Israel closed all crossings into Gaza indefinitely when it attacked Iran, imposing a siege that has already pushed up food prices and threatens to plunge 2 million people into a new hunger crisis.
After more than two years of war, and with Israeli forces in control of about 60% of the territory, almost all Gaza’s food must be brought in.
Donald Trump has laid out four goals in Iran and said the US campaign had been projected to last four to five weeks but could “go far longer than that”.
On Monday the US president offered his most extensive comments yet about the war, going beyond two video messages and a series of brief phone interviews with reporters that offered sometimes conflicting objectives.
French president says Paris could deploy nuclear-capable fighter jet to countries such as Germany and Poland
France will increase the size of its nuclear arsenal for the first time in decades and significantly intensify nuclear weapons cooperation with eight European allies including the UK as part of a “major” strengthening of its deterrence doctrine, Emmanuel Macron has said.
Amid growing concern among European leaders about wavering US commitments to help defend the continent, the French president said on Monday that Paris could deploy nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets to partner countries such as Germany and Poland.
Senator Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna, a representative, on Monday introduced legislation that would impose a 5% annual wealth tax on America’s billionaires.
The proposal, titled the make billionaires pay their fair share act, would apply to individuals in the US with a net worth of $1bn or more, of which Sanders’s office estimates there are 938 people who meet that threshold.
Iran has responded to US and Israeli attacks by launching a series of counterstrikes against states across the Middle East, with serious consequences for the oil and gas industry and the global economy.
Tehran has attacked oil facilities in neighbouring countries, while shipping traffic through the strait of Hormuz – the crucial bottleneck at the mouth of the Gulf – has all but ground to a halt.
As for Keir Starmer, even when he tries to make a reasonably sound judgment he somehow ends up losing both sides of the argument
Maybe we should have just had done with it back in December. Instead of offering a polite reservation, every western country should have sent a full, state delegation to Norway. Begging, imploring the Nobel Committee to award Donald Trump the peace prize. We could all have chipped in a couple of billion just to make it even more worth winning.
And if that wasn’t enough, we could have twisted the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to upgrade his “Peaceiest Ever President” award to the “Makes Jesus Look Second Rate” prize. A large solid gold statue of The Donald would have done the trick. There’s more than enough in the Fifa slush funds.
After the US-Israel attack on Iran and the disruption to travel, some flights are resuming. Dubai Airports said “limited” flights would restart on Monday evening, three days after they were cancelled.
British people living in the Middle East or travelling through the region told the Guardian they were struggling to know what to do in an ever-changing situation. Others spoke about their efforts to return to the UK. Here are some of their experiences:
Leave it to Pete Hegseth, the ex-Fox News host now leading the Pentagon, to reframe the massive US-Israeli military operation in Iran as an act of resistance against political correctness: the first based regime-change war of the Maga era.
In a combative press conference at the Pentagon on Monday, Hegseth brought his anti-PC ethos to defend exactly what Donald Trump has said he did not want: to embroil the US in a major intervention in the Middle East with no clear timeline for exit.
Sir Keir Starmer draws a narrow legal distinction. But if British bases enable a wider US-Israeli campaign, the UK risks sliding into an unlawful conflict
In the Commons on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer was clear that Britain will not join offensive action against Tehran. It is wise not to join an illegal attempt at “regime change from the skies”. Sir Keir will, however, permit US use of British bases for limited defensive strikes aimed at stopping Iranian missile attacks. That is a legally clear line, but it may be politically and militarily tricky to stick to.
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions are reckless and unlawful. But so are Iran’s strikes – hitting hotels, airports and energy infrastructure – across the Gulf. Where Britain’s allies have asked for support, or where UK nationals are at risk, the UK is legally entitled to act in collective self-defence. But this holds only as long as the action is restricted to halt Tehran’s barrage.
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The war in the Middle East continues to escalate, with casualties and destruction reported across at least nine countries in under 10 hours. Israeli and US warplanes launched a fresh wave of strikes across Iran, while US allies in the Gulf states are under attack from Iranian missiles and drones. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian’s head of international news, Jamie Wilson
Keir Starmer has issued his strongest rebuke yet of Donald Trump’s action in Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies”.
The prime minister said the UK would not join offensive strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, but defended his decision late on Sunday to permit the US to conduct defensive strikes on Iranian missile sites from RAF bases, saying that was “the best way to protect British interests and British lives”.
Fifa regulations vague on issue of replacing any teams
Withdrawal would be first since France and India in 1950
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are viewed as the most likely beneficiaries should Iran withdraw from the World Cup. Fifa’s general secretary, Mattias Grafström, said on Saturday that “our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating”, but the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, has raised doubts over his country’s participation by saying: “After this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”
Fifa has not commented since Grafström spoke and remains determined to ensure the World Cup, which starts on 11 June, goes ahead as planned, but several sources have said that if its hand were forced by Iran’s withdrawal the replacement will probably come from the Asian Football Confederation.
The price of oil grabs most of the energy-related attention during conflicts in the Middle East for understandable reasons: oil is the commodity on which the world runs (still) and analysts have roughly reliable models for what every $10 per barrel increase in cost does to global growth and inflation.
So, on that front, one can say we’re still a long way from “oil shock” territory. Monday’s rise to $79 a barrel, up 9% since the end of last week, is sizeable, especially as the price was $62 at the start of this year, but remember that $125 was seen shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and $100-plus was then sustained for three months.
