And the first meeting – a discussion on Ukraine’s anti-ballistic missile strategy, as mentioned by Zelenskyy earlier this afternoon (13:55) – is now under way in Paris.
The leader of Yemen’s internationally recognised governing council said he would not expand his confrontation with the Iranian-backed Houthis after his forces hit Sanaa airport, apparently to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. “I have also ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded in a manner that would achieve Iran’s objective of dragging Yemen and its people into wars,” Rashad al-Alimi said. The Houthi militant group control Sanaa, while Yemen’s internationally-recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia, is based in the southern Yemeni city of Aden.
Bereaved families and politicians have raised alarm about continued killings on Del Monte’s pineapple farm in Kenya despite the company hiring G4S to replace its in-house security team after previous deaths were exposed by the Guardian. Del Monte appointed G4S to guard the farm, which is estimated to cover at least 40 sq km, the area of a small city, after the Guardian detailed allegations of brutal assaults and killings of people suspected of trespassing on its land. Kenyan police have been working with G4S to guard the site. Three men, including two brothers, were killed in separate incidents over the past year allegedly involving G4S guards. Stephen Marubu Kibandi, 34, was shot in the chest from close range by a police officer working alongside G4S guards last August after they claimed to have been attacked. The victim put his hands up in surrender before being shot, according to a witness. His brother, 27-year-old Haron Kame Kibandi, died in April this year after allegedly being struck on the head by stones thrown by G4S guards and falling from a motorbike. A third man, 31-year-old Michael Muiruri, was killed after being knocked off a motorbike by a G4S pickup truck. In 2023, the Guardian revealed allegations about the killing of four men at the farm over a decade. Security at the farm was reviewed as part of a human rights impact assessment, which found that the farm was causing human rights harms across several areas. In March 2024, Del Monte Kenya outsourced all of the security at the farm to a team of 270 G4S guards. Announcing the deal, Wayne Cooke, the then acting managing director of Del Monte Kenya, said: “The safety and security of each individual within our company and the surrounding community are our top priority.” Del Monte Kenya appointed a new manager to address its “human rights challenges”. This year, the Kenyan police extended their work with G4S to guard the site, setting up a “critical infrastructure protection unit” to help improve security at the farm. Campaigners fear there will be more deaths on Del Monte’s pineapple farm because the involvement of police makes the use of lethal force more difficult to prosecute. G4S denies wrongdoing. The farm in Murang’a county is the largest exporter of Kenyan produce, including to several UK supermarkets, and is worth more than $100m a year. The average monthly salary in the county is about £280 ($380) and pineapple theft has been a problem for decades. A Kenyan senator has called for an independent investigation into the violence at the farm. Stephen Marubu Kibandi Stephen Marubu Kibandi died instantly when he was shot in the chest on 12 August 2025. A witness said Kibandi was among several men who were being chased by police and G4S guards on the Del Monte farm after resisting arrest. They said he was shot by a police officer while raising his hands in surrender. G4S says the police and guards were being attacked by men wielding machetes who also set fire to a G4S vehicle. A copy of his postmortem findings, seen by the Guardian, said Kibandi died from “severe haemorrhage due to perforating chest injury due to single gunshot”. His death is being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA). G4S says it has shared footage with the IPOA showing police and its officers being attacked by men throwing stones and wielding machetes before the fatal shot was fired by a police officer. The spokesperson said its video also showed a G4S vehicle being set alight. The company declined to share the footage with the Guardian. Stephen Nderitu, who witnessed the incident, said his friend had been approaching the police to argue they were doing nothing wrong. He told the Guardian: “There were two policemen and two G4S guards about 50 metres from where we were when I saw one of them point a gun at us and I jumped into the nearby thickets. Marubu held up both his hands and I heard a gunshot and saw him go down.” The incident has been widely condemned and later prompted a protest in which a G4S van was burned. The local MP, Mary Wamaua Waithira, said: “Why shoot someone who has surrendered? He had lifted his hands up. We want the commanding officer for Ngati police station removed.” Haron Kame Kibandi Stephen’s brother, Haron, died on 20 April this year from brain injuries, days after being struck on the head by stones. Before his death, he claimed the stones had been thrown by G4S guards. Haron told medics this had caused him to fall from a moving motorbike being ridden by a friend. He was allegedly beaten, according to an account he gave to medics. Simon Mburu, the manager of a health clinic to which