Theresa May and other European leaders will meet President Obama to discuss an extension to sanctions against Russia. But as Edward Lucas outlines, Donald Trump has very different ideas. The restoration of the Soviet empire is under way - and America is not going to stop it. That is the chilling conclusion we must draw from Donald Trump's first few days as President-elect, in which he received what he termed a 'beautiful' letter from Vladimir Putin, followed by an amicable phone call in which the two pledged to restore friendly relations between Washington and Moscow.

This is the horrifying moment a coach driver smashed a double decker bus full of university cheerleaders into the back of a stationary Audi on the hard shoulder of the M1, killing three men. Shocking traffic camera footage shows Alan Peters (left), 78, smash into the Audi at 61mph even though had its hazard lights flashing. Audi driver Allan Evans (top left), 59, and passengers Nathan Reeves (centre), 23, and Tom Aldridge (right), 20, all died in the horror smash on the M1 near Flitwick, Bedfordshire, following a night out.

In a new memoir, Fisher (inset), 60, has revealed that she and Harrison Ford (left on screen with Fisher) had a whirlwind three-month-long, drink-sozzled, drug-addled affair while filming the first Star Wars movie at Elstree studios in Hertforshire in 1976. She was an innocent of 19 (right) and Ford a 33-year-old married father of two. 'It was so intense,' she said. 'It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend.' Fisher has previously kept mum about whether anything romantic happened between them -whether Ford did indeed remain 'solo' during filming. And it wasn't just coyness that explained her silence: she says she smoked so much cannabis that she really couldn't remember exactly what happened in those heady days before she became a sci-fi icon.

Hillary Clinton said Wednesday evening, at her first public appearance since she conceded to Donald Trump a week ago, that coming to the event was difficult - and she considered staying home - but kept the commitment our of respect for her mentor. 'I will admit coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me,' Clinton said at the Children's Defense Fund's gala in Washington, D.C. The losing presidential candidate said she 'wanted to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again.' She drew inspiration, she said, from the organization's founder, Marian Wright Edelman. 'If there's anyone who knows how to pick your self up, and get to back to work it is Marian,' Clinton said. 'She has been doing it all of her life, and she has been helping the rest of us do it, too.'

Cheer up, American millennials! I mean, seriously, CHEER THE **** UP! Oh, I know you've had a rough week ever since Donald Trump won the election. But it's time to get a grip. STOP crying. STOP taking personal days off work to 'process' what happened. STOP! Want to know why Trump is going to be your next president? It's because he is what's called a 'winner'. I know it's not 'cool' to be a winner these days. It's become an ugly, dirty word in your PC-crazed universe.

Political and business elite as well as several family members have been spotted walking in and out of Trump Tower since the election and are believed to have met with Donald Trump's transition team. While Trump's camp have not yet revealed the choices he's made for his Cabinet, several politicians and businessmen, including former rival Ted Cruz, Billionaire Peter Thiel (left), New Jersey Jets Owner Woody Johnson (center inset), and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (top center), have made appearances at Trump Tower. On Wednesday, appearances were made by Steven Mnuchin, national finance chairman of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, Sen Jeff Sessions, retired Lt General Michael Flynn (bottom center), former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (right) and more.

The west London airport's first Christmas campaign is titled: 'Coming home - the greatest gift if all', and stars two ageing teddy bears (pictured) who are making their way home for the festive period. The poignant film follows Mr and Mrs Bair as they land at Heathrow and are faced with travelling through the busy airport to meet their waiting relatives. Struggling with luggage they are seen blearily making their way through the familiar sites of the airport to the Chas and Dave song 'I'm Coming Back'. The emotional 70-second film was shot over three days earlier this year while the airport was fully operational.

Helen Bang (inset), a 47-year-old actress from London, achieves her fabulous look thanks to three pairs of £9 hairdressing scissors. She estimates that trimming her own hair has saved her around £26,000. Nancy Williams (left), 23, has always trimmed her own hair and she often lets her sisters cut it, too, something that's saved her around £2,000. Melissa Mehan (right), 41, a children's learning support assistant, became infuriated with the costly bills for a cut she didn't want or like.

The Isle of Skye won the accolade following a survey of nearly 24,000 people by property website Rightmove. The Scottish island, pictured top left and bottom, was among seaside locations that featured heavily in the top ten, including Woolacombe, in Devon, top right, and the popular Cornish holiday destinations of St Ives, Padstow and Newquay.

