UK

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer were clearly on a mission to make each other’s lives easier at their joint press conference on Thursday. Despite plenty of thorny topics threatening to cast a cloud over an otherwise successful state visit, both steered clear of sticking the boot in despite tricky questions being asked. From Lord Mandelson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia, The Independent runs you through the key takeaways after the pair’s media grilling. Jeffrey EpsteinPerhaps the biggest risk for Sir Keir and Mr Trump was the scandal around Lord Mandelson’s ties to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The US president has his own historic links to the financier, and Sir Keir last week fired his ambassador to Washington over a series of emails he had exchanged with Epstein. Peter Mandelson was sacked over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein despite it having been widely known about before his appointment More

Jeremy Corbyn is seeking legal advice after Zarah Sultana sent an “unauthorised email” from Your Party’s account inviting its supporters to become paid-up members. As the left-wing MP accused Your Party of being run as a “sexist boys’ club”, Mr Corbyn called on his backers to ignore Ms Sultana’s email. In a statement signed off by the party’s five male MPs, ignoring Ms Sultana, he said anyone who signed up should immediately cancel direct debits and that “legal advice is being taken”.Jeremy Corbyn urged supporters to cancel any payments to Your Party More

A state reception dinner for British right-wingers descended into a bust-up between Boris Johnson and other senior Tories over the party’s record in government. In an astonishing turn of events, a witness described “real anger” as the meeting of minds led to a spat between Liz Truss, Mr Johnson and his former boss, broadcaster Andrew Neil. The event, at the luxury Peninsula hotel in London’s Mayfair, was hosted by US broadcaster Newsmax and included guests of honour Marco Rubio and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Both are in the UK for Donald Trump’s state visit. Boris Johnson mounted a robust defence of his record as PM More

An AI-generated government “minister” was debuted in the Albanian parliament on Thursday, with Prime Minister Edi Rama presenting the bot as a symbol of his government’s push for transparency and innovation.“The Constitution speaks of institutions at the people’s service. It doesn’t speak of chromosomes, of flesh or blood,” the avatar declared in a three-minute address delivered from two large screens. “It speaks of duties, accountability, transparency, non-discriminatory service.”“I assure you that I embody such values as strictly as every human colleague, maybe even more,” added the artificial persona. It has been named Diella, which means sun in Albanian, and is depicted as a woman in traditional Albanian dress.Rama argued that the AI-generated bot will help the government work faster and with full transparency. It is one element in a larger plan to highlight the Balkan nation’s technological innovations as it works toward European Union membership. Albania hopes to join the 27-member bloc by 2030.Opposition lawmakers are highly critical of the AI bot, and believe Diella is actually a way for the government to hide graft. They banged their hands on their tables, pushing the speaker to cut short the debate on the government program. The session ended after 25 minutes.They also boycotted a vote on the Cabinet’s program, but it passed anyway with 82 votes in favor in the 140-seat parliament.The opposition did not explain how it thinks the government would exploit Diella to hide corruption in public finances.Diella was created earlier this year in cooperation with Microsoft as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform. It has helped users navigate the site and get access to about 1 million digital inquiries and documents.“I am not here to replace people but to help them,” the bot said in its address to parliament. “True I have no citizenship, but I have no personal ambition or interests either.” More

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has backed potential Labour leadership challenger Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster, in an apparent blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s authority.The cabinet minister said that she “loves” the Labour politician, currently the Greater Manchester mayor, and would support him “whatever he decides to do”.She also set out her support for key Burnham ally Lucy Powell in Labour’s upcoming deputy leadership contest.Culture secretary Nandy said she ‘loves’ Burnham More

A US software company’s £1.5 billion investment in the UK’s defence sector is a “major vote of confidence”, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.Palantir has announced plans to establish the UK as its European headquarters for defence, creating 350 “high-skilled” new jobs.The partnership will see the development of artificial intelligence-powered capabilities to speed-up decision making, military planning and targeting, the Ministry of Defence said.It is part of a £150 billion American investment package announced during US President Donald Trump’s historic second state visit.Mr Healey said: “This partnership is a major vote of confidence in UK leadership in defence, data and AI technology and as an ideal location for companies to invest and expand.“By harnessing the power of AI, we will boost the effectiveness of our armed forces, ensuring they have the tools they need to keep the British people safe.“The work will unlock billions of pounds of investment into UK innovation, creating hundreds of skilled UK jobs and making defence the leading edge of innovation in Nato.”As part of the agreement, Palantir has committed to mentoring small and medium enterprises in the UK to develop innovative products and solutions, including in AI.Palantir chief executive Alex Karp said: “This partnership reflects our deep commitment to the UK. It will see up to £750 million invested in the most advanced AI-enabled defence technology, honed on the battlefield in Ukraine and used extensively by the US and Nato.“It will reinforce the UK’s position as a major military force protecting the West from our adversaries. And it will underline the UK’s status as our largest presence outside of the US.”A tactic known as the “kill chain”, whereby military planners fuse information and data sources from open source and military platforms to provide military commanders with faster options for attacking an enemy target, is expected to be developed as part of the deal. More

As Donald Trump bid farewell to King Charles on Thursday morning after what the US president clearly considered to be a successful state trip, all eyes turned to the political arena where the UK-US “special relationship” will truly be put to the test. For Keir Starmer, his mini summit with President Trump at Chequers carries enormous significance – not just for his foreign policy but also his own standing at home, given that Labour MPs are openly questioning whether he should continue as PM.But the prime minister knows that, as well as being a potential boost for him domestically, the two face clashing over difficult issues, which could really test Trump’s description of the relationship. Among these are steel, tariffs, Ukraine and even the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which put paid to Peter Mandelson and threatens to drag in the US president. But, most pressing, is Gaza, a subject on which Starmer and Trump are in no way aligned. Donald Trump with King Charles at the state banquet More

Labour deputy leadership candidate Lucy Powell has dubbed fevered speculation around the possible return of Andy Burnham “kind of sexist”. As the crisis facing Sir Keir Starmer continues to grow, there have been mounting calls from Labour backbenchers for the Greater Manchester mayor to return to Westminster politics and launch a leadership bid. But asked about the possibility of such a return, Ms Powell said the conversation is “just a classic Westminster bubble obsession”. Bridget Phillipson is running against Lucy Powell (PA) More