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      Wednesday briefing: Can ​the latest ceasefire ​talks in London ​break the ​stalemate in Ukraine?

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      Good morning.Representatives from the US, Britain and France are gathering in London today to resume discussions with Ukrainian officials on a possible ceasefire in the war. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, was scheduled to attend but announced at the last minute he would no longer be present – the White House’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, will be there in his place.Overnight, the US website Axios reported that Kellogg is arriving with a full, “final” US-Russia peace plan that reportedly includes official US recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the start of the invasion. Axios cited sources with direct knowledge of the proposal. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has made clear Kyiv has not been privy to any such negotiations and said on Tuesday that “there is nothing to talk about. This violates our constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.”This latest phase of talks follows a dubious 30-hour truce and several weeks of intensified Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including a particularly brutal strike that killed at least 35 people in the north-eastern city of Sumy on Palm Sunday.The months of deadlock has frustrated Trump – last week, Rubio threatened that the president might ditch the process altogether if a resolution could not be found soon. “We are not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,” Rubio said, adding that the US had “other priorities to focus on”.For today’s newsletter, I spoke with the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, about the status of the peace talks, and what we can expect this week. That’s right after the headlines.Five big stories

      Tariffs | The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of a “major negative shock” from Donald Trump’s tariffs and has cut growth forecasts for every major global economy. The lender cut the UK’s expected growth from 1.6% to 1.1%, a downward trend mirrored across the world.

      British Steel | Redundancy plans have been halted after the government took control of the Scunthorpe steelworks this month, potentially saving up to 2,700 jobs.

      US | Republican lawmakers have followed Donald Trump’s lead and rallied behind Pete Hegesth, the beleaguered US secretary of defence, who has defended his use of the Signal messaging app to share details of US military strikes on Yemen to a group including his wife and brother.

      UK | Number 10 has said that Keir Starmer no longer argues that trans women are women. Starmer said yesterday that he welcomed the “real clarity” of last week’s supreme court ruling on gender recognition.

      Health | More than 150,000 additional people in England are living with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) – or ME – than previously thought, with the total number thought to be about 404,000.
      In depth: A win-win for Russia?View image in fullscreenLast week, Emmanuel Macron hosted peace talks in Paris in an effort to reassert Europe’s role in bringing an end to the war in Ukraine. “Everyone wants to achieve peace – a robust and sustainable peace. The question is about phasing,” the French president said. The talks suggest Trump, increasingly frustrated by his inability to end the war in the decisive manner he promised, is seeking to involve Europe more directly in the negotiations – though it remains unclear whether any real progress is being made.Russia at the tableThough Vladimir Putin has paid lip service to the idea of peace – even going so far as to express a willingness to engage in bilateral talks with Ukraine for the first time in years – he has not seemed “particularly serious in his desire”, Dan says, in part because Moscow has continued to pursue its maximalist objectives of controlling all of Ukraine’s partially occupied provinces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.However, according to a report in the Financial Times, the Kremlin has said that it would halt its invasion of Ukraine along the current frontline if the US agreed that Crimea belonged to Russia. Ukraine has rejected any Russian claim on Crimea and reiterated that discussions should take place around the table, not in the headlines.The overall US proposal, thought to be linked to Trump’s threats to walk away from the table completely, is perhaps the first time since the early days of the war that Moscow is stepping back from its maximalist demands. On top of “de-facto recognition” of most of the occupied territories, the plan reported by Axios also includes assurances to Russia that Ukraine will not become a part of Nato, the lifting of sanctions against Russia and bigger economic cooperation between Russia and the US.In a previous attempt to pressure Kyiv into agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire, Trump has suspended all US military aid to Ukraine and blocked billions in critical shipments. There will likely be renewed pressure to accept these news terms.The change in Russia’s demands comes after Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, whom Ukraine has accused of peddling Russian narratives, met with Putin for several hours last week.What now?After today’s meetings in London, the US is expected to relay Ukraine’s response to Putin, as Witkoff is set to visit Moscow later this week in his fourth meeting with the Russian president.Ukraine’s priority seems to still be a 30-day ceasefire, as opposed to pivoting to this new US-led framework. How this will shake out in negotiations, as Trump grows increasingly tempestuous, is unclear.What if the US walks away?Bringing an end to this war has proven far more difficult than the Trump administration had hoped. Rubio’s suggestion that the US may be willing to withdraw from the talks and remove itself from the situation entirely, represent the most explicit expression of frustration and impatience so far. “To try and bring about peace is an action, but to not be involved is also an action that has consequences, such is the weight of US power,” Dan says.So what might that look like? US military aid and funding to Ukraine has already dropped significantly, with European allies stepping in to try to fill the gap. However, a complete withdrawal by Washington could still have serious consequences. “They could shut off some of the intelligence sharing, make it difficult for Ukraine to operate certain US-supplied weapons systems, which would certainly worsen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, though it is unclear how much worse it would become,” Dan adds.“In any event, it would affect Ukrainian morale and their determination to resist Russian aggression.”Whether or not Trump ultimately walks away, this is a win-win scenario for Russia, Andrew Roth writes in his analysis: Russia is “either taking a favourable deal with the White House or waiting for Trump to lose patience”.What else we’ve been readingView image in fullscreen

