Secretary of state confirms president’s attendance amid continued tension over alliance; Trump official also grilled on 2020 election lie and Iran war

• The Democrats to watch after Tuesday’s primaries

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

Iowa voters cast their ballots in yesterday’s heated primaries, setting up for months of fervent campaigning ahead of the November midterms in contests that could determine the balance of power in Congress.

A red state that the GOP has dominated for the past decade, Democrats believe they can be competitive in three of its four House races, its Senate election, and the contest to replace Kim Reynolds, the retiring Republican governor.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile threatened to strike Beirut and says IDF will continue operations in southern Lebanon

• Iran suspends all peace talks in protest at Israeli offensive in Lebanon

The exchange of strikes between the US and Iran reflects the fragility of the current ceasefire, which has seen repeated violations even as American and Iranian officials try to negotiate a deal to extend it.

Iran has maintained its chokehold on the strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies as a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. The US continues to enforce its own blockade on the strait, as it pressures Tehran to reach an agreement.

The Brazilian teenager showed his title credentials by storming back from two sets down to keep Novak Djokovic waiting for a 25th grand slam title

Now then. Swiatek is brilliant at coaxing herself through the rounds, but she’ll not be happy to be broken immediately, Linette leading 2-0 … er, make that 2-1, the advantage immediately confiscated. Meantime, Rublev has also been broken, the serving that settled set one forsaking him in two, and that, really is the difference; he hammers his racket into the clay, which is better than doing so into himself, and he leads 7-5 1-3.

Borges, who’ll feel unlucky to have lost the first set, breaks Rublev immediately for 5-7 2-0, while Linette holds in game one of her clash with Swiatek.

“Nothing can justify the ongoing assaults on my regions of Tyre and Nabatieh… nor the continuous threats targeting our peaceful people there”, Nawaf Salam wrote on X

Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it said targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

The group said it launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers and tanks that crossed the Litani river into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah near Nabatieh, as close-range fighting continues.

Vice president says Donald Trump is ‘improving military quality of life’ and says America’s ‘adversaries are studying this country every day’

• Sign up to the Breaking News US email

In one of the opinions shared by the Supreme Court Thursday morning, the Court has ruled in favor of a Black man who claims that there was racial bias in the make up of the jury that convicted him.

In Pitchford v Cain, five of the Court’s justices sided with Terry Pitchford, a man sentenced to death for his part in killing a grocery story owner in Mississippi, over 20 years ago, reported AP.

Trump v Cook: Donald Trump’s case for firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, as he continues to exert greater control over the US central bank.

Trump v Slaughter: A case which examines the legality of Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, Rebecca Slaughter.

Trump v Barbara: In which the court will decide if the administration’s attempts to restrict birthright citizenship are unconstitutional.

Don Beyer, representative from Virginia, said proposed project outside Arlington National Cemetery would ‘desecrate this hallowed space to build a monument to Donald Trump’s ego’

• Sign up to the Breaking News US email

President Trump is set to hold the 12th cabinet meeting of his second term at 11am EST on Wednesday.

Three Democratic state attorneys general said their deputies were turned away from a roundtable hosted by JD Vance on Tuesday, sowing confusion about what the White House has billed as a bipartisan crackdown on fraud.

Country’s state TV says under draft memorandum Iran would allow shipping in waterway and US would lift naval blockade

Donald Trump will host the 12th cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday as talks on ending the nearly three-month war with Iran reach a crucial stage amid conflicting signals over whether an agreement is close.

The gathering had originally been scheduled to take place in the bucolic setting of Camp David, the presidential retreat that had previously been the site of sensitive Middle East negotiations, including the historic Israeli-Egyptian peace accords.

The US military said it carried out strikes on Monday against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites

• US strikes Iran missile sites and mine laying vessels

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on his Telegram channel that Gulf powers will no longer be a shield for US bases and the US will no longer have a safe haven in the region, as Tehran and Washington discuss a framework to end their three-month-old war, Reuters reports.

