Read the daily news to learn English

Russia tries to blame Ukraine for drone incursion into Romania – Europe live

in Kyiv Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski confirmed that while the drones that entered Poland last week were capable of carrying ammunition, they were not loaded with explosives. “Interestingly, they were all duds, which suggests to me that Russia tried to test us without starting a war,” Sikorski told the Guardian in Kyiv. He dismissed suggestions that Polish air defences had been unprepared for the incursion, given the fact some of the drones travelled hundreds of miles into Polish territory, and that accounts suggest only three or four out of about 19 were shot down. “The drones didn’t reach their targets and there was minor damage to property, nobody was hurt. If it happened in Ukraine, by Ukrainian definitions, that would be regarded as a 100% success,” he said. Sikorski said the Polish response would have been “much tougher” if last week’s attack had caused injuries or deaths in its territory, but declined to elaborate on how such a response could look in a future scenario. “With an aggressor and a liar like Putin, only the toughest counter-pressures work,” he said. Sikorski said he hoped Trump would receive the Nobel peace prize if he could achieve “a fair peace” in the conflict, which he described as “Ukraine within defensible borders and a Ukraine that is integrating with the west”. When it was suggested that Trump had so far showed not much sign of pressuring Putin to accept such an outcome, he said: “He has his personal style, we respect it, but we will judge it by results.” Poland has said it would not contribute troops to such a mission and Sikorski, speaking at a Kyiv conference, cautioned against grand rhetoric when it came to future guarantees. “Security guarantees are meant to deter a potential adversary … So what we are saying is that if there is some kind of peace, the next time Russia tries anything against Ukraine, we might go to war with Russia. Now I find that not very credible. Because if you want to go war with Russia, you can do it today and I see no volunteers. And there is nothing more dangerous in international relations than giving a guarantee that is not credible,” he said.

Spain’s PM criticised after Vuelta a España race abandoned over pro-Palestinian protests

The premature and chaotic end of the Vuelta a España cycle race has triggered a bitter political row in Spain, with opposition politicians accusing the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, of causing the country “international embarrassment” by encouraging pro-Palestinian demonstrators to disrupt the event. The race’s final stage was abandoned after groups protesting against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team swamped the finish line area and presentation podium in central Madrid on Sunday night. Although Israel-Premier Tech is a private team and not a state one, its presence in the race had led to a series of demonstrations. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had praised the team for “not giving in to hate and intimidation”, adding that it had made Israel proud. The protests culminated with 100,000 demonstrators gathering for Sunday’s rally. According to the Spanish government, 22 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters and two people were arrested. Speaking earlier on Sunday, Sánchez – who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, accusing it of perpetrating a genocide against the Palestinians – praised both those taking part in the Vuelta and those taking part in the protests. “Today the Vuelta a España finishes and we show our absolute respect and recognition for the athletes,” he told a crowd in Málaga. “But [we also show] our admiration for the Spanish people who mobilise for just causes such as Palestine. Today Spain shines as an example and as a source of pride. It’s [giving] an example to the international community by taking a step forward in defence of human rights.” Hours later, as the Vuelta came to a scrappy and abrupt conclusion, the prime minister’s opponents accused him of stirring up trouble and tarnishing Spain’s global reputation. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party (PP), said the prime minister was “proud of the behaviour of those few people who showed their support for Gaza by throwing barriers at Policía Nacional officers”. He added: “I defend freedom of expression, as long as it doesn’t involve violence or riots. The government has allowed and induced the non-completion of La Vuelta, and thus, an international embarrassment that was televised around the world.” Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the populist PP president of the Madrid region, also put the blame squarely on Sánchez. “When the prime minister of the nation encourages a boycott of the Vuelta a España in his own capital, he becomes directly responsible for every incident that occurs, whether the race is stopped or whether there is a single assault,” she said. “What damage to our sport and our country!” The Israeli government, which has described Sánchez’s stance on Gaza as a “continuous anti-Israel and antisemitic attack”, said the prime minister bore responsibility for Sunday’s scenes. “The pro-Palestinian mob heard the incitement messages – and wrecked the ‘La Vuelta’ cycling race,” said Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar. “Thus, the sporting event that had always been a source of pride for Spain was cancelled. Sánchez and his government – a disgrace to Spain!” Last week, the Israeli government announced that two senior leftwing members of the Sánchez administration – the labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, and the youth minister, Sira Rego – would be banned from entering Israel because of their criticisms of its conduct in Gaza. A poll published in July suggests most Spanish people back the government’s position. The survey, by the Elcano Royal Institute thinktank, found that 82% of those polled thought Israel was committing genocide and 70% believed the EU should impose sanctions on Israel. Although some in the PP have dismissed suggestions that Israel is committing genocide, the party’s leader criticised Netanyahu’s response to the atrocities of the 7 October attacks in his remarks on Sunday. “I don’t support Hamas and I don’t want their applause,” said Feijóo. “Nor do I share the Israeli government’s response to the terrorist attacks it suffered. The kidnapping and murder of innocent Israelis cannot be answered with more Palestinian civilian losses.”

