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Middle East crisis live: Iran denies Trump’s claims that talks due to take place

Iranian state media is reporting that Iran executed two people on Monday on charges of espionage and ⁠cooperation with Israel, according to Reuters. Omid Behzad and ⁠Pouria Safvat were accused ⁠of sending Israel the coordinates of military and security sites in addition to images and information in the latest conflict that began 28 February as well as during the brief war last summer, judiciary news outlet Mizan reported. A source briefed ‌on Israel’s military strategy told Reuters in March that Israel targeted checkpoints manned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the current conflict based on intelligence from informants on the ground. Iran has executed at least 50 p[eople in the past four months on vague national security charges, including several 18- and 19-year-olds, Human Rights Watch reported last month. In January, Iranian authorities quelled a period of nationwide ⁠unrest by killing thousands of protesters.

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited by Red Cross representative

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid organisation has confirmed. The meeting ⁠follows years of questions over the wellbeing of the 81-year-old, whose whereabouts and health condition have been largely unknown since the elected civilian government she led was ousted by a military coup in February 2021. Little has been seen or heard of Aung San Suu Kyi since late 2022. Myanmar’s military-backed administrations have repeatedly claimed she is in “good health”, even as international pressure has grown on Myanmar’s government to allow independent verification. Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, has recently demanded the ruling junta provide proof of life amid speculation she could be dead. On Monday, Arnaud de Baecque, the resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Myanmar, visited Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyidaw, the government spokesperson Khine Khine Soe said in a post on Telegram. In two of the four photographs provided by Khine Khine Soe, Aung San Suu Kyi – dressed in traditional Burmese attire – is seen with Baecque in a sparsely furnished, wood-panelled room containing only two chairs and a desk. In a statement released afterwards, the ICRC confirmed the visit had occurred and was carried out in accordance with its standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, including the opportunity to speak with Aung San Suu Kyi in private. “In line with the ICRC’s working methods, detention visits provide people deprived of liberty with the opportunity to exchange news with their families,” the statement said. “As is customary in the ICRC’s detention work, observations and recommendations related to the visit are shared exclusively and confidentially with the detaining authorities.” In late April, after a military-engineered election that allowed the former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become Myanmar’s ⁠president, authorities said Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to house arrest. A photograph of the detained former leader was shown on military-controlled TV, however Aris told the BBC the image was taken years ago. While the election was largely criticised as a sham, it has led to diplomatic re-engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Following a meeting between Myanmar’s foreign minister and counterparts from the regional Asean bloc in Bangkok in July, Thailand’s top diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow called for access to Aung San Suu Kyi “so that we can be able to verify the claims” of her good health. But the new military-backed administration had so far been reluctant to provide access ⁠to Aung San Suu Kyi, including a May request by the Philippines to allow an Asean special envoy to visit her. Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which contains remnants of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party that was dissolved by the junta, has continued to call for her release. “Since the national leader was arbitrarily detained and imprisoned on fabricated charges from the very beginning, she must be released unconditionally,” he said.

South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania detonates Danube rock to increase water flow – Europe live

Here’s a better look at the impressive controlled explosion in Romania…

Suspected mass bird flu deaths found in second state as Murray Watt warns ‘this is the beginning’

