Israel strikes Iran despite Trump plea as Middle East crisis threatens to escalate

• President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a "vile" drone strike that allegedly targeted a spent nuclear fuel facility near the Chernobyl site. • Zelensky stated that attacks on nuclear infrastructure are "completely unacceptable" and violate the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) "seven indispensable pillars" for nuclear safety during armed conflict.

Police and hunters in Utsunomiya, 100km north of the capital, resume their search for animal that is not usually seen so close to TokyoA city in Japan has closed all its 94 primary and secondary schools after a bear was spotted in the municipality for the first time.Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of half a million people about 100km (62 miles) north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear – estimated to be about one-metre-long – was seen near a park in the city on Saturday. The bear was spotted again on CCTV running just in front of two startled young men in the city centre, in the early hours of Sunday. Continue reading...

Senior medical staff call for solutions to tackle root causes of excess deaths amid tenfold increase in a decadeMore than 1,300 patients a month in England are dying needlessly due to long A&E waits, a tenfold rise in a decade, figures suggest.There were more than 300 deaths linked to long waits every week in 2025, up from 30 a week in 2015, according to analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Continue reading...

Media outlets argue man’s name should be made public and police acting to protect him from ‘embarrassment’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Queensland magistrate has suppressed the name of a man with a “high public profile” during an ongoing extortion case in Cairns.The man – referred to in court as MM – is not a party to the case, which was back before the Cairns magistrates court on Monday. Continue reading...

Despite Donald Trump’s calls for calm, Israeli military says it struck military targets in central and western Iran in response to attacks by TehranIsrael strikes Iran despite Trump plea as Middle East crisis threatens to escalateHello and welcome to our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.Israel launched airstrikes early on Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire from Tehran, attacks that threatened to drag the wider Middle East back into a regional war.Iran’s attacks appeared to be in retaliation for Israel strikes on Beirut’s Dahiyeh southern suburb area targeting Hezbollah infrastructure despite the truce agreement with Lebanon. Two people were killed and 20 wounded in Beirut, the Lebanon health ministry said.A missile was launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, the Israeli military said, adding its aerial defence systems were operating to intercept the threat. Israel’s rescue services say there were no reports of casualties or impacts.Oil prices jumped more than 3% after Iran’s strikes, with the price of Brent crude – the international benchmark – rising 3.29% to $96.15 a barrel in early trading on Monday.Iran’s missile barrage was the the first since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, said US bases and assets in the region were now “legitimate targets”.The strait of Hormuz will be opened but under new conditions to be set by Iran and Oman, including a transit fee, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told the Russian newspaper Izvestia – a position Trump strongly opposes.Trump said Netanyahu would have no choice but to accept whatever deal the US negotiated with Iran because “I call the shots”, the Financial Times reported. “He won’t have any choice,” Trump said. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.” Continue reading...

Insurer found 18,400 suspect claims last year with some scammers using AI to fake accident scenes and documentsBogus insurance claims worth more than £230m were detected by the insurance firm Aviva last year as scammers tried new tricks including using artificial intelligence to fake car accident scenes, documents and to exaggerate damage.The insurer identified more than 18,400 suspect claims across its brands in 2025, with a combined value of £233m. The fraud claims level was a record for the insurer, although this was the first year that it included the Direct Line brands it acquired last summer. Continue reading...

Report blames Middle East conflict and rising business costs for fragile jobs market and steep fall in recruitmentUK companies are increasingly hiring temporary workers instead of permanent staff because of low confidence in the economy and higher cost pressures, according to a report.Recruiters reported a strong increase in offers of temporary roles in May, according to new research from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Continue reading...

Investigation reveals more than 4.4 million people live in ‘news deserts’ that lack dedicated local reportingLocal social media groups are fuelling misinformation in areas with no reliable sources of news, according to an investigation that reveals the scale of fake news flowing to vulnerable communities across Britain.Misinformation was nearly three times more common in areas with little or no recognised local journalism, according to a study of tens of thousands of posts seen by the Guardian. Immigration and Islamophobia were the most common topics of misinformation across Facebook and X. Continue reading...

Solar system’s two brightest planets appear close together low above the western horizon after sunset this weekThe two brightest planets meet this week in the western twilight sky. The chart shows the view looking west-northwest at 21:45 BST. No stars will yet be visible, but Venus and Jupiter will be brilliant against the darkening sky.The planets will be separated by about 1.5 degrees – about the width of three full moons. They will be low to the horizon, so you will need a clear sightline in their direction. If you can find a hill, that will help too. Continue reading...

More than £3bn is due to be spent on the proposed road tunnel between Kent and Essex, which is estimated to have higher costs per mile than HS2Ministers have earmarked more than £170m extra to help build the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel, fuelling concerns over the “spiralling” costs of one of the UK’s largest planned infrastructure projects.The proposed £11bn route under the Thames between Kent and Essex is already estimated to cost more each mile than the HS2 high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham. It was given the funding boost as part of a plan to spend £3.1bn of public money on the project, before a hoped-for injection of £7.5bn by a private sector firm. Continue reading...

Tom Kerridge says ‘whole of hospitality’ should get behind Burnham who has called for VAT cut from 20% to 10%Chefs and restaurateurs have said they hope Andy Burnham becomes prime minister after he backed calls to cut VAT tax for hospitality businesses.Burnham, who is standing as the Labour candidate in the Makerfield byelection and is expected to launch a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership if he wins, has called for the rate to be cut from 20% to 10% to be in line with European rates. Continue reading...