Conor McGregor pulls out of Ireland’s presidential race

The former mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has withdrawn from Ireland’s presidential election and complained that nomination rules were a “straitjacket” that prevented a true democratic contest. “Following careful reflection, and after consulting with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy from this presidential race,” he posted on X on Monday morning. “This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one at this moment in time.” The Irish presidency is a largely symbolic, seven-year post but McGregor had vowed to curb immigration in order to shore up “Irish culture” and to give power “back to the people”. He had hoped to leverage his social media following – which includes 10.7 million followers on X – and the backing of Elon Musk and tacit support of Donald Trump to get on the ballot for the election on 24 October. Tucker Carlson and other far-right US commentators had also backed the former athlete. McGregor had faced an uphill battle to get on the ballot – a candidate must be nominated either by 20 members of parliament or four local authorities – and said the process was “fixed” in favour of establishment candidates. He had been due to address several councils this week, along with other independent hopefuls, but analysts said the chances of winning any endorsements were slender. McGregor, 37, said his abortive campaign to succeed Michael D Higgins as president had highlighted unfairness in the constitution’s eligibility rules. “This democratic deficit against the will of the Irish people has now been successfully magnified by my expression of interest,” he said. Last week, Simon Harris, the deputy prime minister and Fine Gael leader, said McGregor “represents the very worst of us”. Opinion polls showed scant popular support for McGregor – just 7% of voters in one survey – and negligible support among legislators and local authorities. However, McGregor said his campaigned had “catalysed” a mobilisation against a malevolent establishment and mainstream media. He said: “There is now a very visible and vocal movement of Irish patriots reverting to our cultural and historical origins seeking to maintain and protect our way of life as Irish – to them I salute you. The current has changed and this tide cannot be held back!” McGregor is a polarising figure in Ireland and in July lost an appeal over a civil court ruling last year that awarded damages to a woman who accused him of rape. Other celebrities who also expressed interest in running for president, before dropping out, include the former dancer Michael Flatley and the musician and aid campaigner Bob Geldof. So far there are three confirmed candidates: Heather Humphreys, a former government minister who is running for Fine Gael; Jim Gavin, a former manager of Dublin’s Gaelic football team who is running for Fianna Fáil; and Catherine Connolly, an independent member of parliament who is backed by small leftwing parties including the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit. Sinn Féin, the main opposition party, has yet to decide whether to field its own candidate or back Connolly. An opinion poll at the weekend put Humphreys in the lead with 22% support, Gavin second with 18% and Connolly trailing on 17%.

Amid rising violence in Colombia, girls and women are being held as sex slaves: ‘No woman is safe’

