Students shut out of US by Trump should come to UK, London mayor says
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(LONDON) — Students shut out of U.S. universities by President Donald Trump’s administration should instead come to the U.K., London Mayor Sadiq Khan told an event on Monday, as he criticized governments that engage in “narrow” and damaging nationalism.
Lauding London as a “beacon of hope, progress and possibility,” Khan told attendees at the Concordia Europe Summit that the city will push back against movements “towards closed societies and countries that want to cut themselves off from the world, abdicate their responsibilities under the rule-based global order and stoke a narrow form of nationalism that divides their populations into insiders and outsiders.”
“To pick one country entirely at random, I’ve got to say we’re delighted that record numbers of Americans are applying for British citizenship or to live and work here, and that many are choosing to settle in London,” Khan continued.
“Our city will always offer newcomers a warm welcome,” the mayor said. “The same goes for any overseas students considering where to head next. If the U.S. is closed to you, we’ll make sure that London is open, because we value and celebrate the contribution foreign students made to our society, our economy and our culture.”
Those governments seeking to “put the brakes on globalization or unwind it as much as they can to their perceived advantage,” are engaging in “an entirely self-defeating exercise that will do immense damage to your own economy and those of your allies and trade partners,” Khan said.
Khan — a prominent member of the U.K.’s center-left Labour Party — did not explicitly mention the Trump administration in his address. The two men have repeatedly criticized each other in the past.
When Khan was running for mayor of London in 2015, he said Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. was “outrageous.” Khan, who is from British Pakistani background, later said he hoped Trump would “lose badly” in the 2016 presidential election. During Trump’s first term, Khan lobbied the British government to cancel the president’s 2017 state visit.
Trump has characterized Khan’s criticism as “very nasty,” accused the three-term mayor of doing a “terrible job” and dismissed him as a “stone cold loser.”
European nations are mobilizing to attract students and researchers blocked from their work in the U.S., as the Trump administration seeks to curtail funding for U.S. institutions linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The Trump administration is also targeting universities it accuses of doing too little to suppress pro-Palestinians protests against Israel’s war in Gaza — protests the White House has broadly characterized as antisemitic.
The European Union last month launched a $566 million plan for 2025-2027 “to make Europe a magnet for researchers.” The U.K., meanwhile, is preparing its own $67 million plan to attract foreign researchers.
Khan on Monday addressed those who are “no longer comfortable with their political climate” to “come to London, because we’re ready to roll out the red carpet to business leaders, tech entrepreneurs, high net-worth individuals, creatives, students, whoever it may be.”
“If you value certainty and stability, freedom and democracy, pluralism and mutual respect, then London is the place to be,” the mayor said.
(LONDON and DELHI) — An Air India airliner carrying 242 passengers and crew en route to the United Kingdom from India crashed shortly after takeoff, apparently killing all onboard the Boeing Dreamliner, local officials and the airline said.
“The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 13:38 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft,” the airline said in a statement posted on social media. “Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals.”
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik told ABC News that it “appears that there are no survivors on the plane.”
The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport, in India’s Gujarat state, Malik said Thursday. Boeing’s Dreamliner planes had not previously been involved in an incident where passenger fatalities were reported. This plane had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, which is considered average for this aircraft, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
“We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information,” Boeing said in a statement.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the plane “fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter” immediately after it departed from the airport. Video from the site appeared to show the jet disappear below the tree line, which was followed seconds later by a ball of fire and a thick plume of gray smoke.
“Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site,” the Directorate General said in the statement.
India’s Central Industrial Security Force released photos from the site of the crash, which appeared to include civilians and emergency personnel working to put out flaming wreckage. One photo appeared to show the damaged tail of the airplane resting partially inside a hole in a building.
The Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he had “directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action” to respond to the crash.
“Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site,” the minister added.
GE Aerospace, the aircraft engine manufacturer, said in a statement they have also activated their emergency response team and are “prepared to support our customer and the investigation.”
The local governor, Bhupendra Patel, spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the crash to coordinate their emergency response, officials said. Patel said he ordered a so-called “green corridor” for emergency vehicles to travel between the crash site and local hospitals.
Modi in a statement confirmed that he’d been in touch with local officials.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” he said in a statement on social media. “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”
The airline initially announced the crash in a statement on social media, saying the flight had been “involved in an incident,” adding that it was “ascertaining the details” of the incident. The airline updated its social media profiles to display all-black profile pictures.
The flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad airport, which is officially Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, to London’s Gatwick Airport, according to FlightRadar24, a tracking site.
It had been scheduled to depart at 9:50 a.m. local time, with a planned arrival time in London at 18:25 p.m. local time. Gatwick in a statement confirmed the scheduled arrival time.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the situation in Ahmedabad, adding that his “thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer said in a statement.