Haron was taken, said: “He told me that he was hit by a stone by a G4S guard and when he fell down the person riding the bike continued.” When Haron was transferred to a hospital, he gave the same account. He died four days later. Scans revealed he had a “traumatic head injury” including an epidural haematoma, a lethal bleed between the skull and the brain. Kennedy Kiarie, 28, was riding the motorbike when, he claims, stones hit Haron at field 17 inside Del Monte’s farm. He admits they were both stealing pineapples. “I saw a G4S Land Cruiser with about six guards and two policemen parked as if laying and ambush,” he said. “As we approached, they shouted [and] they started throwing stones. I felt Haron leaning towards my right as if he was falling and I tried to hold him while riding with my left hand, but when I felt his weight overwhelming and the bike veering off, I left him. “We went back and found him without shoes and the yellow jersey he had been wearing. His trousers had been pulled all the way down and he was lying on the roadside facing up. He told us that they had beaten him.” He added: “I think stoning someone on a bike is brutal and they should just find ways of arresting thieves and taking them to court.” The G4S spokesperson said it was not aware of any G4S involvement in the death of Haron. Michael Muiruri Michael Muiruri died on 8 August last year after he was knocked off a motorbike by a G4S pickup. The G4S driver has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and has been dismissed by the company. A postmortem report said: “The deceased was a pillion passenger when their motorcycle was hit from behind and throwing the deceased along the middle of the road before the same motor vehicles hit him and properly ran over.” Brian Kuria Muthoni, 24, said he was riding the bike and his friend Muiruri was his passenger. He said: “We were hit from behind and the bike swerved to the left while Muiruri was thrown to the right side of the road from the impact. The vehicle then went over him and drove off at speed.” Police impounded a G4S Toyota Hilux, which had a damaged fog light and bull bar consistent with impact, and the motorbike as part of an investigation into the incident. G4S and Del Monte Kenya say it was a traffic accident. Muiruiri’s mother, Margaret Njeri Murigi, 52, said her son died within three hours of the incident and barely had time to answer her questions about what happened. “He said they were hit from behind by a [G4S] car. He was bleeding from the mouth and had held his abdomen,” she said. “Every time I pass by Del Monte I feel a lot of pain. Even if he had gone into the farms, why didn’t they arrest him and take him to court?” The G4S spokesperson said a company investigation found no evidence to suggest the driver’s actions were intentional. Locals claim there have been other examples of G4S guards using vehicles as weapons against those they suspect of stealing. ‘No company should be beyond scrutiny’ Joe Nyutu, the senator for Murang’a county, said he was “deeply concerned” about the allegations. He said: “Repeated incidents over a relatively short period point to systemic issues that require examination, including security protocols, command responsibility and adherence to human rights standards. That is precisely why a comprehensive and independent investigation is necessary.” Referring to Del Monte, he added: “No company operating in Kenya, regardless of its size or economic contribution, should be beyond scrutiny.” Stephen and Haron were the only sons of 61-year-old Harrison Kibandi Marubu, from a village in Murang’a county. Standing between their graves, he said: “I have no one to inherit me now.” “If I had the power to do something, I would show my anger towards G4S and Del Monte for what they have done to me. Must all the suspected thieves be killed? They don’t deserve to be condemned to the grave.” Haron left a wife, 24-year-old Caroline Wanjiku, who now has to bring up their three-year-old daughter alone. “Life is tough because she asks me hard questions. I dropped out of high school and I don’t have a job,” she said. The family was still mourning the death of Stephen when a call came that his younger brother had been found seriously injured on the roadside. He died days after his family first visited him in hospital. Kibandi said: “I had never imagined my sons would be of any danger in this way because they both worked at Del Monte at different times as casuals. I feel so bad when I see the pineapple farms or a G4S vehicle because now I have no sons.” He said that after Stephen’s death the family did not trust the police to investigate Haron’s death, so they did not report it to the authorities. He said: “Even if you report to the police, there would be no help.” The brothers’ mother, Nancy Muthoni Kibandi, was too grief-stricken to talk about them. She waved her left hand and began to sob when asked how she felt. Clement Kamau, who heads Kagama Community Action Forum, is documenting alleged human rights abuses linked to Del Monte’s pineapple farms. The UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders has said Kamau has faced threats and intimidation. Kamau said: “They have armed policemen inside their vehicles and that means they have more power and even when you report violence, it’s the same policemen you will be dealing with.” A spokesperson for Kenyan