14 h. ago Video: Keir Starmer makes dig at JD Vance in tribute to British soldiers after controversial war comments

Sir Keir Starmer opened Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 5 March — his first since Donald Trump’s explosive meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky — with a dig at JD Vance by paying tribute to the hundreds of British soldiers who died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Events

36 h. ago First Trump threatened to nuke hurricanes. Now he’s waging war on weather forecasters | Arwa Mahdawi

How do you stop people worrying about the climate emergency? By sacking anyone whose job it is to keep an eye on it. Chalk up another win for Project 2025Some politicians go whichever way the wind blows. Not, however, the US’s esteemed leader, Donald Trump. He is such a force of nature that he can dictate the direction of the wind. During his first term, he suggested “nuking hurricanes” to stop them from hitting the country. A few weeks after that, Trump seemed to think he could alter the course of Hurricane Dorian with a black marker, scribbling over an official map to change its anticipated trajectory in an incident now known as Sharpiegate. Weirdly, Dorian did not end up following Trump’s orders. Hurricanes can be uncooperative like that.Six weeks into Trump’s second term, the president hasn’t bombed any hurricanes, but he has nuked the US’s weather-forecasting capabilities. Last week, hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre...

Events

41 h. ago The Zelensky comment that pushed Trump over the edge: US President suspended military aid after Ukrainian leader said the war was 'far from over'

Donald Trump's inner circle saw Volodymyr Zelensky's comment that an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia as 'very far away' as 'evil' as the president pulled military aid.

Politics

60 h. ago Russian state propagandists overjoyed at Anora’s Oscar triumph

The film’s five Academy Awards seen as act of normalisation by commentators in country still persecuting critics of its war on Ukraine• Anora dominates the Oscars as Mikey Madison named best actress• How Anora swept the OscarsIt was an unfamiliar sight for Russians watching state TV on Monday morning. For the first time since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, the Oscars made the news.The state anchor devoted the tightly controlled news bulletin to Anora, the night’s runaway success, spotlighting its cast of Russian actors – chief among them best supporting actor nominee Yura Borisov, who earned global praise for his performance as a brutish yet unexpectedly sensitive Russian bodyguard. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on a tax war: the world must unite against American obstruction | Editorial

Donald Trump’s threats to global tax reform have backfired, leaving the US isolated as nations push ahead with a new UN tax conventionDonald Trump’s Oval Office tirade on Friday laid bare his instinct to harangue and bully those – even supposed allies such as Ukraine, fighting for its survival – who dare to disagree. Countries pushing global tax reform at the UN will be watching as US demands for subjugation play out in plain sight. His day-one threat to punish nations taxing US firms is an all-out attack on global fiscal cooperation. If multilateralism in taxation was already on shaky ground, Mr Trump’s return could bury it for good.Under discussion is a new UN tax convention that may permit states to tax economic activity where it actually occurs, rather than allowing multinationals to shift profits to tax havens. The Tax Justice Network (TJN) said last year that nations lose $492bn (£390bn) annually due to corporate tax abuse. The global south bears the greatest losses, whic...

Economics

6 d. ago Sickening 'Trump Gaza' video shows what Keir Starmer's up against as he prepares to meet US President

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer are about as different as it is possible to be but the importance of the Prime Minister’s mission to keep the US allied to Europe’s democracies cannot be underestimated

Politics

7 d. ago Starmer’s cuts are a huge mistake – foreign aid is an investment, not an expense | Halima Begum

At the height of the cold war, the west advanced its soft power through aid and development spending. If we cut that now, who will fill the vacuum?Halima Begum is the chief executive of Oxfam GBThe savagely deep cuts that Keir Starmer has announced to the international aid budget make a mockery of the pledge his party made to the British people in its manifesto. Then, it promised to restore development spending at the level of 0.7% of gross national income “as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”. On Tuesday the prime minister stood in front of parliament and announced that he will cut it from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP. In the same manifesto, Labour made a commitment to “rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the global south”. This week, the government turned its back on it.Of course, I understand the argument that defence spending has to be increased, but cutting our aid budget still further when governm...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘He did his best’: Macron’s meeting with Trump prompts cautious optimism in France on Ukraine

