Trump posts about ‘lengthy’ conversation with Putin on Truth Social during phone call

Donald Trump is currently holding a “lengthy” call with Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine before Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House visit on Friday.

The US president said he had began speaking to the Russian leader on Thursday morning to discuss the war in Ukraine.

He wrote on Truth Social: “I am speaking to President Putin now. The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion.”

It comes amid growing signs that Trump will supply American long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv to bolster its resistance against Russia.

Zelensky promises that Ukraine has “already prepared our part of the homework”. He added: “Every detail is ready. The agenda of our meeting with the President of the United States is very substantive, and I thank everyone who is helping.”

The £100 weekly shop trend that shows how little food it really buys

A few years ago, £100 would fill a trolley. Now it barely fills a basket. Across social media, shoppers are posting photos of their groceries with captions somewhere between disbelief and despair. “£98! At Aldi, no booze included and only meat is sliced for a sandwich and a chicken to roast. Six months ago, this would have been £70!” read one viral post.

The so-called “£100 weekly shop” – once shorthand for a manageable middle-class routine – has become a symbol of how far our money no longer goes. What’s replaced it is far more chaotic: bulk-buys, frozen finds, endless top-ups and a growing sense that food shopping has turned from a domestic ritual into an act of survival.

For Kimberley Coke, a working mum of two in Hertfordshire, the notion of a single weekly shop now feels impossible. “Our routine has changed as we’re out so much with busy family commitments and kids’ football,” she says – she commutes to London while her husband works in the next town over. “The food shop is sporadic for four. We tend to do one massive, expensive shop a month, but then we’re constantly playing top-up.”

“I tend to shop at Sainsbury’s but do top-up shops at Aldi and Asda and get frozen stuff for the kids at the Food Warehouse,” she explains. “They do a good, healthy frozen protein range, which lasts for ages in the freezer.” Even Costco, once her way to stock up and save, can backfire: “It’s amazing for bulk shopping – high quality and super nice stuff. But, God, I end up spending a few hundred pounds in a flash!”

What Coke describes mirrors a wider national trend. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), families are returning to a hybrid routine of smaller weekly “big” shops followed by multiple top-ups.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the rate of food and non-alcoholic drink inflation rose to 5.1 per cent in August, up from 4.9 per cent in July – the fifth consecutive month of rising prices. Vegetables, milk, cheese, fish, beef and pork were among the biggest climbers, reflecting a mix of poor harvests and supply-chain disruption. Figures from Worldpanel by Numerator show supermarket prices remain 4.9 per cent higher than a year ago, despite months of so-called “price wars” between the major grocers.

“Many families are switching to supermarket own brands to save money where they can,” says Kris Hamer, the BRC’s director of insight. “And while customers moved back to large weekly shopping trips during the pandemic, many have returned to a smaller weekly ‘big’ shop followed by small ‘top-up’ trips through the week.”

That splintering of the “big shop” is echoed by Tom Zahir, a chef who lives in east London with his partner and their new baby. “We do one big shop every 10-14 days, which will be online from a supermarket – in that we have boring stuff like toilet roll, toothpaste, breakfast cereals, cheeses, milk and eggs,” he says. “We’ll buy basic meats from there too – chicken breasts, some mince, etc, for staple meals. That shop might run £70-90.”

The rest, he says, is made up of smaller, more spontaneous trips. “Local shop for items for specific meals – good value bunches of herbs, tomatoes, salads – or to a slightly larger independent shop nearby with a butcher counter.”

Every couple of months they bulk-buy meat for the freezer, but “in recent months (we just had a baby), we’ve found ourselves using delivery services like Gopuff and Zoom for last-minute purchases of protein in a pinch – this is usually down to poor planning without set meals in mind.”

He estimates their spend at around £75 a week, “but it is super-noticeable how much less it sometimes feels you get for that, especially when buying things like dishwasher tablets or laundry items in a shop.”

