41 h. ago The Guardian view on Donald Trump and India: the tariff war that boosted China | Editorial

The White House wanted India to bow. Instead, Narendra Modi flew to China, shook Xi Jinping’s hand and left Washington sidelined Donald Trump’s imperial tendencies see the US president wield tariffs and sanctions in the expectation that America will receive tributes. Yet his latest move – punishing India with 50% tariffs for Russian oil purchases once encouraged by the US – has produced not submission but spectacle. It has sent India’s Narendra Modi to China for the first time in seven years as Xi Jinping hosted more than 20 leaders for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. And it is in Tianjin, not Washington, where it looks as if the hinge of history is moving.The SCO is easy to dismiss: the bloc is a bundle of contradictions. India and Pakistan remain adversaries. China and India still stare across a garrisoned Himalayan frontier, though relations have thawed since last October’s border breakthrough. Russia and China vie for influence in Central Asia. Unl...

Politics

43 h. ago Fifa urged to block ‘disarray’ of major European fixtures being played on different continents

Supporters’ groups warn against ‘dangerous precedent’Governing body to rule on La Liga call for Miami gameFifa has been urged by leading supporters’ groups to block domestic league matches from being played abroad and avoid “a Pandora’s box of disarray for football”, as the prospect of major European fixtures taking place on different continents looms large.World football’s governing body is likely to be tasked with deciding whether Villarreal face Barcelona in Miami in December after La Liga’s request to make the switch was approved and submitted by the Spanish football federation. Milan and Como are also looking to play a Serie A fixture in Perth, Western Australia, in February. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago David Gray in Hibs 'belong' statement as gutted boss urges player to book return to Europe

Hibees were floored by an injury time equaliser and extra time winner away to Legia Warsaw to leave them out of Europe just when it looked like they were about to make history by reaching the league phase.

Sport

4 d. ago All but one EU states demand Russia ‘stop the killing’ in Ukraine as Zelenskyy urges Monday deadline for Putin meeting – Europe live

EU member states, except Hungary, sign joint statement calling out Russia’s disregard for international lawEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is in Latvia today, and has been speaking to the media in the last few minutes.Speaking alongside Latvia’s prime minister Evika Siliņa, she praised the country’s work on becoming “a true drone and anti drone powerhouse” in Europe, contributing to Nato’s security in the region bordering with Russia.We know that Europe is only safe if the eastern border is safe.“The risks your country and the other Baltic States warned us about, unfortunately, have materialised. Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is now in its fourth year, Putin is a predator, Putin’s proxies have been targeting our societies for years with hybrid attacks, with cyber-attacks, [and] the weaponising of migrants is another example.” Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Urgent search for British man, 66, who vanished in Marbella nearly two weeks ago

The man, named in an alert as Andrew JW, has been missing for nearly two weeks

Politics

1 week ago Trump again mulls Russia sanctions as Ukraine peace remains elusive one week after Alaska summit

Russia’s foreign minister says no meeting planned between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr ZelenskyyDonald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there was no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, as Moscow said there remained “no meeting planned” between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.“I’m going to make a decision as to what we do and it’s going to be a very important decision, and that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it’s your fight,” Trump said, showing apparent frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago US imposes sanctions on international court officials in ‘flagrant attack’

Secretary of state Marco Rubio announces US assets frozen over efforts to prosecute Americans and IsraelisThe Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to hobble the international criminal court in what the ICC has denounced as a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution”.The US state department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, saying they had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets that the targets hold in US jurisdictions are frozen. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Minister unveils UK crackdown on Kyrgyz finance to ‘keep pressure on’ Putin

Russian leaders are ‘sorely mistaken’ if they thought they could ‘hide’ their efforts to evade sanctions, Stephen Doughty said.

Politics

1 week ago Trump is ready to ‘crush’ the Russian economy if Putin doesn’t meet with Zelensky, says Lindsey Graham

Republican insists sanctions could become necessary to punish Kremlin leader for snubbing diplomatic discussions on ending Ukraine war

Politics

2 w. ago There is no ‘Trump Doctrine’ in foreign policy. Just chaos | Sidney Blumenthal

The recent summit meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin was nothing short of a theater of the absurdAll the elaborate efforts of the European allies to prevent Donald Trump from prostrating himself before Vladimir Putin came to naught at their summit meeting in Alaska. Flattering, coddling and petting the big baby appeared to have been in vain. Before the 15 August summit, the Europeans persuaded Trump to impose new sanctions if Putin would not agree to a ceasefire, which would serve as a prerequisite for any negotiations. But Trump willfully tossed policy like a stuffed animal out of the window of “the Beast,” the presidential car as he eagerly invited Putin to join him for a triumphant chariot ride.The Europeans scrambled once again, trying to get the addled Trump back on the page he was on before the summit. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sped to Washington to confer with Trump to try to pick up the pieces. At their last encounter, Trump jibed: “You don’t have any ...

