Trump describes Europe's leaders as 'weak' and countries as 'decaying'

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Good morning and welcome to your daily news briefing from The Independent.

Donald Trump has described Europe's leaders as 'weak', Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to a UK armed forces member who was killed in Ukraine, and a damning review has found that babies suffered avoidable deaths in NHS maternity units.

Top stories

1 | Trump says Europe's leaders are 'weak' and countries 'decaying' in attack on US allies

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2 | Unacceptable care and women left to 'bleed out' in bathrooms – maternity review

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3 | Starmer pays tribute to UK armed forces member killed in Ukraine

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4 | How MI5 turned blind eye to IRA spy's 'grotesque' crimes

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5 | Baroness Longfield to chair grooming gangs inquiry

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Editors' picks

'The UK has little to offer young people': Readers on Gen Z exodus

It is not surprising that young people should decide to work abroad: they are young, mostly unattached, mortgage-free and wish to experience other cultures and climes. This is nothing new – I did this when I was young, fresh out of university 50 years ago.

But life in Britain these days is pretty miserable and I really don't blame them for wanting to do this.

Get involved and share your views here.

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"Cockroaches and visible dirt shouldn't be part of any woman's "birth experience", but they were part of mine".

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