Callum Hackett, 18, left, is accused of stabbing David Savage, 42, right, to death outside the home he shared with long-term girlfriend Donna Hawthorn, centre, in Gosforth, Newcastle. Newcastle Crown Court heard how Hackett had sex with Miss Hawthorn in her bedroom before leaving the party when Mr Savage caught the pair in an embrace. It is alleged Hackett returned to the property to try and find his gloves before coming back a second time, armed with a knife. Hackett denies murder.

A builder who was accidentally added on Facebook by a prisoner at HMP Guys Marsh, in Dorset, was shocked to learn of the inmate's alcohol and drug-fuelled lifestyle. Gloating pictures of life inside were taken by prisoners who were snapped partying together, swigging booze, having takeaways and steaks delivered to their cells and with wads of cash. One inmate also posted a series of pictures with the hashtag 'jailfies', as well as images of what is suspected to be cannabis. A prisoner was also pictured playing on an Xbox. The builder, who wished to remain anonymous, was added earlier this year by the inmate at HMP Guys Marsh, in Dorset. Since then, his Facebook feed has been filled by pictures of prisoners larking around 'like students'.

This week, Sir Mick Jagger's (inset) two-year-old grandson Ray (pictured) proved he's picked up his grandfather's dance moves in a performance shared by his mother, 45-year-old Jade, on social media. Ray's rhythm is all the more impressive given that he bounced around without any music on, writes SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE.

She spent three years as head judge on Britain's Next Top Model. And Lisa Snowdon, 44, drew on her experience from the modelling industry to teach her female I'm A Celebrity campmates how to rock the runway. Leading by example, the model-turned-presenter strutted her stuff across the campsite, impressing the girls.

Even in skyscraper-filled lower Manhattan, the windowless mass of 33 Thomas Street (pictured left, and right in read of photo) stands out: A faceless concrete tower, topped with vents and impervious to the outside world. Constructed and owned by AT&T;, and known as the 'Long Lines Building,' it's officially a telecommunications hub with its own power and water, capable of sheltering those inside against two weeks of nuclear fallout. But documents leaked by Edward Snowden, along with others gathered by The Intercept, suggest that it has a worrying secret identity: An NSA surveillance base named Titanpointe that spies on phone calls, fax messages and internet data. The building is located just two blocks from the FBI field office (map pictured inset) in which NSA agents are instructed to go before heading to Titanpointe - and that's just the start of the disconcerting connections.

The homeless man (pictured left) rushed over to the presenter and shouted 'get the f*** out' and 'f*** off'. Mr Kyle (right), 51, was filming a show about the eviction of a homeless camp in the city. But the man was furious and approached the camera crews and Mr Kyle. A bodyguard protected him as the protester, wearing a woolly hat and grey hoodie, continued his verbal onslaught. He was not impressed by Mr Kyle's minder and shouted 'don't f****** touch me'.

Harry Benson, Research Director for The Marriage Foundation, said the show, which saw couples marry the first time they met, left those involved 'floundering' after the final episode saw three of the four couples go their separate ways. Viewers tuning in were distraught that the unions had gone awry. (Pictured clockwise from left: Adam and Caroline, Lucie and Steve, Clark and Melissa and Adam and Sara)

The latest puzzle (above) on the Internet is one of the hardest. The image appears to show pink and red starfish of different sizes along with seaweed floating around them - but somewhere inside there is a hidden airplane waiting to be spotted. See if you can spot the airplane and try some of the old

We are a nation of last-minute shoppers, with retailers reporting that sales between December 20 and 24 have trebled in the past five years. One in five of us leave it until Christmas Eve to even start. But in these uncertain times, a new breed of Christmas shopper is emerging. Their motto? Shop early and save thousands, then bask in self-satisfaction. Eimear O'Hagan meets three other women who have had Christmas all wrapped up for months. From left, Natalie Ahmed, 31, Hayley Bewley, 51, and Nicole Silva, 35.

Abigail Stringfellow had used her mobile phone to take pictures of the encounter and sent them as so-called 'revenge porn' her friend's partner after they fell out in a row about a coat. The 19-year-old has now admitted disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress and faces a potential jail term. The court heard Stringfellow (pictured, left, right and inset), from Manchester, sent two videos of her former friend having sex with the unknown man and another image of the woman in her underwear.

