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Jun 16, 2026 - World

The US president says Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons, ‘which is what it was all about’. Plus, how AI could help botanists combat the extinction risk to rare plantsGood morning. Donald Trump has declared the strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” from Friday. “The deal’s all signed. And the strait ⁠is already partially opened,” the US president said as he arrived at the G7 summit in France.“I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East. And very importantly, the oil is plummeting down and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today,” Trump said. “The main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. They fully agreed to that with strong policing powers, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon, which is what it was all about.”What is the reaction in Israel? Analysts have pointed out that none of Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises at the beginning of the war – regime change in Tehran and the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme – have been fulfilled. The Israeli prime minister did not denounce the deal, but distanced himself from the negotiations and said Israel would not leave the territory it was occupying in Lebanon.What else is on the agenda at the G7 summit? The G7 will seek to shore up waning US support for Ukraine, with the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, vowing to “choke off” Russian revenue with further sanctions and provide hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of energy support for Ukraine.What do experts say may have caused the crash? Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety expert, suspected a flight-control malfunction caused the crash, given how quickly the plane went down after takeoff. He noted that testing new equipment on a 70-year-old aircraft inherently heightened risks. “I think it was definitely a controllability issue,” he said. Continue reading...

Jun 16, 2026 - World

MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” cut off live coverage of Donald Trump speaking in France after he heaped praise on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard leadership for agreeing to a temporary peace deal that remains a mystery to US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. According to co-host Joe Scarborough, Trump was humiliating himself and the US.While sitting with the emir of Qatar, Trump described the old leadership of the war-torn country as “irrational” before adding, “I think Iran has rational leadership. But you wouldn't have if it weren't for the United States of America, with me, because Obama was the opposite.”That forced Scarborough to jump in as the feed was cut.“This is this is one of the things, Mika [Brzezinski] that is so concerning to so many, even Republicans on Capitol Hill and anybody that has followed Iran,” he remarked. “Everybody since 1979 and the revolution — you know, we don't know what's in this document, which in and of itself is a very strange thing. If you have a peace deal that's so great … that's going to bring peace to the world, that's going to bring peace to Iran, then show it, show it to the world."”Again, we still are hearing very little about it,” he re-emphasized. “Even [GOP Sen.] Lindsey Graham said it's hard to support a deal when the only thing you hear about the deal comes from Iran. That's the first thing. Second thing is we don't know what's going to happen. You never know how history unfolds. We don't know if this war ultimately will bring positive change to Iran in 5, 10, 20 years from now. Who knows?”“But this is the most concerning part,” he continued. “Donald Trump just called the most extreme members of the Revolutionary Guard 'rational.' This is exactly what Israel was concerned about. This is exactly what his critics in America were concerned about. This is exactly what Republicans were concerned about, is exactly what Iran hawks were concerned about, that he would be so desperate that he would bend over backwards to sell a really bad deal. So he's saying that Iran is rational. JD Vance yesterday went on TV and said, gee whiz, the great thing here is basically these Iranians, they've decided it's cool. They're going to change their ways.”“It's really embarrassing for them — I'm embarrassed for them,” he added. “It's humiliating for the United States throughout the entire region. What does Israel, what does the UAE, what do countries all across that region think when they hear Donald Trump say, ‘Oh, the most radical members of the Revolutionary Guard are rational people’?” - YouTube youtu.be

Jun 16, 2026 - World

With election denialists installed in key positions, officials using series of measures to change voting rulesThe Trump administration is waging war on voting rights using justice department lawsuits, FBI investigations, and an executive order to limit voting by mail, moves mirroring the US president’s false claims he lost the 2020 election due to voting fraud, say election experts and ex-officials.Since Donald Trump began his second term, numerous 2020 election denialists have been installed in key agencies such as the DoJ, the FBI and elsewhere to pursue widely discredited claims of fraud, which can intimidate election workers and voters in swing states that Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020. Continue reading...

Jun 16, 2026 - World

Environment secretary reportedly raises concerns that customers would face ‘undue burden’ from £10bn planThames Water should be nationalised, says BurnhamBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK environment secretary has objected to a £10bn rescue proposal for Thames Water because it would place an “undue burden” on consumers, pushing the troubled utilities firm closer towards public ownership.Emma Reynolds wrote to the regulator Ofwat on Monday to raise concerns about the plan for the UK’s biggest water company as she is worried that customers will lose out. Continue reading...

Jun 16, 2026 - World

Country acts amid Iran war inflation pressures, but US Fed and Bank of England expected to hold ratesBusiness live – latest updatesThe Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war.Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75%, and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”. Continue reading...