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Middle East crisis live: Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire with Iran

Some more from the CNBC interview now. When asked about his threats to bomb Iranian bridges and the country’s electrical grid, Trump, without providing any evidence to support his comments, said: “It’s not my choice but it would also hurt them, it would hurt them militarily. They use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements.” “They are trying to move the missiles because we have obliterated most of their missiles and they are trying to move their missiles around even during the ceasefire.” “We are totally loaded up. We have so much ammo, we have so much of everything… Much more powerful than it was four or five weeks ago. So we have used this to restock and they probably have done a little bit of restocking.” The US president previously threatened to bomb Iran’s water treatment facilities as well as its power plants and bridges if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons programme – a key sticking point between the two sides. Many legal experts agree that mass bombing of civilian infrastructure in Iran would constitute a war crime. Trump goes on to suggest that he suspects China may have helped Iran during the US- Israeli war against the country. “We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice, a gift from China perhaps,” he said. “I don’t know, but I’m sort of surprised, but because I have a very good relationship, and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi, but that’s all right. That’s the way war goes, right?”

Kremlin forcing big firms to join ‘witch-hunt’ against internet rebels, claims report

Major Russian companies have been conscripted into a “witch-hunt” against users trying to circumvent online controls, researchers have said, as the Kremlin continues trying to cut its citizens off from the global internet. Banks and web platforms are collecting data on users of virtual private networks (VPN) tools, which obscure an individual’s real location and allow them to access sites blocked in Russia, according to an investigation by RKS global, an advocacy group for internet freedoms. Tens of millions of Russians use VPNs to access the global internet. This number grew dramatically at the outset of their country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after the Kremlin introduced sweeping bans of platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Authorities are now taking far greater measures to track these users, who may be at risk of criminal penalties, the researchers said. The investigation analysed 30 popular Russian apps, including those run by T-Bank, Sberbank, the search engine site Yandex and the social media platform VKontakte. It found that 22 of these apps actively detected whether a user was on a VPN – or had one installed on their phone – and most of them retained that data in their servers, where it could be accessed by security services. “The level of intrusion into the device can be very high,” said RKS global. “Any Android app released by Russian companies for the Russian market may now be spying.” Mazay Banzaev, founder of Amnezia, an open-source VPN company, said: “It’s one thing if Russian IT companies were to ‘catch’ users the moment they visit a site with a VPN enabled. It is quite another when even a closed application continues scanning the phone for VPN usage.” For millions of Russians, this means that their options to interact with the rest of the world are narrowing – and growing increasingly fraught with risk. It is not formally illegal in Russia to use a VPN and businesses and state agencies still rely on them. But activities around VPN use are increasingly criminalised. This year, Russian courts have begun to treat VPN use as an aggravating circumstance in prosecutions. Over the past year, the authorities have embarked on a sgradual effort to throttle the global internet. This began with blackouts of mobile networks across large swathes of the country last year. These spread to Moscow and St Petersburg and Russians started to buy paper maps and pagers to get around and communicate. Beginning in March, authorities began to block Telegram, a messaging app essential to communication and daily life in Russia. The goal appears to be to push most Russians on to a government-controlled “superapp,” called Max, which is believed to have broad surveillance capabilities. This has been aggressively promoted, leaving many with no option but to install it. A full-scale web shutdown, like the one employed by Iran, is far more difficult for Russia to achieve because its internet is set up differently. Instead, the Kremlin has taken a piecemeal and indirect approach to cutting off the population – for example in saying that widespread mobile restrictions in the provinces were necessary to counter Ukrainian drones. This new regime of data gathering and app-mediated surveillance marks a transition from passive to active censorship and means that little of Russians’ private lives will be out of reach of authorities, said RKS Global. “Digital censorship in Russia is reaching a new level.” VKontakte, T-Bank, Sberbank and Yandex were approached for comment.

