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Scottish Sun
18 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Trump-Putin latest: Vlad gives Don thumbs-up as US president greets tyrant with handshake in Alaska ahead of peace talks
Scroll down to see our live coverage of today's meeting WAR TALKS Trump-Putin latest: Vlad gives Don thumbs-up as US president greets tyrant with handshake in Alaska ahead of peace talks Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DONALD Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands and smiled at each other as they landed in Alaska for a historic peace summit. The Russian president looked relaxed as he walked down a red carpet towards Trump - giving the US leader a thumbs-up before greeting him with a warm handshake. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Trump shakes hands with Putin on the tarmac Credit: AFP 4 Putin gave Trump a thumbs-up as he walked down the red carpet in Alaska Credit: Sky News 4 Trump salutes as he walks down the red carpet with Putin by his side Credit: Reuters 4 Trump and Putin meet during a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska Credit: AFP Trump was seen giving Putin a round of applause after the pair touched down at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. The US president flew a B2 stealth bomber over Putin head as they greeted each other before having a moment alone in Trump's limo - nicknamed The Beast. It was the first time in almost a decade that Putin had set foot on US soil - despite being a wanted war criminal. During a photo op, Putin was heckled by journalists over whether he was 'ready to stop killing civilians' - and Trump dodged questions on how he could trust Putin. The pair met moments after the White House revealed the summit would be a three-on-three meeting - with Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff joining Trump. Putin, on the other hand, will bring in Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov. Volodymyr Zelensky said he is "counting on America" as Trump and Putin prepare to meet for crunch talks. He said he hopes the peace summit between the two leaders leads to a trilateral meeting to get Ukraine involved in the peacemaking process. In a lengthy post on X, wrote: "The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side. "It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America. "We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible." Trump says tyrant Putin's need to kill 'might be in his genes' but onslaught 'hurts his negotiations' as leaders head to Alaska for Ukraine peace summit It comes after Trump blasted Putin for continuing to attack Ukraine and said his urge to kill "might be in his genes". The high-stakes talks could last up to seven hours, the Kremlin said earlier - and will be followed by a press conference. Before the summit kicked off, residents in Anchorage held protests about Putin being allowed to set foot on US soil due to him facing an arrest warrant over war crime allegations. Trump echoed some of the protesters' thoughts as he spoke to reporters ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Putin in six years. He said: "In [Putin's] mind, it helps him make a better deal if they can continue the killing. "Maybe it's a part of the world, maybe it's a part of his fabric, his genes, his genetics, but he thinks it gives him strength in negotiating. "I think it hurts him." Trump also warned that Russia faces "very severe" consequences if Putin doesn't appear interested in agreeing to a peace deal during the summit. Don voiced concerns about how Putin might behave during the talks - comparing the summit to a chess game. Read our live blog for the latest on the Trump and Putin peace talks...


The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
Transgender runner Evie Parts sues NCAA and Swarthmore College for removal from track team
Long-distance runner Evie Parts sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College as well as members of its athletic department on the grounds they illegally removed her from the track team because she is a transgender athlete. Parts' lawsuit said the NCAA's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports did not have legal grounds because it's not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute. She was removed from the team on Feb. 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy on transgender athletes. Swarthmore men's and women's track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez also were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, they sent Parts into 'such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.' 'We stand by the allegations in the complaint,' said Susie Cirilli, an attorney who, with the law firm Spector, Gadon, Rosen and Vinci, represent Parts. 'As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.' Swarthmore did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NCAA chose not to comment. The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. Pennsylvania's state Senate approved a bill by a 32-18 margin on May 6 to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels. But the state's Democratic-controlled House of Representatives isn't expected to vote on the bill. Parts joined the Swarthmore track team in the fall 2020 before then taking off the following four winter and spring seasons. She went back to the Division III team in 2023 to compete in the indoor and outdoor track seasons and in cross country. When the NCAA issued its ban, the lawsuit states, Parts was told by Epps-Chiazor and Gomez that she could compete with the men's team or as an unattached athlete. She would only receive medical treatment, the complaint says, if she competed on the men's team. Also, according to the lawsuit, Carroll and his staff were not allowed to coach Parts, she could not travel with the team, was not allowed to receive per diem or food and had to pay her way into meets. Parts also couldn't wear a Swarthmore uniform. Swarthmore 'fully reinstated' Parts on April 11, the lawsuit says, and she competed on the women's team until graduating in May. Parts won the 10,000 meters in April at the Bill Butler Invitational. ___


Reuters
37 minutes ago
- Reuters
Toronto stocks subdued on Friday, closes green for the week
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed flat on Friday as investors keenly watched a high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on a potential path to ending the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin met face-to-face in Alaska on Friday afternoon. Markets are hoping the meeting could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab was down 10.50 points, or 0.04%, at 27,905.49. The index gained 0.5% in the week. South of the border, blue-chip Dow Jones ended higher after hitting an intraday record high, but other Wall Street indexes slipped as mixed data clouded the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move. Among TSX sub-indexes, healthcare (.GSPTTHC), opens new tab rose 4%, boosted by an 11% jump in Bausch Health Companies ( opens new tab. Materials (.GSPTTMT), opens new tab rose 0.8%, while energy stocks (.SPTTEN), opens new tab fell 0.2%. "Short-term investors are hoping at least the meeting brings some kind of ceasefire or at least has continuous talks as we're moving towards the end of the summer," said Michael Constantino, CEO at Webull Canada. Meanwhile, Air Canada's ( opens new tab unionized flight attendants threatened to go on strike just before 1:00 a.m. ET on Saturday with the country's largest air carrier warning it would cancel 500 flights by the end of the day. Its shares were up about 0.6%. Data on Friday showed Canadian factory sales grew 0.3% in June from May, led by petroleum, coal and food products, while wholesale trade rose 0.7% on gains in food, beverage and tobacco. South of the border, retail sales rose by an expected 0.5% in July, but a spike in import prices raised concerns that U.S. tariffs could fuel inflation in the months ahead.