The sackings have little to do with kindling the “warrior ethos”, which the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, vows to do. General Brown has clocked more than 3,000 flight hours, including 130 in combat. Admiral Franchetti had commanded not one but two aircraft-carrier strike groups.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday urged billionaire Elon Musk to be more aggressive in his efforts to shrink the federal government despite uproar over layoffs and deep spending cuts. "Elon is doing a great job,

Elon Musk’s move-fast-and-break-things ethos has served him well so far in his efforts to demolish the federal bureaucracy. But now comes the moment the billionaire leading President Donald Trump’s DOGE initiative may not be prepared for — managing the politics of his sprawling cuts.

Sir Keir Starmer will discuss the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty in talks with Donald Trump next week, he said in a call with the country's president. The UK prime minister reiterated the UK's "ironclad support" for Kyiv when he spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.

Sir Keir Starmer will not challenge Donald Trump over his Ukraine comments in Washington next week, one of his key deputies has suggested.

The PM will reportedly unveil a "triple whammy" of measures which is feared could risk frustrating the White House, which is looking to end the Ukraine war.