EU optimistic over approval of €90bn loan for Ukraine following Orbán defeat – Europe live

Meanwhile, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said her government was prepared to make changes to a contested plan offering financial rewards to lawyers who help with migrants’ repatriations, even as she stood by the broader idea. Under draft legislation set to be approved by parliament this week, lawyers assisting migrants with voluntary repatriation would receive state money, but only if the procedure is successfully completed, Reuters reported. The measure has been denounced as unconstitutional by lawyers and judges’ associations, and has raised concerns from the country’s president Sergio Mattarella, who can refuse to sign legislation on constitutional grounds. Meloni, who has headed a right-wing coalition in power since 2022, acknowledged that her government had received “technical observations” on the bill from the presidency and lawyers, which would be taken into account in a separate piece of legislation. But Reuters noted that the measure is part of a so-called Security Decree which must receive final approval by the lower house of parliament by April 25, or else lapse. If it were amended, the upper Senate would also have to vote on it. “There are no time margins ... to correct the decree,” Meloni said, without elaborating on future amendments. “We are going ahead with rules that we consider to be of absolute common sense.“

Wildlife and humans thriving in Unesco-protected sites

Wildlife and humans are thriving within sites recognised by Unesco, research has found, allowing for the recovery of threatened species and habitats around the world. While wildlife populations have crashed globally by nearly three-quarters since 1970, those within Unesco-protected areas have remained largely stable. “It’s good news, it shows that these sites are extremely resilient in the face of a changing world,” said Tales Carvalho Resende, one of the co-authors of the report People and Nature in Unesco Sites, published on Tuesday. But the sites are also under severe threat: more than 300,000 sq km of tree cover, an area larger than the Republic of the Congo, has been lost within Unesco-designated sites since 2000, mostly owing to agricultural expansion and logging. About 90% of Unesco sites globally are also judged to be under “high levels” of environmental stress, chiefly extreme heat. One in four designated sites could reach critical climate tipping points by 2050, according to Unesco. These include the disappearance of glaciers, collapse of coral reefs and forests drying out, turning from carbon sinks into carbon sources. “Now climate change is really the key driver that is threatening the sites,” said Carvalho. “They need to adapt to face the challenges that are coming. It’s really worth investing in this.” Many of the world’s “charismatic megafauna”, whose populations have plummeted in recent decades under an onslaught of poaching, the encroachment of agriculture and other stresses, have found havens in Unesco-designated sites, where they often receive far greater protection than in non-designated areas. About a third of the world’s remaining elephants, tigers and pandas are in Unesco sites, as are about one in 10 of the remaining great apes, giraffes, lions, rhinos and dugongs. Some of the most endangered species are also found only within Unesco reserves. All of the 10 vaquita, a species of porpoise, thought to be the last of their kind, the 60 or so remaining Javan rhinoceros, and about 85% of the remaining population of Sumatran orangutans, thought to number about 15,000 individuals, are found within designated sites. Unesco sites are also home to about a 10th of the world’s population, who are benefiting from the biodiversity, generating about a 10th of global GDP, according to the report, which is the first global assessment examining all of the 2,260 protected areas. Carvalho gave the example of Virunga national park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where populations of the very endangered mountain gorilla have been protected with the support of local communities. Of the three forms of Unesco designation, the highest is world heritage sites, which are cultural monuments, achievements or natural areas judged to be of global significance, and governments are bound to protect them under the United Nation organisation’s founding treaty, the World Heritage Convention of 1972. More recently, Unesco has introduced biosphere reserves, which are examples of sustainable development in action, and global geoparks, which have particularly important geology. Governments are expected to manage these areas too, but they lack the full legal force of the original. All three together cover more than 13m sq km, an area of land greater than that of China and India combined, and more than 60% of the world’s species are found within the sites, about 40% of which are found nowhere else on earth. They are also home to about 900 million people, speaking more than 1,000 languages. About a quarter of the sites overlap with the territories of Indigenous peoples, and many are managed by Indigenous and local communities. The report also found that Unesco sites store an estimated 240 gigatons of carbon, equivalent to nearly two decades of emissions from fossil fuel burning. Khaled El-Enany, director general of Unesco, said: “Inside these [Unesco designated] territories, communities thrive, humanity’s heritage endures, and biodiversity is holding on while it collapses elsewhere. This report reveals what we stand to lose if [these sites] are not prioritised.”

