6 h. ago Nato to unveil new 5% defence spending target this week, chief indicates

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is among the world leaders expected in The Hague in the Netherlands this week for the Nato summit.

Events

7 h. ago NATO chief says Ukraine remains vital at summit despite Zelenskyy's absence from leaders' meeting

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insists Ukraine will remain a vital topic at an alliance summit this week despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal an agreement to boost military spending

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15 h. ago Keir Starmer to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in UK after leader's dire Putin warning

Volodymyr Zelensky is set to hold talks with the Prime Minister in the UK, hours after at least seven people were killed in Russian air and drone strikes in Kyiv

Events

36 h. ago Iran says it will Vladimir Putin just hours after Donald Trump's nuke sites attacks

Iranian officials have confirmed they will now meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin following several missile strikes sent over from the US in the early hours

Politics

36 h. ago Iran says it will meet Vladimir Putin just hours after Donald Trump's nuke sites attacks

Iranian officials have confirmed they will now meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin following several missile strikes sent over from the US in the early hours

Politics

54 h. ago Lukashenko frees Belarusian opposition leader after meeting Trump envoy

Sergei Tsikhanouski was jailed for 18 years after challenging Alexander Lukashenko for the presidency

Politics

3 d. ago Cannibal Russian soldier 'ATE his dead comrade and lived off his remains for two weeks' on frontline, phone call intercepted by Ukrainian spies reveal

Ukraine released what it said was an intercepted call between two of Vladimir Putin's troops in which they were heard discussing an alleged case of cannibalism among the ranks.

Events

3 d. ago New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon talks trade in meeting with China's Xi

The prime minister of New Zealand has stressed the importance of his country’s trade ties with China in a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping

Politics

4 d. ago Spain threatens to block NATO 5% defence spending target in snub to alliance chief who demanded nations boost spending

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is pushing bloc members to boost their defence spending to 5% GDP by 2032, after Trump declared America's allies were shirking their responsibilities

Events

5 d. ago Why Europe should hijack Nato for its own purposes | Paul Taylor

As the Trump administration’s security focus shifts towards countering China, European governments are living on borrowed timeCall it the five-for-five summit. When Nato leaders meet in The Hague next week, European allies will sign up to a phoney transatlantic bargain in which they pretend they will spend 5% of their economic output on defence and Donald Trump pretends in return that he is committed to Article 5 of the Nato treaty, the mutual defence clause that he has repeatedly undermined.The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, is deploying all his considerable political wiles and powers of persuasion to contrive a short, “no surprises” summit at which fundamental differences over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, trade, the Middle East and liberal democratic values are deliberately excluded.Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Trump meets with military leaders over Iran, after PM insists he wants peace

Mr Trump met with his National Security Council in the White House’s situation room shortly after a series of sabre-rattling social media posts.

Politics

6 d. ago Ukraine left in lurch as Trump exits G7 meeting early without meeting Zelenskyy

US president said he had to leave to focus on Israel-Iran conflict, without addressing Russia-Ukraine ceasefireUkrainian diplomats have been left frustrated – and in some cases embittered – at Donald Trump’s refusal to make Ukraine a priority after Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew 5,000 miles to the G7 conference in Canada only for the US president to return home the night before the two leaders were due to meet. Trump said he needed to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict.Some Ukrainian officials said they were not sure now if it will be worth Zelenskyy attending the Nato summit in The Hague next week since there was no guarantee that Trump would attend. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Ukraine left in lurch as Trump rushes out of G7 without meeting Zelenskyy

US president said he had to leave to focus on Israel-Iran conflict, without addressing Russia-Ukraine ceasefireUkrainian diplomats have been left frustrated – and in some cases embittered – at Donald Trump’s refusal to make Ukraine a priority after Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew 5,000 miles to the G7 conference in Canada only for the US president to return home the night before the two leaders were due to meet. Trump said he needed to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict.In a further blow for Kyiv the US vetoed a joint statement on Ukraine from the summit, on the grounds that the wording was too anti-Russian and could compromise negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Russian media say top official is in Pyongyang again to meet North Korean leader

Russian state media has reported that a top Russian security official traveled to Pyongyang for the second time this month for another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the latest display of the countries’ deepening ties amid President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine

Politics

7 d. ago World leaders plot how to 'bulldoze' Trump at G7 Summit amid rising tensions over trade

President Trump meets with G7 allies near Calgary after slapping tariffs on countries around the world and vowing to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Politics

9 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv repatriates more bodies of fallen soldiers amid major exchange with Russia

Ukraine says return in line with deal reached in Turkey while Russia hands over 1,200 bodies; Moscow claims capture of another Sumy village. What we know on day 1,207Ukraine has repatriated more bodies of fallen soldiers in accordance with an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Russia had returned 1,200 bodies, and “according to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, in particular military personnel”. The repatriation of the bodies was carried out with the help of Ukraine’s armed forces, the country’s security service, the interior ministry and other government agencies, its statement said. Forensic experts would now work to identify the remains. The repatriation marks one of the war’s largest returns of remains.Russia says its forces have captured another village in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region amid its ramped-up offensive there. M...

Events

1 week ago UN peacekeeping chief in Congo meets M23 leaders in first visit to rebel

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo met with leaders of the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 on Friday in Goma, in her first visit to the eastern city of Goma since its capture by the insurgents

Politics

1 week ago Canada and India to share terrorism intelligence despite 2023 murder plot, says report

Accord comes as Mark Carney seeks shift in Ottawa’s relationship with New Delhi after long diplomatic spatCanada and India plan to share intelligence in an effort to combat the rising threat of international crime and extremism, according to a new report from Bloomberg, days before a meeting between the two countries’ leaders.Canadian officials declined to comment on the report, which, if confirmed, would represent a dramatic shift in relations between the two countries which for nearly two years have been locked in a bitter diplomatic spat after Canada’s federal police agency concluded that India planned and ordered the murder a prominent Sikh activist on Canadian soil. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago New Zealand PM to meet Xi Jinping as former leaders warn against becoming an ‘adversary’ of China

Christopher Luxon’s visit to Beijing comes as former NZ PMs warn the country must not become part of defence arrangements ‘explicitly aimed at China’New Zealand’s prime minister will meet Xi Jinping on a formal visit to China next week, his office has confirmed, a week after an open letter signed by some of his predecessors warned against positioning New Zealand as an “adversary” of its biggest trading partner.Christopher Luxon is scheduled to travel to Shanghai and Beijing, before going to Europe. His office said he will meet Xi and China’s premier, Li Qiang, for a visit focused on trade, but which would also discuss “the comprehensive bilateral relationship and key regional and global issues”. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Putin mocking Trump with attacks on Ukraine, Poland says, as European foreign ministers meet for defence talks – Europe live

Ministers to discuss Weimar+ model joined by Nato secretary general and EU foreign policy chief ahead of Nato summit later this monthEuropean foreign ministers are now arriving in Rome for their Weimar+ meeting on security and Ukraine.Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said his country needs “at least 10 years” to raise defence spending and comply with new targets to be agreed by Nato, adding that a deal on them could soon be reached, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

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