Macron’s mini-summit in Paris is a snub to Trump’s trade policy | Larry Elliott

European leaders and China’s Xi Jinping put on a show of unity in the face of US tariffs

Donald Trump was not on the guest list for Emmanuel Macron’s mini-summit in Paris, but the presence of the US president was still very much felt as Europe’s leaders sat down to talk trade, business deals and geopolitics with China’s Xi Jinping.

At one level, the message from the meeting of China’s leader with Macron, the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was obvious: this was a show of unity in the face of Trump’s tariffs aimed across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

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Emmanuel Macron hosts Xi Jinping in attempt to strengthen EU-China relationship

French president invited Angela Merkel to talks with Chinese leader in Paris

Emmanuel Macron has launched a charm offensive towards his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, talking of multilateralism and cooperation while tiptoeing around subjects such as human rights.

In a meeting during a bilateral three-day state visit to France, the French president took the unprecedented step of inviting the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, to Paris for the talks.

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European parliament votes to scrap daylight saving time from 2021

Directive would apply to UK if it stayed in EU, and also during Brexit transition period

The European parliament has voted to scrap the twice-a-year custom of changing the clocks by an hour in spring and autumn by 2021, leaving only national governments to now give their assent.

The change would apply to the UK if it stays in the EU, and also during an extended transition period that is part of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

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Brexit: Three ministers resign to join 29-strong Tory revolt on indicative votes – as it happened

MPs vote by 329 to 302 for Letwin amendment, despite Theresa May saying government would not be bound by result

As not much has happened in the past hour, I’m going to close the blog by republishing my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s excellent snap analysis for those who missed it an hour or so ago. Thanks and goodnight.

Sky’s Lewis Goodall seems chirpy:

I’m going to bed and finally having a day off tomorrow. But in conclusion: something actually happened tonight.

No, really. I can’t believe it either.

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Warning of legal limbo for 3m EU citizens living in UK after Brexit

Free movement, housing and social security rights at risk, says parliamentary report

EU citizens living in the UK would be stripped of their freedom of movement, housing and social security rights by Home Office legislation introduced to regulate immigration following Brexit, a parliamentary report has warned.

Despite repeated government reassurances that their privileges will be protected, a study by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) concludes that more than 3 million Europeans living in Britain would be left in legal “limbo”.

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Viking Sky: rescuer’s camera shows passengers being airlifted to safety – video

New footage has emerged from the Viking Sky rescue that took place on Saturday that shows passengers being airlifted to safety as huge waves toss the ship around. 

A camera mounted on a rescue worker's helmet captured the moment passengers were hoisted one by one from the cruise ship to a helicopter. The evacuations took place in extremely difficult conditions. Norwegian media reported gusts of up to 38 knots (43 mph) and waves over eight metres (26ft) in an area known for its rough, frigid waters. Twenty people were treated for injuries including broken bones, cuts and bruises, rescuers said.

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The week ahead for Brexit: third time lucky for May?

With more than 120 MPs backing an amendment in support of indicative voting, it’s going to be a fraught five days

Many weeks have so far been billed as crunch weeks for Brexit. But with the revised departure date looming, Theresa May’s proposal looking all-but doomed and the prime minister’s own position openly questioned, the next days really do appear crucial. Here is what could happen and when.

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The Mueller report: key findings

Bill Barr released a summary of the long-awaited report into allegations the Trump campaign colluded with Russia

The US Attorney general Bill Barr released a summary on Sunday of special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report into allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

Here are the main findings of the two-year investigation that the president regularly denounced as a witch hunt, before claiming vindication upon its completion:

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Brexiters pile on pressure as May’s deal drifts away

High-stakes Chequers summit breaks up without agreement

Theresa May’s prospects of getting her Brexit deal through parliament this week dramatically receded on Sunday night after a high-stakes summit with Boris Johnson and other leading hard-Brexiters at her country retreat broke up without agreement.

Tory rebels present said that the prime minister repeated “all the same lines” about her deal and that nothing new emerged during the three-hour meeting, at which Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith and Dominic Raab were also present.

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Viking Sky: stricken cruise ship in rescue drama

Vessel broke down in rough seas off Norway with 1,300 passengers and crew on board, leading to evacuations by helicopter

The Norwegian cruise ship Viking Sky was limping to safety on Sunday morning amid a continuing dramatic rescue operation that saw hundreds of people winched off by helicopters as the powerless vessel was tossed on rough seas.