      A global survey has found that 89% of people across the world want stronger action on the climate crisis but trap themselves in a “spiral of silence” because they think they’re in the minority. Damian Carrington spoke to experts who said that making people aware that theirs is the majority view could unlock a “social tipping point”. Annie Kelly

      Now more than ever, it “seems that Congress – with both houses controlled by Republicans – exists to do little else but flatter the man who lives at the other end of the Mall, and ratify his edicts” writes Antonia Hitchens in the New Yorker, in a comprehensive (and chilling) piece that lays bare the extent of the sycophancy and unquestioning loyalty that define the Trump White House. Nimo

      On 27 February 2010, Pedro Niada woke in the middle of the night to find his house being swept into the south Pacific Ocean by a colossal tsunami wave. His story of how he and his family survived is a gripping read by Jonathan Franklin. Annie

      Last month, the government announced plans to get rid of the leasehold system and switch it out with a new law that makes all new build flats commonhold. Jessica Murray and Robyn Vinter helpfully explain what that means in practice. Nimo

      “Good honest folk in this country are paying for this”; the cost of spiralling energy theft across the UK is laid bare in this report by energy correspondent Jill Ambrose who investigated how cannabis farms and bitcoin miners pile an extra £50 a year on every one of the country’s household bills. Annie
      skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionSportView image in fullscreenFootball | Matheus Nunes scored in stoppage time to hand Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa and give the hosts a major advantage in the top-five race.Rugby union | England’s most-capped player, Ben Youngs, will be retiring from professional rugby after representing England a record 127 times. Youngs made his professional club rugby debut as a 17-year-old for Leicester and has been a one-club player ever since.Golf | The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) has said it would “love” Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course to host the golf Open Championship in July, a reversal of its decision in 2021 that Trump’s course would not be used to stage championships after the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.The front pagesView image in fullscreenThe Guardian has for its splash today “IMF blames Trump tariffs for ‘major negative shock’ to world economy”. But, says the Express, “Reeves cannot blame Trump for UK’s growth ‘mess’”. The Times runs with “Slave labour setback to Miliband’s green goals”. “In the arms of God” – the Mirror has a full-page picture of Pope Francis lying in state. “Kemi: PM owes apology to so many women” – fallout from the supreme court sex ruling, in the Daily Mail. The i reports “Dash for cash ISAs: savers scramble to lock in best rates before reforms hit”. “Trump to let Putin keep seized land” says the Telegraph and the Financial Times has “Putin’s offer to halt war at current front line piles pressure on Ukraine”. “Instant sack for bad cops” is the main story in the Metro.Today in FocusView image in fullscreenThe UK supreme court and the definition of a womanA ruling on equality law has caused relief, fear – and confusion. Libby Brooks reportsCartoon of the day | Rebecca HendinView image in fullscreenThe UpsideA bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all badView image in fullscreenWorking with seaweed ink reminded the acclaimed artist Antony Gormley of the “plough mud in West Wittering”, instantly transporting him back to the smell and atmosphere of his childhood.Gormley is one of 16 artists asked to create ocean-inspired artworks using ink made from kelp grown in the waters off the island of Skye to raise money for ocean conservation. The project clearly held great emotional resonance for Gormley who spoke of how he feels most alive “when I am in the embrace of seawater” and his belief that the oceans will endure the devastation humanity is wreaking on them and continue to nurture life on earth.The art created from the Art for Your Oceans project will be sold to raise money for WWF ocean conservation projects in the UK and beyond.Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every SundayBored at work?And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.

