Ukrainian president proposes meeting in neutral third country as Trump says both sides have to ‘make compromises’
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The letter, the first Zelenskyy has publicly written directly to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, was a sweeping criticism of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power.
Continue reading...Russians are increasingly tired of the conflict and the time to end it is now, Ukraine’s president tells his Russian counterpart in an open letter
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an open letter to the Vladimir Putin, has called for a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president to end his war against Ukraine.
The letter sets out Zelenskyy’s view of the four-year-old conflict and says that while Ukrainians’ resilience remains intact, most Russians have grown weary of its effects and are ready for peace.
Continue reading...Legislation would also sanction key segments of Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders
The House passed legislation Thursday that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.
The 226-195 vote is a sign of impatience with Donald Trump’s approach to the war and represents the House’s second major foreign policy break with Trump this week. The day before, the House, for the first time, approved a war powers resolution aimed at halting US military action against Iran.
Continue reading...Interior minister announces review into handling of the cases after body reportedly found in search for 11-year-old
Outrage has erupted in France after it emerged the main suspect in the case of an 11-year-old girl missing since last week had been repeatedly accused of sexually abusing children with no action taken.
A body was discovered on Thursday and formal identification was under way, an informed source said.
Continue reading...Criticism comes from across political spectrum after blow to Friedrich Merz’s government
Germany’s unprecedented failure to win one of the rotating seats on the UN security council has prompted an intense round of soul searching in Berlin, and raised questions about its claims to international leadership under Friedrich Merz.
The council vote on Wednesday, which elected Austria and Portugal to a two-year term along with Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe, was a blow to Merz’s struggling government, which has sought to position itself as a leading European voice on the world stage.
Continue reading...Conservation groups say work has begun in protected coastal area, while prime minister insists project will bring jobs and investment
Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are set to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister “to discuss solutions”.
Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to feared environmental damage, amid mounting calls for the project to be blocked.
Continue reading...German director says he recognises actor should have been better protected during filming of Wrong Move
German director Wim Wenders has withdrawn from circulation his 1975 film Wrong Move, because of a scene featuring a child actor topless who was 13 at the time of filming.
The director said in a statement released on Wednesday: “Streaming, TV and distribution partners have been instructed to no longer make the film publicly accessible.”
Continue reading...Operation will use specially built container to protect fragile 11th-century embroidery
As the Bayeux tapestry wends its way across the Channel in a top secret operation there will be no jolts, no bumps, no shakes or vibrations – unlike the voyage of William the Conqueror whose 1066 victory at Hastings the artefact recounts.
“Nothing has been left to chance,” Catherine Pégard, the French minister of culture, told a gathering to mark the historic loan, which will be physically achieved with the tapestry, which is really an embroidery, transported in a specially constructed cradle within a container, the minister said.
Continue reading...Petrol station attack in Calabria throws spotlight on widespread exploitation of foreign farm labourers
The exploitation of farm workers in Italy has come under the spotlight again after four men – three Afghans and one from Pakistan – were allegedly burned alive in a car at a petrol station in Calabria.
The attack was captured by a surveillance camera at the garage in Amendolara, close to Cosenza. Two Pakistani nationals have been arrested on charges of aggravated murder, according to public prosecutor Alessandro D’Alessio.
Continue reading...Officials say law will improve migration management by allowing more deportations of undocumented people
EU politicians have promised to increase deportations of undocumented migrants, under a new law that critics say mimics elements of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown.
Finalising a key element of an overhauled EU asylum and migration system, politicians have agreed a regulation that will enable national authorities to raid people’s homes to enforce deportation orders.
Continue reading...Qayyum Balogun chased and attacked after gig ended in Grafton Street area following clash between rival groups, police say
A brawl in the heart of Dublin’s tourism district led to a nightclub promoter being chased and stabbed to death.
It happened at about 3am on Monday after a gig ended in the Grafton Street area of the city centre that is popular with tourists.
