
Uncertainty and tension ahead of possible Ukraine peace talks
Europe | Dancing with wolves Photograph: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Editor's note (May 11th): Since this article was published, Donald Trump has urged Volodymyr Zelensky to meet Vladimir Putin in Turkey for negotiations, whether or not a ceasefire is in place.
Their gambit is as much a test for Donald Trump as the Kremlin
By choosing Robert Prevost the cardinals seek unity in a fractured church
The Golden Owl is a parable for a changing continent
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However distasteful this might seem to them
The new German chancellor may fall short of his partners' expectations

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BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
National Guard to deploy in Los Angeles amid immigration raids unrest
US President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 National Guardsman in Los Angeles to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants. His border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News on Saturday: "We are making Los Angeles safer."The Californian city saw a second day of unrest on Saturday as residents of a predominantly Latino district clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents. The ICE used tear gas and batons to disperse crowds in the Paramount many as 118 arrests were made in LA this week as a result of ICE operations, including 44 on Friday. California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the raids as "cruel". A White House press release said: "In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California. "These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens. That is why President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester."Speaking in Los Angeles, where he had travelled to personally supervise the continuing ICE operations, Homan said: "We're bringing in more resources as we speak. We gonna bring the National Guard in tonight. We gonna continue doing our job."He warned that there would be "zero tolerance" of any violence or damage to private a post on X, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also issued a warning to protesters: "You bring chaos, and we'll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail."He said that "multiple arrests" had been made for "obstructing operations".In a statement on Friday, Governor Newsom said: "Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel."Donald Trump's chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and undermining the workers and industries that power America's economy."Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass earlier accused the ICE of "sowing terror" in America's second largest FBI and Homeland Security chiefs said the mayor's comments were endangering federal Salas, who leads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told a recent rally: "Our community is under attack and is being terrorised. These are workers. These are fathers. These are mothers. And this has to stop."The US president has the authority to deploy the National Guard for certain purposes which include "suppressing rebellion". But responding on Saturday, California's governor said the federal government's move to "take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers" was "purposefully inflammatory" and would "only escalate tensions". "LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice," Newsom added. Trump hit out at the governor on his Truth Social platform, saying that if he and Bass could not do their jobs, "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!"
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Los Angeles anti-ICE protests: Trump threat against ‘riots and looters' after immigration raids spark fury on LA streets
President Donald Trump has threatened to use the federal government to crush anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles sparked by a weekend immigration raid in the city. The president said the 'RIOTS & LOOTERS' would be dealt with 'the way it should be solved!!!' 'If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!' Trump wrote. When discussing protesters in the past, the president once quipped that 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts.' Earlier on Friday, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said he plans to send the National Guard to Los Angeles to combat protests against ICE that began this weekend following immigration raids in the city. 'We are making Los Angeles safer. Mayor Bass should be thanking us. She says they are going to mobilize—guess what? We are already mobilizing. We are going to bring the National Guard in tonight,' Homan told Fox News. California Governor Gavin Newsom responded, calling Homan's threat 'purposefully inflammatory.' 'That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions,' he said in a statement. 'LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice.'


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
White House warns Downing Street against letting China build 'super embassy' near sensitive financial sites
The Oval Office has urged Downing Street against giving a Chinese embassy the green light to be built near London financial centres. Previously, proposals for the 'super-embassy' were rejected by the Conservative government amid concerns from British intelligence. However, the plans have been reintroduced following lobbying from China 's very own President Xi Jinping. But fresh warning have since emerged, as due to the Royal Mint Court's locality to a sensitive hub of essential communication cables, it poses a great risk for an attack. The suggested site is also situated between several major financial hubs in Canary Wharf and the City as well as three crucial data centres. It is understood US President Donald Trump has warned Sir Keir Starmer against giving the embassy the go-ahead. The matter is believed to have been discussed during trade talks, as Britain and its Atlantic allies discuss how they will implement a trade deal to avoid UK steel producers being lumbered with 50 percent import tariffs by July 9. According to the Times, US diplomats would be trepidatious about sharing intelligence with Britain if the embassy went ahead. A senior US official told the publication: 'The United States is deeply concerned about providing China with potential access to the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.' It comes after a claims 'dark cabling' running beneath the proposed site 'feeds the City of London' were given in a memo to the United States' National Security Council by members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac). John Moolenaar, the Republican head of the House of Representatives' China committee said if these reports were 'accurate' that the site would 'pose an unacceptable risk' to both the UK and US. 'The Chinese Communist Party has a clear track record of targeting critical infrastructure.' he said. 'This development would raise serious concerns in the United States and could be viewed as an act of strategic overreach by Beijing and a curious error in judgment by London.' The executive director of IPAC, Luke de Pulford dubbed the matter as a 'flashpoint' in US-UK trade talks, adding that it was 'staggering' the White House had to corroborate the cabling risk to 'defend its own financial system. 'It's time to send Xi Jinping a clear message: no matter the pressure or coercion, the UK and US won't trade away national security, and this embassy isn't happening,' he said. China has been attempting to revise plans for the Royal Mint building, which neighbour the Tower of London, since they were purchased in 2018. It is believed the Chines foreign minister, Wang Yi, brought up the matter with foreign secretary, David Lammy, while visiting London last year. According to The Times, President Xi had also discussed the same issue with the Prime Minister in a phone conversation. The proposal for the embassy, which would be China's largest in Europe, was previously rejected by Tower Hamlets council in 2022. But two weeks after Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves came back from a visit to China earlier this year, both the council's and Scotland Yard's objections were dropped. Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, described China as a 'dangerous threat to the national and economic security of our country'. She said the Conservative party continued to stand 'firmly' against the embassy proposals, stating her party would never put the UK's 'financial centre or country at risk.' Next Monday, three of Trump's aides are scheduled to meet with their Chinese peers in London for discussions in a bid to solve the current trade war between the two economic powerhouses. The Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, the commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and the trade representative Jamieson Greer will act as representatives for the US, Trump has declared on Truth Social. Yesterday, China 's foreign ministry confirmed vice-premier He Lifeng will be on British shores from June 8 until June 13, adding that talks would with the US would take place. Previously, a Chinese embassy spokesperson has quashed spy allegations, stating: 'Anti-China elements are always keen on slandering and attacking China.' A government spokesman said: 'Applications for a new Chinese embassy in Tower Hamlets have been called in for ministers to decide. A final decision will be made in due course.'