↩ Accueil

Vue lecture

California officials say seventh person found dead after Lake Tahoe boat capsizes

Fast-moving weekend thunderstorm caused high winds and swells as authorities say one person still missing

The El Dorado county sheriff’s office confirmed Monday that it had found a seventh person dead after a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe during a fast-moving weekend thunderstorm that caused high winds and swells of up to 8ft. One person is still missing.

A 27ft-long gold Chris-Craft vessel with 10 people aboard overturned Saturday afternoon after apparently being hit by a large swell near DL Bliss state park on the lake’s south-west edge, according to the US Coast Guard.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP

© Photograph: Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP

  •  

Canada and EU sign defense pact amid strained US relations and global instability

Amid Trump’s disrespect of old allies, EU and Canada vow more support for Ukraine and joint work on climate crisis

Canada has signed a wide-ranging defence pact with the EU, as Donald Trump and global instability prompt traditional US allies to deepen their alliances.

Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on Monday joined European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and head of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels, where they signed a security and defence partnership, pledged more support for Ukraine, as well as joint work on issues from the climate crisis to artificial intelligence.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA

© Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA

  •  

The Gilded Age review – so gloriously soapy the suds practically foam on the screen

With its fun new series, Julian Fellowes’ preposterous ‘transatlantic’ Downton has morphed from joylessly pompous to truly joyful TV. Consider me a convert!

The Gilded Age is a curious, unwieldy thing. It is rich in qualities that I love, such as Broadway stars of a certain pedigree and truly extravagant hats. But, for a series that clearly takes a great effort to make, at what appears to be an enormous expense, it is oddly slight. The events of New York society in the late 19th century glide on by, as women dressed in fine, frilly clothing dip in and out of dramas that are sometimes important, sometimes entirely trivial, but almost always afforded equal weight, regardless of how much they matter. To watch it is to sink into a comfortable fugue, and think mostly about the hats.

The household of the sisters Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranksi) and Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon) has undergone a significant shift in power. After their nephew Oscar (Blake Ritson) almost ruined the family by losing Agnes’s fortune, the crisis of impending poverty was averted at the last minute by the revelation that Ada’s husband, the Rev Luke Forte, who died not long after they were married, was actually stinking rich thanks to a profitable textiles business, leaving Ada a fortune. Fancy that! The Gilded Age can be so soapy that the suds practically foam on the screen.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Home Box Office/PA

© Photograph: Home Box Office/PA

  •  

US supreme court clears way for Trump to deport migrants to countries not their own

Justices lift judicial order, handing victory to US president in his aggressive pursuit of mass deportations

The US supreme court cleared the way on Monday for Donald Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show harms they could face, handing him another victory in his aggressive pursuit of mass deportations.

The justices lifted a judicial order that required the government to give migrants set for deportation to so-called “third countries” a “meaningful opportunity” to tell officials they are at risk of torture at their new destination, while a legal challenge plays out.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Justin Hamel/AFP via Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Hamel/AFP via Getty Images

  •  

U2 guitarist The Edge becomes Irish citizen – after 62 years in the country

English-born David Evans, 63, is conferred with ‘long overdue’ Irish citizenship

After decades of finely balanced procrastination, the U2 guitarist The Edge has officially become Irish.

The 63-year-old British subject was conferred with Irish citizenship on Monday, 62 years after moving to Ireland in a step he said was “long overdue”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS

© Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS

  •  

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs jury views more sex videos as prosecution case nears end

Prosecutors have cited drug-fueled multi-day events as evidence of sex-trafficking charges against the music mogul

The jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex-trafficking trial viewed more video recordings on Monday of the sex marathons that have played a prominent role in a prosecution that was likely to rest by Tuesday.

The assistant US attorney Maurene Comey sometimes referred to the mostly 1- or 2-minute clips filmed by the music mogul as “explicit” videos, a signal for jurors to put on headsets that enabled them to hear and view the recordings without them being heard or seen by spectators in the Manhattan courtroom.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

© Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

  •  

‘We can chase anything’: Tongue bullish as England look to overhaul India total

  • England need 350 runs on final day to win first Test

  • Centurion KL Rahul predicts ‘blockbuster finish’

After blowing away India’s tail for the second time in the game, pocketing a three-wicket maiden in the process, Josh Tongue said England were confident of scoring the 371 runs they need to claim victory in the opening Test, insisting: “With our batting lineup we can chase anything.”

