9 h. ago No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences | Simon Tisdall

Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likelyBombing will not make Iran go away. US bombs will not destroy the knowhow needed to build a nuclear weapon or the will do so, if that is what Tehran wants. The huge attack ordered by Donald Trump will not halt ongoing open warfare between Israel and Iran. It will not bring lasting peace to the Middle East, end the slaughter in Gaza, deliver justice to the Palestinians, or end more than half a century of bitter enmity between Tehran and Washington.More likely, Trump’s rash, reckless gamble will inflame and exacerbate all these problems. Depending on how Iran and its allies and supporters react, the region could plunge into an uncontrolled conflagration. US bases in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the region, home to about 40,000 American troops, must now be considered potential targets for retaliation – and possibly British and allied forces,...

Politics

52 h. ago Martin Rowson on Donald Trump delaying action on Iran for two weeks – cartoon

Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago I grew up on American food. Trust me, it’s the last thing Europe needs | Alexander Hurst

The EU is under pressure to strike a trade deal with Trump, but an influx of mass-produced, low-quality food must be off the tableAll over European media, the take seems to be similar – that the EU is “under pressure” to conclude some sort of deal with the US in order to avoid Donald Trump’s 9 July deadline for the unilateral imposition of broad tariffs. What might be on the table in the attempt to secure that? In early May, the EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was already suggesting that a deal to increase purchases from the US could include agricultural products – a possibility that seems to remain even though Šefčovič later clarified that the EU was not contemplating changing its health or safety standards.Since I have failed to Abba (“Always be boldly acronyming”) and don’t have anything as good as Taco (“Trump always chickens out”) – coined by the Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong – at the ready, I’ll simply reach for the easy line: opening the door even slightly...

Politics

4 d. ago G7 leaders are paralysed by their fear of upsetting Donald Trump | Rafael Behr

Tyranny is contagious – and western governments’ reluctance to name the threat is helping it spreadThere is no founding charter or admissions process to the self-selecting group of “leading” economic powers that currently numbers seven. It was the G8 from 1997 to March 2014. Then Russia annexed Crimea and had its membership suspended, establishing the rule that participating nations should not seize their neighbours’ land.The White House used to condemn that sort of thing on the grounds that “it violates the principles upon which the international system is built”. These days, not so much. On Sunday, shortly after arriving for a G7 meeting in the Canadian resort of Kananaskis, Donald Trump told his host, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, that Vladimir Putin’s expulsion from the club had been a “big mistake”.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistOne year of Labour, with Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr and moreOn 9 July, join Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr, Frances O’Grady and Salma Shah as...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump cannot avoid the question much longer – is he going to join Israel’s war or not? | Rajan Menon

If he does nothing, the US president may alienate Israel’s fervent American allies. If he intervenes, he’ll undermine his own foreign policyDuring his three presidential campaigns, Donald Trump ran as an opponent of serial military interventions and wars of “regime change” à la Iraq and Libya, which neoconservatives and liberal internationalists alike had embraced after the end of the cold war. He correctly sensed that many Americans had tired of “forever wars”.Benjamin Netanyahu’s attack on Iran is a watershed moment for Trump. It will force him to reveal whether he truly represents a clean break with the foreign policy establishment, often referred to as “the blob”, or is in fact a continuation of it. It all depends on whether he decides to join Israel’s attacks on Iran.Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Russia’s ‘unrelenting’ attacks on Ukraine show Putin not interested in peace, EU says, after at least 15 die in Kyiv strike – Europe live

Kaja Kallas says strike in Kyiv one of ‘most devastating’ of war as Zelenskyy accuses world leaders of ‘turning a blind eye’According to the Spanish government, we should soon get a decent idea of what caused the massive and unprecedented blackout that hit the Iberian peninsula at the end of April.The findings of a special committee convened to investigate the episode are due to be made public at a press conference addressed by Spain’s environment minister, Sara Aagesen, at 1 pm Madrid time. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Dramatic moment wing falls off ageing £15m Putin warplane in middle of Ukraine attack mission

The attack jet crashed after flying in a pair over Ukraine's Donetsk region, with the pilot miraculously cheating death by ejecting before his aircraft fell to the ground.

Events

9 d. ago So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun? | Marina Hyde

In his spat with Trump, the man who literally owns X has been hoist by his own platform. Guys, no one is safe!Did you see Elon Musk apologise for some tweets this week? (Please don’t be naff and call them “X posts”.) Like me, you will be so embarrassed for Earth’s primo edgelord that he feels pressed into doing something so excruciatingly conventional. This is worse than when Kate Moss was scapegoated into rehab.Imagine owning the world’s premier shitposting platform – in fact, having spent $44bn (£32bn) on it, specifically so that your magic mirror would tell you each day that you were the fairest shitposter of all – and then shuffling sheepishly on to your own pixels to mumble something about having gone “too far” with your hurty words. Buck up, sadsack – honestly.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Canadians said no to Trump – so why is Mark Carney pushing a Maga

