1 hour ago UK readies charter flights out of Tel Aviv as Middle East crisis spirals

The Government is working with the Israeli authorities to arrange transport out of the region.

Events

2 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Ministers from Europe and Iran to hold talks; UN warns of ‘man

Ministers from UK, France and Germany will meet Abbas Araqchi after White House says Trump will ‘make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks’Trump sets deadline of two weeks to decide if US will join Israel’s war on IranLiving in Iran: how have you been affected by the recent conflict?Living in Israel: how have you been affected by the recent conflict?The French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has spoken to the US secretary of state Marco Rubio ahead of a meeting in Geneva between foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany and their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi.The Geneva meeting is aimed at creating a pathway back to diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme. Continue reading...

Events

14 h. ago Trump sets deadline of two weeks to decide if US will join Israel’s war on Iran

US president leaves window for negotiation after Israeli defence minister openly embraces regime change Middle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump has set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s war with Iran, allowing time to seek a negotiated end to the conflict, the White House has said.The decision to leave a window for diplomacy came after Israel’s defence minister openly embraced regime change in Tehran as a war aim. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost’ of postponing son’s wedding

Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family’s sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son’s wedding.The Israeli prime minister’s remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war that Netanyahu unleashed on Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost’ of Iran war

Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family’s sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son’s wedding.The Israeli prime minister’s remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war that Netanyahu unleashed on Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

25 h. ago Juventus star breaks ranks and speaks out on awkward Donald Trump visit

Juventus players were invited to the Oval Office for a meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday, with the US president proceeding to discuss the Civil War and the escalating crisis in the Middle East

Politics

25 h. ago Bank of England holds interest rates at 4.25% amid fears Middle East crisis and rising food inflation could increase cost

Most economists had predicted that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would opt to keep interest rates on hold at 4.25 per cent following its latest meeting.

Economics

26 h. ago Tories warn Starmer not to 'hide' behind legal advice amid claims Attorney General has been 'restraining' UK from backing Israel

Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel urged the PM to take the right decision for 'national security' as the Middle East crisis threatens to escalate.

Events

28 h. ago Brits face wait for interest rates relief with Bank of England poised to hold amid anxiety over Middle East crisis and 'sticky' inflation

The Monetary Policy Committee looks set to keep the base rate at 4.25 per cent when the latest decision is announced at noon.

Economics

29 h. ago Keir Starmer weighs UK response as Donald Trump threatens to bomb Iran

Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired an emergency COBRA meeting on the UK response to the Middle East crisis as Donald Trump warned that 'Iran's got a lot of trouble'

Events

44 h. ago Will the new Middle East crisis rock the world economy? The markets say no – but I fear they’re wrong | Larry Elliott

The oil shocks of the 1970s-90s had brutal economic impacts. As Israel attacks Iran, a moderate rise in oil prices rests on questionable assumptionsFinancial markets picked up the clear message when Donald Trump cut short his stay at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies this week. Despite calls from fellow western leaders to de-escalate the crisis, the president’s early return to the White House was taken as a sign that the US is considering joining Israel in its military action against Iran. Trump says he wants Iran’s unconditional surrender.This is where modern summitry came in half a century ago. In 1975, the first meeting of what eventually became the G7 was convened at Rambouillet in France in an attempt to work out a joint response to the oil shock that accompanied the Yom Kippur war between Israel and its neighbours.Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by em...

Economics

47 h. ago Trump’s Yemen bombings killed nearly as many civilians as 23 previous years of US attacks, analysis shows

Monitoring group says high death rate in two months indicates change in US policy that could affect Iran• Middle East crisis – live updatesThe US bombing campaign of Yemen under Donald Trump led to the deaths of almost as many civilians in two months as in the previous 23 years of US attacks on Islamists and militants in the country.An analysis of Operation Rough Rider by the monitoring group Airwars has concluded that 224 civilians were killed between March and the end of the campaign in May, compared with 258 between 2002 and 2024. Continue reading...

