Read the daily news to learn English

Middle East peace talks in doubt as Iran says it needs to ‘reassess’ after overnight strikes

The future of peace talks in the Middle East have been thrown into question after Iran’s foreign ministry said it needed to “reassess” its participation, while Donald Trump said Iran would have to “pay the price” after the two countries traded fire overnight, drawing neighbouring states back into an on-and-off war that has consumed the region since late February. The US launched strikes against Iran in the early hours of Wednesday morning in retaliation for what it said was Iran’s downing of a US army helicopter near the strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes claiming hits on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. The tit-for-tat attacks were the most severe escalation since a ceasefire was established in early April. Talks to turn the ceasefire into a durable peace have been stalling for weeks, with periodic flare-ups as both sides launched limited strikes and traded blame for violating the truce. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said US strikes jeopardised ongoing ceasefire negotiations. He accused the US of undermining diplomacy with its attacks and contradictory messages. He said that Israel was also harming the diplomatic process by continuing to violate the ceasefire in Lebanon. “Following overnight events, we need to reassess … Any diplomatic process requires a minimum stable environment,” Baqaei said. Trump, for his part, said Iran had taken “too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them” and would now pay a price. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said: “Iran’s military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist any more – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!” Trump has frequently threatened to resume military action since a ceasefire was established in April, but has not yet fully followed through. Strikes since the ceasefire have been limited and styled as calculated, one-off attacks, as both sides jockey for position at the negotiating table. The US military described its overnight attacks as a “proportional response” to the downing of the helicopter, whose two crew members were rescued. The US said it had hit Iranian air defences, ground control stations and radar sites. Iran said Qeshm island and the port city of Sirik were attacked, while Iranian media reported explosions in the seaside city of Bandar Abbas. “I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC news. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded by attacking US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan with missiles, and said it was ready to give a “crushing and decisive” response if the US attacked again. The US military said nearly all Iranian missiles and drones had been intercepted, with no immediate reports of US casualties or damage to its facilities. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain all said the Iranian projectiles had been intercepted. Hours before the US strikes, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a post on X: “We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently. Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best.” Despite the attacks and escalating rhetoric, a US official suggested that a deal with Iran could still be close. “Nothing changes where the deal stands right now,” an anonymous senior white house official told Politico. “There’s a military bucket and then there’s a negotiation bucket … So, two things can happen at the same time.” Trump is keen for a peace deal as US midterm elections approach amid rising inflation and plummeting presidential approval ratings. But despite the US president frequently claiming that a deal with Iran is close, and several rounds of mediated talks, significant gaps remain between the two sides. Iran is seeking the lifting of international sanctions, the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, and control over the strait of Hormuz. Trump has said that any future peace deal must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, while Iran denies that it wants one. Access to the strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for around a fifth of the global oil supply – remains restricted by Iran, while the US maintains a blockade on Iranian ports. The interruption to global shipping and energy supplies have had knock-on effects around the world, increasing the price of food, energy and other goods. A significant obstacle to a lasting peace deal between Iran and the US has been fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon. Iran has also insisted that any ceasefire must include the Lebanese front, while Israel and the US have been eager to separate the two. On Sunday, Iran and Israel traded strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire, after Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut. Iran has threatened to strike Israel again if it hits Lebanon’s capital. Israel carries out dozens of strikes on south Lebanon each day, while Hezbollah fires on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,666 people in Lebanon since the latest conflict began, while attacks by Hezbollah have killed at least 30 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians.

Middle East crisis live: Trump accuses Iran of taking too long to make a deal and says ‘it will now pay a price’

The UN rights chief said he would send a mission to Lebanon to collect evidence on alleged rights abuses since the war began between Hezbollah and Israel. “I have agreed with the government of Lebanon to conduct an impartial and independent assessment mission in the country,” Volker Turk told journalists, adding: I will soon be deploying a team to collect information and evidence on alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, and violations of international humanitarian law and related law committed by the parties to the armed conflict in the country since 2 March.