England survived six overs before stumps to reach 21 without loss, leaving 350 to get on what is forecast to be a rain-affected final day. Should they reach their target it would be the highest successful run chase at Headingley – or for that matter anywhere in England – for 77 years, beating by nine the 362 they scored in the extraordinary Ashes encounter here in 2019.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Matt West/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt West/Shutterstock

  •  

‘It’s non-stop’: residents of Ramat Aviv describe life amid Iranian bomb strikes

Tel Aviv suburb was one of 10 sites hit across Israel on Sunday amid most intense barrage yet

A day after Iranian missiles struck, workers were still clearing rubble from the charred remains of an apartment block in Ramat Aviv, a quiet suburb in north-west Tel Aviv.

Bystanders stopped and stared at the destruction, some posing for selfies in front of the impact site, other flipping through a diary belonging to one of the building’s residents, which had been thrown on the pavement.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Dima Vazinovich/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dima Vazinovich/Getty Images

  •  

Scientists use bacteria to turn plastic waste into paracetamol

Genetically modified E coli used to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottles

Bacteria can be used to turn plastic waste into painkillers, researchers have found, opening up the possibility of a more sustainable process for producing the drugs.

Chemists have discovered E coli can be used to create paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, from a material produced in the laboratory from plastic bottles.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA

© Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA

  •  

Trump insists ‘monumental damage’ done by US strikes in Iran but others are more cautious

International Atomic Energy Agency head says no one in a position to fully assess damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities

Donald Trump has doubled down on claims “monumental damage” had been done to Iran’s nuclear sites, as the head of the UN’s nuclear agency said that while he anticipated “very significant damage” at the underground Fordow site, the agency had not been able to assess it.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that Iran had told the agency it had planned to take “special measures” to protect equipment and nuclear materials on 13 June.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Maxar Technologies/Reuters

© Photograph: Maxar Technologies/Reuters

  •  

Iranian closure of strait of Hormuz would be monumental act of self-harm, says Lammy

UK foreign secretary wants Iran to return to negotiating table but refuses to endorse strikes by US and Israel

Any Iranian move to close the strait of Hormuz waterway would be an act of monumental self-harm, said David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, as he continued to refuse to endorse the Israeli and American strikes on Iran, or lay out the UK view of their lawfulness.

Lammy said there was no need for the British government to say if the strikes were legal since the UK was not involved in the action and had not been asked by the US to take part, or to allow the US to use the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean to target Iran.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

  •  

EU may take action against Israel if conditions in Gaza do not improve

Bloc’s foreign affairs chief warns of a response unless action is taken to ‘stop the suffering’ in Gaza Strip

The EU may take action to increase pressure on Israel unless there are “concrete” improvements for the inhabitants of Gaza, its foreign policy chief has said.

After meeting the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels, Kaja Kallas said it was “very clear” that Israel had breached its human rights commitments in Gaza and the West Bank.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

© Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

  •  

Next season in doubt for Haliburton as sources say star tore achilles in NBA finals Game 7

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sustained a torn achilles tendon in Sunday night’s NBA finals Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City, ESPN reported on Monday. The recovery time for a basketball player with a torn achilles tendon typically ranges from eight to 10 months.

With five minutes left of the first quarter on Sunday, Haliburton pushed off his right foot to initiate a drive to the basket. But instead of maneuvering past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he fell to the floor in agony. As the Thunder went the other way for a dunk, Haliburton pounded the floor with his fist and was unable to put weight on his injured leg while being escorted to the locker room.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Nate Billings/AP

© Photograph: Nate Billings/AP

  •  

The Donald’s bunker busters leave Lammy dreaming of his duvet | John Crace

The foreign secretary was trying to catch up, unsure whether it would be better to have been in on the plan, or have deniability

The situation was, said the foreign secretary, “fast-moving”. Fast-moving as in totally suboptimal. Fast-moving as in completely out of his control. Fast-moving as in he would rather have pulled the duvet over his head and pretended the whole thing had been a bad dream. That he could go back to sleep for a while and wake up to the world as it was.

Maybe we all wish we could do that. These are the days that many of us would rather had never happened. Does the world feel any safer to you today?