Zahir’s household – like many urban families – now buys across several ecosystems. “The variety of places we get our household essentials from has increased massively,” he says. “We buy more in bulk now for savings – especially with household cleaning stuff – it can be from Amazon, Costco or even subscription services for things like cat litter and baby formula.”

“Retailers are grappling with an additional £5bn in costs from April’s increased employer national insurance contributions and national living wage,” says Hamer. “The result is that food inflation has been trending upwards over recent months, expected to hit around 6 per cent by the end of this year.”

The Food Foundation also points to what it calls “climateflation” – the ripple effect of extreme weather events and disrupted harvests driving up prices for core ingredients. The organisation warns that as long as food systems remain vulnerable to climate shocks, affordability will stay precarious.

Meanwhile, the market has tilted quietly towards value. Own-label products now account for 51.2 per cent of all supermarket sales, up from 50.9 per cent a year ago, as shoppers reach for cheaper alternatives.

The Treasury, for its part, has denied that government policy is to blame for supermarket price rises, pointing instead to global commodity pressures. But for shoppers, that distinction is irrelevant when the till flashes over £100.

In other words, supermarkets aren’t inflating prices for sport; they’re juggling an expensive equation of wages, regulation, climate shocks and supply chains. But for households, those incremental rises – 30p here, 50p there – accumulate into real lifestyle changes.

Zahir says the fallout is tangible. “Meats and dairy are up massively and there is no chance we will buy any cleaning stuff in the supermarket now as it’s all so expensive. Household medicines are also so expensive now – a box of Lemsip is £7?!”

Even for those with comfortable incomes, small costs now dictate habits. “A lack of planning can seriously push the cost of your shop up,” he admits. “We’ve also trialled quite a few online supermarkets and will make sure we utilise things like £25-off vouchers much more than we used to.”

Rising prices have created a generation of hyper-strategic shoppers. For Coke, frozen food and Costco runs are now core tactics. For Zahir, it’s meal planning and what chefs call “cross-utilisation”: buying ingredients that can serve multiple dishes. “This week I bought a chicken and used the breast for a salad plate, the legs to chop up into a topping for tacos and then used the wings and carcass to make a stock which will turn into a soup,” he says. “I also tend to buy and freeze items more than ever before.”

Even ideas of indulgence have changed. “Buying a premium cut of meat at a supermarket – or going in at the fancy Waitrose cheese or deli counter – is definitely a huge rarity these days,” he says. “If we do this now, it will only be from an independent deli, cheesemonger or butcher where we know the quality is higher and it’s only marginally more than buying it from a supermarket.”

For many households, this kind of strategising isn’t optional. It’s survival. The Food Foundation’s Food Insecurity Tracker found that 7.3 million adults – nearly 14 per cent of UK households – experienced food insecurity in January 2025, rising to 17.9 per cent among families with children. The charity’s Basic Basket tracker shows that a nutritionally adequate weekly shop for one man and one woman now costs over £100.

The weekly shop once stood for something bigger than a receipt – a symbol of control, of being able to fill a fridge and plan a week. Its disappearance tells a story about the fragility of that stability. The ritual that once anchored everyday life has become a test of endurance, proof of how much responsibility for affordability has shifted from government and industry onto households themselves.

Ricky Hatton’s cause of death revealed at inquest

Former boxing world champion Ricky Hatton had appeared “well” when he was last seen by his family days before his death, an inquest has heard.

The 46-year-old was found dead at his home in Hyde, with Greater Manchester Police stating they were not treating the death as suspicious.

At the opening of his inquest on Thursday, his provisional cause of death was given as hanging.

The court heard Hatton was last seen by his family on 12 September when he appeared “well”.

But the day after, he did not attend an event as expected and on the morning of 14 September, his manager, Paul Speak, arrived at his home to take him to Manchester Airport to catch a flight to Dubai.

Hatton was found unresponsive.

The details were given during a 10-minute hearing as the inquest into the death of the popular former boxer was opened and adjourned until 20 March next year.

