Two hacking groups say they have obtained records from Russia's state statistics agency pointing to hundreds of thousands of Russian deaths in the war in Ukraine.

The claims

According to reports on Monday, 9 November 2026, the pro-Ukrainian group Silent Crow and the Belarusian Cyber Partisans said they accessed an internal database at Rosstat containing information from death certificates from February 2022 to August 2026. Silent Crow, which published the data, put the death toll at about 450,100, while the Belarusian Cyber Partisans, using a narrower method that counted only records naming military operations as the cause of death, put it at 393,881. The figures have not been independently verified.

Russia's response

Rosstat acknowledged that its systems were targeted between 29 October and 1 November but said no databases were compromised. Russia has banned both groups as 'extremist organisations'. Moscow has rarely given official figures for its military losses.

Background

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Independent estimates of Russian military deaths have varied widely, and both sides have been accused of under-reporting their own losses. The Belarusian Cyber Partisans also oppose the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Moscow.

The suspected gunman in a deadly shooting in the centre of Krakow, Poland, has died in hospital, police say.

What happened

The shooting took place in the city's Main Square on the afternoon of Saturday, 7 November 2026. Six people, four women and two men, were killed and about 16 others were injured, including visitors from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria. Police said the 24-year-old suspect was arrested on a nearby street after trying to escape in a car, and that two officers were injured in an exchange of fire. Three more bodies were found at his home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometres from Krakow, and he is believed to have also killed three members of his own family.

The suspect dies

In an update on Monday, 9 November, regional police confirmed that the suspect had died in hospital that morning. He is believed to have used an AR-15-style rifle, and ammunition was recovered from his car. Authorities have not given a clear motive, but said he was fascinated by far-right ideologies.

Background

Mass shootings are rare in Poland, which has strict gun laws.

US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his administration's immigration crackdown went too far, in a notable change of tone after his party's heavy losses in the midterm elections.

What he said

In an interview broadcast by the CBS programme '60 Minutes' on Sunday, 8 November 2026, Trump defended his record on border security and on removing dangerous criminals, but said he thought the crackdown had been too tough. He said the administration had suffered politically by deporting people who had stable jobs and had only committed immigration violations, and that this had hurt Republican candidates at the ballot box.

The election

Exit polls showed immigration was the third most important issue for voters, after the economy and the state of democracy. In traditionally conservative states such as Texas, a shift among Latino voters towards the Democrats contributed to their gains in Congress, where they are projected to control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Background

Mass deportations became a defining policy of Trump's second term, drawing protests and legal challenges. Only days ago he promoted Stephen Miller, the architect of the deportation programme, to White House chief of staff, so it is unclear how far policy will change in practice. Groups of Nigerians have been among those deported, including six who arrived in Lagos last week.

A group of suspected thieves in South Africa has become the talk of social media after they were reportedly caught and subjected to an unusual form of punishment.

The viral video

The suspects were made to lie face down on the ground in a single line by the side of a road, with each person's face pressed against the backside of the man in front of him. Their hands appear to be tied behind them.

Reports say they were caught by locals, although a uniformed officer can also be seen standing beside the men in the footage, so it is not clear whether the police or members of the public arranged them that way.

Laughter and concern

The incident has sparked mixed reactions online. Many people found the punishment hilarious, joking that South Africans seem to have invented a brand-new style of discipline.

Others were less amused, questioning whether suspects should be humiliated in public before any court has found them guilty, and whether members of the public should ever take the law into their own hands.

What we don't know

The circumstances of the incident, including where and when it happened and what the men are accused of stealing, have not been independently verified.

Over to you

Is this kind of public humiliation going too far, or will it discourage stealing?