Europe

LONDON — President Trump’s efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war closely mirrors the tactics he used to end two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas: bold terms that favor one side, deadlines for the combatants and vague outlines for what comes next. The details — enforcing the terms, guaranteeing security, who pays for rebuilding — matter less.

“You know what the deadline is to me? When it’s over.” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday.

The formula has worked so far in the tense Middle East, though its long-term viability remains in question. Trump got his moment to claim credit for “peace” in the region from the podium of the Israeli parliament. Even there, he made clear that next on his priority list was resolving the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

“Maybe we set out like a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza,” U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser in a phone call the day after Trump’s speech, on Oct. 14. A recording of that call leaked to Bloomberg News.

They did just that, issuing a 28-point plan heavily tilted toward Russia’s interests that set off alarms in Europe, which had not been consulted. Trump insisted Ukraine had until Nov. 27 — Thanksgiving in the U.S. — to accept it.

But by Tuesday, Trump had eased off the hard deadline. It seemed clear, even to Trump, that the Israel-Gaza model doesn’t fully apply in Russia and Ukraine as long as Putin refuses to be flattered, pushed or otherwise moved to take the first step of a ceasefire, as Israel and Hamas consented for different reasons on Oct. 9. Making the point, Putin launched waves of bombings on Ukraine Tuesday and Wednesday even as American negotiators renewed Trump’s push to end the war.

“I thought (a Russia-Ukraine deal) would have been an easier one, but I think we’re making progress,” Trump said during the annual White House turkey pardon to mark the Thanksgiving holiday. Hours later, he told reporters that the 28-point plan actually “was not a plan, just a concept.”

The president’s goal may not be a formal, long-lasting peace treaty, one expert said.

“Trump’s approach emphasizes the proclamation of a ceasefire, not its observance,” Mariia Zolkina, a political analyst at the Kyiv-based Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, wrote on Liga.net, a Ukrainian news outlet, adding: “Donald Trump is not interested in whether the ceasefire will be sustainable.”

Similarities to the tactics and style used in the Israel-Gaza talks

Fresh off the Gaza deal and coveting the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump named his next priority before he’d even left the Israeli Knesset.

“If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first, All right?” Trump said, turning to Witkoff.

Where the Gaza ceasefire agreement had 20 points, the Russia-Ukraine proposal would start with 28 items and include more detail on who would pay for reconstruction. They envision “peace” boards headed by the president to lead and administer the aftermath. Both lack detail on incentives for complying and enforcement. And both depend on a ceasefire.

Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think tank, said the proposals for Gaza and Ukraine show a kind of “naivete by believing that by intervening at that level, by imposing your will on something like this, that you will reach some form of long-term conclusion.”

He said both proposals reflect Trump’s political and personal self-interest.

“In the end, the focus is solely on what Trump thinks he will get out of this in terms of reputation and money,” Zuleeg said.

Each Trump administration plan to end the wars heavily favor one side.

The Trump plan for Gaza leans to Israeli terms. It makes disarming Hamas a central condition for any progress in rebuilding the devastated territory. It also lays out no strict timetable for a full Israeli troop withdrawal, making it conditional on deployment of an international security force.

For Russia and Ukraine, Witkoff looked to open peace plan talks with terms skewing toward Russia. He quietly hosted Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Putin’s, for talks in south Florida to help launch the plan that opened talks in Geneva, according to a senior administration official and a U.S. official familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The White House insists that the plan was U.S.-authored with input from both the Ukrainians and Russians.

But that’s where the similarities end. The differences are buy-in — and Putin

The draft that was formally presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decidedly favored the Russians, with no European input. In contrast, the Gaza ceasefire talks got buy-in from Egypt, Qatari, Jordanian, Saudi and other regional powers.

The 28-point Russia-Ukraine plan called for Ukraine to give up land in the industrial Donbas region that the Russians currently don’t control and dramatically shrink the size of its military. It also effectively gave Russia oversight of both NATO and EU expansion. The draft has narrowed by a few points since it was first presented, and Trump is sending his envoys on a bit of shuttle diplomacy to “sell it,” as he said. He said Witkoff will visit Moscow next week — perhaps joined by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was also involved in the Gaza plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will meet with the Ukranians.

European leaders worried that Trump is leaving them out of high-level discussions and vulnerable to Russian aggression.

“He appears perfectly ready to sacrifice Ukraine’s security and Europe’s in the process,” Hannah Neumann, a German member of the European Parliament, said of Trump on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted Trump’s pressure to agree to a ceasefire, for a time. But Putin refuses to concede anything on Ukraine.

He’s appeared to be considering the matter, notably when Trump rolled out a red carpet for the Russian leader at a summer summit in Alaska — an old front line of the Cold War. Trump left without an agreement from Putin to end the bloodshed. The Russian leader walked off with long-sought recognition on the world stage.

To the horror of Ukraine and the vexation of Trump, Putin has stood firm.

As the envoys flew home from Geneva last week without any agreement, the White House scrambled to explain. One U.S. official argued that the 28-page plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede the Donbas region and bar Ukraine from joining NATO, represents considerable concessions from Putin because he would be agreeing to give up on his claim, once and for all, that all of Ukraine should be part of Russia.

Putin, the official noted, has long grumbled that the West doesn’t respect Russia’s position in the global world order. The official added that the Trump White House in its approach is not affirming Putin’s position but trying to reflect the Russian perspective is given its due in the emerging peace plan.

It’s not for the administration to judge Putin’s positions, the official said, but it does have “to understand them if we want to get to a deal.”

Kellman, McNeil and Madhani write for the Associated Press. McNeil reported from Brussels and Madhani from Washington. AP writer Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report.

British Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the latest budget on Wednesday, setting out sweeping tax hikes which are projected to raise 26.1 billion pounds ($34.4bn) for the public purse by 2030.

The budget had been highly anticipated as a “make or break” moment for the UK’s governing Labour party, which has grappled with poor polling over the past year. Earlier this year, an opinion poll by YouGov found that if an election were to be held now, the far-right Reform UK Party, which takes a hard line on immigration, would come to power.

In an embarrassing turn, the country’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its economic outlook as a result of the budget on its website two hours before the announcement – something it never normally does until afterwards. Reeves called the blunder “deeply disappointing” and a “serious error”.

Reeves acknowledged that the tax rises – to be paid in large part by freezing existing income tax thresholds, meaning more people will pay higher tax as their incomes rise with inflation – would adversely affect working people. This breaks a key pledge Labour made in its manifesto before last year’s general election.

“We are asking everyone to make a contribution,” Reeves told parliament.

However, she said the tax rises would help pay for nearly 22 billion pounds ($28.9bn) in fiscal headroom within five years. Reeves also said government borrowing would fall each year. Borrowing in 2025-26 is expected to be 138.3bn pounds ($183bn), falling to 112.1 billion pounds ($148.3bn) the year after and to 67.2 billion pounds ($88.9bn) by 2031.

While the UK’s budget deficit is forecast at 28.8 billion pounds for the financial year 2026/2027, Reeves said this would move to surplus in 2028 and forecast a 24.6 billion pound ($32.55) surplus for 2030/2031.

That will pay for welfare spending and means there “will be no return to austerity measures”, Reeves said.

“I said there would be no return to austerity, and I meant it. This budget will maintain our investment in our economy and our National Health Service. I said I would cut the cost of living, and I meant it. This budget will bring down inflation and provide immediate relief for families. I said that I would cut debt and borrowing, and I meant it,” Reeves said.

