Zelensky says Putin is ‘scared’ to meet him face-to-face in Turkey
Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of being “scared” to meet him for talks in Turkey this week to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president has warned that he will only attend the high-stakes talks if Mr Putin also attends, because only a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president can deliver peace.
This is due to the fact that “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on Mr Putin, said Mr Zelensky, adding: “If he takes the step to say he is ready for a ceasefire then it opens the way to discussing all the elements to end the war.”
“I’m not even mentioning that he is scared of direct talks with me,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that he would first meet Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks and would head to Istanbul if Mr Putin arrived there.
The fresh ultimatum comes after US president Donald Trump suggested he could join Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin in Turkey this week if the two leaders meet.
But the Kremlin has declined to comment on whether Mr Putin will travel to Turkey, saying only that “the Russian side continues to prepare for the negotiations”.
Trump gets the Royal treatment in Riyadh, as he seeks it back home
Walking through the lavish palaces of Riyadh, surrounded by royalty and riches that dwarf his own, and brushing shoulders with a leader who does not have to concern himself with courts and judges, Donald Trump appeared to be living his dream.
There were many reasons for Trump to visit Saudi Arabia this week, but for a man who has declared his desire to be both a dictator and a monarch, the chance to experience both up close stood above them all.
The royal treatment began before his plane had even touched the ground, when Saudi F-15 fighter jets appeared alongside the president’s plane and escorted it as it came into land at King Khalid International Airport. He stepped off the jet to be greeted by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and a line of Saudi dignitaries, walked along an endless lavender carpet watched over by an honor guard with golden swords, onto a motorcade that was escorted by riders on Arabian horses, emerging from his car at the Royal Court to the sound of horns.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said of the prince as they sat on golden chairs at the royal palace.
The president was clearly impressed.
“What a great place, what a great place,” he said later at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in front of a giant screen showing U.S. and Saudi flags, where he continued to praise the Crown Prince.
“He’s an incredible man. Known him a long time now. There’s nobody like him,” Trump said of the man who, just a few years ago, U.S. intelligence agencies blamed for the killing of an American journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
“We have great partners in the world, but we have none stronger and nobody like the gentleman that’s right before me…I like him a lot. I like him too much. That’s why we give so much,” he said.
Trump’s embrace of Saudi Arabia is all the more significant coming after he all but abandoned or sparked disputes with many of America’s traditional democratic allies in Europe.
The message couldn’t be clearer: This administration is not here to lecture about human rights or democracy – it is here to make money.
Trump arrived on stage to his usual entry music — Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” — which seemed somewhat out of place. He left to his usual exit music, which seemed extremely out of place — The Village People’s “YMCA.”
In the evening, Trump was treated to a lavish state dinner in the historic city of Diriyah, just above Riyadh.
Trump has tried to build his own version of a royal dynasty back home for years. He bought a faux palace, covered the White House in gold trim, and even made a solid effort at getting rid of democracy altogether.
Just before leaving for the Middle East on a tour of oil-rich monarchies, the president announced that he would accept a gift of a plane from Qatar — a $400 million “palace in the sky” that would eventually replace Air Force One.
That was too brazen even for his supporters who stayed with him through the insurrection and the rape trials. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer who wields a Rasputin-like influence over the president, called the acceptance of the gift a “stain” on the administration. Even Josh Hawley of Missouri, Trump’s ride-or-die in the Senate, wasn’t keen on the idea.
Like the Saudi Royal Family, Trump’s own family’s financial interests were seemingly intertwined with the state’s on this visit. The Trumps have significant pending deals with Saudi companies in real estate and cryptocurrency.
Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, recently announced a high-rise Trump hotel in Saudi and a sprawling Trump golf course in Qatar.
The president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had previously secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, which is overseen by the crown prince himself.
While Trump’s family did not come with him on this tour, he did bring with him a full royal court of friendly business leaders and CEOs who hope to drum up their own investments and deals along the way.
At the top of the list was Elon Musk, a wannabe prince of darkness, who was joined by oil executives, bankers, private military contractors, the chiefs of Coca-Cola and Uber, and American defense contractors from Halliburton, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.
Musk used the opportunity to pitch two of his ideas that have largely failed to make a dent in the U.S. — robotaxis and his tunneling company.
Trump heads to Qatar next to take a look at his palace in the sky. He will then return home with memories of parades, honor guards, lavish ceremonies and likely a greater hunger for the royal life.
That could mean more gold trim at the White House, or fewer judges to get in his way.
