Acting president says Venezuela returning strongly after ‘setbacks’; Trump meets Chinese leader at US air base ahead of meeting set to include trade, AI and Iran war

• Trump greets Xi Jinping at plane as Chinese leader arrives for state visit

These latest attacks come just hours before Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the UN general assembly, so he is likely to reflect on them during his UN speech later.

So far, we have had no public comment from Zelenskyy or Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.

Bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of experts

While the debate continues, we have a comment from Sam Royston, executive director of research and policy at Marie Curie. He said the government must address the crisis in palliative care regardless of what happens with assisted dying, calling for a new framework and funding to ensure everyone has access to compassionate end-of-life care.

He said:

Whatever happens with assisted dying, the UK government must fix the crisis in palliative care.

It is devastating that nearly one in three people die without the help they need. Too many spend their final days in pain or on busy, chaotic hospital wards, while families are left fighting for help instead of spending time with the people they love.

I think it’s absolutely right that, for instance, the prime minister and the government have said that improving palliative care must be a priority for him and his government. I think that’s something that we can all support.

I think everybody should have access to good quality palliative and hospice end-of-life care at their final moment.”

Fars news agency reports four-year-old among those killed at wedding as Iranian Red Crescent calls for ICC to investigate

• Iran accuses US of ‘war crime’ after missile blast kills five people at wedding

Iranian state media has shared video from the site of the reported attack in Sirik, southern Iran, where officials say US strikes hit a wedding ceremony in a residential area, killing four people including two children aged four and 16.

Footage reportedly filmed inside the building where the wedding took place shows a debris-strewn floor, with women’s and girls’ embellished sandals and garlands scattered among the wreckage. A separate video shows the heavily damaged building from the outside, with a large hole visible in the roof. Here is an image from the footage released by the Iranian Red Crescent:

UK PM to join delegation of leaders lobbying US president to step up supplies

• Burnham plans trip to New York as Ukraine pleads for US-made missiles

Vatican envoy Paul Gallagher met Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow earlier today, and Reuters has some snap quotes from Pope Leo XIV’s representative following the meeting. He is quoted as saying that “The Ukrainian war must end” and that the pair discussed “avenues for pursuing lasting and just peace in Ukraine”.

In relation to the post on a US military plane landing in Moscow (at 11:23), Reuters reported that the last time a US jet flew to Russia from Europe was in ​January, when special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin for peace talks.

Prime minister suggests possible measure as he prepares to chair emergency Cobra meeting in response to extreme heat

Here’s today’s latest Met Office forecast for UK cities:

Aberdeen 22C

Belfast 24C

Birmingham 32C

Cardiff 33C

Glasgow 25C

Liverpool 32C

London 32C

Newcastle 29C

Plymouth 31C

Sheffield 31C

This live blog is now closed.

The ⁠geographic coordinates for a shipping ⁠route ⁠through the ​strait of Hormuz ⁠have been agreed by Iran and ⁠Oman, and ​a ‌joint announcement ‌is being ‌finalised, provided no third parties interfere, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei ‌said on Wednesday.

Baghaei added ​that any such agreement between Iran and ⁠Oman would not, ​by itself, ​guarantee security ​in the ​strategic waterway.

US secretary of state comments come after treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Washington could reach a deal ‘by tomorrow’

• US and Qatar report progress on Iran ceasefire and reopening Hormuz strait

Iran and Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help end the war in the Middle East, regional officials have said.

Under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, with service fees charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials told the Associated Press.

Blaze in south-western region ‘is no longer spreading’, but others have reignited or have been fuelled by strong winds

Back to Ukraine, where nine people were killed in Kyiv this morning from a Russian missile and drone attack.

Damage was reported in seven districts of the capital, according to Ukrainian officials, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying fires broke out across the city and residential buildings, a school and infrastructure sites were hit.

US president says his Board of Peace reached ‘historic’ deal for disarmament of Hamas while militant group says if Israel does not implement deal, ‘neither will we’

• US launches fresh strikes on Iran after days-long pause, amid fears the war is widening

A liquefied natural gas tanker controlled by QatarEnergy exited the strait of Hormuz overnight – the first such vessel ⁠visible on ship-tracking data to ⁠leave the waterway ​since 11 July, data from analytics firms showed on Thursday.

The Al Areesh tanker, which loaded a cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal around 4-6 July, sailed ⁠out of the strait overnight on 29 July, according to Kpler and LSEG data.

Foreign ministry spokesman says children’s cancer hospital had to be evacuated in Ahvaz; Kuwait says it responding to renewed Iranian drone attacks

• US attacks oil tanker in strait of Hormuz as strikes reported in Tehran

The Lebanese foreign minister, Youssef Raggi, said Lebanon has made a decision to “end Hezbollah’s military presence” and that decisions on war and foreign policy are the “exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state”.

The Lebanese government is pushing to disarm Hezbollah, one of the most heavily armed militias in the Middle East, and it has become a central component of the US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Lebanon has made its choice: there will be no return to dual authority, and there is no longer any place for weapons outside the authority of the state or for decisions taken outside its constitutional institutions.

