European leaders were on the brink of a meltdown when Donald Trump slammed Ukraine and pushed a last-minute peace plan.

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Through scents of lilies and gardenias, and the trickling sound of water, people move with quiet ease. A good garden centre is a little Eden - but, unlike paradise, it guarantees a tearoom.

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The Prime Minister insisted Kyiv’s voice must be at the heart of any peace negotiations in a call on Saturday

Politics

With a rift opening between Europe and the White House over Ukraine, the prime minister and president Zelensky held talks on Saturday to plan for a ‘very active’ week ahead for the conflict

Politics

When contraception has stagnated for decades, it is hardly surprising it’s fallen victim to culture wars and a wellness cultSomething is changing when it comes to contraception. Lots of people aren’t using it. Last week we heard that this includes a third of young Irish people. Meanwhile, there has been a significant rise in abortions in England and Wales. Prescriptions for the contraceptive pill in England dropped from 432,600 in 2014 to 188,500 in 2021. And this month data from abortion clinics found that demand is being fuelled by women coming off the pill and using natural methods instead.When the study compared contraception used by women seeking abortions in 2018 and in 2023, it found that the proportion using smartphones to track their menstrual cycle had increased from 0.4% to 2.5%. The use of hormonal contraception among this group fell from 19% to 11%, while the group not using any form of contraception when they became pregnant increased from 50% to 70%. Continue reading...

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Kyiv ‘must be at the heart of negotiations’ says PM as US threat to block Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites fuels wave of alarmKeir Starmer has raised the stakes before a crucial meeting in Washington with the US president, Donald Trump this week, by insisting that Ukraine must be “at the heart of any negotiations” on a peace deal with Russia.The prime minister made the remarks – which run directly contrary to comments by the US president last week – in a phone call on Saturdaywith Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which he also said that “safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Russia”. Continue reading...

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The US president, on a Russian leash, holds talks that exclude the invaded countryYou can buy a copy of this cartoon Continue reading...

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His friendship with the president dates back to a late-night encounter in a deli. Now he is a loyal envoy brokering the Gaza ceasefire and peace talks on UkraineWith the first phase of the ceasefire nearing its end, an American property developer has emerged as a key figure in determining whether Gaza attains a more enduring peace or slips back into war.Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s typically idiosyncratic pick as special Middle East envoy, has also found his way into the midst of talks with Russia over Ukraine’s future, sitting opposite Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, instead of the official special envoy for the region, Keith Kellogg. Continue reading...

Politics

With a Putin-appeasing president at the helm, it is clear the transatlantic alliance is collapsing and European leaders must plot their own courseHow do I betray thee? Let me count the ways Apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for mangling her celebrated poem to reflect Donald Trump’s multiple Ukraine treacheries. This most perfidious of presidents surpassed himself last week, accusing Kyiv of invading itself three years ago . “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he fatuously griped.Candidate Trump, touting a just peace, pledged to end the war in a day. Now he praises Vladimir Putin, claims Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is “a dictator” and backs a settlement on Moscow’s criminal, one-sided terms. This deranged collapse into craven capitulation, this transition from American saviour to American Judas, took less than a month. It’s contemptible. Continue reading...

Politics

The Stalybridge and Hyde MP has been accused of misrepresenting his legal career

Events

The Prime Minister insisted Kyiv’s voice must be at the heart of any peace negotiations in a call on Saturday.

Politics

The pianist and composer talks about his passion for chillies, teas and saucepans, and cooking for his dad’s remarkable literary dinner partiesI live in Torino [Turin], a town where I grew up, where I was born. There’s a famous dish from there called bagna cauda. It’s a meeting of the garlic from the area of Piedmont, the mountains, with the anchovies coming from the sea in Liguria. It’s a very simple dish, a bit like a broth, perfect in winter, and you eat it with raw vegetables of the season. But there’s so much garlic in it that, when you eat it, you need a couple of days away from other people.There is a connection between how you eat and how you make music: the way you blend the elements that you eat, the colours, it’s similar to composing a piece of music. If I take my solo piano repertoire, I would associate it with a very simple food, with few elements and few colours, not overelaborate. If I think of a piece of mine with more instruments, more orchestral, I would ...

Politics

Sidemen star Vikkstar has opened up about his new career as he ventures into electronic music and joining forces with Steve Aoki and Nicky Romero

Politics

Archaeologist believes his ‘find of the century’ – of Pharaoh Thutmose II – could be surpassed by ongoing excavationTo uncover the location of one long-lost pharaoh’s tomb is a career-defining moment for an archaeologist. But to find a second is the stuff of dreams.Last week British archaeologist Piers Litherland announced the find of the century – the first discovery of a rock-cut pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt since Tutankhamun’s in 1922. Continue reading...

Events

‘If you’re going to ruin my career on that part, you could’ve at least given me an opportunity in the Marvel series,’ said ‘Star Wars’ actor

Events

The Prime Minister insisted Kyiv’s voice must be at the heart of any peace negotiations in a call on Saturday.

Politics

The demonstration comes amid fears Ukraine is being frozen out of peace talks between Moscow and US President Donald Trump.

Politics

The demonstration comes amid fears Ukraine is being frozen out of peace talks between Moscow and US President Donald Trump.

Events

Harold Hamm warns executives will be wary of any peace deal between Trump and Putin

Politics

Record-breaking African snooker icon Wael Talaat has died at the age of 60 following an illustrious career in the sport, with tributes paid to the "renowned player and true gentleman"

Events