Menendez brothers’ murder sentences reduced. Parole now possible
A California judge on Tuesday resentenced the Menendez brothers, giving them a shot at freedom after the siblings served three decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents.
The sentences of Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, were reduced from life without parole to 50 years to life, which will make them eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
The panel includes California Governor Gavin Newsom. The brothers had already been scheduled to appear before the parole board as part of clemency hearing June 13 scheduled earlier by Newsom.
The ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic was issued after an emotional day-long hearing as the brothers’ loved ones pleaded with the court, claiming the two were “different men” than who they were at the time of the killings, and that they had been “universally forgiven by the family.”
Jesic said he did not believe the brothers posed an “unreasonable risk” to the public if released.
“I’m not saying they should be released; it’s not for me to decide,” he said, the Associated Press reported. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
The brothers, who appeared via video from prison, gave statements to the court following the ruling, NBC News reported.
“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said. “The impact of my violent actions on my family … is unfathomable.”
He added: “I committed an atrocious act against two people who had the right to live, my mom and dad,” he said. “Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who I was.”
He told the court that if released, he plans to work with the incarcerated community.
Erik Menendez said he he took “full responsibility” for the killings and expressed his “profound sorrow” at his actions.
“I fired all five rounds at my parents and went back to reload,” he said. “I lied to police. I lied to my family. I’m truly sorry.”
The brothers were all “tears and smiles” following the ruling, their attorneys said.
Erik and Lyle have spent 30 years behind bars after they were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings.
Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Ana Maria Baralt, a cousin of Erik and Lyle, testified that the brothers have repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,” Baralt said. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
They are “very different men,” she explained through tears, adding that “their transformation is remarkable.”
The case has captured the public’s attention for decades — and the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and documentary The Menendez Brothers recently brought new attention to the case.
Last year, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers by asking a judge to reduce their sentences.
But the newly elected district attorney Nathan Hochman had opposed the brothers’ resentencing, saying he did not believe they had taken responsibility for the murders.
Israeli strike on hospital kills 28 in Gaza, civil defence says
Israel’s airstrike on a hospital in Gaza killed at least 28 people as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “no way” Israel would halt its military action.
The Israeli warplanes on Tuesday struck what it said was a Hamas “command and control centre” located beneath the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The military reportedly dropped six bombs simultaneously on the hospital, which struck both its inner courtyard and the surrounding area, creating deep craters inside the compound.
Dr Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon working with the Ideals international aid charity, told BBC he was in the hospital when it was struck by Israeli warplanes.
He said “six enormous explosions one after the other” took place after the military directly hit the hospital with “no warning whatsoever”.
“There was complete panic,” he added. The health ministry in the Hamas-run strip later on Tuesday said nine missiles struck the hospital.
The dead were taken to Nasser hospital, which Israel had struck earlier in the day, saying militants were operating inside it, without identifying them. Two people, including well-known Palestinian journalist Hassan Aslih, were killed in that strike.
Israel has accused Hassan Aslih, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media platforms, of taking part in the 7 October 2023 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the retaliatory attack on Gaza.
Ahmed Siyyam, a Gaza civil emergency service member, told Reuters the attack hit the third floor of the Nasser Hospital building, where dozens of patients and the injured were being treated. Two patients, including Aslih, were killed and several others were wounded, the health ministry said.
The Israeli military said it “eliminated significant Hamas terrorists” in Nasser Hospital, among them Aslih, who it said had “operated under the guise of a journalist”.
According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 160 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Officials in Gaza, where Hamas took control in 2007, put the number at 215, and accuse Israel of deliberately targeting journalists. Israel denies this and says it tries to avoid harm to civilians.
Israel reportedly struck the hospitals to target Mohammed Sinwar – the younger brother of the former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Mohammed Sinwar allegedly took over the command of the group’s military wing after the death of Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an Israeli strike.
The hospitals were struck as the World Health Organisation said the high malnutrition rates in Gaza could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation”.
Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed the devastating military campaign against Hamas after an initial ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Rik Peeperkorn, the representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and about 20 per cent of children screened at a north Gaza hospital suffered from acute malnutrition.
“What we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition,” Mr Peeperkorn said. “I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.”
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development.
The UN’s top humanitarian official, Tom Fletcher, also condemned Israel for “deliberately and unashamedly” imposing inhumane conditions on Palestinians during its almost two-year-long war.
