Few things invite Kremlin-watching like the unexplained absence of a senior official. And Sergei Lavrov's no-show from a key Kremlin meeting last week has inevitably set off speculation about what may be shifting behind the scenes. Veteran foreign minister Lavrov, 75, was the only permanent member of the security council missing from last Tuesday's session, during which Vladimir Putin instructed officials to draw up proposals on the possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing an absence the well-connected Kommersant newspaper said was agreed in advance.
Pressure is mounting on Keir Starmer not to cut the UK's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria after polling found 62% of Britons believe the government should maintain or increase its support. The prime minister must decide this year whether to maintain the UK contribution at 1bn or implement a cut in line with recent reductions to the aid budget. A cut of 20% has been rumoured.
Everybody wants it at [Doral golf course] because it's right next to the airport. It's the best location, Trump said as he signed a series of executive orders, including the name reversal of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War. Beautiful everything. The president maintained that he would not personally profit from the summit. Notably, in 2019, Trump announced that the Doral golf course would host the G-7 summit, but he reversed course after intense bipartisan backlash.
