28 m. ago Panicked EU leaders gather to drum up £700bn war chest as Macron says French nuclear umbrella can protect Europe after Trump halted Ukraine's military funding

European Union leaders are planning on holding emergency talks on Thursday to figure out how to quickly increase their military budgets

Events

34 m. ago Zelenskyy joins EU leaders’ meeting over €800bn defence plan after Macron’s stark Russia warning – Europe live

Leaders gather to discuss €800bn plan to boost military capacity and help Ukraine as French president says Europe has to be ready to defend itself without US helpSee all our Ukraine war coverageFrance is offering intelligence to Ukraine, French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Thursday, with Paris stepping in to help and fill the void left after the US suspended its intelligence sharing with Kyiv.Speaking to France Inter radio, he also said that president Macron asked him to accelerate the French aid packages “to compensate” for the suspended US aid.In a famously cautious political culture, Mr Merz’s bid to bypass legal restrictions on government debt represents a seismic shift. It would permit a step-change in defence spending for years to come, putting Germany in a leadership position as Europe seeks strategic autonomy from the United States.Mr Merz, a former investment banker, has been a deficit hawk and economic liberal throughout his career. It is an irony of fate tha...

Events

59 m. ago Public vote to be held on which Ukrainian town Bury should ‘twin’ with

People in the town will decide between the towns of Ivano Frankivsk and Uzhgorod in a bid to 'continue solidarity with the war-torn country'

Politics

76 m. ago Russia strikes Zelensky's home town after US stops sharing intelligence with Ukraine

UK Defence Secretary John Healey will meet Pete Hegseth in Washington on Thursday as efforts continue to bridge a transatlantic rift over Kyiv’s future security

Events

1 hour ago The US embrace of Russia is an existential threat to the EU. Germany must step up to save it | Catherine De Vries

To counter the crisis caused by Trump, Friedrich Merz has little choice but to abandon decades of military and economic cautionIn February 1945, three world leaders – Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt and Josef Stalin – met in Crimea for the Yalta conference, to discuss the new world order they would implement after the soon-to-end second world war.Smaller nations were given no say in deciding their fate. The Soviet sphere of influence would infest eastern Europe for decades and US foreign policy dominated the second half of the 20th century. Churchill resisted the end of the UK’s global empire and independence for Britain’s colonies came piecemeal; they were let go with bitterness.Catherine De Vries is professor of political science at Bocconi University in Milan Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Twiggy review – breezy telling of sunny star’s landmark career

Sadie Frost’s documentary follows the working-class Londoner taking bad luck in her stride as she progresses from fashion to film stardom and back againThis feelgood film directed by Sadie Frost is about the 60s fashion icon Twiggy; originally Lesley Hornby from Neasden in London, latterly Lesley Lawson after her marriage to actor Leigh Lawson, and then Dame Lesley Lawson with her DBE in 2019. (That is how she was gazetted, at all events, although Dame Twiggy has a ring to it.) With comments from A-listers including Edward Enninful and Suzy Menkes, it tells us the story of a working-class heroine with an almost eerily beautiful gamine face who became a fashion legend with a pop-star status that eluded earlier figures such as Jean Shrimpton, though without the smouldering attitude of the supermodel generation that came later.Twiggy made a glorious success of her life, and never conformed to any tragic narrative about how triumph in the ephemeral world of fashion and fame must surely ...

Politics

1 hour ago Twiggy review – Sadie Frost’s breezy telling of sunny fashion star’s landmark career

Frost’s documentary follows the working-class Londoner taking bad luck in her stride as she progresses from fashion to film stardom and back againThis feelgood film directed by Sadie Frost is about the 60s fashion icon Twiggy; originally Lesley Hornby from Neasden in London, latterly Lesley Lawson after her marriage to actor Leigh Lawson, and then Dame Lesley Lawson with her DBE in 2019. (That is how she was gazetted, at all events, although Dame Twiggy has a ring to it.) With comments from A-listers including Edward Enninful and Suzy Menkes, it tells us the story of a working-class heroine with an almost eerily beautiful gamine face who became a fashion legend with a pop-star status that eluded earlier figures such as Jean Shrimpton, though without the smouldering attitude of the supermodel generation that came later.Twiggy made a glorious success of her life, and never conformed to any tragic narrative about how triumph in the ephemeral world of fashion and fame must surely be pun...

