© Brian Inganga/Associated Press
© Shuran Huang for The New York Times
US president says ‘I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima… but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war’ as he speaks at Nato
At the Nato summit in the Netherlands, tensions between Israel and Iran could dominate discussions among world leaders amid the fragile ceasefire.
Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, is among those in The Hague for the gathering, having called on Middle Eastern nations to maintain the pause in hostilities.
Look, I think what we’ve seen over the last few days is the Americans alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians and bringing about a ceasefire in the early hours of today.
I think now what needs to happen is that ceasefire needs to be maintained, and that will be the focus of our attention, our engagement, our discussions, because that ceasefire provides the space for the negotiations that need to take place.
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© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/AP
© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/AP
Deputy prime minister says ‘we will go ahead’ as more Labour MPs join opposition to plan to cut universal credit and Pip
Kemi Badenoch has said it would be “pathetic” for Keir Starmer to postpone the vote on the UC and Pip bill. She posted this on social media, as a comment on the tweet from Kitty Donaldson. (See 11.22am.)
This is pathetic. Starmer must not pull this bill. We’ve offered to support him in the national interest if our reasonable conditions are met.
If he pulls the bill, it proves Labour isn’t serious about fiscal responsibility. If Labour backbenchers are too scared to deliver welfare changes that make only limited savings, how can they solve bigger problems like the national debt?
There is a view forming among ministers and PPS’ that the government will have to pull the welfare bill.
However, the message from the centre is very clear it will go ahead regardless of the opposition from MPs because the issue has to be forced.
There is widespread speculation in Government that No 10 will pull the entire welfare bill before the end of Wednesday, sources told The i Paper
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© Photograph: House of Commons/PA
© Photograph: House of Commons/PA
With the prime minister now mired in scandal, a culture shift is towards accountability is crucial
María Ramírez is journalist and deputy managing editor of elDiario.es
On 31 May 2018, Pedro Sánchez, then the socialist opposition leader, delivered a powerful speech introducing the motion of no confidence that led to him becoming prime minister for the first time. It was a passionate speech, laced with detail. His target was the serving conservative PM, Mariano Rajoy, and his central argument for ousting Rajoy was the widespread corruption in the governing party, which Spain’s highest criminal court had confirmed just days earlier.
“Corruption acts as a corrosive and profoundly harmful force for any nation. It erodes society’s trust in its leaders and consequently weakens the authority of the state. But it also strikes at the very root of social cohesion,” Sánchez said. “Corruption undermines faith in the rule of law when it is left to run rampant or when there is no political response commensurate with the harm caused. Ultimately, corruption destroys trust in institutions, and more profoundly, in politics itself, when there is no decisive reaction grounded in exemplary conduct.”
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© Photograph: MARISCAL/EPA
© Photograph: MARISCAL/EPA
Casualties arrive at Kenyatta national hospital, Nairobi, as parliament buildings barricaded and government orders TV and radio stations to stop coverage
Pictures from Nairobi city centre show police firing water cannon at protesters:
The protests on 25 June 2024 saw police relying on teargas and water cannon to disperse the crowd of thousands of protesters.
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© Photograph: EPA
© Photograph: EPA
Andrew Cuomo concedes as progressive leftwinger builds substantial lead over former governor
As the Democratic party fights to rebuild from a devastating election defeat, the abrupt exit of the presidents of two of the nation’s largest labor unions from its top leadership board has exposed simmering tensions over the party’s direction.
Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders quit the Democratic National Committee, saying it isn’t doing enough to “open the gates” and win back the support of working-class voters. Ken Martin, the new DNC chair, and his allies told the Guardian that the party was focused on doing exactly that.
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© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian
© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian
Countries send first astronauts in decades into space on Axiom Mission 4, along with US commander
A US commercial mission carrying crew from India, Poland and Hungary blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, taking astronauts from these countries to space for the first time in decades.
Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, launched from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31am (7:31am UK time), with a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
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© Photograph: Pat Benic/UPI/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Pat Benic/UPI/Shutterstock
Plans for official visit confirmed but diary issues appear to have scuppered initial informal meeting with king
Donald Trump will make a second state visit to the UK this year but the diary complexities of King Charles and the US president mean the two are unable to meet informally over the summer, it is understood.
The manu regia, a hand-signed formal invitation from the king, was hand-delivered to the White House last week by British representatives from the Washington embassy.
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© Photograph: Carl Court/Reuters
© Photograph: Carl Court/Reuters
Caribe is more than a cookbook, says its author Keshia Sakarah, it’s also a homage to family – with a dash of history and a sprinkling of joy
Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. This week, I dived into Caribe, a remarkable Caribbean cookbook that is simultaneously history, memoir and visual masterpiece. I spoke to the author, Keshia Sakarah, about how she came to write such a special book.
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© Composite: Caribe by Keshia Sakarah/Matt Russell/Michael Lovell
© Composite: Caribe by Keshia Sakarah/Matt Russell/Michael Lovell
‘Nato’s going to become very strong with us,’ says US president, as secretary general calls him ‘daddy’
Donald Trump praised Nato countries for being willing to lift defence spending to 5% in his first public remarks at the military alliance’s annual summit, and said that he expected the US to be fully in support.
The president was speaking at a preliminary press conference in The Hague that was dominated by his rejection of overnight reports that Iran’s nuclear sites were not destroyed in US bombing, and where he was also praised by the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, for being the “daddy”.