Car bomb kills senior Russian military official near Moscow

A senior Russian military official has been killed in a car bombing near Moscow, according to media reports. An explosive device planted underneath a BMW detonated at about 5.30am on Tuesday as Col Damir Davydov was driving near his home in the city of Balashikha, the independent outlet Astra reported. It was the latest in a string of assassinations targeting Russian military officials and prominent pro-war figures since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Davydov, 57, headed the Russian military’s artillery and missile ammunition supply directorate, a key logistics role responsible for overseeing the distribution of weapons to the armed forces. The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed that an explosion had taken place and that Vladimir Putin had been informed. Asked about the investigation, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to provide details, saying: “As you understand, information related to the ongoing investigation cannot be disclosed. This is, of course, a matter for our special services.” Security camera footage shared by pro-Kremlin media appeared to show Davydov’s vehicle erupting in flames and rolling into a parked car. The Telegram channel Mash reported that bystanders rushed to pull the driver from the wreckage, but he died from his injuries shortly afterwards. A bystander who tried to help Davydov told Astra the colonel was still alive after being pulled from the vehicle. “All of his clothes were on fire. I put out the flames on his T-shirt and tore it off so it wouldn’t burn his skin … Looking at him, it was clear he was unlikely to survive,” the person said. Ukraine has not yet commented on the incident. Without directly blaming Ukraine, Vladimir Shamanov, a Russian lawmaker and retired general, condemned the attack as an “outrage”, adding: “Such insolence should be met with the same.” Since the start of the war, Ukrainian intelligence agencies have targeted dozens of senior Russian military officers and Moscow-installed officials in occupied territories, accusing many being involved in war crimes. The latest assassination will intensify scrutiny of Russia’s internal security apparatus and its ability to protect senior officials. It came despite heightened security measures introduced for top military and political figures, including Vladimir Putin, after a number of high-profile attacks. In an added embarrassment for the security services, the attack took place less than a mile from the spot where, just over a year ago, Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the Russian armed forces’ main operations directorate, was killed in a similar car bombing. Little is known about the clandestine Ukrainian networks believed to be operating inside Russia and Russia-controlled territories, carrying out assassinations and attacks on military infrastructure far behind the frontline. Successful Ukrainian intelligence operations targeting Russian officials are believed to be one of the reasons behind Russia’s growing use of internet shutdowns, a measure that has caused public frustration across the country. Russian state media also reported a separate incident in Moscow on Tuesday, saying there had been an attempt to kill an employee of a scientific-industrial enterprise. Citing Russia’s investigative committee, RIA Novosti reported that a teenage girl had allegedly retrieved an explosive device from a dead drop on the instructions of Ukrainian handlers and passed it to a teenage boy. Authorities said both teenagers had been detained before the device could be used.

Japanese manga fans urge Trump to stop using characters in his online posts

Japanese anime and manga fans are urging Donald Trump to stop using their favourite characters in his social media posts. About 20,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org entitled Protect Japanese Manga, protesting against the official White House X account posting videos featuring unauthorised use of imagery from the popular Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto series. Angry fans have also been posting on social media. The petition was created in March and submitted to the Japanese government, according to its creators, after the White House posted a video that combined footage of US strikes on Iran with anime scenes. “Subsequently, the ministry of foreign affairs made a request to the US embassy in Japan regarding the unauthorised use of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Nintendo games on the official White House X account,” the petition read. The official Yu-Gi-Oh! account on X issued a statement at the time, saying: “The original creators and anime staff were not involved in any way, and no permission was given for the use of the intellectual property in question.” However, an image posted on Truth Social over the weekend depicting Trump as the ninja Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto franchise set fans off again, reviving the petition on Tuesday along with a pledge to redouble lobbying efforts with the Japanese government. “We are fans who deeply cherish Japanese manga and anime works,” the petition said. It added that fans had “very mixed feelings about” about a “video featuring military actions, released on an official US government social media account [that] incorporated footage from Japanese manga and anime works”. A fan going by the name Matsui Qunishige posted on Tuesday: “If you respect the creators and those involved and have obtained their permission, I think that’s fine. Otherwise, you’re just showing yourself to be someone who can’t follow the rules and who disregards culture. And that criticism will likely be directed at Americans. They’re the ones who chose [Trump].” Another fan, Kei Fukuyosh, said: “I truly, from the bottom of my heart, want them to stop. Their sense of ethics is severely lacking. I want the government to speak out against this.” Keiichi Motohashi asked: “I wonder what the copyright situation is with this? Shouldn’t [the publisher] Shueisha and [Naruto’s creator] Masashi Kishimoto complain about it?” Shueisha, which celebrates its centenary this year, is Japan’s biggest publisher and serialised the original Naruto manga from 1999 to 2014. The manga about a young boy training to become a ninja has sold more than 250m copies worldwide. Kishimoto, whose twin brother, Seishi, is also a manga artist, oversaw the production of three hit Naruto anime films. A spokesperson for Shueisha said the copyright for the anime images used in Trump’s post was held by the film production committee, and that they believed Kishimoto was not commenting on the matter. The Guardian has contacted the White House regarding its response to the petition.