EU’s top court finds Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law in breach of key values

The EU’s highest court has found Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to be discriminatory, stigmatising and in breach of basic democratic values, setting up an early test for the incoming government when it takes power next month. In a wide-ranging judgment, the European court of justice said the 2021 law that bans content about LGBTQ+ people from schools and primetime TV was at odds with a society based on pluralism and fundamental rights, such as prohibition of discrimination and freedom of expression. Péter Magyar won a landslide election victory last week after promising to root out corruption and improve living standards, but the incoming prime minister has been muted on whether he will roll back the anti-LGBTQ+ policies introduced by Viktor Orbán, who was defeated after 16 years in power. He has vowed to “bring home” EU funds intended to help Hungary develop its economy, some of which were frozen over the anti-LGBTQ+ law. A larger part was suspended over risks to academic freedom, breaches of the right to asylum, and concerns about corruption and lack of judicial independence. The ruling marks the first time the ECJ has found a member state guilty of breaking EU law based exclusively on breaching the bloc’s fundamental values described in article 2 of its treaty. These include respect for human dignity, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights, including those of minorities. The judgment paves the way for future cases against EU member states that systematically flout basic values on democracy and the rule of law. Hungary passed the so-called child protection law in 2021, imposing restrictions on schools and media companies in depicting LGBTQ+ people. Previously likened to Russia’s notorious “gay propaganda” law, the Hungarian legislation means gay and transgender people or themes cannot feature in school educational material or in any TV show, film or advert shown before 10pm. The court said in a statement that the Hungarian law was “contrary to the very identity of the union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails”, and that Hungary could not “validly rely on its national identity” as justification for a law that breached fundamental values. It said it expected Hungary to comply without delay and it ordered Budapest to pay its costs and those incurred by the European Commission, which brought the case. The Hungarian government has been contacted for comment. Tineke Strik, a Dutch Green MEP who oversees the European parliament’s work on the rule of law in Hungary, said it was up to the incoming government to ensure “the full restoration of the rights of this community is front and centre in its plans to reinstate the rule of law. Anything less than that would render those reforms non-credible.” Eszter Polgári, of the Háttér Society in Hungary, described the judgment as “a milestone for protecting human rights in the European Union” and “a historic victory for LGBTQI people in Hungary”. She said: “The [court] was firm: no state can outcast LGBTI people through stigmatising, and if needed, the [ECJ] steps up to protect these values.” Katrin Hugendubel, the deputy director of ILGA Europe, an umbrella organisation of LGBTI rights groups, said: “Hungary cannot enter a post-Orbán era without repealing this legislation, including the Pride ban. If Péter Magyar truly aims to be pro-EU, he must place this at the top of his agenda for his first 100 days in office, as an essential part of his EU-facing reforms.” An unusually large number of EU member states – 16 in total, including Austria, France, Germany and Spain – as well as the European parliament, joined the commission’s case against Hungary. These member states, mostly western and northern European states, had previously raised concerns about the anti LGBTQ+ legislation, sometimes in heated debates with Orbán. Rejecting Hungary’s child protection argument, the court said the law “stigmatises and marginalises non-cisgender persons” by associating them with people convicted of paedophilia, an association “to encourage hateful conduct towards them”. It found Hungary in breach of the right to human dignity by treating LGBTQ+ people as a threat to society and enacting discriminatory measures that were “manifest and particularly serious”, and it said the law violated freedom of expression of children and also the general public and service providers wishing to publish adverts or run awareness-raising campaigns. It also found Hungary to have breached EU data protection laws by widening access to criminal records of people deemed to have committed offences against the sexual morality of children.