police said: “The involvement of the national police in Del Monte farm’s security was a well thought-out arrangement meant to not only secure a strategic investment in the country but also reinforce a firm measure of the rule of law and an end to impunity. “Unacceptable behaviour including theft of produce made the government step in. There has since been a marked improvement on security around the area.” A G4S spokesperson said: “G4S security officers working at Del Monte sites have undertaken comprehensive training, including operational procedures, human rights awareness, de-escalation techniques and the principles of minimum use of defensive force. “The matters raised either relate to police operations, not G4S, or road traffic accidents that are investigated by the Kenyan police.” A source at Del Monte Kenya said G4S was appointed to guard the farm because of its “strong commitment to maintaining human rights standards”. They said: “Del Monte Kenya also engages another security firm, GardaWorld, which provides operatives for the control room. This diversity is intentional to avoid entrenched problems arising from the establishment of a single security firm. Del Monte Kenya employs no security guards directly, relying on the experience and expertise of the two specialist firms.” The source said Del Monte Kenya “investigates instances of wrongdoing brought to its attention, and takes appropriate action where investigations identify improper conduct”. They added: “Throughout the course of its operations, Del Monte Kenya has implemented training and policies in order to uphold safe operations, and in particular has introduced additional training and mechanisms to promote safe and ethical security practices by security guards and police officers providing security services. “Del Monte Kenya takes all allegations of abuse on the part of security guards extremely seriously. When any abuse or impropriety is found to have occurred, action is taken against the individuals involved.”
US and Iranian military forces exchanged missile and drone strikes over the weekend and into Monday, as Tehran targeted US bases in the region and announced it was denying passage of ships through the strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan airbase in Jordan in response to the American strikes. The US military said it had struck Iranian air defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities and small boats on Sunday, using aircraft, naval vessels and drones. Loud explosions were heard on Monday morning on Iran’s Qeshm Island and in the port city of Bandar Abbas. Donald Trump said on Monday the US would probably take over the strait and should be reimbursed for controlling the vital waterway. The US president has made numerous claims and threats over the months of the war – including frequent claims of victory – many of which have had little basis in reality. “We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” Trump said in a phone interview on Fox News. “We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that.” The exchanges marked an escalation in the pace and geographic scope of attacks over the past week after the near total collapse of an interim ceasefire. Trump earlier said the US was “beating up” Iran, while also apparently leaving a door open for yet another round of talks. His administration has struggled to get a grip on the Middle East crisis triggered by the US and Israel’s attack on Iran earlier this year. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on social media on Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.” Brent crude oil prices rose more than 3% on Monday, although they remained well below peaks reached earlier in the conflict. Iran and the US are – in theory – nearly at the midway point of the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war, which began in February with the assassination of Iran’s then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes. In reality, that deal has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait of Hormuz and the future of the important shipping channel, worrying world leaders that the Iran war could fully resume. “A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences,” the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said. The war has spread across the region, with Iran attacking US bases in multiple countries. Thousands of people have been killed, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. Iran’s strikes on Sunday extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defences had engaged missiles and drones from Iran. The conflict has caused global economic shockwaves since it began in late February, driving energy prices higher and fuelling global inflation. Higher prices – especially for petrol – are politically sensitive for Trump in the run-up to November’s US congressional elections. Iran condemned the latest wave of US attacks, the foreign ministry saying they had “rendered futile all efforts of the past few months to reduce tension and establish peace in the west Asian region”. It added: “The US regime has also caused the return of insecurity in the strait of Hormuz and disruption of international commercial shipping by openly interfering in the process of Iran implementing the necessary arrangements in the strait of Hormuz.” The ministry said talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday – which focused on arrangements for managing the strait and transit routes – were unable to reach a result of “overt and covert” US pressure on Muscat. Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments transited before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation. Its recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible because of what it called recent illegal US military movements in the region. Permits would be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored”, it said. The US, which revoked the licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude oil on Tuesday after earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation, despite what it described as “aggression, harassment, threats and arbitrary declarations” from Iran. The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center reiterated guidance that despite a severe security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic. With Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has pledged an EU-wide social media ban for children after an expert group called for restrictions for those under 13. “It is clear we need age-appropriate restrictions to platforms,” von der Leyen told reporters after the publication of a report on child safety online. “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children,” she said in remarks that also referred to “predatory algorithms”. Promising a draft law in the autumn, she declined to specify a minimum age, but said she found the panel’s “staged approach” to internet use – recommendations by age group - “very convincing”. The panel, which was co-chaired by the German child and adolescent psychiatrist Jörg Fegert and the French epidemiologist Maria Melchior, called for an EU-wide delay to “social media plus” for under-13s. “Social media plus” refers to other platforms that use similar features, such as video games or AI chatbots. It suggested governments of member states could opt for higher “precautionary” age restrictions on social media use. At least 10 EU countries have announced plans for bans for children. France has pledged to ban social media for under-15s, and Spain wants restrictions for under-16s. In Greece, curbs for under-15s will enter into force on 1 January 2027. Estonia is a lone voice against the measures, arguing for a focus on regulating platforms because children will find a way around any bans. Australia was the first country in the world to ban minors from social media, a policy that in theory at least prevents under-16s from accessing the likes of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, SnapChat and TikTok. EU officials also say the internet should be safe by design. “We do not expect children to design their own seatbelts. We do not expect parents to fit airbags at home,” von der Leyen said. The European Commission has already concluded preliminary indictments against Meta and TikTok in cases that could force the companies to change the “addictive” nature of their apps. The owner of Facebook and Instagram had failed to tackle the risks of its addictive design on users, the commission said on Friday, having reached a similar conclusion against TikTok in April. The two companies have rejected the commission’s findings, and investigations continue. In both cases the EU investigation highlighted features such as infinite scroll, video autoplay, push notifications and highly-personalised algorithms to feed users content as problematic. The experts recommendation on social media use is predicated on a safe internet. It said from 13, “adolescents should benefit from evolving autonomous use of age-appropriate and safe social media and other digital services”. Explaining the reasoning behind the age set for the ban, one expert said 10 to 13 was a “very vulnerable phase” for children, and that US research had shown “quite a lot of harm” from social media use at this age, especially among girls around body image. “The earlier you start, the higher [impact] the addictive features are,” they said. The expert suggested EU member states could take precautionary restrictions on social media beyond 13, but there was “not a lot of sound data” to determine a cut-off point. “Is it harmful until 14, 15 or 16? There are harmful features also for adults,” they said. A second expert noted a risk of addictive behaviours and emotional problems until 25 as the brain continues to develop. “We certainly are not saying that after age 13 children should be using social media plus,” they said. The report also noted that age 13 to 15 represented “the peak of vulnerability to mental health problems” and that heightened sensitivity to social comparison, feedback and exclusion created vulnerabilities for social media plus users. The panel of experts recommended no screen use under three, except in limited ways such as video calls or looking at family photos. It also raised concerns about the use of AI-enabled toys and voice-based devices for babies and toddlers, because they may stimulate a response “without genuine reciprocity or emotional attunement” that came from a human carer. For ages three to 12, the group recommended time-limited use of the internet with a carer or teacher, with supervision gradually decreasing. The EU draft law will have to be agreed by a weighted majority of European member states and the European parliament.
