The EU's Home Base Faces Its Own Fresh Political Headaches
BRUSSELS — A year after Belgium went to the polls in federal and regional elections, the country is in familiar territory — mired in a political mess.
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Starmer speaks with Trump after president's Ukraine ceasefire talks with Putin
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Donald Trump after the US president's summit with Vladimir Putin ended without a deal to stop the war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister joined a call with Mr Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as other European leaders, after the US-Russia ceasefire talks, Downing Street said. Mr Trump did not secure a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine after nearly three hours of talks with his Russian counterpart at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. After the negotiations, which took place alongside senior officials, the two presidents refused to answer questions from reporters. However, both made statements, with Mr Trump saying 'some great progress' was made with 'many points' agreed and 'very few' remaining. In a call after the summit, Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky spoke with the US president alongside leaders from Italy, France, Finland, Germany and Poland, as well as Nato's Mark Rutte, and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. Sir Keir is due to speak again with European leaders this morning.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
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World leaders react to Trump-Putin summit reaching no deal on Ukraine
(Reuters) -Following are reactions from world leaders on Saturday to the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which did not resolve Moscow's war in Ukraine. NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ESPEN BARTH EIDE: "President Putin of Russia reiterated known arguments, such as emphasising the so-called 'root causes' of the war, which is code for the Russian justification for the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Our view is clear: it is important we must continue to put pressure on Russia, and even increase it, to give the clear signal to Russia that it must pay the price. "We must listen to Ukraine's wishes and needs. We know that President Putin wants to split Europe and the United States. With all our allies, we must do everything we can to avoid that. I am optimistic that we can achieve that, but we must be clear that this is a clear motivation for President Putin... "I don't believe it will have any effect on the battlefield right now. Too little concrete information has come out, and we see no movement at all in the Russian position." CZECH DEFENCE MINISTER JANA CERNOCHOVA, ON X: "The Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska did not bring any fundamental progress towards ending the war in Ukraine, but it did confirm that Putin is not looking for peace, but an opportunity to weaken the unity of the West and spread his propaganda. He is trying to prolong the conflict in order to achieve the maximum of his goals in terms of Russian expansion. Regardless of the human casualties and the devastation of Ukrainian cities. "The meeting was nevertheless important, among other things, because it reveals the true motives and mindset of Vladimir Putin. "For us, it follows that it is necessary to maintain the cohesion of the West and persist in supporting Ukraine so that any agreement on a ceasefire or peace is not only based on Russian notes. This is in our vital interest." HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PETER SZIJJARTO, ON X: "The world is a safer place as long as there is US–Russia dialogue at the highest level. Credit to both presidents for making this summit happen. Today once again confirmed: the war in Ukraine will not be settled on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table. Peace can only be achieved through negotiations, dialogue, and keeping diplomatic channels open. "Hungary has stood by this for 3.5 years, unlike Brussels and pro-war European politicians."
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Would Newsom's CA redistricting effort affect SLO County? See the leaked maps
California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched an effort Friday to thwart Republican gerrymandering in Texas by redrawing California's own voting districts to favor Democratic congressional candidates in certain districts for the next three election cycles — but San Luis Obispo County's district lines would not change. The proposed maps were designed to flip five currently Republican seats in the northeastern corner of California, along the eastern state border from Plumas National Forest past Death Valley, in San Diego and in and around Los Angeles. According to leaked drafts of the new maps, neither of SLO County's congressional districts, safely held by Democrats, would be substantially affected. Typically, redistricting in California happens at the turn of the decade in concert with the census and is led by an independent citizens commission made up of Republicans, Democrats and non-party-affiliated members. The next regular redistricting is expected in 2030. But Newsom's mid-decade push to redraw congressional district lines, led by lawmakers, is not typical. It is a direct challenge to Texas' attempt, instigated by the Trump administration, to add as many as five GOP seats to the U.S. House of Representatives — in which Republicans have a razor-thin advantage — ahead of the midterm elections to preserve the Republican advantage for the second half of Trump's term. California's gerrymandered maps would aim to flip the same number of seats blue, zeroing out the net balance of seat changes in 2026. 'Texas is taking away the voice of the people,' Assemblymember Dawn Addis, who represents SLO County in the Legislature, told The Tribune. 