The world’s attention must “stay on Ukraine” as the Russian invasion continues, a former Nato secretary-general has warned. Lord George Robertson said Russian president Vladimir Putin would be emboldened to extend the attacks beyond Ukraine if foreign governments stop providing weaponry. It comes amid a four-day pause in the Israel-Hamas conflict, with the situation in the Middle East dominating much of the news agenda. Lord Robertson, who was in the top Nato role between 1999 and 2003, welcomed the temporary ceasefire in Gaza, but he told the PA news agency: “I think it is inevitable that because we’re seeing the television from Gaza every day, that people are paying less attention to Ukraine, but that must change. “We have got to keep the world’s attention focused on Ukraine because they are involved in a fight with Russia that has got huge implications for all of us as well. “Vladimir Putin is not simply interested in subjugating Ukraine. He has got a much bigger agenda in the future, and if he succeeds in Ukraine, who knows where he is going to stop.” The stakes are enormously high because if Putin succeeds, he won’t stop at Ukraine Lord Robertson The conflict in Ukraine has now surpassed 640 days – the invasion began in February 2022 – and Lord Robertson urged Nato member states to continue to press Russia amid Mr Putin’s “miserable failure”. He added: “We cannot allow the Ukraine conflict to go down the attention span. That suits Vladimir Putin and nobody else. “The fact is that most of his objectives have actually turned to dust. He wanted to stop Nato enlargement, and it is now bigger. He wanted to divide Europe and divide Europe from America, he failed in that respect. “He wanted to take over the whole of Ukraine and now he is stuck in the Donbas. There’s a miserable failure there by the one man who made the decision to invade Ukraine. “We have got to change the mind of that one man by staying absolutely united and making sure that Ukrainians get the weaponry and the ammunition they need, when they actually need it. “That is the only way we’ll change Vladimir Putin’s mind. The stakes are enormously high because if Putin succeeds, he won’t stop at Ukraine.” Meanwhile, the Labour peer called for a long-term solution to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. He said: “I think gradually the countries in the region will need to come together to find a long-term solution so that the Israelis and the Palestinians can live in harmony together. “The present conflict will go on and on for years unless there is a long-term solution.” Read More Reform UK denies offering ‘lot of money’ to Tory MP Lee Anderson to defect ‘Very chilly’ on Sunday after overnight temperatures fall below zero What the papers say – November 26 Relief as latest set of Hamas hostages released Irish-Israeli girl reunited with father who feared she was dead after Hamas attacks Kemi Badenoch unveils £4.5bn funding plan for British manufacturing

