoon, completing three rounds of black pudding throwing. 

He said: ‘I’m doing the challenge in memory of two friends that we sadly lost to suicide. It started on October 1 last year, so I’m most of the way through the challenge now, I’m getting towards the back end of it.

‘I found out about the black pudding championship a few weeks ago just from searching for weird annual sports and it was a no brainer. I was on holiday yesterday, so I flew back last night just in time for today.

‘I got to Manchester Airport about 11 pm yesterday, stayed at my brother’s house and then it’s back to Hull tonight and back at work tomorrow.

‘I really enjoyed it, it was definitely unique but that’s what makes an entertaining challenge and that’s what brings so many people to it.

‘It’s up there as one of the weirdest sports I’ve done so far – right up there with gravy wrestling and bog snorkelling in terms of top tier weirdness.’

Paul Jenkins, chair of the event’s organising committee, said: ‘When this first started, it started as a little tiny community event at one local pub. Now the whole of Ramsbottom gets together for the second weekend in September and we do this ridiculous thing in the centre of the street.

‘We’re making huge amounts of money for the Bury Hospice and the Ramsbottom Pantry just from everybody having a good time. Kids are on the funfair, people are down at the stalls, people are enjoying some food out and the sunshine is staying with us somehow.

‘We’ve got volunteers everywhere working, picking up puds, climbing up ladders, doing things that are not regular, are not normal. And I think that’s kind of right for Ramsbottom – we don’t quite do things as everybody else does. We just do our own version of life and we enjoy it together.’

A woman who left her teaching career, reduced her involvement in a successful gymnastics business and worked without pay at her family’s newsagency has lost a bitter court fight over a multi-million-dollar Sydney waterfront home she says was promised to her. Jessie Sellar also cared for her terminally ill mother and unwell father, while spending thousands of dollars on the family property.

Ms Sellar, 39, had sought a 50 per cent stake in her late father Allan Sellar’s sought-after Gymea Bay waterfront property. She argued that repeated assurances from both parents meant she was entitled to half of the home.

But NSW Supreme Court Justice Francois Kunc ruled that the alleged promises could not be legally enforced. He awarded Ms Sellar $128,700 for mortgage payments and other property contributions, an amount conceded by the other beneficiaries.

Justice Kunc also ordered her to pay the legal costs of her stepsiblings, Darren and Paula.

The judge nevertheless acknowledged that Ms Sellar had made “life-changing decisions in the interests of her parents” and accepted that many of the conversations on which she relied had taken place.

“The Court is actually satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the words which she says were spoken to her … were in fact said.”

During the four-day NSW Supreme Court trial, Ms Sellar said she became more involved in the family newsagency, helped support the household and cared for her parents after hearing statements such as: “You will always have this house”, “This house will be yours when we are gone” and “I will give you your mother’s half of the house”.

She argued those assurances gave her a 50 per cent interest in the estate.

Her mother, Tracey Sellar, died from cancer in 2015 at the age of 54 and her father Allan Sellar died three years later after a stroke, leaving behind a multi-million-dollar waterfront property at Gymea Bay comprising a family home, granny flat, boatshed and cottage spread across two adjoining lots.    

However, Justice Kunc found Jessie knew by late 2015 her parents had signed mutual wills that effectively prevented her father from changing how the property would be divided without her mother’s consent. 

Their mutual wills made in 1990 left their estates to the survivor of the other, or in default to Allan’s children from his first marriage, Paula and Darren, and then Jessie in equal shares. 

However, when Tracey unexpectedly died at just 54, Allan never changed his will. 

He also found Allan Sellar had opposed his late wife’s wish to leave their daughter a greater share of the estate. The mother never thought she would die before her husband who was 80 when he died.  

Jessie told the court in 2009 her parents asked her to abandon her teaching career and take a more active role in the family’s newsagency so her mother could care for her father, who had Parkinson’s disease and required daily treatment for prostate cancer.

RELATED: How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet? Experts Reveal the Ideal Schedule

According to Jessie, her mother told her while sitting at the family home’s dining table with Allan present: ‘We can work together for many years to come. You will always have this house. I can live in the granny flat. You will get most of this property when your father goes.’

Several years later, while urging her daughter to continue working in the family business, Tracey allegedly said: ‘We have to keep the newsagency. You will need to keep working in it. The newsagency is paying all the bills for this house and all our medical expenses. It will be worth it. This house will be yours when we are gone.’

After being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2015, Tracey allegedly told Jessie, in Allan’s presence: ‘Jessie, I can’t keep working in the newsagency. You need to keep the newsagency going. I am going to transfer my shares to you so you can keep running it. You will be the sole shareholder of the business so you can keep running it. It will be enough to maintain the house and your father won’t need to move.’

Jessie also alleged that around the same time Tracey told Allan, with their daughter present: ‘I have worked hard for this house. I want my half of this house to go to Jessie.’

Allan allegedly replied: ‘OK Wal.’

Jessie alleged that after a visit to his solicitor, her father said, ‘I have followed your mother’s wishes. I gave you half of the estate and the remaining half is to be shared between you, Darren and Paula.’

Justice Kunc later found Allan had not been telling the truth.

The following year, Jessie claimed her father told her, ‘Jessie, you can’t leave me here on my own, I don’t want to go to a nursing home… You know you will own most of this house when I am gone.’

Jessie also relied on evidence from family friend Julieanne Lowe, who worked at the newsagency between 2005 and 2014. 

Ms Lowe told the court that after Tracey’s cancer diagnosis in late 2015, Tracey said: ‘I plan to give my assets entirely to Jessie. I am frustrated that we have never updated our wills, but I always thought Allan would die first.’ 

The judge accepted Ms Lowe asked Jessie if she wanted to work at the newsagency long-term, to which Jessie replied, ‘I don’t feel like I have a choice. I have closed all my businesses so I could help in the newsagency’.

Jessie is a qualified international gymnastics judge who had previously closed her own business, L’Elfin Gymnastics, which had four locations as well as a cheerleading academy to support the newsagency.  

Jessie also sought more than $666,000 in compensation for unpaid work in the family newsagency.

Justice Kunc rejected the claim, finding she had ultimately been given ownership of the business in return for years spent supporting her parents and helping run it.

In the end, the only part of her case that succeeded was a claim for $128,700 relating to mortgage and property expenses she had personally paid.

New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s planned appearance at the city’s 9/11 memorial amounted to “a message to Osama bin Laden” that “We conquered New York,” during a Fox News interview.

Paladino, 71, made the anti-Muslim comment while speaking with host Laura Ingraham.

The conservative Queens lawmaker had been attacking Mamdani, 34, over his decision to include Ramzi Kassem, a former attorney for an al-Qaeda operative, in a recent 9/11-related signing ceremony. Kassem, now Mamdani’s chief counsel, was handed the pen used to sign an executive order recognizing the terror attack.

“I am sick to death of all of this,” Paladino told Ingraham, who opened the segment by declaring: “Symbols matter.”

“We need to be able to see through this total, absolute farce that they’re trying to pawn off on New Yorkers and across the country,” Paladino continued.

She described the ceremonial pen being given to Kassem as “cryptic.”

“But it was a message.”

“The same way it’s a message when [Mamdani] goes down to [the] 9/11 [25th anniversary commemoration ceremony].”

Paladino Warns New Yorkers to ‘Wake Up’ 

Paladino went on to warn, ‘I hate to even say this, Laura,’ before making the remark about Bin Laden.

‘That’s how scary all of this really is to each and every one of us.

‘New Yorkers need to wake up. [Mamdani] won this election not with born-and-bred New Yorkers. He won this election with transplants, ages 18 to 30 years old, making promises he could never keep.’

ALSO READ: Jemima Goldsmith Marries Financier Cameron O’Reilly

The councilwoman declared she was ‘furious,’ before Ingraham pointed out that the mayor’s approval scores have been, to her surprise, noticeably high.

‘Is that surprising to you, or do you think no one is answering the surveys or what?’ she asked Paladino, who is leading a group of 9/11 family members in a protest of the mayor’s plans to attend the commemoration ceremony on the Memorial plaza this Friday.

‘Look. You got find out who is surveying. All right?’ Paladino said. ‘[Mamdani] is not surveying people like myself, average, middle white, working class people.’

‘He’s not doing that. He is tending his nest with these young people.’

A recent Siena University poll, conducted in late June, showed Mamdani with an approval rating of 58 percent with 26 percent disapproval. The school has no affiliation with Mamdani.

Mamdani’s Rise Followed Upset Victory Over Cuomo 

Other polls in recent months have shown similar results.

Mamdani beat out then-candidate Andrew Cuomo in November 2025, after defeating the disgraced former governor in the Democratic primaries.

The primary win was widely seen as an upset, as Cuomo received endorsements from dozens of high-profile Democrats – and even Republicans.

The cornerstone of the former state assemblyman’s campaign was affordability, despite previous statements rooted in democratic socialism.

The memorial event later this week, meanwhile, is exclusively for 9/11 victims’ families and will consist of the traditional reading of the names. Friday marks 25 years since the devastating attacks. 

Bin Laden was the founder and leader of al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the attacks. He was killed by US Navy SEALs in a 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.