The vanishing of Nicolás Maduro: how the former dictator is being erased from Venezuela

For years, his bewhiskered face stared down from propaganda billboards glorifying the supposedly revolutionary rule of a dictator who styled himself as “the protector of the people”. The spin-doctored adoration was such that factories churned out plastic action figures exalting Nicolás Maduro as an “indestructible” and “iron-fisted” caped crusader nicknamed “Super Moustache”. In a coastal town near Caracas, authorities even branded dustbins, garbage trucks and overpasses with sinister black silhouettes of the autocrat’s stache. Five months after US special forces toppled Maduro, his heavily curated cult of personality is collapsing, as the deposed president is being airbrushed out of Venezuelan history by former allies who seem desperate to move on. Giant images of Maduro and his also incarcerated wife, Cilia Flores, still adorn the capital’s main arteries, some stamped with the hashtag #WeWantThemBackNow. A count-up clock has been erected in the historic centre, logging the number of days since the couple’s kidnapping. In the streets around Miraflores, the presidential palace that the autocrat once occupied, pro-regime graffiti artists have scrawled declarations of support on to newspaper stands. “Que viva Maduro, carajo!” [Long live Maduro, damn it!] reads one. Another declares: “We love Maduro.” But such affection seems in increasingly short supply. Across the country, billboards and paintings of Venezuela’s ousted leader are quietly being dismantled or erased, or simply left quietly to rot or be consumed by the undergrowth. In one sprawling housing estate in downtown Caracas – an area long considered a pro-regime stomping ground – white paint has been used to cover murals paying tribute to a politician most remembered for leading Venezuela into dictatorship and one of the worst peacetime economic collapses in history. “I was stunned: I was like: ‘What?!’” said one local, describing the moment she realised an order had gone out to whitewash Maduro murals outside her local bank and pharmacy. “They’ve painted over all of them.” On the highway to Guatire, a city east of Caracas, Maduro’s name had faded almost to the point of invisibility on a hoarding from the 2024 election which he is widely believed to have stolen. Farther east in a town called Caucagua, a dissenter appeared to have smeared cement over a portrait of Maduro in a public playground, obscuring parts of the dictator’s face. A stencil graffiti artist had sprayed an image of Maduro on to a nearby wall alongside one of his quotes from a recent court hearing in New York. “I’m a decent man and I’m still the president of my country,” it said, unconvincingly. The disappearance of pro-Maduro propaganda is mirrored in the public statements of those who claimed power after his abduction on 3 January this year. An analysis by Venezuelan news outlet TalCual found that the interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez – Maduro’s former vice-president and ally – mentioned his name 86 times in the immediate aftermath of the US raid. By March, the number of monthly mentions had fallen to just seven – a drop of more than 90%. “What is left of a leader when their name is no longer spoken?” TalCual wondered. Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based political commentator, believed those figures accurately reflected the extent of Maduro’s defenestration. “It’s pretty sad actually when you’ve styled yourself as this great revolutionary leader and the US kidnaps you and [a few] months later nobody can even remember your name,” Gunson said, adding sarcastically: “I mean, Maduro? Yeah, it rings a bell.” Diplomats say Venezuelan officials now rarely allude to their former boss. Gunson believed Maduro’s disappearance from official discourse reflected how he had alienated not only regime opponents, but his own movement too, during a disastrous stint in power when the economy shrank by 70% and millions of people fled abroad. “Maduro just took them – from 2013 onwards – [into] a complete cul-de-sac … So my sense is that the majority of people on the Chavista side wanted to see the back of Maduro,” he said. Compounding public fury over the economic collapse was widespread annoyance at the dictator’s frivolous on-screen antics – particularly his constant displays of dancing and crooning on state TV. “Maduro was so tone-deaf. Maduro’s singing and dancing stuff … was really irritating to a lot of people. I think even on the Chavista side [people thought] … ‘Get rid of this guy!’” Gunson said. Donald Trump is also said to have been incensed by Maduro’s dance moves. Flickers of support for Maduro can still be found on Venezuela’s streets. At a recent pro-regime rally outside the botanical gardens in Caracas, one female demonstrator clutched a Superman-style action figurine of Maduro and a Wonder Woman-esque model of a bespectacled Flores, although she refused to give her name or explain her fondness for the former first couple. Another marcher, Wendell Gouveia, wore a red T-shirt featuring a pop art-style picture of Maduro’s face. “Nobody paid me or pressured me into coming here,” Gouveia said, accusing the “bumbling imbecile” Trump of committing a flagrant injustice by abducting his president. But apart from those dolls and Gouveia’s jersey, there was scant sign of Maduro’s name or face. Most of the thousands of protesters came wearing white, rather than the red traditionally associated with the Chavista movement. On the motorway linking Caracas to the international airport, authorities had painted a bright yellow-and-blue mural on to the roadside demanding the ex-president’s release: “Free Maduro and Cilia.” In the weeks since the fresco was created, a saboteur had splashed it with black paint.

