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• Elections for the legislative assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are scheduled to begin this Monday. • The three-phase voting process follows weeks of severe political unrest and violent clashes that resulted in multiple deaths and hundreds of injuries. • High security measures have been implemented to manage the polls amid the volatile atmosphere and ongoing instability in the region.

Forecasters warn of US coastal flooding, heavy rain and dangerous surf as the storm tracks westTropical Storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon, and is moving westward toward the Texas coast, where it is expected to reach later on Thursday, bringing rainfall, winds and rising water levels.In a Thursday morning update, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Bertha was moving west and that the center of the tropical storm was expected to move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts over the next several hours before moving inland over Texas on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

• The UN Security Council is conducting its monthly debate on Syria as Secretary-General António Guterres travels to Damascus. • The session occurs amid reports of an Israeli attack in occupied territory and ongoing tensions regarding the US-Iran war. • Members are discussing the development of a multi-national oil pipeline to mitigate the economic risks of closing the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Incumbent Carlos Vila Nova hopes to defeat his former party and secure second term as independentVoters in São Tomé and Príncipe go to the polls for a presidential election on Sunday as one of Africa’s least populous countries seeks to burnish its democratic credentials.According to the National Election Commission, about 142,000 people are registered to vote in the tiny African state’s elections, approximately 15% of whom live in the diaspora. Continue reading...

• A dozen state attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, are suing to block the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. • The lawsuit cites antitrust concerns, arguing that the merger would harm U.S. audiences by reducing available content and increasing prices for consumers. • The group has formally requested that the companies halt the completion of the deal until the judicial process has concluded.

• President Trump is traveling to Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday for a two-day diplomatic mission involving all 32 NATO member nations. • The visit includes high-level diplomacy and is scheduled to conclude with a press conference on Wednesday before the president returns to Washington. • The summit serves as a critical juncture for the alliance to address security concerns and maintain cohesion among its member states.

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track for their strongest quarterly performance in six years, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is heading toward its best first half of the year since 2019. • Market attention is now shifting to the U.S. economic calendar, specifically focusing on labor market indicators being released this week. • These data points are critical for investors to gauge the Federal Reserve's future monetary policy decisions as the central bank prioritizes the reduction of inflation.

• The Supreme Court has issued a ruling allowing President Donald Trump to fire agency heads, marking a significant expansion of presidential executive power. • Separately, federal law enforcement is coordinating a massive security operation in Washington D.C. to protect hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the America 250 celebrations. • These security measures are heightened due to rising political violence and recent assassination attempts targeting the president.

• The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that the president has the authority to fire officials who wield executive authority, regardless of whether they have fixed terms set by law. • This decision challenges the long-standing 1935 precedent that protected bipartisan boards of experts from being dismissed due to political disagreements. • While the ruling expands presidential power over various independent agencies and commissions, the Court specifically noted that the Federal Reserve remains an exception.

• A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on June 16 at 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT). • The robotic freighter is now beginning a 20-hour journey to return to Earth. • This mission marks the completion of the capsule's delivery and retrieval duties at the orbital laboratory.

The defence secretary’s departure was the wrong resignation at the worst possible time for the prime ministerUK politics live – latest updatesDuring Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, the defence secretary was standing at the other end of the Commons, away from other cabinet members on the government frontbench. His expression gave nothing away as Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch blamed one another for spending too much on welfare and not enough on defence. In hindsight, he was possibly thinking “to hell with both of them”. Most defence secretaries go native sooner or later, imagining themselves to be embedded officers serving on the frontline. Tory Ben Wallace appeared to hate most of his cabinet colleagues by the time he resigned in 2023.Less than 24 hours after PMQs, Healey had also resigned, his departure being all the more powerful for being so unexpected. This exit seemed to come out of a clear blue sky. There had been no briefings to the media in the preceding days. No threats to stand down if his demands were not met. All the arguments had taken place behind closed doors. A determination to do the right thing throughout. Continue reading...