Aerial surveillance has detected mass bird deaths in a second Australian state in another suspected escalation of the spread of deadly H5 bird flu. The environment minister, Murray Watt, said on Monday Australia had begun “a long and difficult journey” as CSIRO analysis confirmed Australia’s first mass mortality event at Baudin Rocks off South Australia’s coast. Hours later, Victorian authorities said aerial observations had identified a “cluster” of dead and sick greater crested terns in the Glenelg River estuary near Nelson and across Lawrence Rocks, in the state’s south-west, over the weekend. If samples taken from the Victorian birds return positive results, it would be Australia’s second confirmed mortality event from the deadly disease that has devastated wildlife populations globally. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “I want to level with people: this is the beginning of what is likely to be a long, difficult journey in terms of the impacts on wildlife,” Watt said on Monday. Aerial surveillance over Baudin Rocks identified about 50 dead and 30 sicks birds, the South Australian government said on the weekend. Samples taken from five greater crested terns and a silver gull were sent to the CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness and confirmed positive on Monday. “The reality is, you can’t stop native and wild birds flying around, and you can’t stop wild animals moving around, and that will mean more mass mortality events like the one we have now seen,” Watt said. “What we can do, and what we have been doing, is build up the resilience of the populations of our native birds and mammals.” In Victoria, the state’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, said aerial surveillance had made observations that were “consistent with what was recently reported in South Australia”. Speaking to media on Monday afternoon, Cooke said aerial and ground surveillance in the south-west, near Portland and Nelson, in the past few days showed “a clear increase in the number of dead terns along that part of the coast”. “Last week we talked about individual detections; the first cases of the H5 bird flu in Victoria. We are now seeing a change as the disease spreads out and has further impacts,” he said. The region is home to an important breeding colony of Australasian gannets as well as seal colonies and the Glenelg estuary and Discovery Bay, an internationally significant wetland site. South Australia’s environment minister, Emily Bourke, said she was also concerned about a confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a petrel found in the Coorong, one of several new locations where the deadly disease has been detected in the state. The migratory petrel was one of 18 new cases in SA confirmed by CSIRO on Monday, which included the samples from six birds at Baudin Rocks. The new cases included a silver gull in Glenelg, two greater crested terns at Troubridge Island, a silver gull at Southend, a greater crested tern at Monarto and six greater crested terns on Pages Islands. The Coorong is a large area that is home to internationally significant wetlands that support populations of waterbirds and migratory species. “That confirmed location is of concern because it is where waterbirds are also located,” Bourke said “So it’s going from seabirds, but also potentially now into where we know a lot of waterbirds are nesting and using this space as a safe haven.”

Hide the Pain Harold and Rubik’s Cube creator among social media’s picks for Hungarian president

Eszter Jámbor, a 46-year-old content creator who focuses on sex education, had a different kind of question for her Instagram followers last week: who did they think should be Hungary’s next president? The suggestions ranged from reality TV stars to bodybuilders and the Victoria’s Secret model Barbara Palvin. But another anonymous online poll asking Hungarians the same question revealed the most popular candidate to be András Arató, a retired electrical engineer who found global online fame as a meme: Hide the Pain Harold. Katalin Karikó, the Nobel-winning biochemist, and Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik’s cube, were also popular choices. “Obviously, politics are serious, but there’s also room for a bit of humour, for that sense of freedom that a part of Hungary is now feeling after the past 16 years,” said Jámbor. Since ousting its rightwing populist leader Viktor Orbán in a milestone election earlier this year, the central European country has been living through a period of rapid political change. The man who succeeded Orbán, Péter Magyar, has begun enacting some of the reforms he promised on the campaign trail: taking “propaganda broadcasts” on public media off air and removing Orbán’s allies from the heads of the prosecution, police and military. Perhaps the biggest fight, however, was the one Magyar picked with the then president, Tamás Sulyok, who was forced to sign a constitutional amendment ending his own term in July. After Sulyok, who was appointed by Orbán’s Fidesz party, left his post, the new prime minister called for suggestions. “Let’s make a decision together,” he said in a Facebook video. Lawmakers from the ruling Tisza party will elect the new president in parliament, but Magyar encouraged “public figures, NGOs and civilians” to put forward names. Less than 24 hours after opening the discussion, however, Magyar said he had nominated the chess grandmaster Judit Polgár for the role. The move prompted a popular backlash criticising his hastiness and Polgár, subject of the Netflix documentary Queen of Chess, turned him down. Magyar apologised for the “miscommunication”, but polls in the aftermath showed his party’s popularity down by 3%. “The process is still imperfect,” says Imre Ónádi, a 55-year-old architect who created a Facebook page and group to support the candidacy of the conservative politician Péter Márki-Zay, who unsuccessfully ran against Orbán in the 2022 general election. Ónádi welcomed Polgár’s refusal “not because she isn’t the right person, but because her nomination was announced without discussion”. He thought Magyar’s apology was a good sign. “It seems they take into account what the population says. That’s democracy, after all,” he added. For now, emboldened by the grassroots success of the Tisza party in the April election but lacking any official channel for recommendations, that discussion is happening in social media posts, online polls and open letters. However, it is unclear whether these popular recommendations are reaching Tisza and how the administration intends to handle them. While the government has set up an online consultation space to discuss an update on traffic regulations, there is no official channel for presidential recommendations, despite Magyar’s encouraging words. “I have a political fever,” said Jámbor, undeterred. “I’ve been voting since I was 18. But I finally feel like I have a say in what happens in the country.” Any Hungarian over the age of 35 with voting rights can become president, but Magyar has said his candidate must be independent of political parties. He has met two popular contenders: the well-known historian Ignác Romsics and Botond Fülöp, a lawyer who uncovered the child abuse pardon scandal that ended the presidency of Katalin Novák in 2024. It is expected that Tisza’s 141 parliamentarians will propose and swear in a candidate before 19 August. Technically, Fidesz, which has 44 members of parliament, could nominate its own candidate, but the party has said it will not take part in the election as it believes Sulyok’s dismissal was unlawful. No other party has enough MPs to nominate someone for the position. Amnesty International Hungary believed that the removal of Sulyok was justified, said Áron Demeter, the head of communications and campaigns in the organisation’s Budapest office. “But we could debate Tisza’s method,” he added, arguing that the government could have pursued impeachment to remove the president instead of pushing through an amendment to the constitution. With its so-called supermajority in parliament, Tisza “shouldn’t do the same things Fidesz did, with the same tools, just because their goal is nobler”, Demeter said.