Continue reading...At least 18 killed, dozens injured and others trapped under collapsed buildings after attacks on five Ukrainian cities
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Donald Trump to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine after a devastating Russian attack killed at least 18 people and injured dozens more.
Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to the air force, including eight hypersonic Tsirkon missiles. The main targets were Kyiv, the central cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, and the eastern cities of Poltava and Kharkiv.
Continue reading...Social Democrat stays on for third consecutive term as PM and will outline key policies by the end of Tuesday
Denmark’s new government is preparing to formally present its political programme after Mette Frederiksen negotiated a third consecutive term as prime minister, this time at the head of a four-party, left-leaning minority coalition.
Announced late on Monday, the agreement between Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, the Social Liberals, the Green Left and the centrist Moderates ended two months of uncertainty after March elections in which 12 parties won seats in parliament.
Continue reading...Casting shifts to EU talent as paperwork delays and visa limits make hiring British crews less viable
From blacklists for UK passport holders to being asked to work illegally while on holiday, the plethora of extra costs and red tape thrown up post-Brexit are restricting opportunities for British actors seeking work in the EU.
Mainland Europe has always been a springboard for those in the creative industries, from gaining crucial first credits on a TV, film or theatre production to building a marketable resume and paying the bills while attempting to make it big in the UK or US.
Continue reading...Family were enjoying a waterside barbecue in Bochum before members ended up in jeopardy in river
A cyclist has been praised for having “stepped in decisively” and rescuing four members of a family who nearly drowned in the Ruhr River in Germany during a waterside barbecue that almost ended in tragedy.
The family of eight had set themselves up on the riverbank in the western city of Bochum, the local fire brigade reported, but the gathering took a panicked turn when one woman got too close to the water’s edge and toppled down into the current, police told local media.
Continue reading...Rampant Bull needed a makeover after wear and tear from tourists, but refurbishment ‘castrated’ it, critics say
The restoration of a floor mosaic in Milan called the Rampant Bull has been mocked after the works appear to have erased a crucial anatomical detail – its testicles.
The 19th-century mosaic in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade needed a makeover because a small crater had formed in the tiny pink tiles featuring the bull’s testicles, due to the constant stream of tourists performing a heel-spinning gesture.
Continue reading...President Macron says ship subject to sanctions and posts video of operation that took place with UK support
A suspected Russian oil tanker has been detained in the Atlantic, France has announced, in the latest seizure aimed at combatting Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of vessels contravening international sanctions.
The Tagor was detained on Sunday morning in international waters more than 400 nautical miles (740km) west of Brittany with the help of the UK and other partners, said the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Continue reading...‘Megafires’ in California, Canada, South Korea and Europe in 2025, but changes to farming slowed spread in parts of Africa
“Devastating” wildfires ripped across the wealthier parts of the world in 2025, a study has found, even as globally, the area ravaged by flames fell.
Catastrophic blazes claimed lives, homes and jobs last year in California, Canada, Europe and South Korea. But the 335m hectares burned was the second-lowest since 2002, the review found, largely owing to the expansion of African farms that have fragmented landscapes and hampered the spread of large savannah fires.
Continue reading...Yves Sakila died after being restrained by security guards ‘in broad daylight’
Irish authorities have agreed to a second postmortem on the body of a Congolese man who died after being restrained by shop security guards on a Dublin street, prompting an outcry and comparisons to the death of George Floyd.
A forensic pathologist from England is to conduct an independent postmortem this week on Yves Sakila, 35, an alleged shoplifter who was pursued and pinned to the ground in the city centre on 15 May. The police force, An Garda Síochána, is investigating.
Continue reading...There is hope that a change to building regulations could resurrect music clubs, which have been hit by rising rents, social shifts and noise disputes
A move by the German government to reclassify nightclubs to distinguish them from amusement and adult entertainment facilities could give a much-needed boost to the country’s struggling nightlife, industry advocates say.
Under a fundamental change to building regulations approved by Friedrich Merz’s cabinet last week, nightclubs will be formally recognised as providing cultural and artistic value, making it more difficult for developers to evict venue operators in favour of new construction.
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