In a statement, his family said: “Richard was so much more than a world champion. To us, he was simply ‘Richard’, our son. A loving father, grandfather, and brother, and a true friend to many.

“He had a heart as big as his smile, and his kindness, humour and loyalty touched everyone who was lucky enough to know him.

“To the wider world, Richard will always be remembered as one of boxing’s greatest champions – a man who gave everything inside the ring and wore his heart on his sleeve outside of it.”

Thousands of mourners lined the streets in Manchester to pay tribute to him.

Celebrities including Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen and boxers Tyson and Tommy Fury attended the private memorial service at Manchester Cathedral last Friday.

The service was played to the crowds outside the cathedral and Hatton’s son Campbell, who followed his father into the boxing ring, paid tribute, saying: “I can’t explain how much I’m going to miss you, dad, and that we won’t be making any new memories – but the ones we did I will cherish forever.”

Hatton’s daughters Fearne, 12, and Millie, 13, also gave emotional tributes to their father, speaking of their pride and love for him.

Hatton won world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight and his all-action style made him one of the most popular fighters in the first decade of the new century.

He rose through amateur and domestic levels to pit his wits against the best boxers of his generation, including Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Hatton’s down-to-earth demeanour also endeared him to fans across the world, and he was open about the mental health issues he endured upon his retirement from the ring.

Prior to his death, he had resumed training and was due to participate in a fight in Dubai in December, with his family stating he had been “in a good place” and “excited for the future”.

His death sparked a debate over whether enough is being done to help sporting stars after retirement.

Sports promoter Barry Hearn said that all sports bodies and the government need to look at the issue for athletes who no longer live under the spotlight, calling on everyone to help “in our own small way where we can”.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you

Pep Guardiola’s ideology is dead. So where does football go next?

On Premier League training grounds right now, there’s a complaint that more and more players are expressing. The game is no longer primarily about finesse, speed or even transitions, as was the case as recently as 2022-23.

It’s about “duels, duels and duels”, as a high-profile defender privately grumbled. That is one of a few reasons that long throws per game have doubled from 1.52 last season to 3.03 now, and from just 0.89 in 2020-21. The method forces more duels in the box, which might bring ricochets, corners or even goals.

One of the best illustrations is one of the most prominent individual rivalries. Erling Haaland and Gabriel love to go at it, in the type of striker vs centre-back battle that Arsene Wenger lamented was disappearing in 2014. One Arsenal figure described Haaland as “almost the ideal long-ball player” because of his physical prowess.

So much for Pep Guardiola bending the Norwegian to his tactical will. Haaland has instead been one of many forces that have ensured Guardiola himself has compromised his own beliefs in a way that would have been unimaginable in 2009. For that last 1-1 draw against Arsenal, he essentially opted for Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale setup.

And this is where we might well have gone past a tactical “end of history” moment, to create a new uncertainty about the game’s future as it’s played. In the same way that Francis Fukuyama notoriously declared the fall of the Berlin Wall as the final victory of liberal democracy, Guardiola’s rise with Barcelona supposedly signalled Total Football’s total conquest forever. The reinterpreted “positional game” changed everything.

That was only a more complete conquest when Guardiola went on and changed English football, too. In another instructive statistic, the frequency of long goal-kicks had been declining every season since Guardiola’s arrival campaign of 2016-17… until now. They’re going up.

Due to both scientific advances and the sophistication of the ideology, that Catalan-Spanish approach ensured an obvious optimum way of playing for around 16 years. That is a long time. If you didn’t seek to control the ball and territory through possession and high pressing, you were more likely to lose over the long term. This was clearly best practice, as most champions played this way.

By the 2022 World Cup, however, the game had evidently become too tactically homogenised. Even as recently as June, Thomas Tuchel was declaring himself bored by too many Premier League teams playing the same way, and building through the right-back.

