Aiden Aslin, a British volunteer who joined Ukraine’s marines, was captured and tortured by Putin’s forces in 2022 and is now back fighting the Kremlin. He tells his story to the ‘World of Trouble’ podcast with world affairs editor Sam Kiley in eastern Ukraine

Funding to tackle misinformation and cyber-attacks, and boost democracy, cut from £40m to £24m

Keir Starmer’s raid on overseas aid has led to a 40% cut in funds for countering Russian aggression and misinformation in a region of Europe described by the prime minister as vital to the UK’s national security.

British funding committed to bolstering the western Balkans, where Russia has been accused of sowing division and creating destabilisation, has been cut from £40m last year to £24m for 2025-26.

Cyclist and road safety groups argue proposed alternative route away from traffic-free Le Piétonnier is unsafe

On an unseasonably mild winter’s day, people are gathering at Le Piétonnier, the pedestrian zone in the heart of Brussels. Tourists buy mulled wine and churros at the Christmas market outside the Bourse, the old stock exchange, now repurposed as a beer museum. A few people drink coffee on cafe terraces. Up and down the length of the 650-metre-long space, people come and go, bikes and scooters weaving in and out of the crowds.

Next year, this scene will look somewhat different: bikes and scooters will be banned from this 18,000-sq-metre pedestrian zone for most of the day. People on two wheels will be allowed to ride only between 4am and 11am. At all other times, they must dismount and push their vehicle up the street, or face a fine.

European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent ‘confusion’. Just don’t mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wings

Most of what you eat is sausages. I mean, if we’re going to get literal about it. Sausage derives from the Latin salsicus, which means “seasoned with salt”. You might think of a sausage as a simple thing, but on this reading it is everything and nothing, a Borgesian meta-concept that retreats as you approach it.

From another perspective, a sausage is an offal-filled intestine, or the macerated parts of an electrocuted or asphyxiated pig or other animal – generally parts that you wouldn’t knowingly eat – mixed with other ingredients that, in isolation, you might consider inedible. For some reason, it is seldom marketed as such.

These landmarks all deliver genuine awe in real life — no matter how many times you’ve seen them on social media

Beatriz Bernal’s pioneering novel features brave, chivalrous women who ride dragons and her adapter wants his illustrated version to reach young readers

Sixty years before a gaunt and deluded nobleman from La Mancha was overdosing on tales of derring-do, visiting his madness on those around him – and single-handedly rewriting the rules of fiction – the deeds of another heroic knight had already made literary history.

Though completely eclipsed by Don Quixote, Cristalián de España, which was first published in 1545, has a unique claim to fame. Its 800 pages, bristling with swords, sorcerers, dragons and damsels, make up the earliest known work by a female Spanish novelist.

‘Why do ordinary people live worse than Papuans [citizens of Papua New Guinea]?’ hit out one Russian viewer

Vladimir Putin reiterated his hardline demands of Ukraine at a conference as Kyiv met for more talks to end the war

This recent addition to the growing hotel scene on the city’s Riviera from the hip hotel chain is ideal for digital nomads and arty types, says Rich Booth

The Bondi beach terror attack, the Brown University shooting, ICE in Chicago and a fallen Statue of Liberty: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists