News

Putin warns of harsh response to ‘Europe’s militarisation’

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has called for a “significant” response to “Europe’s militarisation” and calls the potential NATO-attack hysteria “nonsense.”

At a forum on foreign policy in the southern resort city of Sochi on Thursday, he said, “They can’t believe what they’re saying that Russia is going to attack NATO.” They are either utterly incompetent or simply dishonest because they truly believe it because it is impossible to believe this nonsense.

Putin expressed his frustration with Europe’s military development, citing his ongoing monitoring of the trend, and warned of swift retaliation.

“The German army should become the strongest in Europe, for instance,” according to one claim. Very well indeed. We’ve heard that, and we’re watching to see what that means, according to Putin.

Putin continued, “Russia will never display indolence or weakness.” Simply put, “We can’t ignore what is going on.”

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has helped the bloc strengthen its defense, relations between Russia and the European Union have deteriorated.

Concerns that Russia’s war might spill over Ukraine’s borders have grown worse as a result of drones flying over Denmark and aerial incursions from Moscow in Estonia and Poland.

Russian officials and some NATO allies have claimed that Russia intentionally invades other countries’ airspace. Moscow, however, has refuted the accusations, saying that accusations are made by European powers.

He claimed Russia wasn’t a threat and that Europe was fueling “hysteria” to justify increasing military spending.

The Russian president remarked, “Just relax.”

Trump claims to be a listener.

He claimed that the failure to bring about peace in Ukraine was the product of European countries’ “constant escalation” policy.

He continued, “All NATO countries are fighting us, and they’re no longer hiding it,” adding that they are “actually taking part in combat operations” through a center that provides weapons and intelligence.

Putin also praised US President Donald Trump in his remarks on Thursday, claiming that the two countries had discussed renouncing their bilateral ties during the Alaska summit in August and reaching an agreement on the war in Ukraine.

Trump has a good sense of humor, according to Putin. Since taking office in January, the US president has been working to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Moscow has so far indicated that it is unwilling to compromise in its negotiations with Ukraine, insisting that Kyiv renounce NATO membership and leave its territory.

Putin also suggested Moscow could retaliate against Ukrainian-controlled nuclear plants and warned Ukraine that it was “playing a dangerous game” by striking the area close to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The largest nuclear power plant in Europe has been turned off from external power for more than a week and is being cooled by emergency diesel generators. Russia and Ukraine have both held responsible for shelling the area and shutting down the external force.

They still have operational nuclear power plants, the report states. What prevents us from giving a kind response? They ought to consider this, Putin said.

Taylor Swift fans convinced major hint links new album to this unlikely UK city

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article35988000.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/3_Taylor.jpg

Fans have already organized some of the missed Easter egg hunts in advance of the release of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, which will be released in Cardiff, anyone?

Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album, The Life of a Showgirl, drops in a matter of hours and fans are eager to decode the theme behind the project. The 12-track album features the lead single ‘Ophelia’s fate’ and a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’.

Following a successful Eras Tour and last year’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, as well as a very public relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce, the Swifties – Taylor’s fans – have been on the hunt for Life of a Showgirl easter eggs, as theories about what the songs could be about have been going viral.

Many people were spooked by a surprising theory from Taylor’s most recent performance in Cardiff. Swift’s Eras tour’s only one-time stop was where fans began compiling clues, such as her debuting a green and orange skirt and top.

READ MORE: Bad Bunny’s net worth revealed as superstar is confirmed for Super Bowl 2026READ MORE: All about Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman’s children as couple split after 19 years

Fans were so moved by Taylor’s orange dress that it made a point that both outfits appeared to be in line with “The Life Of A Showgirl’s” color scheme later on in the acoustic set.

To add even more mystery, BBC Wales shared the possibility of a link between Cardiff Bay and the new album. The first easter egg was a photo of the singer posing in the cleaning cart she used to enter the concert venue. Later that year, touring in Vancouver, Canada, Taylor posed in the same cleaning cart in front of a painting of Cardiff Bay by Rachel Rasmussen.

She must really like Wales, a devoted Swiftie fan said, “For ages, we thought the Cardiff Bay pictures were so random. Only now do we realize that the Cardiff performance was conceivably an Easter egg.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp, for a curated list of popular stories, moving interviews, and popular lifestyle picks from The Mirror’s Audience U35 team, and get them delivered straight to your inbox for more stories like this.

Other fans took to social media to share their thoughts. A fan joked on X: “The key to being a swiftie is to have a friend who’s a bigger Swiftie than you are. So you can have your insane theories and obsess over the albums and easter eggs but you’re not known as “that girl who is obsessed with Taylor Swift.”

Have you downloaded Taylor Swift’s most recent album? In the comments section below, let us know!

What is the next step in becoming a full-time Taylor Swift easter egg investigator?

There’s more, Taylor Nation, who are known as the singer’s official marketing and fan club team, shared a weekend card with surprises on their social media accounts. Fans will have to wait to see what the singer has in addition to her “standby” status.

When was Taylor’s release of The Life of a Showgirl?

Taylor made a surprise announcement for her new album on Travis Kelce’s podcast on August 13 and surprised her fans by doing so. Fans of the album soon received a pre-order link for the album as soon as it was made public, along with the track listing and cover.

NME revealed that the singer has broken her own Spotify record with a huge number of five million pre-saves for her upcoming album. The numbers have surpassed her previous record in 2024 with ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.

The release date for The Life of a Showgirl is.

On October 3 at midnight ET, Taylor’s 12th studio album will be available. It will be accessible at 5am the same day for fans in the UK. Later that evening, Taylor will join Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Domhnall Gleeson, and singer Lewis Capaldi on The Graham Norton Show.

The track listing for “The Life of a Showgirl”

  1. Ophelia’s fate
  2. Elizabeth Taylor
  3. Opalite
  4. Father Figure
  5. Eldest Daughter
  6. Ruin the Friendship
  7. Actually Romantic
  8. Wish List
  9. Wood
  10. Cancelled!
  11. Honey
  12. Sabrina Carpenter is the star of The Show of a Showgirl.
Continue reading the article.

JoJo Siwa furious as she halts concert to throw fan out over cruel jibe

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article35947500.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/2_Nickelodeons-Second-Annual-SlimeFest-At-Huntington-Bank-Pavilion-In-Chicago-Show.jpg

Former Dance Moms and Celebrity Big Brother star JoJo Siwa was caught on camera looking less than impressed by a concert goer before having them thrown out of her gig

JoJo Siwa showed she’s not to be messed with as she got a fan thrown out of her concert for a cruel comment. The 22-year-old singer is currently midway through her European tour but halted a show after being targeted by an audience member.

She appeared furious while on stage and quickly pointed out a fan who she said was “making fun of her”. Before continuing the set, JoJo, who is dating Celebrity Big Brother co-star Chris Hughes, pointed out the supposed trouble maker and got them evicted from the building.

In a video shared online, a fan was spotted wearing a hoodie with JoJo’s face on the front shaped like an egg. In 2022, JoJo revealed how she had been left with a bald spot caused by the ‘stress’ of filming reality show Dance Moms as a child.

READ MORE: Only Fools and Horses’ Sue Holderness pays emotional tribute to co-star Patrick MurrayREAD MORE: Gemma Atkinson on daughter’s ‘scary’ diagnosis as she shares timeline

At the time, she explained how people on social media began making cruel memes about her hairline. And after spotting the hoodie in the recent concert, she slammed: “The hoodie making fun of me? No way! Appreciate it! But we only got room for infinity hearts in here, right?

‘Not in my house, baby. We got no room for that. We got no room for that!”

As the crowd cheered, the concertgoer was then escorted. It’s claimed there weren’t aware of the memes.

Earlier in the tour, fans kicked off with how JoJo had responded to talk about her boyfriend. She had issued a passionate plea to her audience during the opening leg of her European Infinity Heart Tour in Dublin on Monday.

In a TikTok clip posted by a fan following the show, she can be heard declaring: “I know we all love Chris Hughes, but he’s my boyfriend, and I want him to watch my show. If he turns around to take another selfie, I’m gonna have to restart. Don’t do that. Deal?

“You can take a picture from afar. You can video him watching, but let the guy watch, please. Promise? Love you.”

Some fans didn’t agree with how she handled the situation. One online user said: “JoJo Siwa is mad that her boyfriend Chris Hughes is not paying attention during her show in Dublin, Ireland!”

Another added: “She is big mad,” alongside a string of crying with laughter emojis, while a third said: “Tell me you’re insecure without telling me, calling out her fans for requesting too many selfies with Chris Hughes.”

Chris and JoJo are moving fast following their pairing on Celebrity Big Brother. In a recent conversation on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast last month, JoJo gushed: “I’m happy.

“I’ve never wanted the future so bad. I’ve never, ever wanted the love that I have to just continue to grow. I’ve never protected a love that I have so much. I’ve never cared about another person so much.

“I’ve never craved a wedding. I’ve always wanted to just like go sign a piece of paper or go to Vegas ’cause I didn’t wanna have a wedding but now I’m like, ‘No, I want a ring and I want my Dad to walk me down the aisle and I wanna first dance and I want butterflies’… I’m happy.”

Article continues below

Judge denies Elon Musk’s bid to move Twitter case from Washington to Texas

Sutton’s predictions v Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones & AI

  • 21 Comments

Liverpool have lost two straight games in the Premier League and Champions League, but is this a wobble or something more serious?

“Arne Slot’s side look so vulnerable defensively,” said BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton. “I covered their defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend and Palace could have gone 4-0 up, no word of a lie.

“Alisson went off injured against Galatasaray, and if he is missing it is not going to help. We know Liverpool can hurt Chelsea on Saturday but it is the other end they have to worry about.”

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, BBC Sport readers and a variety of guests.

For week six, he takes on Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones, who supports Leeds United.

Idlewild’s new self-titled album is released on Friday and they tour the UK in October.

Do you agree with their scores? You can make your own predictions below.

The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the scoreboards and tables at the bottom of this page.

A group shot of IdlewildIdlewild

Rod grew up in Leeds and started supporting his hometown team at just the right time.

He told BBC Sport: “It wasn’t until I was about 11 that I properly got into football, and that is when I decided my team was obviously going to be Leeds.

“It was a great time to start following them. We went up in 1990, finished fourth… and then we were [First Division] champions the following year, beating Manchester United to the title.

“I remember being in the centre of Leeds for the parade and it was just phenomenal. At the time it felt it was just the start, but there have been a few times like that over the past 30-odd years and it has not quite worked out that way!”

It seems somewhat unlikely that the current Leeds side will do the same next season following their return to the top flight for this campaign, but Rod feels “relatively confident” they can hold their own.

“It has been a solid start, rather than like the last time we went up, under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020, and it was a goal bonanza at both ends pretty much every game,” he added.

“Daniel Farke is a lot more pragmatic, but I still feel like we can do some damage and maybe finish mid-table.”

Chris Sutton and Rod Jones were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

Premier League predictions

Friday, 3 October

What information do we collect from this quiz?

I was at Fulham’s defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday – they had faded by the end but actually started the game really well and I was really impressed with Josh King.

He is only 18 but he already looks like one heck of a player. He has got wonderful awareness and he was outstanding before the break.

King was taken off in the second half when the game was getting away from Fulham, however, and Villa had carved them open a fair few times by the end.

Bournemouth only rescued a point against Leeds late on last time out – I was wrong to back the Cherries then but I am definitely going to back them at home against Fulham.

The Cherries edged this fixture 1-0 at the end of last season, and I am going with the same result and scoreline this time too.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-0

Rod’s prediction: We’ve played both these teams recently, and conceded costly late goals against both of them! I was going to go 2-1 to Bournemouth because they are at home and looked a bit more dangerous of the two, but they were also more organised at the back than I expected, so I don’t think Fulham will score. 2-0

Saturday, 4 October

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Fair play to Leeds, they have really surprised and impressed me so far. There is a good balance to their team because they carry a threat and can dig in too.

Apart from a heavy defeat at Arsenal, they have been competitive in every game so far and their good start would have been even better but for late goals against Fulham and Bournemouth.

Even so, they have got more points than I expected at this stage and Daniel Farke deserves a lot of credit.

I think there were question marks over whether he could manage at this level because of his Premier League record with Norwich but, as I’ve said before, he never really had the squad there to be able to compete.

Tottenham have had a difficult week, having to fight back to rescue draws against Wolves and Bodo/Glimt, and this is going to be another tricky game for them.

I can actually see it ending in another draw for Spurs. At least they played in the Arctic Circle on Tuesday night rather than Wednesday but a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday is still far from ideal, and this Champions League campaign is going to stretch their squad.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1

Rod’s prediction: I asked in my Leeds WhatsApp group about how much can I say we will win by before I sound like a lunatic, and they were all like ‘6-0’ but that is not going to happen! I want to say 4-1 but it will be a lot closer than that too.

I do think we will win, though, because Spurs don’t look that coherent as a team yet. Also, Elland Road is a fortress and the home crowd will just about get us over the line. 2-1

Rod’s favourite Leeds players: Gary Speed was a real hero of mine. I am from a Welsh family so he was absolutely my favourite player when I was growing up. Gary McAllister and Gordon Strachan were fantastic too, and a certain Frenchman who was also part of our title-winning team that I can’t really talk about now.

Speed was the one, though, right up until Alan Smith came through – but then he ended up going to the wrong place as well!

What information do we collect from this quiz?

West Ham have won on their past two visits to Emirates Stadium but I don’t look at Arsenal at the moment and see a team that is going to drop points.

The Hammers grew into the game against Everton in Nuno Espirito Santo’s first match in charge but I am expecting the Gunners to be too strong for them.

Arsenal are a powerhouse at the moment and their squad depth is frightening. Defensively they are outstanding – they have conceded only three goals in six league games, the fewest in the Premier League – and this should be comfortable for them.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-0

Rod’s prediction: I was trying to be kind to West Ham here, but they have not looked brilliant so far. Arsenal are super dangerous and they gave us a real drubbing when we were still finding our feet. 3-0

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Sunderland fans should be thanking me, really, because I keep saying they will be beaten and Regis Le Bris’ side keep on proving me wrong.

So far I’ve said the Black Cats will lose five of their six games. The other one was against Burnley in week two, where I went for a draw… and they suffered their only defeat of the season.

I am going to do the dirty on them this week, and I am going to predict they will win – which obviously means they won’t – so apologies to all Sunderland supporters, because they must be absolutely furious with me for doing this.

I am not just backing them for the sake of it, clearly. They are extremely well organised and everything about them has been impressive.

Manchester United, on the other hand, are still a mess.

You can blame Ruben Amorim for that as much as you like but when your centre-half is running out and taking a chance on an offside on a long ball, like Harry Maguire did for Brentford’s first goal last week, then that is just terrible defending.

That’s where I feel for Amorim. Altay Bayindir should also have done better with Brentford’s second goal and the goalkeeping situation is perplexing too – they have brought Senne Lammens in, but where is he?

It is just all muddled thinking at United and Amorim is starting to look like a guy who wants to be put out of his misery.

They are just not improving under him, although he might actually get a result here off the back of me saying Sunderland will win.

Sutton’s prediction: 0-1

Rod’s prediction: I am going to sound a bit mean here but you wouldn’t expect anything less from a Leeds fan, would you!? I want United to do OK until we play them (in January) because I don’t want them to get rid of Amorim. Sunderland miffed me a little bit over the summer because they seemed to sign everyone we went for, but they have looked what I’d call ‘solid-plus’ so far and I feel like they will cause United some problems. 1-1

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Chelsea’s back-to-back league defeats by Manchester United and Brighton have been a classic case of them shooting themselves in the foot.

If they had kept 11 men on the pitch in both matches it would have had a huge impact.

So, that’s their first aim here and if it’s 11 v 11 then Chelsea can hurt Liverpool, even without Cole Palmer, because the Reds are at sixes and sevens at the back.

I am tempted to go with a draw but this is a big game and I want to be brave and pick a winner.

AI will probably go for a draw [Sutton does not know anyone else’s predictions when he makes his] to try to bore its way to its first win of the season.

I am going to stick my neck out and back my old team to make it a hat-trick of defeats for Arne Slot.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Rod’s prediction: Liverpool did not look like themselves against Palace but I think they will come flying out of the gate here and bounce back. The quality they have in their squad is just wild. 1-2

Sunday, 5 October

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Villa took a while to get going against Fulham but it was great movement by Ollie Watkins for his goal, and he needed that.

That was their first league win of the season, but I am not convinced Unai Emery’s side will kick on from there. They play Feyenoord in the Europa League on Thursday and their squad is gong to be stretched.

The more I think about it, the more I quite fancy Burnley for a draw here.

To lose 5-1 last week was harsh on them, and they had frustrated Manchester City for a long time, the same as they did when they were beaten by Liverpool, and that is likely to be their gameplan here too.

My heart says Villa will win because of my time there – I almost reached double figures in appearances – but my head says Burnley… and, this time, I am going to listen.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1

Rod’s prediction: Off the back of beating Fulham, Villa might get that bounce at home and just edge this. I can’t see it being a big score, anyway. 1-0

What information do we collect from this quiz?

This should be a good game, and a real test of whether Everton’s new ground is actually the ‘fortress’ my 606 co-host Roman Kemp describes it as.

Everton are still unbeaten there but they’ve drawn two out of three games so far and the handbrake is still on, isn’t it? Maybe’s Roman’s definition of a fortress is just different to most other people’s.

There will be no gung-ho tactics here, either, because this is going to be a really tight affair between two very clever managers. But after watching Palace last week I have to back them really.

Oliver Glasner’s side were quite direct against Liverpool and it will be a good battle if they do the same here.

I enjoy watching Everton and, in particular, Jack Grealish, but I worry about their firepower up front.

If they had a goalscorer I would probably say they would get something, but instead I am going with Palace to keep a clean sheet and to take home the points.

Sutton’s prediction: 0-1

Rod’s prediction: Palace are flying at the moment, but Everton are well organised and much improved from last season. It’s got draw written all over it. 1-1

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Newcastle scored four goals in Belgium in midweek – the same number as they have managed in their first six league games.

Eddie Howe’s side are the joint lowest scorers in the Premier League, along with Villa and Wolves, so getting a big win like that will be important for them.

They have lost twice at home already, but that was to Arsenal and Liverpool, and on both occasions to late goals.

Yes, the Gunners were the better team on Sunday but Newcastle had lots of chances against Liverpool so they can definitely feel a bit hard done by.

I am expecting them to get more chances here, because I think this game will be really open with both teams going for it.

I am going to go with Newcastle to be wearing their shooting boots again, and keep Ange Postecoglou waiting for his first Premier League win.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-1

Rod’s prediction: I am very rarely a betting man but an idea popped into my head near the end of last season where I thought Forest didn’t have the squad to handle Europe but they are the kind of team that will go on a cup run, so I put a tenner on them to win a European competition of some sort, and get relegated.

I could sort of see it happening where they have too many games and it just falls apart in the league – it nearly happened with Spurs and United last year too. 2-0.

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Wolves gave it a good go against Tottenham last week and almost took all three points – maybe the effect of a new contract is kicking in for Vitor Pereira?

Being serious, they have lost their first three home league games this season and, with Sunderland and Leeds both doing better than expected, they cannot afford to lose four on the trot, so they need something here.

Brighton made the most of their numerical advantage against Chelsea last week, but it is hard to know what to expect from them off the back of that game where they were up against 10 men.

I don’t feel like I am doing very well with my Brighton predictions this season – in fact I’ve not got any of them right so far – so I am not too confident about calling this one.

This is probably going to end up as a draw but I am still being brave so I have picked another winner. I should probably get an award for being so bold with my predictions, even when I’m wrong.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Rod’s prediction: Wolves looked pretty poor against us. When we played them, everyone was downbeat in the Leeds chat groups when we were losing – then suddenly we scored three goals and everything was rosy! 1-2

What information do we collect from this quiz?

City were up against counter-attacking Monaco on Wednesday, and Brentford will be playing in exactly the same way.

I was at the Monaco game for 5 Live and I am not fully convinced by City, despite their current six-game unbeaten run.

On the up side for Pep Guardiola’s side, Phil Foden was excellent again and Erling Haaland’s finishing was ridiculously good – his header for City’s second goal was like watching me in the 1990s, and he looks unstoppable.

Foden looked sharp as anything, especially in the first half. Seeing him back in form is good for England boss Thomas Tuchel as well as for Guardiola, as opposed to last season when he was inconsistent and couldn’t find his level.

I still think City have got issues in a number of positions, however. In the centre of midfield Nico Gonzalez has been disappointing since he came in, and the whole of their right flank is a massive problem.

Bernardo Silva had such little effect on the game, and behind him there is a lack of trust in the right-back area as well.

Brentford will try to hit them on the break and there is a chance they could sucker City, but Foden and Haaland should be the difference between the two sides.

It will be close, but I don’t see the Bees beating another Manchester team after their win over United last week.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Rod’s prediction: It feels like City have started to look like their old selves, with a couple of wobbles here and there. 1-2

How did Sutton do last week?

The outcome of week six was not decided until the final game, between Everton and West Ham on Monday.

One of Sutton’s guests, Kidwild, was spot on with his 1-1 prediction, which denied AI its first outright victory.

Chris and the BBC readers both got two correct results with one exact score from the 10 games, giving you and him 50 points.

AI got three correct results, with one exact score, for a total of 60 points.

There were two guests, rappers Kidwild and Blanco – Kidwild got four correct results with one exact score for 70 points, while Blanco got two correct results with one exact score for 50 points – meaning they ended up with an average of 60 points too.

Weekly wins, ties and total points after week six

WinsTiesPoints
Chris30420
Guests11380
You10460
AI01380

Source: BBC

Weekly wins, ties and total points after week six. .  .

Guest leaderboard 2025-26

Points
James Skelly190
James Walsh110
You *77
Chris Sutton * & Kidwild70
AI *63
Tommy Longhurst60
Blanco, Orlando Bloom,
Theo Ellis & Tom Grennan50
Katherine Parlour10

* Average after six weeks

Source: BBC

Guest leaderboard 2025-26. .  * Average after six weeks.

Related topics

  • Premier League
  • Football