Leaders of UK, France and Canada condemn Israel’s ‘egregious actions’ in Gaza and warn of joint action if offensive continues
As key western allies demand Israel change course in its assault on Gaza, the US, Israel’s biggest arms supplier, remains largely unmoved.
Here is an extract from a story by my colleague Joseph Gedeon, who explains why Washington’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu is so solid despite international pressure.
Despite Israeli promises to “flatten” Gaza, opposition from Congress – and mainstream Democrats more broadly – has been largely muted. While the besieged territory faces what the World Health Organization (Who) calls “one of the world’s worst hunger crises”, more than three dozen members of Congress from both parties recently appeared in an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) video in celebration of Israel’s 77th birthday. In New York, leading mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo held up an Israeli flag in the city’s annual Israel Day Parade on Sunday.
This political genuflection comes as a March Gallup poll shows American support for Israel has dropped to 46% – its lowest point in 25 years – while sympathy for Palestinians has risen to a record 33%. Democrats reported sympathizing with Palestinians over Israelis by a three-to-one ratio.
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© Photograph: Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
China’s and Australia’s central banks cut interest rates
Richard Hunter, head of markets at the trading platform interactive investor, said Vodafone is “beginning to ring the changes”.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose by less than 1%, despite a €4bn share buyback.
Turning around a super tanker is never an easy task, especially when the company is in the midst of a highly competitive arena, but there are some signs that Vodafone is beginning to ring the changes.
The group had quite simply been fighting fires on too many fronts while dealing with an increasingly onerous debt burden, leading to the need for a significant transformation. What should now emerge from the turnaround is a smaller and less geographically diverse, but more focused operation…
The UK business is another region which the group is aiming to strengthen, and its planned mega-merger with Three UK should complete imminently. The merger should truly change the domestic landscape, while also providing new revenue opportunities at scale as well as cost synergy savings of around £700 million per year on completion. In the meantime, the unit accounts for 19% of group income and saw total revenue growth of 1.9% for the period.
The most obvious thorn in the group’s size remains the German operation, which is the group’s largest and accounts for 35% of overall service revenue, which declined by 5% for the year. The unit is still suffering from customer losses which were largely attributable to enforced price increases last year, competitive activity elsewhere and the lingering effects of the change to German TV law which resulted in a recontracting of customers, where the previous number of 8.5 million has been reduced to 4.2 million households.
Britain is in a better place than any other country in the world in terms of deals with those countries.
The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India.
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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Trump’s interventions have infuriated India, which has not emerged from conflict as triumphant as it had hoped
Against the odds, the ceasefire that followed Indian and Pakistan’s almost-war has held; fragile, uneasy but still unbroken. Yet in the aftermath of four days of cross-border drones and missile strikes – the most technologically advanced conflict either side have ever engaged in – the question remains: what now?
While both India and Pakistan have claimed victory, some experts fear that a return to hostilities is almost inevitable.
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© Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images
Coach no longer says consistency is barometer of progress as he aims to deliver Europa League high in season of lows
It was never meant to be a “panacea”, as Ange Postecoglou would say; possibly because the ills at Tottenham are so numerous. Winning a cup would be fabulous, hugely welcome but, according to the manager, it would not – in isolation, at least – offer the prospect of sustained success. Which was the target when he came to the club in the summer of 2023.
Remember Postecoglou’s attitude after he exited the Carabao Cup with a weakened team at Fulham in the early weeks of his tenure? “I’m here because I want to create a club that has the opportunity to win things on a yearly basis,” he said. “There’s a difference. Us winning a Carabao Cup and finishing 10th is not what I think this club is about.”
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© Composite: Shutterstock
© Composite: Shutterstock
As my body begins to show undeniable signs of decay, it’s time to reflect on a profoundly underwhelming sporting life
There are the nights when the 10-minute walk to the tube station takes half an hour. There are the crossbow bolts of knee pain at 3am. There are the evenings when you convince yourself the recycling doesn’t actually need to be taken out tonight. We can wait a couple of days, squash it down a bit, crush that box flat. And secretly, it’s because you can’t handle the stairs.
There are the mornings when the bus is coming and the kids shout “Come on!” and start running, but you can’t, you just can’t, and you don’t know how to tell them. There is the very particular indignity of the 39-year-old man crossing the road in socks because blisters and swellings have rendered his boots useless. There are the fitness fads – hot yoga, reformer pilates, cold plunge – adopted at great expense and with the sole purpose of pushing back oblivion, of rendering the intolerable fleetingly tolerable.
