Putin U-turns on Zelensky peace talks with Trump pushing for deal ‘this week’

Russian president Vladimir Putin has for the first time proposed direct peace talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Putin has previously claimed he would only negotiate peace with Ukraine if the country held elections to form a new government, having repeatedly made false claims that Mr Zelensky is an illegitimate leader despite his election in 2019.

The Russian autocrat has suggested face-to-face talks for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, with Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a quick ceasefire deal have failed to bear fruit.

Mr Trump said Russia and Ukraine can do “big business” with Washington if they reach a deal. “Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week,” the US president wrote on Truth Social over the weekend.

It comes as representatives from Ukraine, the UK, France and the US were set to meet in London on Wednesday to continue talks on a potential ceasefire.

While Mr Zelensky did not directly respond to Mr Putin’s proposal, he emphasised in his nightly video address that Ukraine “was ready for any conversation” that would stop strikes on civilians.

“Actions always speak louder than words,” he posted on X.

Oxford academics used human skull chalice at formal dinners until 2015

Oxford University academics used a chalice made from a human skull – potentially belonging to an enslaved Caribbean woman – at formal dinners until as recently as 2015, a new book has alleged.

The chalice, created from a sawn-off skull adorned with a silver rim and stand, was used for decades as a drinking cup in the senior common room at Worcester College, according to Professor Dan Hicks, curator of world archaeology at the university’s Pitt Rivers Museum.

It was eventually repurposed to serve chocolates instead of wine after it began to leak, said Prof Hicks.

The item’s “shameful history” is detailed in his forthcoming book Every Monument Will Fall, which explores the colonial origins of contemporary conflicts and the theft of ancestral human remains.

The ritual at Worcester College was phased out in response to mounting dismay among fellows and guests, and in 2019 the college invited Prof Hicks to investigate the chalice’s origins, he told The Guardian.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who chairs a cross-party parliamentary group on Afrikan reparations, told the outlet: “It is sickening to think of Oxford dons, sitting in this bastion of privilege, itself enriched by the proceeds of centuries of colonial violence and extraction, swilling drink out of a human skull that may have belonged to an enslaved person and has been so little valued that it has been turned into an object.”

Noting that the identities of colonial victims were often erased from history as a result of racist ideas about British and white supremacy, with this forming “part of the dehumanisation and violence”, Prof Hicks said he had been unable to find any record of who the skull belonged to.

But carbon dating showed the skull was around 225 years old, and its size and circumstantial evidence suggests it came from the Caribbean and may have belonged to an enslaved woman, he said. Worcester College insists the latter suggestion “cannot be substantiated”.

Conversely, the chalice’s ownership was thoroughly documented – with alterations to the item providing an example “of how the legacies of empire persist”, Prof Hicks told The Independent.

Silver hallmarks suggest the skull was made into a chalice in the City of London in 1838, the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation and of the emancipation of enslaved people in British colonies.

It was sold at auction in 1884 by Bernhard Smith, an Oxford graduate who collected weaponry and armour. Prof Hicks believes that Smith may have been gifted the chalice by his father, who served in the Caribbean as a Royal Navy commander at the time of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

The chalice was purchased – for five pounds and five shillings – by the Victorian soldier and archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers, who founded the Oxford museum bearing his name in 1884. The Sotheby’s auction listing showed it had a wooden stand inlaid with a Queen Victoria shilling and a Greek inscription carved into the bone. The shilling is no longer there and the broken wooden stand has been replaced with a silver one, but the inscription remains.

The chalice was finally donated to Oxford in 1946 by the archaeologist’s grandson, the eugenicist George Pitt-Rivers, in what Prof Hicks described as one of his first acts after being released from his internment during the Second World War as a Nazi sympathiser and follower of the British fascist Oswald Mosley.

The younger Pitt-Rivers inscribed his name on the chalice’s rim, echoing that of his grandfather which is carved above the entrance to the Oxford-based museum at which Dr Hicks works.

As well as seeking to “give some degree of humanity” to the woman to whom the skull belonged by piecing together her story, Prof Hicks said the overall aim of the book is to ask whether “this is anomaly, or whether there is a wider conversation we need to have about human and ancestral remains in our museums and universities”.

Prof Hicks is backing a fresh call from MPs to ban the sale of ancestral remains and prohibit their display in museums.

An Oxford University spokesperson said: “Worcester College can confirm that it is in possession of a vessel which is made from part of a human skull of unknown origin.