Wednesday briefing: What to expect from a World Cup beset with controversy

The wait is over. Tomorrow evening, the World Cup begins at the Azteca stadium, Mexico City, where the co-hosts Mexico face South Africa. The game is the first of 104 matches to be played by 48 nations across Canada, Mexico and the US before the 19 July final. Millions will attend matches and billions more will watch the biggest single sport tournament on the planet. As so often seems to be the case, one man looms large over events: Donald Trump. Fifa has sought to develop a close relationship with the US president, awarding him a specially invented prize after he was overlooked for an actual award by the Nobel committee. Trump will probably present the World Cup trophy to the winning team. His administration’s unprecedented approach to the event has received little pushback from organisers. But the festival of football is not all about Trump. With an ever-growing contingent of stateside soccer fans, this summer could finally see the US’s growing interest in the beautiful game turn into a full throttle love affair. For today’s First Edition, I spoke with Alexander Abnos, senior sports editor for the Guardian US, about what to expect from the tournament, the challenges Trump poses, and his on-the-pitch predictions. First, the headlines. Five big stories UK news | Protests against immigration have erupted into violence in Northern Ireland after far-right activists called for demonstrations in response to a stabbing attack that was captured in a graphic video. Middle East | The US has launched strikes against Iran after Donald Trump blamed Tehran for downing a US army helicopter near the strait of Hormuz, imperilling a shaky ceasefire that was announced by the two countries in April. Europe | European confidence in an American “security guarantee” has hit a historic low, a survey suggests, with only one in 10 people across 15 countries seeing the US as an ally and majorities in all doubting it would come to their aid if they were attacked. UK politics | David Lammy’s planned changes to the criminal courts in England and Wales could have a “far-reaching” impact on race relations, a cross-party committee of MPs has concluded. Media | The BBC presenter Tony Livesey is to “step back” from his radio show after allegations were raised about his previous career as the editor-in-chief of David Sullivan’s Sport Newspapers. In depth: Will Trump be the greatest obstacle to a successful World Cup? Speculation is always rife ahead of any World Cup, about what could go wrong. For South Africa in 2010, violent crime, weak transport links and unfinished stadiums were causes for concern. Ahead of Brazil hosting in 2014, delays to critical infrastructure and civil unrest threatened to disrupt the tournament. For Russia in 2018, it was the spectre of hooliganism. Each time, tournaments went (mostly) to plan; whether this iteration can is far from certain. Despite the logistical challenges posed by the 2026 tournament – an expanded 48-strong lineup of nations competing in stadiums across three countries separated by thousands of miles – it’s Donald Trump who many see as its greatest obstacle. The president is unpopular at home, and the tournament presents him the opportunity to grab the world’s attention. “I certainly wouldn’t call it Trump’s World Cup,” says Alex, “although I think he’s going to try to make it Trump’s World Cup”.. There is intense uncertainty over whether tens of thousands of fans will be let into the US to support their teams due to the country’s strict – and at times punitive – immigration rules. Dozens of Scottish fans have faced last-minute revocations of US entry permits that could stop them from attending their team’s first World Cup finals since 1998. Iran’s allocation of fan tickets have reportedly been revoked just days before the start of the tournament. Players and officials are also being affected. A top Somalian referee has been denied entry to the US to officiate; Iraq’s star striker, Aymen Hussein, was held for almost seven hours of questioning when he arrived in Chicago; and the Iranian team is being forced to fly in and out of the US on match