Dan Driscoll, the 39-year-old army secretary often nicknamed President Trump’s “drone guy,” has emerged unexpectedly as a key player in recent U.S.efforts to shape a peace process for the Russia-Ukraine war.A relative newcomer to diplomacy, Driscoll is the youngest person to hold the army secretary post. He has built a reputation inside the administration for pushing new battlefield...

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her Budget in the House of Commons around 12:30 GMT, facing pressure to find extra revenue while promising investment to cut NHS waiting lists and tackle the cost of living.She has flagged that tough but fair decisions are needed to reduce national debt and drive growth, with an immediate response from opposition leader Kemi Badenoch expected after the...

Rachel Reeves arrives at today's Budget under intense scrutiny, aiming to steady a struggling government and buy a little breathing room for Labour.She will frame the package as a set of difficult but necessary trade-offs, focused on three headline goals: easing pressure on household budgets, shortening NHS waiting lists and beginning to bring public debt under control.Delivering on those aims...

The Royal Navy intercepted and shadowed two Russian ships as they sailed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.HMS Severn moved to intercept the corvette Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya in the past fortnight before handing monitoring duties to a NATO vessel off the coast of Brittany.Severn remained nearby, observing from a safe distance and...

Seven suspects have appeared in a Dresden court accused of belonging to a militant far-left cell dubbed Antifa Ost, or the "hammer gang." Prosecutors say the group carried out a string of brutal assaults in Germany and in Budapest.The defendants — six men and one woman — face serious counts including attempted murder, aggravated assault and damage to property.German privacy rules mean they...

President Emmanuel Macron will unveil a new military service plan later this week aimed at increasing the size and resilience of France’s armed forces.Details remain limited, but French outlets report the scheme would be voluntary, paid and run for about ten months, with recruits receiving roughly €900–€1,000 a month.Macron has taken pains to say the proposal does not mean young people...

Rachel Reeves has appealed for cohesion within Labour as she gets ready to present a Budget she says is crucial to the party's electoral chances.Speaking to Labour's Parliamentary Party on Monday evening, the chancellor urged MPs to back the package in full if they want to take power at the next election.The Budget, due on Wednesday after weeks of speculation, is expected to include measures to...

When Keira’s daughter arrived last November she had only a couple of hours with her mother before being placed in foster care.The 39-year-old describes the moment as devastating and now visits her baby for one hour a week, bringing Greenlandic food and small reminders of home.Keira is one of many Greenlandic parents living on the Danish mainland who say their children were removed after...

The chair of the Commons culture committee has raised serious doubts about the BBC board’s ability to manage the broadcaster’s current crisis after its chair, Samir Shah, gave evidence to MPs.Dame Caroline Dinenage said Shah’s responses fell short of the clear, decisive plan the committee wanted to hear and warned there appeared to be weak oversight at the top of the organisation.Shah told...

Belgium is preparing for widespread disruption this week as unions launch a three-day national strike that will culminate in a full general stoppage on Wednesday.The action is aimed at government plans to cut public spending by overhauling labour rules and reshaping unemployment and pension systems.The industrial action begins with transport on Monday, when national rail operator SNCB expected to...