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© Photograph: Richard Newstead/Getty Images
© Photograph: Richard Newstead/Getty Images
Former NBA executive Marshall Glickman, who heads the consortium awarded 15-year league licence, outlines bold plans for change with or without the Super League clubs
The machinations over football’s European Super League feel like a distant threat compared with the civil war in British basketball between the top-flight clubs and the sport’s governing body.
Leicester Riders claimed a record-equalling seventh Super League Basketball title in the final on Sunday against Newcastle Eagles at a packed O2 Arena, but it is unclear whether the league will even take place next season.
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© Photograph: Leicester Riders
© Photograph: Leicester Riders
All-rounder has been playing for his country – on and off – for 20 years and is relishing Thursday’s Test in England
In a Zimbabwe squad not exactly packed with experience – only three of its 16 members have played as many Tests as the 21‑year‑old English spinner Shoaib Bashir – Sean Williams is the most glaring of exceptions. When Jimmy Anderson took off his England cap for the final time last summer, 21 years, six months and 27 days after his debut, Williams took over as the cricketer with the longest ongoing international career: by the final day of the one-off Test at Trent Bridge this week he will be able to look back at precisely 20 years and three months at the highest rung of the cricketing ladder.
And still he is breaking new ground: England, who have not played Zimbabwe in any format since 2003, would be the 28th opponents of his international career, taking him two short of the world record held by the retired Kenyan Collins Obuya. “Definitely for me as an individual, it makes it massive,” he says.
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© Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
A team of writers complete the vital book that Guardian reporter Dom Phillips was working on at the time of his murder
On page 165 of How to Save the Amazon, a black-and-white photo interrupts the text. Two wooden crucifixes stand in a freshly hacked clearing, lashed to tall, thin stumps. One of them bears the name Bruno Pereira. The other, Dominic Phillips, the author. The image splits the book in two. Before it, the pages are filled with Phillips’s vivid prose. After it, his friends and former colleagues have gathered and attempted to complete his work as best they can.
Erected on the bank of the Itaquaí river, in a remote part of the Brazilian Amazon, the crosses mark the spot at which – early on the morning of 5 June 2022 – Pereira and Phillips were murdered. The two men had been travelling downriver in a small motorboat when they were attacked. Pereira, a Brazilian forest protector and Indigenous specialist, was shot first: three times, including in the back. Phillips, a Guardian reporter, was shot once in the chest, at close range. His final word, according to his alleged killers, was “No”.
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© Photograph: João Laet/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: João Laet/AFP/Getty Images
For years Netanyahu has divided and disrupted his opponents. But new leaders are beginning to organise
• Aluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of Haaretz
In his successful quest to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has leveraged his most valuable asset: the country’s ineffective opposition. He has been playing his opponents off against each other, staying afloat while they are left powerless and irrelevant.
Netanyahu has survived multiple corruption cases, an ongoing criminal trial and recurring elections. Even after Hamas invaded Israel by surprise, on 7 October, 2023, leading to the longest, deadliest and most ruinous war in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the opposition failed to pose a political threat to Netanyahu. This week, Israel continues its expanded offensive across Gaza alongside a deadly bombing campaign. Rather than bearing the responsibility for the unparalleled tragedy and being kicked out of office in disgrace, the prime minister has only grown more powerful, expanding his governing coalition, shrugging off any responsibility for the disaster and firing the military and intelligence leaders.
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© Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
© Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
A boat trip to Denmark’s South Funen archipelago takes in the North Sea coast, the historic Kiel canal and the Baltic before delivering its crew to an idyllic island rich in maritime culture
A south-westerly wind blew us to Ærø. This little Baltic island (pronounced Air-rue) in Denmark’s South Funen archipelago is home to some 6,000 fortunate residents who enjoy free bus services, shallow swimming beaches and picture-perfect villages. The 54 sq mile island has a history of building sailing ships and there is an excellent maritime museum, so it seemed appropriate to arrive on a historic wooden sailing boat, Peggy, a Bristol pilot cutter built in 1903.
“We’re going to Ærø without a plane,” quipped one crew member as we set the sails on leaving the German Baltic port of Kiel. Our overland journey from the UK had started with a 12-hour train trip from London to Cuxhaven, a German port on the North Sea; a short taxi ride to Cuxhaven marina; an overnight stay on Peggy in the marina; and then a two-day transit of the Kiel canal, the busiest in the world by number of vessels, with some 35,000 ships transiting annually.