Monday briefing: An (almost) comprehensive guide to Nigel Farage’s many scandals

Good morning. It’s been three months since the Guardian revealed that Nigel Farage accepted an undeclared £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in April 2024. Since then, things have snowballed. This weekend, it emerged that Farage struck a secret comeback deal in March and April 2024 with Richard Tice, the then-leader of Reform, for Farage to return as leader. This undermines Farage’s claim that he had no intention of returning to politics until June 2024, a defence he has used to justify failing to declare that £5m to parliamentary authorities. The rapid speed at which these revelations are coming out can make keeping track of all the (alleged) sleaze overwhelming. And that’s just the 2026 vintage – Farage-related scandals go back half a century. So for today’s First Edition, we present a brief-ish history of Farage allegations; a compendium of controversies. We’ve tried our best to be comprehensive, but there’s a lot – apologies if we missed anything, do get in touch. First, this weekend’s biggest stories. Weekend roundup US-Israel war on Iran | Donald Trump has climbed down on planned military strikes against Iran, claiming he has responded to a request to pause any further attacks. Overnight, Trump said talks with Iran will happen on Monday but declined to set a deadline for an agreement. UK politics | Andy Burnham has said his programme of devolution strengthens the case for the UK to have a written constitution, a move that would fundamentally alter the workings of the state. Spain | The EU is to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday amid continued divisions in the bloc over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in north Africa. Heatwave | Britain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers’ Union has warned as a heatwave was forecast to continue into next week. UK policing | An undercover police unit that spied on tens of thousands of political activists had to be shut down amid severe criticisms and recriminations, the spycops public inquiry has heard. In-depth: From Dulwich day denials to ‘missing’ EU funds During his years at Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 80s, Farage’s contemporaries allege he was racist. Yinka Bankole claimed that Farage told him to go “back to Africa,” on at least three occasions while they were schoolboys. Bankole was nine and 10 at the time of these alleged incidents; Farage was 17. James Varcoe recalled Farage “used the N-word”. Jason Meredith alleged Farage called him a “paki” and told him to “go back home”. Peter Ettedgui alleged that Farage taunted him with antisemitic comments, including that “Hitler was right” and hissing to mimic the sound of gas being released after saying “gas them”. Another claimed Farage burned a copy of the school roll when there were more Patels than Smiths. In his biography, Farage described meeting Enoch Powell during his schooldays, writing that the far-right “rivers of blood” MP had “dazzled me for once into an awestruck silence”. (Later, Farage would ask for Powell’s endorsement, and twice requested, unsucessfully, that Powell stand as a Ukip candidate.) Chloë Deakin, a teacher at Dulwich, wrote to Dulwich’s head teacher in 1981, citing Farage’s alleged “publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views”. Deakin wrote of an incident where “Farage and others had marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”. In 2013, Farage responded to this letter, denying – among other things – he knew any “Hitler Youth songs, in English or German”. “Of course I said some ridiculous things,” Farage said, “not necessarily racist things. It depends how you define it.” He also acknowledged that some of his comments “would offend deeply”. But Farage’s denials have shifted over time. He has claimed he only engaged in “banter”, then “aggressive banter”, while labelling some claims – including those made by Bankole and Ettedgui, as “complete fantasy land”. “Any accusation [that] I was ever involved in far-right politics is utterly untrue”, Farage has said. *** The Kipper years Nigel Farage was a founding member of Ukip in 1993, and led the party between 2006 and 2016. Former Ukip leader Alan Sked alleged that Farage “wanted ex-National Front candidates to run” in the 1997 general election. Sked was sceptical, at which point Sked alleges that Farage said: “There’s no need to worry about the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us.” Farage denies this. Farage was a member of the European parliament (MEP) for Ukip from 1999 to 2020. During his time in Brussels, Farage had one of the worst attendance records, and appeared at just one of 42 fisheries committee meetings. The