Analysts say IPO that could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire has a ‘major disconnect’ on price Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to launch the biggest stock market float in history amid warnings that it may be overvalued.The space exploration, satellite broadband and AI company will join the US stock market on Friday at a valuation of $1.78tn, after offering at least $75bn of shares to investors through an initial public offering . Continue reading...

Relationship between Vladimir Putin and traditional ally has slowly unravelled under current PM Nikol PashinyanThe bottling line at the Abovyan cognac factory in Armenia is running at full tilt.Women in white coats and hairnets work the conveyor with practised speed – labelling, stacking, loading pallets – racing to fill a truck. Continue reading...

• NASA's $4 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is transporting to Florida for a scheduled launch in September. • The telescope is designed to survey 100 times more of the sky than the Hubble Space Telescope, focusing on previously unexplored regions of the Milky Way. • Scientists expect the mission to identify approximately 100,000 new planets, a massive increase over the 6,300 exoplanets discovered to date.

Incumbent comes out on top in primary election – but with less than 50% of votes – and will take on challenger in NovemberKaren Bass has come out ahead in Tuesday’s heated primary for Los Angeles mayor, but with less than 50% of the vote will have to defend her seat in November’s general election.Bass will face either Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, or city council member Nithya Raman, in November. As of Tuesday evening, it was still unclear who would move on. Continue reading...

• The Eurovision Song Contest will launch its first-ever Asia edition, with the inaugural grand final scheduled to take place in Bangkok on 14 November 2026. • Ten countries have been confirmed to compete in the pop music festival, marking a significant strategic expansion of the long-running European competition into Asian markets. • This move represents a major global scaling of the "pop spectacle," aiming to diversify the contest's reach and tap into the region's massive music industry.

UK government borrowing costs jump amid political uncertainty and oil price rise that fuelled inflation worriesBusiness live – latest updatesThe pound was heading for its worst week in 18 months on Friday as City traders anticipated that the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, could face a challenge from the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, later this year.After days of uncertainty over Starmer’s future, sterling dropped by almost three cents, or 2%, during the week to $1.336 on Friday, a five-week low. That would be the largest weekly drop against the US dollar since Donald Trump’s election win in early November 2024. Continue reading...

Tim Cook and Elon Musk, among other tech CEOS, will accompany the US president on a trip to ChinaDonald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official. Continue reading...

It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to China this week to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader. It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017. But given all that has happened so far in Trump’s second term – a trade war and then an actual war with Iran that has led to oil and gas prices skyrocketing worldwide – the mood of this visit is likely to be quite different. Continue reading...

With gas more than $6 in state, delivery of some 2m barrels is last planned shipment to pass through strait of HormuzMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe average price of a gallon of gas in California already stands at more than $6, but more uncertainty looms as the last oil tanker headed from the Middle East arrived in the Golden state this week.The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that the New Corolla, which left the Middle East for California before the war broke out, is delivering some 2m barrels of crude oil from Iraq to Long Beach. It was the last planned shipment to pass through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Trump-endorsed candidate facing a long-shot challenge from car designer and YouTube provocateur Casey PutschHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping to lock in his position as candidate in the race to become Ohio governor.Donald Trump has threatened that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen a route through the strait of Hormuz. The US launched an operation to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, dragging the region back to the brink of full-scale war. While the US military claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted both Iranian cruise missiles and drones, this was denied by Iran. More here.The Trump administration moved to block a lawsuit Minnesota officials filed almost six years ago alleging oil companies and a petroleum trade group deceived state residents about climate change. The justice department, the administration’s law enforcement arm, filed an action in federal court in Minneapolis arguing that the federal government has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not states, and that Minnesota officials are trying to improperly impose their policy preferences on the rest of the country.The US supreme court went out of its way to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.The Trump administration is continuing to pressure the United Nations and the international aid sector more broadly to adopt trade-focused policies to benefit US firms – or face the threat of further budget cuts. Donald Trump’s second term has already seen USAID suffer mass layoffs and have its remaining operations folded into the state department, with a ripple effect across the globe that has many experts warning will cost thousands of lives as vital programs are cut. More here.The Trump administration’s attack on the 87-year-old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans escalated last week as the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, claimed that 14,000 Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (Snap) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas. More here. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister begins another diplomatic tour to secure Australia’s fuel and energy supply chains. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning, Nick Visser here to guide you through the day’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:The foreign minister, Penny Wong, will travel to Japan today, part of a diplomatic trip to secure fuel supplies that will also include visits to China and South Korea. She said the effort will help “ensure Australia is prioritised as a reliable energy partner”. Continue reading...