Sam Neill says New Zealand goldmine supporters have threatened him with violence

The actor Sam Neill says he has received threats of violence from supporters of a controversial goldmine that could be opened several kilometres away from his farm in New Zealand’s Central Otago district, after he publicly objected to the government’s plans to fast-track the mine. The Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite a 85-hectare (210-acre) open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir, in the Dunstan mountains, an area described as “outstanding natural landscape” by the Central Otago district council. Santana has called the mine the country’s most significant gold discovery in 40 years, but it has sparked fierce opposition, including from Neill, who has joined forces with the local community group Sustainable Tarras. They say the mine could be a fast track to environmental destruction and a threat to tourism in one of New Zealand’s best wine-producing regions. “I stand by those views, and I’m glad I voiced them. What I wasn’t prepared for was the personal abuse I would come in for,” Neill said in a now viral video posted to his Instagram account. Sustainable Tarras confirmed that members of the group had also received threats, some of which have been reported to the police. In March, Neill told the Guardian how he believed “one of the most beautiful and remote places in the world” would be destroyed if Bendigo-Ophir wins fast-track approval. The Bendigo-Ophir goldmine is among hundreds of applications being considered under the coalition government’s controversial fast-track law, which ignited protests in 2024 and nearly 30,000 public submissions on the bill. Speaking to the Guardian, Neill said: “When I started to express misgivings about this mine and the potential damage it could do, I was completely blown away by the toxicity of the opposition that I met.” Some of those personal attacks came from the resources minister Shane Jones, a self-avowed disciple of the Trumpian “drill, baby, drill” mantra, who described Neill in an interview last year with New Zealand’s the Post as “anti-Kiwi”. Environmental disasters from poorly stored waste in tailings dams has long plagued the mining industry. A tailings dam will also be built for Bendigo-Ophir where poisonous waste, including arsenic, will be stored permanently. “Central Otago is flourishing economically right now,” Neill said, referring to the region’s unemployment rate, the lowest in the country. “The last thing we need is a toxic mine upstream. It’s important to remember through all this what will be lost if a mine is allowed, not least being all those jobs, hospitality, viticulture, fruit growing.” Neill has run a pinot noir vineyard in New Zealand’s most southerly wine region for 30 years. He added: “One of the great responsibilities we have in life is we should leave the planet better than we found it.” Responding to Neill, Jones said in an interview: “My focus is on households, opportunity, community growth, export, and jobs. Not unlike the UK, we have regions that have atrophied. Fortunately, a lot of the regions in New Zealand have the potential for mining.” “The scale of mining in New Zealand is minuscule,” Jones claimed. “It’s akin to a beauty spot on the face of an attractive woman. “There is a big difference between standing as a parliamentarian advocating for economic growth, and a Hollywood actor. The world I occupy is the real world. It’s not make believe Hollywood, thespian antics.”

US ‘restricts intelligence sharing with South Korea’ after minister identified suspected nuclear site

The US has partly restricted intelligence sharing with South Korea after the country’s unification minister publicly identified a suspected North Korean nuclear site, according to reports in South Korean media. Chung Dong-young told lawmakers in March that North Korea was operating uranium enrichment facilities in Kusong, a north-western area that had not previously been officially confirmed as a nuclear site alongside the known facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson. A senior military official told the state-funded Yonhap news agency on Tuesday that Washington had imposed partial restrictions on sharing satellite-gathered intelligence about North Korean technology since early this month, though surveillance of missile activity continued normally and military readiness remained unaffected. The restrictions followed what South Korean outlets described as multiple protests from US officials, who expressed concern that sensitive information had been disclosed without authorisation. No US agency has confirmed the restrictions on record. The Guardian contacted the US embassy in Seoul for comment. Chung has defended his remarks, saying they were based on publicly available research rather than classified intelligence. He told reporters on Monday it was “deeply regrettable” that his policy explanation had been characterised as an information leak. “This is open information,” Chung said, citing a 2016 report by a US thinktank and South Korean media coverage. He noted he had mentioned Kusong during his confirmation hearing last year without incident. Writing on Facebook, he said he was “bewildered” the issue had suddenly become a problem nine months later. President Lee Jae Myung, whose administration is pursuing a conciliatory approach towards North Korea, backed his minister. Writing on X, Lee said it was a “clear fact” that Kusong’s existence had been widely reported in academic papers and media before Chung’s remarks. “Any claims or actions premised on the assumption that minister Chung leaked classified information provided by the United States are wrong,” Lee wrote from Delhi during a state visit to India. “I must look closely into why such an absurd situation is unfolding.” The restrictions come amid broader tensions in the alliance, according to South Korean media reports. The progressive newspaper Hankyoreh reported that Washington had cited several grievances when notifying Seoul of the measures, including pending legislation that would grant Seoul authority over access to the demilitarised zone, an area currently managed exclusively by the US-led UN command. Conservative opposition politicians have called for Chung’s dismissal, describing his remarks as damaging to the alliance with Washington. In a statement, the People Power party called it a “clear security disaster”. The unification ministry maintains it had sufficiently explained the basis for Chung’s remarks to the US and that no classified information was involved. South Korea’s defence ministry declined to specify details about intelligence sharing arrangements but said close cooperation with the US continued. The 2016 report Chung later cited in his defence, by the Institute for Science and International Security, identified a suspected early centrifuge research facility near Panghyon airbase in the Kusong area but described it as a “preliminary site identification” requiring further confirmation. North Korea is believed to have significantly expanded its nuclear programme in recent years. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said during a visit to Seoul last week that the agency had confirmed “a rapid increase in the operations” of the Yongbyon reactor. “All that points to a very serious increase in the capabilities of the DPRK in the area of nuclear weapons production, which is estimated at a few dozen warheads,” Grossi told reporters.

