When Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies meet Donald Trump in Washington, a huge amount is at stake.

Ukrainian officials are reported to feel betrayed by the US president, who appears to have shifted position to side with Vladimir Putin on a number of key points in the wake of the meeting with him in Alaska.

Trump has undermined the unity of the Western alliance by abandoning their calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

He is no longer threatening more severe sanctions, and more worryingly still he seems open to the idea of making the Ukrainians hand over territory the Russians have not yet captured.

He and his real estate lawyer turned rookie negotiator Steve Witkoff seem to believe the conflict can be resolved by an exchange of territory. Putin on the other hand has made it clear he is fighting to extinguish Ukraine as an independent and democratic entity.

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Ukrainians say that for Zelenskyy, handing over land his troops have been fighting to defend since 2014 would be politically suicidal and strategically insane.

Sergeant Andriy Poluhin, from the Ukrainian 24th Brigade, has fought the Russians in Donetsk on and off since 2015 and is currently based in the fiercely embattled town of Chasiv Yar.

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He’s typical of many Ukrainians, appalled at the idea his country would have to hand over land so many of their comrades have died fighting for.

Putin’s claim that he wants to end the war and stop the killing, he says, is self-evidently false.

“It’s a lie, it’s obviously a lie. I think it’s not only my thoughts or Ukrainian ones, but everyone who deals with Russia understands he just lies,” he says.

Many would agree – except the US president himself, who says he believes the Russian leader wants the killing to end.

The challenge for Zelenskyy and his European outriders when they go to the White House is avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Oval Office encounter between him and Trump and his vice president in February.

They need to steer Trump back to their side of the argument without angering the famously thin-skinned president and driving him further towards Moscow.

The unity of the alliance against Putin has never been so threatened.

Chrystal Hendry finished her psychology degree in 2021 and was excited to move to the next phase of her life – working towards becoming a counsellor – when she first became homeless.

Chrystal, 30, has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair. She needs round-the-clock care, as well as home adaptations, such as a bed hoist and wet room, to live comfortably.

Several months after being evicted in 2021, and following a “really awful” period in inappropriate housing, she managed to find somewhere to rent in a different town, where she now lives.

It has never been the ideal home – the temporary ramps are a struggle. But it was better than the alternatives suggested by her council, including moving her live-in care team and equipment into one bedroom in an elderly dementia care home.

Four years on, she’s being evicted again.

Chrystal is one of the 70,000 households with a physical disability in England now facing homelessness.

Her landlord wants to redevelop the home she lives in and has issued a ‘no fault’ eviction notice, which has progressed to a court repossession order.

Now, she’s waiting for the bailiffs to arrive.

“It just never ended, it’s still not ended four years later. I still can’t even think about building a career or giving back to anybody because I’m so consumed with it,” Chrystal told Sky News.

“At this moment in time, I have no idea where I’m going to go,” she said.

“For anybody a bailiff knocking on your door is scary, but when you’ve got fundamental pieces of equipment that you cannot live without it’s even scarier.”

Chrystal’s experience is not unique.

Among households who approached their local council for homelessness assistance in the latest year, one in five had physical ill health and disability support needs.

It’s a growing issue – there were nearly 70,000 such households in 2024/25, up from around 40,000 four years earlier, according to Sky News analysis of government data.

This represents a 72% increase, more than three times the 20% rise in the overall number of households seeking homelessness support.

The number of homeless or at-risk households with a physical disability support need increased more than any other demographic over the period.

They now represent 21% of households, up from 13% of households in 2020/21.

Councils ‘not taking it seriously’

Sky News and housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa sent Freedom of Information requests to English councils asking how many people were waiting for accessible social housing, and how long they wait on average.

Their responses reveal a troubling lack of understanding of accessible housing needs in their areas.

Two in three couldn’t say how many people with disabilities were waiting, while four in five weren’t able to estimate how long they could expect to wait.

Kensington and Chelsea Council disclosed one of the longest waits among those who did respond.

It said people waited more than six and a half years for accessible social housing, a year and three months longer than for one-bedroom properties.

But we don’t have the full picture, as most simply couldn’t provide figures.

“The fact most didn’t provide data on this issue shows the lack of seriousness shown towards those with disabilities and their needs,” Mr Tweneboa said.

“All it takes is for any of us to have an accident and we may need those services.

