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All Air Canada planes remained grounded late Saturday despite the Canadian government intervening to end a strike by cabin crew members that saw hundreds of flights cancelled and triggered summer travel chaos.Canada’s largest airline, which has 130,000 daily passengers and flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, said that all flights would be cancelled until Sunday afternoon pending a decision by the country’s industrial relations board.Air Canada had stopped all operations after some 10,000 flight attendants began industrial action fueled by a wage dispute just after midnight on Saturday.Hours later, Canada’s labor policy minister, Patty Hajdu, moved to invoke a legal provision that would halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration. “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. The potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great,” Hajdu told journalists.However, she said it could still take five to 10 days for Air Canada to resume regular services after the disruption.Air Canada said in a statement later Saturday that all flights remained grounded pending a decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on the government’s arbitration order.The airline also said customers on cancelled flights were being offered a full refund.It had earlier urged customers not to go to the airport if they have a ticket for Air Canada or its lower-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge.It said flights by Air Canada Express, which are operated by a third party, would not be impacted by the walkout.- ‘Terrible precedent’ – The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is representing the workers, said its members would remain on strike until the government formally issues an order that they return to work.”Please remember there is only a referral, we are still in a legal position to strike and will continue to do so, we must show the company we are in control of this,” the union’s Air Canada branch wrote on Facebook. In a separate statement, CUPE slammed the Canadian government’s intervention as “rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted.””This sets a terrible precedent,” it added. The union later pointed out that Maryse Tremblay, the chair of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, previously worked as legal counsel for Air Canada.Tremblay ruling on whether to end the strike was “an almost unthinkable display of conflict-of-interest,” the union said on Facebook.- Unpaid ground work -In addition to wage increases, the union says it wants to address uncompensated ground work, including during the boarding process. Rafael Gomez, who heads the University of Toronto’s Center for Industrial Relations, told AFP it is “common practice, even around the world” to compensate flight attendants based on time spent in the air. An average passenger, not familiar with common industry practice, could think, “‘I’m waiting to board the plane and there’s a flight attendant helping me, but they’re technically not being paid for that work,'” he said before the strike began. Air Canada detailed its latest offer in a Thursday statement, specifying that under the terms, a senior flight attendant would on average make CAN$87,000 ($65,000) by 2027.CUPE has described Air Canada’s offers as “below inflation (and) below market value.”The union has also rejected requests from the federal government and Air Canada to resolve outstanding issues through independent arbitration. Canada’s economy, though showing resilience, has begun feeling the effects of US President Donald Trump’s trade war, with his tariffs hitting crucial sectors like auto, aluminum and steel. In a statement issued before the strike began, the Business Council of Canada warned an Air Canada work stoppage could add further pain. “At a time when Canada is dealing with unprecedented pressures on our critical economic supply chains, the disruption of national air passenger travel and cargo transport services would cause immediate and extensive harm to all Canadians,” it said. 

Hurricane Erin rapidly strengthened offshore to a “catastrophic” Category 5 storm on Saturday, as rain lashed Caribbean islands and weather officials warned of possible flash floods and landslides.The first hurricane of what is expected to be a particularly intense Atlantic season, Erin is expected to drench Caribbean islands with rain and strong winds but not make landfall.”The center of Erin is expected to move just north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Sunday, and pass to the east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas Sunday night and Monday,” the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were blowing at 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, the report said.Hurricane Erin was located about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northwest of Anguilla in the northern Leeward Islands, an area that includes the US and British Virgin Islands.Tropical storm watches were in effect for St Martin, St Barthelemy, Sint Maarten and the Turks and Caicos Islands.”Erin is now a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHC announced earlier Saturday, denoting highly dangerous storms with sustained wind speeds above 157 mph.The storm reached the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale just over 24 hours after becoming a Category 1 hurricane, a rapid intensification that scientists say has become more common due to global warming.The storm could drench the islands with as much as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas, the NHC said.”Continued rapid strengthening is expected today, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend,” the agency said in an earlier report.It also warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides.”- Climate hazard -Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend. Those swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the US East Coast early next week, creating “life-threatening surf and rip currents,” the NHC said.The hurricane is expected to turn northwest on Saturday night, then turn northward early next week. It is expected to weaken from Monday.While meteorologists have expressed confidence that Erin will remain well off the US coastline, they said the storm could still cause dangerous waves and erosion in places such as North Carolina.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June until late November, is expected to be more intense than normal, US meteorologists predict.Several powerful storms wreaked havoc in the region last year, including Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people in the southeastern United States.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — which operates the NHC — has been subject to budget cuts and layoffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s plans to greatly reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy, leading to fears of lapses in storm forecasting.Human-driven climate change — namely, rising sea temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels — has increased both the possibility of the development of more intense storms and their more rapid intensification, scientists say.