The ship carrying 1,300 passengers and crew broke down off the Norwegian coast on Saturday. Video and photos from passengers showed chairs and other furniture rolling dangerously across the floor and parts of the ceiling falling down as the vessel was tossed about. Passengers were wearing orange life vests but the waves broke some of the windows and cold water poured over their feet.

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Theresa May has failed to offer sound leadership in this toxic Brexit phase | Phillip Lee

The PM has brought us to this crisis with a series of calamitous decisions

How has it come to this? Theresa May and her husband, Philip, have long been friends of mine and I have in the past admired her sense of duty and commitment to her party and her country. So it grieves me that her stubborn choices have left both in peril.

At a time when our politics needs statesmanship, not brinkmanship, when our divided people need time to heal and come back together, and when our country needs honest leadership rooted in reality not ideology, Mrs May has embraced division. Rather than providing the calm, compassionate and unifying leadership we so desperately needed after a divisive EU referendum campaign, she rushed to own Brexit. She has clung to power in the process, but she is letting us all down.

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Protesters clash with police across France for 19th weekend

Gilets jaunes demonstrations in Paris on Saturday largely peaceful, but turned violent in the late afternoon

Police and demonstrators clashed sporadically in Paris and other French cities on Saturday as gilets jaunes protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s government took place for a 19th consecutive weekend.

The demonstration in the capital was largely peaceful for most of the day, but later in the afternoon police fired teargas on protesters near Boulevard de Strasbourg, close to the capital’s Gare du Nord and Gare de L’Est railway stations.

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Italy and China in plan for new Silk Road-style trade network

Xi Jinping visits Rome as Italy becomes first G7 country to back Belt and Road initiative

Italy has become the first G7 country to endorse a contentious plan by China to build a Silk Road-style global trade network, irking its EU and US allies.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could lead to Italy’s participation in China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI), an ambitious project that envisages Chinese investment in a network of infrastructure projects connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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Franco’s shadow: reburial battle sees Spain confront its darkest days

Past and future collide as nationalist Vox party gears up for success in next month’s general election while exhumation of dictator draws closer

The gates of the suburban mausoleum that could soon house Spain’s most restless ghost are decked with a shrivelling bunch of red and yellow carnations, a handful of prayer cards and a cheap, broken crucifix.

If the socialist government’s long and fraught campaign to exhume Francisco Franco from the fascist splendour of the Valley of the Fallen finally succeeds, his body will be reinterred in June here in the humbler surroundings of the Mingorrubio-El Pardo municipal cemetery.

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Trump provokes global anger by recognising Israel’s claim to Golan Heights

Russia, Iran and Turkey condemn US president while Syria vows to recapture territory lost in 1967 war

Syria has vowed to retake the Golan Heights as Donald Trump’s call for the US to recognise the occupied territory as part of Israel elicited strong responses from Russia, Turkey and Iran.

The president ended half a century of US foreign policy and broke from post-second world war international consensus that forbids territorial conquest during war with a tweet on Thursday that said it was time “to fully recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights”.

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German police arrest 10 people on suspicion of terror plot

Suspects aged between 20 and 42 detained after police raids in Frankfurt region

Ten people have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack using a car and guns with the aim of killing as many people as possible.

Several of the suspects, aged 20 to 42, were German citizens, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said, without naming the other nationalities.

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Italy pulls out red carpet for Xi Jinping in trade charm offensive

Bocelli to sing for China’s president as Italy becomes first G7 nation to back ‘Silk Road’ plan

Rome gave a lavish welcome to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, his wife and entourage on Friday as Italy and China controversially pledged to strengthen trade and investment ties.

Xi is in the Italian capital on a two-day state visit, along with about 200 officials. He is expected to strike a range of deals worth up to €7bn and attend a gala dinner, where the tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform, during his visit.

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France drafts in troops to prevent further gilets jaunes violence

Soldiers deployed in show of force in Paris and in Nice, which is hosting a state visit

France has drafted in extra security forces including army troops to try to prevent any repeat of violence during gilets jaunes protests in Paris or other cities this weekend.

Police, gendarmes and soldiers will be deployed in a show of force in the capital and in the southern city of Nice, where the president, Emmanuel Macron, will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a state visit on Sunday.

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