Mr Fletcher went as far as saying the UN Security Council must “act now” to “prevent genocide”. Israel denied that it is taking place.
“I ask you to reflect – for a moment – on what action we will tell future generations we each took to stop the 21st century atrocity to which we bear daily witness in Gaza,” said Mr Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took the UN post in November. “It is a question we will hear, sometimes incredulous, sometimes furious – but always there – for the rest of our lives.”
The UN World Food Programme’s director told the Associated Press that a quarter of Gaza’s population is at risk of famine – despite all the food needed to feed the territory’s population sitting in warehouses in Israel, Egypt and Jordan – and most of it is not even 25 miles away, he said.
Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in “catastrophic” levels of hunger, and a million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.
Despite the backlash, Mr Netanyahu said Israeli forces were just days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission”.
“It means destroying Hamas.”
Any ceasefire deal reached would be temporary, the prime minister said. If Hamas were to say they would release more hostages, “we’ll take them, and then we’ll go in. But there will be no way we will stop the war,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We can make a ceasefire for a certain period of time, but we’re going to the end.”
Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with as many as 23 of them said to be alive, although authorities have expressed concern about the condition of three of them.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory war has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip.
Celebration villa breaks: find your perfect luxury getaway
If you’re planning a milestone birthday, a big anniversary, or a long-awaited reunion, a villa holiday is hard to beat. Imagine clinking glasses on a rooftop terrace at sunset or gathering loved ones around a candlelit garden table for a leisurely dinner under the night sky.
These special occasions deserve much more than booking out a busy hotel, and nothing beats having your own sun-drenched sanctuary where you have the space and privacy to celebrate in style. Whether you’re heading to Marrakech in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, to the rolling hills of Tuscany, or a tropical oasis further afield, Villas are the perfect home-away-from-home for celebrating something, or someone, special.
CV Villas’ luxurious ABOVE collection offers the perfect backdrop for unforgettable moments – think breathtaking settings, total privacy, and the kind of comfort and space that makes everyone feel at home. All come with stunning interiors, sweeping views as far as the eye can see, and enviable locations in some of the world’s most sought-after spots. Each villa is hand-picked by dedicated CV Villa specialists, who are experts in helping people craft their dream getaway. Many come with their own infinity pools, breathtaking views and large alfresco dining areas, perfect for spending quality time together during life’s most important moments. Villas aren’t just places to stay, they’re a big part of the celebration itself.
From the moment you book your stay to your arrival back home, the CV Villas Concierge team is there to make everything as seamless and stress-free as possible. They are dedicated to looking after you and your party before and throughout your holiday so that you can focus on the things that really matter, like spending quality time together and celebrating without having to worry about the minor details. The team tailors each trip to exactly what you’re after, whether you’re looking to book a private boat day or need to organise a surprise celebration dinner, nothing is too much trouble. Many of the five-star villas even come with their own butlers and chefs so that you can be waited on hand and foot during your special getaway.
ABOVE villas are the epitome of luxury and come with designer interiors, infinity pools boasting panoramic ocean views, and terraces made for golden hour cocktails – properties with serious star quality. What’s more, they’re located all around the world, from the sun-soaked shores of Spain and Greece to the palm-fringed beaches of far-flung Sri Lanka and beyond.
Sampling delicious local food is a big part of a holiday, but catering for a large group can often mean juggling different requests and palates. Luckily for you, many of these luxury villas come with their very own in-villa chefs – perfect for when you’d rather toast the moment with a glass of fizz than spend time flapping around in the kitchen. Instead, let your chef whip up multi-course meals morning till night, using the freshest local produce, all based on your personal tastes and dietary requirements, before tucking into it alfresco under the undisturbed starry night sky.
The little luxuries make a big difference to a bucket-list trip: daily housekeeping to keep things spic and span, spa treatments for when you need a little R&R, wine tastings for the adults, yoga sessions with epic views, and even round-the-clock babysitting. All of this can be arranged to make your stay feel even more indulgent.
Maison Emilion, France
This rustic French villa is practically made for wine lovers, aptly located amidst the rolling vineyards of Bordeaux. This six-bedroom hilltop hangout boasts views of the working vineyards from every angle, including from the heated pool and surrounding sunbeds. Wander into the nearby village of Saint-Émilion, then enjoy the included wine-tasting experience before settling into the garden for dinner with nothing but the glow of flickering candlelight and the moonlit sky.