French firefighters are tackling a blaze of unprecedented scale sweeping through Fontainebleau forest south-east of Paris, as the Spanish prime minister visited the scene of a deadly wildfire in southern Spain and warned: “The climate emergency kills.” The fire began late on Sunday afternoon in the one-time royal hunting preserve about 40 miles (60km) from the capital, which today is dotted with villages. The blaze, which is unusual in its proximity to Paris, raced across about 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of forest and was still spreading early on Monday, officials said. On Sunday, it caused the partial closure of the A6 highway, France’s main north-south artery, and disrupted key train lines. The Paris region remains under the highest heatwave alert. The mayor of Fontainebleau, Julien Gondard, said he was shocked and angered. “This exceptional area is consumed by flames, we’ve never seen anything like this,” he told local TV ICI Paris Île-de-France. “The forest is fragile and it’s in a critical condition.” Fire officials said it could take several days to several weeks to fully contain the fire. They described it as “very virulent” and of “exceptional scale”. The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, visiting an operations room in Fontainebleau on Monday morning, said: “The aim is to contain the fire.” Nuñez said about 900 homes had been evacuated but that no home had yet been burned and no one had been injured. He said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire. “The fire began at several points at the end of yesterday afternoon – around 10 points, which would suggest it could have been voluntary in origin. I won’t say more because an investigation is ongoing.” Nuñez said that, in total, forest fires had burned 32,000 hectares of land in France this year, adding: “That is already more than the 2025 season and it’s only 13 July.” He added that since the start of the summer, 44 people had been arrested across the country on suspicion of being responsible for the outbreak of fires. High-speed rail was affected after the fire broke out on Sunday because key lines pass near the forest. The French rail company SNCF said there were delays of up to eight hours for trains arriving at or leaving from Gare de Lyon in Paris. Rail services were returning to normal on Monday morning. Half of the 700 residents of the village of Le Vaudoué were evacuated and firefighters were operating in several other towns in the area, the local Seine-et-Marne fire service said. Without the use of firefighting planes, other villages would already have been evacuated, said Olivier Compta, who was overseeing the firefighting operation. About 400 firefighters have been working to contain the fire, which erupted two days before the 14 July Bastille Day national holiday. Eric Brocardi, a spokesperson for France’s national federation of firefighters, said it was the first time firefighting planes had been sent up from the normally drier and hotter south of the country to extinguish fires in the Paris region. Two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also helping to tackle the blaze, he said. “The aim is to save lives and property.” Earlier, firefighters dealt with a fire that had blocked a highway running east from Paris and disrupted a high-speed train line to the south of France. The Paris region, along with large parts of the rest of France, has had a succession of heatwaves since May. Temperature records have also been broken in several other countries across Europe and the heatwaves have caused thousands of excess deaths, according to estimates in Spain, France, Belgium and Britain. In Spain, where 13 people were killed by last week’s deadly wildfire in the south-eastern region of Almería, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, renewed his calls for joint national action to address effects of the climate emergency. “A third of all the land that burned in Europe last year was here in Spain,” he said, during a visit to the affected area on Monday morning. “That’s not just down to the fires that have traditionally happened; it’s also due to a worsening because of climate change that’s happening across the Iberian peninsula and especially in Spain.” Sánchez repeated his calls for a “state pact” to tackle the changing climate. “It’s not just about reacting when these fires hit; it’s also about preventing them, building perimeters, and about teaching people how to react when a fire – or any of the civil emergencies that are unfortunately becoming more common – hits,” he said. He added: “I’ve said it many times before, but the climate emergency kills. We’re seeing that across Europe and we’re seeing that in Spain.” Most of those killed in the fire, which was brought under control on Sunday, are thought to be British and Belgian nationals, along with one Spaniard. Forensic scientists in Madrid are using samples from the bodies of the victims and DNA samples from the families of those reported missing to try to identify the dead. The June heatwaves that hit Europe would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists has said. Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters such as heatwaves and wildfires.