Already, however, any deviation was starting to have a disproportionate effect. Argentina’s World Cup win partly came from Lionel Scaloni’s willingness to trust individual creativity.

Now, such deviations have exploded. The pace of change was illustrated in September, as the same Tuchel couldn’t help but notice how “long throws, long kicks, crosses… all these patterns are back”.

As such, this isn’t another article about the end of Guardiola’s principles. It is instead about what comes next.

Because, if it’s no longer best practice to do what most of the best sides have been doing for 16 years, then we really are in a whole new world. There is no best practice, which means there are no longer the same guarantees.

That can be witnessed in the fact that Liverpool’s expenditure hasn’t directly translated into results yet, as they move from Arne Slot’s own positional game to a greater focus on individual talent. Andoni Iraola has been similar in freeing his Bournemouth players from tactical shackles.

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Many others have moved towards set-pieces and counters. League Manager Association (LMA) seminars have noted how the majority of table leaders in the EFL have been much further down the possession rankings than at any point in the last few years.

Ideological dogmatism is ceding space to pragmatism.

It is perhaps quintessential of the Man City manager, though, that the man himself has driven this anti-Guardiola movement forward by shifting more drastically away from his own ideology than anyone else. None of his many acolytes has opted for that Mourinho approach, not even Mikel Arteta at his most set-piece-focused.

It is also quintessentially Guardiola that he has been doing the most to explain this. Part of the shift, of course, is the issue that football became so homogenised that it was crying out for deviation. Part of it – as the City manager argued – is that the expanded Champions League calendar means no elite side can train the positional game enough to excel in it and elevate themselves above the rest.

The Guardiola approach can’t be anywhere near as effective if it isn’t as finely tuned, after all. Structural gaps and pressing breakdowns appear.

“Today, modern football is not positional,” Guardiola recently said, in reference to the effect of the calendar. “Simply because we did not have the players… all the teams have a lot of injuries when you play every three days.”

It would be a classic parable for modern football if more matches led to lower-quality football – except, many observers want some kind of change; some reversion to more individual magic.

That’s instead where the next ideological battleground might be, between the unpredictability of unrehearsed creativity and the rehearsals of set-pieces. Or maybe even a meld of the two.

Those at Arsenal, after all, would insist the focus on set-pieces is an evolution of the positional game rather than a deviation.

Arteta’s side currently represents a deviation from the LMA research, as their average possession is currently at 57.6 per cent. The Basque manager is still ultimately about “control” above anything else. He prioritises the positional game because he believes control of space and the ball gives you the best probability of victory, and he talks about “probabilities” a lot.

You only have to look at Arteta’s response to last season, given that Guardiola specifically named-checked Arsenal’s injury troubles in that same interview. Arteta couldn’t play his ideal way due to absences, so he just ensured absences would matter less. He deepened the squad, adding to a core group that understands his ideology.

Even those who look to deviate, after all, would say that core Guardiola requirements – pressing, technique – are now hardwired into the sport. They won’t go.

But if the overall ideology isn’t as much of a winning guarantee as it used to be, it logically follows that Arteta looked to what was next. If Arsenal’s possession pressure comes up against newly massed defences, so they get more corners and throws, so it’s just common sense to focus on improving those corners and throws. It’s a new differential. Hence, the greater focus on duels.

The more that starts to happen, though, the more it furthers the shift away from overall Guardiola ideology.

Put simply, you aren’t playing as much possession if you eschew a short corner for hitting the big man.

Infamously, the rise of authoritarianism and the 2008 financial collapse caused Fukuyama to admit he was wrong, even if it seems trivialising to be discussing that in the context of sport. Now, in football, everyone is searching for “probabilities” in a world where there are suddenly no guarantees. It might take the game down a path no one has yet foreseen.

There’s one very good reason Trump should never win a Nobel prize

As President Trump nails his application for a Nobel Peace Prize to the trembling edifice of the Gaza ceasefire, he may not have realised that a giant obstacle lies ahead – the international response to his unforgivable record on the climate crisis.