Events

2 w. ago Four key takeaways from Trump’s White House summit on Ukraine

The US president has hosted European leaders at short notice amid intense political efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Here are four key points to what was achievedUkraine war: live updatesFull report: Trump arranging Zelenskyy-Putin meeting as European leaders push for US security guaranteesDonald Trump has hosted leaders from across Europe as part of a flurry of diplomacy to find a path to peace in Ukraine. Coming just days after a disappointing summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the pressure was on to make headway in a years-long conflict that the US president once said he could solve in 24 hours.Below are some key points arising from the US president’s range of bilateral and multilateral talks with the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and Nato. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Can Europe’s leaders drag Trump’s Ukraine policy back on track? – Today in Focus Extra podcast

The Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger on why a ‘dream team’ of Europe’s leaders will flank Zelensky today as he travels to Washington. Can they convince Trump to listen to the Ukrainian president?Last week, the US president, Donald Trump, flew to Anchorage, Alaska, to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. All guns blazing, Trump promised there would be consequences if he did not get the ceasefire he had come for. But after spending three hours in the subartic chill with Putin, a former KGB handler, he seemed to change. He said he agreed with Putin that a long-term peace settlement was more urgent than a ceasefire, and ruled out Ukraine joining Nato.Europe’s key leaders have responded by ripping up their schedules and insisting on joining Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he travels to Washington for his own meeting with Trump, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger explains. Helen Pidd asks what hope this “dream team” of leaders has of c...

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on the Alaska summit: there must be no more gifts to Vladimir Putin | Editorial

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington amid talk of land swaps, European leaders must have his backHours after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin departed from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on Friday, Moscow officials reported that two more villages in Ukraine’s east had been seized by Russian forces. It was a grimly apt postscript to a “peace summit” that allowed a pariah leader to posture on the world stage, but signally failed to achieve the outcome that its host claimed to desire.Mr Trump had suggested that he would be “unhappy” if a ceasefire were not agreed during discussions with Mr Putin. There would, he warned, be “severe consequences” if his guest proved unwilling to end the war. Predictably, no ceasefire announcement was forthcoming, and the sanctions Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened, but never imposed, have been kicked into the long grass. Instead, the US president offered a crucial concession to Mr Putin, concurring that a cessation of hostilities sh...

Politics

2 w. ago Putin's last trick? As Trump urges Zelensky to fold and European leaders dash to Washington, Ukraine claims suicidal Russian 'fakery' missions could seal its fate

Russian commanders are reportedly forcing troops to risk their lives in suicidal flag-painting missions, sending small groups to the frontline villages to raise the Russian flag.

Politics

2 w. ago Drivers heading for Europe urged to check rules, and make sure they're covered

Experts say there is a six-point checklist many drivers will need to complete before crossing the Channel

Politics

2 w. ago Putin demands Ukraine withdrawal from eastern Donetsk as price of ending war

Trump urges European leaders to drop efforts for ceasefire after failing to win over Russian president in Alaska

Politics

2 w. ago Trump to meet Zelenskyy as Europe urges US to offer security guarantees

US president invites Ukrainian counterpart to Washington on Monday after failing to secure ceasefire from Vladimir Putin

Politics

2 w. ago Trump confirms plans for ‘economically severe’ sanctions for Russia over Ukraine as he goes to meet Putin – Europe live

US president says Russia needs to show willingness to seriously talk about the end of the war in Ukraine, as he travels to meeting in Anchorage, AlaskaAsked if his conversation with Trump will cover territorial issues, Trump says:“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision, and I think they’ll make a proper decision, but I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at a table. “I noticed he’s bringing a lot of business people from Russia, and that’s good.I like that because they want to do business, but they’re not doing business until we get the war stopped.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Putin is floating a new nuclear deal with the US ahead of Trump talks. Here’s why

The move might dissuade Trump from imposing new sanctions on Russia

Politics

2 w. ago Brits travelling to Spain urged to take 'extreme precautions' on holiday

Spain has been hit by a heatwave with the mercury hitting 32C in Seville this week and highs of 35C in Madrid and 31C in Barcelona. The UK has also been issued a yellow heat health warning

Politics