Russia

Defence Secretary John Healey

Boost to Belfast weapons plant after UK missiles commitment to Ukraine

A display model of the new LMM (lightweight multi-role missile)

Boost to Belfast weapons plant after UK missiles commitment to Ukraine

Ami Saada (R) looks at a window that was damaged after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit his house on August 25, 2024 in Acre, Israel. On Sunday morning, Israel announced it had launched "preemptive" airstrikes on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah's preparations to attack northern Israel. Hezbollah responded by launching a series of drones against Israeli targets in retaliation for the recent death of one of its top commanders, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike last month. A 48-hour state of emergency has been declared across Israel by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

'Pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah like defending against IRA or Russia'

Dwight D Eisenhower, one of America's greatest generals, speaks to his men in Normandy, he was later to become US president

US President Eisenhower dismisses ‘preventive war’ talk (1954)

The cost of 500 litres of oil in NI last week fell to £297, while 900 ltrs fell to £525

The cost of home heating oil in NI drops almost as low as it did last summer

Morning View

Editorial: Supreme Court issues a welcome ruling on Shamima Begum's citizenship

President Joe Biden pauses as he concludes his address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington last week. He is still in office but has dropped his presidential re-election bid

Letter: Joe Biden needs to leave office now

Newspapers being printed. Without journalists probing facts, the full story won’t be told. Media expertise has never been as important in interpreting and analysing shock events

David Montgomery: Amidst threats to democracy, journalism is as critical as ever

Birds

The unexpected blessing: Is a bird pooping on you actually lucky?

Jim Allister taking to the media at Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt, during the count for the 2024 General Election. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Allister holds the key to a financial boost for Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage has introduced a refreshing realism to the general election campaign including his recent pronouncements in respect of the elections in Northern Ireland. Like him, I am not in the DUP but will vote for Sammy Wilson and would for Ian Paisley. Photo: James Manning/PA Wire

Letter: Nigel Farage right about Russia and right about who to back in NI poll

Morning View

Editorial: Allister right to reject Farage's drivel about Russia being provoked

Jim Allister said Nigel Farage has made some "dubious utterances" about Northern Ireland.

Allister rejects Farage's views on Russia

Morning View

Editorial: Remembering that immense moment in global history 80 years ago, D-Day

Morning View

Editorial: Russia and China make common cause against western democracies

Letters to editor

Letter: Without profiteering, there would be no wars
A letter from Louis Shawcross:
Letters

Peter Barrett of Steeper Culture in Drumbo, Co Down has relaunched a range of Kombucha soft drinks

Something’s brewing: Kombucha soft drinks from Steeper Culture

Energy bills are set to get cheaper from April

Ofgem energy price cap April 2024 - what it means for you

Morning View

Editorial: Vital UK funding for Ukraine is only a small fraction of our wealth

The Ukraine-Russia war has now been ongoing for two years. In 2023, the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal donated a total of £390,000 to Ukraine, shared between Christian Aid, Tearfund and Habitat for Humanity charities

Church of Ireland aid for Ukraine families

A church court said Rev Aleksiy Uminsky should be 'expelled from holy orders'

Priest faces expulsion for refusing to pray for victory over Ukraine

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with President Volodymyr Zelensky at a signing ceremony during a visit to the Presidential Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, to announce a major new package of a major new package of £2.5 billion in military aid to the country over the coming year

UK pledge £2.5bn in military aid package for Ukraine

RAC boss brands lower fuel prices in Northern Ireland 'galling' for motorists in GB. Photo: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

RAC boss brands cheaper fuel in Northern Ireland 'galling' for GB motorists

Morning View

Editorial: We wish all of our readers a happy new year

Duane McCreadie, who is helping to lead the construction of Belfast Grand Central Station (pictured inside the main terminal)

Belfast's new Grand Central Station: How costs almost went skyward

Former prime minister Boris Johnson is set to join GB News

Former PM Boris Johnson set to join GB News

Leo Varadkar, pictured at a previous Downing Street press conference

Irish premier Leo Varadkar declares his 'love' for the United Kingdom
The leader of the Republic of Ireland has declared his “love” for the UK, and voiced concerns about its political direction.
Adam Kula

TikTok

TikTok finds and shuts down secret operation to stir up conflict in Ireland

Food price inflation has dropped to its lowest rate since October last year

Fresh food prices help retail inflation to slow in August

Sheet of paper with portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner’s operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence, is placed at a makeshift memorial in front of the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner Centre in Saint Petersburg, on August 26.

Prigozhin: Wagner chief among 10 confirmed dead in Russian jet crash

This picture taken on July 4, 2017 shows Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin prior to a meeting with business leaders held by Russian and Chinese presidents at the Kremlin in Moscow.