Events

50 h. ago Life inside Iran: How war reduced bustling Tehran to a desert of empty streets and boarded

Ordinary Iranians are now caught in a war they neither chose nor are prepared for, reports Sayeh Rahimy

Events

54 h. ago ASHLEY COWBURN: I was with Keir Starmer as hungry bears and Donald Trump threatened to unleash chaos

World leaders had to contend with the escalating crisis in the Middle East as they gathered for the G7 summit in Canada - and there were grizzly bears to worry about as well

Events

67 h. ago ‘What if the strikes hit us on the highway?’: Thousands flee Tehran amid bombardment

Fearful residents endure fraught journeys out of Iranian capital as Israel issues evacuation order Middle East crisis – live updatesThe Israel-Iran war in maps, videos and satellite imagesAs Farhad* and his friends left Tehran, they had plenty of time to survey the destruction. Smoke billowed from rooftops and flames flickered behind them as they inched their way through miles-long traffic to escape Israel’s bombardment of Iran’s capital city.Despite leaving early on Tuesday morning, it took Farhad six hours to reach his ancestral village, a journey that usually would take no more than two-and-a-half hours. Continue reading...

Events

2 d. ago Netanyahu speaks of regime change in Iran. But it’s not the same as regime destruction

Israeli president has no interest in Iran’s future beyond weakening and destabilising a regional rival Middle East crisis – live updatesOn Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, pontificated on a theme he has become increasingly attached to in recent years: that Israel under his leadership would not simply attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes through military attack, but in the process usher in regime change in Tehran.The government in Tehran, he said, was “very weak”, adding that given the opportunity, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 d. ago Trump leaves Europe in the cold in the Rocky Mountains, and Iran with a stark choice

Trump sought to underline European irrelevance in the Middle East crisis. All now rests on what he proposesMiddle East crisis – live updatesDiscussing the dilemma facing western diplomats in confronting Iran’s nuclear programme, Henry Kissinger wrote in 2006: “Diplomacy never operates in a vacuum. It persuades not by the eloquence of its practitioners but by assembling a balance of incentives and risks.”Rarely has the balance of incentives and risks been placed so starkly in front of Iran’s leaders as now. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump claims EU is not yet offering a fair trade deal – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTrump says UK is protected from tariffs ‘because I like them’ as trade deal is signed offIran and Israel crisis: what does it mean for the price of oil?Global oil supply is set to increase “far” faster than demand in the coming years, the International Energy Agency has predicted.In a new report, the IEA argues that oil markets are undergoing structural changes as the key drivers of supply and demand growth of the past 15 years start to fade.This growth is set to be dominated by robust gains in natural gas liquids (NGLs) and other non-crude liquids. The strategic shift towards higher non-crude capacity is driven by strong global demand for petrochemical feedstocks and the development of liquid‑rich gas resources.UK’s FTSE 100: -46 points or -0.5% at 8828 pointsGerman DAX: down 267 points or -1.1% at 23,430 pointsFrench CAC: down 61 points or -0.8% at 7,680 pointsAfter rallying on Monday on hopes that the Israel and Iran confl...

Economics

3 d. ago Fuel tanker rates surge as Middle East crisis worries markets – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTrump says UK is protected from tariffs ‘because I like them’ as trade deal is signed offIran and Israel crisis: what does it mean for the price of oil?Over in Tokyo, Japan’s central bank chief has warned that the jump in the oil price, if maintained, could push up inflation.Speaking after the BoJ left interest rates on hold today, governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters:“Coupled with already rising food prices, such moves in oil prices caused by tensions in Iran and Israel, if persist, could risk affecting inflation expectations and underlying inflation. So we must scrutinise developments carefully.”“Even if developments surrounding U.S. trade policy stabilise toward a certain direction, there’s very high uncertainty on how that could affect the economy .For the time being, there is extremely high uncertainty over each country’s trade policy. As such, there is bigger downside risk for both Japan’s economy and prices.” Continue re...

Events

3 d. ago Republican hawks vs Maga isolationists: the internal war that could decide Trump’s Iran response

Trump could decide to help Israel by joining the fight against Iran, or refrain from involving the US in a new overseas war – either choice will upset his supportersFollow live updates in the Middle East crisis As Donald Trump considers a direct intervention in Israel’s conflict with Iran, another war has broken out in Washington between conservative hawks, calling for immediate US strikes on uranium enrichment facilities, and Maga isolationists, who are demanding Trump stick to his campaign pledge not to involve the US in new overseas wars.At stake is whether the US could target the mountain redoubt that is home to the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, a key uranium enrichment site hidden 80 to 90 metres underground that cannot be targeted directly by Israeli jets – although they can attack some of the infrastructure that allows the plant to operate. Continue reading...

Politics