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US strikes Iran for third consecutive night as Trump plans Hormuz transit fee – Middle East crisis live

Israel will hold national elections on 27 October, giving its citizens their first chance to pass judgment on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his coalition since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023. The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, will be dissolved on Friday. With just a few days left in session, the most far-right government in Israel’s history is now rushing to pass several controversial laws in an attempt to bolster its position before polling day. A deadly campaign of extremist violence to expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank is expected to continue until election day, as settler militants and their political backers exploit their seat at the cabinet table. Netanyahu, 76, may be fighting for his personal freedom as well as his political future. He is on trial for corruption, despite interventions from Donald Trump calling for a pre-emptive pardon in the long-running case. Current polling indicates voters will kick him out of office, although the man who has led Israel for much of the last three decades is a consummate political survivor who has repeatedly defied expectations. You can read the full story here:

Tuesday briefing: The law that Hillsborough built – and the bitter final battle to get it through

Good morning. We think we know this story, the one about the 97 who went to watch a football match on a sunny afternoon. Perhaps you remember, as I do, watching footage of the lethal crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium, on the evening news in your childhood living room. Or maybe you read later how South Yorkshire police presented a series of false narratives that blamed Liverpool football club supporters, rather than take responsibility for their own catastrophic mismanagement of the FA Cup semi-final. Today, after a decade of campaigning, a new law criminalising public bodies and officials that lie to the British public, and supporting people fighting these authorities for the truth, is expected to complete it final stages in the Commons, pushed through by Keir Starmer as one of his final acts as prime minister. But why did a law championed by Labour since its time in opposition almost fail? I spoke to David Conn, who has been reporting on Hillsborough for 30 years, about the families’ final battle. First, the headlines. Five big stories UK news | British counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe in a shock development that has renewed the debate over the security of politicians. A 28-year-old man from Rotherham is being held in custody on suspicion of her murder. Middle East | The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran hours after Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and, in an apparently policy reversal, charge ships for safe passage. UK politics | Andy Burnham is to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the backing of 349 Labour MPs, including all eligible members of Keir Starmer’s current cabinet, making it impossible for any rival to secure enough nominations to challenge him. Environment | Most of the UK media stories about the record-breaking heatwave that struck in June failed to mention the climate crisis, analysis has found. Even fewer pieces drew a link between the heatwave and government policies designed to tackle the climate crisis. US news | The US government has already paid back tens of billions of dollars in tariffs it collected before the supreme court ruled them illegal, according to budget figures released on Monday. In depth: ‘The Hillsborough families have always been underestimated – and now they’ve succeeded’ In 2016, the conclusions of the second inquest into the Hillsborough deaths at last fully vindicated the families. A jury found that those who died were unlawfully killed due to gross negligence manslaughter by match commander chief superintendent David Duckenfield and that no behaviour by Liverpool supporters contributed to the disaster. The 97th victim, Andrew Devine, died in 2021 of injuries sustained in the crush. (Later, Duckenfield was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, one of a number of unsuccessful individual criminal prosecutions.) “Immediately after, the families adopted the Hillsborough law as their positive legacy from the ordeal they had suffered,” David explains. “They wanted a duty of candour for public officials and authorities to be introduced and equality of funding for legal representation for people fighting for justice like them.” At the first inquest, families received no public funding for legal representation, while senior police officers and other public bodies had state-funded legal teams. A law in this vein was first proposed as a private member’s bill by stalwart advocate of the cause Andy Burnham in 2017, when he was a Labour MP, but languished during the Tory administration. When Labour was elected in 2024, expectations were high: the Hillsborough law was a defining manifesto commitment and Keir Starmer was evidently intent on taking ownership of the reforms, which he announced at two party conferences and personally introduced in the Commons. But by last winter, progress was mired in a bitter and intractable row about how the new law would apply to the security services. The government pulled the bill midway into its passage through parliament, prompting fury from the Hillsborough families. “It was an extraordinary situation,” says David. “This has always been a Labour cause. They promised to introduce the law: Margaret Aspinal, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, made a speech at conference to introduce Starmer. And yet somehow theywere arguing with the families and trying to carve out an exemption for the security services that had only recently been criticised in the Manchester Arena inquiry.” *** Taking on the security services The proposed law means those in public office have a positive duty to assist public inquiries with candour, and those who lie or evade will face prosecution. After concerted briefing from the security services, the government agreed to give security chiefs the final say over what evidence would be put forward to an inquiry. Campaigners were vehemently opposed, arguing this undermined the central purpose of the law by allowing some parts of the state to continue avoiding scrutiny. David raises the peculiar dissonance between Labour’s promise to introduce the Hillsborough law and action. “It was so odd that this bill had been drafted in 2017, yet when the Labour government came in the law was facing all this resistance.” But despite patronising briefings suggesting the families were “naive”, or ignorant of national security considerations, a concrete contemporary example bolstered their argument. “At the Manchester Arena inquiry, MI5 was found to have submitted an inaccurate account of intelligence it had relating to the perpetrator of the atrocity,” David says. “The inquiry chair found ultimately that the failure of MI5 to act swiftly on crucial intelligence was a ‘significant missed opportunity’ to take action that might have prevented the Manchester Arena attack in 2017. The Manchester Arena families are part of the coalition with the Hillsborough families , and the campaign has absolutely insisted that the security services had to be included in the law.” *** Burnham’s role and Starmer’s legacy With parliamentary business plans updated late last week to include