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Keir Starmer has defied brutal rebukes from Donald Trump insisting the UK is 'not involved' with Iran strikes. The PM made his latest attempt to wash his hands of the US president's military campaign in a speech to Muslims breaking Ramadan fast last night. Sir Keir - who has been desperately trying to shore up Labour's left flank since the Greens inflicted an humiliating by-election defeat - also talked up his determination to get 'justice' for Gaza.

France's president has joined Spain in condemning US and Israeli strikes on Iran, branding them illegal. In a televised address on Tuesday evening, Emmanuel Macron declared the attacks were 'outside the bounds of international law'. He is the second Western leader to question the legality of the conflict after Spain's Pedro Sanchez warned that strikes from the US and Israel risked bringing about a 'more uncertain and hostile international order'.

America’s war on Iran has revealed much about its allies. Israel is as steadfast as ever, as secretary of war Pete Hegseth pointed out on Monday. Australia and Canada have also made clear their unequivocal support for the military action. In Europe, however, the response has been lackluster. Hegseth regretted the faintheartedness of “traditional partners who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, humming and hawing about the use of force.” ... The timidity of Europeans towards regime change in Iran is in stark contrast to their aggressive attitude towards regime change in Russia. Last year Von der Leyen called...

Britain, France and Germany have announced coordinated cooperation with the United States and its allies regarding the escalating confrontation with Iran, signalling a widening international involvement in the crisis. In a joint statement issued on Sunday evening, the three European powers said they had agreed to work alongside Washington and partner states and were examining defensive measures aimed at neutralising Iran’s missile capabilities.

Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs that the government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", putting him at odds with President Trump over the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. In his first statement to Parliament since the strikes, Sir Keir defended his decision not to permit the use of UK bases for the initial wave of attacks. "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest," he told MPs.

France is to boost its nuclear arsenal and extend the deterrent to cover other European countries, in a major development of its nuclear defence policy. In a speech in Brittany, President Emmanuel Macron explained the changes as the response to an increasingly unstable strategic environment. "The next 50 years will be an era of nuclear weapons," he said. Speaking to naval officers in front of a nuclear submarine at the Ile Longue base near the port of Brest, he said the number of French nuclear warheads would be increased from their current level of around 300. He announced the launch...

...the Beauty of Killing Fascists: This review was certainly planned differently, on the assumption that this would be a conventionally proceeding first night. But now one has to start with the ending. In the final scene, the 'fascist' has the floor - that is, the far-right politician who hasn't said a single word until now, just waited for his execution by a large group of committed anti-fascists, who have made such actions a recurring ritual for seventy years. So Tiago Rodrigues' play ends with a very long monologue in which the prisoner delivers the usual nonsense from JD Vance, AfD,...

Marco Rubio considers it an "overused term" while Friedrich Merz thinks it "no longer exists". But while the US Secretary of State and German chancellor may not believe in the relevance of the rules-based international order, the concept — and its potential collapse — has been at the forefront of global geopolitics of late. The phrase caught the global attention in January after a rare speech, from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in which a world leader tackled the often unspoken concept head on. "We knew the story of the rules-based international order was partially false, that the strongest would...

Berlin film festival director Tricia Tuttle defended the Berlinale jury’s right to speak freely on politics, after criticism for refusing to label Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide. ✍️ @HannahBrown972 [link] Berlinale head Tricia Tuttle defends jury for refusing to condemn Israel for ‘genocide’ The issue surfaced following the opening press conference, where the International Jury president, director Wim Wenders, said that filmmakers should stay out of politics.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European leaders on Feb. 14 that Washington is not walking away from the transatlantic alliance—but called for a renewed partnership that aligns with President Donald Trump’s push for national revival, tougher border control, and a return to industrial and military strength.Addressing the annual Munich Security Conference, Rubio sought to reassure governments unsettled by a year of tensions over trade, defense spending, and at times critical U.S. rhetoric toward NATO.At the same time, he made clear that Washington’s commitment would be tied to what he called a broader civilizational renewal—one that calls on Europe...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alleged at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that U.S. aid to the Jewish state enabled a genocide by Israel. AOC’s attack on the Jewish state in Munich unfolded in the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement that carried out the worst genocide in human history. During the town hall event in Munich, the Squad member said, "To me, this isn't just about a presidential election. Personally, I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly the Leahy laws. And I think that personally, that the idea of completely unconditional...

