Mirror Daily Digest: Our top stories from Ukraine ceasefire 'viable' to inside 'cruel' Beckham feud
Welcome to the Mirror's Daily Digest, where we pull together all the best stories of the day from our News, Showbiz, Sport teams and more. This Wednesday, we're featuring everything from Starmer's claims regarding the Russia-Ukraine war to details surrounding the Beckhams' feud and three children being charged with murder.
Following a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump and other European leaders, Starmer has claimed that a Ukraine ceasefire is 'viable' ahead of crunch talks with Putin. Elsewhere, Associate Editor Tom Bryant has offered the inside story of the Beckham fall-out and the man killed on the Isle of Sheppey has been named.
Keir Starmer says Ukraine ceasefire 'viable' and makes Donald Trump claim
This afternoon, our Politics team broke the news that Keir Starmer said there is a 'viable' chance of reaching a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. The PM claimed that it was possible because of Donald Trump's work.
Mr Starmer said Britain stands ready to "increase pressure" on Russia if necessary after holding virtual calls with the US President, Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders. The talks came ahead of high stakes in-person talks between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Briefing the Coalition of the Willing after the calls, Mr Starmer said: "As I've said personally to President Trump, for three and a bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven't got anywhere near the prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way, of bringing it to a ceasefire. And now we do have that chance because of the work that the President has put in."
Inside 'cruel' Beckham feud - blacklisted brothers and desperate efforts to heal rift
Our Associate Editor Tom Bryant has been looking into further details surrounding the Beckham feud since Brooklyn and wife Nicola Peltz's wedding vows renewal appeared to further deepen the rift. According to Tom, David and Victoria only found out about the wedding vow renewal by reading it online.
When it came to the guest-list for Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz-Beckham 's lavish 'second' wedding, few would have expected the groom's parents David and Victoria to make the cut. As one Peltz-Beckham confidante bluntly put it: 'In the current climate….hell would have had to freeze over before that happened.'
Friends of Nicola and Brooklyn have told how Brooklyn's siblings Romeo and Cruz were also persona non grata after what they claim are a series of online barbs from the duo. "Brooklyn's brothers have been fanning the flames. They've openly made fun of and trolled Brooklyn in comments on social media,' said the pal.
Isle of Sheppey 'murder': Teens charged after man, 49, 'beaten to death with rocks'
Three children have been charged with murder after a man died on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent Police have said. A 16-year-old girl and two boys, aged 14 and 15, from London have been charged with the murder of Alexander Cashford, 49, in Leysdown-on-Sea. A 12-year-old girl, from Basildon, who was also been arrested in connection with the incident, remains in custody.
The man was pronounced dead at around 7pm on Sunday after an air ambulance was called to the scene. It is alleged the victim was assaulted following a "disturbance involving a small group of people". Multiple injuries to the man's body were reported.
Two teenage boys and a girl were arrested a short while later and taken into custody. Yesterday, the boys, aged 14 and 15, and the 16-year-old girl were charged with murder by joint venture.
Jay Blades appears in court as The Repair Shop star charged with rape
TV presenter Jay Blades appeared before a judge today charged with rape. The Repair Shop star, 55, is alleged to have carried out two rapes between 2022 and 2024. He appeared via video-link at Telford magistrates' court this morning.
Blades appeared on the court screen wearing a blue suit, sky blue shirt, black polka dot tie and spectacles. He gave his name as 'Jason Blades' and confirmed his address and date of birth.
Blades separately faces a controlling or coercive behaviour charge between 2023 and last September. The star, from Claverley, Shrops, found fame on The Repair Shop, which he started presenting in 2017.
Chaotic 40C heatwave sees 82 fires break out across holiday hotspots
Temperatures have soared past 40C in parts of Europe as apocalyptic wildfires continue to rage. Three people have been killed in the devastating forest fires sweeping across Spain, Turkey and Albania, while firefighters also scramble to quench the flames in Greece and Portugal.
Dozens in Greece have also been hospitalised with smoke inhalation. Tourists and locals have been evacuated from blazes that are tearing through Ionian islands.
Officials ordered the evacuations of dozens of villages amid an intense drought and strong winds that have helped the spread of the fire. Large fires have been raging in Zante, Kefalonia and Chios, all popular destinations for British holidaymakers.
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The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Zelensky about to walk into another White House ambush after Trump's Putin meeting?
