Ukraine has been pushing its western allies to allow use of their weapons further into Russia
Donald Trump will “make peace” in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said after visiting the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Orban posted photos of himself and Trump, who is running for re-election in November, each giving a thumbs up in a room at the resort.
Continue reading...At least 56 people survive after early morning rescue involving French coastguard, navy boat and helicopter
Four people died overnight trying to cross the Channel to reach Britain, French officials have said.
A rescue operation took place off Boulogne-sur-Mer on France’s northern coast after reports of people in the sea. Four of those pulled from the sea had drowned.
Continue reading...After the UK justice minister praised the system in the Netherlands, experts there say the reality is more complex
Earlier this year, before he became the UK justice minister, James Timpson described how Britain should follow the Dutch example of mild sentencing to help solve the prisons crisis.
“They have shut half their prisons not because people are less naughty in Holland,” he told Channel 4. “It’s because they have a different way of sentencing, which is community sentencing so people can stay at home, keep their jobs, keep their homes, keep reading their children bedtime stories, and it means they are far less likely to commit crime again. A custodial sentence is not always the right thing.”
Continue reading...Analysis by Dutch researchers shows coordinated activity in France, Germany and Italy in run-up to ballot
Coordinated networks of accounts spreading disinformation “flooded” social media in France, Germany and Italy before the elections to the European parliament, Dutch researchers have found.
After an in-depth analysis of disinformation on the platform X in four EU countries, the researchers concluded that many of the accounts had been set up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but were cranked up in the weeks and days before the vote, with growth in their numbers of followers rocketing.
Continue reading...Marine Tondelier, whose party forms part of the election-winning New Popular Front, says politics must change to regain voters’ trust
The French Green leader, Marine Tondelier, has said the risk of the far right rising to power in France has not disappeared after the snap election, and politics must urgently change to regain voters’ trust.
“It was a warning,” Tondelier said of this month’s election, where a spectacular rush of tactical voting in the final round held back Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally. The RN’s first-round surge had brought it the closest it had ever been to a parliament majority and entering government.
Continue reading...Also snubbing Biden, the prime minister has enraged Nato allies as he tries to broker a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will fly to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to meet with Donald Trump, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Orbán has enraged his Nato allies by meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping en route to the alliance’s summit in Washington DC. He has also met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, and is said to be quietly negotiating his own ceasefire plan without consulting either the Biden administration or other EU countries.
Continue reading...DNA studies suggest disease was central to devastating collapse of northern European population 5,000 years ago
A devastating population collapse that decimated stone age farming communities across northern Europe 5,000 years ago may have been driven by an outbreak of the plague, according to research.
The cause of the calamity, known as the Neolithic collapse, has long been a matter of debate.
Continue reading...City authorities say blaze in spire contained after plume of smoke seen rising from 12th-century gothic building
Firefighters in the Normandy city of Rouen have managed to bring a fire in its world-famous gothic cathedral under control, calming fears of another disaster at one of France’s architectural jewels five years after the devastation of Notre Dame.
Initial television images showed a dark plume of smoke rising from the cathedral spire and people in the streets below looking up in horror.
Continue reading...Firefighters tell French media that fire in spire has been contained after mayor of city says ‘all public resources are mobilised’
The archbishop for Rouen cathedral said workers who were on site when the fire started are safe, Reuters reported.
Here are some images from Rouen today.
Continue reading...Local media reports say 17-year-old is suspected of stunt, which was posted on Instagram
A teenager has been reported to police after allegedly sneaking around Florence’s Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore overnight and climbing up to its Cupola del Brunelleschi to take a selfie.
Wearing a black hoodie, jeans and trainers, a person filmed himself walking up an inside stairwell of the world heritage site before reaching the dome level, stepping on to a small platform outside and taking a picture of himself.
Continue reading...PM to hold bilateral talks at Chequers next week when European leaders will also gather for summit at Blenheim Palace
Keir Starmer is to kickstart the resetting of the UK’s relationship with the EU in bilateral meetings next week with the prime minister of Ireland and president of France.
He will meet the taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday on the eve of the fourth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), a conference of more then 45 EU and non-EU leaders, which takes this place this year at Blenheim Palace near Oxford.
Continue reading...Communique highlights concerns over Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and space capabilities
Nato leaders have labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and called its deepening ties with Moscow a cause of “deep concern”, in what has been seen as the most serious rebuke against Beijing from the alliance.
The final communique, approved by the 32 Nato members at the summit in Washington, also highlights concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.
Continue reading...Two leaders meet during Nato summit in Washington as prime minister works on EU-UK security pact
Joe Biden has appeared to back Keir Starmer’s ambition for the UK having a closer relationship with the European Union as the leaders held their first bilateral talks at the White House.
The US president called the US and UK the “best of allies” as he met the new prime minister in the Oval Office, describing Britain as the “knot” that tied the transatlantic relationship together.
Continue reading...Prime minister holds first official bilateral talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Nato summit in Washington
The new government will stick with plans to spend at least £3bn every year on military support for Ukraine for “as long as is it takes” in its conflict with Russia, Keir Starmer has said.
After his first official bilateral talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the Nato summit in Washington, the prime minister confirmed the military aid would continue until at least 2030-31.
Continue reading...Dutch and Danish leaders say Ukraine will be ‘flying operational F-16s this summer’ as Kyiv seeks battlefield wins
The first F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and will be flying sorties this summer, according to a statement from the Dutch and Danish governments that was released by the White House at the Nato summit.
Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands, and Mette Frederiksen, his counterpart from Denmark, said the “transfer process” of F-16s to Kyiv was under way after months of pilot training and political negotiations.
Continue reading...John Healey acknowledges likely shift of US focus to China and says Britain and EU must raise military spending to counter Russia
Britain will be “the leading European nation” in Nato under a Labour government, the new defence secretary, John Healey, pledged in an interview at the Nato summit in Washington DC – though spending may have to rise significantly if the UK is to remain ahead of Germany.
The cabinet minister, appointed last Friday, acknowledged that European countries within Nato would have to take on more of the burden of defending the west against Russia – regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November.
Continue reading...Move leaves anybody who cooperates with ‘undesirable’ news outlet liable to prosecution
Russia has classed the Moscow Times as an “undesirable organisation”, outlawing its activities inside Russia and leaving anybody who cooperates with it open to prosecution.
The Kremlin has escalated a campaign against independent media and reporting since Russia launched a military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For more on the Dutch and Danish governments’ statement at the summit, read our report:
Here’s the schedule for today’s talks in Washington (all in local time).
8:15am: Nato secretary general’s doorstep
Continue reading...Ahead of UK-US bilateral talks, PM says primary driver for cutting peers’ retirement age is size of Lords chamber
Keir Starmer has denied that his decision to bring in a retirement age of 80 for the House of Lords means he believes Joe Biden should stand down as US president.
Ahead of his first bilateral talks with Biden at the White House, the UK prime minister said the “primary driver” for bringing in a retirement age for peers was the size of the second chamber.
Continue reading...Comments come as PM begins two-day US visit to urge Nato member countries to increase defence spending
The Labour government will not increase spending on the military unless it is also able to grow the economy, the armed forces minister has said, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to say when Britain’s defence spending will hit 2.5% of GDP.
Luke Pollard said on Wednesday the government wanted to hit the target promised by the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, but would not be able to do so without economic growth.
Continue reading...