A quick look back at this week's biggest stories
— Trump and Putin meet about Ukraine
A much-anticipated meeting between the U.S. and Russian leaders on Friday ended without agreement on a ceasefire or a broader deal about the war in Ukraine.
Read our analysis of the meeting in Alaska, and here is our story about reactions as they were coming in Saturday morning. You can also look at a report from the frontlines in Ukraine, where the defenders face big challenges. And watch an unusually animated President Putin respond to a shouted question from a reporter in Alaska.
— Federal intervention in Washington, DC
The Trump administration attempted to take control of the police force of the nation's capital, partially retreating on Friday after the city's leadership sued. The administration also deployed National Guard units in the district, saying it's to reduce crime.
Read the latest developments and what the crackdown means to many homeless people living in the city. Here is our analysis of fears that the intervention in DC may be a template for what Donald Trump intends for the nation's other cities as well. This story sums up the week's developments.
— Floods in India and Pakistan, and the war in Gaza
Hundreds of people have died in flash floods in the mountainous districts of the two South Asian nations, caused by cloudbursts. Scientists say climate change is a contributing factor. A collection of some of our best photos is here.
And in Gaza, hunger continues, now exacerbated by a lack of adequate drinking water as the Israeli government announces a settlement project that 'buries the idea of a Palestinian state'.
— Away from the headlines
If you want content away from the top stories, you mustn't miss the lost and found wallet of a Michigan autoworker, the 'Frankenstein bunnies' of Colorado, and the dwindling octopus populations of Spain's seas. Also, bugs have become popular pets in Japan.
For our best visual journalism, look at the photos of the week, people celebrating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in Kabul, Shiite Muslims in Iraq marking Arbaeen, and Zimbabwe taxi drivers showing off their love of Premier League soccer.
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The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Unless he can fix things at home, Keir Starmer will get no credit for his diplomatic skill
All prime ministers end up being their own foreign secretary. Keir Starmer started off as one. He has been moderately successful in foreign affairs, but has gained no credit for it from the British electorate. He has played a role in rallying Europe to the defence of Ukraine. This bore fruit at what we might call the half-baked Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The meeting failed to end the war in Ukraine, but that also means that President Trump did not sell out the Ukrainian people, which he has threatened to do. We cannot be sure how important European voices, including the British one, were in holding the line, but it seemed as if the conference call Trump held with European leaders on Wednesday was a significant moment. The briefing from the Europeans was almost ecstatic: that the US president seemed to recognise that a peace on Putin's terms was unacceptable, and that it was Putin who was the obstacle to a fair settlement. Starmer has played a surprising role in organising that show of European unity. Surprising, because so many of those who wanted Britain to stay in the EU argued that leaving would diminish our standing in the world. On the contrary, Starmer's diplomacy has vindicated the Brexiteers who said we could be more nimble, more creative and more assertive outside. Precisely because Britain is not a member of the EU, Starmer was better able to overcome EU disunity by assembling his 'coalition of the willing' to pledge solidarity with Ukraine, backed up by plans for (some) higher European defence spending. He was able to do it because the British people are so supportive of the Ukrainian cause. That allowed him to finesse the two possible sticking points in giving practical expression to that support. As with a lot of opinion-poll findings, the British are very supportive of the Ukrainians until it starts to cost them a noticeable amount of money. We have thrown open our doors to 200,000 refugees, but higher taxes to pay for the Ukrainian war effort? Ni, dyakuyu. Luckily, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, found an electorally painless way of increasing defence spending by simply switching money from the most unpopular Budget heading, namely foreign aid. The almost total silence since that announcement in March has been instructive: the great enlightened achievement of Tony Blair and David Cameron in meeting the UN target for foreign aid spending is something that, it turned out, almost nobody cared about. The other sticking point in support for Ukraine is the idea of sending troops to help repel Putin's aggression. That has been out of the question for all of Ukraine's allies: we are happy to supply arms and money, but Ukrainians must do the fighting. Yet British public opinion is sufficiently supportive that Starmer has been able to talk about deploying British forces to help deter further Russian aggression if there is a peace deal. It is unclear how or whether this would work, but it has helped focus attention on the difficult question of who would guarantee a settlement and how that would work. What was most surprising about Trump's statements after the Alaska summit – apart from referring to Mark Rutte