Zelensky accuses Putin of ‘pure terrorism’ after massive attack on Kyiv

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of “pure terrorism” after at least 15 people were killed and 75 others were injured in a massive attack on Ukraine overnight.

Mr Zelensky called the attack “one of the most horrific” of the war so far, with Ukrainian officials saying 14 were killed in Kyiv and one person was reported dead in Odesa. In total, Russia fired almost 500 drones and missiles across Ukraine.

“Such attacks are pure terrorism. And the whole world, the United States, and Europe must finally respond as a civilised society responds to terrorists,” Mr Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president said that it’s still unclear how many remain trapped under the debris.

The major aerial attack came just hours after president Donald Trump said it was a mistake to throw Russia out of what was formerly the G8, comments that are likely to infuriate Ukraine and other western allies.

“This was a big mistake,” Mr Trump said, adding he believed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Russian president Vladimir Putin not been ejected from the high-profile group of nations. “Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else … he’s not a happy person about it,” Mr Trump said.

Children and teenage girls were blamed for crimes against them, ‘damning’ grooming gangs report finds

Children and teenage girls were blamed for crimes perpetrated against them, a “deeply disturbing” report into grooming gangs has found.

Yvette Cooper has vowed to take immediate action on 12 recommendations by Baroness Louise Casey following a rapid national audit on grooming gangs in Britain.

The home secretary said there had been “too much denial’ and “too little justice” for victims as she announced a string of measures, including a time-limited national inquiry and mandatory collection of data on the nationality and ethnicity of perpetrators.

Addressing the Commons, Ms Cooper said:

In her 200-page report, Baroness Casey called for tougher prosecution of men who have sex with under-16s to ensure their charges are never downgraded from rape.

She said we have “failed in our duty” to properly understand this kind of group offending as she hit out at an “appalling” lack of data over offenders’ ethnicities. After her report’s publication, she told Sky News that she was even “following through on a children’s file in archive and found the word ‘Pakistani’ tippexed out”. “ “I thought whoever did that inadvertently was giving ammunition to the English Defence League that were every week, in and out, campaigning and doing their stuff in that town,” she said.

And in the report, she wrote: “If we’d got this right years ago – seeing these girls as children raped rather than ‘wayward teenagers’ or collaborators in their abuse, collecting ethnicity data, and acknowledging as a system that we did not do a good enough job – then I doubt we’d be in this place now.”

In a briefing with journalists at Westminster, Baroness Casey called for victims who have criminal records for things they were forced to do under duress to have their convictions overturned.

She also admitted she changed her mind about the need for a national inquiry, which she said should take just three years, after just one area came forward to take part in the government’s previous plan for five local reviews.

And she said not collecting more data on the ethnicity of grooming gangs does a “disservice” to the British Pakistani community and could leave them at risk, saying it was only helping perpetrators not to bring a fuller picture to light.

Grooming gangs are thought to be operating today, largely targeting girls aged between 10 and 15, the inquiry found.

The model of grooming gangs often sees perpetrators shower vulnerable teenagers – often those in care or with learning or physical disabilities – with attention and grooming them to believe they are a “boyfriend”.

They may later pass them to others for sex or turn to violence and coercion to control them.

“This model has not changed significantly over time, although the grooming process is now as likely to start online, and hotspots might have moved from parks to vape shops and the use of hotels with anonymous check-in facilities,” the report found.

Ms Cooper described it as “one of the most horrific crimes” as she issued an “unequivocal apology” to survivors.

“Children as young as 10 plied with drugs and alcohol, brutally raped by gangs of men and disgracefully let down again and again by the authorities who were meant to protect them and keep them safe,” she told the Commons.

Ms Cooper described Baroness Casey’s findings as “damning”, adding: “She has found continued failure to gather proper robust national data despite concerns being raised going back very many years.

“In the local data that the audit examined from three police forces, they identify clear evidence of overrepresentation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani heritage men, and she refers to examples of organisations avoiding the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist or raising community tensions.”

