Russian oil can flow again, says Ukrainian president, leaving ‘no grounds’ for blocking €90bn EU package; warning of all-out Kremlin cyberwar. What we know on day 1,519 The Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia is ready to resume operations, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, after Ukraine repaired the damage from a Russian attack. Kyiv now expects the EU to unlock a €90bn EU loan after Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, spent months blocking it. Orbán is about to leave office after losing badly in national elections. “There can now be no grounds for blocking it,” said Ukraine’s president, referring to the loan. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, said she expected a positive decision on the loan within 24 hours. Reuters, quoting an industry source, said pumping oil through the pipeline would resume on Wednesday. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on Europe to diversify energy supplies and not resume flows via Druzhba from Russia. “No one can currently guarantee that Russia will not repeat attacks on the pipeline infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday. Guns were fired as Ukrainian authorities arrested military draft officers in Odesa for allegedly snatching people from the street and extorting money using the threat of being sent straight to the frontline. The Security Service of Ukraine said four officers working for the local territorial recruitment centre – which carries out conscription and recruitment – were detained after agents including special forces shot at the tyres of a vehicle in which they tried to escape. The group was being investigated for extortion, said the SBU. “The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.” Moscow is taking its Ukraine war tactics and techniques “beyond the battlefield” to target the UK and Europe in cyberspace, the head of Britain’s cybersecurity force at GCHQ will say on Wednesday. Richard Horne will point to “sustained Russian hybrid activity” and warn that companies must learn how it is done in order to defend themselves. Horne is head of the national cybersecurity centre at Britain’s signals intelligence agency. He is due to speak at the CyberUK conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow. In recent months, Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway have all reported hackers linked to Russia have targeted their critical infrastructure including power plants and dams. Horne will say that in Britain the NCSC currently handles around four “nationally significant” cyber incidents a week with the most serious threat coming from cyber-attacks carried out directly or indirectly by other states. He mentioned Russia, China and Iran. In a conflict, Horne will say, the UK would probably face cyber-attacks “at scale” but – unlike with ransomware deployed by organised criminal hackers – companies would not be able to pay their way out. For that reason, he will say, every organisation needs to understand the “full extent” of the risk they face and improve their cyber defences. Continue reading...

Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as the NHS The world’s top condom producer, Malaysia’s Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain disruptions drag on due to the Iran war, its chief executive has said. Karex is also seeing a surge in condom demand as rising freight costs and shipping delays have left many of its customers with lower stockpiles than usual, CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Outgoing CEO took stood up for users in battle with FBI but concessions abroad undermine claims of protecting ‘fundamental right’ In his 15 years as Apple’s top executive, Tim Cook has projected an image of the company as a champion of privacy rights. As he prepares to leave that role in September, that legacy has come back into focus. Cook trumpeted the iPhone maker’s commitment to privacy at home in the US and the EU, calling privacy “a fundamental right” but his acquiescence to government demands abroad call his dedication to protecting users into question. Cook cemented Apple’s pro-privacy reputation in 2015 when he resisted the FBI’s demands to unlock the iPhone of a mass shooter in San Bernardino, California. The company played up that public image in 2019 with playful ads that read, “Privacy. That’s iPhone”, positioning Apple as the obvious choice for people who cared about privacy. In 2021, Apple added a feature, App Tracking Transparency, that allowed iPhone owners to limit an app’s ability to track their mobile activity. Apps that tracked users without permission would be removed, Cook said. Continue reading...

Protests are growing against moves to change Japan’s ‘supreme law’, a document written by the US that is now being challenged by Iran war It may be a toy, but Gohta Hashimoto’s lightsaber is symbolic of the battle he and his fellow protesters face as they attempt to derail moves by Japan’s government to change the country’s pacifist constitution for the first time in its 80-year history. “I’ve been interested in the constitution for about a year, ever since the rise of far-right parties in Japan,” says Hashimoto, a 22-year-old university student. “I wanted to be part of a movement that keeps my country peaceful and protects the constitution.” Continue reading...

