Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet for the first time in six years on Friday, with a possible deal to end the Ukraine war on the agenda.

Mr Trump has threatened “very severe consequences” if his Russian counterpart doesn’t agree to a ceasefire at the summit, being hosted at a remote US army base in snowy Anchorage, Alaska.

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But there are fears they will discuss a deal robbing Ukraine of the land currently occupied by Russia – something Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he won’t accept.

Here’s what three of our correspondents think ahead of the much-anticipated face-to-face.

Putin’s legacy is at stake – he’ll want territory and more
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent, in Alaska

Putin doesn’t just want victory. He needs it.

Three and a half years after he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, this war has to end in a visible win for the Russian president. It can’t have been for nothing. His legacy is at stake.

So the only deal I think he’ll be willing to accept at Friday’s summit is one that secures Moscow’s goals.

These include territory (full control of the four Ukrainian regions which Russia has already claimed), permanent neutrality for Kyiv and limits on its armed forces.

I expect he’ll be trying to convince Trump that such a deal is the quickest path to peace. The only alternative, in Russia’s eyes, is an outright triumph on the battlefield.

I think Putin‘s hope is that the American president agrees with this view and then gives Ukraine a choice: accept our terms or go it alone without US support.

A deal like that might not be possible this week, but it may be in the future if Putin can give Trump something in return.

That’s why there’s been lots of talk from Moscow this week about all the lucrative business deals that can come from better US-Russia relations.

The Kremlin will want to use this opportunity to remind the White House of what else it can offer, apart from an end to the fighting.

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Trump-Putin summit starting to feel quite ‘Midnight Sun’

Ukraine would rather this summit not be happening
By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor, in Ukraine

Ukraine would far rather this meeting wasn’t happening.

Trump seemed to have lost patience with Putin and was about to hit Russia with more severe sanctions until he was distracted by the Russian leader’s suggestion that they meet.

Ukrainians say the Alaska summit rewards Putin by putting him back on the world stage.

But the meeting is happening, and they have to be realistic.

Most of all, they want a ceasefire before any negotiations can happen. Then they want the promise of security guarantees.

That is because they know that Putin may well come back for more even if peace does break out. They need to be able to defend themselves should that happen.

And they want the promise of reparations to rebuild their country, devastated by Putin’s wanton, unprovoked act of aggression.

There are billions of Russian roubles and assets frozen across the West. They want them released and sent their way.

What they fear is Trump being hoodwinked by Putin with the lure of profit from US-Russian relations being restored, regardless of Ukraine’s fate.

That would allow Russia to regain its strength, rearm and prepare for another round of fighting in a few years’ time.

Trump and his golf buddy-turned-negotiator Steve Witkoff appear to believe Putin might be satisfied with keeping some of the land he has taken by force.

Putin says he wants much more than that. He wants Ukraine to cease to exist as a country separate from Russia.

Any agreement short of that is only likely to be temporary.

Trump’s pride on the line – he has a reputation to restore
By Martha Kelner, US correspondent, in Alaska

As with anything Donald Trump does, he already has a picture in his mind.

The image of Trump shaking hands with the ultimate strongman leader, Vladimir Putin, on US soil calls to his vanity and love of an attention-grabbing moment.

There is also pride at stake.

Trump campaigned saying he would end the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day in office, so there is an element of him wanting to follow through on that promise to voters, even though it’s taken him 200-plus days in office and all he’s got so far is this meeting, without apparently any concessions on Putin’s end.

In Trump’s mind – and in the minds of many of his supporters – he is the master negotiator, the chief dealmaker, and he wants to bolster that reputation.

He is keen to further the notion that he negotiates in a different, more straightforward way than his predecessors and that it is paying dividends.

So far, despite sanctions on Russia, despite warnings and deadlines, the situation in Ukraine is only getting worse.

He’s hoping that this meeting, simply the act of sitting down with Putin, can change the tide.

The Russian president may have different ideas.

It’s official. Donald Trump will host the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors – Washington’s annual black-tie celebration of artistic achievement.

In previous years, occupants of the White House simply attended the event in the building named after President John F Kennedy.

Earlier this year, the US president sacked the board and installed himself as chairman and is threatening to put his own name on the door.

“GREAT nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY Center, whoops, I mean KENNEDY CENTER AWARDS…” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Vowing that the show will be “non-woke”, he announced this year’s nominees – a stroll through Trump’s cultural sweet spot:

• George Strait, who’s branded the king of country music
• Sylvester Stallone, who, as Rocky Balboa, defeated the Cold War in a boxing ring
• Gloria Gaynor, whose “I will survive” could double as Trump’s campaign theme
• KISS, whose pyrotechnics will have the Secret Service on edge all evening
• And, wait for it, the British Broadway star, Michael Crawford

Crawford’s West End and Broadway career spans Barnum, The Woman in White and, of course, The Phantom Of The Opera..

The Phantom’s tendency to buy grand, chandelier-filled buildings, has won the approval of the real-estate mogul now remodelling the White House.

Read more:
Trump’s aims for Putin summit appear fluid
The snowy remote base where Trump will host Putin for talks

But there’s something Americans might have missed – the character who made Michael Crawford a household name back home: Frank Spencer.

The star of the sitcom “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em” was endlessly optimistic but completely hapless, and oblivious to his own incompetence.

Revealing that he would host the awards himself, just two days before he hosts Vladimir Putin, is quintessential Trump, the prime-time president.

But “Ooh Betty,” as Frank Spencer would say, when Donald Trump extols Michael Crawford, an icon of slapstick comedy, the script writes itself.

Photos of rabbits in Colorado with black, horn-like growths around their faces have gone viral, with some describing the animals as “Frankenstein-“, “zombie-” and “demon-rabbits”.

Warning: This article contains images of infected rabbits, which some readers may find disturbing.

Residents in Fort Collins near Denver recently began posting pictures of the cottontail bunnies, causing a stir online.

“This is how the zombie virus starts,” posted one Instagram user on a post showing the rabbits.

“We’ve got freaking zombie rabbits now?!” posted another on YouTube.

So what’s going on?

Firstly, the pictures are real – despite some wishing they weren’t.

“One time I need this to be AI,” wrote one Instagram user on a post showing the horned bunnies.

The rabbits are suffering from a relatively harmless disease called Shope Papilloma Virus, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Although the wildlife agency is getting calls from people spotting the infected rabbits in Fort Collins, they’re not an unusual sight, according to spokesperson Kara Van Hoose.

The disease is mainly found in America’s Midwest, according to the University of Missouri, and is more noticeable in the summer, when the fleas and ticks that spread the virus are most active.

The virus can also spread through rabbit-to-rabbit contact but not to other species like humans or dogs and cats, according to Ms Van Hoose.

People are being warned not to touch the infected rabbits, however.

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Do the growths hurt the rabbits?

The horn-like growths, or papillomas, are harmless to the bunnies, unless they grow on sensitive areas like the eyes or mouth or interfere with eating.

Once the rabbits’ immune systems have fought the virus, the growths will disappear.

Although infected wild rabbits usually don’t need treatment, it can be dangerous to pet rabbits, so officials recommend getting pet bunnies treated by a vet.

The mythical jackalope

It’s not a new illness, and is even thought to have inspired the centuries-old myth of the “jackalope”, a rabbit with antelope antlers.

Although hunters had long known about the disease, it was first scientifically reported in 1931 by Richard E Shope – hence the name.

Since then, the rabbits’ warts and horns have contributed to life-saving scientific understanding, including how viruses can be linked to cancer, like the HPV virus to cervical cancer.