The national inquiry into grooming gangs will aim to tackle “continued denial, resistance and legal wrangling”, she added.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the probe “must start with known hot spots” such as Bradford and Rochdale as she hit out at the prime minister for “dithering and delay”.

Baroness Casey’s findings prompted Sir Keir Starmer to bow to months of pressure by announcing a statutory national inquiry.

The government had previously resisted calls for such an inquiry, saying it would focus instead on implementing recommendations from a seven-year probe by Professor Alexis Jay.

In January, Sir Keir became embroiled in a row with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who called safeguarding minister Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and accusing Sir Keir of “hiding terrible things”.

In February, Baroness Casey was appointed to carry out a rapid national audit looking at the scale of grooming gangs.

No 10 said the new inquiry will look at how young girls “were failed so badly” and institutions who failed to act to protect them will “not be able to hide and will finally be held to account for their actions”.

The Home Office has confirmed that the National Crime Agency (NCA) will follow up on more than 800 cold cases and work with police to re-examine past cases that “were not progressed through the criminal justice system.”

Local inquiries already announced are expected to become part of the national inquiry, Downing Street said. It will build on the seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Prof Jay, which found institutional failings and tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales.

However, a prominent children’s charity has cautioned that the government must not wait until the end of the new inquiry to implement the recommendations.

Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “Children and survivors of abuse have already been waiting many years for action, so it’s vital the government doesn’t wait for the outcome of this new inquiry to implement recommendations from previous ones.”

Doctor in Matthew Perry ketamine overdose case to plead guilty

Dr Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to distributing ketamine to the late Friends star Matthew Perry.

The physician, known as “Dr P”, was one of five people charged over the death of the actor. Four have now pleaded guilty.

The others are Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected him on the day of his death according to court filings; San Diego ketamine clinic owner Dr Mark Chavez; and Erik Fleming, who pled guilty to providing Perry with ketamine.

The fifth, Jasveen Sangha, is an alleged dealer who has been referred to as the “ketamine queen”. She is pleading not guilty.

The LA Times reports that after entering the plea agreement for four counts of distribution of ketamine, Dr Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison.

On October 28, 2023, Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his home. A medical examiner later ruled that ketamine was his primary cause of death.

The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

According to prosecutors, Dr Plasencia was not only involved in supplying ketamine to Perry outside the scope of his professional practice, he also taught Iwamasa how to inject the actor with the drug.

Authorities have suggested that Dr Plasencia saw Perry as a cash cow, citing text messages he sent to Chavez about a month before the actor’s death. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” he wrote in one. “Let’s find out,” he wrote in another.

At the beginning of October 2023, the indictment says Iwamasa texted Dr Plasencia an order for eight vials of ketamine, referring to them as “8 bottles of dr pepper.”

On October 12, Dr Plasencia injected Perry with “a large dose of ketamine” that unexpectedly caused the actor to “freeze up,” and spiked his blood pressure, rattling the doctor, according to the indictment.

When Dr Plasencia began having supply issues, Perry’s go-betweens branched out to Sangha, who said she had a “master chef” cooking up ketamine for her, the indictment states. And since Perry bought a lot of her product, Sangha provided him with ketamine lollipops as an “add-on,” according to the indictment.

In the days leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa administered at least 15 shots of ketamine to him, all of which were supplied by Sangha, according to the indictment. It says Iwamasa gave Perry the final three doses of ketamine purchased from Sangha, using needles provided by Plasencia, on October 28, the day he died.

Sangha’s trial, originally scheduled for March, is now set to commence in August.

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: actiononaddiction.org.uk, mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk.

Latest Transfer News as Arsenal battle for Gyokeres and Everton sign Walker

The transfer window is now open once more following a short closure after its initial mini-opening ahead of the summer’s Club World Cup. The window has officially re-opened today, Monday 16 June, with clubs able to accelerate deals ahead of the new season.

