28 h. ago From saviour to Judas How Trump’s pivot on Russia also endangers his own country | Simon Tisdall

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

36 h. ago Culture wars: Trump’s takeover of arts is straight from the dictator playbook

US president’s attempt to control or dismantle cultural institutions plays into a long history of authoritarians using arts to push their agendaIn 1937, leaders of Germany’s Third Reich hosted two simultaneous art exhibitions in Munich. One, titled the Great German Art Exhibition, featured art viewed by the regime as appropriate and aspirational for the ideal Aryan society – orderly and triumphant, with mostly blond people in heroic poses amid pastoral German landscapes. The other showcased what Adolf Hitler and his followers deemed “degenerate art” (“Entartete Kunst”). The works, chaotically displayed and saddled with commentary disparaging “the sick brains of those who wielded the brush or pencil”, were abstract, profane, modernist and produced by the proclaimed enemies of the Reich – Jewish people, communists or those suspected of being either.The Degenerate Art exhibition, which later toured the country, opened a day after Hitler declared “merciless war” on cultural disintegrati...

Politics

42 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Trump turnaround as he acknowledges Russia invaded Ukraine

US president earlier drew criticism after saying Kyiv ‘should have never started’ war; Trump predicts Ukraine will soon sign minerals deal with US. What we know on day 1,095See all our Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

Events

46 h. ago Donald Trump 'abandoning war crime prosecution of Russia for invading Ukraine'

President Trump has already found himself at loggerheads with European nations in recent days during his bid to broker an end to the war.

Events

51 h. ago Donald Trump 'will join Putin in Moscow' for World War Two commemorations

Donald Trump will make a shock visit to Moscow for a World War II commemoration event, according to new reports, following days of deepening ties between the US president and the Kremlin

Politics

52 h. ago Foreign ministers talk war in Ukraine and other conflicts on last day of G20 meeting in South Africa

Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from leading rich and developing countries focused on global conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war, on the last day of their meeting in South Africa

Politics

59 h. ago Russia 'is preparing to declare VICTORY in its war with Ukraine within days' following public falling out between Trump and Zelensky and US pressure to do a deal

According to Kyiv 's military intelligence agency, Putin is expected to frame the announcement as not only a triumph over Ukraine but also over NATO.

Events

3 d. 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

5 d. ago After £800m and four years, Everton’s new stadium makes its grand debut

The 52,888-seat ground in Bramley-Moore dock impresses as 10,000 fans flock to test event – even if Everton loseThe clue is in the name, yet it is hard to imagine now that Bramley‑Moore dock was an abandoned, neglected body of water 1,303 days ago. Twelve unexploded anti-aircraft shells from the second world war still lurked in the depths, waiting to be removed by the Royal Navy, when Everton took possession of the site on 26 July 2021. Less than four years later a magnificent, imposing, futuristic stadium has opened on the banks of the River Mersey. A torturous journey decades in the making has been worth every step.It was July 2019 at the nearby Titanic Hotel when the architect Dan Meis unveiled his grand plans for Everton’s new home. Tonight it welcomed its first guests, the 10,000 fortunate Evertonians selected via a ballot to attend the first test event and game at Bramley-Moore dock. A friendly between Everton’s and Wigan’s under-18s has never felt so significant, or such a pr...

Economics

6 d. ago Watchdog says Israel is to expand West Bank settlement as the region marks 500 days of war

An anti-settlement watchdog says Israel has issued tenders for the construction of nearly 1,000 additional settler homes in the occupied West Bank

Politics

6 d. ago Rare George Washington letter from key point in revolutionary war goes on sale

First US president drew hope from citizens’ response to devastating British attack in handwritten letterA letter written by George Washington, providing rare understanding of his confidence in regular Americans to fight and win the revolutionary war, has been put up for sale on Presidents Day.The first US president penned the document as leader of the Continental Army in 1777, shortly after British forces ransacked a vital military supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut – a devastating action that fellow general Samuel Parsons wrote him was “an event very alarming to the country”. Continue reading...

Events