Demographic also overrepresented when police officers use force such as handcuffs, firearms or Tasers, says children’s commissioner Black children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, a report has disclosed. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said Black children are also overrepresented when officers use force and were more likely to have their “size, gender or build” cited as justification. Continue reading...

Adaptation of Stephen Merchant’s 2019 film about WWE champ Saraya-Jade Bevis ‘will be an absolute blast’, says one of the film’s stars, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Stephen Merchant’s wrestling film Fighting With My Family has inspired a stage musical. The new adaptation of the 2019 biopic about Saraya-Jade Bevis AKA Paige, who became a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champ, will feature a book and lyrics by Jon Brittain and music by Miranda Cooper and Nick Coler. The film starred Florence Pugh as Bevis, who was born into a wrestling family in Norwich and became a WWE star in the US at 18 after a chaotic childhood. Written and directed by Merchant, it co-starred Dwayne Johnson in character as The Rock. Merchant said that when he was making the film he “always thought of it like a musical: a young woman from the ‘chorus line’ fighting to get her big break, surrounded by theatrical, larger-than-life characters and huge sweeping emotions”. Merchant said that he even approached each wrestling match in the film as if it was a new dance number, “building to a big show-stopping finale”. He added: “The team have captured the humour, grit and heart of the story in a way that feels both faithful to the film and completely fresh.” Continue reading...

Trans athletes and those with DSD must be treated with respect, and the new testing regime must be run with sensitivity. But this is a step forward The decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to exclude transgender women and most athletes with differences of sex development (DSD) from women’s Olympic sport has won praise from most major sports bodies but criticism from some activist groups. It also closes the door on a period where often well-intentioned inclusivity came at the expense of sportswomen, and those who pointed out that the rules were not fair. Tanya Aldred writes about sport for the Guardian Continue reading...

Sky Blues are champions after 5-1 rout of Portsmouth Millwall leapfrog Ipswich; Southampton fluff lines Coventry made sure of the Championship title on Tuesday night by beating Portsmouth 5-1. Haji Wright, Ephron Mason-Clark and a Regan Poole own goal put the home side 3-0 ahead before Adrian Segecic pulled one back. A second for Mason-Clark and a late strike from Kaine Kesler-Hayden made it an emphatic win for City. Millwall claimed a vital victory in the battle for the second automatic promotion spot with a 3-1 win at Stoke. Camiel Neghli scored the first for the visitors and Femi Azeez added another in the second half before Caleb Taylor’s own goal gave the home side hope. Josh Coburn made sure of the points in the 69th minute. Continue reading...

Rooney and Murphy question scenes after victory Guardiola: ‘They won. How can they not celebrate it?’ Pep Guardiola has hit out at criticism of Manchester City’s celebrations following Sunday’s victory over Arsenal, describing such comments as “stupid things”. At the final whistle of the 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, one that took City to within three points of the Premier League leaders with a game in hand, Gianluigi Donnarumma jumped into the crowd behind his goal while many of City’s others players also celebrated in emphatic fashion. Continue reading...

State attorney general said inquiry will look into whether AI tool offered ‘significant advice’ to campus shooting suspect Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Florida’s top prosecutor is to launch a criminal investigation into how the tech company OpenAI and its software tool ChatGPT may influence users’ threats of harm to themselves or others, including whether it “offered significant advice” to a gunman accused of conducting a mass shooting in the state last year. State attorney general James Uthmeier said at a news conference on Tuesday that his office is expanding an examination of OpenAI, saying a “criminal investigation is necessary” and the state had issued subpoenas to the $852bn California-based tech firm. Continue reading...

As Chelsea’s season lurches, time to celebrate Brighton’s achievements. The evening kicked off with the Premier League’s three “B-teams” – Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton – behind Chelsea in the table. Following another grim chapter in the Liam Rosenior saga, his name taken in vain by angry away fans, Chelsea now look up at Brighton. Each of those clubs provide an example of responsible stewardship. models Chelsea’s brains trust have struggled to upscale. The project has spent billions, and taken on a raft of former Brighton employees, Rosenior included, but has failed to emulate the culture and strategy. Chelsea have beaten only Port Vale in eight matches and not scored in the other seven. Continue reading...