Liverpool are making plans for a Florian Wirtz medical later this week after agreeing a record £116.5m deal for the German superstar. The Premier League champions, who have already brought in Jeremie Frimpong, will make Wirtz their club-record signing after agreeing a deal with Bayer Leverkusen. However, they may well lose left-back stalwart Andy Robertson, with Atletico Madrid circling.

Manchester United, who have secured Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5m, are negotiating with Brentford about Bryan Mbeumo, who would prefer a move to Old Trafford over Tottenham Hotspur even as Thomas Frank takes charges in north London – though Spurs want Mbeumo and teammate Yoane Wissa.

Arsenal hope to bring in Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi, and Mikel Arteta has made RB Leipzig striker, Benjamin Sesko, their No 1 target for a striker. However, the Gunners have reportedly submitted an initial offer for another forward option – Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres.

You can sign up to DAZN to watch every Club World Cup game for free, while all the latest updates, rumours and done deals from what promises to be a chaotic transfer window will be covered in the blog below:

NHS tells wheelchair user to go to Pets at Home to be weighed

An NHS trust has apologised after staff told a wheelchair user she would have to go to a pet shop to be weighed.

Sarah Rennie said that at first she laughed when health bosses in Shropshire advised her to go to Pets at Home because the suggestion was so absurd.

However, she told The Independent it later dawned on her that the situation was not acceptable and showed that “services everyone else can access aren’t possible for disabled people”.

Ms Rennie, 39, from Shrewsbury, who has muscle-wasting, needs to be weighed to monitor her medication and exercise and to ensure her weight remains stable.

Her difficulty began after she moved to Shropshire from Birmingham last year. Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust told her it was no longer commissioned to run its weighing clinic, which closed after the Covid pandemic.

“The rehabilitation service has now been utilised by other services and clients can be weighed when attending a clinic appointment only,” an email reply to her from the trust read.

The Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries later said it encouraged her to do the same as its patients on discharge – “access community-based weighing options, including facilities such as Pets at Home, where they can roll onto the scales”.

However, Ms Rennie, a freelance transport consultant, said she would not put herself through the dehumanising experience of going to Pets at Home and would continue to battle for disabled people who are “invisible in the system”.

The trust was forced to apologise for offence caused by the incident, but Ms Rennie called for it to be honest about its lack of facilities.

“I can’t go to my GP surgery for a cervical smear because they don’t have a hoist and I’m OK with that, but I’m not OK with pretending services are there that don’t exist,” she told The Independent.

“Weight is a key indicator of health for people who are immobile, so to be able to access that information about our bodies is really important.”

She cannot stand or walk, so is unable to transfer to a different type of seat.

“I don’t blame individuals; it demonstrates the institutional lack of regard for the quality of our lives. I blame the policymakers”, she added.

Before moving, Ms Rennie bought a set of scales designed for weighing animals for about £50, but stopped using them because they were not designed for use with her equipment, and her personal assistant would have to be insured to use them.

She says hospital wards may have weighing facilities, but she doubts whether they would allow the public to walk in and use them.

“I don’t think any private facilities would be comfortable with that,” she said. “There’s a privacy issue and insurance to consider.

“This is an example of wider institutional health inequalities for disabled people, particularly women.

“In hospital, the number of older people unable to transfer is higher than you think. Families are helping them transfer so they’re not a visible part of the community, so we’re just constantly being forgotten.”

In a TikTok video, she said: “A very nice lady connected to my surgery suggested I go on local radio and see if any factory owners could help me.”

She added: “Do I look like a chipmunk?”

A spokesperson from NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, on behalf of the local health and care system, said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Rennie for any upset or offence caused.

“Although we are unable to comment on individual cases, we are continuing to look into her experience to fully understand the wider issues and identify what can be done for her and others in similar situations.”

Win a Wilderness Festival luxury package for two

Music fans can win a luxury package for two to this year’s Wilderness Festival, all courtesy of Audi.

Wilderness returns this year to the picturesque nature reserve at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, and will be headlined by rock band Supergrass, Nineties rave duo Orbital, and Brit Award-winning, Grammy-nominated indie-rock duo Wet Leg.

