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Kevin Costner stated that Christine Baumgartner refused to vacate his Santa Barbara mansion home and was accused of violating the prenup

Leaders of a Southern California city hit by a destructive landslide are planning to vote on a resolution to declare a local emergency

Nato leaders have refused to offer Ukraine a timetable or clear conditions for membership – a stance the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called absurd. A communique released on the first afternoon of a two-day summit in Lithuania said only that Kyiv would join the alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met”. It came despite Mr Zelensky denouncing delays to the process, accusing Nato of handing Russia “motivation” in its invasion. “It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set, neither for the invitation, nor for Ukraine’s membership,” he said as the summit began. He also claimed the alliance was leaving a “window of opportunity” for Ukraine to be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with its invaders and expressed anger at a “vague” draft agreement. “Uncertainty is weakness,” he said. Later, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg insisted the alliance had taken “key decisions at a critical moment” and that allies have agreed “a strong, united and positive message for Ukraine” as well as a “positive path forward for membership”. Asked about Mr Zelensky’s concerns, Mr Stoltenberg said it was important to ensure that Ukraine wins the war because “unless Ukraine prevails, there is no membership to be discussed at all”. “There has never been a stronger message from Nato at any time, both when it comes to the political message of the path forward for membership and the concrete support from Nato allies,” he said, adding that previous members had joined without a timeline. “They are conditions-based, have always been,” he said. Mr Stoltenberg could not disguise the differences between the 31 members over Ukraine’s pathway to membership. Britain had been pushing for the US and other more hesitant allies, such as Germany, to agree to language signalling bolstered support for Ukraine to join, while many eastern European nations have pushed for swift resolution. However, all attendees – including Ukraine – agree the country cannot join during the war, as to do so would risk pulling the group into direct conflict with Russia. Nato did not specify conditions Ukraine needs to meet, but said members would help Kyiv to make progress on military matters as well as on additional democratic and security sector reforms. The US, in particular, has been keen for Ukraine to make progress against corruption. Later, speaking to a crowd of thousands in central Vilnius – many waving Ukrainian flags – Mr Zelensky’s disappointment was clear. “I embarked on a trip here with faith in decisions, with faith in partners, with faith in a strong Nato. In a Nato that does not hesitate, does not waste time and does not look back at any aggressor,” he said. “And I would like this faith to become confidence – confidence in the decisions that we deserve – all of us deserve, and every warrior, every citizen, every mother, every child expects,” he added. “Is that too much to expect?” President Joe Biden has stressed Nato needs to stay united. “I still think that President Putin thinks the way he succeeds is to break Nato and we’re not going to do that,” Mr Biden said. Rishi Sunak told reporters that both Britain and Ukraine recognised Kyiv could not join the alliance “in the midst of a conflict”. Mr Sunak said: “I’ve always said that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato and that we stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008. I think what is important at this summit is that that commitment is reaffirmed and also that there is demonstrable progress towards that goal.” He also appeared to confirm reports Ukraine would be offered an "Israel-style" security deal, as part of a multi-year plan to defend itself from Russia. Mr Sunak told reporters he was “keen to try and get this over the line”. He said it was “distinct from the Nato conversation” and would “send a very strong signal of deterrent to Putin, that he can't wait people out, in terms of this conflict”. The UK and its G7 allies will agree a new framework to guarantee Ukraine’s long-term security on Wednesday, in a system that has been dubbed “Nato-lite”. Under the plans, Ukraine receives more defence equipment, intelligence, support for cyber and hybrid threat defences as well as expanded training programmes. The move will also help develop Ukraine’s industrial base. The UK will also announce new support for Ukraine, including thousands of extra rounds of ammunition for Challenger 2 tanks and more than 70 combat and logistics vehicle. As the war takes its toll on Ukraine’s military resources there will also be a £50m package to help repair equipment and a new military rehabilitation centre will be established. Mr Sunak said countries were “stepping up our formal arrangements to protect Ukraine for the long term”. Wednesday will also see the first meeting of the new Nato-Ukraine Council. Western nations continued to pledge arms and monetary support to Ukraine’s fight against Russia. President Emmanuel Macron said France would begin supplying long-range cruise missiles, following a similar announcement by Britain. With a range of 250km (155 miles), the missiles nearly triple Ukraine’s previous capabilities, allowing forces to hit Russian troops and supplies deep behind the front lines. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said Ukraine has already “successfully” used the UK missiles, known as Storm Shadow. Germany, too, announced new aid worth €700m (£600m), including two Patriot air defence missile launchers, and more tanks and fighting vehicles. A coalition of 11 nations will also start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training centre will be set up in Romania. The summit was also buoyed by the prospect of Sweden joining as its newest member after Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan abruptly dropped his objections to the move, while pushing to revive talks for Turkey to join the European Union. Finland also attended the summit as a member for the first time after its own entry into the alliance in April. Moscow, which has disingenuously cited Nato’s eastern expansion as a factor in its decision to invade Ukraine, said Europe would be the first to face “catastrophic consequences” should the war escalate. “Potentially, this issue [of Ukraine joining Nato] is very dangerous for European security... and therefore those who will make the decision must be aware of this,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary G7 allies set to announce security package for Ukraine at Vilnius Nato summit Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner Ukraine still has conditions to meet before it can join Nato, leaders say