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Ezri Konsa had to scrap plans for a winter getaway after his late call-up but the Aston Villa defender always believed it was a case of when rather than if his England chance would come. The talented 26-year-old has long been tipped for a senior call-up, only to once again miss out on a maiden call-up when the squad for the final Euro 2024 qualifiers was announced last Thursday. But an injury to Lewis Dunk opened up a last-minute spot in Gareth Southgate’s set-up, leading to a surprise phone call after Villa’s 3-1 victory against Fulham at the weekend. “I was literally driving home after my game on Sunday,” Konsa said. “Me and the missus were talking about having a little break, going away. “Two minutes later I ended up getting the call. It was a weird feeling. It didn’t really sink in until I got home. “The missus was crying a bit, she was more excited than me! I’d rather be here anyway (than on holiday), so it’s fine.” It has certainly been a whirlwind few days for a player whose belief has never wavered despite much-mooted England opportunities failing to materialise break after break. “It is a proud moment for me and my family,” said Konsa, who was part of England’s 2017 Under-20 World Cup win. “It is a dream come true, ever since I was a little kid I wanted to play for England so I’m just grateful for the opportunity. “I knew I had a lot to work on in my game, only recently in the last two seasons we have excelled at Villa and that part of it has helped me become the player I am today. “I knew my time would come. It was just a matter of when. I was patient and, as I said, me and my family are really happy. “I always believe in myself and always back myself and I am really enjoying my football now.” From Charlton to Brentford and on to Villa, the defender has stepped up when he has needed to and is ready to do the same with England. Konsa could make his debut in the final Euro 2024 qualifiers at home to Malta or away in North Macedonia, giving him the chance to stake his claim for next year’s finals. “Yeah of course that is every player’s target to want to go to a major tournament and play for your country,” he said. “That is definitely on my list and definitely something that I am planning on doing.” Winning a cap is his first focus as Konsa looks to follow a star-studded group of graduates from Senrab – the well-known east London youth team, where coach Tony Caroll revealed he was nicknamed ‘Little Rio’. Konsa says Rio Ferdinand was one of the players he idolised, as was John Terry – a fellow ex-Senrab player that he loved growing up and learned a lot from during his time as Villa coach. “I worked with him for two years and he really helped my game,” Konsa said of “legend” Terry. “I used to ask him a lot of questions on how he was able to maintain playing at such a high level and he gave me a lot of advice. “I took that on and it has definitely helped me get to where I am today. “Yes, he was in touch and he sent me a nice message. “He just said ‘congratulations’ and that I needed to enjoy it and be myself.” Read More Incoming Welsh Rugby Union boss vows to ‘turn this round’ after damning review Fin Smith targets England debut next year having caught Steve Borthwick’s eye Cesc Fabregas determined to take ambitious Como into Serie A Jos Buttler admits to ‘mistakes’ during England’s World Cup campaign Anything is possible – Eric Dier on Tottenham’s Premier League title challenge Welsh Rugby Union was a ‘toxic’ environment, independent report finds

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The Earth has been hit by a powerful blast of energy from the very depths of the universe. The fast radio burst is the most distant of its kind of ever seen, coming from so far away that it has travelled eight billion years to get to Earth. It is also astonishingly powerful, one of the most energetic of its kind ever seen. In less than a second, it released the same energy that comes out of the Sun in more than 30 years. Fast radio bursts are intense, short bursts of energy that come from unknown but extreme activity in space. Scientists are still unsure of how they are formed, but explanations have included everything from extraterrestrial technology to neutron stars. The newly discovered burst appears to come from a small group of merging galaxies, scientists say, which helps support current theories about where they come from. But the intensity of the burst is harder to explain, which challenges our understanding of how they are actually emitted. “While we still don’t know what causes these massive bursts of energy, the paper confirms that fast radio bursts are common events in the cosmos and that we will be able to use them to detect matter between galaxies, and better understand the structure of the Universe,” said Ryan Shannon, from the Swinburne University of Technology. The blasts could be useful ways of answering some of the deepest questions about our cosmos, such as how much it actually weighs. At the moment, attempts to answer that have led to confusing results. “If we count up the amount of normal matter in the Universe — the atoms that we are all made of — we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing,” said Professor Shannon. “We think that the missing matter is hiding in the space between galaxies, but it may just be so hot and diffuse that it’s impossible to see using normal techniques. “Fast radio bursts sense this ionised material. Even in space that is nearly perfectly empty they can ‘see’ all the electrons, and that allows us to measure how much stuff is between the galaxies.” The blast was spotted last year, using a telescope in Japan. Researchers then used other telescopes to verify the find and examine it in more detail. “Using ASKAP’s array of dishes, we were able to determine precisely where the burst came from,” said Stuart Ryder, the first author on the paper. “Then we used the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to search for the source galaxy, finding it to be older and further away than any other FRB source found to date, and likely within a small group of merging galaxies.” The findings are reported in a new paper, ‘A luminous fast radio burst that probes the Universe at redshift 1’, published in the journal Science. Read More Scientists unveil radical new ‘missing law’ to explain the universe India’s Modi declares goal to land human on Moon by 2040 Researchers reveal source of largest ever Mars quake

A wildfire near the Greek capital that started on Tuesday continued to destroy parts of the forest in