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| | | | | First Thing: Macron warns Trump against ‘surrender’ in Ukraine | | | US and French presidents disagree over aid and efforts to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine. Plus, are airships the future again? | | | | President Donald Trump meets French president Emmanuel Macron at the White House. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/EPA | | Jem Bartholomew | | | Good morning. The meeting was cordial, at times even warm, but the fracture lines in the transatlantic partnership were clear. Visiting the White House, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned Donald Trump against a “surrender” of Ukraine, as Trump said Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, “wants to make a deal” that could include European peacekeepers. Macron – the first European leader to visit after Trump’s re-election – disagreed over aid and efforts to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine. The meeting came hours after the US voted against a UN resolution drafted by Ukraine and the EU condemning Russia for its invasion. Trump, who last week branded Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a “dictator” and falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war, claimed to reporters that Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the conflict. Here’s what Macron said: “This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine. It must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees. This peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders.” Here’s what Trump said: “I believe that Emmanuel agrees with me on many of the most important issues. … Europe must take a central role in ensuring the long-term security of Ukraine.” Trump also said a US-Ukraine minerals deal was “very close”. Personnel office walks back email ultimatum from Musk | | | | | Academics protest against Elon Musk in DC last Wednesday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA | | | | The government’s human resources office walked back an ultimatum issued by Elon Musk that would have forced workers to email their recent accomplishments or resign, in signs of internal pushback to the world’s richest man’s campaign to downsize the federal workforce. The Saturday email, sent to millions of employees, provoked instant chaos across the government. Kash Patel, the new FBI director and a Trump loyalist, asked agents to “please pause any responses”. The AFGE labor union attacked Musk’s ultimatum to federal workers as an “unlawful distraction”. How are unions challenging Musk’s moves? Over the weekend, a coalition of groups opposed to the mass layoffs asked a court to prevent reprisals against employees who fail to reply by the deadline set at midnight on Monday. It’s “not just inappropriate – it is disruptive to essential government functions,” wrote AFGE’s president. Germany’s likely new chancellor Friedrich Merz says it’s Europe’s ‘five to midnight’ | | | | | Friedrich Merz, of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU). Photograph: Maja Hitij/Getty Images | | | | The man expected to be Germany’s next chancellor said Europe must act swiftly to increase its defence capability given the US administration’s increasing adoption of the motto “America alone”. “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe,” Merz told reporters after his conservative alliance won 28.5% of Sunday’s vote. Merz said effective leadership was urgently needed to combat the far-right AfD’s rise. He also reiterated Germany’s support for Ukraine, despite Donald Trump’s apparent willingness to end the conflict in a way that favors Moscow over Kyiv. What happens next? Merz, a 69-year-old former banker, is likely to try forming a government with Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). The SPD, Germany’s oldest political party, had its worst ever result, with 16%. Scholz called the result “bitter”. In other news … | | | | | Crowds gather last night in St Peter’s Square, in the Vatican, to pray for Pope Francis as he continues hospital treatment. Photograph: Claudia Greco/Reuters | | | | Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia and “mild” kidney failure, remains in a critical condition, although Vatican officials said here was “slight improvement” yesterday. About 7,000 people have died in fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January, said the DRC prime minister, amid advances from Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The soul icon Roberta Flack has died aged 88. She wasknown for hits including Killing Me Softly With His Song. An unfinished motorway bridge collapsed in South Korea, killing at least three people. Punching a man to the ground has landed a UK MP with a 10-week prison sentence. Labour lawmaker Mike Amesbury drunkenly attacked someone in the street. A court upheld the Theranos founder’s conviction for defrauding investors, rejecting Elizabeth Holmes’s multi-year appeal. Stat of the day: Chance of giant asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 falls to 0.0017% | | | | | The asteroid is estimated between 40 to 90 meters wide. Photograph: Nasa | | | | After the odds of a future collision of Asteroid 2024 YR4 into Earth rose to 3.1% earlier this year, the likelihood of an impact has fallen to a negligible 0.0017%, Nasa says. The space rock, which is between 40 and 90 meters wide, is far smaller than the asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs, but could still have caused devastation. Don’t miss this: Guy Pearce talks The Brutalist, Oscars and his new prison movie | | | | | Guy Pearce shot Inside after finishing The Brutalist’s 34-day, breakneck shoot. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian | | | | “I’m not gonna win! Kieran [Culkin] will win, again,” Guy Pearce insists in an interview. The Brutalist star, up for an Academy Award for the first time, talks about awards fuss, living with his ex – and making his new film, Inside, in a real prison. … or this: Gaza medics tell Guardian they were tortured, beaten and humiliated in Israeli prisons | | | | | Healthcare workers are protected under international law yet hundreds have been detained during the war. Illustration: The Guardian/Ahmed Muhanna | | | | The World Health Organization saysthat 297 healthcare workers from Gaza have been detained by the Israeli military since the war began, with at least 160 believed to still be inside detention facilities. Some of Gaza’s most senior doctors told the Guardian they were subject to violence and abuse. Climate check: Antioxidants in fruits and flowers seem to counteract harmful effects of microplastics | | | | | Anthocyanins have emerged as a promising candidate to ameliorate the harmful effects of microplastics on the human reproductive system. Photograph: Photos by RA Kearton/Getty Images | | | | Antioxidants that give fruits and flowers their vibrant colors seem to counteract some of the most dangerous reproductive system effects of exposure to microplastics, such as decreased fertility, and could ultimately be used in developing treatments, peer-reviewed research suggests. Last Thing: Modern airships – the future of air travel or ‘flying bums’? | | | | | A digital mock-up of Hybrid Air Vehicles’ Airlander 10. At 98 meters long, it is the largest aircraft in the world. Photograph: Hybrid Air Vehicles | | | | While they appeared finished after 1937’s Hindenburg disaster, enthusiasts say newer airships have potential for tourism, travel and freight shipping – with Hybrid Air Vehicles sayings its Airlander 10 model could have 90% lower emissions than a conventional plane. Sign up | | | | | | First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now. Get in touch If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [email protected] | |
| | | Betsy Reed | | Editor, Guardian US |
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| | I hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we begin to cover the second Trump administration.
As Trump himself observed: “The first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.”
He’s not entirely wrong. All around us, media organizations have begun to capitulate. First, two news outlets pulled election endorsements at the behest of their billionaire owners. Next, prominent reporters bent the knee at Mar-a-Lago. And then a major network – ABC News – rolled over in response to Trump’s legal challenges and agreed to a $16m million settlement in his favor.
The Guardian is clear: we have no interest in being Donald Trump’s – or any politician’s – friend. Our allegiance as independent journalists is not to those in power but to the public.
How are we able to stand firm in the face of intimidation and threats? As journalists say: follow the money. The Guardian has neither a self-interested billionaire owner nor profit-seeking corporate henchmen pressuring us to appease the rich and powerful. We are funded by our readers and owned by the Scott Trust – whose only financial obligation is to preserve our journalistic mission in perpetuity.
With the new administration boasting about its desire to punish journalists, and Trump and his allies already pursuing lawsuits against newspapers whose stories they don’t like, it has never been more urgent, or more perilous, to pursue fair, accurate reporting. Can you support the Guardian today?
We value whatever you can spare, but a recurring contribution makes the most impact, enabling greater investment in our most crucial, fearless journalism. As our thanks to you, we can offer you some great benefits. We’ve made it very quick to set up, so we hope you’ll consider it. | | However you choose to support us: thank you for helping protect the free press. Whatever happens in the coming months and years, you can rely on the Guardian never to bow down to power, nor back down from truth. | | Support us |
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