The post follows overnight attacks on Iran by the US, testing the ceasefire agreed in April. The strikes came as Iran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Qatar for talks with Qatar’s prime minister over the potential deal to end the war.

US president says ‘if I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one’ as Iranian state media claims US government obstructing some clauses in agreement

In Lebanon, the civil defence agency said early on Sunday its regional facility in the southern city of Nabatieh had been destroyed by an Israeli strike.

The Directorate General of Civil Defence said the building had collapsed and a large number of vehicles and equipment had been damaged by a “direct hit in a hostile Israeli strike”.

President says ‘you don’t want to do it in Trump crowds’ as his speech to supporters in Rockland county, New York, disrupted twice by protesters

• US intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard leaving post after rocky tenure

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

“There’s broad recognition there are going to be eventually less US troops in Europe than historically,” Rubio says

Rubio said he didn’t set the timeline for reducing the number of US troops in Europe, but “it has been an ongoing process that started from the first day of this administration.”

⚽ Spence and Toney in for England, Alexander-Arnold out
⚽ Premier League finale preview | Mail Michael your thoughts

Barney Ronay on social media makes a pertinent point: “Harry Maguire: anatomy of how NOT to make a case for being the perfect 7-week back-up squad member. No need for Tuchel to explain now. We all save five mins.”

The final man in the 26 is Djed Spence, the Tottenham full back. He can play on both flanks so offers versatility. There is no Trent Alexander-Arnold in the England squad.

Andy Burnham talks up his local credentials and says: ‘This is not business as usual, this is not more of the same’

On transport, Burnham says “I like my buses” (they were taken back under public control in Greater Manchester in 2023) but he was woeful about the cost of rail journeys.

£364 is the cost of an anytime return from Wigan North Western to London Euston. So how can people here connect with the capital and all of the opportunities it’s got, if they cannot afford those train fares? We need to use rail re-nationalisation to reduce those train fares and make them affordable to people again.

Change to the economy, change to education, change to housing, change to transport, change to care, and yes, to make it all possible. Change to politics.

Khanna says ‘blank check to Israel and Netanyahu when they committed genocide’ one of the reasons his party lost; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls omission ‘pretty unbelievable’

• Democrats belatedly publish 2024 election autopsy report: ‘It won’t meet your standards’

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats spoke held a news conference, ahead of the vote-a-rama Thursday morning.

“The Republican agenda is one big broken promise,” said Schumer, criticizing the Republican budget bill. “We still haven’t seen the bill, because they are fighting with each other.”

Trump v Cook: Donald Trump’s case for firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, as he continues to exert greater control over the US central bank.

Trump v Slaughter: A case which examines the legality of Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, Rebecca Slaughter.

Trump v Barbara: In which the court will decide if the administration’s attempts to restrict birthright citizenship are unconstitutional.

Trump plays down need to end war; Meloni among leaders to criticise treatment of flotilla group in video shared online

The Jordanian military announced it had shot down a drone of unknown origin in its airspace on Wednesday, AFP reports.

No casualties were reported.

Arsenal fans flocked to the Emirates and players partied at the training ground after the club secured their fourth Premier League title

We’ll keep the focus here on Arsenal’s title win – so Gunners fans, drop me a line here wherever you are. I have to give a shoutout to my friends from uni, Andy and James. We watched the Invicibles’ parade on a beaten-up telly at our student digs in Cardiff, and it’s been a long, long wait for them to celebrate again. Congratulations, chaps.

Pep Guardiola has offered his congratulations to Arsenal and Arteta, his former assistant at Manchester City. “We were close. On behalf of everyone at Manchester City, we congratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans on winning the Premier League. They deserve it, for so much hard work and effort.

Trump said the US may need to hit Iran again and he was only an hour away from deciding on a strike before he postponed

Iran’s army has warned it would “open new fronts” against the US if it resumes attacks on the country amid reports that Donald Trump is weighing up restarting military operations in Iran amid an impasse in negotiations.