Here are five key takeaways from this budget.

1. Labour broke its promise not to raise taxes for working people

Reeves raised taxes by about 40 billion pounds ($52.6bn) in last year’s budget – the biggest hike in revenue-raising measures in decades – in what she said would be a one-off needed to put the government’s finances on an even keel.

This time around, while she did not increase income tax or National Insurance Contributions for working people, she did extend a freeze on the income thresholds at which tax must be paid.

This means that more people will be dragged into higher tax brackets as their income rises with inflation. The move will pull 780,000 more people into paying basic-rate income tax for the first time by the 2029-2030 fiscal year along with 920,000 more higher-rate taxpayers and 4,000 additional-rate payers.

“This ‘fiscal drag’ means that hundreds of thousands will start paying income tax for the first time, and all existing taxpayers will face higher liabilities,” Irem Guceri, associate professor of economics and public policy at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, said.

The previous Conservative government had already frozen these thresholds until 2028. Reeves, who was highly critical of that action at the time – saying it hurt working people – now plans to extend that to 2031.

“I know that maintaining these thresholds is a decision that will affect working people,” she said. “I said that last year, and I won’t pretend otherwise now.”

“I can confirm that I will not be increasing National Insurance, the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax or VAT [value added tax]”, the chancellor added.

Reeves said she will also target wealthier people via a “mansion tax” on those who own property worth more than 2 million pounds ($2.65m) and is reducing the amount of tax relief some higher earners can obtain on pension contributions. She also announced a 2 percentage point increase in tax rates on rental income, dividends and capital gains.

Nigel Green, chief executive of the financial advice firm DeVere, said these moves will have wider “behavioural impacts”. “People make long-term decisions about where to work, where to build wealth and where to retire,” he said.

“When rules around pensions tighten sharply, it undermines confidence in the broader system. Wealth moves where governments show stability over decades, not sudden extractions,” he added.

Following the announcement, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative party, described Reeves decision to raise taxes, despite promising not to do so again, as “a total humiliation”.

2. Labour will spend money on welfare

One of the highly anticipated announcements of the budget was the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap from April 2026. Currently, parents can only claim special tax credits worth about 3,455 pounds ($4,571) per child for their first two children. The cap was imposed by the previous Conservative government. Reeves said this would lift thousands of children out of poverty.

“The removal of the two-child limit in child benefit is likely to provide significant support to families currently living in poverty,” Guceri said.

Experts said the move would appeal strongly to Labour Party backbenchers. “The two-child benefit cap is widely despised among rebellious Labour MPs as a major contributor to child poverty,” said Colm Murphy, senior lecturer in British politics at Queen Mary University, London. “Repeal was critical for Reeves to have any chance of political survival.”

Gregory Thwaites, research director at Resolution Foundation (RF), a British think tank that focuses on improving living standards, also said the move was a positive step towards reducing child poverty in the UK.

“That’s something that we’ve been campaigning for RF for some time, and we’re very pleased to see that. And then there are some welcome reforms to the tax system, as well. So, for example, charging the people who own very expensive properties a bit more money that will, that’s very welcome, as well,” Thwaites told Al Jazeera.

“Ultimately, budgetary responsibility should not just be seen in terms of fiscal balance but also measures of broader wellbeing,” said professor Jasper Kenter, professorial research fellow at Aberystwyth Business School. “Lifting the two-child benefit cap is important in this regard.”

GMB workers’ union General Secretary Gary Smith welcomed Reeves’s decision to tax wealth and to increase welfare spending, calling this budget the “final nail in the coffin for the Conservatives’ failed austerity project”.

“Key public services, essential national infrastructure, and communities across the UK suffered deep wounds because the Tories made the wrong economic choices – we must never go back to those dark days,” a statement from Smith read.

“The challenge for Labour is to grip the task of rebuilding our economy and country, lock in essential investment to create growth, and start bringing a bit of hope to people,” the statement added.

3. UK’s hated ‘rape clause’ will be scrapped

Reeves said she would scrap the so-called “rape clause”, which exempts women from the two-child benefit cap policy if they can prove their child was conceived non-consensually.

She described the exemption requirement as “vile, grotesque, dehumanising, cruel”.

“I’m proud to be Britain’s first female chancellor,” Reeves told parliament. “I take the responsibilities that come with that seriously. I will not tolerate the grotesque indignity to women of the rape clause any longer.”

4. Slower-than-expected economic growth forecast

In response to the budget, the OBR upgraded its forecast for economic growth for this year from 1 percent to 1.5 percent.

However, it downgraded economic growth for the following four years. GDP growth in 2026 is now expected to be 1.4 percent (down from 1.9 percent), while the OBR has downgraded its forecast for each of 2027, 2028 and 2029 to 1.5 percent (down from approximately 1.8 percent).

Much of the downgrade stems from lower expectations for productivity growth. Reeves insisted the sluggish outlook was the legacy of the previous Conservative government, however.

Reeves also announced a freeze on fuel duty and rail fares, as well as support with energy bills, causing the OBR to revise inflation down by 0.4 percentage points for next year, Guceri said. However, the OBR revised up its forecast for this year to 3.5 percent, “reflecting stronger real wage growth and persistent food price pressures”, she added.

5. The pound and financial markets responded positively

Sterling rose by 0.3 percent against the dollar to $1.3213 just in advance of the budget announcement, before settling back to roughly where it started by the end of it.

London’s blue-chip FTSE index and the FTSE 250 index rose by about 0.6 percent each in the wake of the budget.

“So far, markets showed little reaction to the Budget – something the Chancellor will view as a success,” Guceri said.

Pope Leo XIV spoke about his upcoming first foreign trip as pontiff, a day before he is set to depart to Turkiye and Lebanon “to visit the beloved peoples of those countries rich in history and spirituality”.

IF you’re looking for a winter getaway that really won’t break the bank, then look no further than this Bulgarian town.

The experts at hoppa analysed dozens of European locations to find the most budget-friendly depending on factors like cost of a hotel and possibly what matters most to Brits – the average price of a pint.

Coming in second place, but having the cheapest price of pints of all of them was Bansko in Bulgaria.

The town is two hours away from the capital of Sofia and is known for its ski resorts and a beautiful mountain landscape.

In the pretty Bulgarian destination, hoppa found the average cost of a pint to be just 90p.

Some of the highest rated bars include Pirin 75 which has been praised for its cocktails, and the Happy End Bar which one visitor described as a “cracking apres ski bar”.

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Other affordable aspects include a stay in a 3-star hotel which averages out at £57.

Sun Travel found a five-night stay between December 15-20 at the Hotel Tanne in Bansko works out at just £47.60 per person per night.

The four-star hotel is found at the foot of the Pirin Mountains and is perfect for skiers as it’s 300 metres from the gondola lift.

Rooms have mountain views and guests can relax at the on-site spa centre which has a hot mineral water pool, salt room, herb sauna, an outdoor Japanese bath and a pool with hydro beds and water cannons.

There’s also a gym, café, Viennese lounge and piano bar.

If skiing is the type of holiday you’re after, then Bansko is a great option as it came in third in the Post Office Travel Money Ski Report 2025.

It’s even become cheaper and moved from sixth to third place after a 2.8 per cent drop in costs.