the bill’s remaining Commons stages today, it is understood that the final sticking point – that any decisions on excluding evidence on the grounds of national security are for an inquiry chair to make- have been resolved to the families’ satisfaction. “This has finally been agreed in Starmer’s final week, it also clearly appears significant that Burnham, the Hillsborough families’ long-term supporter, is about to become prime minister.” Many of the profiles of the incoming prime minister churned out in recent weeks have highlighted the moment Burnham’s speech at the 20th-anniversary memorial service at Anfield in April 2009 was drowned out by chants of “justice for the 96”. “But I don’t think the reporting has fully taken into account how effective he was after that,” says David. Burnham’s subsequent call for the disclosure of all related documents led to the establishment of the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Its 2012 report exposed the extent of police efforts to falsely blame Liverpool supporters for the disaster, and ultimately led to the quashing of the first inquest’s verdict of accidental death in December of that year. David links this commitment to those campaigning without redress for decades to Burnham’s later work on the infected blood scandal, as well as supporting calls for an inquiry into the policing by the South Yorkshire force (them again) at Orgreave during the miners’ strike. Given the debate about whether Burnham is a good-vibes-only candidate, it’s worth registering that he brings a shovel when there’s spade work to be done. And that in his book Head North, Burnham describes how the “trigger” for making that public call for Hillsborough disclosure was reading a Guardian article at his kitchen table three days before the service, in which David reported families’ outrage that junior officers’ statements had been amended by their superiors to remove criticisms of the police. *** A victory for solidarity From his first meetings with the Hillsborough families back in the mid-90s, David has always been struck by their empathy for all those suffering injustice. That solidarity was very much in evidence in this final battle: “The Hillsborough Law Now campaign is a genuine coalition, with families bereaved by the Manchester Arena atrocity, Grenfell fire, Covid. It’s a really strong alliance, and they were never going to give in because they didn’t accept they were putting national security at risk. This law is about the authorities learning from mistakes”. David, whose diligent and passionate reporting over the decades many will be familiar with, asks us to take this moment “to understand the scale of this victory” – not least on behalf of those bereaved family members who have died in the intervening years. “These families have always been underestimated. If you think about where they were after 1989: they suffered not just losing their loved ones in the most terrible circumstances but this disgraceful, toxic narrative from South Yorkshire police and a judicial system that failed to establish the truth for decades. And now they have succeeded so completely as to make it illegal for public officials to ever be less than candid about how a disaster occurred.” What else we’ve been reading I was moved by this letter from a wheelchair user in Westminster about badly parked ebikes that block their way. For disabled people, they’re making some streets unlivable. Hettie This thoughtful piece from Australian oncologist Ranjana Srivastava examines why we shouldn’t shield youngsters from the realities of ageing and death. Libby The actor Sam Neill, who has died at 78, was best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and The Piano. In his final interview, he spoke to the Guardian about reacting to puppets on screen, and the clumsy behaviour of his costar, the T rex. Hettie World Cup France | The France midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery says his team want to exact revenge on Spain and banish painful memories of their exit in the Euro 2024 semi-final, as the two sides meet again on Tuesday in search of a place in the World Cup final. Argentina | Nick Ames has written a deep dive into England opponent in the other semi-final tomorrow night. The defending champions, who have a dramatic path to the final four, have a suspect right flank and can be bullied – but watch out for their No 10, who is apparently quite good. Pubs | Meanwhile, Matthew Weaver meets England’s struggling pub owners preparing for a much-needed bumper night on Wednesday. “I think our sales will treble,” says one, “especially as we’ve got Argentina – there’s so much rivalry and it could be payback for the Hand of God.” Sport Cricket | India defeated England by 270 runs in the one-off Test, a famous victory that will go some way to making up for their failure to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup this month. Football | Keir Starmer is expected to use his final week in office to push the Hillsborough law through its remaining stages in the Commons after months of delays. This bill aims to strengthen support for families seeking justice after major disasters and create new offences for officials who deliberately mislead the public or seek to block accountability. Tennis | The creation of a joint commercial venture between the tours of the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association has been put on hold indefinitely as the women’s game faces the prospect of making significant cuts to its operational budget. The front pages “Widdecombe death inquiry being treated as terror case”, is the Guardian’s front page today. The Times has “Widdecombe murder case taken over by terror police”, the Telegraph says “Police under fire over Widdecombe terror probe”, the Express’s headline is “Terror cops now leading Ann death probe” and the Mirror goes with “Terror probe”. Metro says “Ann murder now treated as terrorism”. The i Paper runs with “Farage declined taxpayer-funded security – calling offer ‘inadequate’”. Lastly, the FT has “Dubai’s DP World planning new east coast port to bypass Hormuz strait”. Today in Focus: The Latest Ann Widdecombe murder investigation taken over by counter-terror police Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the death of the former MP and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe, in light of “new information and evidence”. A 28-year-old white British man from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Saturday. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s head of national news, Archie Bland. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, which is supposed to have served as the inspiration for Jane Austen’s Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, is home to a renowned private art collection, including rare first editions by authors such as Charlotte Brontë and Oscar Wilde. But the cost of admission to the house (£33 for an adult, rising to £40 at Christmas), has long put its heritage out of reach for many. Now, Chatsworth is pioneering a scheme of free community memberships that people can borrow from Derbyshire libraries. It hopes the pass could become a model for widening access to heritage across Britain. “For me, the best bit was walking around places that you recognise from TV and film adaptations,” said Kate, a contract worker who lives locally and was one of the first people to benefit from the scheme. “I felt like I’d been there before.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Bangkok bar fire: death toll reaches 30 as police investigate negligence as ‘primary theory’