Trump’s humanitarian efforts may indeed save many thousands of lives from long-running conflicts, but that would pale in comparison with the many more that will be lost thanks to the devastating effects of global heating induced in part by Trump’s cynical policies.

He has told leaders via the UN General Assembly that the climate crisis affecting their countries is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”. That is part of a three-pronged attack on the climate by aggressively promoting the use of fossil fuels in the USA; slashing aid to the poorer nations already suffering most from an overheating climate; and destabilising global climate diplomacy.

The UN’s Green Climate Fund was in his crosshairs from the start. It helps developing countries to build resilience by improving flood defences and preparing for crop failures, heatwaves and wildfires. The money pays for policies to build sea walls to protect coastal communities, develop drought-resistant crops, and relocate populations threatened by rising seas and desertification. Trump has reneged on a $4bn (£3bn) pledge for the US to help finance that fund.

The African Group of Climate negotiators called this a “grave disservice to humanity”, and the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance labelled Trump’s policies “scientifically false and morally indefensible”, pointing out that the effects of the climate crisis are a daily reality for millions of people in Africa already.

Trump continued his onslaught by slashing funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which particularly harms those impoverished African countries which rely on it. The reductions have severe consequences for health, with estimates suggesting millions of avoidable fatalities and increased poverty levels within four years. Experts warn of the secondary outcomes of the climate crisis in Africa – strife and warfare over resources made scarce by the changing climate.

On the global stage, Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris Accord (to hold global temperature as close as possible to a rise of 1.5C). His actions have weakened global climate diplomacy by further eroding trust in the US as a reliable partner.

Meanwhile, his “Drill baby, drill” mantra has spread around the world like a virus, emboldening populist politicians to express science-defying views and abandon efforts to reduce emissions.

In the UK, Reform has followed Trump’s lead by promising to scrap the legally binding net zero laws prescribing staged cuts in emissions of planet-heating gases. It promises that further drilling in the North Sea will send household bills tumbling, even though experts say it will barely make a difference.

The Conservatives have followed Reform without explaining how they would temper the relentless rise in global temperatures. (Many estimates of the costs of climate technology fail to take into account the costs of doing nothing.)

On US soil, Trump has systematically reversed climate and energy policies. Funded by the gas and oil industries, Trump is driving a doctrine of “energy dominance”, aggressively promoting fossil fuel extraction, while sabotaging the growth of renewable energy mandated by former president Joe Biden. His colleagues are diligent in unpicking hundreds of laws and rules on issues such as energy efficiency or appliance efficiency.

He has specifically targeted the wind, solar, and electric vehicle (EV) sectors. Federal agencies have delayed or halted approvals for major onshore and offshore wind projects. The administration has sought to cancel or suspend clean energy grants and subsidies, including attempts to dismantle incentives for EVs by reversing vehicle emissions standards.

He supported the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, even though scientists warn that humankind has already found enough fossil fuels to wreck the climate. He has also opened vast, protected federal lands and waters, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), to potential aggressive oil and gas leasing.

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) replaced the Democrats’ Clean Power Plan with the far less restrictive Affordable Clean Energy rule. Regulations designed to limit potent methane leaks from drilling operations were also rolled back – even though methane is a greenhouse gas more than 20 times more powerful than CO2.

It was all part of Trump’s plan to reduce perceived environmental “burdens”, ensure energy independence, and cement the nation’s status as the world’s leading oil and natural gas producer.

Now, the Nobel committee does make some controversial choices – think Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi – all derided for various reasons, but in 2007 it bestowed the peace award on Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. It would be deeply perverse to pin the same accolade on a man who appears to be at war with the planet, calling climate change action a scam, pathetic, a joke.