Alice Hart-Davis (left) tried the Hollywood Handacial procedure, which involves injecting special Ellansé fillers into the hands, at the Dr David Jack Cosmetic Surgery in London. She also sampled an IPL machine (inset) to softening brown age spots on the hands. Madonna (right) was unable to disguise her 58 years while watching the UFC fight in New York this weekend as she revealed her ageing hands.

A simple domestic decision on whether or not to open a cupboard containing china has driven the internet into a frenzy. A frustrated Facebook user has posted the picture, which showed a large pile of porcelain plates slipping off the shelf. The plates were pushing against the glass door and were likely to smash if the cupboard was to be opened.

Victoria Fritz went into labour minutes after reading the business news on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday. Her husband, Dan, was stuck in traffic on the M6, so co-presenter Sally Nugent, 45, stepped up as Victoria's birthing partner. After welcoming a baby boy at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, Victoria tweeted her thanks, describing it as a 'BBC Breakfast team effort'. Sally also took to social media to say: 'You won't believe what happened after work yesterday. Huge congrats to our very clever @VFritzNews'

Roy Coles, 80, and wife Gail, 52, (pictured together, inset) from Lichfield, hoodwinked planners during visits in 2008 and 2012 by using shutters to cover all its windows and doors. The couple lived in 'Squirrel Cottage' (main) while renting out their £900,000 farmhouse, but still had their post sent there and kept themselves on the electoral roll. Meanwhile they decked out their secret home with an expensive Aga cooker, a large kitchen diner and two double bedrooms, including one en-suite bathroom. It had full central heating and plumbing and was hooked up to an outside generator. The couple failed to tell the council about the cottage (below left), which is on green-belt land in the grounds of their sprawling Tamhorn Court estate (below right) near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Tedious hours sloshing about in a sink of warm water or costly runs to the dry-cleaners have always been synonymous with washing our winter woollies. But finally, there's an end to this irksome chore. This season's most fashionable offerings in both wool and cashmere can be kept clean with minimal fuss and even put in the washing machine - with care. 'Cashmere and wool are different fibres from two animals, but they both need treating with respect,' says Ronnie Lamb, a technical advisor in wool processing. 'Wool comes from the whole body of the sheep. Cashmere is more refined - coming from the downy layer beneath the top coat of the cashmere goat.' From left to right, a wrap from M&S;, a cashmere rollneck from Boden, a blue scarf from Cocoa London, a grey dress from M&S;, a gilet from Ted Baker, a navy jumper dress from M&S; and a cashmere scarf from Boden.

Among the global hopefuls are Simon Berry (left), 24, from Sheffield. He can be seen dunking a Chocolate Hobnob into a cup of tea just as his bungee reaches its full extension. Another wannabe record breaker is Martin Rees, 28 from Hemel Hempstead. He hopes that his minimum of ten magic tricks on a 15,000 ft skydive over Salisbury, Wiltshire, will accord him the title of, you guessed it, most magic tricks performed in a single skydive. Others attempts include: most rings placed on a target by a parrot in one minute; most people performing squats, led by Instagram star Kayla Itsines; various slam-dunking attempts by the Harlem Globetrotters; and most double dutch-style skips in 30 seconds.

Researchers from Haverford and New Jersey found the neural processes underlying visual search behavior in hawks were similar to those in humans. A Northern Goshawk named Shinta was fitted with a tiny head-mounted camera as part of the groundbreaking study to produce stunning 'hawk's eye' footage to allow the team to work out where the bird was looking.

The 43-year-old llusionist, magician and escape artist pulled off yet another death-defying stunt on Tuesday night - catching a speeding bullet in his mouth during the ABC special Beyond Magic (bottom). However the crazy maneuver took intense preparation to get exactly right, and required the Brooklyn native to first be shot multiple times in the chest (top) in order to teach himself not to flinch when the bullet finally comes flying at his face. Blaine first attempted - and succeeded with - the bullet catch in 2009, when he had his best friend and fellow magician, Bill Kalush, fire the shot. However this time around he wanted to be the person shooting the gun at himself. The main concern surrounding the trick was that Blaine would have to pull a string rigged to the gun that would fire, and it was imperative he was incredibly still and relaxed the entire time. To prepare for that he wore a thin bulletproof vest and was shot multiple times in the chest.