Roughly four hours after the first strikes hit Iran, the country was again plunged into a full internet blackout – severely curtailing the information that has left the country and the ability of Iranians to communicate with each other.
A small fraction of this blackout appears to be a result of infrastructure damage caused by US or Israeli strikes, possibly to a fibre optic cable, according to Doug Madory, at the internet analytics firm Kentik. There appeared to be several small outages affecting multiple networks, which could be caused by technical failures such as a fibre cut or power outage, he said.
Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed and vessels rerouted, sending some freight costs surging
Leading maritime insurers have cancelled war risk cover for vessels operating in the Gulf as the escalating Iran conflict disrupted shipping and sent some freight costs surging.
At least 150 vessels including oil and liquefied natural gas tankers have dropped anchor in the strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters.
The UK and Irish assets of BrewDog, the Scottish self-styled “punk” brewer, have been sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray for £33m, in a deal that will cost nearly 500 jobs and leave legions of the company’s early-stage crowdfunders empty-handed.
Tilray agreed a deal to buy BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK brewing operations and 11 “strategic” bars in the UK and Ireland, the two companies confirmed, preserving 733 jobs. The remaining 38 bars will close immediately, at a cost of 484 jobs.
Video of Chris Kempczinski trying new ‘product’ the Big Arch burger criticized for feeling forced and corporate
Business leaders are increasingly placing themselves in front of the camera, in an effort to appear more relatable to a social media-first audience. When it goes well, it can be a huge hit. When it doesn’t, you risk becoming the subject of online ridicule.
In the recent case of Chris Kempczinski, the McDonald’s CEO and president, it’s the latter.
Canadian prime minister and Indian prime minister mostly discussed trade during Carney’s visit to India
Mark Carney is under mounting pressure to address whether he believes Indian interference in Canada remains a threat after he met with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, whose government is accused of orchestrating the killing a Canadian citizen.
“We are one family,” the Canadian prime minister said from New Delhi on Monday, capping a four-day trade-focused trip meant to reset relations with the world’s most populous nation.
Last Week Tonight host looked into the proliferation of law enforcement body cameras, whose presence alone does not provide accountability
On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver delved into the proliferation of police bodycams, “the devices that gives us a nipple’s-eye view of law enforcement’s interactions with the public” and which represent what some experts have called the largest new investment in policing in a generation.
Bodycams have been viewed as a “popular solution regarding transparency in law enforcement”, he explained, with many Democratic lawmakers currently calling for “masks off, body cameras on” in negotiations over the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in US cities.
Sprightly animation about a student’s attempt to stop the destruction of a woodland leans into Disney’s love of anthropomorphism and riffs amusingly on Avatar
Writer-director Daniel Chong brings us a witty, sprightly family animation, co-produced by Pixar veteran Pete Docter and co-written by Jesse Andrews, who may conceivably have supplied quite a bit of the punching-up and the funny incidental lines. In its modest, insouciant way, it is about protecting the environment, and riffs amusingly on films such as Avatar (there’s some amusing preemptive material about it not being like Avatar, but it is, especially at the end) as well as Inception, The Lion King and Dr Dolittle. It’s also about Disney anthropomorphism generally: the great mystery of what it must be like to be an animal and the human yearning to communicate and empathise with them.
Mabel, voiced by Piper Curda, is a teenager who lives with her grandma (the absence of her mom is slightly skated over) and learns from this wise older person the importance of loving nature, particularly the peaceful woodland glade near their house – and the associated importance of acceptance and forgiveness for people that you maybe don’t get along with. But when the evil Mayor Jerry (voiced by Jon Hamm) says he intends to destroy this glade to make way for a freeway, Mabel realises that the only way to stop him legally is to repopulate the glade with the beavers and other animals who have mysteriously vanished.
Rebecca English shown emails at high court trial suggesting investigator ‘went out on a limb’ to help her
The Daily Mail’s royal editor has denied using a private investigator to “blag” information about the Duke of Sussex and his former girlfriends, as she was shown emails suggesting the investigator “went out on a limb” to help her.
Rebecca English’s name appears on six of the articles cited by Prince Harry in his case against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail.
Earlier today I posted five optical illusions by Olivier Redon, a French-American inventor. Here they are again – with demonstrations of how he created the effects.
Three of the images are inspired by the Necker cube, a two-dimensional drawing of a cube that can be understood in two ways: either with the bottom left face at the front, or the top right face at the front. Once your eyes settle on one interpretation, it is hard to see the other.
Ipsa cites rising abuse and constituency workloads as reasons for above-inflation increase of 5% from April
The basic annual salary of MPs will soon rise to £110,000, the expenses watchdog has said, on the grounds of increased abuse and intimidation as well as growing constituency workloads.
This April, MPs’ basic pay will rise by almost £5,000 to £98,599, a jump of 5% – and it is expected to reach £110,000 by the end of the parliament.
Reform leader says without evidence that his party’s candidate came first among UK-born voters, as Hannah Spencer takes seat in parliament
Nigel Farage has been accused of Donald Trump-style election denial by the Green party’s new MP for Gorton and Denton, after he claimed her Reform rival “came first” among British-born voters in last week’s byelection.
Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England last week after winning 14,980 votes, more than 4,400 ahead of Reform’s candidate, who came second.
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