Russia is launching its largest conscription drive in more than a decade, as talks stall over a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

Military service is mandatory for men in Russia, with drafts occurring twice a year, but the call-up of 160,000 men aged 18 to 30 represents an increase of 10,000 over last year's spring conscription, and a rise of more than 25,000 compared to three years ago.

What did the commentators say?
While Ukraine "relies mostly on conscription",  Russia's invasion force has been largely reliant on volunteers, said Alexander Hill, professor of military history at the University of Calgary, on The Conversation. "The death or injury of volunteers is far less likely to have a negative impact on wider morale than the death of conscripts."

Russian authorities say the call-up is unrelated to the war in Ukraine and that conscripts won't be sent into combat, but "reports have surfaced of conscripts being pressured or misled into signing contracts that result in their deployment to the front lines in Ukraine", said CNN.

Even if conscripts are kept out of Ukraine, expanding Russia's armed forces "has everything to do with the conflict, and the wider geopolitical tensions", said Sky News. The increased draft is "a sign of Russia's relentless militarisation" and that "whatever the outcome of peace talks, the Kremlin will remain on a war footing for some time yet".

What next?
As Donald Trump pushes for a peace deal, the Kremlin is open to an agreement that leaves Ukraine "permanently weakened", said Alexander Gabuev and colleagues from the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center on Foreign Affairs. But Moscow "was prepared to keep fighting" before Trump won re-election, "and it remains so today".

The threat from Russia is also being felt beyond Ukraine. Germany's intelligence service and armed forces believe that Russia "is building up its military power and preparing for a large-scale confrontation with Nato", according to an intelligence report seen by German media organisations. The report predicted that by the end of the decade, Russia was likely to have created all the necessary conditions to be able to wage a "large-scale conventional war".

Barry Keoghan leads a "fab four" of actors set to star in a quartet of Beatles biopics hitting cinemas in April 2028. But not everyone is convinced by what Sony Pictures describes as the "first binge-able theatrical experience".

'Kind of a mystery'
The Sam Mandes project is generating major hype, but do we "really need" four stand-alone Beatles biopics, asked Ed Power in The i Paper. We've made it to 2025 without "thinking too deeply" about the "inner workings of Ringo Starr's creative process", and there's no indication that this needs "urgent remedying". The best Beatles adaptations have "zeroed in on specific moments" from their careers: there "has to be questions about the wisdom" of trying to tell the band's story from "top to tail".

What a "bingeable" theatrical experience "means precisely" is also "kind of a mystery", said Fran Hoepfner on Vulture. Are we "supposed to sit through them all back-to-back like people do for 'The Lord of the Rings'"? That might make for a "hard day's night", said a leader in The Times, but "with box-office receipts at UK cinemas 22% below 2019 levels, if cinema can't beat the culture of bingeing", perhaps it should instead "join it".

'Change their mind'
Some fans have expressed disappointment about the casting of four established and "stereotypically 'hot'" actors – Keoghan, Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson – rather than "unknowns" who better resemble the band members, said Clare Donaldson on The Daily Beast.

It "would have been wonderful" to see "some unknowns in the lead roles", said Ben Lawrence in The Telegraph. Casting directors should have been "scouring local theatres" in search of "rough-hewn talent" to bring that "famous Liverpudlian grit and humour" to the roles.

Yet it's "not uncommon" for people who were "angry" over a casting announcement to "change their mind later", said Donaldson. But with a long and winding road ahead before the biopics are released, the "attention and criticism" surrounding them will probably "intensify".

Whether you celebrate with "Sunday roast lamb" or a "fresh bunch of daffodils", said The Times, there is so much to look forward to this spring. As the weather warms up and the Easter break approaches, now is the time to start planning "perfect" days out. Here are some favourites.

Salford Quays Duck Race, Manchester
With fairground rides and food stalls as well as the main event itself, the annual Salford Quays Duck Race on Good Friday promises "wholesome" fun for the entire family, said Manchester Wire. It costs just £2.50 to enter a yellow rubber duck in the race – and all of the money raised goes to medical charity MedEquip4Kids.

Easter punt and hunt, Cambridge
This "water-bound scavenger hunt" from the Traditional Punting Company involves exploring "riddles and rhymes" on a punt along the River Cam before heading off on foot in the historic city to search for Easter eggs, said The Telegraph.

The Great Yorkshire Egg Hunt, North Yorkshire
Monk Park Farm in Thirsk offers a "colourful" woodland Easter trail over the holidays, said the Yorkshire Press. There's lots of other activities too, including miniature train rides, ziplines and animal encounters in the petting barn.

Hever Castle, Kent
Little ones can help head gardener Neil Miller track down the "mischievous rabbits" that have been causing havoc in his vegetable patches, in return for a chocolatey reward, said Kent Online. Back at the castle, there's a range of Easter-themed activities to enjoy, from cress planting to face painting.

Vilified, arrested, held incommunicado: that's the price of protest in Britain today
George Monbiot in The Guardian
Keir Starmer's government "might not look or sound like Donald Trump's" but "its policies on protest" are "chillingly similar", writes George Monbiot. Following "coordinated global lobbying by the rich and powerful", peaceful protests are being conflated with "extremism and terrorism". Whatever the charges facing the young activists arrested in a recent police raid on a London Quaker meeting house, "it seems to me that their fundamental crime is dissent".

Lift sanctions to give Syria a chance of rebuilding
The Economist's editorial board
"Syrians could be forgiven for disillusionment" yet they "remain surprisingly upbeat", says The Economist. Polling suggests they "still trust" interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa to "try to rebuild the country". But the "big obstacle" to "reviving Syria's wrecked economy" is Western sanctions that still haven't been lifted. "America and Europe have reasons to be wary of financing" Sharaa but "if Syria's economy continues to languish", only the extremists will benefit.

Hair systems and the end of British baldness
Emma Jacobs in the Financial Times
The British male has a "propensity for baldness", writes Emma Jacobs, with one study putting the UK fifth in the "hair loss league". A complete cure "remains elusive" but "instead of accepting their fate, more men are seeking preventive treatment", transplants and hair systems. "Across politics, business and entertainment, baldness is rarely seen, beyond a few standout figures", and numbers could "dwindle further as treatments move further into the mainstream".