Prime Minister Keir Starmer wore a broad smile aboard the plane home from Washington. He landed back in Britain on Friday with the satisfaction of a tricky mission not quite accomplished, but off to a flying start.

The federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees.

A judge has found that the mass layoffs of probationary government employees were likely unlawful. Newsweek's live blog is closed.

Keir Starmer had just a few hours to bask in the warm glow of his relatively successful meeting with Donald Trump before he was brought back to reality this afternoon: Anneliese Dodds, the international development minister,

The war in Ukraine will be a focal point of the meeting between the US president and UK prime minister in Washington later.

Shares of U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems rose 4% as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to increase the country's defense spending, to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, from 2.3% currently, and to 3% of GDP in the next parliament.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers is re-introducing a bill on Thursday that would authorize comprehensive trade talks with the UK, an effort to revive negotiations between the two allies as Prime Minister Keir Starmer was about to visit the White House.

The two leaders are due to discuss the war in Ukraine and a deal that would give the US access to its deposits of rare earth minerals.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday (February 26) there was “no more important relationship” for his country than that with the United States. Could these jumping mice change how astronauts exercise?

Wilde, a UK journalist and editor of the Readout. I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter. Symbolism is important in politics. Remember Rishi Sunak announcing last year’s election in the pouring rain, while Tony Blair’s 1997 anthem Things Can Only Get Better pounded on a boom box?