Top World News
Germany's Iran "Humiliating" US Comment Costs It 5,000 American Troops
The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday, in an apparent US rebuke to the close NATO ally amid a widening rift between President Donald Trump and Europe over the Iran war.
Letters and photos from Beatles’ early days to go on show in Hamburg
Exclusive: The collection, including donations from Paul McCartney’s brother Mike, shows band’s development in early 60sA rare set of letters and photos from the early days of the Beatles, in which they write about feeling like stars for the first time, is to go on display in Hamburg.The collection, from an influential period when the band lived in the German city, includes the only letter in existence with words from both Paul McCartney and John Lennon, which was written to the bassist’s brother, Mike McCartney. Continue reading...
Asylum seeker sent back to France in ‘one in, one out’ scheme to be returned to Syria
Kurdish Syrian man, 26, said he fled forced conscription by YPG militia because he ‘didn’t want to kill people’An asylum seeker sent back to France under the controversial “one in, one out” scheme faces being returned to Syria after authorities in Paris ruled it was safe to do so, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.When the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced the “groundbreaking” deal in July 2025 to stop small boats crowded with asylum seekers from crossing the Channel – by forcibly returning one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for bringing one in northern France legally to the UK – they emphasised that France was a safe country for returnees. Continue reading...
Germany says it expected Trump’s withdrawal of US troops as row over Iran comments grows – live
German defence minister responds to US president’s announcement that 5,000 US troops will leave bases in GermanyThe US is withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany, days after the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, suggested Washington was being outplayed and “humiliated” by Iran.The US president had earlier said a “determination” on the US military presence in Germany, seen as a key part of Nato’s defences but also vital for the projection of US power in other parts of the world, would be made “over the next short period of time”. Continue reading...
Trump's "Lunatics" Jab At Iran Over Nukes As US Clock To End War Stops
Rejecting Iran's latest proposal to end the war presented on Friday, Trump said the conflict would not end prematurely.
Why 60-day War Powers Resolution Deadline Doesn't Constrain Presidents
The Trump administration signaled on April 30, 2026, that it would ignore that deadline, set by the War Powers Resolution.
BBC News to bear deepest cuts amid 2,000 planned job losses
Staff warned news operations face 15% cut, above BBC-wide 10% target, as corporation pushes through £600m savings planThe BBC’s news operation is to cut costs by a steeper-than-expected 15%, with staff told to expect heavy redundancies.The division, home to about a quarter of all BBC staff, is being saddled with one of the highest cost-cutting targets as the corporation attempts to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years. Continue reading...
Momentum building for Scottish-style land access rights in England, says film
Documentary makers seek to start ‘informed conversation’ in country where public is allowed on just 8% of landAnger and momentum are building for Scottish style rights of access to mountains, meadows, rivers and woodlands in England where the public is allowed on just 8% of land, a new documentary suggests.Our Land, a film whose title is a nod to the protest song by Woody Guthrie, explores the rise of the right to roam movement in England. Continue reading...
First malaria drug for babies is approved in ‘major public health milestone’
WHO prequalification of Coartem Baby means newborns can be safely treated rather than using medication for older childrenThe first malaria treatment for babies has been approved by the World Health Organization, opening the door to widespread use around the globe.In parts of Africa, up to 18% of children under six months will be infected with malaria, but there has historically been no safe treatment for the smallest of them. There were 610,000 deaths from malaria in 2024, about three quarters of which were under-fives in Africa. Continue reading...
‘There is real danger’: landline phone users voice fears over digital switchover
Rural dwellers reveal failings in backup plans, as campaigners call for deadline to be extended from 2027 to 2030“Every time there is a power failure I lose all means of communication with the outside world,” says Robert Dewar of life in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands since the landlines were transferred from the old copper cable network to broadband connections.Blackouts also knock out the village’s mobile phone signal. “Our most recent power cut lasted for 42 hours,” Dewar says. The interruption outlasted his five-hour emergency backup battery. “If I had had a heart attack there is damn all I could have done about it, except compose myself, say my prayers, and await the outcome.” Continue reading...
‘People can see it – but can’t use it’: mystery of completed East-West Rail line that has no passenger trains
The East West Rail project linking Oxford to Milton Keynes was finished in 2024. There’s just one hitch: no servicesThe rumbling noise in the night, still enough to waken the unhabituated, is what really goads some people living in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. Freight trains running through the new station since late 2024 prove this stretch of railway is operational. But the long-promised passenger services have yet to appear – and there is no sign of any arriving soon.Welcome to East West Rail, open or not. For well over a decade, ministers have talked up a new railway linking Oxford to Cambridge via Milton Keynes to accelerate the drive for housing, jobs and growth – an arc of tech industry hailed as the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley. Continue reading...
"Blast Or Make Deal": Trump Outlines Iran War Options
US President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States faces a stark choice in its approach to Iran, either to pursue a negotiated settlement or escalate militarily.
