Events in Ukraine over the last 24 hours have been utterly barbaric. Bad even by the standards of this horrendous war.  

Multiple Iranian drones and North Korean missiles laden with explosives brought carnage to swathes of the country, killing yet more civilians.

This was Russia’s answer to President Donald Trump’s peace plan and ultimatum. Normally, strangely reluctant to criticise Russia, even Trump was moved to implore Vladimir Putin to “STOP”.

Ukraine latest – Trump unhappy with Putin

But in truth, throughout Trump’s Ukraine peace process – if it can be called that – most of America’s pressure has been on Ukraine.

The peace plan that has emerged from direct US talks, which were mainly with Russia, is one-sided, and to Ukraine and its European partners, it is a surrender plan which is impossible for Ukraine to accept.

Even Russia’s supporter in this war, China, has problems with it, in particular with America’s proposal that Russia is rewarded for its invasion with sovereignty of Crimea.

Far from heading towards a peace deal, we are now, it seems, careering towards a crunch point that could see America give up on Ukraine completely, possibly blaming Kyiv for failure and renewing relations with Moscow.

Might will be proven right, and Vladimir Putin will be emboldened to do it all over again in a few years, possibly against other countries too. That is the fear in chancelleries across Europe.

There are two key questions now.

Does Trump mean he will walk away from trying to broker peace or supporting Ukraine entirely?

And if he does, can Ukraine carry on without US help?

European nations have said they will carry on supporting Ukraine. They see its survival and victory as essential for their own security.

They already give Ukraine €40bn in financial and military help. Ukraine would need another €20bn or so to fill the US gap – not that tall an order.

And they are beefing up their defence industries to do more to give Ukraine what it needs to fight Russia.

Ukraine’s defence increasingly depends on a homegrown drone industry, which doesn’t rely on American backing.

But Ukraine does need US intelligence, aerial defence support and satellite coverage provided by Starlink.

Were they to lose all that, they could be in trouble.

What exactly Trump does if and, as seems increasingly likely, when his deal fails, he is not making clear.

But what seems certain is America is caring less and less for Ukraine’s plight under this president.

Read more:
Student killed in school stabbing
India and Pakistan tensions rise after attack
Young people on the reality of knife crime
Oasis fans ‘lost £2m to ticket scams’

That poses some urgent and pressing questions for Europe.

Its leaders have always said they will support Ukraine “whatever it takes, as long as it takes”.

Do they have the political will and unity to do that, even without America by their side?

A professional footballer has been jailed for causing the death of a cyclist in a car crash.

Mansfield Town forward Lucas Akins crashed into Adrian Daniel in his Mercedes G350 in Huddersfield on 17 March 2022, while taking his daughter to a piano lesson.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Daniel, 33, suffered catastrophic head injuries and died 10 days later.

Akins, 36, played in Mansfield’s 0-0 draw with Wigan on 4 March, hours after pleading guilty at Leeds Crown Court to death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

The footballer has continued to play for Mansfield since the incident.

Judge Alex Menary said on Thursday that he had considered imposing a suspended sentence, but had concluded that only an immediate sentence of 14 months’ imprisonment was appropriate.

A spokesperson for Mansfield Town FC said it “acknowledges” the court’s decision and offered the club’s “sincere and deepest condolences to the family of Adrian Daniel at this difficult time”.

“The club is considering its position with regards to Lucas and will be making no further comment at this stage,” the spokesperson added.

‘Like hell’

Prosecuting, Carmel Pearson said it was a “difficult junction to emerge from” but that the defendant “did not stop at the give-way sign”.

Savanna Daniel, Mr Daniel’s wife, told the court it had been “like hell and a nightmare [she is] not waking up from”.

“There was no reason for Adrian to be killed that way,” she said, adding it was “too simple a collision to have taken a life”.

Mrs Daniel said she did not want Akins’s children growing up without their father as she did not want “any more lives to be destroyed from this”, but she criticised the defendant for failing to plead guilty at an earlier stage.

Tim Pole, representing Akins, said he was “fundamentally a decent, honest and hard-working individual”.

“I want to publicly apologise on his behalf,” he said.

Mr Pole added that Akins understood Mrs Daniel’s “frustration and anger” over the time it took him to plead guilty.

Handing down his sentence, the judge accepted that Akins’s remorse was genuine but by not admitting to the offence at an earlier stage, he had prolonged Mrs Daniel’s “heartache and grief”.

After the sentencing, Mrs Daniel said “three years of hell” had come to a close, in a statement via West Yorkshire Police.

She said Akins had made a “farce” of the justice system and that his failure to plead guilty sooner “makes a mockery of any remorse that Akins offers for his actions”.

Akins, who has played for Mansfield Town since 2022 and was previously with clubs including Huddersfield Town, Tranmere Rovers and Burton Albion, was also suspended from driving for 12 months.

Much of the UK will bask in warm, sunny conditions at the start of next week, with inland temperatures up to 10C higher than average, but it’s a mixed picture before then.

The first half of spring brought warmth and sunshine for many, but the last 10 days have been more changeable.

Some areas of Ireland, Northern Ireland, southwest Wales, and southwest England have seen much-needed rainfall, whereas parts of northern Britain have observed very little.

See the latest weather forecast where you are

Tyne and Wear in northeast England has recorded just 7% of its average April rainfall, whereas Cornwall in the southwest of the country has already seen 156%.

And the Milford Haven rain gauge in Wales has seen over twice its average April rainfall.

There’ll be more rain over the next few days, mainly in the West, but it looks like high pressure will settle things down from Sunday.

Temperatures will rise too, becoming widely above average on Monday and Tuesday.

Highs of 22C (72F) to 24C (75F) can be expected.

The highest temperature of the year so far is 24C (75F), seen at Northolt in northwest London on Saturday 12 April.

The settled conditions will bring plenty of sunshine, with UV levels expected to be around moderate.

Tree pollen levels will be high in the South, low to moderate in the North.

What happens from next Wednesday onwards is unclear.

A thundery breakdown is possible from the South, or wet and windy conditions may move in from the North West.

Other computer models suggest high pressure will hold on, with the fine weather continuing and potentially higher temperatures.

The last time that 25C (77C) was reached in April was during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

The highest temperature ever recorded in April was 29.4C (85F), seen at Camden Square in London on 16 April 1949.

All this means that it will be quite warm for the London Marathon, which will take place this Sunday.

Temperatures will be around 11-12C (52-54F) at the start, potentially peaking at a warm 22C (70F).

That’s a little off the highest temperature ever recorded for the race, which stands at 24.2C (76F) seen at St James’s Park in 2018.

But it will be a lot higher than the 12.6C (55F) seen last year.

Read more on Sky News:
Tesco apologises to ‘humiliated’ customer
Children growing up around knife crime
Shoplifting hits record high

It’ll be dry for runners and spectators, with sunny spells and light winds.

Competitors in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday will face similar conditions to London’s runners; it should be dry with sunny spells. The temperature first thing will be around 9C (48F), but it’ll warm up with a high of about 19C (66F).