Politics
Trump helicopter makes emergency landing at Luton
LONDON: A helicopter carrying US President Donald Trump was forced to divert to the Luton Airport on Thursday evening after developing what officials described as a “minor hydraulic issue” after his state visit to the United Kingdom came to a close.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the aircraft landed at a “local airfield” as part of precautionary measure before later continuing to Stansted, arriving around 20 minutes behind schedule.
Both the president and first lady safely boarded the support helicopter, she said.
Emergency services were seen on the tarmac at Luton following the precautionary landing. Photographs showed Marine One and Marine Two – the two presidential helicopters parked close to the runway.
The helicopters nicknamed “White Tops” because of their paintwork, are specially fitted with missile defence systems, radar jammers and nuclear-blast-resistant electronics.
For security reasons, Marine One often flies alongside identical decoys and is usually accompanied by MV-22 Ospreys, or “green tops”, carrying Secret Service personnel, support staff and special forces.
President Trump has relied heavily on the helicopter fleet during his unprecedented second state visit to the UK. He arrived at Stansted late on Tuesday before travelling to Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in London.
On Wednesday, he and the first lady visited Windsor Castle for an audience with the King and Queen. The following day, Trump flew to Chequers, where he held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
At a joint news conference, the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues, including Ukraine, Gaza and illegal migration. Trump suggested Britain could consider deploying the military to address migration – a remark that underscored differences with Starmer.
The US president also voiced his opposition to the UK’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood ahead of next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky region in Russia on Friday, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), according to the USGS.
The US National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii issued a tsunami advisory after the quake.
- Trump says US trying to get Bagram airbase back.
- Trump, Starmer sign major tech deal boosting AI cooperation.
- Trump hails America’s “unbreakable bond” with Britain.
The United States is trying to get Bagram air base in Afghanistan back, President Donald Trump said on Thursday during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The historic Soviet-built airstrip was the main base for American forces in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks, up until their 2021 withdrawal led to a takeover by the Taliban movement.
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump said, referring to Bagram, citing what he called its strategic location near China. “We want that base back.”
Less than a month after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre, the US launched a massive attack on war-torn Afghanistan and within weeks its forces toppled down the Taliban-led government in Kabul.
After 20 years of Afghan invasion, the US-led Nato troops left Afghanistan in 2021. The US military death toll in the Afghan war since 2001 was roughly 2,500. Soon after the US pullout, the Taliban fighters regained control in Afghanistan in September 2021.
‘Unbreakable bond’
Addressing the joint presser, Trump hailed America’s “unbreakable bond” with Britain as he and PM signed a huge tech deal on the second day of the US president’s pomp-filled state visit.
A day after King Charles III treated Trump to a day of royal pageantry at Windsor Castle, Trump flew to Starmer’s Chequers country residence for talks on thorny issues, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
But Britain’s work in wooing the unpredictable Trump on his second state visit seemed to have paid off as he and Starmer signed the partnership, boosting ties in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and nuclear energy.
At the signing ceremony attended by a host of US tech CEOs, Labour leader Starmer said he and Republican Trump were “leaders who genuinely like each other.”
“It is the biggest investment package of its kind in British history by a country mile,” he added.
Trump said the deal was “very big”, and added of US relations with key NATO ally Britain that “it’s an unbreakable bond we have, regardless of what we’re doing today.”
The deal comes on the back of pledges of a £150 billion ($205 billion) of investment into the UK from US giants including Microsoft, Google, and Blackstone.
Trump had earlier said goodbye to King Charles at Windsor, calling him a “great gentleman and a great king” as he left the castle following a lavish state banquet, carriage ride, and military flypast.
The US embassy in New Delhi has revoked and subsequently denied visas for some Indian business executives and corporate leaders based on their involvement in trafficking fentanyl precursors, the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.
Fentanyl precursors refer to the basic or parent chemicals that form fentanyl, a leading cause of US overdose deaths.
The statement from the embassy did not name the people affected, but a spokesperson said they were Indian nationals.
Indian government officials have been closely cooperating with US counterparts to combat the challenge of drug trafficking, the US embassy added in its statement.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the US visa measures.
US President Donald Trump, whose punitive 50% tariffs on Indian imports hurt bilateral ties, has previously imposed additional levies on imports from China, Mexico and Canada, saying they facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the US.
In a statement to US Congress this week, Trump listed India as one of 23 major drug transit or illicit drug-producing countries, though he added the presence of any country on the list was not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counter-drug efforts.
Hagley butcher calls for more support as business folds
Adani Power, Adani Green: Adani Stocks Soar Up To 9% As SEBI Dismisses Hindenburg Allegations
Prince William implements crystal clear rule his staff is told off from breaking
-
Fashion7 days agoAcne Studios expands in France with redesigned historic HQ
-
Tech6 days agoHow a 2020 Rolex Collection Changed the Face of Watch Design
-
Fashion6 days agoMexico imposes ADD on footwear originating in China
-
Tech6 days agoCancel Culture Comes for Artists Who Posted About Charlie Kirk’s Death
-
Tech6 days agoOpenAI reaches new agreement with Microsoft to change its corporate structure
-
Fashion6 days agoVintage concept Styx debuts in Porto with luxury fashion and art
-
Fashion6 days agoDior names Greta Lee as brand ambassador
-
Fashion6 days agoUK real GDP grows 0.2% QoQ, 1.2% YoY in May-Jul 2025: ONS