Oh for the love of god

where's the podium? will it even come out today?? forget polymarket, you can tell me

MoD denies RAF Typhoons, scrambled from Romania, shot down Russian drones over Ukraine last night. Planes took off - but no drones engaged, no flight into Ukraine, MoD says. Contradicts earlier Romanian reports. Would have been significant escalation... Earlier: www.dailymail.com/news/article...

Here's to the informed onlooker - super piece about 'the man in the cravat' from @sammygecsoyler.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026...

Anybody out there know Amman. I'm here for 24h + in the market for food and other recommendations...

Hungary election result - best piece of news all year so far? A little optimism piercing the geopolitical storm., maybe the beginning of something broader... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

An hour or so later and another 40% or so counted. Back home it'd be two seats in Sunderland and a long wait before a marginal declares

Why do UK elections take so long to count...

🔴 BREAKING: Russia heavily shelled the city center of Kramatorsk, a frontline city in the Donetsk region, with four guided aerial bombs. This is the true face of the Russian “Easter truce”.

The amount of explosive (4kg) found in Serbia last week near Russian gas pipeline to Hungary was never enough to destroy it, says a Ukrainian military expert. Concludes it was likely to be a GRU false flag plot as a result - www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

When was the last election when the White House and the Kremlin were actively supporting the same side? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Multiple explosions audible in Jerusalem, moderately distant. Not yet a ceasefire in practice

Explosion heard in the distance from Jerusalem.

Even Russia hasn't tried this in Ukraine. At least, not yet...

Trump reveals in the WH that the CIA found the second F-15 airman with long range visual surveillance. "They kept the camera on him for 45 minutes," he said. Eventually something was spotted: "We see something moving 40 miles away."

UK MoD response - No RN ship attacked off Lebanon

Discuss: has social media has improved public discourse, decision making? Example below....

A new find at a Hezbollah position, though we've seen this somewhere before. Will cheap FPV drones pose an increasing threat to Israeli forces? In southern Lebanon there may yet be a long war... www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

Notes from the much larger and more significant war: in March Russia gained no net territory in Ukraine, and lost more soldiers than it was able to replace.

I'm back in Jerusalem, reporting for the Guardian over Passover, Easter and a little thereafter. From the Old City this morning...

Bombing into the stone age? Originally advocated by retired US air force Gen Curtis LeMay in his 1965 memoir as a way to deal with North Vietnam. And how did that turn out?

How did the speech go down? (Chart edition).

Catching up with the Trump speech, some extraordinary comments from a war crimes-human rights-diplomatic strategy perspective...

"Tell me what Trump said about Nato one more time..." www.theguardian.com/world/middle...

Unusual Downing St statement - confirming that ministers have agreed collectively to an expansion of US bombing from UK to include targeting Iranian "capabilities" targeting ships in the Straits. Mission creep....

The King then asked Zelenskyy if he had a second iPad to give to the prime minister as well. Zelenskyy said no, prompting Charles to say he'd share the one that he'd just been given..

"We can't live in a world where drones rule people" President Zelenskyy describes Ukraine's national air defence system in an address to parliament - monitored and tracked from his own iPad - which he says he passed over to King Charles earlier as a demonstration of its effectiveness...

Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, tell an audience in London what he really thinks about Brexit: "I do think it's not only shooting yourself in the foot, but it's like amputating your leg without a medical reason..."

Khamenei should surrender, if dead... - Trump

Experimenting with AI infographic generation - let me know if you spot any errors...

Friday will be the biggest day of strikes on Iran. Over 20% more than previously says Hegseth. Some 99% of the bombing is by stand-in, 'over the top' munitions - such is the totality of US air superiority More on Guardian Middle East live www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

"you've got to stop the drones before they hit the base, that's where you've been going wrong"

Mission creep... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Story www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Espionage arrests - relating to China - Met statement

Starmer could not have been clearer the UK views the US-Israel attack on Iran as illegal in his answer to Badenoch. British troops should only participate in operations with "a lawful basis" - he told MPs only defensive actions + allowing US to bomb Iranian missile sites from UK bases are legal

"I never tried to kill a leader of another country, ever..."

Israel Channel 12 reports that Israeli officials believe Khamenei is most likely killed...

Buffet breakfast and war...

Read Josh Simons' correspondence with the National Cyber Security centre here. The Cabinet Office minister is accused of smear campaign in which he falsely linked journalists to a “pro-Kremlin” network when he was director of Labour Together ---> www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Exclusive: Josh Simons claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” at a PR agency’s work to investigate journalists on his behalf. He had been personally involved in naming them to British intelligence officials and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda. w/ @dansabbagh.bsky.social

foi on steroids

Letter to the prime minister from parliament's intelligence & security committee - when will you send us the withheld Mandelson documents so we can decide whether to release them?

So the Iranians know where the Lincoln aircraft carrier is. Curious choice to shoot this Shahed 139 down with an F-35C, was that the best option available to the US Navy?? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump makes concluding remarks. He says Gaza ceasefire push began because he is “a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location, and I said, ‘look at this location, on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property’”.

Spy stories - Letter to the Guardian today from a particularly important reader...

Crowd-funder to challenge Labour Chinese embassy decision raises £145k required. Judicial review application incoming in the next six weeks www.gofundme.com/f/stop-the-m...

Has the Labour govt become an amoral sea of vagueness? Exhibit A, last par

Europe peace plan for Ukraine supported by leaders of Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK plus EU