“The item was given to the College in 1946 by a former student, George Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966). In the 20th century, the vessel was sometimes on display with the College’s silver collection and used as tableware. The College does not hold records of how often this was the case, but it was severely limited after 2011 and the vessel was completely removed ten years ago.

“The College’s governing body sought expert scientific and legal advice to address whether the item should be retained, and if not, how it should be disposed of appropriately. DNA testing was unable to identify the geographic or ethnic origin of the skull and as such the suggestion that the skull is that of an enslaved woman from the Caribbean cannot be substantiated.

“As a result of this advice, the College resolved that the item should be stored in the college archives in a respectful manner, where access to it is permanently denied. As Dr Hicks acknowledges in his book, the College has dealt with the issue ethically and thoughtfully.”

Patti Smith: How a 200-year-old book instantly took me back to my childhood

She sits writing at the kitchen table as the surrounding countryside is assaulted with heavy wind and rain. Beyond her home, a bleak parsonage, is the overcrowded village of Haworth, close neighbor of the industrial sprawl of Keighley. The unsanitary village is a place of suffering and disease, where life expectancy is low and half the children die before the age of six.

Yet on 26 October 1829, 13-year-old Charlotte Brontë wrote nothing of this. Nothing of the horrendous odors. Nothing of the empty cupboards, the endless chores. Nothing of the deaths of her elder sisters and mother. Nothing of the fear of losing her father who had agonized for months with a lung ailment. Instead, on tiny precious scraps of paper, she composed a contemplative hymn to beauty. Seeking to define it, despite cruel circumstance, she takes a mental stroll in a welcoming forest where the elements blossom in perfect harmony. Then as the revelation of nature’s beauty dissipates, she resorts to the burgeoning terrain of her own imagination.

Charlotte channels the reflections of one of her own characters, striding a Canadian forest. Through him she portrays with mysterious accuracy the majesty of the great trees that rise like the masts of tall ships. In late November she unpredictably re-imagines the time of Babel, expanding the Genesis tale. Wrestling with an unbridled passion for words she evokes the atmosphere and those doomed souls attempting to pierce the whereabouts of God with the construction of a forbidden tower.

Her description, mixing the unexpected with the prosaic, suggests panels of the Babel tower painted by Bruegel. Suddenly she drops down to earth and offers a quiet lucid little piece, fourteen lines that she identifies as a sonnet. She heralds the magnificence of nature yet reminds us of the jewels of the seemingly commonplace. Lovely is the bright rainbow but lovelier still the swan’s neck of snow. Simplicity so acutely articulated, it brought me to tears.

I was privileged to personally view this tiny miracle, Charlotte’s chapbook, on her birthday. Though written nearly 200 years ago, it has maintained the freshness of youth. It is not simply a handful of juvenile verses, but the manifestation of an ambitious dreamer. The sight of it spun me into the realm of my own childhood.

Like Charlotte, I was the oldest and could often be found scribbling little stories to amuse my younger siblings. I could access that feeling, when solitude surges into a thousand visions, coupled with the unspoken desire to one day create books read by others. Though I had neither her vocabulary nor precocious literary skills, I recognized the energy, the concentration, the power of invention that a young writer wields as a benevolent weapon.

The Brontë siblings created worlds filled with heroes and produced strange maps of new lands known only to them. Collectively and feverishly the four sat at the wooden kitchen table, constructing their own game of thrones. But in 1829, from October to December, Charlotte was compelled to create her solitary effort.

Again, I picture her sitting, the parsonage bleak, the night ominous, warmed by her own creative impulse. In the last precious scraps, she returns to the rich tapestry of her boundless imagination. In the center of December, with frost obscuring the view, and the wild wind causing the heart to tremble she writes of dead winter mystically transformed. But Charlotte, as if rudely awakened from her own spell, produces her last words in Autumn Song, stunned by the reality of the harshness of decay, nature’s waning day.

How amazing the scope of the mind of this adolescent girl who would later pen the classic Jane Eyre and the masterpiece Villette at that same wood kitchen table. She possessed the rare ability to open herself to the darker elements and transform them. For through all loss and hardship, she forever harbored the secret knowledge of her own powers, that at thirteen she labored to nourish and express in the tiny Book of Ryhmes, Charlotte’s young season.

Today, almost two centuries after it was written by then 13-year-old Charlotte Brontë, A Book of Ryhmes will be published for the first time. The hardback anthology of ten poems has been carefully transcribed and is accompanied by a foreword by legendary singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author and photographer, Patti Smith. The original book is on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and the new publication is available to buy from www.bronteshop.org.uk

Woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann pleads not guilty to stalking family

A woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann has pleaded not guilty to stalking the missing girl’s parents and siblings.