People have been evacuated from their homes after a wildfire swept across a mountainside in north Wales, prompting firefighters to declare a major incident. Residents described hearing the crackling fire advancing down Conwy Mountain towards homes as ash fell from a sky turned dark by thick smoke. A second major incident was declared in Derbyshire, where fire chiefs said they were working to protect homes, infrastructure and wildlife. Wildfires have also burned in places including County Durham, Greater Manchester, East Sussex, West Sussex, Devon, Somerset and London over the last few days. Natural England said there remained an “exceptional fire risk” in pockets of southern Britain and a “very high” risk for much of England and Wales. A combination of continuing hot weather and high winds is making it hard to tackle the wildfires currently ablaze and increasing the risk of more starting. North Wales fire and rescue service was called to Conwy Mountain in the early hours of Sunday and declared a major incident later that day. It said “hundreds of acres” of land were affected, and that at one point the front of the fire measured almost a mile across. The fire service said the steep terrain made it hard to contain the blaze, which was whipped by strong winds. A spokesperson asked people to avoid the area. “Local residents should keep windows and doors closed if affected by smoke. Everyone close to the Conwy Mountain who needed to evacuate has been contacted and supported through this process.” One resident, Ben Campbell, fled with his wife, Michelle, and their three sons from Capelulo as the fire neared their home. He told the BBC: “The sound was worse than anything. It was so loud, the crackling. You could hear it coming down the mountain.” Another said she had felt helpless and scared as she was evacuated from her home. Derbyshire fire and rescue service (DFRS) said there was a “large scale wildfire” at Tintwistle Moor caused by “tinder dry” ground. The operation to douse the flames included dropping water from helicopters. Ellie Gillatt, a DFRS area manager, said: “Firefighters continue to face challenging conditions as they work to tackle the wildfire and protect the surrounding infrastructure and environment. This remains a significant and complex incident. DFRS has deployed multiple fire appliances and specialist wildfire resources.” Extra firefighters from neighbouring services were called in to help, along with mountain rescue teams and the police. Greater Manchester fire and rescue service was called to a moorland fire near Dovestone Reservoir. A spokesperson said: “Due to strong winds, smoke from the fire travelled significant distances, with people reporting haze and the smell of smoke as far as Manchester city centre.” In Walthamstow, east London, 125 firefighters tackled a blaze that affected a house, gardens and sheds and a railway embankment. Some residents were evacuated and two rest centres were set up. The cause of the fire is under investigation. About 50 firefighters from London fire brigade also fought a wildfire in Orpington in the south-east of the capital. The fire service said several acres of grass were alight across two fields. Friederike Otto, a professor of climate science at Imperial College London, said last week that the climate crisis was making every heatwave hotter, with events such as this month’s heatwave more likely to occur. “The heat we have seen this summer is only possible because of the 1.4C of climate change we have to date, due to the burning of fossil fuels,” she said. Otto said it was misleading to use the term “new normal” when describing this year’s scorching summer heat. “The climate we have today is not stable and continues to warm as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels. As a result, what is ‘normal’ keeps shifting and we’re likely to see much hotter heatwaves like this one in the years to come.”