The rebels would come to the brothel every day, armed and masked. They would order the women to line up on their hands and knees, put their guns in their mouths, and rape them. “It was ugly. A place filled with women and underage girls – all of us tricked and trapped,” recalled Valeria, 21, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. “The guerrillas came like they were there to kill.” Valeria, like the dozens of other people she was held with, was trafficked to the brothel in north-east Colombia, in autumn last year. She had been offered a job in a restaurant, but on arrival was forced into prostitution and told that if she fled she would be killed. Two of those who tried to escape were shot dead as they ran, she said, while others who protested were taken away and never seen again. The young mother is one of more than 150 girls and women aged from 11 to 50 who have escaped what they describe as “sexual slavery” by armed groups in Catatumbo in the past year. The Catatumbo region, near the border with Venezuela, is home to huge fields of coca, the base product in cocaine. In recent years, it has been ravaged by violence in a fight for control between two rival armed groups: the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the 33rd Front, a dissident off-shoot of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Rights’ groups say serious abuses have been committed by both sides, including murders, kidnappings, disappearances, child recruitment and forced labour. “There has been a huge spike in violence in Catatumbo – homicides and displacements, increased child recruitment and very clear vengeance strategies, affecting people who are just trying to live their lives,” said Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch. Alejandra Vera, a lawyer at the feminist collective Woman, Speak Out and Move It who is supporting the women, said that the true number of victims of sexual violence is likely to be much higher. Escapees have warned that dozens, if not hundreds, more women and girls remain in captivity. “These women are invisible. They are not seen as people, as humans – they are seen as merchandise,” she says. Vera says some of the victims had been taken from their villages, but that most of the women travelled to Catatumbo on promises of work. Instead they were “tied up, locked up, tortured and raped”, she adds. During the two months she spent in captivity, Valeria said, she was kept in a room with six others, was made to have sex with up to 15 men a day, and that once a week, 10 of the women were taken into the guerrillas’ jungle camps for so-called “parties”. Valeria did not want to say which faction had held her, for fear of retribution. “The camps were horrible. We had to dance for them and they would try to humiliate us. I was punched, I was choked,” Valeria said, speaking from a safe house in nearby Cúcuta. “I was expected to have sex with anyone. I was always frightened.” Vera says that some of the women were held permanently in the guerrilla camps, while others were prostituted in Cúcuta and taken to the mountains over the weekends. Based on interviews with her clients, she says 10 to 15 girls and women were held in each camp. Twenty-five-year-old Emilia, whose name has also been changed, had been working as a webcam model when a friend convinced her to take on a client requesting sex work in Catatumbo. “I was told the job was only for one weekend. I ended up stuck there for three months,” she said. Emilia was “given” to a commander, and says she was kept isolated from the other women. “I was raped and there was nothing I could do,” she said. “I said I wanted to leave, but they said I was the commander’s favourite, and that they would hunt me down if I left.” She recalled that one young girl, whom she believes was underage, was held in a cage, where her food was thrown at her. Her account mirrors another recorded by Vera, in which a 16-year-old escapee said that she had shared her cell in the camp with eight 10- to 13-year-olds. “They were locked up all day. She said they threw leftover food at them like animals,” she said. Valeria managed to escape when fighting erupted in January. The ELN and 33rd Front had previously shared control of the territory in an uneasy armed co-existence, but the truce collapsed at the start of the year, and the ensuing violence displaced more than 60,000 people and left at least 117 dead. “When the clashes began, I ran and ran. I found a new place to live, changed my phone number, changed my appearance, my hair,” she said. “They tried to find me and kept calling people that knew me. I know they are still out there, and that I have to live in hiding. I don’t feel safe.” Colombian authorities did not respond to requests for comment, but declared a state of emergency in Catatumbo at the height of the violence, deploying security forces, mobilising government agencies to help the affected and suspending peace talks with the ELN. In a May report on the conflict, the ombudsman’s office said that 62 women had filed complaints regarding trafficking and sexual exploitation by armed groups in the region and called for greater state action. Emilia was also able to flee in January. She has since moved repeatedly, changed her phone number and deleted all social media. “I’ve been hiding at different houses, I’m afraid that they will come back for me,” she said. Valeria says she has not received any state support and does not trust the situation to improve. “The authorities do nothing here. They are scared of the guerillas. The government has lost control,” she said. “No woman is safe.” Colombia, which has faced one of the world’s longest-running conflicts, is battling a nationwide surge in violence, forcing more than 130,000 people to flee, leaving hundreds dead and trapping tens of thousands in their homes this year alone. Vera says the “state is in denial about what is happening here”. “We’ve reported more than 450 cases of human trafficking and sexual violence since 2020. And there has been no response, no answers,” she says. “The armed conflict has normalised this violence.”

Visa hassles and pricey flights: is the dream of seamless intra-African travel dead?