Julia Wandel, from the Polish city of Lubin, appeared in Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old is accused of making calls, leaving voicemails, and sending a letter and WhatsApp messages to Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

She is also accused of turning up at their family home on two occasions in 2024 and sending Instagram messages to Sean and Amelie McCann, Madeleine’s siblings.

Cardiff woman Karen Spragg, 60, is accused of making calls, sending letters, and attending the home address of Mr and Mrs McCann.

She also denied a charge of stalking the family.

Ms Wandel was remanded back into custody while Ms Spragg was granted conditional bail.

Both women will appear at the same court for trial on October 2.

Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007 while her parents were dining with friends nearby.

Her disappearance has sparked long-running global intrigue, and German prisoner Christian Bruckner was declared a prime suspect by Portuguese police in April 2022.

However, prosecutors said in March 2025 that they had no plans to charge Bruckner over Madeleine’s disappearance.

In 2023, Ms Wandel claimed on Instagram to be the missing girl.

Appearing on the BBC Radio 4 podcast series Why Do You Hate Me? in early 2024, Ms Wandel explained she had first became suspicious of her identity when she was 20 years old and her family could not fill in gaps she had in her memories about her childhood.

She turned to the internet to scour missing person cases and came across Madeleine’s case.

She became convinced she was the missing girl, driven by similarities between herself and sketches of what Madeleine might look like now, and also by the fact that they both had a rare eye abnormality, which causes a mark on the iris.

She apologised to Madeleine’s parents in January 2024 in a social media post after a DNA test in April 2023 proved she wasn’t Madeleine.

Notting Hill Carnival risks ‘mass casualty event’ over crowd control

Attendees at Notting Hill Carnival are at risk of being caught up in a potentially fatal crowd crush, a new report has warned

The August Bank Holiday event sees about two million people flock to the streets of west London.

But the Metropolitan Police has raised concerns about the possibility of a “mass casualty event” at the celebration, after officers reported instances of dangerous crowd density last year.

The force’s warning formed part of a report by the London Assembly’s police and crime committee, focused on events that need public order policing such as football matches, protests and carnival.

It found there was an increased demand “putting the Met under strain” which has not been matched with in central government funding.

The organiser of the Carnival, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, is responsible for providing stewarding for the event, and for ensuring crowd safety.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told the committee that at Carnival, the Met has responsibility for “prevention and detection of crime, for keeping the King’s peace and, if necessary, for saving life.”

He highlighted that crowd density was “probably the most concerning element” of the event that he “most worried about”.

“Over the course of Notting Hill Carnival weekend, we had 100 spontaneous crowd incidents which were monitored through the joint cell,” he said.

“In addition to the frequent monitoring of nine key locations that we know are challenging and reporting across all five of the MPS sectors, we did have to step in a number of times in order to reduce the crowd density in order to save life.’

He also recalled an incident where members of the public were being hoisted up on scaffolding to get out of a “really dangerous level of crowd density.”

He added: “While we acknowledge the crime often gets the headlines, the thing that worries me most is the crowd density and the potential for a mass casualty event.”

At last year’s event Cher Maximen, 32, was fatally stabbed in front of her young daughter on “Family Day”.

In another incident, Mussie Imnetu, 41, a Dubai-based chef, was beaten during an altercation after carnival.

Both died of their injuries in hospital and two men have been convicted of their murders. There were also eight non-fatal stabbings reported.

The London Assembly has recommended that Sir Sadiq Khan reviews the concerns about crowd safety at the carnival to inform stewarding requirements.

The report states that this should include a full review of pinch points and strict guidance for the number of stewards required across the carnival. It adds that the finding should be made public at least three months in advance of Carnival 2026.

A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “Notting Hill Carnival burst on to the streets of west London nearly six decades ago and since then, the community-led celebration of Caribbean history and culture has grown to become one of the world’s biggest street festivals and part of the very fabric of our city.

“An independent review is already underway commissioned by the Carnival Organising Committee, with support from City Hall, Met police, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council to ensure Carnival is as safe and enjoyable as possible.”

A spokesperson from Notting Hill Carnival Ltd said: “We were pleased that our partners agreed that an independent review is undertaken regarding the safety and security of Carnival.

“The first stage of this report has been delivered and is being reviewed by our organising partners.”