The captain had 8,200 hours of experience and the copilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience, India’s Directorate General added.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be leading a team of U.S. investigators traveling to India to assist in the investigation of the crash.
All information regarding the investigation will be provided by the Indian government.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Ellie Kaufman, Clara McMichael, Sam Sweeney and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war in “two weeks or less,” but later said a little more time might be acceptable.
Trump’s deadline comes a day after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Vatican City while they were in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.
“I think the meeting went well, we’ll see what happens over the next few days. We’ll probably learn a lot,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey before returning to Washington.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” that Russia continued to carry out missile and drone strikes in Ukraine days after he had implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the attacks while negotiations continued.
When asked what he and Zelenskyy talked about, Trump said Zelenskyy emphasized their need for more weapons.
“He told me that he needs more weapons and we’re going to see what happens — I want to see what, with respect to Russia — with Russia I’ve been surprised and disappointed when they did the bombing,” Trump said.
When asked what he wants from Putin, Trump replied, “I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal. We have the confines of a deal I believe and I want him to sign it and be done with it and just go back to life.”
Trump also said that Ukraine reclaiming its territory in Crimea that Russia occupied in 2014 would be complicated while blaming former President Barack Obama for allowing Russia to take the region. Asked whether he thought Ukraine would give up Crimea, Trump said “I think so.”
Earlier Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russia and Ukraine are closer to a deal after Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy, but a deal is still not there.
He said the U.S. will now need to weigh if it’s time for the U.S. to step in to mediate talks.
“Well, I think they’re closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We cannot continue, as I said, to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition. So the last week has really been about figuring out how close are these sides really and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator in this regard.”
Trump and Zelenskyy met in Vatican City on Saturday while both were in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the two had a “very productive session.” Zelenskyy described the meeting as “good” in a post on X and said, “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
After their meeting, Trump blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s continued bombardments of Ukrainian cities, which continued overnight into Sunday morning with more drone attacks on six Ukrainian regions. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed eight Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday morning.
Rubio was asked why the U.S. trusts that Putin won’t invade Ukraine again or another European country as he has never acknowledged Ukraine’s right to exist.
“Well, I don’t think peace deals are built on trust. I think peace deals have to be built on verification. Have to be built on facts, have to be built on action, have to be built on realities,” Rubio said. “So this is not an issue of, well, of trust. It’s an issue of building in these sorts of things, verification, security, guarantees, things that have been discussed in the past,” Rubio said.
Rubio said the U.S. has made “real progess, but those last couple steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest ones, and it needs to happen soon.”
Rubio wouldn’t elaborate on a timeline of a deal but instead stressed this is a “critical week” for the U.S.
“This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not more important, in some cases, but we want to see it happen, there are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic, of course, as well,” he said. “We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”
Asked if he supported negotiations, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN’s “State of the Union that he fears Trump will cave in to Putin and “sell out” Zelenskyy.
“Well, look, my great fear, Dana, is that Trump will just cave in to Putin,” Schumer told CNN’s Dana Bash. “That’s been the overall indications all along. And, of course, the bottom line is very simple, that if we cave to Putin, if Trump caves in to Putin, it’s three — it’s bad in three very bad ways:” abandoning Ukraine would be a “moral tragedy, he said, and would “tear asunder” alliances with European allies.
“But, third, and maybe worst of all, it’s a sign that the United States is weak. It sends a signal to every dictator in China, in North Korea, in Iran that, if you stand up and bully Trump, you’re going to get your way,” he said.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that more sanctions against Russia could be coming as the U.S. tries to force it to make a deal.
“[Trump] talked about potential action on banking, potential action on the oil and gas sector. But he’s determined to use both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table,” he said.
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs viaGetty Images
(LONDON) — Ukrainian and Russian delegations met again in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday to take part in the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks intended to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor. The talks come just one day after Ukraine launched an audacious drone attack on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet.
Revived talks so far have failed to reach a peace deal, or even achieve a sustained ceasefire, despite pressure on both sides by President Donald Trump’s administration. The last meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul in mid-May was the first direct contact between the two sides since spring 2022.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed to ABC News on Monday morning that talks had resumed at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday, according to a readout published by the State Department — which said the call took place “at Russia’s request.”
“Secretary Rubio reiterated President Trump’s call for continued direct talks between Russia and Ukraine to achieve a lasting peace,” the State Department said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two men “exchanged views on various initiatives concerning the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” Ukraine is calling for a full 30-day ceasefire during which time peace negotiations can take place. Russia has refused the request, with President Vladimir Putin and his top officials retaining maximalist war goals dating back to the opening days of the Russian invasion.