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© Photograph: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy
© Photograph: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy
Since the 2016 peace treaty, Mesetas has embraced its natural assets and visitors have flocked to enjoy the region’s unique biodiversity. But the threat of violence is never far away
Ten years ago, violent conflict made it impossible for tourists to enjoy the natural riches of Mesetas. The town was one of the centres of the armed conflict that ravaged Colombia for decades, claiming nearly half a million lives.
But since the historic peace treaty in 2016, with efforts to uphold it now led by the leftist president, Gustavo Petro, the people of Mesetas have had their hopes raised for a better life, thanks to those natural assets.
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© Photograph: Antonio Cascio/The Guardian
© Photograph: Antonio Cascio/The Guardian
Lai Ching-te says ‘peace is priceless’ and war has ‘no winners’ as he marks year in office
Taiwan’s president has reiterated calls for peace and dialogue with China as he marked one year in office, amid heightened Chinese military activity and worsening political division at home.
Lai Ching-te, who was inaugurated a year ago, told reporters on Tuesday that a war would have “no winners”, but Taiwan would continue to strengthen its defences to ward off a Chinese invasion or attempt to annex it by force.
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© Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA
© Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA
‘No one is above the law – politicians or otherwise,’ interim US attorney Alina Habba said.
US representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat, was charged with assaulting federal agents after a clash outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, the state’s federal prosecutor announced on Monday.
Alina Habba, interim US attorney, said in a post on social media that McIver was facing charges “for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” when she visited the detention center along with two other Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation on 9 May.
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© Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/AP
© Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/AP
Simon Spurrell was forced to sell his business because of £600,000 loss caused by Brexit red tape
A British cheese maker who was forced to sell his business because of a £600,000 loss caused by Brexit red tape has welcomed the new deal with Brussels – but says it comes four years too late.
Simon Spurrell, who made headlines when he highlighted prohibitive export costs after the UK’s exit from the single market, said he was delighted the “grownups are back in the room” and he will now consider relaunching his business as long as the details are confirmed.
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© Photograph: Simon Spurrell, the Chesire Cheese Company
© Photograph: Simon Spurrell, the Chesire Cheese Company
Former FBI director describes as ‘crazy’ claim that seashell photo on Instagram signified assassination call
James Comey was taking a walk on the beach with his wife when they happened upon a message in the sand: 8647.
According to the former FBI director, his wife initially asked if the cryptic seashell formation was an address. They puzzled over the shells, trying to decipher meaning. His wife, according to Comey’s account, remembered her days as a server in a restaurant, when 86 was the term staff used to remove an item from the menu. Comey mused that when he was younger, kids would say 86 to mean “to ditch a place”.
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© Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy
© Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy
UK prime minister heralds a ‘win-win’ but faces criticism for concessions on fishing rights
Keir Starmer has vowed his EU reset deal will deliver cheaper food and energy for British people, heralding a “win-win” as he sealed the high-stakes agreement with concessions on youth visas and fishing.
“Britain is back on the world stage,” the prime minister said after shaking hands on the deal with the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen in London. “It gives us unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country … all while sticking to the red lines in our manifesto.”
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© Photograph: Carl Court/PA
© Photograph: Carl Court/PA
It can be hard for gym-goers to know what’s reasonable to expect from a workout or class. Here, trainers and coaches share common problems – and their solutions
It’s an uncomfortable feeling: you walk out of your fitness class and know the vibe was off but can’t say exactly why. The coach was perfectly polite and the workout itself was fine, but you’re sure you won’t go back. How come?
I have a few hunches because I’ve spent a lot of time in gyms. I played three sports in high school, was on the swim team in college, started CrossFit in 2016 and have been a CrossFit coach and personal trainer for the past four years. I’ve written for Men’s Health for almost a decade, and dropped into at least 50 gyms, from luxury boutiques to basement sweat boxes.
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© Composite: Getty Images/Guardian design
© Composite: Getty Images/Guardian design
United, who face Tottenham in the Europa League final, would find a parade logistically challenging
© Getty Images
Extreme space weather can threaten national security, scientists warn
© Nasa
The north London club last won a trophy in 2008 but are ready to face Manchester United in the Europa League final
© PA Wire
© Mike Egerton/PA
William Goodge says he started running marathons in honour of his mother who died from cancer
© Reece Robinson
Predicting your risk of a range of health outcomes can be as simple as testing how tight your grip is
© Getty Images
Noel Edmonds previously denied rumours that this star was the voice behind the Banker
© ITV
‘It’s not my first rodeo’ with Trump, Comey tells Nicolle Wallace
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Lorraine Bracco says she made a deal with herself at 50 to ‘have more fun’
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