PM urged to uphold climate pledges made as mayor and ban new North Sea oil drilling

• Express.co.uk is providing breaking international news coverage across the US, Europe, China, and Africa. • Recent reports highlight the geopolitical strategies of Donald Trump and the Iranian government's crackdown on political opponents.

• President Trump is struggling to find a strategic exit from the conflict with Iran, despite possessing significant military power. • The situation has revealed limits to the president's perceived power, leading to increased frustration and erratic behavior.

Coalition says Chemours downplayed health and climate risks in bid to fast-track the compound’s useA coalition of 17 environmental groups is demanding the Environmental Protection Agency reject a new Pfas that chemical giant Chemours is attempting to fast track for approval for use in cooling datacenters, and would almost certainly pollute regions around the facilities.In formal comments submitted to the agency, the groups accuse Chemours of using bad science to downplay the chemical’s toxicity and climate risks. Approving Chemours’ application as it is would violate the law, the Earthjustice legal non-profit, a lead author of the comments, wrote. Continue reading...

Europe and US risk being outpaced on innovation, as happened in the car industry, warns Pascal SoriotAstraZeneca must operate at “Chinese speed” to ensure it doesn’t suffer the fate of the western automotive industry by losing out to more innovative rivals, the drug company’s boss has said.The FTSE 100 company is watching the rise of China’s pharmaceutical industry closely and collaborating to take drugs to global markets, but its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said the US and European pharmaceutical sector must focus on increasing the speed of innovation. Continue reading...

Scientists say decision is blow to UK astronomy as deep space observatory is home to world-leading facilitiesJodrell Bank Observatory, which runs a world-leading network of radio telescopes, is facing closure after the government’s major funder cut support for the facility.The deep space observatory, which hosts the Grade I-listed Lovell telescope, is prized by astronomers who study galaxies, black holes, star formation, planets beyond the solar system and the afterglow of the big bang. Continue reading...

Artificial intelligence firm should provide $100m for cyber defences, says Hugging Face CEOBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of the startup hacked by an OpenAI agent has called for the investigation into the incident to show “radical transparency”.Clement Delangue, chief executive of Hugging Face, said the “unprecedented” attack on his business required a similar response. Continue reading...

Chicagoans come together for cathartic and communal screaming experience as activity gains traction across USPeople strolling along North Avenue Beach, a sandy strip on Lake Michigan, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, are apt to see something unusual on Sunday evenings.That’s because Chicago’s “Scream Club” meets there every week during the city’s warmer months, bringing together a community of up to 300 people who like to scream out over the water – and it’s an activity that seems to be spreading across the US. Continue reading...

Women aged 19, 24 and 36 taken to hospital after assault in Porte de Clichy area in north of capitalA French off-duty police officer has detained a man after he attacked and wounded three women with two kitchen knives in Paris on Monday.Three women aged 19, 24 and 36 were taken to hospital after the assault at about 11.30am (0930 GMT) in the Porte de Clichy area in the north of the capital, said the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez. Continue reading...

Refugee family reunions in limbo, despite Foreign Office saying it is ready get people out of war-torn territoryThe Home Office is blocking the evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza, despite the Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of the war-torn region.Last September, the Home Office announced it was suspending refugee family reunion applications and that new, more restrictive rules would be announced in the spring. So far there has been no announcement and the process remains suspended. Continue reading...

Eighteen American troops have been killed and 624 wounded since White House launched war on Tehran. Plus, International Cowboy Day in KenyaGood morning. The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war. Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat. Tehran said on Sunday it would pause what it called “retaliatory” attacks against US allies in the region.Trump is said to be weighing up diplomatic and military options in the nearly five-month-old conflict. Axios reported on Sunday that Adm Bradley Cooper, the top US military commander in the region, had told Trump the US military campaign had reached the limits of its effectiveness.How many US service personnel have been killed and injured in Trump’s Iran war? The Pentagon updated its official war casualty database over the weekend, adding more than 140 wounded service members. The new figures show that 18 US troops have been killed and 624 wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on 28 February.How has Katy Perry become embroiled in debate over the war? The pop star has condemned the White House after it used her hit song Firework in a TikTok video showing US military strikes on Iranian targets, saying: “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength … my music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”What has the international court accused Netanyahu of? The court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, issued a warrant accusing the Israeli prime minister of being “allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. Continue reading...

KKR and Energy Capital Partners poised to buy firm despite misgivings from founder and biggest shareholdersBusiness live – latest updatesOne of the biggest energy businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange has agreed a controversial £5.7bn takeover by private equity, adding to the growing exodus of companies from the UK market.US private equity groups KKR and Energy Capital Partners are poised to buy DCC Energy after the company’s board recommended the offer despite misgivings from its founder and biggest shareholders. Continue reading...

The US president’s pick to be the country’s director of national intelligence is expected to be approved within days – but only after a tense confirmation hearingSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The Senate is due to begin voting as early as Monday on the nomination of Manhattan US attorney Jay Clayton, Donald Trump’s pick to be the ⁠top US spy, and he ⁠is expected to ​be approved within days despite a tense confirmation hearing.The Pentagon updated its official war casualty database over the weekend, adding more than 140 wounded service members. The Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) also introduced a new casualty category labeled “Overseas Operations” for personnel killed and wounded “starting July 7”. According to the updated database, the official toll for the earlier phase of the US-Iran war, known as Operation Epic Fury, now stands at 14 service members killed and more than 400 wounded in action.Donald Trump’s Republican party has “nothing to run on” for the congressional midterm elections after the president broke promises to lower costs and avoid starting war overseas, Hakeem Jeffries has said. The House minority leader, a New York congressman, made those comments on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, exactly 100 days from the 3 November midterms, when Jeffries and his fellow Democrats are aiming to take control of the US House and Senate from their Republican opponents.Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, is “fomenting hate” by calling the Israeli prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over Israel’s war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations general assembly.Tom Homan, the Trump administration “border czar”, on Sunday said he did not believe the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer at the center of a recent fatal shooting in Maine “should have ever cleared vetting”. Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, Homan was asked by host Dana Bash about the officer’s eligibility to serve following reports that two of his ex-wives had accused him of abuse.Pop star Katy Perry has condemned the Trump White House after it used her hit song Firework in a TikTok video showing US military strikes on Iranian targets, saying she never approved the use of her music. The White House video, which featured Firework playing over footage of a missile striking an Iranian naval ship, has amassed more than 6 million views. The post was captioned: “Iran has been warned.”New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill recently signed a new law prohibiting businesses from using shoppers’ personal information to charge different prices for identical products, making her state the third in the US to ban the practice. The Fair Price Protection Act passed by New Jersey’s legislature seeks to protect consumers from surveillance pricing, in which retailers can use data including online activity, location and purchasing history to arbitrarily change prices for individual shoppers. Continue reading...