In the study, the average cost of a six-day ski pass and ski/boot hire for one person plus ski school (five-six half days), a range of drinks and lunch on the slopes cost £572.14 in Bansko.

Whereas in the likes of Cervinia, La Thuile and Sestriere in Italy all costs came in at over £700.

The most expensive was in Zermatt in Switzerland which came in at £1,345.76pp.

Away from the slopes, other popular activities in Bansko include trekking up Vihren, exploring Pirin Street, visiting the Neofit Rilski Museum and Velyanova House.

The one downside to Bansko is that it doesn’t have an airport.

However, the closest one is in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria where flights in December are as little as £16.

Certain places like Hotel Tanne will supply airport shuttles with journeys taking around two hours.

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For more European breaks on a budget, check out these five holidays that are cheaper than a UK train fare – with £2 prosecco and stunning beaches.

And find out our travel team’s favourite affordable Europe holidays including hidden islands, quiet beach towns and cheap cities.

Here are the best budget getaways in Europe…

Here’s the full list of the cheapest breaks in Europe from hoppa

1. Prague, Czech Republic
2. Bansko, Bulgaria
3. Sofia, Bulgaria
4. Budapest, Hungary
5. Tallinn, Estonia
6. Krakow, Poland
7. Tirana, Albania
8. Belgrade, Serbia
9. Bratislava, Slovakia
10. Vilnius, Lithuania

Who: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
What: Matchday 5, League Phase, UEFA Champions League
Where: Emirates Stadium, North London, England, UK
When: Wednesday at 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

English Premier League leaders Arsenal host the German Bundesliga’s top-ranked team Bayern Munich in a heavyweight UEFA Champions League (UCL) matchup of the two frontrunning European mega clubs on Wednesday.

The sides are also ranked No 1 and No 2 in the current UCL standings, with both clubs protecting perfect records in the League Phase of the competition.

Here is all to know ahead of their top of the table clash at Emirates Stadium:

Who have Arsenal and Bayern Munich beaten so far in the UCL League Phase?

After four matchdays in the League Phase, Bayern Munich sits top of the standings with four wins and a maximum 12 points against Chelsea (3-0), Pafos (5-1), Club Brugge (4-0) and most recently, a victory over reigning UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) away in France on November 4.

Arsenal is second on the table, equal with their German rival on points (12) and goal difference (+11). Their four wins have come against Athletic Bilbao (2-0), Olympiacos (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Slavia Praha (3-0).

The only other team remaining in the competition with a perfect 4-0 record is Inter Milan.

Will Odegaard play against Bayern Munich?

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is a strong possibility to play against Bayern Munich in what would be his first match since injuring his knee in early October.

The Norwegian midfielder participated in training on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be in the squad.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed Odegaard is under consideration for Wednesday’s fixture.

“He [Odegaard] was very close for the previous game. We are hopeful that tomorrow [Wednesday] he can be in the squad as well.”

Where did Arsenal and Bayern Munich finish in last season’s Champions League?

The Gunners reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2008–09, upsetting Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (5-1 on aggregate) before losing to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign came to an end at the quarterfinal stage with a closely contested defeat to Inter Milan (4-3 on aggregate).

Form guide: last five matches

Arsenal: W-W-W-D-W (Premier League, most recent result last)

Bayern Munich: W-W-W-D-W (Bundesliga, most recent result last)

Head-to-head: Arsenal-Bayern Munich

The sides last played on April 17, 2024, with Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header handing Bayern Munich a 1-0 quarterfinal victory (3-2 on aggregate) over Arsenal in the Champions League, sending the Germans through to the last-four of the 2023-24 competition.

In total, the sides have played against each other 14 times, with Bayern dominating the historical matchup:

• Bayern Munich – 8 wins
• Arsenal – 3 wins
• Draws – 3

Arsenal’s team news

Arsenal will line up against Bayern without a recognised striker, with Kai Havertz (knee) and Viktor Gyokeres (hamstring) still rehabbing injuries.

Gabriel Jesus will also be held back from the Champions League fixture, although the Brazilian forward is back in full training after undergoing knee surgery.

“He is quite close, to be fair, and earlier than we expected,” Arteta said.

“In the next few days, he is going to have another step to make with a game that we are going to organise for him. After that, he is just going to be knocking on the door.

Arsenal’s possible starting XI

Raya (goalkeeper); Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Merino, Trossard

Bayern Munich’s team news

Kimmich, the player who buried Arsenal the last time they played back in 2024, was a question mark at the beginning of the week after sustaining a knock picked up during the FIFA international break, but is believed to be ready to play on Wednesday.

Explosive winger Luis Diaz is suspended for the Arsenal clash. The Colombian might be replaced by rising 17-year-old star Lennart Karl, who became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer when he started against Brugge on October 22.

Injured duo Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies will be unavailable for selection.

Bayern manager Vincent Kompany will again lead the line with English international Harry Kane, who returns to his home city of London for this fixture.

Bayern Munich’s possible starting XI:

Neuer (goalkeeper); Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Karl, Gnabry; Kane

Berlin, Germany – Organisers of a pro-Palestine conference are suing authorities in Berlin who shut the event down last April soon after it began.

They hope a panel of judges at the Berlin Administrative Court will rule that police acted unlawfully in cracking down on the Palestine Congress, a forum of solidarity activists and human rights experts who were gathering to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Germany’s alleged complicity.

The hearing begins on Wednesday.

The defendant, the State of Berlin, argues the police were right to act preemptively as they predicted criminal statements would be made at the conference, specifically incitement to hatred, dissemination of propaganda or use of symbols of unconstitutional and “terrorist” organisations.

The police justified this prediction in part on the basis that in a news conference held prior to the event, organisers allegedly did not distance themselves from the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

On the day in question, April 12, 2024, officers in riot gear descended in their hundreds on the venue usually used for wedding receptions and pulled the plug – cutting off the power to ensure that none of the planned speeches could be heard or broadcast via livestream.

“I’m not aware of any other instance where a conference was shut down without any crime having been committed,” Michael Ploese, the lawyer representing the conference organisers, told Al Jazeera.

He said that German law only allowed restrictions on gatherings in private rooms where there was  high probability that a criminal act would be committed, and that the right to freedom of expression usually took precedence.

Among the groups organising the conference was Juedische Stimme (Jewish Voice), a sister group of the US collective of the same name that organises Jewish peace activists who are critical of Israeli actions regarding Palestine.

“I saw it as a success that we had even been able to begin it at all, but I wasn’t expecting it all to end an hour later,” said Wieland Hoban, the chair of Juedische Stimme, who gave opening remarks at the conference.

Adding to the sense of repression, the British Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah, one of the main speakers, said officials at the airport in Berlin prevented him from continuing his journey and told him to return to the United Kingdom.

Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek left-wing economist and former minister of finance, posted online the speech he had planned to make. Like Abu Sittah, Varoufakis faced an entry ban after the furore. The Berlin Administrative Court later ruled that the ban on Abu Sittah’s political activity was unlawful.

Throughout Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, German police and security services have repeatedly claimed protests in support of those being bombarded are anti-Semitic or are to be interpreted as revering Hamas. Thousands of individual protesters have been arrested, and many planned demonstrations have been banned outright.

Germany is Israel’s biggest diplomatic supporter in Europe and enforces strict limits on speech that criticises or attacks Israel, with some arguing this is necessary because of Germany’s genocide of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

It is a justification that Wieland Hoban rejects, saying the laws are even used against Jewish people who speak up for Palestine.