as the 'highly respected secretary general of Nato' – was his promise that the US would provide 'robust security guarantees' to support Ukraine. All in all, then, and considering how badly the summit could have gone, given Trump's belief that the Ukrainians brought their troubles on themselves, his disdain for Nato and his desperation for a Nobel Peace Prize at any cost, the Alaska meeting went well. Starmer can take some credit as the leader of a nation that is an important ally of Ukraine and an enemy of aggression. But that is another limit to the sympathy the British people feel for the Ukrainian cause: they are not going to reward their own leader for giving their sentiments practical expression on the world stage. Just as they are not going to give Starmer credit for his handling of the US president on tariffs, which has allowed him to carve out a better deal for the UK than for any other country. Nor will they give Starmer credit for the deal with Emmanuel Macron by which France has accepted that Britain can send back some of the people crossing the Channel in small boats. My astonishment at Starmer's skill in securing this concession is heavily outweighed by most people's dismay that the boats keep coming. The British public has had enough of the boats and is not inclined to wait a year or more to see if the numbers being sent back can be increased to the point where they act as a deterrent. I remember the European Parliament election in 1999, when Tony Blair had saved the Muslim population of Kosovo from expulsion by Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian dictator. It was a moment of shining moral leadership, by which Blair persuaded a divided Nato and a reluctant Bill Clinton to stand up to ethnic persecution, and which was a triumphant success. It was a success that brought him 15 minutes of adulation from the tabloid press, followed almost immediately by sullen complaints about traffic jams and trains not running on time. In the European election, held on the day that the Serbs withdrew, Labour did extremely badly. What reminded me of that election was a 'government source' quoted in The Times: 'World War Three is breaking out internationally; it's unreasonable for people to expect Keir to be caring about potholes.' Wrong, wrong, wrong. International leadership is well and good, but unless Keir can fix the potholes and stop the boats, it counts for nothing with the voters.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Putin gave curt three-word response to reporters who tried to ask him questions about invasion of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a short response to reporters' questions about his invasion of Ukraine during his summit withPresident Donald Trump in Alaska. As the pair met in Alaska, MSNBC reported that journalists shouted various questions at Putin about the invasion of Ukraine and his talks with the president, including, 'How can President Trump trust you?' The translator told MSNBC that Putin responded with a dismissive three word response: 'Let it go, let it go.' Putin and Trump met for nearly three hours on Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage to discuss Russia's war on Ukraine, which began more than three years ago. The pair announced 'great progress' had been made, but they still did not reach a ceasefire agreement. Before the meeting, Trump told Fox News that he 'won't be happy' walking away 'without some form of a ceasefire.' The president then changed course early Saturday morning, writing on Truth Social that he will now advocate for a peace agreement, rather than a ceasefire. Trump greeted Putin on a red carpet at the military base on Friday afternoon. Putin, in a surprise move, didn't ride to the base in his own limousine. Instead, he rode with Trump inside his armored vehicle known as 'The Beast.' There, the pair had a chance to talk privately en route to the summit. Trump was originally set to have a one-on-one meeting with Putin, but they instead held a three-on-three discussion. Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and aide Yuri Ushakov joined Putin. Putin and Trump both appeared optimistic after their meeting. Trump noted that there were 'many points that we agreed on,' but there were still 'a couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there.' 'We've made some headway,' Trump said Friday. 'So there's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate. And I'll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today's meeting.' Putin described Ukraine, which he ordered a full-scale invasion of in February 2022, as Russia's 'brotherly nation' in his statement following the talks. 'I agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well,' Putin said, via a translator. 'Naturally we are prepared to work on that, I would like to hope that the agreement that we've reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.' Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to arrive in Washington, D.C. on Monday to meet with Trump himself. Trump told Fox News on Friday he would advise Zelensky that he has 'gotta make a deal' with Russia. 'Russia's a very big power,' Trump added. 'And they're not.' Trump insisted on Truth Social on Saturday that the talks went well, including a debrief afterwards with Zelensky and other European leaders, as he argued that a peace agreement rather than a ceasefire was the preferred response. 'The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO,' Trump wrote. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,' he said.