Among the Kremlin’s demands are the annexation of four Ukrainian regions — plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — Ukrainian demilitarization and a permanent block on the country’s accession to NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Sunday social media post that Kyiv’s delegation will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
The president set out Ukraine’s goals for the meeting. “First — a full and unconditional ceasefire,” he wrote. “Second — the release of prisoners. Third — the return of abducted children. And in order to establish a reliable and lasting peace and ensure security, preparation of the meeting at the highest level.”
Zelenskyy and his government have repeatedly accused Putin of intentionally sabotaging peace talks since Trump returned to office in January, having promised on the campaign trail to end the war within 24 hours. Trump’s threat of further sanctions on Russia do not appear to have softened the Kremlin’s war goals.
Zelenskyy and his European backers have pushed Trump to increase pressure on Putin by introducing new sanctions on Russia and providing Ukraine with more military support. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy, hinted at the president’s growing frustration with Moscow, telling ABC News last week that the president has “seen a level of unreasonableness that really frustrates him.”
In a phone conversation with Trump in May, Putin said Russia would provide a “peace memorandum” outlining a possible settlement. Moscow is yet to provide the document. Vladimir Medinsky — a Putin aide and long-time member of Russia’s negotiating team — said Sunday that the Russian team had received Ukraine’s version of the peace memorandum.
Since the last round of talks in Istanbul, Trump has hit out at Putin — calling him “absolutely crazy” — and again criticized Zelenskyy, saying of the Ukrainian leader, “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News, “Russia’s primary goal is to avoid sanctions by pretending that it negotiates.”
“Putin is not interested in negotiations and ceasefire, because he hopes to start an offensive during summer,” Merezhko added.
“On the one hand, he imitates negotiations to avoid Trump’s sanctions and simultaneously to demonstrate that Russia is not politically isolated. Yet, on the other hand, Putin hopes that if Trump will decide to withdraw from the negotiations, he will leave Ukraine without military support, one-on-one with Russia.”
The talks come a day after Ukraine launched one of the most stunning attacks of the war. In what a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told ABC News was an operation one and a half years in the making, operatives used attack drones concealed in containers carried by trucks to attack strategic bomber bases deep inside Russian territory.
Moscow has used long-range bombers and their cruise missile armaments to attack Ukrainian cities throughout the full-scale invasion. The SBU claimed to have hit more than 40 military aircraft in the attacks, which targeted multiple air bases thousands of miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory. Zelenskyy said that 34% of Russia’s cruise missile-carrying aircraft were hit.
Speaking at a summit of the Bucharest Nine and Nordic countries in Lithuania on Monday, Zelenskyy said of Sunday’s drone attack, “Russia must realize what it means to suffer losses. That is what will push it toward diplomacy.”
“This is a special moment,” Zelenskyy added. “On the one hand, Russia has started its summer offensive. But on the other, it is forced to participate in diplomacy. And this is at once a challenge and also a real opportunity for all of us. It is a chance to end this war.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry framed the operation as “a terrorist attack,” claiming that the strikes were “repelled” in three regions, but noting that several aircraft caught fire at airfields during the attacks in Irkutsk and Murmansk — videos of which the SBU published.
Also on Sunday, Russian authorities reported the collapse of two railway bridges and derailment of two trains in regions bordering Ukraine, which they blamed on “explosions.” At least seven people were killed, authorities said.
In an address on Sunday, Zelenskyy called the Ukrainian drone attack a “brilliant operation” and said Russia “suffered truly significant losses.” The president framed the attack as a defensive measure.
“We will defend ourselves by all means available to us,” Zelenskyy said. “Not for a single second did we want this war. We offered the Russians a ceasefire. Since March 11, the U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire has been on the table. It was the Russians who chose to continue the war.”
“Pressure is truly needed — pressure on Russia that should bring it back to reality,” Zelenskyy added. “Pressure through sanctions. Pressure from our forces. Pressure through diplomacy. All of it must work together.”
Ivan Stupak, a former officer in the SBU, told ABC News that Ukrainians expect a significant Russian response — “probably mass drone attacks on civilians or using Oreshnik ballistic missiles.”
“I think there will be zero impact on peace negotiations,” Stupak added, citing the ongoing Russian ground offensives grinding forward and capturing — even if at great cost — more territory in eastern Ukraine, which the Kremlin will hope to leverage.
Meanwhile, long-range drone and missile attacks continued overnight into Monday morning.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 80 drones and four missiles into the country overnight, of which 52 were shot down or neutralized. The air force reported impacts in 12 locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 162 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions overnight.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