The free world's most celebrated president is showing some mettle in agreeing to a meeting with the leader of the free world. When Volodymyr Zelensky walks into the Oval Office on Monday, he knows he's risking another ambush. The Ukrainian president is prepared to gamble that he'll get another White House schoolyard bullying session, because there's a slim chance that Donald Trump may finally have tired of being played by the Kremlin. It is now conceivable, just, that Trump is prepared to consider security guarantees for Ukraine that reflect Nato's Article 5, which could mean that if Ukraine signed up to a peace deal then its long-term future sovereignty and security would be protected, by force of arms, by allies including the US. Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, spoke with Trump and went public with the idea (that had been hers in the first place) suggesting that the US president had bought into the concept. "The crucial point remains security guarantees to prevent new Russian invasions, and this is the aspect where the most interesting developments were recorded in Anchorage," Meloni said. Meloni said Trump had highlighted an earlier Italian proposal for security guarantees for Ukraine "inspired by Nato's Article 5'. "The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the USA, ready to take action in case it is attacked again," said Meloni. After his Friday summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Trump said that the two presidents were close to an agreement. He didn't mention 'peace' or a 'ceasefire' and admitted that there's no deal until there is a full deal. Sources have since confirmed to The Independent that Putin demanded that Ukraine give Luhansk and Donetsk provinces to Russia in return for a 'freeze' on the front lines elsewhere. Zelensky, they said, would seek 'clarity' on the proposal - which could only be agreed after a referendum in Ukraine. 'We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there,' Trump said. That 'one' significant sticking point with Russia might well be that Ukraine and Europe have persuaded Trump that there can be no enduring peace for Ukraine if a ceasefire, or peace deal, is just a pause in fighting while the Kremlin prepares for a renewed conflict. Putin's demand that Ukraine cede two provinces in return for a pause in the killing are certain to be rejected by Europe and Ukraine as they make no commitment to ending Putin's long-term desire to take the rest of the counrty. So far this year Trump has echoed and accepted almost all of Russia's conditions for peace. He has endorsed Putin's demand that Ukraine can never join Nato. He has accepted that Moscow should keep the Ukrainian lands it has already captured. He has blamed the west for provoking the war with Russia in the first place and has even questioned the legitimacy of the Zelensky presidency itself. Diplomatic sources very close to the European and Ukrainian talks, which followed the Trump-Putin meeting, said that while there was relief that Trump now understood the need for Ukrainian security guarantees. But details of how it would work – and what concessions Ukraine would be asked to make, are critical. 'The question is – how can, or will, this work?' one senior source said. If, on arrival in the Oval Office, Trump tells him to accept that he must give away Ukraine's east, including Crimea, forever abandon fantasies of joining the EU and Nato and hold elections while his country is occupied (all Russian demands) – then any 'security guarantees' will be meaningless. They will have been part of a Russian effort to see Zelensky enfiladed in the White House, as he was in February. Europe's leaders know this. They have moved fast to wrap Zelensky in diplomatic armour. "We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome President Trump's statement that the US is prepared to give security guarantees. The Coalition of the Willing is ready to play an active role. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to EU and NATO,' they said. The leaders – Sir Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Finnish president Alexander Stubb, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, European Council President Antonio Costa and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – are warning Trump that, whatever Putin may have told him, he risks a permanent breach with Europe if he stays in the Kremlin's camp. Zelensky has reiterated these principles and that there can be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine. Trump has said he understands this. But his instincts remain with Putin. Worse still is that while the US president is narcissistic and peevish, which makes him easily manipulated by Putin. But he deeply, personally, resents Zelensky. Both are former television stars. But Ukraine's president is perceived as the embodiment of his nation's heroism. Trump is seen as a dangerous joke on the international stage. When they meet again in the White House on Monday it's unlikely trump will contain his righteous jealousy.
