French president responds to felling of olive planted in memory of young Jewish man tortured to death in 2006. The felling of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 caused outrage in France on Friday, with Emmanuel Macron promising to...
Trump: Putin Open to Ukraine peace deal ahead of Alaska Summit
President Trump departed Washington just after sunrise Friday, heading west for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in years and one that will set the tone for the future of peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war. The meeting at an Air Force base just outside Anchorage, Alaska, came...
Putin hails ‘heroic’ North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine
Letter marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule a sign of increasingly close ties between Russia and North Korea. Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed North Korean troops sent to fight in Ukraine as “heroic” in a letter to Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media reported on Friday. In...
Putin ready to make Ukraine deal, Trump says before Alaska
US president’s comment that Russian and Ukrainian leaders may have to ‘divvy’ things up likely to raise alarm. Donald Trump has said he believes Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal on the war in Ukraine as the two leaders prepare for their summit in Alaska on Friday, but...
Santander mortgage cap jumps by as much as 24% as bank eases lending rules
Some higher-earning couples with smaller deposits could borrow extra £130,000 as a result of overnight changes. Some couples applying for a Santander mortgage will see the maximum they can borrow increase by £130,000 overnight after the bank loosened its lending rules. Santander is the latest in a line of lenders...
Keir Starmer to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street
London meeting comes as PM says Britain ready to ‘increase pressure’ on Moscow with further sanctions. Keir Starmer will be joined by the Ukrainian president at Downing Street on Thursday morning, as Europe braces for the outcome of Donald Trump’s face-to-face discussions with his Russian counterpart later this week. The...
Serbia’s police intervene as ruling party supporters face off against anti-government protesters
Months of protests in Serbia reached a new intensity Wednesday night as riot police intervened to separate rival demonstrations of anti-government protesters and supporters of President Aleksandar Vucic. The president once again accused unnamed foreign powers of orchestrating the protests, which first began after the deadly collapse of a subway...
Spain suffers third wildfire death
Spain on Thursday mourned its third wildfire death this week and Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city Patras as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe. The extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is lengthening and intensifying, has fuelled blazes and...
No country is safe: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis
Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal blooms. The prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say. Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by...
Conservatives not close to recognising ‘how badly placed they are
Former minister says Tories are ignoring heartland voters and risk losing ground to Reform in next election. The Conservatives are “not close to recognising” how badly they are positioned for the next election, the former cabinet minister David Gauke has said. Gauke, a former justice secretary who also worked in...