Trump and Putin hold a summit in Helsinki +++ The EU warns against a trade war +++ Migrants allowed to disembark in Italy

16. August 2018, 02:00

Trump and Putin hold a summit in Helsinki

President Donald Trump is in Finland, where he's meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first US-Russia summit in eight years. Ahead of the meeting in Helsinki, Trump said that relations between the US and Russia had never been worse - thanks, he said, to years of US foolishness. On Friday, 12 Russian military intelligence officers were charged with interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. Trump promised to raise the issue with Putin. Steven Erlanger is a correspondent with The New York Times - he says the conflict in Syria is another topic the two leaders will discuss: "Russia's the one group that everyone in the Syrian conflict talks to. And the Americans and the Israelis are very interested in trying to get the Russians to pull the Iranians back from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights."

The EU warns against a trade war

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has urged China, the United States, and Russia not to start a trade war. On a visit to Beijing for an annual economic summit, Tusk warned that worsening global trade tensions could lead to violent conflict and chaos, which must be avoided.

Migrants allowed to disembark in Italy

Italy's government has allowed 450 migrants, who were rescued from an overcrowded boat on Saturday, to disembark in Sicily. Italy only allowed the migrants entry to its port after France, Germany, Malta, Portugal and Spain each agreed to take 50 people. Italy's new government has toughened its asylum policy in an effort to control the flow of migrants and refugees to its shores.

Former minister calls for a second Brexit referendum

The former British Education Minister, Justine Greening, has called for a second referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. Greening, a prominent Conservative, says current plans drawn up by the Prime Minister Theresa May satisfy neither Remainers nor Brexiteers: "I think people should have to choose between the three options that are genuinely on the table, which is: the prime minister's deal, no deal, or indeed staying in the European Union."

France celebrates World Cup win

And millions of people in France have been celebrating - after their national football team won their second World Cup, by beating Croatia 4:2 in the final.

The weather

A mix of sun and cloud with the chance of thundery showers in the Alps and the South. Highs ranging from 20 to 31 degrees.

Übersicht

• News In English