“Even if you lost family in the Holocaust, you can still be lectured by some German about what you can say,” said Hoban. “Simply mentioning the Holocaust can get you accused of relativierung” – a word that is used to suggest someone is playing down the Holocaust by drawing comparisons to other, lesser, crimes against humanity.

Last month, a group of United  Nations experts said they were alarmed by the “pattern of police violence and apparent suppression of Palestine solidarity activism by Germany”.

If this week’s case goes in favour of the conference organisers, it will be a blow to Germany’s controversial stance.

Videos of police using force to shut down nonviolent protests for Gaza on the streets of German cities have coursed around the world.

But what marked the state’s intervention in the Palestine Congress apart was that it represented the silencing of an event consisting of talks and debates in an indoor venue – a sphere of political expression that lawyers had previously thought was off-limits for police repression.

US President Donald Trump is sending senior negotiators to meet Vladimir Putin to push for a deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine. Special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week, with Jared Kushner also involved in the process.

Here are the key events from day 1,371 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Wednesday, November 26.

Fighting

• Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv killed seven people and injured 21, the state emergency service said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday. Emergency services also pulled at least 18 people from the rubble, officials said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and surrounding areas caused “extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure”.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Russian forces launched a “massive strike” targeting military installations in Ukraine, including “defence industry facilities, energy facilities and drone storage sites”, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
• A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region injured at least nine people, TASS reported, citing the regional task force.
• A Ukrainian attack left about 40,000 people without electricity in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, a Moscow-installed official in the region, said in a post on Telegram.
• Ukrainian battlefield analysis site DeepState said that Russian forces have advanced near the city of Siversk and the villages of Novoselivka, Zatyshya, Novoekonomichne and Myroliubivka in the east of the country.
• Russian forces shot down four long-range missiles and 419 drones launched by Ukrainian forces in a 24-hour period, TASS reported, citing Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Peace plan

• United States President Donald Trump said that “tremendous progress” had been made in negotiations on a peace plan, with “only a few remaining points of disagreement” remaining.
• In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump added that he had directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to meet at the same time with Ukrainian officials “in the hopes of finalising this Peace Plan”.
• Trump later on Tuesday backed away from his earlier deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to agree to the US-backed peace plan, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over”.
• President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, later said he had spoken to Driscoll on the phone and expected him in Kyiv this week, adding: “We are ready to continue working as quickly as possible to finalise the steps necessary to end the bloodshed.”
• In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he hopes to see “continued active cooperation with the American side and President Trump”, noting that “much depends on the United States because it’s America’s strength that Russia takes most seriously”.
• The latest update on the peace talks came as representatives from the US, Ukraine and European countries met in Geneva to continue talks on ending the war.
• The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement after the meeting, saying that “meaningful progress” had been made and that they had agreed for their militaries to begin “planning on security guarantees”. However, they also reiterated that any resolution to the war should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and its long-term security.
• They also confirmed that long-term financing will be made available for Ukraine, including the use of frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction.
• Ukraine’s Deputy Presidential Chief Ihor Zhovkva met with the European Commission’s Gert Jan Koopman to discuss progress on European Union membership. The proposed peace plan reportedly leaves the door open for Ukraine to join the EU, but not NATO.

Ukraine says it supports the “essence” of a United States plan to end its war with Russia, as US President Donald Trump said “progress” is being made on securing a deal and that he would dispatch his special envoy to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Tuesday saw a flurry of diplomatic activity after US and Ukrainian negotiators met two days earlier in Geneva to discuss Trump’s initial peace plan, which had been seen in Ukraine as a Russian wish list calling on Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow, limit its military and give up on joining NATO.

The plan has since been modified, with the emerging proposal reportedly accomodating concerns of Ukraine and its European allies.

Speaking at a video conference of the so-called coalition of the willing – a group of 30 countries supporting Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to “move forward” with the as-yet-unpublished “framework”, though he still needed to address “sensitive points”.

Earlier, a Ukrainian official had told the Reuters news agency that Kyiv supported “the framework’s essence”. Building on that sense of momentum, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, who led negotiations in Geneva, told US news website Axios that the security guarantees Ukraine was seeking looked “very solid”.

Speaking at the White House, Trump conceded that resolving the Ukraine war was “not easy”, but added, “We’re getting close to a deal.”

“I thought that would be an easier [deal], but I think we’re making progress,” he said.

Taking to his Truth Social platform later on, he said that he would send envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to iron out “a few” remaining differences over the deal.

He said he hoped to meet “soon” with Putin and Zelenskyy, “but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages”.

Russia, which had hammered Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with a deadly barrage of missiles the previous night, seemed unconvinced of progress.

Russia has not yet seen the modified plan, which remains unpublished, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that it should reflect the “spirit and letter” of an understanding reached between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their Alaska summit earlier this year.

“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation [for Russia],” Lavrov warned.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said there was a lot of “uncertainty” at the Kremlin, though there had allegedly been “behind-the-scenes interactions” between Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and US counterpart Steve Witkoff, “who reportedly worked on the initial stage” of Trump’s plan.

The Russian side, she said, was not happy about revisions to the peace plan.

“Unlike the initial American plan presented by Donald Trump, which consisted of 28 points, the so-called European version doesn’t include withdrawing the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbas, it allows Kyiv to join NATO, and it doesn’t limit the size of its armed forces,” Shapovalova said.

Still, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had earlier emerged upbeat from meeting with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, with his spokesman saying: “The talks are going well and we remain optimistic.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that there were “a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States”.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said it was “unclear when those talks will happen, who will be involved, and what they will look like”. But, she added, it was clear they would not be imminent, given the upcoming American Thanksgiving holiday on November 27.

Macron urges ‘pressure’ on Putin

As the US strained to bridge the gap between Ukraine and Russia, leaders in the coalition of the willing, who have pledged to underwrite and guarantee any ceasefire, moved fast on security guarantees and a reconstruction plan for Ukraine.

In the video meeting, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in attendance, the leaders decided to set up a task force between the US and coalition countries to “solidify” security guarantees.

Trump has not committed to providing back-up for a post-ceasefire “reassurance force” for Ukraine. The plan for the force involves European allies training Ukrainian troops and providing sea and air support, but would be reliant on US military muscle to work.

Speaking after the video call, Macron said discussions in Geneva had shown that there should be no limitations to the Ukrainian army, contrary to what had been outlined in the initial draft of the US plan.

He also said a decision on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, at the heart of a political and legal impasse in a Europe seeking funding for Ukraine, would be “finalised in the coming days” with the European Commission.

Western countries froze approximately $300bn in Russian assets in 2022, mostly in Belgium, but there has been no consensus on how to proceed. Some support seizing the assets, while others, like Belgium, remain cautious owing to legal concerns.

According to reports, Trump’s plan would split the assets between reconstruction and US-Russia investments.

Macron hit out at Russia, saying “continued pressure” should be put on Moscow to negotiate. “On the ground, the reality is quite the opposite of a willingness for peace,” he said, alluding to Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which left seven dead and disrupted power and heating systems.

In his daily evening address, Zelenskyy said: “What is especially cynical is that Russia carried out such strikes while talks are under way on how to end the war”.

FIFA Club World Cup champions Chelsea of the English Premier League beat Spain’s Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League.