A Met Police spokesperson said: “The Committee’s report acknowledges the unique public order policing demand placed on the Met given the number of events and protests taking place in London.

“Notting Hill Carnival is a key event on London’s cultural calendar and one which requires the deployment of a very significant number of officers and wider police resources.

“All those involved in delivering and supporting Carnival are committed to ensuring it is as safe and secure as possible. We welcomed the recent commissioning of an independent review and alongside our partners we are considering its initial recommendations.”

What smart investors need to know about changing status symbols

“It’s not a bag, it’s a Birkin.”

In 2001, Sex and the City introduced us to the Hermès Birkin, with character Samantha Jones being told there was a five year waiting list for would-be buyers. The fashion set’s favourite accessory went mainstream.

The Birkin continues to sell well over 20 years later, both new and second hand. Resale values have reportedly risen faster than gold. The Birkin has helped Hermès to outperform in what has been a torrid time for luxury brands.

But how long can that appeal sustain?

Trans women should use male toilets, equalities minister says

Trans women should use male toilets, the equalities minister has said, declaring that “services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex”.

Bridget Phillipson said businesses should ensure “they have appropriate provision in place”, which could mean unisex facilities.

But she said the Supreme Court ruling was clear about the basis on which services should be used.

Her comments came after a long-awaited judgment delivered last Wednesday in which the UK’s highest court confirmed the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

It means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if it is deemed “proportionate”.

Ms Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I know that many businesses, large and small, will ensure that they have appropriate provision in place.

“For example, many businesses have moved towards unisex provision or separate cubicles that can be used by anyone.”

She added: “There are important questions around, for example, the use of toilets, around the use of changing facilities, but there are also profound questions that I think are even more important about, for example, hospital provision, rape crisis centres, women’s refuges, where you are talking about people often being in that provision on an accommodation basis for an extended period of time.

“And I think it is important and welcome that the Supreme Court have put beyond doubt that providers can make sure that is done on the basis of biological sex.”

Ms Phillipson is expected to give a Commons statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling as parliament returns from Easter recess on Tuesday.

Former Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption has warned that organisations are potentially misinterpreting the landmark ruling, arguing it did not create an obligation to provide single sex spaces.

Instead, Lord Sumption argued that while many have taken the ruling to mean that service providers are obliged to provide single-sex spaces based on biological sex, the ruling meant that excluding transgender people from single-sex spaces was allowed, and not a breach of the 2010 Equality Act.

He said: “That’s the main point, which I think has been misunderstood about this judgment. I think it’s quite important to note that you are allowed to exclude trans women from these facilities. But you are not obliged to do it.”

It came as a minister condemned the “utterly unacceptable language” used by demonstrators as tens of thousands gathered to protest the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.

Education minister Stephen Morgan was asked about a placard at a protest in Parliament Square that showed an illustration of gallows alongside a slogan suggesting “the only good Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist)” is a hanged one.

And the Labour frontbencher called for police action over what he said was the “completely and utterly unacceptable” language.

Mr Morgan told Sky News: “It’s completely unacceptable language to be used, and obviously any matters that break the law should be reported to the police, and hopefully police action is taken.”

Trans rights groups, trade unions and community organisations came together on Saturday for what was billed as an “emergency demonstration” in Parliament Square, with activists demanding “trans liberation” and “trans rights now”.

As well as the placard referred to by Mr Morgan, demonstrators held signs declaring “trans rights are human rights” and “trans women are women”.

Ms Phillipson said the Supreme Court ruling meant service providers “can now operate with absolute confidence in delivering single-sex spaces for biological women”.

She told BBC Breakfast: “I do welcome the clarity that the Supreme Court judgment has brought in this area, making clear that biological sex is the basis on which single-sex spaces are provided.”

She said there would be more guidance for schools on gender-questioning children and “the heart of everything we do has to be about making sure that children’s wellbeing is supported, but also that school leaders in particular have the clarity and guidance that they want”.

Ms Phillipson added: “We recognise and believe in the importance of single-sex spaces.

“Before I was a Member of Parliament I used to run a women’s refuge, so I know more than most how essential it is that women, particularly those who’ve experienced sexual violence and male abuse, are able to have safe, therapeutic environments, and that’s why there has always been protection there within the law for single-sex spaces.

“There has been some confusion. I’m glad that’s been cleared up, because providers can now operate with absolute confidence in delivering single-sex spaces for biological women.”

Parking machines ‘set up to trap people’ as thousands sent tickets

Drivers across England say they are being sent demands for up to £170 from private parking companies because of faulty machines.