If it goes ahead we will see the construction of a surveillance state that is in some ways worse than the USCanada got duped. We avoided electing an outright Trump sympathiser, but we still elected a prime minister who will align our policies with the United States. Despite all the anti-Trump rhetoric and celebration of the idea that Canada was independent and had no desire to be like the US, we are now passing Maga-inspired legislation.The newly elected Mark Carney government tabled a border bill that will give law enforcement sweeping powers in obtaining citizen’s data, and will align Canada with the US’s refugee policies. Bill C-2, or the Strong Borders Act, is presented as a border security bill. However, its reach extends beyond border applications to nearly all legislation.Erica Ifill is an economist and award-winning political columnist Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Putin mocking Trump with attacks on Ukraine, Poland says, as European foreign ministers meet for defence talks – Europe live

Ministers to discuss Weimar+ model joined by Nato secretary general and EU foreign policy chief ahead of Nato summit later this monthEuropean foreign ministers are now arriving in Rome for their Weimar+ meeting on security and Ukraine.Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said his country needs “at least 10 years” to raise defence spending and comply with new targets to be agreed by Nato, adding that a deal on them could soon be reached, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Elon Musk issues grovelling apology to Donald Trump after bromance implodes

Former first buddy, Elon Musk, has apologised for his mean comments made in his online beef with Donald Trump – the Tesla owner has revealed some of his posts 'went too far'

Politics

1 week ago Korean Americans criticize Donald Trump Jr for ‘reckless’ social media post

US president’s son posted photo ‘mocking the current unrest’ in LA by referring to ‘Rooftop Korean’ from 1992 riotsAn association of Korean Americans in Los Angeles has criticised Donald Trump Jr, the son of the US president, for “reckless” comments on social media and urged him not to exploit a riot that devastated their community 33 years ago.The Korean American Federation of Los Angeles also said an operation by the US administration to round up suspected undocumented immigrants lacked “due legal procedures”. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard in LA – cartoon

Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump has unleashed something terrifying in the US – that even he may be powerless to control | Gaby Hinsliff

The protests in LA are what everyone feared, and a warning to countries that flirt with populismShe was live on air to viewers back home, her TV microphone clearly in hand, when the rubber bullet hit her. The Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was the second journalist after the British photographer Nick Stern to be shot with non-lethal rounds while covering protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids. But she was the first to be caught on camera and beamed around the world. There’s no excuse for not knowing what the US is becoming, now that anyone can watch that clip online. Not when you can hear her scream and see the cameraman quickly swing away to film a panicking crowd.It was the scenario everyone feared when Donald Trump took office. Deportation hit squads descending on the kind of Democrat-voting communities who would feel morally bound to resist them, triggering the kind of violent confrontation that creates an excuse to send in national guard troops – and ultimately...

Politics

2 w. ago Musk and Trump are enemies made for each other – united in their ability to trash their own brands | Jonathan Freedland

What one did to Twitter and Tesla, the other is doing to the United States of America. Their feud is revealing a fatal flaw in the Maga projectThe scriptwriters of Trump: the Soap Opera are slipping. The latest plot development – the epic falling-out between the title character and his best buddy, Elon Musk – was so predictable, and indeed predicted, that it counts as the opposite of a twist. Still, surprise can be overrated. Watching the two men – one the richest in the world, the other the most powerful – turn on each other in a series of ever-more venomous posts on their respective social media platforms has been entertainment of the highest order. X v Truth: it could be a Marvel blockbuster.But this is more than mere popcorn fodder. Even if they eventually patch things up, the rift between the president and Musk has exposed a divide inside the contemporary right, in the US and beyond – and a fatal flaw of the Trump project.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo you have an...

Politics

2 w. ago Martin Rowson on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s social media row – cartoon

Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump secretly admired Ukraine’s ‘badass’ drone attack – but worries it’ll make Russia ceasefire harder: report

President was impressed by Ukraine’s audacious attack on Russian airfields

Events

2 w. ago Kyiv under major drone attack after Putin threatened response to Ukrainian strikes in Russia

The attack comes after Ukraine hit 41 Russian military aircraft last Sunday

Events

2 w. ago Russia blames UK for drone attack as Putin signals retaliation and rising WW3 risk

Many of Vladimir Putin's notorious nuclear doomsday planes destroyed in the meticulous Ukrainian attack, but now Russia's ambassador to the UK is placing the blame on London

Events

2 w. ago Putin tells Trump Russia ‘will have to respond’ to Ukraine drone attack

US president says phone call with Russian leader won’t lead to ‘immediate peace’ as Moscow rules out ceasefireDonald Trump has spoken for more than an hour with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, but he conceded the talks would not lead “to immediate peace” in Ukraine, and warned that Russia would respond to Ukraine’s successful attacks this week on its airfields.The US president, who repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours during his election campaign, did not attempt to discourage the Russian leader from retaliation, according to his description of the discussion on his Truth Social platform. He noted instead that Putin had offered to participate in US talks with Iran about its nuclear programme, which Trump claimed Tehran had been “slowwalking”. Continue reading...

Politics