The decision to end Hezbollah’s military presence is a sovereign Lebanese decision. It preceded the Framework Agreement and paved the way for it, affirming that decisions on war and peace, as well as foreign policy, are now the exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state.”

The government said it had to react to England’s progression in the World Cup, which was only confirmed on Wednesday

Downing Street said it would continue to use X after the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, announced she would stop using the social media platform.

Nandy said yesterday the culture and media department will also stop using X because the site “now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate”.

It is for individual departments to decide what is right for them in this regard.

Our full focus remains on making sure X is following the law, cleaning up its act and ensuring it is safe for women, girls, children and people right across the country.”

Estimated 150 million people in Europe could experience temperatures above 35C today

• European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say

Over in the UK, firefighters are still trying to bring a large wildfire in Derbyshire under control.

The blaze, which has burned over 500 square metres of moorland and woodland on Tintwistle Moor, near Glossop, broke out on Wednesday evening, with fire crews from Manchester and Derbyshire deploying a water-dropping helicopter and six fire engines on Thursday.

The country’s defence minister said the IDF will not withdraw from southern Lebanon and will not allow the ‘return of the population’

• Israel and Lebanon agree to renew ceasefire as Trump seeks to overcome barriers to Iran deal

The commander of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said Hezbollah is demanding Israel retreat to positions it held before the start of the war, according to a statement carried by Iranian media.

“Supporting the resistance in Lebanon is the duty of all of us, and removing Israel from the region is an attainable goal for Muslims,” Esmail Qaani was quoted as saying.

Staff Sergeant Milovan Jovanović, a member of the Serbian Armed Forces who was serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, died this morning as a result of injuries sustained after a projectile impacted the United Nations base where peacekeeping personnel, including a part of the Serbian contingent, are stationed. Following the incident, Sergeant Jovanović received immediate medical assistance at the base hospital and was later transported by helicopter to the University Medical Centre in Beirut, where he passed away at approximately 4.00 a.m. local time.

“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.

Elizabeth Warren condemns confirmation of Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve; John Fetterman was lone Democrat to support the nomination

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Donald Trump touched down in Beijing at around 7:50pm local time/7:50am ET.

The president will be greeted by China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, along with David Perdue, US ambassador to a China.

Centcom says it has struck two tankers heading for Iran after Tehran warned Washington was violating fragile ceasefire; two days of ‘intensive talks’ between Israel and Lebanon slated as strikes continue in the region

• Ceasefire under threat after strikes exchanged in strait

The ship monitor Tanker Trackers has posted the following on X about the Ocean Koi oil tanker:

Her new name is actually JIN LI (9255933), and has been so since 2025-11-30. Examining our data, we can see that she’s transported various Iranian hydrocarbons on at least 16 occasions since 2021; and with full knowledge of Iran because half of her loadings were conducted directly at port in Iran while the other half were conducted via Ship-to-Ship transfer further out.

JIN LI’s ownership is based in Shanghai, China. The vessel was slapped with sanctions by US OFAC on 2026-02-25.

Iran accuses US of targeting two ships in the strait and attacking civilian areas; US Central Command says it responded to ‘unprovoked Iranian attacks’ in strait

The European Union is set to tell airlines the impact from the Iran war on tourism is not yet severe enough to justify emergency measures for the sector, draft EU guidelines seen by Reuters showed.

“The current situation does not point to the need for dedicated measures for the tourism sector, unlike during the COVID-19 crisis,” said the draft EU guidelines, which the European Commission is due to publish on Friday.

PM calls Cobra meeting after condemning ‘appalling antisemitic attack’; man with ‘history of serious violence and mental health issues’ arrested

Specialist officers from Counter Terrorism Policing are leading the investigation and working with police to establish the full circumstances and any links to terrorism, the Met said in a statement.

Head of counter terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said:

Whilst I must stress this investigation is at an early stage, we are working quickly to understand exactly what happened.

Thank you to those who were in the area at the time and supported the response to this terrible incident.

Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. We are grateful to officers who swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm.

We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area. A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.

An investigation is under way and a man has been arrested following a stabbing incident in Barnet.

At 11:16hrs on Wednesday 29 April, officers responded following reports of people stabbed in Highfield Avenue.

US president says meeting between Israel’s and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States went ‘very well’

The Pentagon abruptly announced that the secretary of the US navy, John Phelan, would be leaving his job yesterday. No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the navy’s top civilian official, who had addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the navy’s annual conference in Washington just a day before the announcement.

People familiar with the dynamics at the Pentagon told the Guardian Phelan was fired. Phelan had an increasingly rocky relationship with the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, and other senior staff.

António Guterres welcomes truce and says through spokesperson he hopes halt in fighting will ‘pave the way for negotiations’

• Trump announces 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon after ‘excellent conversations’

Iran has stopped all petrochemical exports to prioritise domestic supply and prevent shortages of raw materials, Reuters reported.

The state-owned National Petrochemical Company ordered firms to suspend exports until further notice.