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.

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.

The Ghanaian community in the United States has been thrown into mourning again following the disturbing discovery of the body of 24-year-old Joseph Owusu, a talented church musician who lived in the Bronx, New York.

Found in a bag on the sidewalk

Owusu's body was discovered inside a large black bag left near a trash can on a sidewalk in Brooklyn on 30 October 2026.

CCTV footage shows two unidentified people taking the bag out of a white car, leaving it by the roadside and driving away.

Who was Joseph Owusu?

The young man was the organist at the Ghana United Methodist Church in the Bronx. He was also studying computer science and worked as a caregiver for people living with disabilities.

A family demands answers

His devastated family is demanding justice as investigators work to establish how he died and who abandoned his body. Ghana's embassy in the United States has confirmed his death, and the Ghanaian government has called on US authorities to ensure those responsible are found and brought to justice.

Two young lives in days

The tragedy came just a day after another young Ghanaian, 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, was shot dead while walking to school in the Bronx.

Two young Ghanaians, two heartbreaking deaths in New York within days. Both families are now waiting for answers.

Over to you

What is happening to these young African lives in America, and what more should be done to protect them?

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?