Completing the headliner lineup are Basement Jaxx, who are making their return to live shows for the first time in over a decade, as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking album, Remedy.

The winner will receive a pair of complimentary festival tickets and boutique accommodation in a luxury cabin for two. They will also be treated to an Audi Kitchen experience and, for the ultimate luxury, your own private chauffeur to take you and your guest to the festival and return journey.

Enter the prize draw here.

Wilderness Festival is known for its eclectic music lineup, which this year includes performances from pop singer Lapsley, singer-songwriter Bess Atwell, Scottish musician Jacob Alon and DJ Craig Charles.

At The Sanctuary and Spa, guests will discover an oasis of calm, whether that means taking part in disco yoga or a workshop to explore your sensuality. Highlights include boating, massage treatments, sauna rituals, hot tubs, a wild sauna, Wim Hof method ice baths and wild swimming.

Gourmet food offerings can be found at Ben Quinn’s long table banquet in the woods, a once-in-a-lifetime experience set in the woods and lit by chandeliers. There, Quinn and his team will serve up a feast of flavour cooked right in front of you five courses of carefully curated, responsibly sourced, local and seasonal ingredients.

Elsewhere, attendees can join a number of talks, comedy sets and conversations, from Food Stories with Jay Rayner to a live recording of Jamie Laing’s podcast, Great Company.

Comedian, writer and NHS doctor Matthew Hutchinson will share a sharp and moving look at life on the frontline of British healthcare, while cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith will uncover a bold and fascinating alternative history of female friendship.

The prize draw will open for entries at 3pm (BST) on 7 May 2025 and close at 3pm BST on 17 June 2025. Only one entry per person is permitted for the Prize Draw. Terms and conditions apply.

Cars to be banned from Oxford Street ‘as quickly as possible’

Sir Sadiq Khan has announced plans to ban traffic from part of Oxford Street will be implemented “as quickly as possible” due to support from “the vast majority of Londoners“.

According to Khan’s office, 66 per cent of respondents to a consultation supported the pedestrianisation plan. A separate YouGov survey conducted in September 2024 indicated that 63% of Londoners are in favour of the project.

Oxford Street is one of the world’s busiest shopping areas, with around half a million visitors each day.

Khan wants to ban vehicles from a 0.7-mile stretch between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, with the potential for further changes towards Tottenham Court Road.

Detailed proposals for traffic will be consulted on later this year.

A previous attempt by Sir Sadiq to pedestrianise that part of Oxford Street was blocked by then-Conservative run Westminster City Council in 2018.

His latest proposals depend on him obtaining permission from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner in her role as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to establish a new Mayoral Development Corporation, which would provide planning powers.

The aim is for this to be created by the start of next year.

Sir Sadiq said: “Oxford Street has suffered over many years, so urgent action is needed to give our nation’s high street a new lease of life.

“It’s clear that the vast majority of Londoners and major businesses back our exciting plans, so I’m pleased to confirm that we will now be moving ahead as quickly as possible.

“We want to rejuvenate Oxford Street; establish it as a global leader for shopping, leisure and outdoor events with a world-class, accessible, pedestrianised avenue.

“This will help to attract more international visitors and act as a magnet for new investment and job creation, driving growth and economic prosperity for decades to come.”

Ms Rayner said: “We want to see Oxford Street become the thriving place to be for tourists and Londoners alike, and that’s why we welcome the Mayor of London’s bold proposals to achieve that.

“We will support the mayor in delivering this ambitious vision, which will help to breathe new life into Oxford Street – driving investment, creating new jobs for local people and providing a boost to economic growth in the capital.”

Adam Hug, leader of Labour-controlled Westminster City Council, said: “While the mayor’s formal decision today was not the City Council’s preferred outcome, it is far from unexpected, and it is now important for Oxford Street’s future to move forward together.

“Since the mayor’s new approach was made public last autumn, Westminster has worked pragmatically and productively with the Greater London Authority (GLA) to ensure that the plan for Oxford Street more closely meets the needs of businesses, visitors, and residents.