For the Kenyan DJ Coco Em, planning how to get around Africa for gigs can take as much time as crafting her setlists. Last November she was due to perform in Cape Verde, the archipelago state off the coast of west Africa, travelling from Nairobi via Europe – the only available route – on a one-year Schengen visa. But at the airport, the airline refused to let her board. The DJ, who was born Emma Mbeke Nzioka, said she was told she had been deemed a flight risk, despite holding a valid visa and a return ticket with another airline. The airline’s staff insisted that she buy a return flight with them instead. “Where does it say ‘you must fly back on the same airline you left with’?” she recalled saying. No answer came – only an ultimatum: pay within 15 minutes or stay grounded. Coco Em refused, requested her documents, and went home. Travel hassles are a familiar complaint for artists, entrepreneurs and everyday travellers on the continent. In theory, Africa’s 1.4 billion people are more connected than before through trade blocs and ambitious infrastructure plans, but in reality intra-continental travel remains cumbersome and expensive. “One needs a sense of humour to travel in Africa,” said the Nigerian writer Helon Habila, who recently had to spend a night in the Ivorian city of Abidjan after one leg of his journey from the Guinea capital, Conakry, to the Nigerian capital, Abuja – a three-hour direct flight if such a route existed – was unexpectedly delayed. No true freedom of movement? Coco Em lamented that African countries were perpetuating restrictions on their citizens. “These outdated models of movement restriction are so counterproductive,” she said, pointing out that when people travelled for leisure or work they added value to economies. The African Union (AU) launched a passport for visa-free travel within Africa in July 2016, but it is still largely restricted to AU officials and a few diplomats. Even Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, still faces difficulties using it. In 2023 the billionaire businessman complained: “We go with a British guy or maybe a Nigerian holding a British passport [and] he is allowed in that country, but we are still arguing and debating about my visa, and I am the one with the money.” Only Benin, Kenya, Seychelles and the Gambia currently allow all African passport holders to enter visa-free. Regional blocs allow for freedom of movement, but that promise is not always honoured: on a recent trip by this reporter to the Gambia, Senegalese and Gambians were let through for free but Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans were made to pay unreceipted sums of 1,000–2,000 CFA (£1.30-£2.60). Bureaucratic obstacles are not the only impediment to moving around. Rail links are sparse and cross-border bus journeys are slow. However, getting rid of visa requirements is seen as the quickest way of unblocking travel. Visa processing – both for countries within and outside the continent – is a big business. Governments generate millions from application fees, insurance, and travel costs that applicants never recover in the event that a visa is not granted. Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo share a 1,449-mile border but require travellers to buy $50 (£36.80) visas on each side. Some visas cost even more. Flight costs often appear illogical. Abidjan and the Ghanaian capital, Accra, two of the biggest cities in west Africa, are only an hour apart by air, but a ticket can cost $500 (£368), the same price as much longer routes. “Travel in Africa is such a mess,” said the Zambian activist Joseph Kalimbwe. “Even in Zambia, there’s always that black-on-black edge. Chinese and Indians living in Lusaka don’t get targeted, but our immigration officers target fellow Africans from Burundi and the DRC. We must be able to do better as a people.” Dream versus reality The dream of seamless intra-African travel isn’t new. In 1998, African ministers adopted the Yamoussoukro decision, a landmark agreement to lower airline ticket prices and increase connectivity. Nearly three decades later, it is nowhere near full implementation. High airport taxes and fees, limited routes, and visa hurdles continue to hamper travel plans. The African Continental Free Trade Area, launched in 2021 to boost trade among member states and ease the movement of goods and people, is also yet to be fully implemented. Coco Em recalled an occasion in 2019 when she had to pass through Saudi Arabia and Italy to get to Tunisia for a performance. At the boarding gate, airline employees asked her to perform to “prove” she was a DJ. Policymakers are now taking steps to remedy the situation. The Single African Air Transport Market, launched in 2018, builds on the Yamoussoukro decision and has attracted more than 35 signatory states. Its goal is to fully open the skies of member countries. Some countries are also experimenting with new visa policies. Meanwhile, Coco Em has taken matters into her own hands, founding an initiative called Pass Pass that collects research on systemic barriers, while helping visa seekers use her experience as a serial applicant. Pass Pass recently collaborated with Nairobi’s restaurant-film-theatre space Unseen Nairobi for the cultural exchange Vuka Mpaka (“cross the border” in Kiswahili), which connects Kenyan creatives with peers from different African countries. “I’m tired of venting about the problem,” she said. “I’m more focused on what solutions we’re trying to build.”