Conservative host says he’s ‘tormented’ by previous support for Trump – could this presage his own run for president?He can’t live with him and can’t live without him. But, finally, the conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson seems to have made up his mind about Donald Trump. Their up-and-down marriage of political convenience is heading for the divorce court.On Tuesday Carlson admitted that he will be “tormented” for a long time by his support for Trump in the 2024 US presidential election “and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people”. What he did not say is whether this presages his own run for president in 2028. Continue reading...

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says Iran’s Kharg Island storage facilities will be full and their ‘fragile’ oil wells shut in mere days because of the blockade; oil prices rise amid ongoing uncertaintyTrump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’Shares have been mixed in early trading across Asia, while oil prices have eased on hopes the US and Iran may resume talks to end their war.The price of Brent crude edged 0.2% lower but was still above $98 a barrel. US benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $89.29 a barrel. Continue reading...

The prime minister will hold talks with his opposite number to shore fuel suppliesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPenny Wong says the US-Iran ceasefire is fragile but must hold for the sake of the world economy and energy markets.Speaking on ABC’s 7.30, the foreign minister said there were obvious differences between the two parties but the potential downsides to the truce failing meant it was imperative that it worked.This ceasefire is fragile, there’s no doubt about that. The ceasefire is fragile but the world does need it to hold. There are obviously substantial points of difference between the parties. But I think we all know that the damage that is happening to the global economy, to global energy markets, means that the world does need this ceasefire to hold.And you know, I spoke early on to Singapore, to Korea, to Malaysia, the Prime Minister, as you said, is going to Singapore, we’ve seen one announcement already and we will continue to work with them. I spoke to the Japanese foreign minister just before this interview, we want to keep engaging with our counterparts, because this is a very large shock to global energy markets, and one that will continue to have an effect.I can understand people being really concerned about what is happening on global markets and what has happened in the Middle East, and the way this has escalated, which is why we have been saying for some time, it’s time for de-escalation. Continue reading...

PM to meet partners in region to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of HormuzSarah Jones, the policing minister, has been giving interviews. She has been talking about Keir Starmer’s visit to the Gulf, but hasn’t said anything that really adds to the (rather limited) information about the visit put out by Downing Street.Jones told Times Radio:[Starmer] is going to the Gulf for a number of reasons. Firstly you will have seen last week with the foreign secretary, and this week with our officials, where we have played a real leading role bringing together about 40 countries looking at the challenge that we have in the strait [of Hormuz] and how we can make sure that opens up as quickly as possible to bring some normality back to that system. so there will be that aspect.He wants to see the work of our brave personnel who are there in the region, of course, with our three very key principles of protecting British interests and protecting British citizens and our allies. He will want to see the work of that. Continue reading...

PM to meet regional leaders to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of HormuzMiddle East crisis – live updatesKeir Starmer is travelling to the Gulf to meet leaders in the region to discuss diplomatic efforts to support the ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran.The prime minister’s visit on Wednesday comes hours after a two-week ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday evening, canceling a self-imposed deadline by the US president, Donald Trump, for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction. Continue reading...

Decision to choose small, wealthy – but very Catholic – state for first European trip has baffled some Vatican observersPope Leo will travel to Monaco, the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, on Saturday on his first European trip since being elected pontiff, causing bemusement among some Vatican observers, not least because it comes 488 years after the last papal visit.Leo will travel from the Vatican by helicopter for the one-day trip, and will be greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert and his wife, Princess Charlene, before being taken to the palace, which has been the residence of the Grimaldi dynasty since the 13th century. It is the first time a pontiff has visited Monaco since Pope Paul III in 1538. Continue reading...