behaviour of Ukip candidates under Farage’s leadership was astonishing. One Ukip parliamentary candidate referred to gay men as “fucking disgusting old poofters”, while another council candidate stated Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, was “not a real Brit’, that “most Nigerians are bad people” and that Islam is an “evil organisation”. As it happens, my first encounter with Farage was while reporting at Ukip’s 2015 spring conference, during which I was handed a flyer which stated: “What the LGBT is achieving, of course, is a recruitment drive … They must recruit fresh blood and this is best done among children in schools, the younger the better.” *** Expenses In 2014 it emerged MEP Farage claimed £15,500 in annual expenses for office costs, despite paying no rent on the small property where he worked. In total, he claimed more than £205,000. Almost £60,000 of “missing” European Union funds were said to have been paid into Farage’s personal bank account (Farage defended his use of these funds, and faced no formal disciplinary sanction). Farage also faced claims from former staff that he “transferred European funds” into accounts “he controlled … in the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man”. In 2018, Farage was docked €40,000 (£35,500) from his MEP salary, after European parliament auditors concluded he had misspent EU funds in a separate inquiry. “I can spend my EU allowances as I see fit,” Farage told Sky News. He also argued that MEPs don’t claim expenses, but were given flat-rate amounts to use at their discretion. After the Brexit vote, Arron Banks gave Farage £450,000 in funding, which was not declared to EU authorities. After becoming MP for Clacton in 2024, Farage was found to have breached the MPs’ code of conduct 17 times, failing to declare £380,000 of income on time. Since becoming an MP in 2024, Farage’s income has reached £2m – with criticism mounting over his non-parliamentary work. In 2025, Farage declared a £400,000 a year salary for promoting gold bullion for four hours per month. *** Miscellaneous Despite condemning tax avoiders, Farage set up a trust fund in an offshore tax haven. He bemoaned waste in Brussels, then boasted of claiming millions in MEP expenses. He criticised MEPs who put their spouses on payroll (“no exceptions”), then did precisely that himself (£). In 2014, he refused to support same-sex marriage (“a very big can of worms”), and called for people who have tested positive for HIV to be banned from migrating to Britain. In an LBC interview the same year, Farage said you’d be concerned if Romanians moved in next door, but not Germans. “You know what the difference is,” Farage said. He later backtracked. Farage sold videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, referenced antisemitic conspiracy theories, called for the release of a convicted sex offender, expressed support for the IRA and made misogynistic remarks – including about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s breasts. Farage denies a 2006 story in which a 25-year-old woman allegedly took him to her home, staggering drunk, from a pub where, she claims, they made love seven times after which Farage was “snoring like a horse”. *** The £5m Earlier this year, the Guardian broke the story that Farage received £5m from Thailand-based crypto tycoon and Reform donor Christopher Harborne. The cash arrived shortly after Farage said he needed “a million a year” to stand as MP. Farage failed to declare the donation to parliamentary authorities, and has been referred to the parliament’s standards watchdog. He subsequently called the Clacton byelection. When asked what he has done with the £5m, Farage told the BBC “literally none of your business”. Questions remain over properties connected to Farage, including over a £1.4m cash-purchase of a home made shortly after Farage received the donation. Reform UK said the home was bought using Farage’s I’m a Celebrity fee, however company accounts appear to suggest this income remained in Farage’s account post-purchase. Questions remain over an £885,000 Clacton property that Farage claimed to have bought, but is actually owned by his girlfriend, Laure Ferrari. She has refused to confirm how she paid for the house. A wider set of questions about Farage and Reform’s funding have emerged, centering on convicted fraudster (and Harborne pal) George Cottrell, who secretly bankrolled Farage. Again, all undeclared. Cottrell was routinely introduced as Farage’s chief of staff in the past, suggesting he had significant influence, despite Reform stating he has never held an official party position. It’s quite the rap sheet for a man whose party had spent the last 18 months leading national opinion polls. (And we didn’t even manage to squeeze