The Bangkok pub that has become the scene of the city’s deadliest blaze in 17 years has said it will cooperate with an investigation into alleged negligence, as the death toll rose to 30. The local district office said on Tuesday that three more people died after the devastating fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday. An initial assessment by disaster officials found that an electrical short ‌circuit in an air conditioner located in the ‌ceiling caused the fire. Authorities have confirmed the identities of 27 victims, with three yet to be identified. Most are believed to be Thai nationals. Of the injured, 24 are in a critical condition, 15 have moderate injuries, and 36 sustained minor injuries and have returned home. National police chief Kittiratt Phanphet told reporters on Monday: “At this time, police have established negligence as the primary theory guiding their investigation.” In a statement released on Monday evening on social media, the Rong Beer Na Ladprao pub offered its “deepest apologies for this tragic incident”, and extended its condolences to the families of the deceased. The pub, located in the city’s north, also pledged its full support to the investigation and “transparent fact-finding process”, as officials have flagged inquiries into whether exits were accessible. Most of the victims were found trapped in windowless bathrooms near one of the rear exits, Kittharath said. That exit was not used, and people may have been blocked from reaching it by a table set up to sell candy, or because it was too dark to find the way out, Kittharath said. Access to another exit near the kitchen might also have been narrowed by shelving units and lockers, according to the chief who visited the scene on Monday. There were signs that at least some of the exit doors might have been locked, he added. In a video shared by prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s office during an inspection of the scene, the leader was told a door that was once an exit was bolted, with the proprietor afraid that customers would slip out without paying their bills. The door had a sign that said “staff only” and could open to the outside, but an official told Anutin customers would not have been aware. “If they had run this ⁠way, it would have been fine,” Anutin responded. Investigators are also assessing the ceiling above a performance stage, Kittharath said. Police will examine whether flammable materials were used in decorative elements and how electrical wiring was installed across the ceiling. Video posted on social media showed people fleeing as flames shot out of the single-storey building and black smoke billowed into the sky. Those who managed to escape through the front doors ran through the flames, sustaining life-altering injuries. The boyfriend of a 31-year-old woman who ran out of the building while on fire told local outlet Khaosod bystanders helped her extinguish the flames. When they were reunited, he said she told him: “I can’t take it any more. I’m in so much pain. Am I still beautiful?” Many who survived unscathed only did so by luck, like Kaewudon Pongpanee, 24, a pub employee who was using a bathroom outside when the fire began. He saw people running away from the flames and began shouting for his brother but “the heat was unbearable, I couldn’t get back in,” he said. Poungpany’s younger brother Pongpaset Pongpanee, also a worker at the pub, was inside at the time. Both of the brothers were migrant workers from neighbouring Laos. Poungpany came to the police hospital morgue on Monday in order to identify the body of his brother. “I want to bring him home to my parents. My parents are waiting for their kids to come back together, but now one is gone,” he said. With Associated Press and Reuters.

