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Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'I can't hear you!' Putin points to his ear when reporter asks if he'll 'stop killing civilians'
Russian President Vladimir Putin acted like he could not hear a reporter after being asked if he would stop killing civilians. The moment occurred after Putin and Donald Trump greeted each other in Alaska.
Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Telegraph
In a round of Trump's applause, smiling Putin got everything he wanted
As Vladimir Putin's aircraft landed in Alaska, a heavy burden weighed upon his narrow shoulders. Not only – as Donald Trump pointed out on Air Force One – have more than 7,000 lives been lost at the front in the last week alone, but the strain of the war and international sanctions has been taking its toll on the Russian economy. Oil revenues have plummeted, while the budget deficit has soared to its highest level in more than 30 years. Inflation and interest rates are eye-watering. There's surely only so long the Russian despot can juggle his economy, the demands of his military and patching up the cracks before the nosedive. This looming economic crisis provided the backdrop to the Alaska summit, which was prompted by threats of new American oil sanctions. Putin has reportedly insisted that sanctions relief forms part of any deal struck in Alaska, which is nothing if not a display of weakness. Not that you'd know it from looking at him. The tyrant looked stiff and bloated, but beamed as he shook his opposite number warmly by the hand. There was none of Trump's trademark grab-and-yank. No intimidating body language. Instead, amid the intimate giggles and nudges, Putin looked like the cat that got the cream. Trump even seemed to applaud the Russian leader as he walked along a red carpet. Putin was given a welcome more befitting a friend and ally, not the leader of a rogue state - a victory before the talks had even begun. I was reminded of the moment Russia was admitted into the G8 in 2002, which Tony Blair notoriously described as 'a very strong message of support for president Putin and his reforms'. Back then, the Russian leader looked hale, vital and satisfied. But he had nothing of the unalloyed delight that lit up his face today. Small wonder. In the more than two decades since the door was opened to the Russian bear, Putin's trajectory has been one of gradual manipulation of the West, leading to his invasion of Ukraine. Aleksandr Dugin, the firebrand philosopher nicknamed 'Putin's brain', openly envisions a steroidal Russian empire that will vanquish the West and establish Eurasian supremacy from Vladivostok to Dublin, allying with every enemy of democracy in an inexorable advance. Today, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this is the plan that is unfolding. From a Western point of view, Russia is an isolated and declining power, slowly sinking in a swamp of blood and impoverishment. Switch the perspective, however, and the global picture looks very different. Europe's economies, birth rates, cultural coherence, and defence readiness are all in a very fragile state indeed, as what Simon Sebag Montefiore calls the 'comfort democracies' continue to eat themselves from within. On the other side of the equation, the Kremlin's friendship with Beijing and its reach into the Middle East and Africa provide an advancing authoritarian alliance, backed up by the nuclear-armed North Korea. In the centre of the storm is Donald Trump, the most volatile president in recent American history. This is a man with whom Putin can perhaps do business. In fact, much of the business may already have been done. Land concessions are on the table, as are Ukraine's natural resources and a number of other sweeteners to persuade Putin to 'stop the killing'. The underlying message is clear: under Trump's leadership, the West is marshalling wealth and strategic advantage as offerings to appease the Russian war machine, in the hope that it can be flattered into silencing its guns. No wonder Putin smiled so broadly. In a sign of both his existing muscle and intentions, Russian forces have been preparing to test a new nuclear-armed cruise missile in the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. Alaska Shmalaska. Moscow claims that this new armament has an unlimited range, both geographical and into the future. Slowly but surely, Putin is getting the West where he wants it.
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
MAGGIE PAGANO: We are all paying the price for Labour
Eating cake rather than bread is not an option. Blame my Viking-cum-Italian genes. But there are two household staples that we are never without: tealights and olive oil. My addiction is such that I'm eagle-eyed about hunting down the best prices. But here's the rub. It doesn't seem to matter whether you are shopping for candles at Homebase or B&M, or Waitrose or Tesco for liquid gold – prices are soaring again having fallen back after inflation peaked nearly three years ago. As any regular shopper will tell you, so are the prices of most foods and household products. June's annual food inflation rate was up at 4.5 per cent, the third month in a row that prices rose, and the highest since the beginning of last year. Inflation figures for July out next Wednesday are expected to show further jumps. So it's hardly surprising that 85 per cent of adults surveyed by the Office for National Statistics say that the cost-of-living crisis is the most important issue facing the UK today – ahead even of the NHS. About six in ten adults also report that costs have risen in the last month – that's more people citing price rises than in July last year when Labour took office. This time around, rising prices can't be blamed on either the after-effects of the pandemic, which crippled supply chains around the world, or indeed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which saw the price of wheat and sunflower oils, as well as energy, rocket into the stratosphere. Today's price rises, however, are mainly home-grown, the direct result of Labour's tax hikes. Prices have further to climb because of the Budget tax rises, as even the Bank of England has admitted. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has also warned that the full impact of the last Budget has yet to fully filter through to prices. Labour's policies will add £7billion to retailer costs this year, ranging from higher employment costs to the new packaging tax. The BRC also says that if this autumn's Budget attacks retailers again, with its planned higher business rates threshold on 4,000 larger stores, then it will be poorer families which will be hit hardest. At the same time, the UK's farming industry is being whacked on all fronts, threatening the country's food security. The latest smack in the face is Labour's decision not to give any financial aid to the bioethanol industry after President Donald Trump's tariff hike. Smaller farm owners are being devastated by the new inheritance tax rules and are shutting down. Dairy farmers are closing because of higher costs and worker shortages, opening the door to more imports and less competition. Even the price of bread is now in question. The planned merger between ABF's Kingsmill and Hovis is going to be an interesting test for Labour to chew on. Both Kingsmill and Hovis lose money. Together they would lead the market in sliced bread, putting them ahead of sector leader Warburtons. What's Labour to do? On the one hand the Government will want to show its support for business, giving a nod to the Competition and Markets Authority to pass the takeover. But that means big job losses and a potential monopoly position for its breads, the price of which they may be mindful of has so often led historically to riots. Telling people to eat cake is not an option.