everything in.) Until recently, Farage’s popularity appeared impregnable. But with Labour – for now, at least – overtaking Reform, his byelection sideshow failing to deliver distraction and no letup in the slew of damaging stories, perhaps all this scandal is starting to stick. The week to come Today | Nominations for the Scottish Labour leadership open, after Anas Sarwar’s surprise resignation to join the House of Lords and take up post as a UK trade minister. Tuesday | The next round of US-brokered peace talks Israel and Lebanon are due to resume in Rome. Friday | The inauguration of Colombia’s incoming far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella will take place in the city of Cali. What else we’ve been enjoying I loved Emma Beddingfield’s tips on how to survive the rest of summer – and yes, I will be treating myself like a beloved dog for the next month or so! Poppy Noor, newsletters team Speeding tickets! Takeaways! Err, big snake plants!? I lapped up every line of this story, which saw five couples keep separate spending diaries, before they revealed all to their partner. Michael If you haven’t encountered Jimothy the raccoon yet (where have you been!), Elle Hunt’s piece on why so many love him is a great place to start. Poppy Jason Arday was Cambridge University’s youngest-ever Black professor. Then questions emerged about his work, as did scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism. It’s a complex topic, which Lanre Bakare navigates expertly in his brilliant reporting. Michael First Edition alumnus Patrick Greenfield has written an excellent story about the exceptionally weird work of Alfred Drummond-Herdman, who creates timelapse footage of fungus on faeces, to understand more about the world around us. Poppy Sport Tour de France Femmes | The Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes took her second win in this year’s Tour de France Femmes in Geneva, further extending her overall lead in the nine-day race. Commonwealth Games | This year’s Commonwealth Games have been “phenomenal” and have shown the events have the potential to carry on for another 100 years, the chief executive of Glasgow 2026 has told the Guardian. Fifa | Gianni Infantino is facing a rebellion from members of the Fifa council who are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that could develop into a full-blown leadership challenge. In an exclusive, the Guardian has learned that moves to call an EGM were already under way before the emergence of Infantino’s abortive plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup. The front pages “UK facing food shortages due to drought, say farmers”, is the Guardian’s front page today. The Telegraph leads on “Police warn early release will force patrol cuts”, the Times has “Toll of schooling ‘straighjacket’”, the Mail runs with “Burnham must scrap ‘disastrous’ pro-union strike laws” and the i Paper says “Two-thirds back wealth tax on assets worth more than £10m”. The Express runs with “1,500 foreign criminals in housing paid for by you”, and the FT has “US companies book ‘rock solid’ profits despite consumers’ struggle with costs”. The Mirror has a “royal exclusive” with “Harry: Dad, let the world see us together”, and lastly, Metro on the fuel crisis writes “Tanks for nothing!”. Today in Focus The exonerated prisoner kicked out of office by Republicans Calvin Duncan spent 28 years in a notorious Louisiana prison for a murder he didn’t commit. After he was finally exonerated, he decided to run for an administrative role that would allow him to help prisoners gain much-needed access to their criminal records. But a Republican plot to keep him from taking up that role ended his incredibly short-lived political career. Olly Laughland tells Annie Kelly why Calvin’s story is indicative of what he’s calling “competitive authoritarianism” in Trump 2.0. Cartoon of the day | Tom Gauld The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad One of the oldest cultural events in Europe is celebrating its 850th birthday by going back to its roots at the Welsh castle where a prince first held it in 1176. The eisteddfod moves between north and south Wales each year, prompting this year’s creative director to describe its as a “Glastonbury on wheels”. Beyond its musical offerings, the event – running until Saturday – also celebrates the Welsh language, culture and creativity. The more than 1,000 events represent, for some revellers, not only pageantry but a kind of homecoming. As Naomi Chiffi, from Tenby, explains: “My kids are all in Welsh-medium education; the first Welsh school in Tenby opened a decade ago now. Events like this on our doorstep show them that the language is a living, fun thing.” 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