JD Vance to lead US delegation in Pakistan if Iran agrees to talks

JD Vance is expected to fly to Islamabad at the head of a US diplomatic delegation on Tuesday if Iran agrees to further talks in the Pakistani capital as the deadline for the current ceasefire looms. The US vice-president will travel with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law – though Iran’s president warned there remained a “deep historical mistrust” of the US. Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was concerned about “unconstructive and contradictory signals from American officials” and concluded they amounted to an effort to seek the country’s surrender. “Iranians do not submit to force,” he said. However, one senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran was “positively reviewing” its participation, amid reports that its delegation would again be headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf if Vance attends. Ghalibaf said later that Iran would not accept negotiations with the US while under threat, adding in the post on X early on Tuesday that “we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”. He also accused Trump of seeking to “turn this negotiating table – in his own imagination – into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.” Tehran called for an end to the US blockade of the strait of Hormuz, while Trump repeated a demand that Iran should never be allowed to build a nuclear weapon and even said he would be willing to meet Iranian leaders himself. Earlier, the US president had confused the situation by telling the New York Post that Vance and his team were “heading over now” and he expected them to be arriving in Islamabad that evening. That was quickly corrected by US officials who said while there had been a discussion about Vance leaving on Monday, the vice-president was in fact expected to depart on Tuesday morning if the talks were taking place. A second round of high-stakes discussions to end a war begun by US and Israeli bombing at the end of February could – if they go ahead – take place on Wednesday, with the threat of renewed outbreak of fighting in the background. Trump said he now considers the two-week ceasefire with Iran ends “Wednesday evening Washington time”, extending the pause for an extra 24 hours to allow the critical meeting in Islamabad to take place. In an interview with Bloomberg, he added it was “highly unlikely that I’d extend it” further and indicating bombing could restart shortly after – though in the same conversation the president also insisted that “I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world.” Vance led the US team during 21 hours of failed discussions with Iran earlier in the month, which collapsed after Iran would not agree to US demands to end nuclear enrichment and hand over its 440kg of highly enriched uranium. The Iranians had said there remained a deficit of trust with the US, and wanted assurances they would not be attacked again if a final agreement was reached. Though Iran was intensively bombed during the five-week US-Israel joint campaign, Tehran’s leadership does not believe it has been defeated. Pakistan has been preparing for possible negotiations since Sunday, setting up a security lockdown and suspending public transport in the capital. Islamabad’s electricity board also promised that power cuts would be suspended in the city while negotiations continue. Power cuts lasting six to seven hours a day have become typical in cities across Pakistan as the country grapples with oil and gas shortages caused by the double closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US. Trump had imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Iran’s decision to charge tolls on merchant shipping crossing the strategic waterway, and on Sunday the US military seized an Iranian-flagged container ship trying to cross, raising concerns an escalation of hostilities would prevent peace talks resuming. US central command said the Touska had been seized after its crew had ignored six hours of warnings. Its engines were disabled by fire from a US destroyer and it was then captured by marines from the USS Tripoli, arriving by helicopter and roping down on to the merchant vessel. Though Iran had briefly lifted its own blockade on Friday, it reimposed it again on Saturday because the US would not lift its counter-blockade. One tanker in the region was attacked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday and a second container ship was struck by an unknown projectile. Commercial shipping was once again at a near standstill in the strait. Three tankers made the crossing on Monday – after 18 ships had transited on Saturday – and the price of Brent crude oil was up by $5 to more than $95 on Monday, reflecting the renewed maritime danger. Israel and Lebanon are due to hold a second round of ambassador level talks in Washington on Thursday, the US state department said, the first discussions between the two countries since a 10-day ceasefire in the theatre was announced last week. Israel also told residents of southern Lebanon to stay out of a zone of territory next to the border, and warned people not to approach the area of the Litani River, as it sought to consolidate its military grip on the area while the ceasefire is ongoing. A map posted by the country’s military on social media marked a red line through 21 villages across the south, covering an area 5km to 10km from the border.