KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — More than a dozen senior European officials arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday in a show of support on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine — a grim anniversary in a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and put European leaders on edge about the scale of Moscow’s ambitions on the continent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia’s bigger and better equipped army, which over the past year of fighting captured just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

“Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “not achieved his goals.”

“He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war,” Zelenskyy also said.

However, as the corrosive war of attrition enters its fifth year, a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II appears no closer to finding compromises that might make a peace deal possible.

Negotiations are stuck on what happens to the Donbas, eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland which Russian forces mostly occupy but have failed to seize completely, and the terms of a postwar security arrangement that Kyiv is demanding to deter any future Russian invasion.

The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides could reach 2 million by spring, with Russia sustaining the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II, a report last month from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated.

European leaders see their countries’ own security at stake in Ukraine amid concerns about Putin’s wider goals and has demanded its leaders be consulted in the ongoing U.S.-brokered talks.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that “for four years, every day and every night has been a nightmare for the Ukrainians — and not just for them, but for us all. Because war is back in Europe.”

“We will only end it by being strong together, because the fate of Ukraine is our fate,” he added.

The war has drawn in countries far beyond Ukraine, giving the conflict a global dimension, and threatened to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries.

While NATO countries have come to Ukraine’s aid, Russia has been helped by North Korea, which has sent troops and artillery shells; Iran, which has provided drone technology; and China, which the United States and analysts say has provided machine tools and chips.

Among the European officials visiting Kyiv on Tuesday were the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as well as seven prime ministers and three foreign ministers.

With Ukraine unable to sustain its fight against Russia without foreign help, NATO countries are now providing military help, purchasing American weapons after the Trump administration broke with earlier Washington policy and stopped giving arms to Kyiv.

The European Union has also sent financial aid, but has sometimes met with reluctance from members Hungary and Slovakia.

British Armed Forces Minister Al Carns said Russia’s war on Ukraine was “the most defining conflict” in decades.

“I don’t think anyone of us would be able to guess (when the war started) the scale and size of what has taken place,” he said.

The cost of rebuilding war-battered Ukraine would amount to almost $588 billion over the next decade, according to World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations and the Ukrainian government.

That is nearly three times the estimated nominal GDP of Ukraine for last year, they said in a report Monday.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, stressed it was a “high stakes”, possibly “seismic” by-election as it would show whether Reform, with around 30 per cent of the vote, could win lots of seats as it seeks a Commons majority, if the Green surge is “real” or whether Labour’s woes may ease.

Coronation Street’s Lucy Fallon has spoken about a period in her life that saw her spend five weeks in a mental health hospital.

The actress, who is 30, currently plays Bethany Platt in the ITV soap. It was during the first Coronavirus lockdown in 2020 that saw Lucy struggle with her mental health and, at the time, she struggled to see how she could move forward.

Lucy ended up getting admitted to The Priory, a hospital that specialises in treatment for mental health.

‘I was just at the absolute rock bottom that I’ve ever, ever felt. And I really, really, really struggled. I had a really bad batch of mental health towards the end of 2020 and I ended up being in The Priory for about five weeks because my mental health was so bad. I couldn’t see a way out of feeling how I was feeling.’

Continuing her chat on Johnny Seifert’s Secure the Insecure podcast, Lucy explained that her family played a huge role in getting her some help.

‘I ended up having to go to hospital, and it was from that point that other people were involved – my mum and my sisters and people that I’d worked with before. It almost felt like other people, other factors, were telling me, “Right, you need some serious help now. It’s gone a bit too far”. I really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to go and I even remember getting there. I really, really did not want to go in.’

When Lucy first arrived at the centre, she felt as though she wasn’t ‘bad enough to be there’.

‘It almost felt like this just feels a bit alien and a bit strange, like, I don’t know why I’m here’, she said.

After a few weeks though, Lucy started to settle in.

‘I got to grips with it. And actually after a week of being there, I liked it. I felt quite safe. I met quite a lot of people there who I sometimes still keep in contact with now.’

‘It took me a while to adjust’, Lucy added, revealing that she moved back in with her parents once she came out of the hospital.

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‘Coming out and being in the real world and just having to carry on felt strange. But I also had a really good support system around me.

‘Going and being with my mum and dad for a few weeks after, rather than just going back to my house, was a really nice thing – especially to have your tea cooked for you every night. And all my washing done as well.’

Life has changed a lot for Lucy since she went to The Priory.

‘It seems like a completely different life’, she noted, reflecting on the period.

‘I feel like that was a totally different version of me. And I’ve been lucky enough to say that I did manage to get myself out of it, because I know for so many people that’s not the reality and you can stay on that level and it’s really hard to get out of feeling like that.’

‘I just accepted that, that was a blip in my mental health and in my own journey. I do deserve to be happy and to be in the relationship that I’m in, and I deserve the job that I’ve had. I’ve worked really hard.