US President Donald Trump handed Vladimir Putin a special item at their Alaska summit: a letter written by his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, pleading for the Russian leader to make peace in the name of children.The first lady’s office on Saturday reposted a Fox News article on X containing the short letter, a day after Trump and Putin failed to find a breakthrough at their high-stakes meeting.Putin read the “peace letter” immediately after Trump handed it to him, while delegations from both sides looked on, according to Fox News.”In today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them,” read the letter, which was signed by the first lady and did not mention Ukraine by name.”Mr Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter,” it added. “In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself.””Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today,” the letter read. “It is time.”In July, the US president had said that his wife, who was born in Slovenia, had helped change his thinking about Putin.”I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,'” Trump said.”And she said, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit.'”Trump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term, having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.During the early months of his new term, he largely directed anger at Ukraine for the lack of a deal, but gradually began expressing frustration that Putin continued his attacks on Ukraine.Before the summit in Alaska, Trump had warned of “severe consequences” if Russia did not accept a ceasefire. However after meeting with Putin, Trump dropped his demand for a ceasefire, saying the best way to end the war “is to go directly to a peace agreement.”Putin has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal — a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticized as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances.

Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.Prior to the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump — who had threatened “severe consequences” on Russia — and European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who will now visit Washington on Monday.The shift away from ceasefire would seem to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal — a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticized as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances.Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back to Washington, saying afterward that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war.”Ceasefire agreements “often times do not hold up,” Trump added on his Truth Social platform.This new development “complicates the situation,” Zelensky said Saturday.If Moscow lacks “the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater — — peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades,” he said on social media.- ‘Harsh reality’ – In the call, Trump expressed support for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.Putin “de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas,” an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its troops still do not fully control any of them.”The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas,” the source said.Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as “significant progress.”But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to “drag out negotiations” with no commitment to end the bloodshed.”The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,” Kallas said.- Zelensky back in White House -The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky’s talks at the White House on Monday.An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend.The Ukrainian president’s last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid.Zelensky said Saturday after a “substantive” conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing “all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.” In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin.”It’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump said.- European pressure -The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call Sunday for their so-called “coalition of the willing” to discuss the way forward.In an earlier statement, they welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire.Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night.Back in Moscow, Putin said his summit talks with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful.”In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any “behind-the-scenes intrigues” that could disrupt what he called “this emerging progress.”