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

  •  

Socialist Zohran Mamdani could be New York’s next mayor. This is what the western left could learn from him | Owen Jones

He has used clear messaging to redirect anger from the disenfranchised to the economic elites. That the wealthy are worried shows it’s working

The Zohran Mamdani phenomenon should not be happening, if received wisdom is a reliable predictor of events. He’s the 33-year-old Muslim leftist and Queens assemblyman running for the New York mayoralty with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the vitriolic campaign against him suggests his momentum has caused panic in gilded circles. His chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, Andrew Cuomo, could not scream party establishment more loudly: he’s New York state’s former governor – just like his father was – and a former cabinet secretary. He married into that classic Democratic royalty, the Kennedys; his endorsements include the former president Bill Clinton; and billionaires such as Mike Bloomberg are pouring millions into his Super Pac.

In another age, someone like Mamdani would have been a no-hoper. What changed was the 2016 presidential campaign of the long-marginalised socialist senator Bernie Sanders, which re-energised the US left. But Donald Trump’s recent victory on a more extreme platform led to predictions of a general rightwing lurch in US politics, with progressive positions scapegoated for the Democratic loss (even though Kamala Harris ran on a squarely corporate, “centrist” ticket). I was scheduled to interview Mamdani on the night of the US presidential election, but his campaign asked to postpone as results started to come in suggesting a Trump victory was likely. Presumably, they wanted to reassess strategy in the coming US political winter.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

  •  

The Guardian view on Palestine Action: if red paint is terrorism, what isn’t? | Editorial

Labelling direct action as an act of terror criminalises dissent, chills speech and redefines nuisance as extremism under the banner of national security

The UK government’s intention to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 marks a significant escalation in the treatment of civil disobedience. It elevates a group known for throwing red paint at buildings and military aircraft into the same legal category as al-Qaida and Islamic State. If there’s a serious threat from these activists, we’ve yet to see it – just a ministerial statement discussing civil disobedience in the language of counterinsurgency.

If this is all that Palestine Action can be accused of, then the government is wrong. Ministers are setting a dangerous precedent by using terror laws to outlaw protest – and penalising protesters not for violence but for making a nuisance and vandalism. The cost will be felt in press freedom, political accountability and the right to resist. The home secretary’s statement says that Palestine Action’s activities “meet the threshold” for terrorism under the law, yet fails to specify how the group’s actions – which consist primarily of damage to property, not threats to life – satisfy the statutory requirement of intending to influence the government or intimidate the public through serious violence or threats.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

  •  

The Guardian view on maternity care failings: Wes Streeting’s new inquiry must learn from past mistakes, not repeat them | Editorial

The health secretary deserves praise for trying something new. But links between poor care and overstretched staff must not be avoided

The announcement of a new inquiry into maternity care failures in England, including the shockingly higher risk of mortality faced by black and Asian mothers, indicates an overdue recognition that improvements are needed. From the devastating 2015 review of a decade of failure at Morecambe Bay, to last year’s birth trauma report from MPs, there is no shortage of evidence that women face unacceptable risks when giving birth on the NHS. The question is whether a review chaired by Wes Streeting himself can achieve what previous ones have not.

His role as chair is not the only novel aspect of this inquiry. A panel including bereaved parents will share their experiences and knowledge, alongside expert evidence. This format should focus minds on the human consequences of systemic failures, including mother and baby deaths, and on the need for accountability when things go wrong.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

  •  

Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul sparkle with tons as India set England 371 to win first Test

Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling victory in the first Test at Headingley, with the hosts 21-0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.

Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul struck centuries for the visitors, with the former becoming the second wicketkeeper to hit twin tons in a Test match. But just as he did in the first innings, Josh Tongue came to the fore when seeing off the Indian tail, with three wickets in four balls helping ensure the tourists lost their final six second-innings wickets for 31 runs.

Ali Martin’s report will follow shortly.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

© Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

  •  

Airlines pay the price as no-go airspace increases due to global conflicts

US strikes on Iran are adding to the pressure on carriers, which are having to avoid war-torn regions, lengthening routes and pushing up costs

With barely 48 hours elapsed since the US launched strikes against Iran, the swift resumption of near-normal service circumnavigating the war zone underlines that few crises, short of the global pandemic, have stopped airlines and their passengers flying for long.

