Russian forces are advancing westward in Ukraine at a rate faster than any other time after the initial days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month as the return of Donald Trump to the White House looms large. Vladimir Putin’s troops swept through swathes of Ukraine in early 2022 and were bearing down on Kyiv in a matter of days, but they were held on the outskirts of the capital before being pushed back and retreating further east. Since then, the 1,000 km (620-mile) front line remained largely static save for some minor offensives one way or the other – that is until Ukraine launched a lightning incursion into Russia’s Kursk region this summer.

Police forces have stopped using Elon Musk’s X social media platform amid concerns about misinformation. X, formerly named Twitter before Musk’s takeover in 2022, was used to spread false information that sparked riots across Britain this summer. The app has also reinstated British based accounts that were previously banned for extremist content.

Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has claimed that a racist joke he made on set ‘was a good thing’ for the BBC. The Irish actor, 69, became embroiled in a racism row after he ‘implied’ the N-word in front of shocked co-stars and production staff. During a reading of the script while in character as Agnes Brown, O’Carroll is said to have said ‘I don’t call a spade a spade, I call a spade a…’ He then started to utter the N-word before he was stopped by a co-star, whose intervention was allegedly delivered while in character as Agnes’ daughter.

The two-year term in a young offenders’ institution handed to a teen driver who left a single mother quadriplegic when he drove into her while filming at the wheel ‘in no way reflects the severity of his crime’, critics said today. George Taylor made two calls, sent text messages and recorded five videos showing him driving a Volkswagen Golf at speed and overtaking other vehicles while using his knees on his steering wheel when he crashed into Catherine Davies, 51. Ms Davies, who worked as a fitness instructor, is now quadriplegic and requires lifelong care in a specially adapted property fitted with life-support equipment. Her disability means she may never again be able to hug her son, 10.

A couple claim they have been forced to sell their ‘dream’ seaside home because of a council’s bid to boost local tourism. Ann and Stephen Frew, aged 68 and 70, were diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson’s disease and bought the five-bedroom property in Great Yarmouth with the intention of moving in extended family as caretakers. But after spending £40,000 on renovations to make the home accessible to them, the pair’s ‘dream’ turned into a ‘living nightmare’ when they received an enforcement notice from the council – saying they didn’t have permission to use the building.

A swimming pool in Canada is doubling down on its decision to allow a man in a bikini to use a female changing room. The incident happened on July 5 of this year at Commonwealth Place in Saanich, British Columbia, and has since sparked a storm of controversy. Figures like JK Rowling and tennis legend Martina Navratilova have all weighed in, as local mom Angie Tyrrell revealed the response she received from staffers after complaining.