“We also have an ageing population; no doubt more and more people are going to have additional needs,” he added.

There are five million more people in the UK with a disability than there were a decade ago, according to the government’s Family Resources Survey.

Mobility issues are most common, affecting just under half of those with a disability.

Home builders bypassing ‘very simple things’

“We currently do not have enough accessible homes here in England,” Millie Brown, deputy director for the homes team at the Centre for Ageing Better, told Sky News.

“We know that 20% of people are currently living with a disability, but only 13% of homes across England are built to accessibility standards which support them to live healthy and independent lives.

“Things such as step-free access to the home, a toilet on the ground level, doors that are wide enough to fit wheelchairs, for example.

“Very simple things that make it so disabled and older people can live in their homes independently.”

These criteria, alongside a ‘flush threshold’ – where the floor on either side of doorways are level – are outlined as the four basic criteria for accessibility, which 13% of homes in England meet as of the latest data for 2022.

It’s not always possible to retrofit existing homes to these standards, but campaigners argue they should be mandatory for new-build properties.

Plans under the previous government to raise accessibility standards for new homes never materialised and there has been a “lack of action from both the previous government and the current government”, said Ms Brown.

‘Couldn’t even get through the door’

Many councils told us they operate a “choice-based letting system” – meaning people waiting for social housing can bid for properties that suit their needs – but that they don’t actively monitor applicants’ accessibility requirements.

Constantly bidding for properties can be an exhausting process, especially for someone like Chrystal.

After her first eviction, when she was on North Hertfordshire’s housing register, she said she bid for over 100 properties but only secured viewings at six.

“None of them were accessible in any shape or form,” she said.

“In five of them I couldn’t get through the front door. Only one of the properties was adapted, but they told me my needs weren’t enough, so I was turned down.”

Now, she doesn’t even have the luxury of joining a housing register.

Because she moved to a different local authority in 2022 in search of housing, she is now ineligible for support in either her old area, where she hasn’t lived recently enough, or her new one, where she hasn’t lived for long enough.

‘Affordability problems compounded’

“The picture across the board is that it’s a struggle for everyone at the moment to find a suitable rented home,” Deborah Garvie, policy manager at Shelter, told Sky News.

She said the biggest difficulty is affordability, especially for those relying on housing benefit, which has been frozen and not kept up with inflation.

People with disabilities, or those caring for them, may be particularly affected as they are less likely to be working full time.

“There’s that big affordability problem which is likely to be compounded for people who either have disabilities themselves or have a household member with disabilities,” added Ms Garvie.

“And then on top of that you have the physical access problems as well.”

A parliamentary inquiry into disabled people in the housing sector ended earlier this year and the government has said it intends to set out policies on the accessibility of new homes soon.

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Cases like Chrystal’s are unacceptable and is why we are taking urgent and decisive action to ban section 21 evictions, build 1.5 million new homes and give people housing security.

“Through our Plan for Change, we will build more accessible housing so everyone has a home that meets their needs, alongside delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation backed by £39bn investment.”

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Broxbourne Council, which is responsible for housing in Chrystal’s area, responded: “At present, there are more than 1,600 households on the Housing Register.

“Ms Hendry has been provided with a personalised plan to support her to resolve her housing situation which acknowledges that specialist accommodation is required.

“It sets out what the council is doing to support Ms Hendry and also details other housing options that she can pursue.”

Chrystal acknowledges the council has given her a plan, but argues it doesn’t provide any real solutions.

“I’ve been told numerous times that they have no housing in the area,” she said.

“They have told me to look for places to rent, but finding private rentals that I can live in is like finding a needle in a haystack – and even if I do, housing benefit won’t cover it.

“I’m lucky enough that I can advocate for myself, but there are loads of people in my position that can’t do that.

“Trying to wade my way through these broken systems is upsetting and frustrating. I get angry because it seems like nobody wants to fix the problem.”

Production and additional reporting by Emily Jennings, social affairs producer.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

LOS ANGELES — Alex Vesia made his 58th appearance of the season in Sunday’s eighth inning, retired the two batters he faced, then walked into the dugout and delivered a message to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

“If we’re up in the ninth,” Vesia recalled saying, “I want it.”