The US government said Saturday it is suspending visitor visas for Gazans after a far-right influencer with the ear of President Donald Trump complained that wounded Palestinians had been allowed to seek medical treatment in the United States.The announcement came one day after a series of furious social media posts by Laura Loomer, who is known for promoting racist conspiracy theories and claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job.”All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,” the State Department, which is led by Marco Rubio, wrote on X.In a series of posts on X Friday, Loomer called on the State Department to stop giving visas to Palestinians from Gaza who she said were “pro-HAMAS… affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and funded by Qatar,” without providing evidence.Loomer’s target was the US-based charity HEAL Palestine, which said last week it had helped 11 critically wounded Gazan children — as well as their caregivers and siblings — arrive safely in the US for medical treatment.It was “the largest single medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza to the US,” the charity said on its website.- ‘Dangerous and inhumane’ -“Truly unacceptable,” Loomer wrote in another X post. “Someone needs to be fired at @StateDept when @marcorubio figures out who approved the visas.””Qatar transported these GAZANS into the US via @qatarairways,” she said. Qatar is “literally flooding our country with jihadis,” she added.Loomer said she had spoken to the staff of Republican Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, adding that they were “also looking into how these GAZANS got visas to come into the US.”Republican Congressman Randy Fine explicitly commended Loomer after the visa change was announced, in a sign of her sway over some US policy. “Massive credit needs to be given to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura,” Fine wrote on X.The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a US-based charity, called on the Trump administration to “reverse this dangerous and inhumane decision.”Over the last 30 years the charity has evacuated thousands of Palestinian children to the US for medical care, it said a statement.”Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza.”Though Loomer holds no official position, she wields significant power, and is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to Trump.In July, Loomer took aim at a job offer made to a highly qualified Biden-era official for a prestigious position at the West Point military academy. The Pentagon rescinded the offer one day later.Trump also fired the head of the highly sensitive National Security Agency, Timothy Haugh, and his deputy Wendy Noble in April at the apparent urging of Loomer, after she met with the president at the White House.”No other content creator or journalist has gotten as many Biden holdovers fired from the Trump admin!” Loomer posted on X Saturday.

Hurricane Erin on Saturday strengthened to a “catastrophic” Category 5 storm as it barrelled towards the Caribbean, with weather officials warning of possible flash floods and landslides.The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report the storm’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 160 miles (255 kilometers) per hour by 11:20 am (1520 GMT).Erin, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season this year, was located about 105 miles (170 kilometers) northeast of Anguilla in the northern Leeward Islands, an area that includes the US and British Virgin Islands.”Erin is now a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHC said.Tropical storm watches remained in effect for St Martin, St Barthelemy and Sint Maarten.The hurricane’s center is expected to move over the weekend just north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.The storm could drench the islands with as much as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas, the NHC said.”Continued rapid strengthening is expected today, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend,” the agency said in an earlier report.It also warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides.”Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend. Those swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the US East Coast early next week, creating “life-threatening surf and rip currents,” the NHC said.The hurricane is forecast to turn northward by late Sunday. While meteorologists have expressed confidence that Erin will remain well off the US coastline, they said the storm could still cause dangerous waves and erosion in places such as North Carolina.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June until late November, is expected to be more intense than normal, US meteorologists predict.Several powerful storms wreaked havoc in the region last year, including Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people in the southeastern United States.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — which operates the NHC — has been subject to budget cuts and layoffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s plans to greatly reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy, leading to fears of lapses in storm forecasting.Climate change — namely, rising sea temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels — has increased both the possibility of the development of more intense storms, and their more rapid intensification, scientists say.

