内容摘要：Political analyst Mr Lawal said the president should appoint the best person for the job, irrespective of their ethnic origin - and argues that this is what Tinubu is doing.

Political analyst Mr Lawal said the president should appoint the best person for the job, irrespective of their ethnic origin - and argues that this is what Tinubu is doing.

MPs and peers walked in procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, re-enacting the historic walk MPs did from Parliament on VE Day in 1945.Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was towards the front of the procession, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, a little way behind.

Some 1,800 guests attended the service including many veterans.Among the politicians attending today's service, were several former PMs, including Lord David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Sir John Major.Members of the public observed the two-minute national silence.

Earlier, Scotland's National Piper, Louise Marshall, played a lament at dawn to the fallen on Portobello Beach in Edinburgh.Designer Andy Vella has been creating album covers for more than 40 years, with his work to be found in millions of homes around the world.

"The weird thing I get is whenever I design a new album or a new logo for The Cure someone sends me a tattoo that they've just had done of it," he explains.

"I've seen pictures of Robert Smith's silhouette from Boys Don't Cry on people's backs, on their arses, on their legs, on their arms.We also class as volunteers those who signed up to avoid criminal prosecution, which was allowed by law in 2024.

Volunteers have become the fastest-growing category of casualties in our calculations, making up a quarter of those we have identified.In 2023-2024, thousands of volunteers who signed contracts with the Ministry of Defence were sent to the front lines only 10–14 days later. Such minimal training will have dramatically reduced their chances of survival, experts say.

One Russian republic, Bashkortostan, has seen the highest numbers of casualties, with 4,836 confirmed deaths. Most were from rural areas and 38% had gone to fight with no military experience.The one-time payment for signing a Russian army contract in Ufa is 34 times the region's average salary of 67,575 rubles (£600).