Alex Thomson , Chief Correspondent

The Russian president enjoys approval ratings Western leaders can only dream of, even as they dismiss him as an isolationist and authoritarian leader. What is the secret of Putin’s appeal?

French President Emmanuel Macron has called their journalists “agents of influence and propaganda”. No wonder RT, formerly known as Russia Today, says its mission is to improve Russia’s image abroad. And in a rare interview, Margarita Simonyan , the editor of RT has told this programme that they are considering legal action aginst their French…

Why IS the weather so bad? Please can you fill in the potholes? What about that problem with Turkish tomatoes? Why haven’t you got married again? Did you really mess with the American election? Yes – today was the annual Putin phone-in, as the Russian President fielded questions from a nation getting everything, or ALMOST…

The Kremlin has dismissed criticism of its tough police response to yesterday’s anti-government protests, which saw more than 1,400 people arrested and the opposition leader Alexei Navalny jailed for 30 days. The authorities literally pulled the plug on his campaign, cutting off his YouTube channel, which had been broadcasting live to tens of thousands of…

Hundreds of people have been arrested across Russia in one of the biggest anti-Kremlin demonstrations in recent years. Opposition leader and presidential hopeful Alexei Navalny had called for nationwide protests against what he called Vladimir Putin’s corrupt rule.  

In Scotland, there was almost an entirely separate election campaign, with its own issues – notably the need, or otherwise, for a second independence referendum – and its own voting trends. The SNP is still the biggest party in Scotland by a long way, winning more seats than the other parties combined. But it also…

The Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has accused Theresa May of arrogance, as she spoke to a final rally of supporters in Leith, declaring that the election is an opportunity to stop the Tories in their tracks. Four million Scottish voters will be heading to the polls tomorrow.

Just days before the election, Theresa May has made a campaign visit to Edinburgh, declaring herself a “passionate Unionist”. The Conservatives hope to capture seats on Thursday, but the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon thinks her party could deny Mrs May a Westminster majority.

The latest poll of voting intentions in Scotland puts Labour and the Conservatives running neck-and-neck behind the SNP. Both have 25%, the SNP 43% and the Lib Dems just 5 per cent.

The Scottish National Party seem to have put the brakes on their drive for another referendum on independence, shunting it down their agenda until “the end of the Brexit process”. Launching the party’s manifesto today, Nicola Sturgeon said any attempts by the Conservatives to block Scotland having a choice would be “democratically unsustainable”.

The area is still cordoned off after last night’s attack, as police and forensic teams search for evidence. Throughout the day, there’s been condemnation of the attack from political leaders nationally and locally, as the city came together in extraordinary fashion through the night and across the day.

In Northern Ireland voters could be forgiven for suffering election fatigue as they trudge to the polls for the seventh time – yes seventh time, in three years. But the parties claim the electorate are motivated by Brexit and the collapse of Stormont. And also motivated by the chance that Sinn Fein – even though…

His father was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in front of his family. Now, John Finucane, the son of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, is standing as Sinn Féin’s parliamentary candidate in North Belfast. The party is confident he can take the seat from the Democratic Unionists for the first time in its history.

The former prime minister Tony Blair has said a hard Irish border would be a disaster, with an agreement the best way of limiting damage after Brexit.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has promised to work with Ireland to avoid the return of a hard border with Northern Ireland, telling a joint session of the Irish parliament that “nothing should put peace at risk.” Our Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson is in Dublin now.