All news for 2026-05-21

A gangster candidate polling ahead of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has turned an otherwise routine Dublin by-election into an uncomfortable moment for Ireland’s political establishment.

Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine could receive a £1bn boost after Sir Keir Starmer eased sanctions on Russian oil, experts have said.

The agreement is the first of its kind between the GCC and a G7 country, and will eliminate tariffs on billions of euros worth of British exports.

Sarah Ferguson could reportedly be eyeing up a royal pension to keep her afloat, a royal author has claimed.

Alun Davies, a former Welsh Government minister and Senedd member, has launched a blistering broadside on UK and Welsh Labour, two weeks on from the party’s catastrophic local and devolved election results.

The mayor has cited a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules.

Surging demand, low reserves and reduced Middle East exports predicted to cause global crunch by August.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad.

Wrestling star Ludwig Kaiser has reportedly been arrested days before one of WWE’s most anticipated matches.

How high-profile fugitives from Ukraine have settled in Russia. The most prominent among them is Viktor Medvedchuk. Our investigation has found that he owns a personal oil refinery.

As the fighting on the outskirts of Kyiv subsided and it became clear the country would endure, previously low-profile actors began re-emerging and resuming their activities.

Azim Novruzov, the Azerbaijani oil trader and close associate of Tahir Garayev, has built a career on problematic Russian crude and British real estate.

According to media reports, a network of payment systems such as Payeer and Piastrix, reportedly used in connection with semi-underground online casinos across the former USSR, has been linked to former employees of Alfa-Bank and IBOX Bank.

Der niederländische Milliardär Marcel Boekhoorn wurde zusammen mit seinen Geschäftspartnern Philip Van Wijngaarden und Diedrik Oost sowie dem Vermittler Bruno Michieli von italienischen Staatsanwälten wegen Geldwäsche angeklagt.

Pro-Russian oligarch Dmytro Firtash is under NSDC sanctions and has been hiding in Vienna for over a decade, yet the associated Alliance Bank continues to operate in Ukraine.

When Donald Trump warned Iran on April 7 that “a whole civilization will die tonight,”

Syrian authorities have thwarted a massive drug smuggling operation, intercepting a shipment of nearly 25 million Captagon pills.

The former lawmaker was stripped of his immunity and jailed to serve a 13-year sentence for criminal association and money laundering.

The war in the Middle East is keeping energy prices higher for longer than expected, European Central Bank Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks said, signaling that interest-rate hikes are likely.

According to media reports, a network of payment systems such as Payeer and Piastrix, reportedly used in connection with semi-underground online casinos across the former USSR, has been linked to former employees of Alfa-Bank and IBOX Bank.

As the chancellor struggles at home and the opposition AfD rises ahead of key elections, the Russian president is moving to undermine one of his biggest adversaries.

The murder of Stavros Demosthenous in Limassol has become one of the most notorious criminal cases in recent years.

The escalating conflict in Mali is only the latest episode in the struggle for influence in the Sahel.

Radio Caroline’s regular broadcasting was interrupted in the middle of the song What’s Up? By the band 4 Non Blondes on Tuesday when the blunder was made.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, is on trial at Southampton Crown Court for the death of the 18-year-old who was walking back from celebrating a football team night out at university in December.