Roger Harrabin is an honorary fellow at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and a former BBC correspondent

This article has been produced as part of The Independent’sRethinking Global Aid project

Hidden gem holidays: An insider guide to the Dominican Republic

The advent of autumn sees us thinking ahead to how to keep that sunshine feeling going through till winter; and there’s nothing better for keeping our spirits up than the idea of booking a holiday somewhere tropical. Enter the Dominican Republic, a warm and welcoming Caribbean nation perched to the south of the Turks and Caicos islands, and east of Jamaica. Known for its beautiful beaches, premium resorts and some legendary golf courses, there is, as the saying goes, genuinely something for everyone. If you want to make your holiday more than just a fly and flop, there’s plenty to explore, from Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain, to historic sites in the country’s lively capital, Santo Domingo.

But first, where’s the best place to stay? Consider Costa Esmeralda, in the Miches area on the Island’s northeastern coast, a picturesque and pristine stretch of sand fringed with coconut palms that lean over the calm, turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Neighbouring Punta Cana and the wider Bávaro area combine to form what’s known as La Costa del Coco, or the Coconut Coast, an area of lavish, all-inclusive hotels which is also popular for windsurfing, kayaking and sailing.

Base yourself at Zemi Miches Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resort Curio by Hilton, an oceanfront resort boasting 800-metres of secluded beach on the shores of Playa Esmeralda. Located just 90 minutes’ drive from Punta Cana International Airport, the emphasis here is firmly on fun and relaxation. It features six restaurants, six bars and lounges, four pools and several water slides, and for those who like to keep fit while away, there’s a pickleball court, a paddle tennis court, and a full-service fitness centre which offers yoga and pilates classes. The Acana spa aims to reconnect soul and spirit with therapies inspired by ancient traditions, while you’ll also find a daily programme of art and cultural activities, plus live nightly entertainment. Bringing the kids? They’ll love spending time at the Coki Cove Kids Club or Palmchat Teens Club.

There’s a choice of rooms, suites or bungalows, all tastefully decorated with Caribbean flair, and offering stunning views. Select accommodations even feature private plunge pools, and Club Azure and bungalow guests have access to additional dining options and a rooftop pool. Talking of dining, you’ll experience a world of flavour, with menus inspired by the traditions of the Caribbean, Thailand, and the Amalfi Coast; think spicy, street-food inspired dishes, wood-fired pizzas, and local favourites. All this, and unlimited drinks and cocktails, too!

What’s more, booking with British Airways Holidays means you can secure your holiday now with a low deposit and spread the cost with flexible payments*. Once you’re ready to jet off, you can enjoy increased checked baggage allowance, a dedicated 24-hour helpline during your trip and the option of quality car hire with no hidden fees, 24-hour support and roadside assistance.

Upgrade to Club World and you’ll also get lounge access**, increased baggage allowance, priority check-in and boarding, and a spacious seat that converts to a fully flat bed. Members of The British Airways Club enjoy even more benefits in the form of collecting Avios (British Airways’ frequent flyer currency) and earning tier points, which unlock frequent flyer status and other benefits. Avios can also be used towards the cost of your holiday, presenting even greater value for money for members.

All this means you can totally relax during your stay at Hilton Zemi Miches Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resort, knowing you’re getting the quality and peace of mind you’d expect from a British Airways Holidays.

If you can tear yourself away from the resort – tough, we know – there’s lots to experience throughout the Dominican Republic. Take a day trip to Santo Domingo, one of the Caribbean’s oldest cities; its walled, cobblestoned, historic centre, the Zona Colonial, has impressive Spanish buildings dating back to the 16th century, including the Gothic Catedral Primada de America and the Alcázar de Colón palace, which sits on the laid-back, cafe-lined Plaza de España. The latter is now one of the city’s many museums, displaying striking medieval and Renaissance art. In the pretty Parque del Este is the Faro a Colón, a large mausoleum and museum dedicated to Christopher Columbus, who landed on the island known as Hispaniola (now divided into the Dominican Republic and Haiti) in 1492. For a taste of life in bygone times, visit Altos de Chavón, a fascinating replica of a 16th century Mediterranean village, featuring art galleries and studios, boutiques and a striking amphitheatre.

