ITV News

Earl Spencer's upcoming memoir is due this week and includes allegations that King Charles had a giddy tone around Princess Diana's death. In a BBC interview, Spencer defended his comments about the King's phone call after Diana died, while Buckingham Palace said the King is mindful that fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory. The book also claims media treatment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex echoes what happened to Diana, describing press coverage as a cancerous influence. Spencer said he knew things about the King he chose not to include and commented on the estrangement between Princes William and Harry, saying their mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other.

After a difficult week, Ed Sheeran clarified his stance on Gaza. He faced backlash after support act Macklemore was dropped from the tour following comments he made on stage in support of Palestine, prompting other artists, including Sheeran's own band, to walk out. Speaking to fans in Philadelphia, Sheeran said what happened in Israel on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain, while what was happening in Gaza was catastrophic, unjustifiable and disproportionate, and his heart had been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian and children's lives. He admitted mistakes after Macklemore was kicked off the tour, and said billionaire Robert Kraft banned Macklemore from his venue while other supporting acts pulled out in protest. Sheeran said many had called for him to be canceled but the show must go on, and pro-Palestine demonstrators outside the venue expressed feelings of betrayal.

Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia Party was on track to comfortably win Russia's latest parliamentary elections, with voting concluding as Ukraine launched its largest ever drone attack on Moscow. The strikes damaged a major oil refinery and killed at least two people, and Moscow's mayor said their timing was an attempt to disrupt the election, which critics see as neither fair nor transparent. The UK struck a deal to deliver 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year, and the defence secretary would not be drawn on whether any were used to strike Moscow. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had no plans to step down despite two more state election defeats, with exit polls predicting his CDU party would win just 5% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while expected to finish second in Berlin and the far-right Alternative for Germany making significant gains. Donald Trump announced on social media that his proposed triumphal arch in Washington, DC, would also be used for national security, housing drones and ammunition and serving as a post for snipers, with work underway on the 250-foot structure despite legal challenges. Ed Davey will address the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton on Tuesday, calling for reductions in the cap on bus fares and rail fares and urging the government to cut fuel duty by 10 pence a litre until Christmas to help ease the cost of living crisis.