'California is giving it back.' To Addis, the redistricting effort is about enfranchising California's minority voting communities while Texas disenfranchises its own with what she called an 'outright attack on underrepresented communities.' Unlike Texas, California's redistricting process would leave the decision up to the voters. Upon returning from summer break next week, the Legislature will vote on three bills in a legislative package dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act. to introduce the new maps, set a special election for Nov. 4 to vote on their adoption, and proposed a budget package to fund the special election. The package also includes a trigger clause that would cause the new district lines to go into effect only if Texas or other states follow through on redrawing their districts in favor of Republican voters. If passed, the maps would take effect for the next three elections in 2026, 2028 and 2030. California would return to its regular independent redistricting procedure for 2032. 'We're in a position where we have to fight,' Addis said. SLO County not impacted by redistricting SLO County is split between two congressional districts — Districts 24 and 19, represented by Democrats Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta, respectively. According to draft versions of the redistricted maps leaked to KCRA 3 on Friday afternoon ahead of the official release, SLO County would remain in its two current Central Coast congressional districts. It appears the borders of the two districts would be tweaked slightly, but not in SLO County. According to data from Redistricting Partners, which created the maps working with California Democrats, the number of potential voters would shift slightly under the new maps, with District 24 going from 539,100 to 540,894 and District 19 going from 535,195 to 532,407. Redistricting Partners is the same firm that previously drew SLO County's Board of Supervisors district lines. 'Trump and the Republicans know their policies, such as the tariff-taxes, Big Beautiful Bill and immigration raids, are unpopular, so they are trying to steal enough congressional seats to stay in power,' Carbajal told The Tribune in a statement, 'I fully support Gov. Newsom's efforts to protect our democracy, and the will of the American people, from this unprecedented power grab.' Addis said local voters should think beyond SLO County when casting their vote in November. 'I can't emphasize how important this special election is,' she said. 'We're willing to stand up for the whole nation and defend democracy.' Even though the Election Rigging Response Act breaks procedure and gerrymanders California in favor of Democrats, Addis applauded the Legislature for taking a democratic approach to the unusual redistricting process, allowing voters to have the final say. 'We're completely committed to do it in a transparent way, unlike Texas,' she said, adding that 'we'd prefer to wait for redistricting,' in 2030. The state-led redistricting comes after SLO County created its own independent redistricting committee in September in reaction to the 2021 Board of Supervisors approving a radically redrawn district map that favored Republicans, according to a Tribune analysis. 'SLO County has really stood up for voter rights,' she said. 'The same thing (happened) where the Republicans in SLO County tried to disenfranchise voters through gerrymandering.' What California congressional districts would change? The leaked drafts confirmed that Democrats are targeting five Republican districts in the nothern reaches of the state, the Central Valley and Southern California, while hoping to shore up other competitive districts to make them easier for party candidates to win. The California Republicans whose districts Democrats are targeting are Reps. Kevin Kiley, David Valadao, Ken Calvert, Doug LaMalfa and Darrell Issa. If successful, the effort would net Democrats 48 of the state's 52 congressional seats; the party currently controls 43. Other districts that Democrats have narrowly won would also be consolidated into friendlier terrain. Political data scientist Paul Mitchell, a redistricting veteran, drafted the maps. 'Our proposed map was created using traditional redistricting criteria, consistent with guidelines laid out by the California's Citizen Redistricting Commission,' according to a cover letter from Julie Merz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included with the map. 'It allows for more compact districts than in the current Commission-drawn map, keeps more communities and neighborhoods together, splits fewer cities, and makes minimal disruptions to the Commission-drawn map so as to impact as few residents as possible,' Merz wrote. 'This is a striking contrast from Texas' proposed gerrymander, which redrew all but one of their 38 congressional districts to minimize the state's growing minority voting strength.' The draft maps, which leaked online ahead of their official release Friday, would shrink most Republican districts. It would shift much of the state's northernmost region into the coastal 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman while including parts of northern Marin and Sonoma counties. Kiley's district would also shrink and encompass part of the greater Sacramento area, shift the bulk of voters to Republican Rep. Tom McClintock's district and remove a broad section of the eastern Sierra Nevada. Valadao's district would also shrink, as would that of Issa, who trumped his Democratic opponent in 2024 by almost 19 points to be reelected to his San Diego-area seat. According to a chart that leaked Thursday, all of those districts would shift from being 'safely' Republican to either lean Democrat, or be considered safe for any Democratic candidate if voters approve them in November. Calvert and Issa currently represent parts of Riverside and San Diego counties, and Valadao represents a Central Valley district. LaMalfa currently represents much of the north from Yuba City to the Oregon border. Kiley, arguably Newsom's arch rival within the state, currently represents much of the northern Sacramento suburbs, northern Sierra Nevada, and the Nevada border down to Death Valley. Solve the daily Crossword