Looking for something a little more adventurous? Get back to nature at Los Haitises National Park, where you can explore mangrove forests, caves and unique rock formations, or the 27 waterfalls of Damajagua, a series of tumbling falls perfect for swimming, splashing and jumping into. And don’t miss the incredible Hoya Azul, a cenote, or sinkhole, with crystal-clear, aquamarine waters; it’s located in Scape Park, a natural adventure park featuring lush jungles and jaw-dropping cliffs, where you can go zip-lining or explore the caves. There is whale watching in Samana Bay – humpback whales can be found here during their breeding season, January to March. While Lago Enriquillo, a salt lake with surrounding wetlands, is home to crocodiles and various bird species, including flamingos. All in all, your holiday to the Dominican Republic is guaranteed to be unforgettable; so get booking now!

British Airways Holidays packages include a generous baggage allowance for each customer and come with full ATOL protection for complete peace of mind. Secure your holiday to Hilton Zemi Miches Punta with a low deposit and enjoy flexible payments until you fly*.

*Based on two sharing. Full balance due seven weeks before departure. Subject to availability. T&Cs apply.

**Subject to availability

Tomahawk missiles are Trump’s ace card for Ukraine – Zelensky says it’s time to play it

Volodymyr Zelensky wants Tomahawk missiles to smash Russia’s command and control of its war in his country. Donald Trump has said he’s tempted to sell them to Kyiv, which prompted the Kremlin’s chief extremist and former president Dmitry Medvedev to boast “that’ll end badly” for all – especially the US.

Why all the fuss?

Tomahawk missiles can fly up to a thousand miles (1,600km), carry almost half a tonne of explosives, can be guided onto targets in Russia, are accurate to within a few metres, and can loiter in the skies to dive on targets of opportunity. The US has this year launched Tomahawk against the Houthis in Yemen and against Iran to devastating but not strategic effect.

Ukraine has made its own long-range missile, the Flamingo, or FP-5. It can hit a target at 1,600 miles (3,000km) and carries over a tonne of explosives.

If Zelensky persuades Trump to sell European donors Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, it would be a huge military boost for Kyiv.

More importantly, it would signal that Trump has switched sides in the Ukraine–Russia conflict. He’s hinted that he might, but has so far favoured Russia over Ukraine, a former US ally.

He has become frustrated that Putin has brushed off his efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, where Nato estimates Russia has suffered 1.1 million casualties.

Last Sunday, Trump said on social media: “Yeah, I might tell him [Putin], if the war is not settled, we may very well do it. We may not, but we may do it … Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”

Riding a wave of diplomatic machismo after he has been so widely praised for getting a ceasefire agreed in Gaza, Trump may be feeling more confident in his support for Zelensky – once a hate figure among Maga supporters heavily influenced by Russian propaganda. That is certainly what Zelensky hopes.

So too does Europe. The latest warnings over the dangers to the continent came from Germany’s spy chief Martin Jaeger, head of its foreign intelligence service.

“We are already under fire today,” he told Germany’s parliamentarians. “The means Moscow uses are well known – attempted manipulation of elections and public opinion, propaganda, provocations, disinformation, espionage, sabotage, airspace violations by drones and fighter jets, contract killings, persecution of opposition figures living abroad.”

The Dutch are sending Ukraine €290m for drone development, Estonia has recently announced “tens of millions of euros” for Kyiv in drones, and Nato members have been rushing to increase the capabilities of its Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry air defences after repeated penetrations of Nato airspace by Russian drones and aircraft.

Trump won’t be moved by what the German spook-in-chief says. He doesn’t believe in Russian attempts to subvert democracy (since Moscow has been accused of interfering in his own election).

But he does, his Knesset speech this week has shown, love to back a winner – especially one who wins using American weapons which, he claimed, had contributed to Israel’s “victory” in Gaza.