“If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods,” army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Kentucky congressman who championed Epstein bill failed to fight off attacks from president in victory for Trump

• Trump critic Thomas Massie defeated in Kentucky Republican House primary

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

Trump told reporters he is giving Iran until the weekend or early next week, to make a deal to end the war.

He said that yesterday he was within an hour of deciding to resume bombing Iran but that his negotiators had reported progress in talks.

I never tell anybody when. But they knew that we were very close. I would say we were. I was an hour away from making the decision to go today, and we would probably not be talking about a beautiful ballroom today. We’d be talking about that.

I had made the decision, so they called up. They had heard I made the decision. They said, sir, could you give us a couple of more days because we think they’re being reasonable.

Well, I mean, I’m saying 2 or 3 days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday something. Maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon.

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it doesn’t come to an agreement

• UAE blames Iran or its proxies for drone strike fire near nuclear plant

Friedrich Merz has been embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over his war on Iran ever since the German chancellor suggested the Trump team was being outplayed in its negotiations with Tehran and said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate.

The Guardian’s Berlin correspondent, Deborah Cole, has looked at the declining relationship between the two leaders in this story. Here is an extract:

Disputes over trade and military aid for Ukraine have fuelled tensions between the US and its European allies and tested the Nato alliance.

Merz is struggling to revive an anaemic German economy and has said the impact of the US-Israeli military action in Iran and the ensuing closure of the strait of Hormuz has been severely damaging to European interests.

We strongly condemn the renewed Iranian airstrikes against the United Arab Emirates and other partners. Attacks on nuclear facilities pose a threat to the safety of people throughout the entire region. There must be no further escalation of violence.

Iran must enter into serious negotiations with the USA, stop threatening its neighbours, and open the strait of Hormuz without restrictions.

️ Latest news from second round at Aronimink Golf Club
️ Official live leaderboard | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Matt

Scottie Scheffler’s third at 10, from 44 yards, is no good. It’s 20 feet shy of the flag. He can’t make the par saver, and that’s an immediate backwards step for the world number one and tournament favourite. Matt Fitzpatrick bogeys too, and it’s a double for Justin Rose. They’re -2, +1 and +2 respectively. Meanwhile on Sky, Laura Davies asks Wayne Riley what he thinks the leader will be on at the end of the day. Five under, he answers, without a beat of hesitation. In other words, good luck trying to go low, gentlemen. It’s going to be another hugely entertaining day!

Rose gathers himself and sends a decent wedge into 10, from 77 yards to 16 feet. He’ll have a look at a damage-limiting bogey. Meanwhile Scottie’s lie in the rough on the left isn’t great, and he’s forced to take his medicine, punching back out onto the fairway. Even the strongest hitters in the business aren’t of a mind to take liberties with this rough. To think everyone was talking about bringing Aronimink to its knees with some bomb and gouge at the start of the week! A textbook study in hubris, and that’s before we get around to the subjects of Rory and Bryson.

Trump says ‘a lot of good’ has come from summit and ‘we’ve made some fantastic trade deals for both countries’

• Xi warns Trump of ‘clashes and even conflicts’ with US over Taiwan

• Analysis: For anxious Taiwan, Trump’s silence after Xi talks is best possible outcome

Jamieson Greer also said US export controls on semiconductor chips were not a major topic of discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing.

The US trade representative’s comments to Bloomberg on Friday suggest a breakthrough on selling Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips to China remains far away, Reuters is reporting, despite Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s last-minute invitation to Donald Trump’s Beijing trip this week.

This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting. We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting.”

First of all, it’s really important for China to have the strait of Hormuz open – no tolling, no military control. That was clear from the meeting, so we welcome that.

With respect to Chinese involvement with Iran, our view is the Chinese are being very pragmatic – they don’t want to be on the wrong side of this. They want to see peace in that area, President Trump wants to see peace in that area, so we have a lot of confidence that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support for Iran.”