Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in three years in Istanbul, producing a modest prisoner exchange agreement. Trump declared plans to meet Putin "soon," positioning himself as essential to any breakthrough, continuing his diplomatic posturing from previous days.

A devastating fire at a former RAF base in Oxfordshire killed two firefighters and a business owner, dominating domestic coverage as fire chiefs delivered emotional tributes. The victims were named by evening.

Coverage intensified around British nationals in trouble abroad: the pregnant teenager Bella May Culley facing potential childbirth in a Georgian prison, following her drug smuggling arrest previously reported as a disappearance; a British father jailed for 40 years in Dubai on cocaine charges; and reports of a British millionaire killed in a motorcycle accident in Spain.

Israeli forces resumed ground operations in Gaza, with Hamas-run civil defense reporting nearly 100 killed in northern Gaza. HEBREWSUMMARY: Not applicable LOCALSUMMARY: Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in three years in Istanbul, producing a modest prisoner exchange agreement. Trump declared plans to meet Putin "soon," positioning himself as essential to any breakthrough, continuing his diplomatic posturing from previous days.

A devastating fire at a former RAF base in Oxfordshire killed two firefighters and a business owner, dominating domestic coverage as fire chiefs delivered emotional tributes. The victims were named by evening.

Coverage intensified around British nationals in trouble abroad: the pregnant teenager Bella May Culley facing potential childbirth in a Georgian prison, following her drug smuggling arrest previously reported as a disappearance; a British father jailed for 40 years in Dubai on cocaine charges; and reports of a British millionaire killed in a motorcycle accident in Spain.

Israeli forces resumed ground operations in Gaza, with Hamas-run civil defense reporting nearly 100 killed in northern Gaza.