PM to claim if US rejects Mauritius’s claim to own the islands, Beijing will be drawn into the regional disputeKeir Starmer is to urge Donald Trump to recognise that a US rejection of Mauritius’s legal claim to own the Chagos Islands, including the strategic US military base at Diego Garcia, may stoke tensions similar to those in the South China Sea.Starmer is due to meet Trump next Friday mainly to discuss the future of Ukraine, but also a UK plan for Gaza’s reconstruction under international protection with no need for Palestinians to be required to quit the Gaza Strip. The paper is similar but not identical to proposals being discussed by Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh, which has a strong international component and would prevent Hamas ruling in Gaza. Continue reading...

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Former Chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee Alnur Mussayev claims the Soviet KGB recruited Donald Trump before the collapse of the USSR, assigning him the alias Krasnov

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Musk claimed without evidence Nasa’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded on orbital outpost for ‘political reasons’Elon Musk has become embroiled in a heated row with a Danish astronaut who criticised the tech billionaire’s claim that the former US president Joe Biden abandoned two American astronauts at the International Space Station on purpose.Andreas “Andy” Mogensen accused Musk of lying when he claimed in a Fox News interview alongside Donald Trump that Nasa’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded for “political reasons” by Biden. Continue reading...

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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...

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Musk claimed without evidence that Nasa’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded on the orbital outpost for ‘political reasons’Elon Musk has got into a heated row with a Danish astronaut who criticised the tech billionaire’s claim that former president Joe Biden intentionally abandoned two American astronauts aboard the International Space Station.Andreas “Andy” Mogensen had on Thursday shared on X a Fox News clip featuring Musk and his boss, US President Donald Trump, in which Musk claimed Nasa’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded on the orbital outpost for “political reasons” by Biden, and that the new administration was now coming to the rescue. Continue reading...

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Musk claims Trump administration is ‘finding savings’ amid mass terminations; federal judge won’t block administration from laying off federal workersJudge rules Trump administration can continue mass firings of federal workersDonald Trump signed another round of executive orders onboard Air Force One last night, among them one aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the country illegally.The order seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens”, according to the White House, although it was not clear which benefits will be targeted. Continue reading...

Events

President’s first four weeks in White House marked by turbulence at home and abroad

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Vice-president also reaffirmed the administration’s Ukraine stance at largest conservative voters conferenceUS politics live – latest updatesJD Vance marked one month since the Trump administration returned to power on Thursday by again claiming uncontrolled immigration was “the greatest threat” to both Europe and the United States.The vice-president took the stage at the country’s largest conservative voters conference in National Harbor, Maryland, to double down on his criticism that stunned European leaders last week when he accused them of suppressing free speech and “running in fear” from voters’ true beliefs. Continue reading...

Events

President’s first four weeks in White House marked by turbulence at home and abroad

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Reform leader contradicts Trump rant, saying ‘you shouldn’t always take things Donald Trump says absolutely literally’Nigel Farage has contradicted his ally Donald Trump, saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is not a dictator” after the US president’s attack on the Ukrainian leader this week.Farage, who became one of the last UK party leaders to distance himself from Trump’s remarks, said he had been delayed in calling it out earlier because he was heading to the US to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Continue reading...

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The former PM said Trump’s claims were designed to ‘shock Europeans into action’

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IOC presidential candidate focused on integrity of sportCoe claims Trump ‘right on the principle’US president Donald Trump is right in principle to seek the exclusion of transgender athletes from women’s sport, International Olympic Committee presidential candidate Sebastian Coe has said.Earlier this month Trump signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, which includes empowering the secretary of state’s office to put pressure on the IOC on its inclusion policy ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028. Continue reading...

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US vide-president says president is determined to ‘bring peace to this endless war’ as US envoy cancels press conference with ZelenskyyFormer US state secretary John Kerry said “the basic playing field for making peace in Ukraine is there,” as he rejected Donald Trump’s suggestions that Ukraine was responsible for starting the war with Russia and dismissed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s logic for invasion as “lies.”Speaking at a London conference organised by the consultancy Brand Finance, Kerry, who served as the US state secretary in Barack Obama’s Democratic administration, said this:Putin individually decided, contrary to what Donald Trump said yesterday or day before, to invade Ukraine. He wants it back. He said different motives expressed at different times, that it was Nazis taking over the country, and he had to go in to root out the Nazis. Well, come on, folks. I mean, that lie has been proved. There’s so many lies.And why do I say that? Because I think all of the parti...

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Watch as UK defence secretary John Healey held a press conference on Thursday (20 February) following Donald Trump’s false claims labelling Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”.

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UK defence secretary John Healey compared Volodymyr to Winston Churchill after Donald Trump claimed that the Ukrainian leader was a “dictator”.

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Watch live as UK defence secretary John Healey holds a press conference on Thursday (20 February) following Donald Trump’s false claims labelling Volodymy Zelensky a “dictator”.

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Donald Trump been praised for averting World War 3 by, er, Donald Trump – and Russia, of course – after launching a scathing attack on Zelenskyy and bizarrely claiming Ukraine started the war

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UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson appeared somewhat awkward when asked about Donald Trump’s false claims Volodymyr Zelensky is a “dictator”.

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Donald Trump’s former aide, Anthony Scaramucci, claims the firebrand republican is the exact President that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants in the White House

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Trump continues to receive backlash for his outlandish claims, calling himself the 'king' just hours after saying Ukrainian President is a 'dictator without elections'.

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