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      Steve Hilton, former David Cameron adviser, to run for California governor

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      David Cameron’s former top adviser Steve Hilton has joined the 2026 race for California governor, running as a Republican to replace the Democrats’ Gavin Newsom, who is prevented by law from seeking a third term.Hilton, who hosted a show on Fox News for six years, launched his campaign with the theme “Golden Again: Great Jobs, Great Homes, Great Kids”. His campaign said Hilton would be “reinforcing his commitment to positive, practical solutions instead of today’s ideology and dogma”, and that his brand of “positive populism” would focus on helping working families.Hilton was one of the then UK prime minister’s closest advisers before the pair fell out over immigration and Brexit in 2016. Hilton, a former advertising executive, is thought to have been largely responsible for a host of early Cameron measures and photo opportunities including the husky expedition to Alaska to popularise his “Vote Blue, Go Green” message.At his campaign launch in Los Angeles, Hilton took aim at state Democrats over notoriously high state taxes, soaring home prices and “the destruction of the California dream.”He said he would welcome running against the former vice-president Kamala Harris, a one-time California senator and attorney general who has not ruled out a run for the governorship.View image in fullscreenHilton said the governor’s job was not a “consolation prize to be handed out to a failed and rejected machine politician from Washington … who thinks she should get this job because of her identity, not her ability”.Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother and would become the first Black woman elected governor in the US if she were to run and win.California operates a top-two primary system where all candidates compete on one ballot, regardless of party, and the two who receive the most votes go on to the general election in November.Republicans have not won a statewide race in heavily Democratic California in nearly two decades. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the last Republican to be elected governor, in 2006.As Cameron’s head of strategy, Hilton was the inspiration for Stewart Pearson in the BBC satire The Thick of It and described as “the eco-friendly, media-savvy, blue-sky-thinking director of communications for the Cabinet Office”.After leaving Cameron’s team in 2012, Hilton backed Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton for the US presidency in 2016. He supported Brexit but criticised the former Conservative government for “dark” policies that “pull up the drawbridge” to the rest of the world.With the Associated Press More

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      Trump news at a glance: president will be ‘very nice’ to China; Musk to step back from Doge