Why has Trump stepped in to prop up Japan’s currency?

The US has launched a bid to prop up the value of the yen, marking an extraordinary coordinated intervention with Japan’s government to halt the currency’s fall as it approaches 40-year lows. Japan has been struggling to stop an accelerating slide in the yen, which has been piling pressure on its already flailing economy. Japan is reliant on imports for both energy supplies and food, and a weak yen makes the cost of those imports more expensive for businesses and consumers. The Trump administration’s assistance in helping to raise the value of the currency comes as prime minister Sanae Takaichi is under growing political pressure to rein in inflation and bring sustained growth back to the economy. Why is the yen falling? Japan has spent billions of dollars since 2022, trying to limit the yen’s decline – but the currency has continued to hit new lows. Some of the decline is because investors keep selling the currency, while global events have pushed it even lower. Japan is reliant on energy exports from the Middle East and has been hit hard by the slow down of oil and gas from the region thanks to the US war on Iran. That in turn has put pressure on inflation, while the government attempted to ease the pressure on consumers by spending billions on fuel subsidies. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has also kept interest rates extraordinarily low, which helps to diminish the value of the currency as it is less attractive to international investors. Government debt is another factor; the government is spending billions more than it receives in tax on measures to stimulate the stagnating economy and to cope with its ageing population. Japan’s total public debt now sits at more than 200% of its GDP, the highest level in the G20. Why has the Trump administration intervened in the yen? The first clues that the US would intervene came during a Trump administration cabinet meeting on Friday. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent was pictured with a note reading: “To Do. Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil”. “Japan’s been very good ‌to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor,” Trump said on Sunday, as he confirmed that the treasury had bought billions of dollars’ worth of Japanese yen, the first time in 30 years that the US has stepped in to strengthen the currency in such a way. The US president said the intervention would be “good for the world economy,” but some analysts are suggesting that the Trump administration is concerned that Japan’s efforts to buy up yen, raising the value of their currency, could hit the US economy by making government borrowing more expensive. In order to free up the money to buy yen, Japan has been selling US government bonds – known as treasuries. Many countries own US bonds as a store of national wealth, but when they are sold in large quantities, that can lead to a rise in the interest the US treasury pays on its debt. Effectively, this makes it more expensive for the US to borrow money to fund government spending. Economists are suggesting that the Trump administration’s intervention could be an attempt to limit the amount of US government bonds that Japan sells. “Put yourself in US treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s shoes,” wrote Rebecca Patterson, a senior fellow at the council of foreign relations. “It is in his interest to do what he can to help Japan stabilize the yen sooner rather than later.” What role do Takaichi’s policies have here? Prime minister Sanae Takaichi said recently that she spends all day and most of the night plotting Japan’s economic recovery – but at the same time, she’s fighting to regain ground in national polls, with rising import costs, the Middle East energy shock and the weak yen all hitting her standing with voters. In a possible effort to arrest this decline, she announced in April that Japan would temporarily cut the sales tax on food to ease cost of living pressures. Those cuts come as she is also promising to invest hundreds of billions in sectors across the economy, as part of a pro-growth agenda which has become the signature policy of her new government. But concerns over how all this spending will be funded – amid already huge levels of debt – have led to fears that her policies could blow up the economy, triggering a “Liz Truss-style shock”. Experts say this uncertainty has added fuel to market volatility, which in turn pushes the yen lower. How unusual is this move by the Trump administration? In October last year, the US bought billions of Argentinian pesos to help prop up the country’s finances, weeks before a vital election for the country’s rightwing president Javier Milei, an ideological ally of Trump. At the time, US treasury secretary Bessent made clear that the intervention was done to ensure the success of Argentina’s “reform agenda” – an austerity plan described by some as “shock therapy” – which saw wages frozen and public spending cut. Some analysts have suggested that in Takaichi, Trump sees an ideological ally akin to Milei, which could be another factor contributing to the decision to prop up the yen. Under Takaichi, Japan has approved its biggest military buildup since the second world war, with plans to double defence spending to 2% of GDP over the next five years. The plans have faced criticism that Japan is abandoning the long-held pacifism imposed under its postwar constitution, but have been broadly welcomed by the Trump administration, which has been pushing allies to take more responsibility for their national defence.