days after the Trump administration refused to allow them to spend a single night in the country despite all of their group stage games being held there. A further 15 Iranian officials and support staff have been refused visas. In a statement, the US government said: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences.” *** Fifa’s golden goose Fifa, the World Cup organiser, has done all it can to placate Trump. In December, the organisation’s head, Gianni Infantino, said: “We want to see hope, we want to see unity, we want to see a future. This is what we want to see from a leader, and you definitely deserve the first Fifa peace prize.” This will also be the most lucrative tournament that football’s governing body has held. Recent projections estimate that it will make $13bn (£9.6bn) from this World Cup cycle, with almost $9bn generated this year alone. The US is the golden goose – and Fifa has had few qualms about working with controversial governments: Russia and Qatar hosted the last two tournaments. Last week, campaigners announced plans to deliver the “biggest complaint Fifa has ever received” to the body’s ethics committee. Onlookers will be bracing themselves throughout the tournament for further antics from the US president, who Alex says is unlikely to observe the competition quietly. “That’s Trump’s skill,” says Alex. “He just manages to find a way to insert himself into anything. You can’t get away from him. If the US does well, he’ll probably show up to a game. If they do badly, he’ll probably just ignore them. If anybody, any player speaks out about conditions in the US or ICE or his leadership, he’ll respond.” That’s before considering the fact that if Iran and the US make it out of the group stages, they could meet in the knockout stage. *** How is football viewed in the US? There is intense excitement in parts of the US, says Alex, who notes there is far more interest in the sport since it last hosted the tournament in 1994, when it was won by Brazil. “That World Cup was definitely more of an introduction to an unfamiliar sport for Americans,” Alex says. “Things have changed a ton. There was no soccer culture in 1994. Now, it is widespread. The Premier League is one of the most widely watched sports leagues in the nation.” Since mid-2022 – before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – the share of Americans who say they actively follow football has increased from 8% to 12%. It’s now the US’s fourth-most-popular spectator sport. Many World Cup match-going fans will come from diaspora communities across North America. More teams from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean will feature, including newcomers Curaçao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan – and while some fans will struggle to make it to the tournament, stadiums will still be full of fans with ties to the countries playing. “One of the advantages of having the World Cup co-hosted in the US is that we have so many immigrant communities,” he says. “There is going to be a built-in fanbase for just about every nation. I am half-Iranian, and Iran’s team is playing two of their three group games in Los Angeles, which has the highest concentration of Iranian diaspora in the United States.” A key feature of any World Cup is the hordes of travelling fans supporting their team, including many who do not have tickets, and Alex believes they will probably be embraced by locals, despite mood music emanating from the White House. “Americans really enjoy people who are very enthusiastic about things. We’re enthusiastic people, and we appreciate it when other people are, too.” *** Getting in on the game And let’s not forget the small issue of the football itself. This World Cup is one of the most unpredictable yet: Spain, France, Argentina, England, Brazil and Portugal are all being touted as frontrunners. Alex reckons Spain will come out on top. Many Guardian sports writers predict Japan will have a big impact – and Ecuador are my underdog favourite. Ahead of the tournament, Alex sat down with New York mayor Zohran Mamdani to play the Guardian’s Bracketology game to predict the eventual winner. From Thursday night, dreams must give way to reality. Hundreds of millions of people will be absorbed by the games over the next six weeks as the greatest show on Earth begins. From here in London, I’m hoping it ends with England captain Harry Kane holding the trophy. What else we’ve been reading Mobo co-founder Kanya King died last week from colon cancer, at 57. In her Guardian obituary, Peter Mason eulogises a visionary who “never fulfilled the stereotype of the thrusting entrepreneur, and was known for her warm, humble approach”. Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team Do not miss the Guardian’s best albums of 2026 so far – the package comes complete with a Spotify playlist for you to enjoy. Patrick The New York Knicks had won 13 straight playoff games and were cruising to their first NBA title in almost 50 years … then Donald Trump ruined the vibe. Andrew Lawrence explores how the president’s heavily booed appearance at the finals now threatens to derail the Knicks’ run. Charlie Anita Chaudhuri has written an important deep dive on why Britain’s once-thriving food scene has started to struggle. Patrick “It may not be fashionable, it may not be cool, but who cares,” writes Polly Hudson in this column modestly suggesting: marriage, not that bad? Charlie Sport Football | Bukayo Saka continues to play through the pain of an achilles injury, according to the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, and must be managed carefully at the World Cup. Cricket | Ben Stokes is highly unlikely to be included in England’s squad for the second Test against New Zealand after the 35-year-old asked for space and time to consider his long-term future amid the fallout from a nightclub incident. Tennis | Serena Williams marked her comeback at Queen’s with a stellar victory alongside Victoria Mboko as they defeated the third seeds in the women’s doubles to reach the quarter-finals The front pages “Violence erupts in Belfast after protests over stabbing attack”, is the Guardian’s front page today. The knife attack and subsequent protests dominate other titles. The Times leads with "Refugee charged with ‘medieval’ knife attack” while the i Paper writes “Police plead for calm after knife attack as far-right push for protests across Britain”. The Telegraph says “‘Beheading’ suspect entered UK via asylum loophole”, and the Mail takes a similar line with “Sudanese knife attack suspect got asylum after taking back door to UK”. Elsewhere, the FT has “Boots owner’s talks on $10bn sale cast IPO plans in doubt”, Metro says “Historic day for victims terrified by train pests”, and the Mirror leads on a Somali World Cup referee barred from entering the US, with the headline “Refused entry”. Today in Focus: The Latest Can Badenoch’s culture war win back Reform supporters? Kemi Badenoch has vowed to reform the Equality Act in what is viewed as an attempt to win back support from Reform voters. The Conservative leader, who also served as equalities minister from 2020 to 2022, wants to scrap the public sector equality duty – a legal requirement that forces public institutions to actively consider how their decisions affect equality. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to community affairs correspondent Aamna Mohdin – watch the episode on YouTube here. Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Whether it’s accusations of witchcraft or rants from JD Vance, crazy cats ladies have always had a bad rep. But Lynea Lattanzio is pushing back against the stereotypes about cat-obsessed women. Lattanzio has cared for 44,000 cats in the past 33 years at her sanctuary in California, and even sold her Mercedes and two-carat diamond wedding ring to fund the operation. There’s a social science behind those who are cat-obsessed, going all the way back to ancient mythology where cats were sacred. In a study comparing moods between dog and cat owners, “cat people scored higher on general intelligence, abstraction and self-reliance”. As Lattanzio puts it: “When you take a cat that’s almost dead and you bring it back to full health and help get it adopted, that really warms your heart. It’s fulfilling.” 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