Sweden prides itself on equality – so why is its political gender gap growing?

One is led by Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, and has promised smaller school-class sizes, more housing and free dental care for young people. The other, led by Jimmie Åkesson, has neo-Nazi roots and has pledged to lower taxes, improve public safety and treat “anti-Swedishness” as a hate crime. In the run-up to Sweden’s general election in September, the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats are placed first and second respectively in the polls, and between them are expected to scoop up more than 50% of the vote. But which party Swedes are most likely to back could depend in part on their gender, amid a widening gap between male and female voters. The 2022 election brought a record-breaking gender gap between men and women, and the latest statistics show that in September the gulf is likely to be even wider: a recent survey by Statistics Sweden found that twice as many men as women support the far-right Sweden Democrats, while female support for the Social Democrats is 10 percentage points higher than its male equivalent. If only women voted, the left-leaning bloc, led by Andersson’s party, would gain 64% of the vote, the survey found. If only men voted, the right-leaning parties, with the current prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, of the Moderates at the helm, would get 51%. Why, in Europe’s supposedly most gender-equal country, does gender play such a big role? Lena Wängnerud, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg, said the move leftward of women and rightward of men had been happening since the 1970s, but that in recent years the Sweden Democrats had replaced the centre-right Moderates as the main choice for men. Her research showed that men in the private sector were most inclined to vote rightwing, driven by support for lower taxes, a smaller public sector and less immigration, she said. “The fact that women have not shifted to the right to the same extent, regardless of whether they work in the public or private sector, stems from their greater reliance on a well-functioning welfare state, given that they still bear the primary responsibility for caregiving in the private sphere.” Nelly Ailo, 41, a pharmacy assistant who was having her lunch just off the main shopping street in Södertälje, a city near Stockholm, had a similar take on what motivates male voters. “First it is economics – what is better for them,” she said. “They vote about economics. Not ‘is it good for people? Is it good for children? Is it good for …?’, No, no, no. For them it is high salaries, low tax on petrol.” Ermias Balcha, 23, who works in assisted housing, would dispute that theory. He says that under the current government, conditions, particularly for the unemployed and homeless, have declined. “It gets worse and worse actually. There are people who are pensioners who hardly get any pension or pay.” Balcha sees the best option in the next election as a vote for the Social Democrats- but acknowledges the party could do more to appeal to men. If the election had been held in May, the Statistics Sweden annual party sympathy survey published in June found that 39% of women said they would vote for the Social Democrats compared with 29% of men. A quarter of men and 12% of women said they would vote for the Sweden Democrats. Both parties had slight overall gains in support. Kristersson’s Moderates do not have the same gender gap, but with just 17% of total support, they came in third. The Social Democrats are Sweden’s biggest political party but have been in opposition for the last four years after the rightwing bloc formed a governing minority-run coalition led by Kristersson and supported by the Sweden Democrats. If the centre-right coalition, known as the Tidö parties, win the next general election, Kristersson has pledged to allow the far-right Sweden Democrats into government for the first time, promising them “big political influence and important ministerial posts within immigration and integration”. The party’s entry into government would be a landmark moment for Swedish politics, but in many ways, observers say, their influence has already had a lasting impact – both on daily life, particularly for immigrants, and the rightward shift of politics. This is particularly stark in some of the policies of the supposedly centre-left Social Democrats, who are, like Åkesson’s far right, hardline on immigration, integration and crime. The concern among rightwing parties about female support has led to talk of “a right with a heart”, the introduction of a six-month 50% discount on public transport and plenty of talk from male politicians about fertility and child-rearing. Moska Hassas, the chair of Socialdemokraternas ungdomsförbund (SSU), the Social Democrats youth association, said many girls and young women found these efforts “humiliating”. “They [right-leaning political parties] are so desperate that they don’t know that young women also care about politics,” she said, while campaigning in Södertälje. “All the traditional values – that women should be in the kitchen, which we have heard from Tidö side, that women shouldn’t do conscription – it’s a sick backlash that they are turning back time.” Among boys and young men, she added, there were signs of disillusionment in politics, and this was being harnessed by extreme forces such as far-right, male-only “active clubs”, and criminal gangs. “This exploits these political forces in a very tragic way,” she said. “It is very dangerous.”