“Since 2022, Oxford Street has roared back to life after the pandemic. Such is the level of retail confidence that existing brands have spent £118 million refitting their stores in the last 12 months alone, according to Savills.

“Westminster City Council will work constructively with the mayor’s team to ensure the nation’s high street is re-imagined in a way that works for visitors, shoppers, and our residents.”

How unpopular is Trump? Even some people who attended his military parade don’t like him

President Donald Trump’s decision to go forward with his military parade landed with thud.

While the Trump administration said 250,000 people watched the parade, the “No Kings” protests across the country reportedly had four million people attend, the largest mass demonstrations in the nation’s history.

The event Saturday was billed as a way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Army, though inevitably, people brought up how it came the same day as the president’s 79th birthday. Television broadcasts and The Independent flagged how few people attended the event.

The parade came as Israel and Iran escalated military strikes against each other after Israel conducted its strikes beginning on Thursday.

The next day, Trump announced that he would dispatch ICE to Democratic-run cities in blue states after he had already attempted to send in the National Guard and Marines without consent of the governor.

But even outside the parade, much of the city remained relatively muted.

Protesters walked in between the lines of attendees yelling “Save America, F*** Trump” as they filed and some heckled and yelled shame to them as they entered the premises for the military parade.

Others read from the Constitution or played Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of.”

But even some of the people who attended the event did not necessarily approve of the president.

Cassie Hafner came to Washington because her sister lives in the city and she wanted to bring her children.

“My son is a big military buff, and I know he wanted to see a lot of the vehicles,” she told The Independent. “We were most excited to see the tanks and the airplanes, and he got to sit in the helicopters and stuff, and super fun.”

Hafner said she liked that the event was not an “explicitly MAGA event,” and she said she is not a fan of Trump a few months into his presidency.

“I think it’s, he’s very reactionary,” she said. “And he’s not thinking through the long term consequences of some of the decisions that he’s making.”

In the same token, Terry Modglin said he served in the Army. Specifically, he served a tour of duty in Vietnam.

“So this is a singular day I won’t be around for the next one,” he told The Independent. “I think we it’s important that we, too understand what our soldiers do for us, for this country.”

Modglin said that he did not come because of Trump, but rather to pay tribute to U.S. service members.

“My thoughts are independent of the President,” he said. “I’m here to honor our service to our soldiers.”

In fact, Modglin said that he was “not a fan of the president.”

“A number of the things that he’s done that I think are a little too, a little over the top,” he said.

Of course, plenty of people–arguably a majority of the people–attending the parade counted themselves as fans. As people walked into the area where the parade took place, one busker with a guitar sang Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” which has become something of an unofficial song of the Trump movement, and “YMCA,” by the Village People, which Trump plays regularly at his rallies.

As people waited in line, plenty of street vendors hawked “Make America Great Again” hats and or images of Trump saying “Daddy’s Home.” Others wore hats saying “Trump was right about everything” or they wore “Dark MAGA” hats similar to the ones Elon Musk donned when he was in Trump’s better graces.

“A lot more organized, a lot more together to fight the resistance, the anti-American people,” said a man named John who did not want to use his last name. “He spent four years getting together organized, and now is doing it.”

John said he appreciated “all the way from immigration from economics from everything” in terms of Trump’s policies.

Bryan Benaiges, who was pushing a stroller with his baby, wore a Trump hat, but said he did not like how the event became politicized.

“I think it’s primarily in support of the military and the country and its army, historic feat that our army survived 250 years,” he told The Independent. “A lot of people are just curious and want to see it or want to support our country or our service members.”

Still, Benaiges said he supports Trump.

But there is evidence that Trump is losing some popular support. An NBC News Decision Desk poll showed that 55 percent of all adults disapproved of Trump. A YouGov poll right before the parade showed that people were about evenly split on whether they approved or disapproved of the military parade.

All of this matters as Trump will begin a major push to ram through his “One Big, Beautiful Bill” legislation through the Senate. But if he continues to shed support, that will make his job much harder.