British Airways had been planning to restart flights to the Middle East cities of Doha and Dubai again, after cancelling departures from Heathrow at the weekend. However, on Monday evening Qatar temporarily closed its airspace again as Iran launched a missile attack on US bases in the country.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Abdel Hadi Ramahi/Reuters

© Photograph: Abdel Hadi Ramahi/Reuters

  •  

Giant asteroid could crash into moon in 2032, firing debris towards Earth

Researchers say satellites may be at risk and impact could create a spectacular meteor shower in the skies

If a giant asteroid smashes into the moon in 2032 it could send lunar debris hurtling towards Earth, researchers have said, posing a risk to satellites but also creating a rare and spectacularly vivid meteor shower visible in the skies.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 triggered a planetary defence response earlier this year after telescope observations revealed the “city killer” had a 3% chance of colliding with Earth.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy

© Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy

  •  

Trump and Netanyahu aim to remake the Middle East with bombs. Iran shows why that will always fail | Sina Toossi

The US has rashly followed Israel into a war that will not end Iran’s nuclear programme or topple its government

  • Sina Toossi is a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy

The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend – targeting nuclear facilities, infrastructure and symbolic state institutions – reflect the bankruptcy of a decades-long approach to Iran that has hinged on pressure, coercion and destabilisation. This latest gambit appears less a strategic gamechanger than a desperate bid to regime-change Iran and prop up a rickety regional status quo built around unchecked Israeli dominance.

The timing of Israel’s initial surprise attack on 13 June was no coincidence. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – who has long sought to sabotage any prospect of US-Iran detente – appears to have steamrolled Donald Trump into the escalation he has always wanted. The result looks like a trap: Trump, once again, manoeuvred into a destabilising Middle East conflict that serves Netanyahu’s agenda far more than the US’s.

Sina Toossi is a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, where his work focuses on US-Iran relations, US policy toward the Middle East and nuclear issues

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Bing Guan/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bing Guan/AFP/Getty Images

  •  

Why did the US bomb Iran now? | Nader Hashemi

If Iran’s nuclear program was not an imminent threat, what motived the US-Israeli attack? Why now? The answer is political opportunity

The United States has bombed Iran. Donald Trump announced on Sunday that B-2 bombers attacked three nuclear sites including the Fordow nuclear site, sometimes referring to as the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program.

As the world waits for Iran’s response, it is worth revisiting events since 12 June, when Israel, with US support, attacked the Islamic Republic. The official reason is nuclear weapons. The real reason I contend is the elimination of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and establishing Israeli regional hegemony over the Middle East with tacit support from Arab autocrats.

Nader Hashemi is associate professor of Middle East and Islamic politics and director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University

Continue reading...

© Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

© Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

  •  

WhatsApp messaging app banned on all US House of Representatives devices

Memo says cybersecurity office deemed WhatsApp a high risk due to ‘lack of transparency in how it protects user data’

The WhatsApp messaging service has been banned on all US House of Representatives devices, according to a memo sent to House staff on Monday.

The notice to all House staff said that the “Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high-risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use.”

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

© Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  •  

‘Gold standard’: training centre could be gamechanger for football in US

On a 200-acre site in Fayette County, Georgia, US Soccer hopes to build the best facility of its like in the world

Thirty minutes away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Atlanta, the land becomes greener, the trees are taller and builders are working in the intense Georgia sun to ensure US Soccer’s new National Training Center is ready for action in time for the men’s World Cup next year.

It is an enormous site, spanning more than 200 acres in Trilith, Fayette County, and the hope is it will be the best training facility in the world when it opens. Funding has partly come from Arthur M Blank, who owns three sports teams in Atlanta, and executives are confident everything is on schedule for the doors to open in April.

Continue reading...

© Illustration: USSF

© Illustration: USSF

  •  

Why it’s good to admit when you’re wrong – and how to improve

Admitting to being wrong can be difficult. But ‘intellectual humility’ is a trainable trait that deepens relationships

You may be familiar with the feeling. Someone factchecks you mid-conversation or discredits your dishwasher-loading technique. Heat rises to your face; you might feel defensive, embarrassed or angry. Do you insist you’re right or can you accept the correction?

Admitting to being wrong can be difficult and uncomfortable. But the ability to admit to incorrect ideas or beliefs – what psychologists call “intellectual humility” – is important. Research shows that people with higher intellectual humility think more critically, and are less biased and less prone to dogmatism.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Albert Beck Wenzell

© Photograph: Albert Beck Wenzell

  •  

House Democratic veterans back moves to limit Trump’s military authority

Letter from 12 members demanding congressional approval for war follows Trump’s unauthorized bombing of Iran

A group of 12 House Democratic military veterans have thrown their weight behind efforts to constrain Donald Trump’s military authority, announcing they will support a War Powers Act resolution in response to the US president’s go ahead for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The veterans – some of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan – were strongly critical of Trump’s decision to launch what they called “preventive air strikes” without US congressional approval, drawing explicit parallels to the run-up to some of America’s longest recent wars.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

  •  

Tens of millions swelter as heatwave blankets the central and eastern US

Several cities are under extreme heat warnings as high temperatures and humidity grip parts of the country

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued several extreme heat warnings and advisories as a dangerous and prolonged wave of high temperatures and humidity blankets much of the central and eastern US, with the worst conditions expected to persist into the middle of this week.