Trump says US reinstating blockade on Iranian ports – as it happened

We’re closing this page now and will continue our live coverage of the Middle East crisis on a new blog here, including a summary of the latest key developments. Thanks for following along.

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy seeks 300 Patriots to get through winter

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed an agreement with allies ⁠for a European-backed anti-ballistic missile shield as an alternative ⁠to the US Patriot system – but the Ukrainian president stressed that Kyiv ⁠still needs the American interceptors for now and ‌the coming ‌winter. Zelenskyy said the Freyja ‌defence project, originated in Ukraine, would be developed over the coming 12 months. “One of the main ways to ‌strengthen our collective position should be a winter package of air defence missiles,” Zelenskyy posted. “We have calculated ⁠that this package should include 100 Patriot missiles per month, 300 missiles for ‌the winter.” Donald Trump has promised Ukraine a licence to build Patriot missiles, but although Kyiv has stunned the world with its ability to innovate and muster homegrown weapons production, the interceptors’ extreme complexity and US subcontractors’ slow output of critical parts means production is likely some time away. As Angelique Chrisafis writes, Ukraine and nine other countries including the UK, Germany and France will build the shared missile protection programme for Europe using Kyiv’s experience in fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion for more than four years. Leaders on Monday met Zelenskyy for talks in Paris. The UK signed up to participate in the EU’s €90bn (£77bn) support loan for Ukraine, meaning UK firms will be able to provide more weapons paid for by the funds. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, announced a roadmap for Kyiv to get 16 Rafale fighter jets, the first of which are due to “take to the skies” by 2028-2029. Kyiv would also acquire an initial batch of new-generation SAMP/T missile defence units, Macron said at the Paris meeting, “which will complement the systems due to be delivered with their missiles in the coming weeks”. Macron also said on Monday that the multinational force for Ukraine, to be deployed in the event of a ceasefire, would hold exercises in neighbouring countries in the coming months. This would “validate our deployment plans and demonstrate that we are ready, determined and credible”, Macron said. Russian forces attacked ⁠the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with missiles and drones early on Tuesday, triggering fires ⁠in widely separated districts of the city, senior officials said. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s ‌military administration, said two storage areas were hit and set on fire in the Holosiivskyi district just outside the city centre. The mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said cars burned in an open area in an eastern suburb after drone strikes. In the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Russian ⁠drones struck residential and other areas, injuring 11 people, emergency services said. A drone attack in a town outside Kharkiv injured six people, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. The Russian-installed head of ⁠the part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region under Moscow’s ⁠control said ⁠on Monday that Ukrainian drone attacks had killed eight ⁠people, including a family of four. Reuters said it could not verify the report independently. Ukraine denies targeting civilians. The EU and Britain targeted Russia on Monday with coordinated sanctions over cyber-attacks in Europe, accusing Moscow’s FSB intelligence agency of involvement. Brussels said it was imposing sanctions on nine people and four entities, while London said it was adding 24 names to its blacklist. Among those subjected to asset freezes and visa bans were officers of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, and alleged “cybercriminals” working together with the Russian state. The EU and Britain said a recent attempted cyber-attack targeting critical infrastructure in Poland, including the power grid, was the latest in a raft of such moves by the FSB’s Centre 16 spying hub. The French foreign ministry added that among the sanctioned targets was “a group that claimed destabilising actions against the Paris 2024 Olympics”. The EU said that “among others, France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland have been targeted” in a campaign stretching back years.

