Burnham’s vow to end Labour briefing wars will test his grip on the party

• Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that critical decisions regarding negotiations were reached without the input of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. • This admission indicates potential internal friction or a breakdown in the decision-making hierarchy within the Iranian leadership.

• The Iranian regime is facing a critical survival crisis driven by a convergence of internal fractures, including severe economic deterioration and persistent nationwide protests. • Key drivers of this instability include declining public legitimacy, leadership disputes, and significant uncertainty regarding the future of political succession.

• A London-based research group has proposed a shared control pact among Gulf states for the Strait of Hormuz, modeled after a defunct European coal and steel agreement. • The proposal aims to resolve an acrimonious dispute over the waterway, which serves as a critical chokehold for one-fifth of the global oil supply.

• Oil prices have climbed above $90 a barrel following Iranian military attacks on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. • Tehran has criticized the U.S. by comparing Donald Trump's attacks on bridges to the tactics used by ISIS.

The 51st edition of the Canadian festival will also feature world premieres starring Taron Egerton, Amanda Seyfried and Chase InfinitiWorld premieres of films led by Helen Mirren, Seth Rogen and Chris Rock lead the lineup for this year’s Toronto film festival.The September festival, taking place after the Venice film festival, has previously seen the premieres of Oscar-winning movies such as Green Book, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Still Alice, Dallas Buyers Club and Silver Linings Playbook. Continue reading...

Lawmakers weakened community air monitoring as industry pushed back against greater scrutinyKimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St Rose, in south-eastern Louisiana. Oily fumes sometimes drift into her home, bringing headaches, nausea and insomnia. On one such night, she grabbed her son at 3am and fled to an all-night Ihop.In 2023, after years of coping with the noxious odors, Kyereh began collecting air samples in her yard for a local environmental justice group. But soon after, Louisiana passed an industry-backed law that sharply restricted how that kind of data could be used.Ten of Louisiana’s heaviest air-polluting facilities, based on self-reported data shared with the EPA, operate without a single public air monitor within five miles.This list includes Dow Chemical’s plastics factory in Plaquemine, which is about eight miles from the nearest air monitoring station. The station measures only ozone even though the plant releases an array of toxic pollutants including ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen.No public monitors measure ammonia – despite the fact that CF Industries’ Donaldsonville plant emits more than 7m lbs of the hazardous chemical each year, according to EPA data.The three chemicals that researchers have concluded “together account for the large majority of total cancer risk” in the area – ethylene oxide, chloroprene and formaldehyde – aren’t monitored by the state at all. Continue reading...

Drivers in West Midlands said heat in cabs was ‘unbearable’ and threatened employee and passenger safetyBus drivers in the West Midlands have spoken out about the “horrendous” working conditions they have experienced during heatwaves, which led to 40C temperatures in their cabs.The UK was hit by high temperatures and dry weather in three successive heatwaves, in which temperatures topped 37C in June, when the country recorded its hottest ever June day. Last week, the Met Office warned climate extremes are becoming the “new ‘normal’ for the UK”. Continue reading...

The US has launched a ninth night of strikes targeting Iran. Plus, the glorious art deco LA library celebrates 100 yearsGood morning. The US launched a ninth night of strikes targeting Iran early Monday, after announcing the death of another American service member – the third in recent days. Donald Trump said the new attacks were “in honor” of the dead. Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned in a statement of “unforgettable lessons” if the US kept attacking.Trump has threatened to target Iran’s power stations and bridges to try to compel Tehran to loosen its hold on the strait of Hormuz. Last week the US reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The military on Saturday said it had redirected six ships and disabled one since then. Oil prices rose at the opening of trading in Asia on Monday, with the price of Brent crude climbing 2.72% to $90.50 a barrel.Where have US service personnel been killed? The service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of what was called unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone. It was the third US death in recent days, after two military service personnel were killed in an Iranian attack on a Jordanian airbase on Friday, with a third missing in action. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed.What is the US mission against Iran? The war was started in February when the former Iranian supreme leader was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes. Trump has indicated several motives for the war, including preventing Tehran from gaining nuclear weapons and trying to force regime change. On Sunday, the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, argued the mission has shifted toward ensuring oil shipments can move through Hormuz, after the US-Iran ceasefire has faltered.What did Mamdani say? “I believe that Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the ICC, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these past many years. Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do.”What is Netanyahu accused of by the ICC? The warrant which the ICC issued for the arrest of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including “starvation as a method of warfare, and … murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. Continue reading...

Judit Polgár to discuss role with prime minister, who says Hungary needs someone the whole nation is proud ofHungary’s prime minister, Péter Magyar, has announced plans to ask Judit Polgár, widely considered the greatest female chess player of all time, to take on the largely ceremonial role of president.Magyar said he would meet Polgár on Monday to discuss the matter. “Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of,” he wrote on social media. “Judit Polgár’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.” Continue reading...

Defense department says 1Lt Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii and Pvt Isabella Gonzales of Texas were killedThe US military on Monday identified two soldiers killed in action recently as part of the war with Iran.The defense department said in a statement that 1Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were killed in Jordan, where they were supporting a US mission against the Islamic State group. It’s unclear how they were killed. Continue reading...

Spokesperson for Taylor Fresh Foods told Reuters ‌that the company was informed FDA made a mistakeThe US Food and Drug ⁠Administration said on Sunday that laboratory experts re-checked lettuce sample results from Taylor Farms in an ⁠investigation into an ⁠outbreak of the ​cyclospora parasite and concluded the finding should be considered a false positive.As of Sunday, there were ⁠no confirmed positive sample results for cyclospora, the FDA added. The FDA on Saturday had said that a ⁠sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms tested positive ​for the parasitic illness that has ‌sickened thousands of ‌people in the US.Guardian staff contributed Continue reading...

EPA tosses out scientific research carried out under Biden and says toxic sludge not a significant threat to publicThe Trump administration has killed proposed regulations for sewage sludge contaminated with Pfas and spread on farmland as fertilizer, a practice that has sickened farmers, destroyed their livelihoods, killed livestock, polluted water supplies, and poisoned meat and food products sold to the public.The proposed regulations would largely have ended the use of sludge, also called biosolids, in the nation’s food system. But the Environmental Protection Agency tossed out its scientific research from less than two years ago that formed the basis of the proposed regulations. It justified the decision by declaring that sludge was not a wide threat to the public because it is mostly used on farms, and only a small percentage of cropland. Continue reading...