Several locations recorded their hottest temperatures of the year over the weekend: Salt Lake City, Utah, hit 104F (40C) on Thursday, its first triple-digit reading of 2025, and on Saturday the city of Mitchell in South Dakota also reached 104F, surpassing its previous daily record of 101F. Daily high records were broken in parts of Minnesota, Wyoming and Michigan.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jon Cherry/AP

© Photograph: Jon Cherry/AP

  •  

Thunder’s thrilling nerd juggernaut ushers in NBA’s nice guy era

Polite, considerate, and brilliant to watch, Oklahoma City’s team of champions helped produce one of the most absorbing postseasons in years

These were supposed to be the boring finals, a contest between two small-city teams with none of the media pull of Boston or New York or even Denver for that matter, featuring the (allegedly) most overrated guard in the NBA, no personalities, relentless fouling, and a Canadian MVP whose ascendancy seemed to indicate nothing more than the terminal decline of America as a stable of elite basketballing talent. Instead we were treated to the most thrilling and unpredictable finals since LeBron James came through with his famous rejection in 2016 – a bustling, punishing, seven-game exhibition of physical basketball whose outcome was genuinely unclear until the final quarter of the season. Denigrated and dismissed by a basketballing commentariat who’ve spent much of this season ruing the modern NBA’s dearth of charisma, Oklahoma City and Indiana played as if stung by the laugh lines, launching from both ends of the court with a kind of mad, symphonic intensity.

If the finals of the past few years were about punctuating a dynasty (Golden State in 2022), letting Nikola Jokić be Nikola Jokić (Denver in 2023), and mastering a technocratic synthesis of all the elements of the modern game (the Celtics last season), this was a victory built on turnovers, flops, dives, steals, slingshot passes, and snap threes from distance. It was grubby at times, but it was all the more beautiful for its lunging desperation. At the end of it all, the team with the best regular-season record and the best player in the league emerged victorious. In years to come this stat line alone may confer a sheen of inevitability over the season. But Oklahoma City’s victory in Sunday night’s decider – like these finals and the playoffs generally – was anything but predictable. Even after star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who played through the finals with a calf strain, exited the court with a ripped achilles late in the first quarter, the Pacers would not give up.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Nate Billings/AP

© Photograph: Nate Billings/AP

  •  

Abortions in the US are on the rise three years after Roe v Wade was overturned

A growing number of abortions happen through telehealth – including for women in states with strict bans

Three years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, erasing the national right to abortion and paving the way for more than a dozen states to ban the procedure, the number of abortions performed in the US is still on the rise – including in some states that ban the procedure.

US abortion providers performed 1.14m abortions in 2024, according to new data released on Monday by #WeCount, a Society of Family Planning project that has tracked abortion provision since 2022. That’s the highest number on record in recent years.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Images

  •  

Ukraine and UK to jointly produce long-range drones, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian president says two countries will deepen defence cooperation with the objective to ‘stop Russian terror’

Ukraine and the UK are to deepen their defence cooperation by jointly producing long-range drones, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday after talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street aimed at forcing Russia to “think about peace”.

Zelenskyy said his main objective was “to save as many lives as possible” and to “stop Russian terror”. Writing on social media, he called for “maximum political and diplomatic coordination” and closer work on “joint defence projects and weapons production”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

© Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

  •  

From mushroom coffins to reefs made of ashes – why green burials are going mainstream

Environmental funerals are on the up – but are they really as sustainable as their providers say?

“I want to become a pearl when I die - or a reef,” said Madeleine Sutcliffe. Aged 80 and suffering from lung cancer, Sutcliffe was given six months to live in January.

Adam, Sutcliffe’s son, is enthusiastic. “I don’t think a pearl is possible but if mum’s ashes are made into an artificial reef, I’ll be able to dive to it,” he said. “Given how I feel when I dive - serene, calm and meditative - a reef is the perfect environment to remember mum.”