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv ‘pushes Russian forces back' hours after Putin asks Trump for Donetsk surrender
The Ukrainian military has claimed to have pushed Russia 's forces back by about 1.2 miles on part of the Sumy front in northern Ukraine. "Ukrainian soldiers continue active combat actions to destroy the enemy and liberate our settlements," the Ukrainian general staff said. It added that fighting was raging near the villages of Oleksiivka and Yunakivka, which lie 5km and 7km from the Russian border, respectively. It comes as Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine surrender the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk provinces as one condition for ending the war. The Russian leader told Donald Trump that he would be prepared to stop fighting on the rest of the frontline if Ukraine gave in to the demand and addressed the 'root causes of the conflict'. The concessions were discussed at the highly anticipated summit of the two leaders in Alaska on Friday, which ended with no peace deal despite nearly three hours of talks. Sources very close to the meeting told The Independent the dramatic move appears to have been endorsed by Mr Trump as a means to bring an end to the war. Volodymyr Zelensky is due to head to Washington DC on Monday to meet Trump, after the US President hailed his meeting with the Russian leader as 'very successful'. Canada praises US stance on Ukraine security guarantees Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed what he said was US openness to providing security guarantees to Ukraine under a peace deal to end Russia's war against Kyiv. "Robust and credible security guarantees are essential to any just and lasting peace. I welcome the openness of the United States to providing security guarantees as part of Coalition of the Willing's efforts," Carney said in a statement. "The leadership of President Trump and the United States is creating the opportunity to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine." Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 20:58 Full report | Putin demands Zelensky surrenders Donestsk region as condition for ending war in Ukraine Our World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley reports: Putin demands Ukraine surrenders Donestsk region as condition for ending war Details on Vladimir Putin's demand for Ukrainian terriotary comes ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky meeting Donald Trump in Washington on Monday Ukraine says it presses Russian troops back on part of Sumy front The Ukrainian military said that it had pushed Russian forces back by about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) on part of the Sumy front in northern Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Russia, which controls a little over 200 square kilometres in the region, according to Ukraine's battlefield mapping project DeepState. "Ukrainian soldiers continue active combat actions to destroy the enemy and liberate our settlements," the Ukrainian general staff wrote on Facebook. It added that fighting was raging near the villages of Oleksiivka and Yunakivka, which lie 5 km and 7 km from the Russian border, respectively. The ebb and flow of the battlefield lines has taken on greater political significance in recent days as Ukraine finds itself at another critical diplomatic juncture with U.S. President Donald Trump stepping up his efforts to broker an end to the war. Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 20:02 Watch | Starmer speaks with Trump after president's Ukraine ceasefire talks with Putin Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 19:59 Trump and Zelensky to meet at the White House Monday. Here's what to expect Katie Hawkinson reports: Trump and Zelensky to meet in Oval Office amid fallout from Putin Alaska summit Trump spoke with Zelensky for more than 90 minutes after his Alaska meeting with Putin Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 19:29 Recap | Zelensky must be at future peace talks, Starmer says The 'path to peace in Ukraine' cannot be decided without Volodymyr Zelensky, Sir Keir Starmer said, as he commended Donald Trump's 'pursuit of an end to the killing'. The Prime minister said the US president's actions had 'brought us closer than ever before' to an end to the war in Ukraine. But he insisted insisted Ukraine's leader must take part in future peace talks after speaking with Mr Trump and Nato allies in the wake of the US president's negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Sir Keir spent Saturday morning speaking to western allies in the wake of the Anchorage summit. Following the round of calls, the Prime minister said: 'President Trump's efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended. 'While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks involving President Zelensky. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him.' Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 18:59 Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 18:31 The key takeaways from Putin and Trump's summit in Alaska My colleague Holly Evans reports: The key takeaways from Putin and Trump's summit in Alaska Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meeting Trump in Washington next week after the Alaska summit ended without a deal Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 18:12 Comment | Putin got everything he wanted from Trump – Ukraine will be terrified for what comes next Jon Sopel writes: When I went to bed last night, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had just gone into their summit meeting in Anchorage, Alaska – and I really had not the faintest idea what I might wake up to. Would it be a comprehensive peace deal agreed between the two of them that would totally screw Ukraine; or would it be a furious Trump announcing massive, punitive sanctions against Russia over Putin's intransigence – something he had been threatening just a couple of weeks ago before announcing the summit? Or would it be any number of outcomes in between? Instead, we woke up to – well, what exactly? Sure, there was a lot of vacuous vibe stuff about progress, constructive talks, deeper understanding, but let's be clear about the headline: THERE WAS NO DEAL. The missiles, the attack drones, will continue and, as far as we can tell, there is no timetable for a ceasefire. Both Ukraine and Europe will be concerned about the Alaska summit and how it took place, writes Jon Sopel, and it's not looking good for President Zelensky's imminent visit to the White House Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 17:49 Nordic-Baltic leaders say they remain steadfast in support of Ukraine The leaders of eight Nordic-Baltic nations have said that they remain steadfast in their support for Ukraine and to the efforts by Donald Trump to end the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden said in a statement that achieving peace between Ukraine and Russia requires a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine. "We welcome President Trump's statement that the US is prepared to participate in security guarantees. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with other countries," the statement said. Trump has said that he had agreed with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have demanded. Jabed Ahmed16 August 2025 17:36