‘I don’t know if it was to do with being at The Priory for five weeks. I don’t know if it was that. But things just kind of stayed at a good level for me.’

Lucy is in a relationship with Ryan Ledson, a 28-year-old professional footballer.

The couple welcomed their daughter Nancy in January 2025, two years after the birth of their first child, Sonny, who arrived in January 2023.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will use Tuesday’s State of the Union to champion his immigration crackdowns, his slashing of the federal government, his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down and his ability to direct quick-hit military actions around the world, including in Iran and Venezuela.

The Republican hopes he can convince increasingly wary Americans that his policies have improved their lives while ensuring that the U.S. economy is stronger than many believe — and that they should vote for more of the same in November.

The balancing act of celebrating his whirlwind first year back in the White House while making a convincing case for his party in midterm races where he personally won’t be on the ballot is a tall order for any president. But it could prove especially delicate for Trump, given how happy he is to veer off script and ignore carefully crafted messaging.

A main theme will be that the country is booming with a rise in domestic manufacturing and new jobs, despite many Americans not feeling that way. “It’s going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about,” said Trump, who promised a heavy dose of talk about the economy.

The president is also expected to decry the Supreme Court ruling against his signature tariff policies and talk about his attempts to maneuver around that decision without depending on Congress or spooking financial markets. He’s also likely to urge lawmakers to increase military funding and tighten voter identification requirements, while defending immigration operations that have drawn bipartisan criticism following the shooting deaths of two American citizens.

Jeff Shesol, a former speechwriter for Democratic President Bill Clinton, said Trump has typically used State of the Union addresses to offer more conventional tones than his usual bombast — but he’s still apt to exaggerate repeatedly.

“His job, for the sake of his party, is to show the silver lining,” Shesol said. “But if he’s going to insist that the silver lining is gold, no one’s buying it. And it will be a very difficult position on the campaign trail for Republicans to defend.”

Michael Waldman, Clinton’s former chief speechwriter, said second-term presidents “have a tough job because what they all want to say is, ‘Hey, look what a great job I’ve been doing — why don’t you love me?’”

Affordability questions loom large

No matter what his prepared remarks say, Trump relishes deviating into personal grievances, meaning Tuesday will probably feature topics like denying that he lost the 2020 presidential election.

His lack of messaging discipline has been on display after concerns about high costs of living helped propel Democratic wins around the country on Election Day last November. The White House subsequently promised that the president would travel the country nearly every week to reassure Americans he was taking affordability seriously. But Trump has spent more time blaming Democrats and scoffing at the notion that kitchen-table issues demand attention.

Trump instead boasts of having tamed inflation and says he has the economy humming given that the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently exceeded 50,000 points for the first time.

Such gains don’t feel tangible to those without stock portfolios, however. There also are persistent fears that tariffs stoked higher prices, which could eventually hurt the economy and job creation. Economic growth slowed the last three months of last year.

Waldman, now president of the Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for democracy, civil liberties and fair elections, said previous presidents faced similar instances of “economic disquiet.”

That created a question of “how much do you sell vs. feeling the pain of the electorate,” he said.

Shesol noted that Trump has “always believed — going back to his real estate days — that he can sell anyone on anything.”

“He’s still doing that. But the problem is, you can’t tell somebody who has lost their job and can’t get a new one that things are going great,” Shesol said. “He can’t sell people on a reality that for them, and frankly for most Americans, does not exist.”

It is potentially politically perilous ahead of November elections that could deliver congressional wins to Democrats, just as 2018’s “blue wave” created a strong check to his administration during his first term.

Several Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, plan to skip Tuesday’s speech in protest, instead attending a rally known as the “People’s State of the Union” on Washington’s National Mall.

Foreign policy in focus

Trump’s address comes as two U.S. aircraft carriers have been dispatched to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran.

The president will recount how U.S. airstrikes last summer pounded Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, and laud the raid that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Nicolás Maduro, as well as his administration’s brokering of a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

But he also strained U.S. military alliances with NATO, thanks to his push to seize Greenland from Denmark and his failure to take a harder line with Russian President Vladimir Putin in seeking an end to its war in Ukraine.

Making any foreign policy feel relevant to Americans back home is never easy.

Jennifer Anju Grossman, a former speechwriter for Republican President George H.W. Bush and current CEO of the Atlas Society, which promotes the ideas of author and philosopher Ayn Rand, said Trump can make clear that Maduro’s socialist policies wrecked Venezuela’s economy to the point where one of the world’s richest oil countries struggled to meet its own energy needs.

Now, oil from that country will help lower American gas prices.

Still, when it comes to overseas developments, she said, “I think it’s going to be a bit of a challenge to make clear why this is relevant to the domestic situation.”

TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) — Maria Dolores Aguirre’s family corner store has lived off tourism that has flowed into her charming cobblestoned town of Tapalpa, tucked away in the mountains of Jalisco state.

That was until gunshots erupted and helicopters flew overhead as the Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful drug lord, just a few kilometers (miles) from her home.

Now, the 50-year-old Aguirre worries that the bloodshed will deal a blow to her livelihood and change towns like hers. It is something many in the western Mexican state are grappling with, from its Pacific Ocean beaches to its capital Guadalajara that will host matches in June for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“It’s going to affect us. It’s collateral damage,” Aguirre said. “The government is going to have to have a lot of security. … The entire world just saw what happened and, of course, people are going to think twice about coming.”

Fighting between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Mexican security forces raged on in a number of states Monday, fueling fears among many like Aguirre that there will be more violence to come.

More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and its aftermath, authorities said Monday. Known as “El Mencho,” he was the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials.

The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries. The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of “El Mencho.”

The death of Oseguera Cervantes came as Mexico’s government has stepped up its offensive against cartels in an effort to meet demands by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on criminal groups, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.

Mexico hoped the death of one of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease that pressure, but many people were anxious as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.

Oseguera Cervantes died after a shootout with the Mexican military on Sunday. Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had tracked one of his romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa. The cartel leader and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.

In the aftermath, a sense of unease simmered in tourist towns.

The Pacific Ocean resort city of Puerto Vallarta also was hard hit by cartel reprisals, frightening tourists.

Steve Perkins, 57, was visiting Puerto Vallarta with his wife Gayle and some friends. They were on their hotel room’s terrace when explosions and black smoke started appearing around the city Sunday morning.

Their return to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was delayed when their flight was canceled Monday and they were rebooked for March 1.

Perkins and his wife have been taking annual trips to Puerto Vallarta since 2012 and have always felt safe, until now. He said they don’t plan on returning to Mexico.

“There’s a lot of Americans trapped here,” Perkins said.

Back in Tapalpa, Aguirre worked next to her son from the small neighborhood shop her family has owned for 50 years. The 15-year-old’s classes were canceled due to the violence.

Aguirre said it was unclear who exactly was in control of the area surrounding her: the military or the cartel. The other question on her mind was if this was just a one-off, or if there was more violence to come.

“We don’t know if these people (cartel leaders) are permanently here or not,” she said. “If they really did kill this leader, it could be that they fight between each other to win control or see who will lead it.”

__

AP writer Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.

Gary Neville has insisted Benjamin Sesko must start for Manchester United against Crystal Palace this weekend, warning Michael Carrick that leaving him on the bench again could ‘kill’ the young striker.

Sesko was United’s saviour once again on Monday night, coming off the bench in the second-half against Everton to score a wonderful counter attack goal that sealed all three points.

The Slovenia international is still to start a game under Michael Carrick but has been lethal off the bench, scoring vital goals in injury time against Fulham and West Ham United having netted three in his last four appearances.

Including goals under Darren Fletcher, who briefly took the reins following Ruben Amorim’s departure, the former RB Leipzig star has now scored six in his last seven appearances.

Former United captain Neville now believes Sesko will be demanding a starting role when Palace visit Old Trafford on Sunday.

‘His celebration I think was a message to everybody,’ the former United star told The Gary Neville Podcast.

‘It was a message saying “get me in this damn team now. This is my start next time”. I think he will have been really disappointed having scored a wonderful goal against west ham not to be in the team today.’

He continued: ‘For Sesko now, I think on Sunday against Crystal Palace, he starts. And I haven’t always been convinced about him this season. 

‘But what you have to do is move with what you see. United have struggled in the last couple of games against West Ham and Everton.

‘He looks like he’s growing in his game and his body and his confidence is high so I think on Sunday Michael Carrick starts him. I think it would kill the lad if he didn’t start on Sunday.’

Carrick has made very few changes to his starting XI in his six games in charge with injuries for Patrick Dorgu and Lisandro Martinez enforcing the two he has made to date.

But Neville believes Sesko’s form will now prompt a reshuffle with Amad Diallo set to lose his place in the side as a result.

‘We will probably see Matheus Cunha on the left, Bryan Mbeumo on the right, Sesko up top and Bruno in behind,’ Neville said, looking ahead to Sunday’s game.

‘And I think Amad will just slip in behind for a game. Amad has been really good but Sesko has to start, he’s been scoring winners and equalisers, you have to put him in.

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In this episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to child immunisation specialist Dr Helen Bedford, professor of Children’s Health at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. They discuss how serious this latest epidemic is, the different factors that have led to the latest measles outbreak, as well as reality test potential solutions like keeping non-vaccinated children out of school. Plus, Tamara also speaks to the Standard’s trainee journalist, Niva Yadav, about how parents in affected areas are coping with news of the outbreak.