Tomahawk missiles can attack Russian command centres. They can smash Moscow’s complex resupply routes, airfields and bridges. These are all targets that Ukraine has been hitting for more than a year. Kyiv is reeling from identical counterattacks by Russia – but Putin’s army could be forced into collapse if it starts to feel cut off from the motherland.

Trump has said that Russia may be a “paper tiger”, and Zelensky would like him to add Tomahawks to his arsenal. So far, only the blowhard-in-chief of the Putin administration, Medvedev, has reacted to the Tomahawk threat. And pretty feebly at that.

“The delivery of these missiles could end badly for everyone. And first of all – for Trump himself,” said the former Russian president.

Zelensky has worked hard to win Trump’s ear after being told he didn’t have any cards to play in the war with Russia by a raging Trump in the Oval Office in February.

He has flattered and schmoozed the US commander-in-chief and been supported in his efforts by grovelling and hand-wringing among Europe’s leaders, who have been prepared to sacrifice personal dignity for strategic support.

It’s not there yet. But Ukraine and its allies know that Putin has overplayed his cards with Trump, who could himself throw down some aces, some Tomahawks and more.

He’d like to see Putin humbled, and Zelensky’s best play is that Trump would enjoy forcing the Kremlin to fold and ask for a seat at the peace table.

Palestine Action cases placing ‘big burden’ on counterterror police, Met chief admits

Building cases against 2,000 protesters arrested for supporting banned group Palestine Action is placing a “big burden” on counter terrorism officers, a chief has admitted.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, revealed the major toll of hundreds of arrests at repeated protests over the government’s decision to ban the direct-action group.

Almost 500 were hauled away by officers for holding placards declaring “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” at the most recent demonstration in Trafalgar Square earlier this month.

This brings the total facing likely charges under the Terrorism Act for defying the controversial ban, which is being challenged in the High Court, to around 2,000.

Facing questions at the London Assembly on Thursday, Sir Mark said: “We have now got about 2000 people most of them pending prosecution decisions by the Attorney General. Some of them are on their way towards it some of them we are still doing the files.

“Those files are not the most complex even though they are terrorism files. But 2000 is a lot of work.

“That’s a big burden for our Counter Terrorism team, it’s a big burden for public order team, it’s a big burden for the Crown Prosecution Service.

“And the courts are indicating multiple long trials next year, so I’m concerned that the justice system isn’t moving quickly enough to show that it’s taking this seriously.”

His comments come after 28 people pleaded not guilty to supporting the banned group at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

It is likely to be the first in a series of complex hearings relating to the demonstrations, as judges scramble to find courtrooms to hear hundreds of potential trials.

A total of 138 protesters have so far been charged for supporting the banned group at demonstrations in July, according to the CPS.

It is also possible trials could delayed until the High Court challenge over the group’s proscription concludes.

Sir Mark also told assembly members the force had faced an “escalating situation” for public order policing over recent years – with an “upward curve” in demonstrations starting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s kept rising,” he added. “That is a stretch for the organisation, and we are sharing the load more but it is a bigger load to carry.”

Policing protests and events in September alone cost the Met £19.7million, with 21,000 officer shifts required.

This takes officers away from their neighbourhood duties and could lead to slower response times and slower investigations into other types of crime, he said.

Shabana Mahmood earlier this month announced police would be given even greater powers to restrict repeated protests after the event in Trafalgar Square, which went ahead despite calls from the police and prime minister to postpone.

The home secretary said repeated large-scale protests had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community in the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack.

She said: “The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear.

“Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes.”

However, organisers Defend Our Juries responded by promising a “major escalation” in their campaign to lift the ban on Palestine Action ahead of the High Court legal challenge on 25 November.

A group spokesperson said it “beggars belief” that the home secretary responded to condemnation of the ban with a further crackdown.

“This confirms what we’ve warned all along: the proscription of Palestine Action was never just about one group – it’s a dangerous, authoritarian escalation that threatens everyone’s right to protest in our country,” they added.