Scottish Sun
25 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Ukrainian troops cut Putin's two-pronged frontline breach in HALF in wake of Trump summit in major blow to Vlad
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) UKRAINE has managed to cut Russia's two-pronged frontline incursion in half in the latest major blow to Vladimir Putin. Moscow suddenly breached an area in the Donetsk region as a reported 110,000 troops advanced on the eastern front being swiftly contained and pushed back. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Ukraine's armed forces prepare a Howitzer in Donetsk as they fight back against Russia's two-pronged frontline incursion Credit: Getty 7 Dozens of Russian military assets have been left up in flames as Ukraine continues to push back any advancing troops Credit: X/@NAFORaccoon 7 Soldiers of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, known as 'Kholodnyi Yar' fire an anti-aircraft gun equipped with a thermal imaging camera in Donetsk region Credit: Getty 7 Putin's bloodthirsty forces reportedly advanced by at least 10km north in two prongs as part of his attempt to capture the entire Donetsk region. The terrifying development came just days before the Alaska summit with Donald Trump and was seen as a warmongering Putin trying to gain the upper hand ahead of the talks. Moscow currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region. Capturing it entirely would allow Putin's forces to cause major disruption to supply lines on the eastern front and force Ukraine into submission. read more in Ukraine war PEACE PLOT Trump & Putin 'plan West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine' to secure truce Despite the Russians making an initial burst into Ukrainian territory these advances soon petered out. Ukrainian troops have since been able to drive the enemy away from positions near Rubizhne, Zolotyi Kolodiaz, Vesele, Vilne Shakhove, Nikanorivka, and Sukhotske, according to data from DeepState. Fierce battles erupted near the coal mining town Dobropillia with the 1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard announcing several hundred casualties for the Russians. The valiant corps also destroyed a Russian tank, took out two IFVs and managed to damage 37 light vehicles and three artillery pieces. President Volodymyr Zelensky also publicly praised the 1st Corps as well as several other units working in the Donetsk region in recent days. Speaking on X today, he said: "We are defending our positions along the entire front line. Donald Trump vows full peace deal not 'mere ceasefire' after Alaska summit as Zelensky to head to White House "For the second day in a row, we have achieved successes in some extremely difficult areas in the Donetsk region – in the direction of Dobropillia and Pokrovsk. "The destruction of the occupiers who tried to infiltrate deeper into our positions continues." Zelensky, who is now planning to meet Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss a peace deal to end the war, added: "I am grateful to all our warriors for their resilience." He also made a special shout out to the units of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade 'Kholodnyi Yar' squad. Footage of the resilient forces battling on the ground and in the air in the village of Vesele shows them eliminating dozens of Putin's men. A clip shows a kamikaze drone smashing straight into two bumbling troops as they venture across a road. Another shows a missile being dropped from the sky and exploding upon impact as it hits its Russia target below. The Kholodnyi Yar unit were even responsible for capturing several soldiers and making them prisoners of war. Has the Alaska summit helped broker a peace deal? AS Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both flew out of Alaska on Friday it appeared as though the summit was an utter failure in the eyes of Ukraine. There had been no agreements on a peace deal as Trump appeared to be hesitant to truly reveal what demands Putin was making. But a few hours after the meeting ended Trump took to social media to reveal the meeting was a success in his eyes. Trump said Russia and Ukraine both believe a full peace deal is "the best way" to end the war - rather than a short term ceasefire. Now diplomatic sources have revealed some of the initial details of the potential agreement, according to news agency AFP. The US has reportedly proposed an agreement that would see Ukraine not join Nato - but instead be offered Nato-esque protections similar to Article 5. Article 5 on Nato's founding treaty agrees collective defense - meaning allies see an attack on one as an attack on all of them. Trump reportedly floated the plan with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders during a call after his meeting with Putin. The US President is set to discuss the terms of an agreement with Zelensky on Monday when he travels to the White House. Zelensky did not directly address any potential plan but he did say on X: "We discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing security for Ukraine." 7 A Ukrainian walks through his decimated restaurant on the frontline near Dobropillia after a Russian strike at the start of the week Credit: Getty 7 A clip shows a kamikaze drone smashing straight into two bumbling Russian troops in Vesele Credit: X/@NAFORaccoon