Defensive lapses cost Barcelona and Manchester City dearly as both teams slumped to notable losses in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Chelsea comfortably beat 10-man Barcelona 3-0 to earn its third league-phase win and move closer to the top.

It was the second loss for Barcelona, which went down a man after defender Ronald Araujo was shown a second yellow card just before half-time.

The hosts scored with an own-goal by Jules Kounde in the 27th, a nice strike by Estevao in the 55th and a close-range shot by Liam Delap in the 73rd.

Leverkusen continue Man City woes

In Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League game as City coach, his team struggled to cope with Bayer Leverkusen’s quick transitions in a 2-0 defeat, while Barcelona had an own goal and a red card in its 3-0 loss at Chelsea.

Guardiola made 10 changes to his starting lineup following Saturday’s loss to Newcastle in the Premier League, with Erling Haaland among those on the bench, but it didn’t have the desired effect.

Alejandro Grimaldo fired home Leverkusen’s first goal with a low shot into the far corner in the 23rd, and Patrik Schick headed in a second in the 54th.

City could have moved atop the table with a win, but the night ended with the top three unchanged. Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter Milan all play on Wednesday.

Benfica and Napoli also record wins

Jose Mourinho picked up his first Champions League win with his new club Benfica as Samuel Dahl’s early goal set the stage for a 2-0 win over troubled Ajax. It was No 36 vs No 35 in the pre-game standings as the two winless teams met in the Netherlands.

Left back Dahl scored an unstoppable volley on the rebound after Ajax goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros had saved a header from Benfica’s experienced defender Nicolas Otamendi. Leandro Barreiro added a second goal in the 90th.

Ajax has lost all five of its Champions League games and won only one of its last 10 games in all competitions.

Canadian forward Promise David scored the only goal as Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise won 1-0 at injury-depleted Galatasaray. The Turkish club was without injured Champions League top scorer Victor Osimhen, and finished with 10 men after 18-year-old defender Arda Unyay picked up two yellow cards.

Scott McTominay scored the opening goal as Napoli won 2-0 against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag. Napoli fans commemorated the fifth anniversary of club legend Diego Maradona’s death.

Madrid, Spain – Real Madrid fans were divided over plans announced this week by club President Florentino Perez to allow private equity investors to buy up to a 10% stake in the club.

Some fans of “los merengues” said it would mean selling off part of the club, even though Real Madrid remains the wealthiest football club in the world.

They also noted that in recent years, Real Madrid had already changed membership rules, contravening promises to keep memberships within families and diluting its character.

Others supported the investor plan, saying it made good business sense and would not alter the trajectory of a hugely successful club that has won the Spanish domestic title 36 times and collected a record 15 UEFA Champions League trophies.

Perez insisted that allowing private equity investors – who often deploy large amounts of capital into companies not listed on public stock exchanges – to take a stake in the club was an “indispensable project” for the future of football.

Speaking to club members on Sunday, Perez said he will propose a statutory reform during an extraordinary assembly to allow for the possibility of outside investors to take a minority stake in the club, according to reporting by The Associated Press news agency.

“We will continue to be a members’ club, but we must create a subsidiary in which the 100,000 members of Real Madrid will always retain absolute control,” he said.

“On that basis, this subsidiary could simply incorporate a minority stake, for example, 5% – never more than 10% – from one or more investors committed to the very long term and willing to contribute their own resources.”

Perez said that would be “the clearest and most compelling way to value our club”.

The 78-year-old added that it would allow the club to pay dividends to club members, which it is presently forbidden from doing.

Perez insisted investors would be obliged to “respect our values”, contribute to the growth of the club and “help us protect our assets from external attacks”.

He said Real Madrid could have the right to buy its assets back from investors.

Perez reiterated several times that members would never lose control of the club.

He said his proposal would make sure that the current 98,272 members are recognised as the real owners of the club, with the number of members fixed for the future.

“With this protection in place, no one will be able to diminish our status as owners or alter the balance that guarantees the independence and stability of Real Madrid,” Perez said. “It will be us, the members of today, who will have the responsibility of safeguarding our culture of values and ensuring that our club continues to lead world football for many generations to come.”

The Real Madrid president further explained the reform would “shield the club from external and internal attacks on our assets, and to highlight their value so that we are all aware of the treasure that we, as members, have in our hands”.

Spanish club ownership versus English

Real Madrid, like Barcelona and a small number of other Spanish football clubs, is classed as a nonprofit organisation as it is owned by its club members, or socios. Real Madrid, founded in 1902, has only ever had this ownership model.

This ownership structure prevents large private investors from forging a majority controlling stake in the clubs; it also means they can claim tax concessions.

This is despite the fact that Real Madrid was named the world’s wealthiest football club for the fourth straight year in 2025, with an estimated market valuation of $6.75bn, according to the Forbes List. It was also the first club to earn $1bn in revenue.

The nonprofit status allows Spanish clubs to preserve some traditions of their clubs and for members to take an active role in the organisations.

Graham Hunter, a British football journalist who specialises in Spanish football, pointed to the example of Joan Laporta, the current president of the other Spanish mega club, Barcelona.

“Laporta went from being a member and a lawyer to being [club] president in seven years,” he said.

In stark contrast, football clubs in England or the United States – Manchester United or Inter Miami being just two examples – can be owned by individuals, corporations and in some instances, acquired on public stock exchanges, resulting in more commercialised ownership structures.

It means their club’s performances are often centred on more short-run processes like profit maximisation, whereas in Spain, the club is in the hands of fans – not large private investors – allowing scope for longer-term business strategies to be enacted.

If Perez’s plan goes ahead, this could open the door for this famous Spanish club to become more like its foreign rivals.

The high-profile, multi-billionaire boss of Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault, was named in Spanish media on Monday as a potential investor in the club, should the new minority ownership rules be adopted.

Fans reaction

Some Real Madrid fans did not share Perez’s enthusiasm to open up the club to large private investors.

David Garcia, a former season ticket holder at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, said Perez had previously told fans he would preserve the club for members.

“On Sunday, Florentino [Perez] misled the members again. He had told us that access to the club was restricted to the children or grandchildren of members to prevent a Russian or Chinese person from joining,” he told Al Jazeera.

Garcia added that in recent years, the rules of admission to membership had been changed several times, and Chinese and other foreigners had appeared on membership lists.

Alejandro Dominguez, a former vice president of the Real Madrid Veterans Pena, questioned why outside investors were needed to boost the coffers of such a profitable club.

“I don’t understand why we need more money when we are already the richest club in the world?” he told Al Jazeera.

However, Fernando Valdez, a lifelong Real Madrid fan who is part of La Gran Familia supporters club, said he believed the reform would not harm the character of the club.

“If we were selling off huge chunks of the club to raise money to compete with Paris Saint-Germain, then that would be worrying, as it would change the club forever. But it is not like that,” he said.

“We need to know more details about this, but on the face of it, it does not seem like anything to worry about. Five percent or 10% is nothing.”

David Alvarez, who writes about Real Madrid for El Pais newspaper, said Perez’s ownership plan was not designed to compete with other high-spending clubs like Manchester City.

“This will allow the club to pay dividends to socios (club members). At present, the law stops them from doing that. They would have to sell a much bigger stake to be able to compete with the other big clubs in Europe, so they are not trying to do that.”

Eldar Mamedov, a fellow at Quincy Institute, says given the history of Baltic states under Soviet rule, many fear more aggression from Russia if Ukraine is forced to give up land.

