Kirkcudbright Rotary Club's duck race to take place on August 28

Household face paying an estimated £3,549 per year from October for average use of gas and electricity - equating to a devastating 80 per cent rise in energy bills in a move that will deepen the soaring cost of living crisis even further for millions of people.

Dennis Rodman is planning a trip to Russia to seek the release of Brittney Griner. The 31-year-old basketball player - who normally lives in Houston, Texas with wife Cherelle Griner - was arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling in Russia just days before President Vladimir Putin launched the ongoing invasion on Ukraine and has been sentenced to almost a decade behind bars but her fellow NBA star Dennis, 61, revealed on Sunday (21. 08.

British soldiers have been told they must be ready for a war against Russia by a senior military officer. Warrant Officer Paul Carney has urged troops to inform their loved ones of potential deployment as the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on.

“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told NBC News this weekend, not saying exactly who he got permission from. “I’m trying to go this week.”Rodman, who won five NBA titles with Michael Jordan during the ’90s while building an image as the NBA’s party-loving bad boy, has become known in the past decade for rubbing elbows with political figures that have tense relationships with the U.S.

President Zelenskyy Comedy ‘Servant Of The People’ Remade In Poland

Brittney Griner's legal team has appealed against the American basketball star's guilty verdict and nine-year prison sentence on drug smuggling charges in Russia, the lawyers said on Monday.Griner was arrested for carrying vape cartridges containing with marijuana in a Moscow airport in February amid soaring tension between Washington and Moscow, and just before Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his ongoing assault on Ukraine.The athlete was on her way to Yekaterinburg, in western Russia, to play for a local team during the WNBA's off-season.Griner pleaded guilty to the charge but sought leniency, saying that she packed the cartridges inadvertently and marijuana was prescribed to her by a doctor in the U.S. to help her cope with pain from injuries sustained during her basketball career. In early August, a court in the Moscow region found her guilty.Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as being «wrongfully detained,» moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — effectively the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: The Ukrainian Institute has lambasted the organizers of a prestigious German filmmaker residency program for inviting Russians and Belarusians to take part as well as Ukrainians, slamming the emergency program for the “perpetuation of both an outdated Soviet perspective and Russia’s colonial logic.”

Basketball player Brittney Griner has been found guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent in a Russian court today and sentenced to nine years in prison, CNN reports. The Phoenix Mercury player was detained near Moscow earlier this year after security discovered a small amount of the drug in her luggage.

Angelica Ross is set to become the first transgender actress to play Roxie Hart in 'Chicago'. The 41-year-old 'Pose' star will make her Broadway debut in the long-running musical later this year, playing murderous vixen Roxie for eight weeks from September 12. Actresses who have previously played Roxie include Pamela Anderson, Melanie Griffith, Christie Brinkley, Marilu Henner, Brooke Shields and Lisa Rinna.

Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for months after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, has officially been found guilty of drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court.On Aug. 4, the Phoenix Mercury player was sentenced to 9 years in prison and given a fine of 1 million rubles (approximately $16,500) after she was found guilty. Brittney has had an uphill battle trying to have her criminal case acquitted in a trial that experts said was unlikely to be fair and that Russian authorities are using her as a diplomatic bargaining chip amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The Olympic gold medalist has played in Russia for the last seven winters, earning more than $1 million per season -- more than quadruple her WNBA salary, according to the Associated Press.

Scots band The Ronains received a death threat from Russia after their new single artwork for Lunatics featured an image of Vladimir Putin.

Russia has added to its so-called stop-list, barring a further 39 British politicians, officials, business people and journalists from entering the country including TV presenter Piers Morgan.