Good morning.
Donald Trump told a crowd of tens of thousands at a memorial for Charlie Kirk that he “hates” his opponents, despite Kirk’s widow saying she forgives the man charged with fatally shooting her husband.
The president gave the last of more than two dozen speeches at a public event that reflected on Kirk’s impact within the Make America Great Again movement. He said Kirk told a staff member he was not afraid of students who disagreed with him in the crowd at Utah Valley University. “I’m not here to fight them – I want them to know them and love them,” Trump quoted Kirk as saying.
But Trump said he felt differently to the rightwing activist, adding: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry.”
What did JD Vance say? He used his eulogy to call Kirk “a martyr for the Christian faith”, despite no evidence that religion played a role in his killing. David Smith reflects that the speech may have been a canny attempt to lock in a new generation of young Christians before 2028.
UK, Canada and Australia announce formal recognition of Palestine, with more of Israel’s allies to follow
The UK, Canada and Australia formally declared their recognition of Palestinian statehood on Sunday, becoming the first members of the G7 advanced economies to do so.
The recognition of Palestinian statehood is part of a wider strategy that aims to both isolate Hamas and challenge attempts by the Israeli government to erase the chance of a Palestinian homeland. Portugal also recognized Palestinian statehood late on Sunday.
How might it ostracize Hamas? The strategy, led by France, which plans to make the same move on Monday, aims to make recognition part of a wider process, including a reformed, democratically elected Palestinian Authority to supersede Hamas in Gaza.
Where is the US on this? A US state department spokesperson on Sunday dismissed the move to recognise Palestine as “performative”.
German jets scrambled after Russian military plane flies over Baltic Sea
Two German Eurofighter jets were scrambled on Sunday to intercept a Russian military aircraft above the Baltic Sea, as Estonia said it would call an emergency meeting of the UN security council after Russian planes violated its airspace.
Germany’s air force said the Russian Il-20M reconnaissance plane had switched off its transponders and ignored requests to make contact. The Eurofighters took off from the Rostock-Laage airbase to head off the aircraft as it flew in international airspace.
What is the latest? Sunday’s move comes after a series of actions that European governments consider to be deliberate Russian provocations. On Friday, three Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace in the Gulf of Finland. Moscow denies this.
What is the US’s response? When asked if the US would defend EU countries from further Russian aggression, Donald Trump on Sunday said: “Yeah, I would. I would.”
In other news …
Despite medical guidelines, Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly set to link pregnant women’s use of Tylenol to a risk of autism. Most scientists believe genes play a role in autism.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians have rallied to demand that the former president Jair Bolsonaro is not granted amnesty after he was convicted of plotting a coup.
The Taliban is trying to make religious studies the only education available to women and girls in Afghanistan, with some families reporting that they were told to send their daughters to a madrasa or lose food aid.
Stat of the day: more than $2bn stolen from climate-related projects in the Philippines in last two years, government estimates
Tens of thousands of Filipinos protested on Sunday against government corruption after it was alleged that billions of dollars for flood relief projects had been siphoned off. The Philippine government estimates that the country’s economy may have lost as much as $2bn over the last two years from corruption in flood control projects, while Greenpeace puts the figure much higher – at a staggering $17.5bn.
Don’t miss this: ‘We’re exhausted, but not from doing too much’ – how to survive in the age of distraction
The behavioral scientist Zelana Montminy is worried that burnout has become normalised. She believes many of us are exhausted – not necessarily from doing too much, but “from being everywhere and nowhere all at the same time”. Sound familiar? Here’s what she does to build focus in her daily life.
Climate check: nations’ plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction ‘will put climate goals beyond reach’
Governments around the world are increasing coal, gas and oil extraction to levels that will make achieving climate goals impossible, data has shown. Rather than “transition away from fossil fuels”, as countries pledged to do at UN climate summits, nations have stepped up their planned extraction compared with 2023. If it all goes ahead, the world will produce more than double the quantity of fossil fuels in 2030 than the amount that would make restricting global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels possible.
Last Thing: Irish road bowling revived by TikTok
Now here’s a truly feelgood story: the Irish sport of road bowling is back with a bang, thanks in part to its popularity on TikTok. No longer a local affair, the annual King and Queen of the Roads tournament in the village of Ballincurrig this year drew international crowds and competitors, with the actor Bill Murray giving the sport a go during a visit to the village last week. Bill Daly, 68, who won the first tournament in 1985, said he loved that the sport had gone global, but that at heart the game remained unchanged: “It’s the same magic.”
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