Monday briefing: Israel’s bombing of Qatar threatens the fabric of Gulf security

Good morning. Last Monday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, announced that his country had accepted the US ceasefire proposal to end the devastating war in Gaza. The very next day, Israel attempted to kill Hamas’s negotiating team while they were in Qatar’s capital to discuss that same proposal. Israel, initially bullish about the success of the operation, has since grown more doubtful that it killed any Hamas leaders in Doha. Hamas said that while six people were killed in the bombing – including the son of Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of its political bureau – the top leadership including the negotiating team survived. Qatar condemned the strike in its capital as an act of “state terror”. The international community, including the US, denounced the bombing. Israeli media reported that Washington had given a green light and warned Qatar in advance – a claim the Gulf state fiercely denied. Today, the shocked Gulf nation is hosting an unprecedented emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha in response to becoming the sixth Middle Eastern country struck by Israel in the past few months. For decades, Qatar, like the rest of the Gulf, believed that a closer relationship with the US would guarantee its security. No longer. To understand the unprecedented path Israel is charting, and how Qatar is reassessing once established geopolitical boundaries, I spoke to Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik. That’s after the headlines. Five big stories UK news | Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the English flag as cover for violence and to instil fear, Keir Starmer has said, condemning attacks against police officers and racist harassment after more than 110,000 people attended an extremist London rally. Crime | Christian Brueckner, prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has refused to be interviewed by the Metropolitan police before his pending release from prison in Germany, Scotland Yard has said. US | The Utah governor, Spencer Cox, has said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk, “does come from a conservative family – but his ideology was very different than his family”. Robinson was not cooperating with authorities, said Cox. Europe | Poland’s foreign minister has said the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace was an attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s reactions by incremental escalations without prompting a full-scale response, as Romania became the second Nato country to report an incursion in a matter of days. Television | It was a full sweep for Adolescence at the Emmys, winning every award in which the show was nominated tonight. Fifteen-year-old Owen Cooper made history as the youngest ever actor to win the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series. Emmy awards 2025 – full list of winners In depth: Qatar has to ‘play on both ropes’ Qatar is a small wealthy country surrounded by bombastic neighbours in a volatile region. Its population is about 3 million, only 13% of whom are Qatari citizens. The rest of the population is made up largely of migrant workers. Qatar made a calculation about a decade ago that in order to remain safe, it must be indispensable to geopolitical superpowers that shape the region. It did so by becoming the global capital of diplomacy. Nesrine Malik sketches out just how Qatar became so crucial in mediation efforts in her brilliant long read on the Gulf state. As she notes, Qatar was central to the negotiations with the Taliban as the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan; the return of some Ukrainian children from Russia; the return of US hostages from Iran; the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners in Israel; as well as a brief ceasefire in Gaza. The rich Gulf country is running 10 active mediations, aiming to cement its status as the Switzerland of the Middle East. “It has to keep a lot of people sweet and, as we say in Arabic, play on both ropes, because it can’t really afford to alienate anyone dramatically,” Nesrine told me. “It has to be the US partner in the region. It has to be the party that can speak to everyone: to Hamas, the Taliban, to all sorts of disparate groups that the US and other countries do not have direct links with. That becomes its sort of protective raison d’être.” That strategy of protection has suffered a major blow after Israel’s deadly strike on Qatari soil, coming on the heels of Iran’s barrage of rockets earlier this year during its war with Israel. So what comes next? *** A crack in the US shield You may be surprised to learn that Qatar is the second largest purchaser of US foreign military sales (FMS). I certainly was. This is part of Qatar’s long established partnership with the US. “It is the US’s largest security partner in the region. There’s a large airbase which has more than 10,000 US troops. That base is entirely funded by Qatar and actually hosts the central command for the US military in the region,” Nesrine said. For Qatar, that airbase has acted like a shield. “It was supposed to mean that no one could really attack Qatar meaningfully, because that would put US military assets and personnel in the line of fire. What that calculation did not assume was that Israel would attack [Qatar] to try to eliminate Hamas individuals, because the assumption was that Israel and the US were of the same mind, right?” There are conflicting reports on what the US knew about the attack. While Israeli media suggests the US gave the green light, US outlets have reported that Donald Trump was unhappy and in the dark about it. “From the Qatari perspective, if you cannot control Israel, or if the US and Israel are not reliable partners, then investing in the US relationship, which Qatar has done massively, is no longer a guarantor of security,” Nesrine said. She points to a recent report that the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, told US special convoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff that if the US can’t protect Qatar, then it will need to look to other partners. This marks a profound shift in how the Gulf state thinks about sovereignty. *** Israel’s crushing dominance It is notable how quickly Israel took responsibility for the attack. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, defended the strike amid mounting international criticism, and warned Qatar that either it must “expel” Hamas members or “bring them to justice, because if you don’t, we will”. Qatar pushed back at Israel’s rhetoric – calling it a “shameful attempt … to justify the cowardly attack that targeted Qatari territory, as well as the explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty”. But in reality, it is in an extremely difficult position. Nesrine tells me that for Qatar to retaliate militarily, using the equipment it has bought for billions, would be a terrifying escalation. Nesrine describes Israel as having “been given carte blanche to do what it wants”, pointing to the “Gaza riviera” plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and forcibly resettle them in Jordan and Egypt. “They’re constantly squeezing Arab countries to accept ever more subordination, subjugation and humiliation. And now the violation of the sovereignty of the US’s most reliable, closest partner in the region pushes all these Arab states from the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] to the rest of the region into undeniable vassalage,” Nesrine said. She added that the latter is desirable for Israel. “It seems the wider campaign is to not only dominate Palestinians but the entire region. The point is that the prior settlement where there was implicit trust and quid pro quo, which gave Gulf states some sense of control over their fate, is gone.” *** Possible end of the Abraham accords The question facing countries in the region that have been staunch US allies is the same one that Europe has been trying to answer: what happens after the US abandons us? Nesrine describes Gulf countries as being like siblings. “They’re not close on a day to day basis and actually [they are] even often hostile. But when one of them is attacked, they rally together really quickly because they realise that the security and integrity of one country is the security integrity of all.” After Qatar was attacked, the sharpest condemnation came from other countries in the GCC. Leaders from the UAE touched down in Qatar to offer their solidarity, followed by Saudi Arabia. It is worth noting that the UAE has diverged sharply on Israel from its neighbours, normalising their relations during Trump’s first term. But as Nesrine explained: “What might happen, and what it looks like is happening, is the death of the Abraham accords.” Those accords, among other things, normalised relations with Israel on the agreement that it would not annex the occupied Palestinian territories. So on 4 September, in a rare public rebuke, a UAE diplomat told Israeli media that annexation of the West Bank was a red line and would lead to the accord’s unravelling. That warning did not appear to be heeded – within days Netanyahu announced approval of the controversial E1 settlement, which slices the West Bank in two, destroying any remaining hope of a two-state solution. The Israeli prime minister declared “there will be no Palestinian state” and vowed to annex the West Bank. Israel’s actions last week also show its reach can go much further than the occupied Palestinian territories. “It is this sense that Israel’s hand can reach into Damascus, Tehran, Doha, southern Lebanon … This impacts or undermines these countries’ ability to think of themselves as states that have any sort of volition,” Nesrine said. “And if you do want to act out of your own volition, what Israel is making very clear is that it’s not going to be a matter of words, or finger-wagging, or diplomatic fallout – it’s going to be a big military conflict immediately. So … any contemplation of challenging Israel, or going against it, becomes a question of annihilation.” But that also comes with a cost to Israel. “If Gulf countries freeze Israel out, that sends the message: your fate is to remain an isolated, belligerent state in the region that can only operate through brute force. In the short term, Israel’s right is fine with that. In the long term, it’s corrosive, draining and costly,” Nesrine said. The next few days will determine whether Gulf and other Arab countries are willing to finally stand on their own two feet. What else we’ve been reading I was charmed by Simon Hattenstone’s profile of the former taoiseach Leo Varadkar. How refreshing to hear from a (former) politician who can answer a question. Poppy Why have the super rich sold their homes and started living in motorhomes? Emma Beddington’s column on how the wealthy are responding to climate breakdown and geopolitical instability made me chuckle, and gave me pause for thought. Aamna Whenever I see custom made licence plates in my area (which is more often than I would once have assumed), I think two things: How much did that cost? And: Why? This deep dive on custom plate collectors tries to find out – and while I don’t think I’ll ever understand the why I do now know a lot more about how much. Poppy Short-form video, now popular on all social media platforms, is serving us a diet of violence, prejudice, damage and social unrest. This, John Harris warns, is how the political future is being decided. Aamna I was stunned by the attention to detail and the humanising impact of Oliver Laughland’s investigation into an ICE facility in Louisiana. Housed in a small, regional airport, the holding station has had more than 20,000 detainees pass through it in the last seven months, spawning stories of horrific neglect and abuse. Poppy Sport Football | Erling Haaland scored twice in City’s comfortable 3-0 win over United in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium. Rugby | England’s Red Roses broke their own world record of consecutive wins with a 40-8 victory against Scotland to set up a World Cup semi-final against France. Boxing | Terence Crawford defeats Canelo Álvarez to win undisputed super middleweight championship The front pages “PM condemns protesters who use England flag as symbol of violence” says the Guardian. The Metro has “Show’s over for phone grabbers” as police in London promise a West End street theft crackdown. A London lead in the Express too: “Khan ‘must quit’ over grooming failure”. The Express leads with “Scramble inside No 10 to save Starmer” while the Times reports “Bruised PM hopes deals with US will quell revolt”. The Telegraph runs with “Benefits rebels rally behind Burnham”. Top story in the i paper is “Prisoners will help to build warships under new plan to boost UK defences”. In the Financial Times you can read “Fed expected to reduce rates for first time this year as job market weakens”. “RIP, champ” – the Mirror pays tribute to boxer Ricky Hatton. Today in Focus Rupert Murdoch picks a son in the real-life succession battle Who is Lachlan Murdoch and how will he build on his father’s legacy? Emily Bell reports Cartoon of the day | Edith Pritchett Sign up for Inside Saturday to see more of Edith Pritchett’s cartoons, the best Saturday magazine content and an exclusive look behind the scenes The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Ever found yourself wondering why you spent all that time learning Microsoft Excel at school? Not so for Ha Dang, who will represent Britain in the spreadsheet world championships in Las Vegas this December. The 33-year-old has won himself a slot at the contest after seeing off more than 40 rivals in the inaugural British competition, a feat that has left him “astounded and privileged”. Dang will now head to Sin City to represent Britain against hundreds of others for the title of “world’s best spreadsheeter”, with a $5,000 prize and a personalised championship belt up for grabs. He said: “Growing up, I have always been into working with spreadsheets but I did not find many peers with whom I could exchange my formulae and Excel tricks. It was a delight when I discovered that there is actually a worldwide competition.” 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