New Zealand legislation making English an official language ridiculed as ‘pathetic’

Legislation recognising English as an official language of New Zealand has been passed by parliament, prompting derision from linguists and legal experts and a now-viral broadside from a Māori MP who called it “pathetic”. The English language bill became law on 30 July giving English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language. The bill formed part of a coalition deal between the centre-right National party and the minor populist New Zealand First party, whose leader, Winston Peters, has long opposed affirmative initiatives for Māori. National needed to strike deals with New Zealand First and another minor party, Act, in order to govern. Ministry of justice officials had recommended that lawmakers should not pass the bill, because there was “no evidence to support concerns about the use or status of English as an official language”. Te reo Māori and New Zealand sign language had become official to protect linguistic minorities, they said. However, the coalition government and the major opposition Labour party voted in favour of the bill, with minor opposition parties the Greens and Te Pāti Māori against. During the debate, Green MP Tamatha Paul said the bill was “a pathetic waste of the responsibility of this house”, in a speech that has generated millions of views online. Paul said the coalition government were “snowflakes” who saw the word Aotearoa – the Māori name for New Zealand – and “shiver in their boots”. Speaking on behalf of New Zealand First during the final reading, MP Casey Costello denied the law was trivial or unnecessary. “This is a practical measure. It aligns the statute book with longstanding practice, and provides a clear statement about the status of English within New Zealand’s official framework,” Costello told the house. Peters, who is also the foreign affairs minister, has previously argued the bill was necessary because the use of Māori in public services was causing confusion. Labour, meanwhile, has previously said it was against the law but had voted in its favour in order to move on from a “needless culture war”. Dr Sidney Wong, a linguist and post-doctoral fellow at crown research centre Te Pūnaha Matatini, said official language status was given to languages in need of protection and services, but English was not under any threat. “The main reason why this bill was put in place was based on ideology – there was this perception that English was under threat, that it doesn’t have the prestige, and it needs that sort of legislative protection. But it doesn’t need that,” he told the Guardian. Wong said if the government was really interested in protecting English, it would be funding research into the way New Zealanders spoke English, but the law did not address this. “That’s where the money should be going. Not spending time on this 70-word legislation that’s not going to benefit anyone.” Dr Dean Knight, a law professor at Victoria University of Wellington, said the legislation was “a pointless exercise” that made no difference legally or practically as English was already the dominant language. “Folk who got excited by this performative law-making will be disappointed to learn that, despite the dog-whistling and claims from its promoters within parliament, it does not mandate priority to the English language in government communications and elsewhere,” he said. “Like before, Aotearoa New Zealand will continue to have three official languages.”