New hosts Grace Dent and chef Anna Haugh have shaken off the show’s crusty, stale feel. They’re a real improvement on John Torode and Gregg Wallace MasterChef is back, emboldened by the strange and giddy euphoria of an enforced refresh. For nigh on 20 years, the BBC’s premier cookery contest was judged by John Torode and Gregg Wallace and was just sort of … there. Not bad, but not very exciting either. That the hosts might have become a little crusty and stale wasn’t widely noticed or discussed. One unsavoury year of allegations, investigations and cancellations later, not one but both of the show’s long-serving overlords have abruptly departed. Yet there’s something freeing about an unplanned change and MasterChef, happily, has embraced that by hiring two relatively low-profile women to replace the old men: season 22 is brought to you by Myrtle chef patron Anna Haugh and Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent. Continue reading...

Ten years after a legendary, against-the-odds Premier League triumph, five years since winning the FA Cup, and a single season after dropping out of the top flight, Leicester City have been relegated to the third tier of English football. For a club that experienced real tragedy not long ago it would be misguided to indulge in hyperbole, but a second straight relegation is a sporting disaster, certainly one of the most spectacular falls in the recent history of the domestic game. Continue reading...

Analysis finds 53 workplace harassment allegations against 30 lawmakers amid wave of resignations in Congress Fifty-three allegations of workplace sexual harassment have been made against at least 30 House and Senate lawmakers over the past two decades, an advocacy group said in a study that was released Tuesday amid a spate of ethics-fueled resignations in Congress. Most of the lawmakers from 13 states and Guam who have faced allegations have since left office, but nine continue to hold seats, the nonpartisan National Women’s Defense League (NWDL) said. Continue reading...

Sacked civil servant tells select committee of ‘pressure’ to give clearance and ‘dismissive’ attitude to vetting The civil servant sacked by Keir Starmer has given a devastating account of his government, saying Downing Street put huge pressure on the civil service to approve the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador despite the concerns of vetting officials. Olly Robbins, the former top official at the Foreign Office, said No 10 took a “dismissive” attitude to vetting, and Mandelson was given access to the Foreign Office building and to “higher-classification briefings” before he was granted security clearance. Continue reading...

From quick and easy roasts to warming curries and a centrepiece wellington, these dishes make for filling dinners, with plenty left over for lunch Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Cauliflower looks like the ghost of broccoli, or a human brain that has been drained of blood. As is the case with many overlooked vegetables, boiling is the absolutely second-worst way to cook it (we do not talk about cauliflower rice), while roasting is best, to coax out its sweet and nutty flavours. A whole head is very good and affordable in Australia at the moment and can easily feed a whole family. Continue reading...

Former ministers rounded on government’s fiscal rules and called for new policies on tax and the economy Less than a mile from the select committee room in Portcullis House where Olly Robbins held the prime minister’s future in his hands, Labour MPs were publicly workshopping how the party might look under new leadership. It came in the guise of the Good Growth Foundation’s conference, but felt like a Labour leadership beauty parade on Pall Mall. The former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was a last-minute addition to the programme but the most talked-about guest. Continue reading...

Sports bans have humiliated trans women and girls across America. Now, the Olympics joins in Last month, the International Olympic Committee announced that transgender women athletes would be barred from competing in all Olympic events in the women’s category – but not the men’s events. In addition to trans women athletes, cisgender women with conditions known as DSDs – differences in sexual development – will also be banned from competition. The new rules effectively redefine womanhood – but not manhood – as a novel and previously unrecognized category consisting only of those with a specific set of genetic prerequisites. To comply with this new requirement, women athletes – but not male ones – will be made to submit to genetic testing, to determine whether their womanhood meets the committee’s standards. The rule will be in effect for the upcoming summer Olympics, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in 2028. The move comes as increased political and media attention to the issue of trans rights and visibility over the past years – along with pressure from the Trump administration – has led athletic federations to ban trans women from sports competitions, a demand that has largely not been made for transgender men in women’s or men’s sports. The vitriol and intensity of this controversy has been acute. Twenty-eight states ban trans girls and women from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity; last year, the NCAA announced a ban on trans athletes competing in women’s collegiate leagues. Continue reading...