One campaigner says “thousands” of people have been affected.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the issue as “a problem that needs to be tackled”, while the RAC called for a Government-backed code of conduct to be reintroduced.

Many car parks require users to input their vehicle registration when purchasing a ticket from a machine.

This is supposed to prevent them being sent a PCN when their vehicle is detected by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

But there have been numerous cases of drivers who insist they entered their registration correctly but still received a PCN.

Each had initial appeals rejected, despite submitting a photograph of their ticket, which shows an incorrect registration was printed.

Matt Chambers, a 35-year-old business owner, received a £100 PCN from Excel Parking after using a car park in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in February.

He said: “They say I only registered the letter B for my number plate.

“That’s not right. I’m adamant I put the whole number plate in because I’ve used that car park several times before, and it’s the exact same process every time.

“I know how to use the machine.”

He said he is continuing to challenge the PCN but “sometimes it feels easier to pay just to make them go away” even though “I’ve done nothing wrong”.

Retired chef Lee Rogers, 67, suffered a similar problem.

He received a PCN from Euro Car Parks after using a car park in Rye, East Sussex, in August last year, and later realised the ticket he bought only had one digit of his registration printed on it.

He said: “I did not stand there and key in just the first digit.

“Hundreds of others have had the same problem.”

He said he told Euro Car Parks he would “very much like to go to court” over the issue as “they know I’ve paid”.

His partner is feeling “trepidation that someone might come knocking at the door”, he added.

Mary Hawken, 79, was sent a PCN after using a car park in Praa Sands, Cornwall, in July 2024.

She said: “I noticed that the WK didn’t print (on my ticket) but I thought, I’ve got a receipt anyway, and the rest of the registration is on it, so that’s fine.

“A week later I had a PCN. I thought, I’m not paying it, you can take me to court.

“I religiously pay for car parks. I’m not going to be bullied into this.”

The amount being demanded reached £170, until the case was dropped four days after she contacted her MP, Andrew George, who intervened on her behalf.

There has also been evidence of similar situations involving car parks in Leicestershire, Somerset and West Yorkshire.

Campaigner Lynda Eagan has been researching the issue for around a decade after receiving a PCN she felt was “undeserved”.

She assists drivers who join a Facebook group named Private Parking Tickets – Help and Advice, which has 47,000 members.

Asked how many people in the UK she believes have been sent tickets because of faulty machines, she replied: “Literally thousands.”

She said: “We’ve got unfair PCNs issued to people simply because the machine didn’t work properly.

“It’s a totally filthy business. It’s just wrong.”

Ms Eagan said most machine faults involve “sticky keys” – when the buttons pressed are not correctly recorded – or devices which “encourage you to pay” before the full registration has been entered.

The latter machines are “set up to trap people”, she claimed, as they accept payment even if only the first letter of a registration is entered.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Sadly, it’s abundantly clear from the multitude of examples that some parking companies are wrongly demanding ‘fines’ from drivers who have legitimately paid to park.

“Whether it’s a faulty payment machine that records the wrong vehicle registration or an innocent mistake keying in their number plate, these people shouldn’t have to pay the £100 parking charge notices they are sent.

“Many cases seem completely unjustified and should be thrown out at appeal, but sadly they so often aren’t.

“We desperately need the Government to introduce the Private Parking Code of Practice to bring much-needed scrutiny to the sector.”

A Bill to enable the introduction of a Government-backed code for private parking companies received royal assent under the Conservative government in March 2019.

The code was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

It included halving the cap on tickets for most parking offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system and banning the use of aggressive language on PCNs.

Ms Alexander called for private parking companies to make a “dramatic improvement” in the way they deal with the public.

She urged them to do “simple things” such as having “machines and equipment that work”, and being contactable rather than providing “addresses that no-one answers letters from”.

Ms Alexander went on: “Government is working on a code of practice because we recognise that we need to drive up standards in the private parking industry.

“People’s experience is not good enough at the moment.

“I’m working with colleagues in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on this, and I do accept that this is a problem that needs to be tackled.”

Analysis of Government data by PA and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation in November last year found an average of more than 41,000 PCNs were being sent to drivers in Britain by private companies every day.

A spokesperson for trade body the British Parking Association declined to respond to the claims of faulty machines, but said someone who receives a parking charge they believe was issued in error should first contact the parking operator and provide “all the information that would be relevant for an appeal”.

Excel Parking did not provide a response, while Euro Car Parks did not respond to requests for a comment.