Events

2 h. ago Europe’s powerful tool against Russia? Seizing its frozen assets

If European leaders want to truly support Ukraine they must seize the moment by seizing $220bn in assetsIt is now clear that Donald Trump’s administration will betray Ukraine in its fight to resist Russian aggression. Trump himself is either a victim of disinformation or he is a willing participant in an effort to deceive Americans about the causes and consequences of the war.Trump’s lies include claiming that Ukraine is equally to blame for the war; that Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t “have the cards” to end the conflict on favourable terms; and that Ukraine could not have defended itself without US help. Yet the whole world knows that Russia launched an unprovoked invasion, and we all remember the initial weeks, when Ukrainians valiantly defended an 1,800-mile frontline against a supposedly superior army, long before deliveries of western artillery, armoured vehicles and air defence systems arrived. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Voices: Under Trump, the global order that America helped to build is crumbling

It is already clear the US president is hellbent on ushering in a new dawn in which traditional alliances are abandoned – and nations must fend for themselves, says Tobias Ellwood

Politics

2 h. ago China vows it will ‘fight to the end’ with US in trade war – or any other war

Wolf warrior-style comments mark China’s strongest rhetoric on US president Donald Trump since he entered the White HouseChina’s ministry of foreign affairs has promised that China will “fight to the end” with the US in a “tariff war, trade war or any other war”, marking China’s strongest rhetoric on US president Donald Trump since he entered the White House.On Tuesday, in response to Trump imposing an extra 10% tariff on Chinese goods, taking the cumulative duty to 20%, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “Exerting extreme pressure on China is the wrong target and the wrong calculation If the US has other intentions and insists on a tariff war, trade war or any other war, China will fight to the end. We advise the US to put away its bullying face and return to the right track of dialogue and cooperation as soon as possible.” Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Is Trump’s America still an ally to the UK? – Politics Weekly UK

The news that the US had suspended military aid to Ukraine stunned world leaders and led to a rapid reassessment of how much we can really rely on our American ally. Is this the end of the western alliance? John Harris asks our diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour. Plus, as the UK pledges to boost defence spending by slashing our foreign aid budget, ActionAid’s CEO, Taahra Ghazi, tells John about the fallout for organisations working on the ground.Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago New Zealand’s high commissioner to the UK loses job after Trump comments

Phil Goff questioned Donald Trump’s grasp of history at a Chatham House event in London, prompting the foreign minister to say his position is ‘untenable’New Zealand’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom has been removed from his role after publicly questioning US President Donald Trump’s grasp of history – remarks that have rendered his position “untenable” in the eyes of New Zealand’s government.At a public Chatham House event in London this week, high commissioner Phil Goff asked a question of Finnish foreign affairs minister Elina Valtonen, who was speaking on how to keep the peace with Russia, with which Finland shares a border. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Florida man claimed he was going to assassinate Trump and shoot missiles at New York, cops say

Police were alerted to threats when Justin Blaxton called 911

Events

7 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih hotel kills two; EU leaders to gather for summit

Two killed and 28 injured in Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home city; Ukrainian president to join EU leaders in Brussels, with shared nuclear deterrence on the agendaSee all our Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago Senate Democrats condemn Russia over Ukraine war and dare Republicans to object – live

Democrats introduce resolutions on Senate floor, as Trump veterans affairs chief defends plans to cut 80,000 staffDonald Trump and Justin Trudeau will speak today, Reuters reports, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.The Canadian prime minister condemned Trump’s imposition of levies on his country yesterday, saying he was looking to make its economy collapse as part of a plan to incorporate it into the United States. Trump responded with insults, and a warning that he may tighten levies further next month. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Lesotho ‘shocked and embarrassed’ by mockery in Trump’s Congress speech, says foreign minister

Lejone Mpotjoane says behaviour is unexpected from head of state, after Trump claimed ‘nobody has ever heard of’ the countryLesotho was taken aback by US President Donald Trump’s mockery of the southern African nation, its foreign minister has said, vowing that the country was “not taking this matter lightly”.Trump called Lesotho a country “nobody has ever heard of” as he defended his sweeping cuts in aid during an address to Congress on Tuesday. He singled out a past US aid project of “eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Healey to meet US counterpart as European leaders hold crisis talks on Ukraine

John Healey will meet Pete Hegseth in Washington on Thursday as efforts continue to bridge a transatlantic rift over Kyiv’s future security.

Politics

9 h. ago Britain forced to salvage old jets and vehicles for peace mission in Ukraine

As many as 24 Tranche 1 Typhoon jets, which were written off more than two years ago, are to be dusted off to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks.

Events

10 h. ago Putin warned 'don't be charmed by Trump – he will try to bend us' by Kremlin mouthpiece

Dmitry Popov has spoken about Trump's latest comments on Ukraine and has noted that military aid to the country is still paused, despite Zelenskyy saying he was ready to negotiate

Events

11 h. ago Pentagon official condemned over tweet about Jewish victim lynched by Georgia mob

Kingsley Wilson disputed innocence of Leo Frank, widely agreed to have been wrongly convicted of girl’s 1913 murderThe Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has condemned a past social media post by Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson that disputed the innocence of Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman whom most historians agree was wrongfully convicted of killing a 13-year-old factory worker and lynched in 1915 during a wave of antisemitism in the US.“Leo Frank raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl. He also tried to frame a Black man for his crime,” Wilson wrote on X in response to an August 2024 tweet by the ADL marking the 109th anniversary of Frank’s lynching. “The ADL turned off the comments because they want to gaslight you.” Continue reading...

Politics