Commentators say French president’s visit to the White House was amicable – but that differences remainRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesFrench political commentators reacted with cautious optimism after Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with Donald Trump on Monday, which was considered by some as a “last chance” to ensure a balanced and lasting peace in Ukraine.Gérard Araud, a former French ambassador to the US, said the French president had undertaken what he called “mission impossible” but pointed out that Macron had experience of dealing with the volatile US leader. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Boris Johnson hits out at Donald Trump's 'flat out lies' with attacks on Ukraine's Zelensky

In recent weeks the US President Donald Trump has blamed Ukraine for Moscow's invasion and branded war time leader President Zelensky a 'dictator' in comments causing fury

Politics

9 d. ago Putin plays the long game. He has punished Ukraine – and he won’t stop there | Yaroslav Hrytsak

Like a judo master, the Russian aggressor wears down his opponents until they break. Then he comes back for moreI have a friend, an American author, who writes about war. Over the past decades, he has been to South Sudan, Rwanda, Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza and other conflict zones. In the case of Ukraine, he said one thing stood out: here it was obvious who was the aggressor and who was the victim. Alongside Bosnia, Ukraine’s resistance to Russia remains, in his opinion, one of two truly just wars.After three years of fighting a just war against Putin’s aggression, we are now facing, with Donald Trump, an unjust peace. Ukraine will lose lands and will not receive compensation for its losses. War crimes will go unpunished and Ukrainians will not be provided with the security guarantees needed to protect them from future Russian attack.Yaroslav Hrytsak is a historian and professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump says he will end the war in Ukraine – but how, and who will benefit? Our panel responds | Olga Chyzh and others

The US president is breaking every negotiating rule in the book, to the bewilderment of his allies. Europe is now at a crossroads Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Macron and Starmer to lead Europe’s Trump charm offensive when they travel to US – Europe live

French president and UK prime minister are due to meet Donald Trump next weekGoing briefly to a number of different false claims made by US president Donald Trump about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine, we have looked at some of them in detail and produced this short video explainer.French president Emmanuel Macron and UK prime minister Keir Starmer will lead Europe’s charm offensive next week as they both travel to the US to meet with president Donald Trump in an increasingly desperate bid to change his mind on Ukraine and European security. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Donald Trump aide brazenly tells Ukraine to 'tone it down' in dangerous war of words

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz made the comments as a war of words erupted between the two countries and Donald Trump repeatedly branding Ukraine’s President a 'dictator'

Politics

1 week ago 'I lived through Russia's Ukraine invasion – saying we started it is like blaming the US for 9/11'

Vladyslav Piatin-Ponomarenko, who spent 75 days blockaded in Mariupol filming the horrific war at just 17, hit out at Donald Trump's comments, and praised President Zelenksy's "leadership"

Events

1 week ago Don’t mention the war: in Germany, politicians are hiding the truth about defence spending | Paul Taylor

By centring the discourse on immigration, MPs have handed support to the far right – and hidden a ticking economic timebomb from votersThe candidates to lead Germany’s next government are avoiding telling voters painful truths before Sunday’s crucial general election about Russia’s war in Ukraine, the coming disengagement of the US from Europe and the huge defence funding that is needed. Instead, the debate has largely focused on how to revive the ailing German economy after two years of recession and how to control migration, which has fuelled support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland.The conservative CDU/CSU leader, Friedrich Merz, has swerved speaking about the need for massive borrowing to pay for a surge in defence spending because many of his supporters oppose extra debt. The Social Democratic (SPD) chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is dodging discussion of sending German troops to Ukraine as part of a possible European security force if a ceasefire agreement is reached bec...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump shatters Cabinet speed records after Kelly Loeffler confirmation: Live updates

DAILYMAIL.COM: Trump sparks outrage after his Ukraine war comments as he heads to a Saudi-backed investment conference in Miami.

Politics

2 w. ago Trump swipes at top senator while giving ultimatum on his 'big beautiful' MAGA bill: Live updates

DAILYMAIL.COM: Trump sparks outrage after his Ukraine war comments as he heads to a Saudi-backed investment conference in Miami.

Politics

2 w. ago Did Ukraine start the war? Trump's controversial comments explained

Donald Trump has suggested Ukraine started the war with Russia - here is why it’s not true

Politics