The union that successfully organized an Amazon warehouse in New York is being sued by a splinter group that includes some former leaders

Laurentian Bank of Canada, which has been working on a turnaround under a new chief executive officer since

By Andrew Gray, Sabine Siebold and John Irish VILNIUS Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets NATO leaders on Wednesday

The Justice Department has reversed its position that Donald Trump can't be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape because he was president when he made the comments

The Department of Justice has told a federal judge in New York that it will no longer defend former president Donald Trump in a defamation case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, who earlier this year won a civil judgement against the ex-president for sexual battery and defamation in a separate matter. In a letter to the attorneys for Mr Trump and Ms Carroll, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said the department would now decline to certify that Mr Trump was acting in the scope of his job as President of the United States when he denied attacking Ms Carroll in June 2019 and accused her of fabricating a sexual assault claim against him to boost book sales. Mr Boynton said the decision, which reversed an earlier effort to defend Mr Trump which had begun during his term in the White House, came due to clarified appellate court precedent which stated that courts need not always find that an elected official’s statements to the press were in the scope of their employment. “Applying the clarified D.C. respondeat superior standard, the Department has determined that it lacks adequate evidence to conclude that the former President was sufficiently actuated by a purpose to serve the United States Government to support a determination that he was acting within the scope of his employment when he denied sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll and made the other statements regarding Ms. Carroll that she has challenged in this action,” he said. The Justice Department official also said the department had considered new evidence of Mr Trump’s state of mind when he made the statements at issue, and determined that it “does not establish that he made the statements at issue with a ‘more than insignificant’ purpose to serve the United States Government”. Additionally, Mr Boynton noted that even though the defamatory statements regarding Ms Carroll and the allegations she was making against Mr Trump were made during a press gaggle on the South Lawn of the White House, they were not made in the context of “a work-related incident”. “Here, although the statements themselves were made in a work context, the allegations that prompted the statements related to a purely personal incident: an alleged sexual assault that occurred decades prior to Mr Trump’s Presidency. That sexual assault was obviously not job-related,” he said. Although the Justice Department official conceded that an elected official’s “ability to retain the trust of his constituents” is “an important part of his ability to effectively perform his job,” he said the “evidence of personal motivation” in the case at hand “outweighs any public- purpose inference one might draw in other circumstances,” and cited statements Mr Trump made about Ms Carroll after he left office — and after a New York jury found that he had defamed her in a separate trial in May. “The later statements are substantially similar to the three June 2019 statements at issue in this action, and because he was no longer the President when he made the later statements, Mr. Trump could not have been motivated by any interest in serving the United States Government,” he said. He added later that the jury’s finding that Mr Trump sexually assaulted Ms Carroll in a department store changing room in the 1990s “supports an inference that Mr Trump was motivated by a ‘personal grievance’ stemming from events that occurred many years prior to Mr Trump’s presidency”. Without the Department of Justice’s intervention to defend the twice-impeached ex-president, he will not be able to argue that he enjoys any immunity from the lawsuit and he will not be able to substitute the US government as a defendant in the case. And because a prior jury already found similar statements he made about the former Elle magazine writer to be defamatory, legal experts say it will be a simple matter for Ms Carroll to obtain another jury verdict against him when the case goes to trial. Ms Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said: “We are grateful that the Department of Justice has reconsidered its position. We have always believed that Donald Trump made his defamatory statements about our client in June 2019 out of personal animus, ill will, and spite, and not as President of the United States. Now that one of the last obstacles has been removed, we look forward to trial in E Jean Carroll’s original case in January 2024.” Read More Trump loses bid to throw out E Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit Donald Trump countersues E Jean Carroll for defamation over rape claims Trump is funneling 10% of 2024 campaign donations to cover his legal bills Judge lets columnist amend defamation claim with over $10 million demand for damages from Trump

Emma MacKenzie, from Canada, says she cannot renew her visa if she does not get her degree.

Spiraling prices of tomato, onion and pulses are emerging as new risks for India’s retail inflation, reaffirming expectations

Donald Trump was dealt a blow in E. Jean Carroll’s remaining lawsuit against him after the US Justice

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican, does not consider himself to be a racist -- which is an important place to start from since you're about to hear quite a bit about his apparent defense of White nationalists, who he suggested Monday might not be racist either.