46 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Trump says ready for more Russia sanctions

US treasury secretary foreshadows oil tariffs in cooperation with Europe; Alaska meeting gave Putin the publicity he wanted, says Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,293Asked by a reporter at the White House on Sunday if he was ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions targeting Russia, Donald Trump responded: “Yeah, I am.” The US president stopped short of saying he was committed to such a decision or what a second phase might entail. The White House did not immediately respond to an email on Sunday asking what steps Trump was contemplating. Trump said on Sunday night that “certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually” and he would also speak to Vladimir Putin soon.The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday that the US and the EU could put “secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil”, pushing the Russian economy to the brink of collapse and bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. China is a major ...

Politics

3 d. ago Space Force theme 'sucks' as Trump makes announcement about his 'Star Wars' army

Trump returned to the public eye after a week of absence to break a big announcement about his much-memed Space Force, whose strange theme song 'sucks' according to social media critics

Politics

4 d. ago Foreign troops deployed to Ukraine before any peace deal would be ‘legitimate targets’, Putin warns

Putin's comments came hours after European leaders pledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force

Events

4 d. ago Macron says 26 nations ready to provide postwar military backing to Ukraine

French president says allies would either deploy ‘reassurance force’ troops to Ukraine, or be present in the area on land, sea or in the airTwenty-six nations have pledged to provide postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, including an international force on land and sea and in the air, Emmanuel Macron said after a summit at which European leaders sought to pin down Donald Trump on the level of support he is willing to give Kyiv.“The day the conflict stops, the security guarantees will be deployed,” the French president told a press conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris, standing alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Trump cutting funding to train and support European troops in countries bordering Russia: report

The apparent shift has alarmed European defense leaders, who see the presence of U.S. troops and support as a key deterrent against Moscow

Politics

4 d. ago Trump tells European leaders that buying Russian oil is helping Moscow fund war against Ukraine

Trump joined a call of the “Coalition of the Willing” countries, led by French President Emmanuel Macron

Politics

5 d. ago European leaders press Trump over peacekeeper plan for Ukraine

Leaders ask president on call to detail security guarantees US could give to European force in event of ceasefireEuropean leaders have made fresh efforts to pin down Donald Trump on the level of support he is willing to give Ukraine to push back a Russian advance, and asked him to detail the security guarantees he would provide to any European peacekeeping force inside Ukraine in the event of a lasting ceasefire.European leaders spoke with Trump by video call on Thursday after first holding a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” in Paris, co-chaired by Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Newly discovered portrait may depict ‘fair youth’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets

Earl of Southampton may have given writer the miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, which has defaced heart on its reverseThe discovery of a previously unknown portrait miniature by one of Elizabethan England’s greatest artists would be significant enough. But a work by Nicholas Hilliard that has come to light is all the more exciting because it has a possible link to William Shakespeare, and a 400-year-old enigma of a defaced red heart on its reverse, suggesting a love scorned.Hilliard was Queen Elizabeth I’s official limner, or miniature painter. His exquisite portraits, small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand, are among the most revered masterpieces of 16th-century British and European art. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago U.S. envoy Witkoff meets European leaders on Ukraine security

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with European leaders in Paris on Thursday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine

Politics

5 d. ago NATO chief demands European answer TODAY on how to protect Ukraine as divided leaders meet in France after Putin, Xi and Kim Jong

It comes as leaders from Europe, Turkey, Australia and Canada head to Paris to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on what concrete measures they are prepared to offer Kyiv.

Politics

9 d. ago ‘I do – again!’ Why are so many people renewing their marriage vows?

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz are doing it, Guy Ritchie is doing it – and some people are even doing it with a Mary Poppins impersonator to officiate. Here, couples share why they’ve tied the knot for a second timeWhen Jade Foster-Jerrett married Dean in 2015, the couple decided that if they were still together in 10 years’ time, they would renew their vows. “We always said that it felt like a big milestone if we ever made it – which, luckily, we did.” This month, they held a ceremony in the forest behind their home, colourful bunting fluttering in the wind, with a Mary Poppins impersonator emerging from the trees to surprise their guests and officiate. “We love to have a laugh,” she says.Mary Poppins was Foster-Jerrett’s favourite film when she was a child, and she used to watch it with her father, who died in 2020. “We wanted to mark him not being there,” says the 42-year-old children’s entertainer from Romford, London. Her best friend, who was a bridesmaid at her first weddin...

Politics

1 week ago When Germany's Chancellor admits that Europe's juggernaut cannot afford to fund its welfare state... what hope is there for debt

It has fallen to Germany's new leader, Friedrich Merz, to say what every other European leader, including our own Keir Starmer, knows to be true but hasn't the guts to say.

Economics

1 week ago European leaders vow to tighten sanctions on Russia after missile attack on Kyiv kills 23

The attack saw two missiles land just 50 yards from the EU mission in the Ukrainian capital, shattering doors and windows.

Events

1 week ago Strictly's Shirley Ballas thought 'this can't go on' as she speaks out on fiancé's 'vanishing act'

The Strictly Come Dancing star previously described her love life as a 'disaster' as she officially confirmed her split from Danny Taylor

Politics

1 week ago Outraged over Russian strike on Kyiv, European defense leaders pledge pressure to end the war

European defense ministers are meeting in Copenhagen to discuss the war in Ukraine

Events

1 week ago UK and EU summon top Russian diplomats after strikes hit British Council and EU offices in deadly attack on Kyiv

Overnight raid kills more than a dozen people as European leaders condemn ‘deliberate’ targeting of civilians and institutionsUkrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has now responded to the overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv, criticising Moscow for “horrific and deliberate killing of civilians.”“The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only constant expansion of atrocities,” she said.“Overnight in Kyiv, dozens of buildings were hit: residential houses, office centers, civilian enterprises. Among them also the building where the European Union Delegation to Ukraine is located. Russians now believe that they have paralyzed Ukraine’s allies with feigned plans for ‘negotiations’ and endless delays that only serve as methods to buy time with the true goal only of preventing sanctions.“My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv which have damaged the British Council building. Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peac...

Events

1 week ago Heavy fog strikes European Masters as play suspended on DP World Tour

Play was unable to continue on the opening morning in Switzerland with the course engulfed in thick fog

Events

2 w. ago Angry town hall attendee rips Republican congressman for sucking up to Trump: ‘The man is a dictator’

Alford faced backlash in Missouri despite breaking from Trump on deploying the National Guard into cities

Politics

2 w. ago Nigel Farage vows to scrap UK human rights law and promises mass deportations

The Reform UK leader pledged to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and scrap the Human Rights Act

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on protests in Serbia: a battle for democracy that the EU must not ignore | Editorial

An authoritarian crackdown on mass demonstrations in an EU candidate country requires a stronger response from BrusselsDuring a summer in which European leaders have focused on shuttle diplomacy with Donald Trump over trade and Ukraine, they have maintained a discreet silence regarding another crisis in Europe’s east. For more than nine months, mass student-led protests in Serbia have been challenging the authoritarian rule of Aleksandar Vučić, who has been in office as prime minister and president for 11 years. Up to now, Brussels has largely opted to look away.The catalyst for some of the largest demonstrations in Serbia’s history was the collapse of a newly renovated railway station roof in the country’s second city, Novi Sad, leading to the deaths of 16 people. The disaster was widely attributed to entrenched fraud and corruption presided over by Mr Vučić’s ruling Serbian Progressive party, and swiftly became the spark for a movement for democratic reform. The students are deman...

Events