China, climate crisis and Cop31: five takeaways from the Pacific Islands Forum

China, the climate crisis and security concerns dominated the agenda as Pacific leaders gathered for the region’s most important annual meeting last week. The week-long Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, brought together Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific countries and territories at a time of fraught geopolitical tensions, and with accusations of outside interference in the region never far from the headlines. Here’s everything you need to know: China’s role in the region remains contentious Solomon Islands is China’s biggest security ally in the region and prime minister Jeremiah Manele’s decision to block all external partners from attending this year’s summit fuelled speculation that the move was aimed at keeping Taiwan out of the meeting. For more than 30 years, Taiwan has been deemed a “development partner” to the Pacific forum, so its exclusion – along with China and the US – became one of the key talking points of the forum. Palau’s president, Surangel Whipps Jr, said he thought there had “absolutely” been outside meddling in the summit. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been pushing Pacific leaders to strip Taiwan of its status as a partner. Last year drama erupted when the summit’s communique was altered, after the Chinese envoy demanded its language about Taiwan be scrapped. But this year, the apparent push from China failed. After what the official communique described as a “robust exchange” on the topic, leaders agreed to new rules that would ensure the presence of partners like Taiwan at future summits. Australia’s commitment to environment questioned as climate crisis funding green lit... Leaders signed the landmark Pacific Resilience Facility treaty that sets up the first Pacific-led climate fund to ensure the region can prepare for natural disasters and the effects of climate change. A decade in the making, the treaty aims address the “too little, too slow, too complicated challenges of accessing global climate financing for Pacific communities”, according to the forum. It will support small scale community projects. While Australia has contributed $100m to the fund, many questioned its track record on emissions and reliance on coal and gas. On the sidelines of the summit, Vanuatu’s climate minister, Ralph Regenvanu, told reporters Australia’s plans to extend its controversial North West Shelf gas project could be in breach of a landmark international court of justice ruling. Regenvanu also signalled Australia’s fuel exports was a point of tension in the relationship. Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told reporters after the summit that Australia would act in its own interests. “[Pacific leaders] know that you can’t just flick a switch and transform an economy overnight.” ... but Canberra confirms support for Cop31 bid Despite Pacific leaders’ continued questions, Australia confirmed support for its bid to co-host Cop31 in 2026. Palau’s president, Surangel Whipps Jr, told reporters that leaders did not want to let the “major international opportunity slip us by”, labelling it a joint bid between Australia and the Pacific. “We want to host Cop31, we deserve to host Cop31, and – given the breadth and depth of support – it would be seen as an act of good faith if others would clear the way.” Whipps said Pacific Island nations would work with the Albanese closely in coming weeks to bring the annual climate summit to Adelaide, the expected host city. Leaders declare Pacific an ‘Ocean of Peace’ Leaders formally adopted the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration, an initiative to promote a peaceful and secure region amid rising geopolitical tensions. Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, proposed the declaration last year, saying the Pacific region had been “a theatre of the two world wars and a testing ground for the most dangerous weapons – the impacts of which are still felt today”. During the summit this week, Rabuka said the declaration “will demonstrate that our region is free from militarisation”. Solomon Islands’ prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, said it was “a reclamation of our sovereignty and our shared destiny”. “It is a solemn vow that our seas, air and lands will never again be drawn into the vortex of great power rivalry.” Australia leaves Vanuatu empty-handed, turns to Fiji Before the summit, Albanese travelled to Vanuatu hoping to sign the Nakamal agreement with his counterpart, Jotham Napat. The deal would see Australia spend up to $500m over a decade on climate change resilience, security services and the economy. But Albanese’s plans fell over, when Napat signalled his officials were not happy with agreement’s wording, which would have limited Vanuatu’s ability to seek infrastructure funding from other countries. Australia’s failure to secure the long-awaited deal highlighted the difficulties traditional western partners face when it comes to holding on to influence in the Pacific, amid the rise of China. In comments to the Guardian, a spokesperson from Napat’s office said the decision was “nothing to do with China, who have been friends with us since day one and will continue to remain so going forward”. On the sidelines of the forum, Australia and Fiji ramped up discussions about a security pact, with Albanese directing officials to kickstart negotiations, ABC reported. “Preliminary discussions have been about increased security agreements or an upgrade in our security relationship,” Albanese said. “I think we should get our officials working together to make sure we take this important relationship to the next level.”

