Good morning.
Donald Trump dramatically left the G7 summit in Canada a day early to rush back to Washington, with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, claiming the US leader was considering the prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kickstart broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7. “We have to see now whether the sides will follow.”
Trump told reporters he had to leave early for “obvious reasons”, but later posted that his early exit had “nothing to do with” working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Trump described his reasons as “much bigger than that” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
What is the latest in the Israel-Iran conflict? Attacks continued on both sides. On Tuesday, the Israeli military claimed to have assassinated Ali Shadmani, who it identified as Iran’s wartime chief of staff, Reuters reported. On Monday, Trump told Iranians to “immediately evacuate” Tehran, not long after Israel told people to evacuate a large part of the city ahead of a bombing campaign. One airstrike hit the building of Iran’s state-run television while on air.
This is a developing story. Follow our live updates here.
At least 51 Palestinians killed in Gaza waiting for food trucks, says health ministry
At least 51 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Tuesday morning while waiting for UN and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza’s health ministry and a local hospital.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Did this involve the new Israel- and US-supported aid delivery network? The killings did not appear to be related to the program, which was introduced last month and has been marred by controversy and violence.
What is happening with that network? Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by the US- and Israel-backed aid group, local health officials say, with scores killed and hundreds wounded.
At least 14 die in Russian strikes on Kyiv in ‘one of most horrific attacks’ of Ukraine war
Russia launched a sustained missile and drone attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 55, in what was one of the deadliest nights in the Ukrainian capital since the full-scale war began in spring 2022.
The toll seemed likely to rise as several sites across the capital were hit. At a nine-story Soviet-era apartment block in the west of Kyiv, an apparent direct missile hit led to part of the building collapsing, leaving a gaping hole and a pile of rubble in the middle of the block.
What damage have the attacks inflicted? Thirty apartments were destroyed in the strike, said the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko. “There could be people under the rubble, and we can’t exclude that the number of dead may rise,” he said.
What’s the latest on peace deal negotiations? US-led attempts to start a peace process have largely failed, with Russia ignoring Donald Trump’s demands to agree to a full ceasefire before talks begin. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had been due to meet Trump at the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday.
In other news …
A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the Friends star’s overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday.
The MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell, has been ordered to pay $2.3m after being sued for defamation by a former employee of a voting machine company.
The UK government has been accused of a “disjointed, inadequate and painfully slow” response to the Air India plane crash by the grieving family members of three deceased British citizens.
Stat of the day: The $9 congestion toll has transformed New York City streets – but can it survive Trump?
From 5 January, drivers entering lower Manhattan began paying a $9 congestion toll, which it is hoped will raise $500m annually for infrastructure upgrades. The policy has produced impressive early results: buses are moving up to 20% faster, 70,000 fewer vehicles are entering the area each day, and noise complaints on busy streets dropped 70%. Donald Trump, however, has pushed to revoke its federal approval (granted in 2023 under Joe Biden). “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” he wrote in February. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” The reports of its death may have been greatly exaggerated, but can congestion pricing survive the president?
Don’t miss this: Republican hawks v Maga isolationists – the internal war that could decide Trump’s Iran response
As Donald Trump considers a direct intervention in Israel’s conflict with Iran, another kind of 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.
Climate check: Insects are dying – here are 25 easy and effective ways you can help protect them
Around the world, scientists are reporting catastrophic declines in insect numbers, even in nature reserves that are largely protected from humans. We are also beginning to see huge drops in the populations of animals that depend on insects as food, such as birds. Here are 25 small science-backed actions to help protect them.
Last Thing: ‘I didn’t sleep for 45 days’ – the people who raffle off their homes
It’s an eccentric and work-intensive way to sell your house, but people are now raffling off even the most modest properties. Is it a good idea? One family, when asked if they’d do it again, said: “Never. Never in a million years.”
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
