68 h. ago Gaza starvation is real and it is happening now, UN World Food Programme says – Middle East crisis live

Cindy McCain said she had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu about allowing more food into the stripPatrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the GuardianThe UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites or face deeper worldwide economic isolation. Continue reading...

Society

3 d. ago UK, Germany and France say they have triggered UN sanctions on Iran

Move by trio of European powers gives Tehran 30 days to improve access for inspection of its nuclear sitesThe UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites or face deeper worldwide economic isolation.UK officials said the decision had not been taken lightly and there had been intensive diplomacy to try to avert this step. The officials stressed there was still room for some last-ditch diplomacy before the sanctions “snapback” comes into force in 30 days’ time. The annual high-level UN general assembly in September is likely to host more intensive diplomacy over the situation with Iran. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago UK, France and Germany to revive sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme

The three European powers plan to impose sweeping sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation after efforts to restart diplomatic talks stalled.

Events

3 d. ago Iran faces return of sweeping sanctions from UK, France and Germany

Decision by European powers follows Iran’s failure to readmit UN inspectors to all of its nuclear sitesThe UK, France and Germany are expected to announce on Thursday that they will reimpose sweeping sanctions on Iran for failing to readmit UN inspectors into all of its nuclear sites.The decision, under consideration for months, is likely to provoke the worst crisis in Iran’s relations with the west since Israel’s attacks on the country’s nuclear sites in June. Iran is already preparing countermeasures. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago France, Germany and UK prepare to reimpose sanctions on Iran

E3 countries are expected to trigger process contained in 2015 nuclear accord as hopes fade of a diplomatic breakthrough

Politics

4 d. ago Return of UN nuclear inspectors to Iran met with protests by MPs

Some Iranian officials say readmission breaches law passed after Israel and the US attacked the country in JuneThe partial return of UN inspectors to Iran for the first time since Israel and the US attacked Iran’s nuclear sites has been met with protests by officials in Tehran, who claim the strict preconditions they set have been breached. Some even described the return as criminal.Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, tried to quell the backlash by saying the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not be visiting any of the bombed sites and that discussions about these were still to be had. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago European and Iranian diplomats fail to agree on how to avoid reimposition of UN sanctions

A diplomat says that representatives of three European countries threatening to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program failed to agree with their Iranian counterpart Tuesday on how to avoid the move days ahead of a deadline

Politics

5 d. ago Iran faces 'snapback' of sanctions over its nuclear program. Here's what that means

France, Britain and Germany have threatened to trigger the “snapback mechanism” that automatically reimposes all United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program

Events

5 d. ago Israel faces global outrage after deadly Gaza hospital strike and domestic protests over hostages

The United States, Britain, Egypt, France, and Spain denounced the hospital attack, while Germany called for an investigation

Events

6 d. ago Postal services in Europe suspend parcel shipments to US amid uncertainty over tariffs

Donald Trump’s late announcement left operators with ‘extremely limited timeframe to get prepared’Postal services across Europe have suspended most parcel shipments to the US, citing widespread uncertainty about the impact of new import tariffs announced by Donald Trump.France’s La Poste on Monday joined other operators, including Germany’s Deutsche Post, Spain’s Correos, Poste Italiane and the Belgian, Swedish and Danish postal services, which all halted a majority of US-bound shipments over the weekend. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago It’s the great grandparent revolt – and it shows we parents aren’t the only ones burnt out by family life | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Politicians are scrabbling to raise birthrates, but when the older generation is the only childcare safety net, that’s a problem ‘Enslaved grandparent syndrome” – sounds extreme, doesn’t it? But that’s what some psychologists in Spain are calling the childcare burden faced by older people in that country, where 35% of people over the age of 65 take care of their grandchildren several days a week. In my London neighbourhood, the sight of a grandparent pushing a baby in a buggy, or a toddler in a swing, is fairly common, but in Madrid, even more so. The latest Europe-wide survey, in 2016, found the proportion of over 65s undertaking childcare at least several days a week in southern European countries – Spain especially, but also in Italy and Greece – is much higher than in France (13%) and Germany (15%) or the UK (18%).This is the result of historical cultural norms of shared care between generations, but now some Spanish grandparents are fighting back. After working all their lives,...