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Adam Sutcliffe

© Photograph: Adam Sutcliffe

  •  

‘Handcuffed like we’re criminals’: Ohio teen soccer star recounts deportation

Emerson Colindres reflects on ‘traumatizing’ ordeal after Ice sent him to Honduras despite having no criminal record

The Ohio high school graduate and soccer standout who was recently deported from the US to Honduras despite having no arrest record has described being “handcuffed like we’re some big criminals” for the entirety of his deportation flight.

“To me, it was kind of more traumatizing because I haven’t been to my birth country in years,” Emerson Colindres, 19, who was brought from Honduras to the US by his family at age eight, said to the Cincinnati news station WCPO in an interview over the weekend.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Megan Jelinger/Reuters

© Photograph: Megan Jelinger/Reuters

  •  

Windfarms in England hit by wave of copper cabling thefts

Experts says organised criminal gangs could be behind spate of incidents over past few months

Copper thieves have been targeting England’s onshore windfarms, and security experts say organised gangs could be behind the crimewave.

At least 12 large windfarms across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Humberside, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have fallen victim to cabling thieves in the past three months.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

  •  

‘Our era of violent populism’: the US has entered a new phase of political violence

The political temperature is dangerously high – and shows few signs of cooling

It has been a grim couple of weeks in the US, as multiple acts of politically motivated violence have dominated headlines and sparked fears that a worrying new normal has taken hold in America.

Last Saturday, a man disguised as a police officer attacked two Democratic legislators at their homes in Minnesota, killing a state representative and her husband, and wounding another lawmaker and his wife. The alleged murderer was planning further attacks, police said, on local politicians and abortion rights advocates.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

  •  

‘It takes 25 years for a footprint to disappear’ – the secret, beguiling magic of Britain’s bogs

They are the air-conditioning units of the world – filtering water, preventing flooding, preserving history and providing habitat. Our human ancestors knew the extraordinary power of peatlands, so why are they still being destroyed?

I haven’t found an hour when I don’t love a bog. Recently, after a night of counting rare caterpillars in Borth in Mid Wales (they come out only after dark), walking back to the car under the glow of a flower moon, I wondered if 2am was my new favourite. I felt very safe, held by the bog’s softness, and everyone that was out at that hour seemed to have a sense of humour. I met a nightjar hopping around on the ground, pretending, I think, to be a frog.

But there is also something about the humidity of a languid afternoon on a bog, when everything slows and fat bumbles hum, that is surprisingly good. I have done freezing horizontal rain and thick, cold-to-your-bones fog and wind so howling that I couldn’t think. All of those were hard, but I did come away feeling truly alive.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Joann Randles/The Guardian

© Photograph: Joann Randles/The Guardian

  •  

Yvette Cooper vows to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws

Home secretary to ignore warning from group’s lawyers that doing so would be ‘unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out’

The home secretary has said she will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, ignoring a warning from the group’s solicitors that the proposal was “unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out”.

In a statement to parliament on Monday, three days after activists from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton, Yvette Cooper said a draft proscription order would be laid in parliament on 30 June. If passed, it would make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

  •  

Why is Iran’s nuclear programme so essential to its identity?

Why does a country with large oil reserves feel such a need to have home-grown civil nuclear energy?

In October 1978, two leaders of the Iranian opposition to the British-backed shah of Iran met in the Paris suburbs of Neauphle-le-Château to plan for the final stages of the revolution, a revolution that after 46 momentous and often brutal years may now be close to expiring.

The two men had little in common but their nationality, age and determination to remove the shah from power. Karim Sanjabi, the leader of the secular liberal National Front, was a former Sorbonne-educated professor of law. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the leading Shia opponent of the Iranian monarchy since the 1960s. Both were in their 70s at the time.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

© Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

  •  

Killer whales seen grooming each other with kelp in first for marine tool use

Behavior in orca population off coast of US and Canada captured by scientists using drone observation

Killer whales have been observed mutually grooming each other with a type of seaweed, the first known instance of a marine animal using tools in a way that was previously thought to be the preserve of primates such as humans.

A group of killer whales, which are also known as orcas, have been biting off short sections of bull kelp and then rolling these stems between their bodies, possibly to remove dead skin or parasites. The behavior is the first such documented mutual grooming in marine animals and is outlined in a new scientific paper.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: George D Lepp/Getty Images

© Photograph: George D Lepp/Getty Images

  •