News 19/08/25

US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has faced questions about a shift in Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine talks.

Before his latest call with Vladimir Putin, the US president said the next step towards peace would be a trilateral meeting. But afterwards, he suggested Russia and Ukraine should meet first, followed by talks involving himself, Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Some have speculated Trump was swayed by the Russian leader, but Leavitt insists both sides have shown willingness to sit down with each other.

Noel Gallagher says Oasis have been “completely blown away” by the response to their comeback tour, 16 years after their split.

Speaking to talkSport, he admitted the first night in Cardiff left his legs “like jelly,” but praised frontman and brother Liam, saying he was proud to be back on stage with him. The band have just played Dublin’s Croke Park and will head to North America before returning for more Wembley dates next month.

Gallagher says it’s been “great to be back” and hard to put the experience into words.

A fresh ceasefire proposal for Gaza has been approved by Hamas and described by Qatar as “almost identical” to a plan from US envoy Steve Witkoff.

The deal would see a 60-day truce and 28 hostages returned to Israel, 22 months after the October 7th attacks that sparked the war. In exchange, Israel would release 200 Palestinian prisoners along with women and minors. A response from Israel is expected within two days.

Economists expect inflation figures due tomorrow to rise to 3.7 percent.

Higher travel costs and grocery prices are likely to be blamed, with air fares climbing in summer and hotel rates boosted by what some are calling the “Oasis bump.” Susannah Streeter from Hargreaves Lansdown says the effect is unlikely to match Taylor Swift’s impact on prices last year, but demand for hotel rooms, beer, bucket hats and retro 90s fashion could still nudge inflation higher.

Epping Forest District Council has won a temporary legal block preventing asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

The High Court had been asked to grant an interim injunction requiring the hotel to be cleared within 14 days. Mr Justice Eyre has now extended that deadline to the 12th of September.

Somani Hotels, which owns the property, says it intends to appeal, warning the ruling could affect the wider strategy for housing asylum seekers in hotels.

Downing Street says Sir Keir Starmer has told world leaders there is “a real sense of unity” in securing a lasting peace for Ukraine.

He chaired a virtual meeting with Emmanuel Macron and more than 30 members of the coalition of the willing, following talks last night. Planning teams will meet with US counterparts in the coming days to prepare security guarantees and a reassurance force if hostilities end.

Leaders also discussed increasing sanctions to pressure Vladimir Putin into ending his invasion.

A Virgin Atlantic cabin crew member turned up for work more than four times over the alcohol limit, after crashing her car into a roundabout, a court has heard.

Kathryn Scott, aged 44, abandoned her Hyundai before being driven to Heathrow by a member of the public. Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court was told she was removed from the aircraft after police were alerted.

She denies performing an aviation function while over the limit and blamed the crash on steering problems.

A former councillor in Fife has been jailed for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.

David Graham, 43, was sentenced to 27 months after being convicted at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court. The court heard the abuse took place in his office, home and car over a six-month period last year.

Prosecutors said he deliberately preyed on the teenager after meeting her socially.

The US director of national intelligence says the UK has withdrawn its controversial demand to access global Apple users’ data if required.

Tulsi Gabbard wrote on X that the UK had agreed to drop its instruction for Apple to provide a back door, which she said would have enabled access to encrypted data of American citizens and undermined civil liberties.

It is understood Apple has not yet received any formal communication from either government. A UK spokesperson said they do not comment on operational matters.

An attempt to break the world record for the longest distance travelled by a battery-powered train takes place tonight.

Great Western Railway is aiming to complete 200 miles on a single charge to mark 200 years since the birth of the railways. The retrofitted 1982 District Line train will leave Reading at 10.30 tonight, heading to London Paddington, Oxford and back to Paddington before returning to Reading tomorrow morning.

The current record stands at 139 miles, set in Berlin in 2021.

A man has been jailed after breaking into a home in Slough and damaging the property while an elderly resident slept upstairs.

Forty-three-year-old Jamil Shabbir of Warrington Avenue was sentenced to two years at Reading Crown Court. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and given a restraining order.

The court heard he kicked through the front door and caused extensive damage inside.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a dog attack in Slough.

At around 10am on Saturday, a man in his eighties was bitten on the leg by a jack russell while walking through Langley Country Park. He needed hospital treatment but has since been discharged.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin in any format.

The Ukrainian president revealed it was Putin who suggested a one-to-one meeting between Ukraine and Russia, followed by a trilateral discussion involving the United States.

That has raised questions, as Donald Trump had previously said the next step would be a trilateral meeting — but after his call with Putin, he insisted it would only happen after direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

Zelenskyy also confirmed he discussed security guarantees with Trump and European leaders today, adding he received what he described as “important signals” from Washington.

Redundancies will begin today at the UK’s largest bioethanol plant after the government refused to provide a bailout.

Around 60 staff at the Vivergo Fuels site in Lincolnshire — just over a third of the workforce — are due to receive redundancy notices and leave. The rest will depart in phases as the business winds down.

Vivergo, which is owned by Associated British Foods, said it was “deeply regrettable” that ministers had declined support and blamed the closure partly on the UK’s trade deal with the United States.

The plant, which converts wheat into bioethanol for petrol, had been losing around £3 million a month due to high energy costs.

TikTok and Instagram are being accused of exposing teenagers to harmful content on suicide and self-harm at higher rates than two years ago.

The Molly Rose Foundation, set up after 14-year-old Molly Russell took her own life, commissioned research using accounts of a UK-based 15-year-old girl.

The study found algorithms continued to recommend what it called a “tsunami” of damaging content to under-16s who had previously engaged with similar material.

One in ten of the posts had been liked more than a million times, while the average number of likes was over 226,000.

Drivers are being warned of long delays over the August bank holiday, with rail services also set to face disruption.

The RAC says Friday alone will see around three million car journeys for holidays or day trips, with even higher numbers expected on Saturday. More than 17 million getaway trips are predicted in total across the long weekend.

Motorists are being advised to travel as early as possible or risk sitting in heavy queues.

Meanwhile, engineering works will also mean some train lines are closed, adding to the travel disruption.