BRIGITTE Bardot has reportedly been rushed to hospital again in Toulon just weeks after her last stay.

The 91-year-old film icon is said to have arrived at Saint-Jean Hospital about ten days ago and remains under care.

According to Nice-Matin, she was previously transferred to the same clinic in October, when she reportedly underwent “surgery as part of treatment for a serious illness.”

Bardot returned to her home in La Madrague after nearly two weeks of hospitalisation at the time, fuelling intense speculation, including false reports of her death.

She pushed back then in a message on X, writing: “I’m fine.

“I don’t know which idiot started this ‘fake news’ about my disappearance tonight, but know that I’m fine and I have no intention of bowing out.”

Read more on Brigitte Bardot

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Screen icon Brigitte Bardot, 91, rushed to hospital ‘with serious illness’

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How Abbey Clancy channels Brigitte Bardot’s best looks from her Sixties heyday

German outlet Bild reports Bardot has been back in the Toulon facility for ten days, though the reason for this latest admission is unclear. 

In recent years, the star has spoken openly about health problems.

Shortly before her 90th birthday, she told La Parisienne: “I can hardly walk anymore, I’m dependent on crutches, and dancing is very difficult for me.”

Bardot was hospitalized in 2023 after a respiratory arrest.

Her October hospitalisation similarly set off death rumours, spread by an influencer in a now-deleted post.

Bardot herself dismissed the claim at the time, saying: “I don’t know who the idiot is who spread this ‘fake news’ about my passing, but you should know that I am fine and I have no intention of saying goodbye.”

French actress Brigitte Bardot first appeared on screen in 1952 with The Girl in the Bikini, a role that launched her to major stardom.

She stepped away from filmmaking in 1973 to focus on her animal-rights foundation. 

Throughout her career, she cultivated a provocative public image, from her beachside bikini moment at Cannes in 1953 to posing nude for Playboy on her 40th birthday.

Married four times, Bardot first tied the knot to actor Roger Vadim (1952–57), then to Jacques Charrier (1959–62), followed by Gunter Sachs (1967–69).

 She has been married to Bernard d’Ormale since 1992.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

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About 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide last year – 60 percent of them at the hands of partners or relatives.

More than 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members around the world in 2024, the equivalent of one every 10 minutes or 137 per day, according to a new report.

Released to mark the 2025 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Tuesday, the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women warned that femicide continues to claim tens of thousands of lives each year with “no sign of real progress”.

Overall, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide last year – 60 percent of those deaths were at the hands of partners or relatives.

By way of comparison, just 11 percent of male homicide victims were killed by family members or intimate partners.

The report warns that many killings are preventable, but that gaps in protection, police responses and social support systems leave women and girls at heightened risk of fatal violence.

At the same time, it is thought that the figures are likely an underestimate, due to poor data collection in many countries, survivors’ fear of reporting violence, and outdated legal definitions that make cases difficult to identify.

Experts say economic instability, conflict, forced displacement and limited access to safe housing can worsen the risks faced by women trapped in abusive situations.

“The home remains a dangerous and sometimes lethal place for too many women and girls around the world,” said John Brandolino, acting executive director of UNODC.

He added that the findings underline the need for stronger prevention efforts and criminal justice responses.

Sarah Hendriks, director of UN Women’s policy division, said femicides often sit on a “continuum of violence” that can start with controlling behaviour, harassment and online abuse.

“Digital violence often doesn’t stay online,” she said. “It can escalate offline and, in the worst cases, contribute to lethal harm.”

According to the report, the highest regional rate of femicide by intimate partners or family members was recorded in Africa, followed by the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe.

UN Women says coordinated efforts involving schools, workplaces, public services and local communities are needed to spot early signs of violence.

The campaigners also called on governments to increase funding for shelters, legal aid and specialist support services.

The findings were released as the UN’s annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign started.

Beijing carries out emergency launch to relieve space station crew left without working return capsule.

China has rushed to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to relieve three astronauts left on board the Tiangong space station without a passage to Earth.

State broadcaster CCTV showed a Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft lifting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre shortly after noon local time (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

The Shenzhou-22 mission was originally planned to be crewed and take off in 2026.

However, the launch was brought forward after debris damaged the Shenzhou-20, which is currently attached to the Tiangong station, making it unsafe for carrying humans to Earth.

That disrupted the last crew change on the permanently crewed Chinese space station in November.

Unable to fly home in Shenzhou-20, the three astronauts who had arrived in April for their six-month stay were forced to use Shenzhou-21 to return to Earth.

That left the three astronauts currently on board Tiangong without a flightworthy vessel that could return them home in the event of an emergency.

The uncrewed Shenzhou-22 will fill that gap.

The crew at the space station – Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang – are “working normally”, Chinese officials emphasised.

The incident marks a rare setback for China’s rapidly growing space programme, which plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2030.

Beijing has poured billions into the sector in recent decades as it seeks to match the capabilities of the United States, Russia and Europe.

China became the third country to send humans into orbit after the US and the former Soviet Union in 2022.

Russian forces have launched a drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, killing at least one person, as officials from Ukraine and the United States sought to rework a plan proposed by Washington to end the war.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the overnight attack on Kyiv damaged residential buildings in the Pecherskyi and Dniprovskyi districts.

“In Kyiv, as a result of a night attack, two people were killed, six were injured, and 18 people were rescued, including three children,” the service said.

Another attack on Brovarsky, Bila Tserkva and Vyshgorod districts, hours later, wounded a 14-year-old child, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The attack followed talks between US and Ukrainian representatives in Switzerland’s Geneva to thrash out Washington’s so-called 28-point plan, which Kyiv and its European allies saw as a Kremlin wish list.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly address late on Monday, said the talks in Geneva mean the “list of the necessary steps to end the war can become doable”.

But he said there remained “sensitive issues” that he will discuss with US President Donald Trump

“After Geneva, there are fewer points – no longer 28 – and many of the right elements have been taken into account in this framework. There is still work for all of us to do together – it is very challenging – to finalise the document, and we must do everything with dignity,” he said.

“Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace – this is our principle, a shared principle, and millions of Ukrainians are counting on, and deserve, a dignified peace,” he added.

No Trump-Zelenskyy meeting scheduled

Trump, too, hinted at new progress.

“Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine??? Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” the US president wrote earlier on Monday on his Truth Social platform.

At the White House, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there were a couple of points of disagreement remaining, but “we’re confident that we’ll be able to work through those.”

She said Trump wanted a deal as quickly as possible, but there was no meeting currently scheduled between the US president and Zelenskyy.

Trump, who returned to office this year pledging to end the war quickly, has reoriented US policy from staunch support for Kyiv towards accepting some of Russia’s justifications for its 2022 invasion.

US policy towards the war has been inconsistent. Trump’s hastily arranged Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August led to worries that Washington was prepared to accept many Russian demands, but ultimately resulted in more US pressure on Russia.

The latest, 28-point peace proposal again caught many in the US government, Kyiv and Europe off-guard and prompted new concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted towards Moscow.

The plan would require Kyiv to cede more territory, accept curbs on its military and bar it from ever joining NATO, conditions Kyiv has long rejected as tantamount to surrender.

It would also do nothing to allay broader European fears of further Russian aggression.

Ukraine’s European allies drew up a counter-proposal which, according to the Reuters news agency, would halt fighting at the present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.

A new version of a draft worked on in Geneva has not been published.