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      Donald Trump has said tariffs on goods from China will be reduced “substantially” but “won’t be zero”, after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Trump placed import taxes of 145% on China, which countered with 125% tariffs on US goods, causing volatility in the stock market and concern about slowing global economic growth.But the US president on Tuesday said he would be “very nice” to China and not play hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together,” Trump said.Meanwhile, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said he would start pulling back from his role at the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) from May, as the company reported a massive dip in profits amid backlash against his White House role.Here are the key stories at a glance:Treasury secretary says high tariffs unsustainableThe treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has said that he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the US and China and that the high tariffs are unsustainable.“I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations,” Bessent said, according to a transcript obtained by the Associated Press. “Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable.”In response, Donald Trump said during a White House news conference that high tariffs on goods from China will “come down substantially”.Read the full storyIMF warns of ‘major negative shock’ from Trump’s tariffsDonald Trump’s tariffs have unleashed a “major negative shock” into the world economy, the International Monetary Fund has said, as it cut its forecasts for US, UK and global growth. The Washington-based lender cut its forecast for global GDP growth to 2.8% for this year – 0.5% weaker than it was expecting as recently as January.Read the full storyMusk to pull back from Doge amid 71% dip in Tesla profitsOn a Tesla investor call, Elon Musk said the work necessary to get the government’s “financial house in order is mostly done”. His comments came after the company reported a massive dip in both profits and revenues in the first quarter of 2025.“Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to Doge will drop significantly,” he said.Read the full storyUS lawmakers decry student detentions on visit to Ice jailsCongressional lawmakers denounced the treatment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, the students being detained by US immigration authorities for their pro-Palestinian activism, as a “national disgrace” during a visit to the two facilities in Louisiana where each are being held.Read the full storyRFK Jr calls sugar ‘poison’ but says government probably can’t eliminate itThe US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, on has called sugar “poison” and recommended that Americans eat “zero” added sugar in their food.He acknowledged that the federal government was unlikely to be able to eliminate it from products, but said better labeling was needed for foods and that new government guidelines on nutrition would recommend people avoid sugar completely.Read the full storyTrump says he has no plans to fire Fed chief Donald Trump has said he has no plans to fire the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, and suggested the draconian tariffs the US has imposed on China could be lowered.The president’s comments come days after he called the central bank boss a “major loser” whose “termination cannot come fast enough” and defended his tariffs after they triggered stock market sell-offs.Read the full storyRubio announces sweeping changes to US state departmentThe secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has announced a proposed reorganisation of the US state department as part of what he called an effort to reform it amid criticism from the Trump White House over the execution of US diplomacy.Read the full storyHegseth blames ousted officials for leaks The embattled US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has defended his most recent use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive military operations, blaming fired Pentagon officials for orchestrating leaks against the Trump administration.Read the full story150 US university presidents decry Trump administrationMore than 150 presidents of US colleges and universities have signed a statement denouncing the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” with higher education – the strongest sign yet that US educational institutions are forming a unified front against the government’s extraordinary attack on their independence.Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      Former vice-president Al Gore said the Trump administration was “trying to create their own preferred version of reality”, akin to the Nazi party in 1930s Germany.

      Larry David wrote a spoof essay in response to Bill Maher’s recent glowing account of his dinner with Trump in the White House.

      JD Vance has said the 21st century could be a “dark time for humanity” without a close India-US alliance.
      Catching up? Here’s what happened on 21 April 2025. More

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      ‘National disgrace’: US lawmakers decry student detentions on visit to Ice jails

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      Congressional lawmakers denounced the treatment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, the students being detained by US immigration authorities for their pro-Palestinian activism, as a “national disgrace” during a visit to the two facilities in Louisiana where each are being held.“We stand firm with them in support of free speech,” the Louisiana congressman Troy Carter, who led the delegation, said during a press conference after the visits on Tuesday. “They are frightened, they’re concerned, they want to go home.”Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student, and Khalil, a graduate of Columbia, have been detained for more than a month since US immigration authorities took them into custody. Neither have been accused of criminal conduct and are being held in violation of their constitutional rights, members of the delegation said.The delegation included representatives Carter, Bennie Thompson, Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern, Senator Ed Markey, and Alanah Odoms, the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. They visited the South Louisiana Ice processing center in Basile, where Öztürk is being held, and traveled to the Central Louisiana Ice processing center in Jena to see Khalil.They met with Öztürk and Khalil and others in Ice custody to conduct “real-time oversight” of a “rogue and lawless” administration, Pressley said.Their detention comes as the Trump administration has staged an extraordinary crackdown on immigrants, illegally removing people from the country and seeking to detain and deport people for constitutionally protected free speech that it considers adverse to US foreign policy.“It’s a national disgrace what is taking place,” Markey said. “We stand right now at a turning point in American history. The constitution is being eroded by the Trump administration. We saw today here in these detention centers in Louisiana examples of how far [it] is willing to go.”McGovern described those being held as political prisoners. He said: “This is not about enforcing the law. This is moving us toward an authoritarian state.”Late last month, officials detained Öztürk, who co-wrote a piece in a Tufts student newspaper that was critical of the university’s response to Israel’s attacks Palestinians. The 30-year old has said she has been held in “unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane” conditions in a Louisiana facility and has had difficulty receiving medical treatment.Öztürk was disappeared when she was detained, Pressley said, adding that she was denied food, water and the opportunity to seek legal counsel. Khalil missed the birth of his first child, she said. She described Donald Trump as a dictator with a draconian vision for the US.“They are setting the foundational floor to violate the due process and free speech of every person who calls this country home, whatever your status is,” she said. “It could be you tomorrow for suffering a miscarriage. It could be you tomorrow for reading a banned book.”Those in custody are shaken and were visibly upset and afraid, the delegation said. They have said they are not receiving necessary healthcare and that the facilities are kept extremely cold.“We have to resist, we have to push back. We’re a much better country than this,” McGovern said.Earlier this month a judge ruled that Khalil, who helped lead demonstrations at Columbia last year and has been imprisoned for more than a month, is eligible to be deported from the US.The Trump administration has argued that Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the US and child of Palestinian refugees, holds beliefs that are counter to the country’s foreign policy interests.On Monday, Senator Peter Welch of Vermont met with Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green-card holder and Columbia student who was detained while at a naturalization interview. More