Europe’s summer of extreme weather caused €43bn of short-term losses, analysis finds

The violent weather that battered Europe this summer caused short-term economic losses of at least €43bn, according to an EU-wide estimate, with costs expected to rise to €126bn by 2029. The immediate hit to the economy from a single brutal summer of heat, drought and flooding amounted to 0.26% of the EU’s economic output in 2024, according to the rapid analysis, which has not been submitted for peer review but is based on relationships between weather and economic data that were published in an academic study this month. The greatest damage was done in Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Bulgaria – each of which suffered short-term losses above 1% of their 2024 “gross value added” (GVA), a measure similar to GDP. They were followed by other Mediterranean countries including Spain, Italy and Portugal. The economists from the University of Mannheim and the European Central Bank described the results as “conservative” because they did not account for the record-breaking wildfires that torched southern Europe last month or the compounding impact of extreme weather events that strike at the same time. Sehrish Usman, an economist at the University of Mannheim and the lead author of the study, said the study’s “timely estimates” could help policymakers target support in the absence of official data. “The true costs of extreme weather surface slowly because these events aﬀect lives and livelihoods through a wide range of channels that extend beyond the initial impact.” Scientists have raced to work out the extent to which global heating has worsened punishing weather extremes this summer, with studies suggesting climate breakdown made scorching fire weather 40 times more likely in Spain and Portugal, and 10 times more likely in Greece and Turkey. The death toll from the “quietly devastating” June heatwave is estimated to have tripled in 12 big cities because of planet-heating pollution. While most research into the economic costs of climate breakdown looks at direct impacts, such as destroyed assets or insured losses, the authors of the new study used historical relationships between violent weather and economic output to account for ripple effects, such the limited hours that builders can work during heatwaves or the disruption to commute times after floods damage railways. Stéphane Hallegatte, the chief climate economist at the World Bank, who was not involved in the study, said it confirmed that the wider economic impacts of extreme weather were larger than the direct effects and last longer than people imagine. “I’ve been arguing for a long time to shift our focus from the direct damages from disasters to broader metrics that capture a fuller economic impact, so I’m very happy to see the study doing exactly that,” he said. But he warned that it used “imperfect proxies” to identify extreme weather, which would likely lead to underestimating the full costs. The GVA did not capture the full cost of extreme weather on people and firms, he added, or the benefits of reducing vulnerability. “Especially when disasters affect poor communities and people, the impact on GVA may be minimal, because these people are poor,” said Hallegatte. “But it does not mean they won’t suffer.” Gert Bijnens, an economist at the National Bank of Belgium, who was not involved in the study, said supply chain disruption was one of the most significant “hidden costs” that usually went uncounted. A study he coauthored on the costs of the devastating Belgian floods in 2021 found that sales at manufacturing firms far from the disaster fell sharply if they had long-standing suppliers in the flood zones. Ignoring such effects could underestimate damages by as much as 30%, Bijnen said. “Of course, such estimates come with uncertainty as they rely on historical averages and can’t yet fully capture compounding events,” he added. “But the big message is clear: extreme weather is already leaving a sizeable economic footprint, and the indirect effects can be just as damaging as the direct destruction.”