Energy bills in Great Britain forecast to hit almost £2,000 a year this summer

• Kosovo approved a plan to send soldiers to the Gaza Strip as part of a US-backed international security force, joining Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, and Albania in making similar commitments. • The deployment represents an expansion of the international coalition participating in the Middle East security operation. • Kosovo's participation demonstrates growing international involvement in establishing security frameworks in the Gaza region.

• US President Donald Trump threatened Monday to destroy Iran's Kharg Island crude oil export hub, along with oil wells and power plants, unless Tehran quickly accepts a deal to end the US-Israeli war. • The threat of potential US ground operations to seize Kharg Island is creating significant tremors through financial and energy markets, as well as raising concerns among neighbouring Gulf countries. • Trump expressed hope about talks with a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran on his Truth Social network, an apparent reference to new leadership despite the month-long war failing to dislodge the Islamic Republic.

• President Donald Trump warned Monday via Truth Social that if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz and a deal is not reached "shortly," the US will "blow up and completely obliterate" Iran's electric generating plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island. • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is close to achieving its objectives in Iran "in a matter of weeks" and that Trump has "a number of options available" to prevent Iran from controlling the strategic waterway. • The threat comes as 3,500 US Marines and sailors aboard the USS Tripoli arrive in the Middle East, joining over 50,000 American troops already in the region, with hundreds of Navy SEALs also deployed.

• Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, wounding at least 15 US service members and destroying a US military E-3 Century radar aircraft. • The attack resulted in at least 13 US service members killed to date, prompting the Pentagon to prepare for weeks of potential ground conflict in Iran according to The Washington Post. • President Trump is reportedly considering a military operation in response, with 3,500 additional US troops beginning to arrive in the region as part of a broader deployment now exceeding 50,000 personnel.

• José Guadalupe Ramos, a Mexican national, died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Los Angeles, according to ICE, marking the 14th death in ICE custody for 2026. • Mexico's foreign ministry announced it would file a legal brief supporting a lawsuit brought by detainees alleging poor conditions at the detention center, including inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, and punitive use of isolation. • The death raises ongoing concerns about detention facility conditions and has prompted diplomatic engagement from the Mexican government to address alleged violations.

Publisher’s lawsuit alleges AI research company’s chatbot violated its copyright over Coconut the Little Dragon seriesPublishing company Penguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against AI research company OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children’s books.The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI’s Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House’s legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner’s Coconut the Little Dragon series. Continue reading...

Plans would prevent the return of hundreds of thousands of residentsMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsrael said on Tuesday that it will occupy wide swathes of south Lebanon and destroy the homes along the border to prevent the return of some 600,000 residents, prompting concerns of long-term forced displacement.Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said that it will occupy the area under the Litani River, some 19 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border, as part of its so-called buffer zone inside southern Lebanon when fighting with Hezbollah ends. Continue reading...

EU, Spain and Germany, as well as rights groups, condemn law to execute Palestinian convicted terroristsA vote in the Israeli Knesset approving a bill sanctioning the execution of Palestinians convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks, but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes, has been greeted with widespread international condemnation.“The death penalty bill in Israel is very concerning to us in the EU,” the EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said in Brussels. “This is a clear step backwards – the introduction of the death penalty, together with the discriminatory nature of the law. Continue reading...

Almost 600 jobs could go amid higher cost of gas and labour and softening consumer demand Denby is set to call in administrators, putting the 217-year-old Derbyshire pottery at risk of closure with the loss of almost 600 jobs.The company, which was rescued from administration in 2009 by the restructuring experts Hilco and also owns the Burleigh brand, based in Stoke-on-Trent, is understood to have struggled with the surging cost of gas, higher labour costs, tighter financial markets and softening consumer demand for its premium homeware. Continue reading...

Foreign ministers Ishaq Dar and Wang Yi met in Beijing as Pakistan pushes for peacemaker roleMiddle East crisis – live updatesPakistan and China have released a joint five-part proposal for peace in the Middle East, after Pakistan’s foreign minister flew to Beijing on Tuesday to seek Chinese support for the country’s faltering efforts to negotiate an end to end the war.The one-day meeting between Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, came as Pakistan continues to push for the role of peacemaker between the United States and Iran, even as the war shows little sign of relenting. Continue reading...

Critics say exemption exploits White House’s ‘self-made gas crisis’, and could doom the rare Rice’s whaleSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA US government panel on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a move which critics say could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life.The Endangered Species Committee – which had not convened in more than three decades – voted to approve the request for the ESA exemption at the request of the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...

The president’s son, Eric Trump, posted a video rendering of the proposed 50-storey gargantuan structure decked in gold In a city of respected art deco buildings, ridicule is being heaped on the latest structure proposed for Miami’s skyline: the Donald J Trump presidential library, unveiled in ambitious plans posted to social media on Monday night.A 1 minute 40 second video tour of the proposed gargantuan structure revealed it will be decked, almost inevitably, in Trump’s trademark gold, including a giant statue of him, and will feature Air Force One, the $400m Boeing “flying palace” gifted to him by Qatar, in its cavernous lobby. Continue reading...