An overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned the U.S. war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

US president says strait of Hormuz will be open from Friday but questions remain over waterway fees and Israeli breaches of ceasefire in Lebanon * Tallying the global cost of the US-Israel war against Iran * Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has declared that the strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” from Friday, as western leaders gathering at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains battled to prevent the fragile US deal with Iran from almost immediately unravelling. “The deal’s all signed. And the strait ⁠is already partially opened,” Trump said as he arrived at the summit in France, but Israeli breaches of the ceasefire in Lebanon and Iran’s claims about its right to charge fees in the crucial waterway revealed the agreement’s many loose ends. Continue reading...

The Reform leader and his media cheerleaders have cynically exploited the murder of Henry Nowak.

Russian president describes letter from his Ukrainian counterpart as rude and says he can no point in face-to-face talks Vladimir Putin has rejected an offer from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a face-to-face meeting, insisting instead that Russia will achieve its war goals in Ukraine, including seizing all of the eastern Donbas region. Speaking at the Saint Petersburg economic forum, the Russian president described the open letter from his Ukrainian counterpart containing the offer as rude. He refused to use Zelenskyy’s name, referring to him only as its author. Asked if they could meet to discuss an end to the conflict, Putin replied: “So far I see no point.” Continue reading...

Nigel Farage’s party published the donations as part of its requirements with the Electoral Commission Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, was doing a media round this morning. Asked to respond to Labour claims that Nigel Farage was stoking divison in his response to the murder of Henry Nowak, Jenrick said that was a “ludicrous” claim. He said: I was absolutely stunned by those ludicrous comments. There’s nothing that Nigel Farage has done which has encouraged division. He has simply shown leadership in setting out the course of action that now needs to be taken to make sure that we fix this problem and treat everybody equally before the law. Continue reading...

He may have founded Ukip, but Alan Sked's moderate, Brussels-boycotting party has gone rogue. Stuart Jeffries meets the academic who's desperate to stop the bandwagon he first set rolling

Jess Asato was portrayed by AI tool as wearing a bikini after she criticised the creation of such non-consensual pictures A Labour MP has taken legal action against Elon Musk’s AI company after saying its Grok tool helped a user produce fake sexualised pictures of her, part of a wave of such images that flooded X earlier this year. Jess Asato, the MP for Lowestoft, said in January that seeing herself portrayed by the AI tool as wearing a bikini without her consent was “violating”. Continue reading...

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Palantir claims its software saves medics time they can spend on patient care, but an NHS leak shows the spy-tech firm’s products put doctors and nurses in the slow lane

A Britain built for all

Reform’s local election gains have opened a new front in Britain’s climate politics

The self-proclaimed 'straight-talking' Reform UK leader has been far from straight about who is funding his attempted rise to power, reports Iain Overton

Simon's live update for Nick Abbot's Sunday night / Monday morning programme.  Listen live every week at 0045am or find it here on demand afterwards.

The race to succeed the US President is heating up, but his control over America could continue long after he leaves office

Simon's weekly chronicle of events in the United States for Tom Swarbrick's Friday drivetime programme on the UK's LBC. Listen live every Friday at 5:50pm or find it here on catch-up after...

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