Forty drown across France in heatwave and parts of Spain above 30C at night 23. June 2026 (15:44) France has its hottest night on record, 15 Italian cities under red heat alert and UN chief says London is ‘cooking’Europe heatwave live – latest updatesForty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas across France in recent days, the prime minister has said, as people across the country sought respite from a record-breaking heatwave that saw France register its hottest day on record and sent sweltering heat across much of Europe.“There is a tragic scourge of drownings,” Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday. “The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since 18 June. Most of the victims are young people.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hantavirus quarantine ends for Americans held for six weeks in Nebraska 23. June 2026 (15:34) The US health department said the enforced 42-day quarantine was necessary to protect the publicEight Americans quarantined for six weeks in Nebraska after they were exposed to a deadly hantavirus outbreak were released on Monday, including one who accused the government of holding her against her will.The US health and human services department (HHS) confirmed that it had ended the required isolation for the group, who were among dozens evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship in the Canary Islands early in May. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK prioritised ties with UAE over averting mass atrocities in Sudan, MPs to be told 23. June 2026 (15:15) Foreign Office failed to act on warnings of genocide due to ‘pressure’ from emirates, Yale human rights investigator will tell a parliamentary select committeeThe British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan’s civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a parliamentary committee will hear.In May 2024, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator at Yale University, that “significant private pressure” from the UAE meant the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the emirates to their support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Marco Rubio to meet Gulf allies amid division over US-Iran ceasefire deal 23. June 2026 (15:07) US secretary of state to reassure UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain that his country remains committed to their securityMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesMarco Rubio, the US secretary of state, is to meet Gulf allies on Tuesday and Wednesday in an attempt to reassure them that the US remains committed to their security and the 60-day ceasefire deal struck with Iran last week will not embolden Tehran.The Gulf is divided over the deal. While Qatar has played a central role in mediating the agreement, some countries – notably the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain – are fearful it hands Iran substantial sums that may be ploughed into its military. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
New Trump book’s authors detail how they pried loose White House secrets: ‘We nearly killed ourselves’ 23. June 2026 (15:00) Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, the reporters behind Regime Change, were up against an administration that is ‘very good at keeping secrets’They cracked the White House situation room, unearthing secrets from the heart of a secretive administration. But the reporters behind Regime Change, a blockbuster new book on Donald Trump’s second term, ran up against a wall when reporting on one issue surrounding the 80-year-old US president: his fitness for office.“His health has always been a very specific lockbox for him, going back decades,” Maggie Haberman, co-author with Jonathan Swan, said in an interview. “Illness freaks him out; he perceives illness as weakness, usually, and he certainly perceives any sense that he is having an issue as a projection of weakness, and his advisers are very, very attuned to that. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran has agreed to nuclear inspections ‘long into future’, accusing Tehran of ‘false statements’ 23. June 2026 (14:52) US president says Tehran has committed to ‘nuclear honesty’, while Iran’s foreign ministry says there are no plans for IAEA to inspect sites bombed by US and Israel last yearOman and Iran said in a statement that the two countries will form a team to reach an agreement on “administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz” and associated costs and services, Reuters reports.The two states will hold talks with coastal countries and other concerned parties, the statement said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Europe’s media look on in bemusement at post-Brexit ‘revolving door’ of UK prime ministers 23. June 2026 (14:33) Front pages across the continent reflect on Britain’s political turmoil after Starmer becomes sixth prime minister to quit since 2016Europe live – latest updatesIn Germany, Downing Street was likened to a transit station, given the regular comings and goings of different prime ministers and staff. Meanwhile, a bemused Spanish newspaper concluded No 10 seemed to have been fitted with a revolving door.As news outlets across Europe digested the implications of Keir Starmer’s precipitous fall from landslide election winner to ousted prime minister, many also focused on a wider reality – Britain’s once much vaunted political stability was a thing of the past. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Reader Q&A: ask Rafael Behr your questions now 23. June 2026 (14:32) It’s 10 years since Brexit – and it’s also another one of those weeks in British politics … Guardian columnist Rafael Behr will be here at 5pm to answer your questions about Burnham, Starmer, Brexit and more. Sign up here to join the discussion and post your questionsWelcome to our latest Q&A with a Guardian journalist. Raf will be joining us at 5pm. We have originally asked him to take questions about Brexit as we mark 10 years since the UK’s vote to leave the EU. But … you may well have questions about the last 48 hours as Andy Burnham looks certain to become the next prime minister.In the meantime, though, Andrew Sparrow is covering another busy and dramatic day in Westminster on the politics live blog and here’s some more on the end of Keir Starmer’s premiership: Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Deadly collapse at Florida condo happened slowly over several weeks, report finds 23. June 2026 (14:28) Building had been vulnerable before it collapsed in the middle of the night, killing 98 people in 2021The deadly destruction of a Florida beachfront condominium actually started weeks before it collapsed into a pile of rubble in the middle of the night, killing 98 people in 2021 – but the building had been vulnerable from the start, federal investigators found in a final report issued on Monday.The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said in the report that two connections between garage columns and the pool deck started to fail around early June. The combination of a structure design that did not meet building codes and alterations made to it over its 40 years meant that the other parts of the pool deck weren’t strong enough to withstand the extra load, leading to the type of slow-motion collapse. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ransom note about Nancy Guthrie's disappearance says she died, according to reports 23. June 2026 (14:10) Note reportedly said kidnappers her didn’t mean to kill mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, but she died shortly after her disappearanceA ransom note related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie – the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie – said the 84-year-old had died, CNN and other news organizations are reporting, citing law enforcement sources.Some media outlets had previously reported receiving ransom notes tied to the case in the days after Guthrie’s disappearance in early February from her home in the foothills just outside Tucson, Arizona. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