Society

1 week ago Kneecap press on with European tour despite Hungary ban and cancelled gigs

Rap trio will face intense scrutiny from French authorities when they play Rock en Seine festival on SundayThe Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap are ploughing ahead with their European tour despite a ban on entering Hungary, the cancellation of a string of concerts in Austria and Germany, and the intense scrutiny of authorities in France.The Irish-language group will this Sunday play in front an expected 40,000 spectators at the Rock en Seine festival west of Paris, one of France’s biggest live music events of the year, just days after one of their members appeared at a London court on a terrorism charge. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Donald Trump is becoming the greatest unifier of Europe since the end of the cold war | Fabrizio Tassinari

The US president may be helping Putin to destroy the west, but his vanity is causing Europeans to speak with one voice on UkraineSeven is a biblical number, a number dear to ancient Rome, and the number of Cristiano Ronaldo’s lucky jersey. Perhaps it is also now going to be the answer to Henry Kissinger’s (probably apocryphal) question: what number do I call when I want to talk to Europe? Maybe the answer is seven, like the number of leaders sitting at the table in Washington on Monday alongside Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.It’s difficult to say at this stage whether anything good will come from the impromptu White House summit, but European leaders showing up as a group in support of Ukraine was a first. This seven-member format – Nato, the European Commission, France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Finland – truly spoke with one voice. They did so on a crisis, Ukraine, over which they have sometimes been bitterly divided throughout the past three and a half years (remember Emm...

Politics

1 week ago What security guarantees might Ukraine get in return for a peace deal?

As western leaders meet, questions remain about the steps they could take to prevent any future Russian aggressionRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesEuropean leaders have been holding a virtual conference call to discuss what security guarantees they could give to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia. The discussion follows Monday’s unprecedented get-together in the White House hosted by Donald Trump. The US president met Volodymyr Zelenskyy and held talks with Britain’s Keir Starmer, as well as the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and Nato. The main topic was how to end the war in Ukraine, the continent’s biggest since 1945, and how Europe might stop Russia from attacking again. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week 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

1 week ago King Charles kicks off Balmoral summer residency with military ceremony as fans flock from Europe to greet him

Dozens of people waited to try to speak to Charles at the gates to the Aberdeenshire estate, including holidaymakers from France, the Netherlands and Germany

Events

1 week ago Two men who despise each other, one hour that will change the world: Trump and Zelensky to face

The Prime Minister will join France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Finland's Alexander Stubb in the White House.

Politics

1 week ago Trump piles pressure on Zelenskyy before European leaders arrive in Washington

US president tells Ukraine leader to give up Nato and Crimea ambitions in run-up to White House talksRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesDonald Trump has put pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy before talks in Washington with European leaders on Monday, saying the Ukrainian leader could end the war “almost immediately” if he wanted to. The US president also ruled out allowing Ukraine to join Nato or retake Russian-occupied Crimea as part of negotiations with Moscow.Trump posted the remarks on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night, hours before he was due to meet the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the EU and Nato at the Oval Office, amid fears the US president could try to pressure Kyiv into accepting a settlement favourable to Moscow. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago I used to run the Foreign Office. This is my advice for today’s extraordinary White House meeting

With so much at stake for Europe, the most important thing is to choose a lead speaker. I’d go with Starmer or RutteSimon McDonald was permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, 2015-2020, and is now a crossbench peerLast week’s extraordinary summit meeting in Alaska is being followed today by an even more extraordinary international conference in Washington. None of the participants knew they were going to take part two days ago. In recent decades, diplomacy has been increasingly conducted in ad hoc contact groups – but the group of seven countries (the US, Ukraine, the UK, Germany, Finland, Italy and France) and two international organisations (Nato and the EU) has never met in this way before.Officials will be preparing in the usual way, assembling briefing packs and writing talking points, aiming to please their bosses and, hopefully, allowing them to make the most effective intervention. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago I used to run the Foreign Office. This is my advice for today’s extraordinary White House meeting | Simon McDonald

With so much at stake for Europe, the most important thing is to choose a lead speaker. I’d go with Starmer or RutteSimon McDonald was permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, 2015-2020, and is now a crossbench peerLast week’s extraordinary summit meeting in Alaska is being followed today by an even more extraordinary international conference in Washington. None of the participants knew they were going to take part two days ago. In recent decades, diplomacy has been increasingly conducted in ad hoc contact groups – but the group of seven countries (the US, Ukraine, the UK, Germany, Finland, Italy and France) and two international organisations (Nato and the EU) has never met in this way before.Officials will be preparing in the usual way, assembling briefing packs and writing talking points, aiming to please their bosses and, hopefully, allowing them to make the most effective intervention. Continue reading...

Society