A fresh maritime seizure near the United Arab Emirates sharpened tensions around the Strait of Hormuz today, as a British naval monitoring agency said a vessel had been taken and was heading toward Iranian waters while the US and Chinese presidents met in Beijing for talks that included the Iran war. Following the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a White House official said both men agreed the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons.…

Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure over his leadership after a Labour MP stepped aside to give Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham a route back to parliament — and a possible platform to challenge for the top job. Mr Burnham said he wanted to return to Westminster to "make politics work properly for people" after Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, announced he would resign his seat so Mr Burnham could "drive the change our country is crying out for". Sources said Mr Starmer does not plan to stand in the way of Mr…

Kyiv came under one of its heaviest assaults in months early today, as Russia unleashed hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a punishing strike that killed at least seven people and dealt another blow to already fading hopes of stopping Moscow’s grinding invasion. Air raid sirens echoed across the Ukrainian capital before hours of deafening blasts and flashes lit up the sky, sending residents rushing into metro stations and other shelters, journalists in the city said. The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 675…

With the latest Lebanon-Israel ceasefire nearing its expiry, officials from both countries returned to Washington today for fresh peace talks, even as Israeli strikes that have killed hundreds during the truce underscored how fragile the calm remains. Israel's military said it was carrying out strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after ordering residents in several towns and villages there, as well as in the country's east, to evacuate. It also said a Hezbollah drone crashed inside Israeli territory, injuring…

The Utah case that shocked readers across the United States reached its grim conclusion as Kouri Richins, the American woman who wrote a children’s book about grief after fatally poisoning her husband, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to US media reports. Richins was convicted of murder in March, and Judge Richard Mrazik said the mother of three was "too dangerous to ever be free," the Salt Lake City Tribune reported. Prosecutors said Richins murdered her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022 by giving him…

Europe’s bid to reclaim the top job at the United Nations food agency has hit an early obstacle, with the Cyprus presidency of the EU conceding there is still no agreement on a single European contender. Ireland has put forward former EU Commissioner Phil Hogan for the role, but his candidacy is facing determined challenges from both Italy and Spain. The stakes are significant. Europe has not occupied the leading post at the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for five decades, and EU agriculture ministers,…

Wes Streeting has resigned as UK Health Secretary, demanding a leadership contest in a move that has thrown Keir Starmer’s premiership into fresh turmoil. In a blunt rebuke, Mr Streeting accused the Government’s leadership of losing its way and told the British Prime Minister it is now “clear” he will not take Labour into the next general election. Though he stopped short of declaring his own candidacy, Mr Streeting urged Mr Starmer to open the race to the “best possible field of candidates” to succeed him in Downing Street,…

Live Pressure mounts on Starmer as Labour unrest shows no sign of easing UK

Rising temperatures are casting a shadow over the World Cup, with a new study by World Weather Attribution warning that 25% of tournament matches are likely to be played in conditions above 26C. Researchers said the finding points to serious dangers for both players and supporters at the event, which will be staged across North America in the US, Canada and Mexico during June and July. The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measures the level of physical heat stress placed on the human body. Experts broadly regard a WBGT of…

Donald Trump said before landing in Beijing that he does not expect China to be crucial to ending the war in Iran or loosening Tehran's hold over the Strait of Hormuz, even as the conflict looms over his summit with President Xi Jinping. The war is set to dominate discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Xi over the next two days, yet the US president played down Beijing's importance in bringing it to a close. The fighting has already strangled traffic through a strategic passage that normally carries roughly one-fifth of global…