Only one in 10 Europeans now see US as an ally, survey suggests

European confidence in an American “security guarantee” has hit a historic low, a survey suggests, with only one in 10 people across 15 countries seeing the US as an ally and majorities in all doubting it would come to their aid if they were attacked. The survey, published on Wednesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank before critical G7 and Nato summits in France and Turkey over the coming weeks, revealed “deep European distrust in the US”, the authors said. It also showed that, while many Europeans felt relations with Washington would improve once Donald Trump leaves office, they were increasingly ready in the meantime to protect themselves against US unreliability by bolstering Europe’s defence. The US president’s Middle East aggression, threats against Greenland, vows to withdraw troops from European bases and scepticism on the future of Nato had also prompted a growing European pragmatism, the report said. “Across the continent, there’s clear support for reducing dependence on Washington,” said Jana Kobzová, a co-author and ECFR senior policy fellow. “Europeans are increasingly open to higher defence spending and, crucially, show a striking degree of confidence that neighbouring countries would come to their aid in a crisis.” Paweł Zerka, Kobzová’s co-author and also an ECFR senior policy fellow, said clear public demand for greater self-reliance and the need to hedge against US defence guarantees had “created a window for Europe’s leaders to go further and faster” on security. The survey, based on polling carried out in May in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, showed an average of just 11% of respondents across all countries now viewed the US as an ally “sharing our interests and values”. That compared with 16% six months ago, and 22% in November 2024. The prevailing view was that the US was now a “necessary partner”, although 13% of the European public said they considered the US a rival and 12% a direct adversary. Majorities in every country were no longer confident the US would come to their aid in an attack. Except in Bulgaria, most people – including in countries with large far-right parties such as France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden – believed “at least some European countries” would help them in a similar scenario. Europeans were now on average 4% more likely to support higher national defence spending than last year, the survey found, with Italy the only country where a clear majority remained opposed. On average, 47% of respondents backed the ideal of collective EU borrowing for finance greater defence spending, with 35% opposed to it. Support was strongest in Portugal (59%), Denmark (56%), the Netherlands (55%) and Spain. In almost every country polled, most respondents said their country should reduce its strategic dependence on US military hardware, with “buy European” backers most numerous in Denmark (75%), the Netherlands (72%), Sweden (70%), Portugal (69%), France (66%), Switzerland (64%), the UK and Spain (both 62%). There was, however, markedly less support for the idea of cutting domestic public spending to pay for higher national defence budgets, with opposition strongest in Italy (63%), Austria (59%), Germany (56%), Spain (54%) and Denmark (52%). There was also little backing (29%) for replacing Nato with a new EU-only defence body, with the dominant view in almost every country except Bulgaria that US-European relations would “probably get better” once Trump leaves – a view held by 60% or more in France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. Despite rising energy costs, 44% of Europeans said it would be a “rather bad” or “very bad” idea to resume importing oil and gas from Russia. Ukraine’s ambition to join the EU, however, continues to divide European opinion, with respondents in countries including Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and even Estonia, one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters, more likely to oppose admitting Ukraine “in the current context” than favour it.

Tears and catharsis as Kyiv premieres opera about Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