Vesia had been relied upon heavily in 2025, but a sweep against the San Diego Padres — the team that shockingly pulled ahead in the division earlier this week — was in play. The top of the lineup was due up, the bullpen was shorthanded, and so Vesia wanted the ball again. Roberts, who had already burned through all of his available high-leverage relievers, responded affirmatively.

“You got it,” he said.

Three pitches later, Mookie Betts delivered a tiebreaking home run, paving the way for Vesia to quickly retire the side and seal a 5-4, sweep-clinching victory at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers held a nine-game lead in the National League West as recently as July 3, then went 12-21 over a six-week stretch and approached this highly anticipated weekend series trailing the Padres by a game. The skid might end up being the best thing to happen to them.

“It was the first time we’d seen ourselves down,” Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages said in Spanish, his team now up two in the division and set to play the last-place Colorado Rockies over the next four days. “I think we told ourselves, ‘That’s not where we should be.’ That’s what helped push us forward.”

Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow combined to give up only three runs in 17 innings in their three starts against the Padres, but the contributions from some of those who had been struggling were just as important.

Teoscar Hernandez, who began this series with a .287 on-base percentage, homered in each of the first two games. Michael Conforto, with a batting average below .200 for most of his first year with the Dodgers, tallied three hits in eight at-bats over the weekend. Betts, navigating the worst offensive season of his career, drove in the winning run in the finale, ending an 0-for-8 stretch in this series. But it was the bullpen — one that blew two leads while the Dodgers suffered a sweep at Angel Stadium earlier this week and is down as many as six high-leverage relievers at the moment — that really shined.

Seven Dodgers relievers combined to give up three runs in 10 innings over the three games.

“It’s the dawg, right?” Vesia said. “We still have that. That doesn’t just go away. Every single one of us, we’re leaning on each other. And we know as a group how good we are. The last three games, it’s shown, and that’s from one guy picking up the next. We kind of call it passing the torch. You get kicked down in this game from time to time, right? We put our heads down and keep going.”

The Padres were swept in a series for the first time since May 20-22, against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers, who snuck past the Padres in last year’s NL Division Series while on their way to the championship, won three in a row for the first time since the beginning of July and moved to 8-2 against the Padres this season. The teams will stage their final matchup of the regular season next weekend at Petco Park in San Diego.

“I don’t think anyone in that clubhouse doubted our abilities and how good we can be,” Roberts said. “Honestly, it was just good to play a really good series start to finish. I think we respect those guys, I think they respect us, and now we’ve got to turn the page and move on.”

The Dodgers rode a strong start from Kershaw and a gritty bullpen effort to snatch a close win in Friday’s opener, then took advantage of an erratic Dylan Cease and an overly aggressive Padres running game to take an early five-run lead and cruise to another victory Saturday. On Sunday, the Dodgers pounced on Yu Darvish immediately, getting a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a solo home run from Pages to take a 4-0 lead after the first inning.

Darvish and the Padres’ bullpen kept the Dodgers scoreless over the next six innings, and the San Diego offense cut its team’s deficit to one. In the top of the eighth, the Padres manufactured the tying run on a hit by pitch, a double and a groundout. But Betts gave the Dodgers the lead again by turning on a 2-0 fastball from Robert Suarez and sending it 394 feet to left-center field.

Betts’ 2025 season has been a perplexing one. He has overcome perhaps the toughest challenge of his career by successfully transitioning to shortstop in his 30s, but for perhaps the first time in his life, he has also struggled to be an adequate hitter. Betts’ slash line stood at .240/.313/.369 at the start of August. At some point around then, he told himself to forget about the numbers. They were going to be wind up being terrible anyway, so he vowed to approach each at-bat with the mindset of simply helping his team any way he could.

It has been freeing.

“Every at-bat is the same at this point — just trying to do something productive,” Betts said. “It definitely helps to not carry burdens from previous at-bats.”

After Vesia took the ball again in the ninth, he got Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez to pop out, then struck out Manny Machado, who went 1-for-12 in the series. The Padres were 14-3 entering their series against the Dodgers, then led in only one of 27 innings over the course of three games.

When they needed it most, the Dodgers displayed the type of dominance they hadn’t shown in a while.

“People who really know this team know that’s still in there,” said Pages, who made a big play of his own by throwing out Freddy Fermin trying to stretch out a double in the third inning. “We’re that type of team. Maybe we went through a rough stretch, but the season’s really long.”