Yevgeny Prigozhin was ‘on passenger list’ as 10 killed in jet crash

Morning View

Editorial: Dissident's jail term shows how Russia like China has no opposition

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky welcoming Taoiseach Leo Varadkar ahead of a meeting at Horodetskyi House, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Mr Varadkar has said he does not think the Irish Government would offer condolences to Russia in the event of Vladimir Putin's death. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA Wire

Ireland unlikely to offer condolences to Russia if Putin dies, Varadkar says

The IMF says the UK economy is due to perform better than Germany this year.

UK economy to outperform Germany, says IMF

Footage of Wigan fans singing in 2016 was mistaken as Ukrainians celebrating the Crimean Bridge attack by Hungarian TV station HirTV - Credit: Getty / YouTube

Hungarian TV station mistakes Ukrainians for Wigan Athletic fans

Letters to editor

Letter: Hypocrisy to top all hypocrisies when it comes to the Ukraine war

Front pages of the Belfast News Letter over the last 286 years: Top left, from October 1738 the earliest surviving edition of the paper; top right from December 1854 at the height of the Crimean War; middle left, from September 1912 at the time of the Ulster covenant; middle right from September 1939 at the start of World War Two; bottom left from November 1963 at the assassination of John F Kennedy; bottom right from last September; bottom middle from April 1998 at the time of the Belfast Agreement; and bottom right from September last year after the new king's first visit to NI

Ben Lowry: You are supporting the world’s oldest English language daily paper

President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, denounced the Irish government’s foreign policy in a recent interview, prompting a number of headlines he will not like, including 'Higgins crossed the line as the clock ticks down on his presidency'

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Higgins may have pushed his luck too far

Morning View

Editorial: UK right to help Ukraine against a vulnerable Putin

Yevgeny Prigozhin and Philip Ingram

Co Tyrone military intelligence expert: Wagner mutiny has left Putin weaker man

A man holds the Russian national flag in front of a Wagner group military vehicle with the sign read as "Rostov" in Rostov-on-Don late on June 24, 2023. Rebel mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin who sent his fighters to topple the military leaders in Moscow will leave for Belarus and a criminal case against him will be dropped as part of a deal to avoid "bloodshed," the Kremlin said on June 24. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia uprising: Rebellion ends with Yevgeny Prigozhin sent to Belarus

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov attends a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations chaired by President Vladimir Putin in Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Krai region, on May 19, 2023. (Photo by TATIANA BARYBINA/Press service of the governor of/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia uprising: Chechen troops sent to Wagner Group conflict zones

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) and US President Joe Biden, take part in a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House, during his visit to Washington DC in the US

UK and US 'stand together' to bolster economic security as leaders meet

World oil prices surged dramatically after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year, with prices for both home heating oil and forecourt fuel in NI peaking at extreme levels last summer and autumn

Heating oil prices almost halved - car fuel prices still dropping

Northern Ireland's primary school children have the fifth highest reading skills in a survey of 60 countries. Parents who read to their children before they start primary school are most likely to excel at literacy

NI fifth for reading skills among primary school children globally

Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina and English actress Hannah Waddingham present the first semi-final of the 2023 Eurovision Song contest at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Eurovision: Why Russia, North Macedonia & Bulgaria aren’t competing

Why not enjoy an Occasional Tipple with Raymond Gleug?

Why not enjoy an Occasional Tipple with Raymond Gleug?

Russia threatens military response after UK sends missiles to Ukraine

Bank of England impose another interest rate hike

Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey Bank of England, in London, on February 2, 2023. - The Bank of England on Thursday hiked its interest rate for a tenth time in a row as global authorities race to combat sky-high inflation. The central bank's Monetary Policy Commitee voted at a regular meeting to lift its key interest rate by a half-point to 4.0 percent, the highest level since late 2008. (Photo by Yui Mok / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Bank of England lifts interest rates again as food prices stay higher for longer

US President Joe Biden showing his support last month for Evan Gershkovich at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington. Mr Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and has been arrested in Russia, faces espionage charges which have been flatly denied. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Ian Ellis: A free press is to be highly valued and never taken for granted

Eurovision 2023 venue The M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool - Credit: Eurovision / M&SBA

Eurovision semi-final 2023: Full guide to event including timings

Ukraine War: What is the Victory Day parade in Russia, what did Vladimir Putin say about the west?

What is Victory Day in Russia & what did Vladimir Putin say?

Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Vladimir Putin in a drone attack

Russia accuses Ukraine of Kremlin drone strike

Tinder will cease operating in Russia

Dating app Tinder to stop operating in Russia following Ukraine war