It was hard to imagine an opera with a subject more potentially traumatic – or cathartic – for the assembled audience. The occasion, in the grand and gilded spaces of the National Opera of Ukraine, in Kyiv, was the premiere of excerpts of Mothers of Kherson, an opera about the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian occupiers – a continuing, raw story of real-life loss and agony. The opera was originally intended to be about the Maidan protests of 2013-14. But the American librettist George Brant, the author of the hit play Grounded, switched course in 2023 when the stories of abducted children hit the news. “Probably in the USA or in Great Britain, nobody knows about Maidan, but everybody cares about children, so this chosen topic has more common ground for everybody,” said Maxim Kolomiiets, the opera’s Ukrainian composer, speaking from Leipzig, where he is based. The performance in Kyiv on Thursday evening last week was not just a show but an act of cultural diplomacy. The dignitaries were out in force: in the stalls were the first lady, Olena Zelenska, the prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, and the culture minister, Tetyana Berezhna. But undoubtedly the most important members of the audience were a group of families from formerly occupied territories affected by the abductions: mothers with teenagers they had recovered from Crimea or elsewhere; families who were still trying to get their children back. Judging by the tears, the standing ovation and the flowers flung on to the stage, the highly charged performance – culminating in a chorus promising love, tenderness and protection, sung at full throttle by the cast and two large choirs – had proved cathartic. Many of the lost children of Ukraine were sent to summer camps in Russian-occupied Crimea after caregivers living under occupation were told that the young people would be safer out of the way of hostilities. Many families found themselves blocked by the Russian authorities from retrieving their children. After swathes of Ukraine were liberated in the autumn of 2022, parents and deported children frequently found themselves on opposite sides of the frontline. Family members, helped by the efforts of NGOs such as Save Ukraine, have faced danger to cover remarkable distances through Poland, Belarus and Russia to reach their loved ones. More direct routes were blocked by the combat zone. According to Bring Kids Back, an initiative launched in 2023 by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, more than 20,000 children are estimated to be the victims of deportation or forced transfer to Russia, which may include a change of name, being assigned Russian citizenship, being adopted into Russian families and being exposed to Russian militarised education. Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s commissioner and a character in the opera, seen giving a press conference in the work, is the subject of an arrest warrant by the international criminal court for her role in these events, as is Vladimir Putin. The opera’s story begins as the inhabitants of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson adjust to the shock of occupation. One elderly woman, Olena, sings an aria fantasising about dropping sunflower seeds into the pockets and backpack of a Russian soldier so that when he is killed on Ukrainian soil, sunflowers will grow out of his body. That scene is an adaptation of a real moment captured on film in southern Ukraine in the early days of the full-scale invasion, when an elderly woman challenged an occupier to leave and told him to fill his pockets with sunflower seeds. Two mothers, Kateryna and Olha, agree to let their daughters go to a Crimean summer camp. Months later, they manage to travel to the peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russian in 2014, to try to retrieve their girls. In compressing the narrative into a relatively simple but still accurate story, the material takes on an almost mythical, archetypal quality. To create the libretto, Brant and the producer, Sasha Andrusyk, worked closely with Save Ukraine, whose founder, Mykola Kuleba, was in the audience. The opera was commissioned by Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as an act of solidarity and support for Ukraine. Keri-Lynn Wilson, who has Ukrainian heritage and is a Ukrainian speaker, conducted the excerpts. She founded the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra soon after the full-scale invasion. The opera will be fully staged in Warsaw this autumn and there will be a New York premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in spring 2028. For Kyiv, the opera was translated into Ukrainian, full of harmonious internal rhymes, by the Kyiv-based writer Myroslav Laiuk. For its outings in Warsaw and New York, it will be sung in the original English. Gelb said: “We want this opera to have the broadest popular international appeal. We wanted to play in many, many different countries, and we felt that the English was more accessible language” Andrusyk interviewed abducted children and their parents – though only those who had had extensive psychological care following their traumatic experiences. The libretto was highly researched, she said. Kolomiiets said it was scrutinised for veracity and revised repeatedly. Andrusyk added that the characters were fictional “but only in the sense that they are different stories joined up, not in the sense that anything is actually made up”. Speaking before Thursday’s performance, she said she was a little anxious about the effect of the work on a Ukrainian audience. The difficult subject matter was about to meet the deeply emotive art form of opera and be heard by people whom the story directly affected. For many, the trauma is unresolved. Many abducted children have not been traced, some have been refused permission to leave by the Russian authorities, and some are unwilling to come home. Andrusyk referred to a scene in which the group of mothers “sing of their grief, and of how guilty they feel, and how they feel despised by fellow citizens … I was listening with the ears of people from Kherson, and for a second I hesitated”. She said: “It’s a difficult piece to perform for people in Ukraine, but I also think that this is the moment where art happens, where it really speaks to you, and you recognise your own experience.” Wilson referred to a scene in which abducted children, played by a Ukrainian children’s chorus, sing their thanks to “Mama Maria”, Lvova-Belova. “I mean, it’s so horrible,” she said. “But they’re very professional. It’s a role, and you sing it.” The musical language of the work is accessible and melodic, drawing on southern Ukrainian folk songs. Kolomiiets said: “I needed to keep in mind that I was writing the opera for the Metropolitan Opera, so it must be a contemporary opera. But I also needed to keep in mind that we are telling a story about women from Kherson. The guiding light for me was that the women from Kherson must hear their voices in this opera.”