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      RFK Jr calls sugar ‘poison’ but says government probably can’t eliminate it

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      The US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Tuesday called sugar “poison” and recommended that Americans eat “zero” added sugar in their food, while acknowledging that the federal government was unlikely to be able to eliminate it from products.Kennedy, however, said that better labeling was needed for foods and that new government guidelines on nutrition would recommend people avoid sugar completely.The health and human services secretary also announced plans to eliminate the last eight government-approved synthetic food dyes from the US food supply within two years.Kennedy said at a press conference on Tuesday: “Sugar is poison and Americans need to know that it is poisoning us.”He added moments later: “I don’t think that we’re going to be able to eliminate sugar, but I think what we need to do, probably, is give Americans knowledge about how much sugar is in their products, and also, with the new nutrition guidelines, we’ll give them a very clear idea about how much sugar they should be using, which is zero.”The secretary said the public is under-informed about food.“Americans don’t know what they’re eating. We’re going to start informing Americans about what they’re eating,” he said.Meanwhile, he did not talk about vaccines or vaccinations at the press conference, but it was reported by Politico, citing sources familiar with departmental discussions, that Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, was considering removing the Covid-19 shot from the official federal list of recommended inoculations for children.The outlet quoted an HHS spokesperson as saying a final decision on whether to continue recommending coronavirus vaccines for children had not been made.In the food discussions at the press conference, Kennedy talked about various dyes. Health advocates have called for the removal of artificial and petroleum-based dyes from foods, with some studies suggesting a link to neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children, although a conclusive link is still contested.The Biden administration previously moved to ban Red No 3 food dye, citing cancer risks in animal studies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has consistently maintained that the approved dyes are safe.Following Biden’s directive, Red No 3 must be removed from foods by 2027 and from medications by 2028. Kennedy aims to remove the remaining petroleum-based dyes, health officials said.“American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” the FDA commissioner, Marty Makary, said. “These steps that we are taking means that the FDA is effectively removing all petroleum based food dyes from the US food supply.”The move could mark a major step in Kennedy’s broader campaign against potentially harmful food additives. But some are still questioning how successful this campaign will be, especially regarding the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory stance towards industry giants.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionWhen asked whether a formal agreement with food industry heads had been made, Kennedy responded: “I would say we don’t have an agreement. We have an understanding.”An enforcement strategy or a clear timeline for the upcoming ban remains unclear, though Makary said that the administration aims to eliminate the dyes “by the end of next year”.Kennedy questioned during the conference how the US would maintain world leadership “with such a sick population”, going on to refer to “all these autoimmune diseases” and “these exotic diseases”. He also expressed concern that the majority of American children cannot qualify for military service with certain conditions.He went on to speak about the apparent rise in several types of diseases and disorders, which he believes could be possibly linked to the use of food dyes or other additives. “I never knew anybody with a peanut allergy,” he said, referring to when he was a child. “I never knew anybody with a food allergy. Why do five of my seven kids have allergies?”The FDA has approved 36 food dyes for use in the US, nine of which are artificial and made from petroleum. The others are derived from natural sources, such as vegetables. More