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© Photograph: Robin Utrecht/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Robin Utrecht/Shutterstock
The Azzurre have been improving since Andrea Soncin took over but they have been drawn in a tough group
This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2025 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 16 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two teams each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 2 July.
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© Photograph: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images
© Photograph: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images
David Obura believes humans have been using nature for free, and tipping points at some reefs have already passed
The Kenyan marine ecologist David Obura is chair of a panel of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the world’s leading natural scientists. For many decades, his speciality has been corals, but he has warned that the next generation may not see their glory because so many reefs are now “flickering out across the world”.
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© Composite: Guardian Design Team
© Composite: Guardian Design Team
The American accepts Wimbledon might be the best chance for him to win an elusive major title at 27, and says being ‘a bit delusional’ has helped him in elite tennis
“That’s the only reason I really want to be playing,” Taylor Fritz says of his quest to win a grand slam tournament as he counts down the days to Wimbledon. Fritz, the world No 5, made the US Open final last year but he believes Wimbledon offers him the best opportunity to claim that elusive prize. He is 27 and, with each passing year, the pressure of his ambition grows.
Asked if he would feel an emptiness at the end of his career if he doesn’t win a slam, Fritz admits the truth: “I probably would. I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it.”
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© Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
© Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Louche retro tailoring and unusual fusions revealed in collection excelling in premium version of everyday items
When fashion insiders received notice on Tuesday afternoon that Pharrell Williams’s Louis Vuitton show at Paris fashion week would be rescheduled to 9pm, there were collective sighs of annoyance.
But all was forgiven when they arrived at the space behind the Pompidou Centre to be told that Beyoncé and Jay-Z would be attending. The star and her husband, and nephew Julez Smith, joined a starry front row, which included Omar Sy, Steve McQueen, PinkPantheress, Spike Lee, Emile Smith Rowe and Victor Wembanyama.
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© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
From a stray meteorite to an immersive coal pit, via the chance to sit on a ‘feeding chair’, famous fans tell us how they fell in love with the UK’s Museum of the Year finalists
It’s rare to hear someone getting this excited over a teapot. But as Terry Deary tells me, with exactly the kind of relish you’d expect from the author of Horrible Histories, this particular drinks vessel belonged to the Victorian-era mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton. Believed to have killed 12 of her children, not to mention three husbands, she was finally caught after poisoning her stepson in 1872 with an arsenic-laced brew. “And in Beamish they’ve got the teapot!” says Deary. “I was blown away to hold it!”
He’s talking about Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, an open-air site based in County Durham (just like Cotton herself, who was eventually hanged in Durham Gaol). Featuring an 1820s tavern, a 1900s pit village and colliery, a 1940s farm and a 1950s town – all populated by costumed staff – it’s something of a pioneer when it comes to immersive experiences, having first opened its doors 55 years ago. This year it’s one of five museums nominated for the Art Fund Museum of the Year award, a prestigious prize that has previously been won by The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, London’s Horniman Museum and Gardens and the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. With £120,000 available to the winner (and £15,000 to the other four finalists), it is the world’s largest museum prize.
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© Photograph: Alamy
© Photograph: Alamy
Lions remain committed to positive approach with ball in hand and attack coach does not want them to tighten up
In mid-November, cricket’s Ashes series will commence in the same Optus Stadium where the British & Irish Lions will kick off their tour of Australia on Saturday. There are some keen cricket fans within the Lions squad who stayed up late to watch England’s compelling final-day win at Headingley, but out on the training pitch the collective priority is not so much Bazball as its oval-shaped cousin, Fazball.
Andy Farrell, the Lions head coach, has been at pains since his squad’s arrival here to make two things clear. The first is that preparation time is of the essence and should not be wasted by endlessly second-guessing what might lie ahead. The second is that the touring side can not afford to retreat into their tactical shells after their loss to Argentina in Dublin last Friday.
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© Photograph: Billy Stickland/INPHO/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Billy Stickland/INPHO/Shutterstock
Islamist extremist group has capitalised on instability to control a swath of the region
The scene is wearily familiar. It is dusk at a ramshackle military outpost, surrounded by miles of scrubby desert or on the outskirts of a major town.
Suddenly, there is the sound of automatic rifle fire, and hundreds of men arriving on motorbikes, then explosions, screams, fire, smoke. The defenders flee or are killed. The attackers shout triumphant cries of “God is Greatest”.
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© Photograph: Hadama Diakite/EPA
© Photograph: Hadama Diakite/EPA
After disasters such as Astroworld and scary bottlenecks at last year’s Glastonbury, Emily Eavis and crowd experts explain how they’re trying to make events safe
In the last two decades the British festival season has ballooned in size to become not just a critical part of our cultural life, but the economy at large – worth billions of pounds, and numbering as many as 850 events last year. But as Glastonbury kicks off this weekend and the season enters its peak, there are a growing number of controversies around crowd safety and management.
In April, London Assembly member and Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall echoed Metropolitan police concerns about the potential for a “mass casualty event” at Notting Hill Carnival this year, and in May, the Mail on Sunday published an anonymous Glastonbury whistleblower’s allegation that the festival is a “disaster waiting to happen … Worst-case scenario, people are going to die.”
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© Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock
© Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock
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