France braces for nationwide protests over cost of living crisis
Nationwide protests are set to begin in France on Saturday with students, trade unionists and remna...
France, Germany and Britain will meet on Sunday to help shape Ukraine’s position before President Zelenskyy holds high-stakes talks with Donald Trump in Washington.
The virtual summit, set for 1300 GMT, brings together French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who are seeking to reinforce Kyiv’s hand amid pressure from the U.S. to accept a peace deal with Moscow.
The European powers want security guarantees for Ukraine with U.S. involvement and are aiming to set up a trilateral summit involving Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, diplomatic sources said.
The move follows Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, where the Russian leader reportedly offered to freeze the front lines in exchange for Kyiv ceding all of the Donetsk region. A source familiar with the discussions said Zelenskyy rejected the proposal.
"Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war," Zelenskyy said on X, responding to Russia’s refusal to pause hostilities.
Trump, who reversed his earlier stance on demanding a ceasefire, has said Ukraine should “make a deal” because “Russia is a very big power, and they're not.”
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 60 drones and one ballistic missile overnight; 40 of the drones were intercepted or jammed.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. European leaders may accompany him and are expected to offer strategic advice. Merz said he believed the meeting would be less confrontational than Zelenskyy’s previous Oval Office visit in February, which saw public rebukes from both Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Despite European unity, Merz noted that the U.S. still held the key to shifting Moscow’s position. "The American president has the power both militarily and via appropriate sanctions and tariffs to ensure that Russia moves more than it currently does," he told ZDF.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. It currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including much of Donetsk, which it partially occupied as early as 2014.
Former UK national security adviser Mark Lyall Grant called the Alaska summit a “clear win” for Putin, citing Trump’s retreat from demanding a ceasefire. Still, he said U.S. engagement in long-term security guarantees for Ukraine was “absolutely critical”.
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It comes after a deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people last week.
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called it “a disgrace” that Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries. Attacks are continuing from Russia and Ukraine as media reports say Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
France is preparing for a fresh wave of nationwide demonstrations this weekend as rising living costs, education concerns and growing political tensions converge into one of the most significant protest movements seen in the country in recent years.
Nationwide protests are set to begin in France on Saturday with students, trade unionists and remnants of the Yellow Vest movement expected to demonstrate against rising living costs amongst others.
European Union leaders wrapped up a summit in Brussels with agreement emerging on several key issues, including support for the automotive industry, trade tensions with China and financing for Ukraine.
What would you miss most after six months orbiting Earth, 400 kilometres above the ground? For astronauts, a familiar meal can offer a welcome taste of home. China is making that possible, bringing everything from dumplings to Kung Pao chicken to its space station.
A group of U.S. lawmakers is seeking to halt the Trump administration's agreement to purchase and import Russian diesel fuel, arguing that the arrangement would benefit Moscow financially while offering little relief to American consumers.
The Trump administration is once again searching for a new chief spokesperson after Katie Zacharia was removed as White House press secretary less than a week after taking the position, in what appears to be one of the shortest tenures in the history of the role.
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