US launches third night of strikes on Iran as Trump announces Hormuz blockade

The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran hours after Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and, in an apparently policy reversal, charge ships for safe passage. “These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz,” the US military’s Central Command said. Trump had earlier told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow – and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.” He added: “They have nothing. They have nothing going, other than they have big mouths.” Late on Monday the UAE said two ⁠national tankers ⁠were targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles in ⁠the southern lane of the strait ⁠of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters, ‌killing one ‌Indian crew member and wounding ‌eight others, including four seriously. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7.8% to $81.92 a barrel on Monday, still well below the $120 (£90) reached at the height of the war. Earlier on Monday, Trump had said the US would demand a 20% tariff on all cargoes shipped through the strait of Hormuz. He suggested in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US should be known henceforth as the “guardian of the strait of Hormuz”, as Iran and the US engaged in some of the heaviest drone and missile exchanges since an interim deal was negotiated to bring an end to the conflict. Until now, the US had said the strait should remain open to all without tolls – as it was before Washington and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. Any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and would be likely to cause further economic disruption far beyond the region. Trump has made numerous claims and threats during the war on Iran, including frequent claims of victory, many of which have had little grounding in reality. Iran and the US are in theory nearly halfway through 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 supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes. In reality, that deal has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait of Hormuz, resulting in the near-total collapse of an interim ceasefire and worrying world leaders that the conflict could fully resume. On Monday it was revealed that Trump sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran had resumed on 7 July, ⁠a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region without congressional approval. The US Constitution says that only Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war. However, US presidents have long claimed the right to order shorter military engagements without lawmakers’ ‌approval to preserve US security. The war powers act requires the president to inform Congress within 48 hours of initiating hostilities, and says military action begun without Congress’ approval must be terminated within 60 days. Democrats and Republican opponents of ⁠the war have accused the administration of misinterpreting the law. On Monday evening the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center said the US would begin enforcing the blockade on Iran, covering all ports, oil terminals and coastal areas, on Tuesday night. A statement read: “Any vessel suspected ‌of entering or departing the blockaded area without authorisation is subject to interception, diversion and capture. Noncompliant vessels may be legally compelled with ⁠force.” The centre said neutral transit through the strait of Hormuz heading to ‌or from non-Iranian destinations will not be impeded. It remains unclear in practical terms how easy it would be for the navy to do this. Trump’s demand for a 20% tariff comes despite his administration’s previous insistence that no country should be allowed to charge fees for passages used for international navigation. That stance was reiterated last month by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who said: “No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused the US on Monday of jeopardising global oil and gas supplies by interfering in the strait, as Tehran threatened that any US moves would be “strongly contested”. The IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said Washington had “seriously endangered the security of the world’s oil and gas supply and must be held accountable”, adding in a post on X that Tehran would “continue to exercise sovereignty over and management of the strait of Hormuz”. The International Maritime Organization, the UN agency that oversees safety and security measures in international shipping, said it was waiting to find out more about Trump’s proposal, but added: “We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation. There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait.” Trump said ⁠the ⁠US would probably take over ⁠the strait and should ⁠be reimbursed for controlling ‌the waterway. “We’re going to ‌keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” Trump said in a ‌phone interview on Fox News. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, 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.” 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 shock waves 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.

Leaders give press conference after ‘coalition of the willing’ meeting in Paris – as it happened

EU sanctions nine people, four entities over Russian cyber espionage. The issue issued new sanctions over Russia’s “malicious cyber ecosystem targeting the EU, its member states and international partners”. UK sanctions 24 individuals and entities behind Russia’s destructive hybrid operations. The UK also updated its sanctions for those behind these operations, including an attempt to disrupt Poland’s electricity grid last year. Leaders arrive for Ukraine talks in Paris. British prime minister Keir Starmer, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen were all present in Paris. Hungary MPs pass constitutional tweak to oust Orban-allied president. New prime minister Péter Magyar accused president Tamas Sulyok of being a “puppet” of hardline ex-leader Viktor Orbán. Russian anti-war politician summoned to court ahead of elections. Boris Nadezhdin, 63, was detained by police on Monday and ordered to stand before a court on Friday on “demonstration of extremist symbols” charges after planning to take part in the upcoming elections. UK joins 90bn EU loan to cover Ukraine’s defence. Prime minister Keir Starmer has announced a £78m loan to cover Kyiv’s most urgent defence and budgetary needs in 2026. Ukraine orders fighter jets and licence to produce French missiles, Macron says. Ukraine has acquired new French-made air defence systems, including 16 Rafale fighter jets.