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      Veterans affairs agency orders staff to report each other for ‘anti-Christian bias’

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      The veterans affairs department (VA) is ordering staff to report colleagues for instances of “anti-Christian bias” to a newly established taskforce, as part of Donald Trump’s push to reshape government policy on religious expression.The VA secretary, Doug Collins, in an internal email seen by the Guardian, said the department had launched a taskforce to review the Biden administration’s “treatment of Christians”.“The VA Task Force now requests all VA employees to submit any instance of anti-Christian discrimination to Anti-ChristianBiasReporting.@va.gov,” the email reads. “Submissions should include sufficient identifiers such as names, dates, and locations.”The email states that the department will review “all instances of anti-Christian bias” but that it is specifically seeking instances including “any informal policies, procedures, or unofficially understandings hostile to Christian views”.In addition, the department is seeking “any adverse responses to requests for religious exemptions under the previous vaccine mandates” and “any retaliatory actions taken or threatened in response to abstaining from certain procedures or treatments (for example: abortion or hormone therapy)”.Donald Trump signed an executive order within weeks of his second term aimed at ending the “anti-Christian weaponization of government”, and announced the formation of a taskforce, led by the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to end all forms of “anti-Christian targeting and discrimination” in the government.Bondi would work to “fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide”, Trump said in February.Critics were quick to condemn Trump’s announcement at the time as a thinly veiled attempt to privilege evangelical Christianity over other religious minorities.“If Trump really cared about religious freedom and ending religious persecution, he’d be addressing antisemitism in his inner circle, anti-Muslim bigotry, hate crimes against people of color and other religious minorities,” the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser, said in a statement.“This taskforce is not a response to Christian persecution; it’s an attempt to make America into an ultra-conservative Christian nationalist nation.” More

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      US army to test enlisted men and women with same physical standards

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      The US army unveiled plans on Monday to require a fitness test with identical physical standards for men and women in combat positions after the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered the elimination of gender-based fitness requirements in frontline roles.The revamped army fitness test, which replaces the combat fitness test, will be “sex-neutral” and force female soldiers in 21 combat specialties to meet the same benchmarks as men – a change expected to drastically cut the number of women qualifying for these positions.“The five-event AFT is designed to enhance Soldier fitness, improve warfighting readiness, and increase the lethality of the force,” the army said in a press release.Gone is the “standing power throw” or “ball yeet”, replaced with a streamlined assessment of deadlifts, push-ups, planks, a two-mile run and a sprint-drag-carry exercise. For younger women, the standards jump significantly – deadlifting 140lb instead of 120, and shaving nearly 90 seconds off required run times.The new policy appears to contradict findings from a 2017 study of US army soldiers that concluded “gaps in cardiorespiratory and muscular performances between men and women should be addressed through targeted physical training programs that aim to minimize physiological differences” rather than applying identical standards.A 2022 Rand Corporation study also found that women and older service members were failing the previous fitness test “at significantly higher rates than men and younger troops”, which raises questions about the feasibility of the new standardized requirements.Combat soldiers must now score “a minimum of 60 points per event and an overall minimum score of 350” under the sex-neutral standards, according to the army’s press release. Active-duty troops have until January 2026 to meet requirements, while national guard and reserve members have until June 2026.Hegseth has previously said that he does not think women should be allowed to serve in combat roles, though he later moderated his stance. The former Fox News host wrote in a recent book that “women cannot physically meet the same standards as men” and that mothers were needed “but not in the military, especially in combat units”.Soldiers who fail to meet the new standards twice consecutively face potential removal from the army or, according to Sgt Maj Christopher Mullinax, would be required to transfer to non-combat roles, which will continue using sex- and age-based scoring.The army will begin rolling out the changes on 1 June, with full implementation guidelines expected in May. More