Trump presses on with plan to install Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief

• U.S. Central Command has launched strikes against Iran in response to the downing of an American military helicopter. • Iranian officials report that the strikes hit two water storage tanks in Sirik County, Hormozgan province, cutting off drinking water for local residents.

• UN partners in Gaza reported a significant decline in food aid as of May 31, with 80 kitchens delivering 678,000 meals daily, down from 1.5 million meals provided by 170 kitchens in mid-March. • UN official DiCarlo urged parties to return to diplomacy and good-faith negotiations, reiterating the Secretary-General’s demand for an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire.

• Portugal's Minister for Diplomacy, Mr. Rangel, announced that the agreement allowing the United States to use Lajes Air Base will be reviewed. • The review is deferred until after the current crisis in the Middle East is resolved to ensure regional stability.

• The 2026 Global Peace Index reports that global peace has reached a historic low due to a record-high number of interconnected conflicts. • This decline is attributed to the "Great Fragmentation," a geopolitical shift where traditional European powers are losing influence to rising middle powers.

• Two decades of Global Peace Index (GPI) data reveal a global trend of deteriorating peace and an increasing inventory of unresolved conflicts. • The report highlights a significant success in Ethiopia, where the November 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement reduced annual conflict deaths in Tigray from over 100,000 to roughly 2,300 in 2023.

• Global conflicts have surged to their highest levels since World War II, according to data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. • Conflict-related fatalities reached a record high in 2025, with approximately 244,600 people killed.

• New Zealand has been ranked as the second-safest country in the world according to the latest Global Peace Index, which evaluates 163 independent states and territories. • This improvement in New Zealand's standing comes despite a broader global trend where world conflict has reached a historic high.

• An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in 100 deaths out of 550 reported cases. • Ongoing regional conflict is significantly hindering medical response efforts and slowing the containment of the virus.

Vice-president says he expects war to end in a week or few months with ‘a deal that is good for US economically’. Plus, get ready for start of Fifa men’s World CupGood morning.US forces have launched strikes against Iran in response to the downing of an Apache helicopter near the strait of Hormuz a day earlier, and Iran has retaliated by hitting American airbases in the Middle East. The exchange of fire came as the US vice-president, JD Vance, was vague on the possible timeframe for ending the Iran war, saying it could conclude in a week or a few months.What did Vance actually say? “Right now, I feel that we are in a position to get a deal that is good for the United States economically and that really does deal with the Iranian nuclear program. Not just now, not just while Donald Trump is president, but for the long term, to where my kids can say when they’re adults: ‘Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon.’”Who is Steve Hilton? Since arriving in the US 14 years ago, he has had stints as an entrepreneur, a policy analyst and a Fox News host after years of working in the background of Conservative party politics in Britain.Who has been supporting him? Hilton has assembled a broad coalition spanning working-class voters, Latino small-business owners, religious conservatives and Silicon Valley tech tycoons. He has managed to turn his British accent into an asset, priding himself on being a legal immigrant as opposed to the undocumented kind derided by the Republican establishment. Continue reading...

New research suggests GLP-1 users are buying fewer snacks and treats such as crisps and chocolateBusiness live – latest updatesWeight-loss drugs are saving users’ households more than £400 a year on grocery bills, according to new research, which found use of GLP-1s has nearly tripled in the past two years to 1.9 million adults.Just more than 6.3% of households in Great Britain now include at least one GLP-1 user, according to the survey from Worldpanel by Numerator. This marks a sharp rise from 4.1% of households in 2025 and 2.3% in 2024. Continue reading...

Brad Lander and 10 other elected officials were arrested by federal agents at ICE facility last SeptemberNew York City Democrat Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, is scheduled to stand trial Wednesday in a New York City federal court stemming from his arrest during an attempt to inspect rooms holding detained immigrants.Lander, who is vying for Democratic incumbent Dan Goldman’s congressional district encompassing lower Manhattan and north-west Brooklyn, was taken into custody on 18 September 2025 at 26 Federal Plaza, a major immigration court located in Manhattan. Continue reading...

System not fit for purpose due to poor infrastructure and planning, with minority groups particularly at risk, MPs sayThe UK’s stem cell transplant system is potentially putting the lives of blood cancer patients at risk as a result of inadequate infrastructure and a lack of long-term planning, a parliamentary report has found.A hematopoietic stem cell transplant, often referred to as a bone marrow transplant, is a medical procedure in which stem cells from a healthy donor are transplanted into a patient. Continue reading...