The Canadian government intervened Saturday to end a strike by Air Canada cabin crew members that saw hundreds of flights cancelled and triggered summer travel chaos for the carrier’s 130,000 daily passengers. Canada’s largest airline, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, had stopped all operations after some 10,000 flight attendants began industrial action fueled by a wage dispute just after midnight on Saturday.Hours later, Canada’s labor policy minister, Patty Hajdu, moved to invoke a legal provision that would halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration. “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. The potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great,” Hajdu told journalists.However, she said it could still take five to 10 days for Air Canada to resume regular services after the disruption.The airline had earlier urged customers not to go to the airport if they have a ticket for Air Canada or its lower-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge.It said flights by Air Canada Express, which are operated by a third party, would not be impacted by the walkout.The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is representing the workers, said its members would remain on strike until the government formally issues an order that they return to work.”Please remember there is only a referral, we are still in a legal position to strike and will continue to do so, we must show the company we are in control of this,” the union’s Air Canada branch wrote on Facebook. In a separate statement, CUPE slammed the Canadian government’s intervention as “rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted.””This sets a terrible precedent,” it added. “This will only ensure that the unresolved issues will continue to worsen by kicking them down the road.”- Unpaid ground work -In addition to wage increases, the union says it wants to address uncompensated ground work, including during the boarding process. Rafael Gomez, who heads the University of Toronto’s Center for Industrial Relations, told AFP it is “common practice, even around the world” to compensate flight attendants based on time spent in the air. He said the union had built an effective communication campaign around the issue, creating a public perception of unfairness.An average passenger, not familiar with common industry practice, could think, “‘I’m waiting to board the plane and there’s a flight attendant helping me, but they’re technically not being paid for that work,'” he said, speaking before the strike began. “That’s a very good issue to highlight,” Gomez said, adding that gains made by Air Canada employees could impact other carriers.Air Canada detailed its latest offer in a Thursday statement, specifying that under the terms, a senior flight attendant would on average make CAN$87,000 ($65,000) by 2027.CUPE has described Air Canada’s offers as “below inflation (and) below market value.”The union has also rejected requests from the federal government and Air Canada to resolve outstanding issues through independent arbitration. Canada’s economy, though showing resilience, has begun feeling the effects of US President Donald Trump’s trade war, with his tariffs hitting crucial sectors like auto, aluminum and steel. In a statement issued before the strike began, the Business Council of Canada warned an Air Canada work stoppage could add further pain. “At a time when Canada is dealing with unprecedented pressures on our critical economic supply chains, the disruption of national air passenger travel and cargo transport services would cause immediate and extensive harm to all Canadians,” it said. 

For European leaders, the absence of a Ukraine deal at the summit between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump has at least one upside: They have not yet been completely sidelined in a key strategic moment for the Continent’s future.”It’s good news that there was no deal, for both Ukraine and the Europeans,” said Alberto Alemanno, a European law professor at the HEC university in Paris. He noted a serious risk that “a new European security map” would be drawn up while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Europe’s leaders watched from the sidelines.Europe found itself shut out of the summit in Alaska, and tried to weigh in ahead of the meeting with a flurry of calls and urgent meetings between leaders ahead of time.On Saturday, the French presidency said the leaders of Britain, France and Germany would host a video call Sunday for their so-called “coalition of the willing” to discuss steps towards peace in Ukraine.The meeting would come a day before Zelensky travels to Washington for talks with Trump — five months after the Ukrainian leader was ambushed with a televised scolding during his previous Oval Office visit.European leaders also proposed a three-way summit between Zelensky, Putin and Trump.But it remains unlikely that Russia, hit by 18 rounds of European sanctions since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, is ready for any thaw in its glacial relations with the bloc.- ‘Keep Europeans out’ -Putin made his stance clear on Friday, warning Ukraine and European countries to “not create any obstacles” and not “make attempts to disrupt this emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues”.”Clearly, what Vladimir Putin’s intention is, is to keep Europeans out and Americans in,” said James Nixey, a specialist in Russian foreign policy.After a debriefing with Trump and with Zelensky on Saturday, European leaders held their own video call on their next steps.Moscow “cannot have a veto” on Ukraine joining the European Union or NATO, they said in a statement signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.Macron later called for increased pressure on Russia until “a solid and durable peace” had been achieved.But since the beginning of the war, European leaders “have never engaged with Putin”, said Alemanno.”And all of a sudden they have to do so, without knowing exactly what are the terms of engagement,” he said. “So they’re a bit stuck.”The risk is all the greater since Trump has clearly indicated in recent weeks that he is ready to walk away from the war, despite his campaign promise to end it within “24 hours”.Despite pledges to ramp up military spending and maintain its support for Kyiv, European leaders are sorely lacking in resources to help defend against a Russia intent on subjugating Ukraine.”Each morning when I wake up, my first thought is that we have to re-arm ourselves even faster,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday shifted his campaign to halt the Ukraine war to securing a full peace agreement after a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin failed to secure a ceasefire.Three hours of talks between the White House and Kremlin leaders at an Alaska air base produced no breakthrough but Trump and European leaders said they wanted a new summit that includes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.Zelensky will now go to Washington on Monday while European leaders said they were ready to intensify sanctions against Russia after Trump briefed them on the summit.Trump remained upbeat, calling the summit “a great and very successful day in Alaska!” in a Truth Social post. The US president added that European leaders had backed his plan for a new summit.”It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he added.