Kremlin slams EU proposal

An adviser to Zelenskyy who attended the talks in Geneva told The Associated Press news agency they managed to discuss almost all the plan’s points, and one unresolved issue is that of territory, which can only be decided at the head-of-state level.

Oleksandr Bevz also said the US showed “great openness and understanding” that security guarantees are the cornerstone of any agreement for Ukraine.

He said the US would continue working on the plan, and then the leaders of Ukraine and the US would meet. After that, the plan would be presented to Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to reporters, welcomed the “interim result” of the Geneva talks, saying the US proposal “has now been modified in significant parts”, without details.

Merz added that Moscow must now become engaged in the process.

“The next step must be that Russia must come to the table,” he said in Angola, where he was attending a summit between African and European Union countries. “This is a laborious process. It will move forward at most in smaller steps this week. I do not expect there to be a breakthrough this week.”

The Kremlin said it had yet to see the revised peace plan.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added there was no plan for US and Russian delegations to meet this week, but the Russian side remained “open for such contacts”.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the plan the Kremlin had received before the Geneva talks had many provisions that “seem quite acceptable” to Moscow. But he described European proposals “floating around” as “completely unconstructive”.

Countries supporting Kyiv – part of the “coalition of the willing” – are meanwhile due to hold a video call on Tuesday following the Geneva talks.

Turkiye also said it hopes to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said he spoke to Putin by telephone and told him Ankara will contribute to any diplomatic effort to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine.

Erdogan “stated that Turkiye will continue its efforts for the termination of the Russia-Ukraine war with a fair and lasting peace”, his office said.

Here are the key events from day 1,370 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday, November 25.

Trump’s plan

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a proposed peace plan now under discussion with the United States and Europe has incorporated “correct” points, but sensitive issues still need to be discussed with US President Donald Trump.
• Zelenskyy added that if negotiations proceeded on resolving the war, “there must be no missiles, no massive strikes on Ukraine and our people”.
• Trump also hinted at new progress in the talks, which took place in Geneva. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine??? Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” he wrote on Truth Social.
• A senior official told the AFP news agency that the US pressed Ukraine to accept the deal in Geneva, despite Kyiv’s protests that the plan conceded too much to Moscow. The official said Washington did not directly threaten to cut off aid if Kyiv rejected its deal, but that Ukraine understood this was a distinct possibility.
• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that there is no meeting scheduled between Trump and Zelenskyy this week amid reports of a possible trip by the Ukrainian leader to the US capital.
• Leavitt told US broadcaster Fox News that “a couple of points of disagreement” remain between the US and Ukraine on a potential deal to end Russia’s invasion.
• Leavitt also pushed back against criticism, including from within Trump’s Republican Party, that the president is favouring Russia in efforts to end the war in Ukraine, describing those statements as “complete and total fallacy”. She said the US president was “hopeful and optimistic” that a plan could be worked out.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would wait to see how talks between the US and Ukraine on a potential peace plan pan out, and would not be commenting on media reports about such a serious and complex issue.
• But Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that a European counter-proposal to a US 28-point peace plan for Ukraine was “not constructive” and that it simply did not work for Moscow.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was more work to do to establish a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, but added that progress was being made.
• Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, too, welcomed progress made at the meetings in Geneva, but added that major issues remain to be resolved.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said no deal regarding Ukraine can be allowed to undermine the security of Poland and Europe; on the contrary, it should strengthen it.
• German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that the talks in Geneva on amending Trump’s 28-point plan to end the war with Russia had produced a “decisive success” for Europeans. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine, its borders can’t be changed by force and there can’t be limitations on Ukraine’s military that would invite further Russian aggression.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a phone call that Ankara will contribute to any diplomatic effort to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine and to reach a “just and lasting” peace, his office said.

Fighting

• Powerful explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday as the Ukrainian air force issued a warning about missile attacks across the country.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the country’s air defences shot down 10 drones en route to Moscow, a day after a Ukrainian strike on a power plant cut off heating in a town near the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were clearing up sites where debris from drones had fallen.
• The Defence Ministry added that a total of 50 Ukrainian drones were downed across the Moscow, Bryansk, Kaluga and Kursk regions, as well as Crimea and over the waters of the Black Sea.

Politics

• Polish prosecutors have arrested and charged a third Ukrainian man suspected of collaborating with Russia to sabotage a rail track, authorities said. Two other Ukrainians, who fled to Belarus, had already been charged in absentia over the blast on the Warsaw-Lublin line connecting Warsaw to the Ukrainian border.

• Two young street musicians who were jailed for more than a month in Russia for singing anti-Kremlin songs have left the country after being released from detention, according to Russian media reports. Vocalist Diana Loginova, 18, and guitarist Alexander Orlov, 22, were detained on October 15 in central St Petersburg after an impromptu street performance deemed critical of Putin and the government.

Energy

• Oil prices climbed about 1 percent on mounting doubts about whether Russia will get a peace deal with Ukraine that will boost Moscow’s oil exports. Brent futures rose 81 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $63.37 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 78 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $58.84.

• Four opposition Democratic US senators, including Elizabeth Warren, said that the lax enforcement by the Trump administration of sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 export terminal has allowed China to buy discounted liquefied natural gas and has helped Moscow fund the war in Ukraine.

• A heating and power plant in Russia’s Moscow region has resumed operations after shutting down due to a fire caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.

• Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse resumed oil product exports last week after a two-week suspension following Ukrainian drone attacks, while the local oil refinery has restarted processing crude, the Reuters news agency reported, citing industry sources and data.

• Russian state oil and gas revenue may fall in November by about 35 percent from the corresponding month in 2024 to 520 billion roubles ($6.59bn) due to cheaper oil and a stronger local currency, according to calculations and analysis by Reuters.

BLACK Friday has arrived and the cruise deals are making waves.

From the Caribbean to the Norwegian Fjords, cruise lines are slashing prices, throwing in free drinks packages and cutting hundreds of pounds off cabin costs.

But don’t delay – most offers end in early December.

Jacob Lewis looks at the top deals.

PRINCESS CRUISES

THE cruise line is turning Black Friday ‘Blue’ with up to £1,000 off per stateroom across more than 1,500 voyages.

The sale runs until December 2, for cruises in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

AUSSIE RULES

Watch the Australian Open and take in a cruise of highlights of South Pacific

CRUISE SMART

Luxury cruise on ‘world’s smartest ship’ and top NFL game for just £1,929

Sail the Mediterranean on Enchanted Princess from Civitavecchia (Rome) on October 6, 2026.

This 14-night trip calls at Corfu, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Naples, Salerno, Santorini, Kusadasi and Katakolon.

Inside stateroom fares start from £1,318pp with £100pp savings, or £800 total savings if booking a suite for four.

Visit princess.com/en-uk or call 0344 338 8663.

HOLLAND AMERICA

SOME great savings can be had on Dover departures, valid on all cruises booked departing November 30 to September 30, 2027.

They include $400 onboard credit per person on 21-day cruises, $300 for 10-20 day cruises and $200 for eight days.

Examples include the 13-night Canary Island Enchantment with Portugal itinerary sailing from Dover on April 17, 2026 and including calls in Rotterdam, Agadir, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lisbon.

Prices start from £2,779pp for the ‘Have It All’ package including drinks, shore excursion credit, speciality dining, wifi and tips plus $300pp ship credit.

