Global Counsel signed $3m contract with WuXi AppTec in Europe months after it was named in US national security drive Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, was brought in to advise the Chinese pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec in Europe months after it was targeted in a US national security crackdown. WuXi AppTec signed a $3m contract with Global Counsel last year to deal with the international fallout from claims that it had links with the Chinese military and was implicated in human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Continue reading...

Russian president says latest draft peace plan ‘can be basis for future agreements’ if Kyiv gives up unspecified areas Vladimir Putin has said that the outline of a draft peace plan discussed by the US and Ukraine could serve as a basis for future negotiations to end the war – but insisted Ukraine would have to surrender territory for any deal to be possible. “In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said, noting that the version of the plan discussed by Washington and Kyiv in Geneva had been shared with Moscow. Continue reading...

US group Dekleptocracy identifies additives for military vehicles’ lubricants and tyres as potential vulnerabilities

Macron due to unveil proposals for a new voluntary military service to boost the country’s defences without having to return to regular conscription

Donald Trump reveals that the Reflecting Pool is next on his renovation chopping block.

European nations are rushing to bolster their defences amid Russia threat and uncertainty of US support

In a case echoing the Pelicot trial, dozens of women allege they were given hot drinks mixed with a diuretic to make them urinate. Three of them speak out here

A record 39,000 birds are overwintering on Wallasea island wetlands thanks to soil transported from London tunnels

In a Truth Social post, the president lashed out at journalist Katie Rogers after an article questioned whether he was slowing down

Republicans and Democrats warn Witkoff ‘cannot be trusted’ after reportedly advising officials on peace plan

Bloomberg publishes extraordinary transcripts of secret discussions, but their provenance remains unclear

EU’s foreign policy chief says ‘there’s one aggressor and one victim’ in conflict amid US push to end the war

Commission president says undermining of sovereign European nation would ‘open the doors for more wars’

With each economic shock, it ratchets up the value of state retirement payments relative to average earnings

Environmental charity Fidra says 168 of 195 SSSIs it surveyed are contaminated with tiny pellets