According to the latest public opinion poll released by the Associated Press, about 70 percent of Americans oppose the United States taking control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Among Republicans who support U.S. President Donald Trump, about 50 percent are opposed to the United States acquiring Greenland. The Associated Press noted that, so far, very few people in the United States have publicly expressed support for the plan to take control of Greenland. Only about 24% of American adults approve of Trump’s approach to Greenland. Among Republicans, opinions are notably more divided; roughly half disapprove of the attempt...

Irresponsible Trump, responsible China: that is the message the BBC’s climate editor seemed to be sending us by juxtaposing the news that the President had repealed Barack Obama’s “endangerment finding” and that China’s carbon emissions fell slightly last year. Trump’s critics like to portray him as a rogue figure in a world which is otherwise committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. But is there any truth in that? The endangerment finding was a piece of legalese issued in a 2009 ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It stated that six greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,...

With the US relationship with Europe increasingly frayed, and a major nuclear arms treaty set to expire this week, longtime pacifist Germany is starting to think differently about its nuclear posture. German Chancellor Frederich Merz recently revealed that Germany is in discussions with other European powers about establishing Europe-wide nuclear deterrence. And while it’s highly unlikely that Berlin would acquire its own nuclear weapons, European countries such as Germany are beginning to look beyond the US for protection. Germany hopes that the French will allow discussions about their nuclear strategy on a European level, Emil Archambault, a defense expert at...

Germany has issued a travel advisory to its citizens travelling to the United States, citing risks linked to immigration enforcement and public-order situations. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said on Tuesday that German citizens should be aware of demonstrations and clashes with American migration and security authorities. Why It MattersThe advisory is not a political statement about the U.S. but aims to give impartial information for German citizens travelling to the country at a time of increased tensions during President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation drive.Protests have been held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and other cities against the actions of Immigration and Customs...

At an emergency summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, the building blocks of an empire were beginning to take shape. […] In a brutal new age of world powers, the EU wants to build a bigger, richer, stronger “super Europe” able to resist the dangerous whims of the globe’s autocrats. Turning 27 quarrelsome small to middle-sized powers into a geopolitical heavyweight has been Emmanuel Macron’s largely unheeded call ever since the US president’s first term. This time, though, it is different, multiple Brussels insiders have told The Telegraph. “Let’s take a step back and realize we live in a...

Xi Jinping has offered Europe new trade partnerships and promised to uphold the “values” of the United Nations. The move is an apparent attempt to capitalise on the continent’s growing rift with the United States. On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer became the latest leader to travel to Beijing after Mark Carney and Petteri Orpo, the prime ministers of Canada and Finland. In a meeting with Mr Orpo on Tuesday, the Chinese president said China and Europe were “partners, not adversaries” and invited Finnish companies to “swim in the vast ocean of the Chinese market”. He also appeared to snub Donald...

The woman stole a knife from a drug store and attacked passengers waiting on a platform in the busy station during the Friday evening rush hour, severely injuring at least four of her victims. A woman who stabbed 15 people in an attack at Hamburg's central train station in northern Germany last year was ordered on Monday to be held permanently in a psychiatric hospital. A court ruled that the 39-year-old woman, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, could not be held criminally responsible for the 23 May attack, according to a court spokesperson. The woman stole a knife from...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon released a priority-shifting National Defense Strategy late Friday that chastised U.S. allies to take control of their own security and reasserted the Trump administration’s focus on dominance in the Western Hemisphere above a longtime goal of countering China.The 34-page document, the first since 2022, was highly political for a military blueprint, criticizing partners from Europe to Asia for relying on previous U.S. administrations to subsidize their defense. It called for “a sharp shift — in approach, focus, and tone.” That translated to a blunt assessment that allies would take on more of the burden countering...

Top business leaders this week delivered an expletive-laden plea in defense of climate action, describing the backlash to Europe’s green transition as an “aberration.” In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte said he disagreed with the suggestion that it may just be a matter of time before net zero is dismissed in Europe, saying short-term thinking on this issue is “bulls---.” Asked about political leaders backtracking on their much-vaunted European Green New Deal and Norway’s oil fund reportedly defending a push from companies to water down their climate goals, Bäte...