A part suspension was tabled by Ireland, Spain and Slovenia but did not receive enough backing from other member states The EU remains split on imposing sanctions on Israel, despite some member states criticising the country over the plight of Gaza and violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said proposals for a part suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement remained on the table but required states to shift their positions to come into force. Speaking after a meeting between EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, she told reporters: “We didn’t see that today, but these discussions will continue.” Continue reading...

Olly Robbins exposed a deeper failure: when the prime minister’s decision came first, security vetting was left to catch up after the fact It was a classic Whitehall performance: understated and explosive. Sir Olly Robbins did not bluster in front of MPs. The sacked Foreign Office chief calmly stuck to the language of process. He admitted clearing Peter Mandelson to be US ambassador despite UK Security Vetting (UKSV) – in his own words – “leaning against” approval. But the context was key: Downing Street had already set a “very, very strong expectation” that the peer would be in Washington fast and had a dismissive attitude to vetting. The decision to back the peer had effectively been made before the system could catch up. On Monday, MPs skewered Sir Keir Starmer over appointing Lord Mandelson. The issue was not what the prime minister knew, but what he chose to do with the knowledge. By December 2024, he had seen Cabinet Office “due diligence” and was aware of the peer’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after the financier’s child sex conviction. Sir Keir went ahead anyway. Announcement, royal approval and US “agrément” swiftly turned that judgment into policy – before vetting had even begun. Sir Keir insisted that he should have been told Lord Mandelson was, in his words, denied security clearance for the role of US ambassador. Diane Abbott cut through this defence with a single question: “Why didn’t you ask?” Continue reading...

There is growing international concern as the fragile two-week ceasefire reaches its Wednesday deadline. Whatever happens next, the poor will pay More than 3,300 Iranians, including 383 children, have been killed since the US and Israel launched their illegal war, authorities said this week. Asked about Wednesday’s ceasefire deadline, Donald Trump said that he expected to resume bombing “because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with”, though his rhetoric can shift within minutes. Whatever happens – or doesn’t – with the US-Iranian peace talks due to take place in Islamabad, the costs of this disastrous conflict will keep growing. The only thing that the sides have in common is that each needs peace, but thinks that it can force the other into significant concessions. Iran has deployed its drones and missiles to punishing effect, but knows that its chief weapon is the economic pain it can inflict, primarily through control of the strait of Hormuz. The International Monetary Fund warned last week that a further escalation could trigger a global recession. Its head, Kristalina Georgieva, had already said that the crisis would remain a threat to the global economy even if it ended overnight. The costs mount over time. But while the pain is widely spread, it is far from evenly shared. The combination of higher energy, food and fertiliser costs will increasingly hammer poorer and heavily import-reliant nations. Continue reading...

Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’ A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”. Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS. Continue reading...

Robert Albon cannot be declared four-year-old’s father because he ran illegal sperm donation business, court rules A prolific unregulated sperm donor described in the high court as a “highly dangerous man” has lost a legal fight to be named as the father of a child conceived using his sperm. Robert Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, was not entitled to be declared the father of a four-year-old child because he was running an illegal sperm donation business, Britain’s most senior family court judge ruled. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer’s decision to oust senior official may have knock-on effect for No 10’s relationship with civil service Fury within Whitehall about the treatment of Olly Robbins remains white hot, several days on from Keir Starmer’s decision to sack the senior Foreign Office civil servant. “It’s just total self-serving, narrow, selfish, political endgame stuff,” said one supporter of Robbins, who was dismissed for failing to tell the prime minister that the now disgraced former US ambassador Peter Mandelson had not passed UK security vetting. Continue reading...

Analysts say next boss John Ternus should diversify tech giant away from iPhones and raise its game in AI John Ternus takes over from Tim Cook as chief executive of Apple in September. A company insider, Ternus is moving up from his role as head of engineering to take control of the entire $4tn (£3tn) business. Apple is a vast, successful tech company and one of the most recognised brands in the world. But it faces challenges nonetheless. Here is a look at Ternus’s in-tray. Continue reading...