Scottish Sun
3 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Putin has laid cunning trap that makes Zelensky's White House visit a minefield… Russian leader knows the peace he wants
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AT first sight, Friday's summit meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin came to no clear conclusion. But the Russian leader has cunningly laid a trap, hoping that Volodymyr Zelensky is the one to say 'No' to President Trump's peace plan. 6 Russian leader Vladimir Putin has cunningly laid a trap Credit: Reuters 6 He is hoping that Zelensky is the one to say 'No' to President Trump's peace plan Credit: AP 6 Putin got what he wanted when Trump treated him as an equal partner Credit: AFP Since Alaska, Trump has shifted from demanding an immediate ceasefire to calling for immediate and full peace agreement. This is what Putin wants — to bounce Zelensky into a take-it-or-leave-it deal. But what would peace be like? To be sure, Putin knows what he means by peace — Ukraine surrenders to his key demands. Kyiv gives up a swathe of territory to Russia. It abandons any hope of integrating into Western institutions such as Nato or the EU. And it disarms so it cannot repeat the tough fight it has put up since February 2022, in case Russia decides to re-invade. In the meantime, sanctions on Russia are lifted and the Kremlin gets back its $300billion assets frozen in the West. A fast-tracked peace deal means Ukraine agreeing to complicated things such as who gets what territory, to what kind of country it will be internally. Putin wants to keep the Crimea peninsula plus the four southern regions which his army occupies. He might swap a slither of land for the tiny bit of Russia's Kursk region which Ukraine's army holds, but he will never give up Crimea. Crimea is a floating aircraft carrier and naval base which would give the Kremlin dominance of the Black Sea. Its surrounding waters hold huge oil and gas reserves which can only be exploited once the fighting stops. Trump-Putin latest- Don says 'no deal' on Ukraine war & holds call with Zelensky after saying it's now 'up to him' Seizing Crimea without a shot in 2014 was a huge boost to Putin's prestige at home. Similarly, the western part of the Donetsk region is a fortress which blocks any future Russian grab into the heart of Ukraine. Putin is prepared, apparently, to make superficial concessions in other places to get the Ukrainians out of that key strategic area. Although it sounds like a swap, in reality Putin is prepared to give up his claim to places he doesn't fully control such as the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — though not the nuclear power station there — in return for Zelensky handing over places in Donetsk which the Ukrainian army still holds. Annexing this key region would be an achievement he's been unable to achieve in years of fighting. Putin also wants to reverse many of the changes Ukrainians voted for in the past ten years. Most of all, he wants Zelensky out of office. As the hero of Ukraine's resistance, he is Putin's biggest bugbear. 6 6 That makes Zelensky's visit to Washington tomorrow such a minefield for him. Zelensky needs to avoid the kind of Oval Office ambush he faced in February when he had a shouting match with US leaders. To be fair, Trump looks likely to offer Ukraine carrots to make any concessions to Russia easier to swallow. Already, Washington has got the Ukrainians to agree to an economic partnership worth up to $500billion to develop the country's mineral and rare earth resources. Trump sold that deal by saying it would be worthwhile for Ukraine to share 50 per cent of the profits with America because Putin wouldn't reinvade if US companies' assets were in the line of fire. Well, that didn't stop him in 2022. Putin and Zelensky both know Trump is a man in a hurry Mark Almond But that selling point goes to the heart of what Ukraine sees as an acceptable peace settlement. Zelensky wants the US to guarantee any agreement with Russia will be kept. It has to be a cast-iron guarantee like Nato's promise to defend each member's territory if it is attacked. Ukrainians remember how Bill Clinton and John Major persuaded them to hand over the Soviet nuclear missiles on their territory to Russia in 1994 in return for a guarantee of their borders. We know what that piece of paper was worth. Keir Starmer and his European partners say they are a 'coalition of the willing' ready to put troops on the ground to enforce any deal that Trump and Putin concoct. 6 But without US involvement that force would be a paper tiger. Think back to how pathetic the European peacekeepers were in the Balkans in the 1990s until the US cavalry came over the horizon to stop the wars in ex-Yugoslavia. Trump knows his voters are bitterly opposed to US boots on the ground in foreign danger zones. Putin and Zelensky both know Trump is a man in a hurry. Got what he wanted They are at war but it is the President who wants a deal most urgently. Trump sees himself as a peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Prize. To be fair he has knocked heads together between smaller, weaker states like Armenia and Azerbaijan. But Putin's Russia sees itself as a global superpower. Putin got what he wanted on Friday when Trump treated him as an equal partner. The devil will be in the details of any peace deal. Putin is a master of detail. Trump is a master of ceremonies, lavishing attention on the media image of signing deals. Zelensky has to tread very carefully. A weekend is a very short time to prepare a peace to end three brutal years of war. Meeting 'a big win for Vlad' By Michael Hamilton VLADIMIR Putin will feel emboldened after the summit in the US, a former top military intelligence officer is warning. Colonel Philip Ingram said he feared Kremlin's tyrant had come out on top after the Alaska talks. The security and terror analyst added: 'This is a big win for Putin. His body language afterwards showed he had achieved more than Trump. 'Donald Trump was treating this as a business transaction, and wanted a quick victory. 'But Putin is tickling the fish and playing a longer game.' He warned it would be alarming to Ukraine but stressed that, importantly, the US had not made any concessions.