See HollandAmerica.com or call 0344 338 860.

P&O CRUISES

P&O is having its biggest Black Friday sale, with up to £300 off per cabin on more than 500 cruises.

The offer runs until December 2 on sailings from March 2026 to October 2027 in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Norwegian Fjords.

There’s a stunning 14-night Caribbean Islands cruise on Britannia, leaving Bridgetown, Barbados on March 6, 2026.

You’ll visit Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, St Vincent, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Saint Maarten.

Prices from £1,779pp based on two sharing an inside cabin. Call 0345 356 9999 or visit pocruises.com.

MSC CRUISES

MSC has up to 50 per cent off more than 5,900 cruises from Winter 2025 through Summer 2027.

Destinations include the Caribbean, Emirates, Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

Voyagers Club members get an extra five per cent off.

Grab a seven-night Northern Europe cruise on MSC Poesia departing Southampton on January 3, visiting Hamburg, Rotterdam and Le Havre.

It’s from only £379pp — perfect for a post-Christmas getaway. For more deals visit msccruises.co.uk.

AMBASSADOR CRUISE LINE

AMBASSADOR’S campaign brings back free drinks on selected UK no-fly departures from April 2026 to March 2028.

Running until December 1, the offer includes house-brand spirits, wines and soft drinks on sailings from London Tilbury, Portsmouth, Belfast, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Its ten-night France and Spain Explorer round-trip sailing from Portsmouth on Ambition, departs April 12, 2026.

Visit Bordeaux (with an overnight), La Coruna, Gijon and Santander.

Fares start from just £636pp with drinks included.

Book at ambassadorcruiseline.com or call 0808 102 8701.

VIRGIN VOYAGES

GET 80 per cent off the second sailor on Mediterranean cruises aboard Resilient Lady, plus free drinks worth up to $400.

The deal also comes with Virgin’s ‘Always Included’ package, covering soft drinks, juices, teas, coffees and essential drinks.

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Sail the Med in style on a seven-night cruise from Barcelona, calling at Tuscany and Cinque Terre (La Spezia), Rome (Civitavecchia), Ajaccio in Corsica, Cannes and Marseille before returning to Barcelona.

Departures on September 26 and October 17, 2027 from £1,045pp. Book at virginvoyages.com.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s superb first-half goal seals 1-0 win for the visitors, who had 10 players for most of the game.

Everton enjoyed their first Premier League win at Manchester United for 12 years despite playing virtually the entire game with 10 men after midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off for slapping his own teammate Michael Keane.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s superb first-half goal on Monday sealed a 1-0 win for the visitors, who shrugged off the 13th-minute incident that had a furious Gueye dismissed after he and Keane squared up.

United came into the match at Old Trafford on the back of a five-game unbeaten run and could have moved up to fifth with a win.

They dominated possession, especially in the second half, but Everton defended superbly to repel the hosts who looked blunt in attack.

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made several fine saves to preserve his side’s lead, the pick of them to claw away a Joshua Zirkzee header with 10 minutes remaining.

A second away win of the season lifted Everton above city rivals and champions Liverpool into 11th place, level on 18 points with United, who are above them on goal difference.

Everton suffered a big blow in just the 10th minute when they lost captain Seamus Coleman to injury.

But worse was to follow three minutes later with the scarcely believable bust-up between Gueye and Keane

The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.”

Gueye is the first Premier League player to be sent off for fighting with a teammate since 2008.

The home crowd anticipated waves of attack but United failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage, proving toothless against David Moyes’ battling team.

Instead it was 10-man Everton who found the net, taking the lead courtesy of a wonderful strike by Dewsbury-Hall in the 29th minute.

Dewsbury-Hall received the ball and surged towards goal, beating Bruno Fernandes and Leny Yoro before bending the ball into the top corner.

United huffed and puffed for the rest of the half, with Pickford clawing away a Fernandes shot from distance as the half-time approached.

Ruben Amorim, marking the first anniversary of his maiden game in charge of United, brought on Mason Mount for Noussair Mazraoui at half-time but his team created little, despite dominating possession.

Amorim threw on Kobbie Mainoo and Diogo Dalot for Casemiro and Yoro in the 58th minute but still United looked blunt.

Pickford kept out a powerful Zirkzee header with just over 10 minutes of normal time to go and Everton hung on for a famous win.

Speaking after the game, Dewsbury-Hall said it was a “rollercoaster” of a game.

“I’m so genuinely happy for the lads and how hard they worked. A fantastic performance of gritting away, getting a goal and keeping that spirit,” he said. “So glad we got the three points.”

He said Gueye apologised to the team at full-time for the incident with Keane.

“We move on from it. The reaction from us was unbelievable. Top tier,” Dewsbury-Hall said.

“We could have crumbled, but if anything, it made us grow.”

United defender Matthijs de Ligt said the result and performance was a “step back” for his side after a decent run.

“I think the game says enough; against 10 men for 70 minutes and not creating that many chances,” the Dutch defender told Sky Sports. “Today was not a good night for us.

“We lacked the patience to play through the lines, and we crossed a lot of balls. We need to do a lot more.

“In all aspects today, it felt like a step back. Not just the result but the intensity and the focus.”

France prepares to host Iran’s foreign minister in Paris for high-stakes talks on nuclear and regional tensions.

France will host Iran’s foreign minister in Paris this week for talks that are set to include stalled nuclear negotiations.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed on Monday that his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi will arrive on Wednesday for discussions that Paris hopes will nudge Iran back into full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as part of a defunct nuclear deal.

“This will be an opportunity for us to call on Iran to comply with its obligations towards the IAEA and for a swift resumption of cooperation with the agency,” Barrot said ahead of the meeting.

French officials also plan to raise the status of two French nationals who were released from detention in Iran but remain unable to leave the country. Both are currently staying inside the French embassy in Tehran, and Paris has repeatedly pressed for their return.

The Paris meeting comes as Tehran has signalled it sees little urgency in resuming indirect talks with the United States over the future of its nuclear programme.

Earlier this month, Iran declared it was “not in a hurry” to restart negotiations, despite mounting pressure following the return of United Nations sanctions and growing economic strain.

Araghchi reiterated that position in an interview with Al Jazeera, saying Tehran remained open to dialogue if Washington approaches talks “from an equal position based on mutual interest”.

He dismissed reported US conditions – including demands for direct talks, zero enrichment, restrictions on missile capabilities, and curbs on support for regional allies – as “illogical and unfair”.

“It appears they are not in a hurry,” he said. “We are not in a hurry, either.”

Tehran’s top diplomat also argued that regional politics are shifting in Iran’s favour.

Referring to the Israeli prime minister, he said: “I sometimes tell my friends that Mr [Benjamin] Netanyahu is a war criminal who has committed every atrocity, but did something positive in proving to the entire region that Israel is the main enemy, not Iran, and not any other country.”

A planned sixth round of indirect US–Iran nuclear talks collapsed in June after Israel attacked Iranian nuclear sites, triggering a 12-day war that killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and caused billions of dollars in damage.

The two sides reached a ceasefire after the US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

US President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal between the US, Iran, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, China and the European Union that saw Tehran curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran has since continued to violate provisions of the agreement, arguing that the US withdrawal has nullified the deal. Iranian officials maintain that the country is only developing its nuclear programme for civilian purposes.

UN sanctions against Iran were reimposed in September as part of the 2015 agreement’s “snapback” mechanism.