Oleander, Corfu
It doesn’t get much more luxurious than Oleander in Corfu, a five-bedroom villa overlooking Avlaki Bay and the picturesque town of Kassiopi. It’s located high above the Ionian Sea and is the ideal villa for memorable summer celebrations. Soak up the sunshine from the infinity pool while enjoying views of Albania’s craggy Ceraunian Mountains, or hang out on the wrap-around terraces and communal outside dining areas. During peak season at Oleander, chef service is also included, so you can enjoy meals with your loved ones without even having to leave the villa.
Spirit of Son Fuster, Mallorca
Spirit of Son Fuster in Mallorca is hard to beat for large groups and multigenerational stays. This five-star bolthole is set in a stunning natural landscape at the foot of the Alaro twin mountains, right near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Serra de Tramuntana, and is as secluded as it gets. This gorgeous 14th-century manor house sleeps twenty people across ten bedrooms and even has its own on-site spa and hammam where everyone can enjoy treatments in the dedicated treatment rooms. There’s even a private cinema room for movie nights and a well-stocked wine cellar filled with local vintage wines.
Masseria Giardini, Puglia
Masseria Giardini in Puglia is the height of luxury and the perfect home-away-from-home for families and large groups. It was built in 1750 and is surrounded by leafy olive groves and landscaped gardens curated by Chelsea Flower Show winners Urquhart & Hunt. Enjoy unparalleled views of the Canale Di Pirro Valley from this ten-bedroom farmhouse and spend days lazing around in the heated pool. This villa is an architectural masterpiece, with signature stone domed roofs and hand-carved stone baths in five of the ten bedrooms.
For more travel information and inspiration and to book your perfect villa getaway, visit CV Villas
MPs slam ‘jaw-dropping’ NHS negligence claims for poor care
The NHS must do more to reduce “tragic” incidents of patient harm and cut “jaw-dropping” payouts for poor care, MPs have warned as costs spiral to a record high.
Compensation for clinical negligence claims cost £2.8bn in 2023-24 – up from £2.6bn the year before – with hundreds of millions paid out in legal fees.
The highest number of claims were for failings in emergency medicine, obstetrics, orthopaedic and general surgery, with maternity care payouts costing the most, totalling £1.1bn last year.
The Department of Health and Social Care has set aside an “astounding” £58.2bn to cover the potential costs of clinical negligence events occurring before April 2024.
The public accounts committee sounded the alarm on the rise, saying ministers needed to get a grip on NHS finances.
Its chair, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: “The fact that the government has set aside tens of billions of pounds for clinical negligence payments, its second most costly liability after some of the world’s most complex nuclear decommissioning projects, should give our entire society pause.
“It must be a priority of the highest order for the government to reduce tragic incidences of patient harm and lay out a mechanism to reduce legal fees to manage the jaw-dropping costs involved more effectively.”
The most recent NHS data shows 4,076 incidents of severe harm to patients and 4,449 patient deaths were recorded by the NHS in just three months from October to December last year.
And a fifth of last year’s record £2.8bn compensation bill – £545m – went to lawyers. That amount is higher than the entire expenditure of the government’s legal department, the report found, which totalled £341m in the same year.
In the past five years alone, NHS Resolution, which manages negligence claims, has spent over £12bn on payouts – £2.4bn of which has been spent on claimants’ legal fees.
“If we can reduce the leakage of lawyers’ fees in the middle, that benefits the whole of the NHS, because there will be more money available for other services,” said Sir Geoffrey,
Hospital chiefs in England warned last week that they have been forced to cut nurse and doctor posts and scale back emergency and maternity care to meet the government’s “eye watering” savings demands for 2025-26.
The committee challenged the DHSC to set out how it intends to “reduce tragic incidents of patient harm” and manage the costs of negligence “more effectively”.
Acknowledging the high cost of payouts for maternity care failings, Sir Geoffrey said the difference between some maternity units and others “is quite significant”.
He said: “Obstetrics is an inherently dangerous process, so the line between doing harm and negligence is quite narrow, but the NHS need to look carefully at why some units do get more negligence claims than others.”
MPs on the committee also criticised the DHSC, which they said “lacks a grip of the financial pressures it faces”.
MPs also raised concerns over the “uncertainty” surrounding the abolition of NHS England, announced in March, which they said had created “high levels of uncertainty for patients and for staff”.
They said the DHSC had a “lack of firm plans” for its closure and reducing its headcount by 50 per cent.
“At the moment, it looks a little bit like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. We really want to make sure that this thing is going to work properly,” Sir Geoffrey told The Independent.