- Zelensky in Washington -He confirmed Monday’s meeting with Zelensky and said he hoped a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would follow. “Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved,” Trump commented.Before the summit, Trump had warned of “severe consequences” if Russia did not accept a ceasefire. When asked about this by Fox News after the talks, Trump said that “because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now”.Putin has repeatedly said only a full peace deal could halt the war he ordered in February 2022, which has left tens of thousands dead and widespread destruction in Ukraine.Putin again spoke of addressing the “root causes” of the conflict at the summit and some analysts said Trump may have conceded ground.”Faced with what appears to be Putin’s stonewalling, lectures on history, or other dodges, Trump backed away again,” said Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland and now a fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank.Flying back to Washington, Trump spoke first with Zelensky, the White House said.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders later joined the call, officials said.The Europeans, who had been wary of the Alaska meeting, held their own talks on Saturday and afterwards expressed support for a new summit.Their statement did not mention a ceasefire, just the need for more action to force Russia into “a just and lasting peace”. “As long as the killing in Ukraine continues, we stand ready to uphold the pressure on Russia. We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy until there is a just and lasting peace,” they said.The war went on despite the summit. Ukraine announced Saturday that Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Russia said it had taken two more villages in Ukraine. Trump and Putin emerged from their talks to offer warm words at a 12-minute press briefing but took no questions.”We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, but did not offer specifics.- ‘Next time in Moscow’ -Putin also spoke in general terms. “We hope that the understanding we have reached will… pave the way for peace in Ukraine.”Putin warned Ukraine and European countries to “not create any obstacles” and not “make attempts to disrupt this emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues”.As Trump mused about a second meeting, Putin smiled and said in English: “Next time in Moscow”.- Putin warns Western allies -Trump, whose tone with Zelensky has changed since he berated the Ukrainian leader at the White House in February, told Fox that “Now it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done”.Zelensky, who has rejected Russian demands that Ukraine give up territory, was not invited to Friday’s talks. But he said Saturday that he supported the American efforts.”It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation,” he said.Russia in recent days has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any negotiations.Although Ukraine announced as Putin was flying in that it had retaken several villages, Russia’s army on Saturday claimed the capture of Kolodyazi in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and Vorone in the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. 

Hurricane Erin strengthened rapidly to a Category 3 storm early Saturday as it churned towards the Caribbean, with a warning issued that flash floods and landslides were possible.The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour by 0900 GMT, making it a major hurricane.Erin, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season this year, was located about 170 miles (275 kilometers) northeast of Anguilla in the northern Leeward Islands, an area that includes the US and British Virgin Islands.”Continued rapid strengthening is expected, and Erin is forecast to become a Category 4 hurricane later today,” the NHC said in its latest bulletin on Saturday.Tropical storm watches remained in effect for St. Martin, St. Barthelmy and Sint Maarten, with tropical storm conditions possible within 12 hours.The NHC discontinued a tropical storm watch for Anguilla as the storm moved away from the island.The hurricane’s center is expected to move over the weekend just north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.The storm could drench the islands with as much as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas, the NHC said.It also warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides”. Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend. Those swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the US East Coast early next week, creating “life-threatening surf and rip currents,” the NHC said.The hurricane is forecast to turn northward by late Sunday. While meteorologists have expressed confidence that Erin will remain well off the US coastline, they said the storm could still cause dangerous waves and erosion in places such as North Carolina.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June until late November, is expected to be more intense than normal, US meteorologists predict.Several powerful storms wreaked havoc in the region last year, including Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people in the southeastern United States.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — which operates the NHC — has been subject to budget cuts and layoffs as part of President Donald Trump’s plans to greatly reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy, leading to fears of lapses in storm forecasting.Climate change — namely, rising sea temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels — has increased both the possibility of the development of more intense storms, and their more rapid intensification, scientists say.