Evening briefing on Monday 29th December

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0:34This is your Times evening briefing on Monday the 29th of December. The Ukrainian president has denied Russian accusations of a strike on Vladimir Putin's residents. The Russian foreign ministry said that Ukraine had tried to attack the residents in the Novgorod region and so Moscow's negotiating position would be reviewed. Kiev says the Kremlin is just trying to undermine progress made in talks and Vladimir Zelensky says it's lies. Now with their statement that some of their residences were attacked, they're simply preparing, I'm sure, in principle, the ground for striking probably the capital and probably state buildings.

1:11We already had this in September. There was a missile strike on the cabinet.

1:18Meanwhile, Donald Trump has had a further phone call with the Russian president. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt posted on social media describing the conversation between the two leaders as positive. It's understood ministers have no plans to revoke the British citizenship of a political activist who was freed from detention in Egypt. The call follows historic social media posts made by Allah Abdel Fattah. It's also understood the Prime Minister's welcomed his apology and wasn't aware of the remarks until he arrived in the UK last week. The Times' chief political correspondent, Aubrey Allegretti, explains it's a complex question to answer.

1:55This was obviously a very high-profile case. Keir Starmer raised it while he was leader of the opposition. In fact, during PMQs in the House of Commons a couple of years ago, he talked about El Vata's social media use because that was, in effect, what he'd been jailed for. So Keir Starmer clearly was aware of some of those posts. But No. 10 is stressed now very much not the contents of the one sun between 2010 and 2012, which included these things like calling for the death of Zionist civilians and 10 Downing Street to burn down during the 2011 riots. China has launched its biggest military exercise in over a year using amphibious assault ships and jets to simulate a blockade of Taiwan At least 89 jets were deployed around the island while 14 warships and 14 Coast Guard vessels were operating in seven areas The exercise has been designed to tie a Chinese knot around the island according to a spokesman A mother and her two children, unaccounted for after a fire in Gloucestershire, have died The flames started at the house near Stroud early on Boxing Day Their father survived after trying to rescue the four and seven-year-olds.

2:58Anthony Joshua has been injured in a car crash in Nigeria that left two others dead. Authorities say the former world heavyweight champion has been taken to hospital for treatment on what police are calling minor injuries. Times radio reporter Will Hobbs has more details. Eyewitnesses say Joshua was in a Lexus SUV and he was involved in an accident in which that Lexus collided with a truck that was stationary at the time. And there are videos online of a shaken Joshua being taken out of the car. So local police have confirmed that Joshua suffered minor injuries, but that two people have died in that accident.

3:36One in four schools advertising for a head teacher at the start of the year had to re-advertise the job by Christmas. A report has found the problem is particularly bad in special schools where one in five posts went unfilled the first time round. Experts warn recruitment pressures are adding instability for staff and pupils. Retailers say they held up well over Christmas, with UK footfall up nearly 4 % on last year. Boxing Day was the standout, seeing the strongest rise in shopping numbers for a decade. Retail parks led the way, helping by strong evening trade and leisure spending. And heavy snow and ice are forecast for parts of the UK.

4:12An amber cold health alert covers North England with a yellow warning in place for Scotland on New Year's Day. You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online. That's your Times evening briefing on Monday 29th December.

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