“It has been two months since the government’s decision to remove what up until now has been seen as a key piece of machinery without articulating a clear plan for what comes next, and the future for patients and staff remains hazy,” he said.
MPs highlighted how some hospitals in England had pushed through unauthorised special exit packages – severance payments which require Treasury sign-off because they are new or contentious, totalling more than £180,000 in 2023/24.
“There remain far too many special severance payments where approval has only been sought after the payment has been made,” they added.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.
Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying Bill is a disaster waiting to happen
After a break from public life since last July, yesterday I was introduced to the House of Lords. In my time away, parliament has seen, in Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, an attempt to introduce one of the most radical – and I would argue unwise – changes in social policy that the UK has seen for many years.
The bill, which starts its report stage in the House of Commons this Friday, would allow adults with a terminal prognosis of six months or less to have their lives ended on the NHS. This would start a profound shift in the role of the health service and in society’s view about the importance of human life.
Drawing on my experience as a former minister for disabled people, I believe that both would be unwelcome changes for parliament to make, especially for disabled people. This is not just my view; as far as I am aware, not a single organisation representing disabled people in our country supports this bill.
When a physically healthy person wants to end their life, we urgently point them to resources like The Samaritans for support or to mental health professionals for treatment. In a crisis, our emergency services strive to keep them alive. Like healthy people, those with physical ailments can be depressed and suicidal. Yet this proposed change in the law would create a two-tier system, where a healthy person would qualify for support to live while a sick person would qualify for support to die.
The result would be the devaluing of life – an assumption that the lives of some people facing physical challenges and vulnerability are no longer worth living, or saving.
Many disabled people find this approach profoundly worrying. That worry is increased by parts of the government’s own impact assessment on the bill, which suggests that assisted dying would save the NHS money compared to more expensive care costs. If you add to that the government’s proposed significant savings from the personal independence payment (PIP) – clearly driven by the chancellor’s desire to save money, on top of her unpopular cut to winter fuel payments – it is not surprising that there are mounting concerns about this government’s attitude to vulnerable and disabled people.
With support to live being squeezed, what is being promoted as a “choice” to die could easily, over time, slip into becoming the default option. Canada, a beacon of so-called “progressivism”, seems to have followed the same route of simultaneously legalising assisted dying while also failing to meet the needs of the disabled community properly.
Charlotte-Anne Malischewski, interim chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, has previously warned that “too many people in Canada lacked access to the basic supports and services, including health care, medication and equipment”. She further added that “some persons with disabilities were turning to medical assistance in dying because they felt they had no other options”.
Canada now allows those who have a physical disability or illness, but without a terminal prognosis, to end their lives if deemed to be suffering intolerably – a subjective term. Of those applying to die via this route, and who responded to questions on the subject, 58.3 per cent identified as having a disability.
Roger Foley, a disability rights activist in Canada who has a severe neurodegenerative disease, tells the story of how the healthcare system denied him the funding he needed to hire personal carers, leaving him without proper care. In an article in 2024, he wrote that he was informed his care needs were “too much work” and that he had been told by healthcare staff to consider opting for Medical Aid In Dying instead.
The Leadbeater bill, initially said by its supporters to have the “strictest safeguards in the world”, did not fare well at the committee stage. The promised flagship safeguard of the bill (High Court judicial oversight) has been removed. Cases would now only be assessed by panels consisting of a likely less senior legal figure, a social worker and a psychiatrist.
The proponents of the bill in the committee showed themselves almost completely resistant to attempts to tighten safeguards that would protect disabled people. For example, my former colleague Caroline Johnson – herself a doctor – tabled amendments to require that the primary motivation for seeking assisted dying would be physical pain and not, for example, psychological distress. These were rejected.
Also rejected was an amendment proposed by James Cleverly, which would have prevented anyone from opting for assisted dying primarily because they feel like a burden to others. Feeling a burden is cited as a motivation by 45.3 per cent of Canadians who have an assisted death, by 46.6 per cent of patients in Oregon and by almost 51 per cent of people who go ahead with assisted dying in Washington.
The Leadbeater bill is a disaster waiting to happen. It is a badly drafted bill that, far from coming out stronger and safer, has left its committee stage with fewer safeguards for the most vulnerable. Especially for the sake of disabled people, I would urge MPs to vote against the bill when they get the opportunity to do so.
The Rt Hon Lord Harper was minister for disabled people 2014-2015 and sits in the House of Lords