Pentagon spokesperson says pair spoke before announcement canceling plan to broadcast execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood

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The US government could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a media campaign in South Africa to figure out why more white Afrikaners are not applying to become refugees to the US, as Donald Trump had hoped.

State department officials, according to an August proposal seen by the Guardian, outlined a roughly $335,000 research and advertising effort after applications to the refugee program “trended lower than expected” since Afrikaners were allowed to apply directly online in November 2025. The document, written by the US mission in South Africa with a department research unit for the embassy in Pretoria, admits officials know little about why.

Secretary general António Guterres tells security council the Middle East is being pushed to the ‘edge of the unimaginable’ amid latest threats from Donald Trump

• Trump says he is close to decision on largest-yet attack on Iran

Earlier in the US day, before Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump issued this threat on his Truth Social platform:

From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.

France records hottest ever day as much of Europe endures extreme heat; ‘London is cooking,’ says UN secretary general

• Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you?

• Forty drown across France in heatwave and parts of Spain above 30C at night

Italy’s health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome on Tuesday and said the number would go up to 16 on Wednesday.

During a red alert – the highest level – the ministry advises people to eat light, stay indoors in the hottest parts of the day and sprinkle themselves with cool water.

Andy Burnham hopes a successful byelection will mean he can encourage Keir Starmer to step aside as prime minister

The trial of two Russian-linked arsonists who targeted property connected to Keir Starmer shows that the UK is under attack from bad actors who want to “exploit division” and “destabilise our democracy”, the prime minister has said.

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property linked to the prime minister, and appear to have operated under the instruction of an online handler with links to Russia.

Crowds start to gather at sites in Belfast after Sudanese man charged for attempted murder

• Full report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’

Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.

It led to the Macpherson report, she said.

[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong that a racist incident is racist if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword.

It should protect people from discrimination. It should protect people from being treated differently because of their race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability or age.

This blog is now closed. See our latest full report here: JD Vance to lead US delegation in Pakistan if Iran agrees to talks

The US has just released some more footage of the encounter with the Iranian flagged vessel, the M/V Touska.

In a post on X, US Central Command said US Marines had departed the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli by helicopter and rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel.

The government has published new guidance for parents that says under-fives should be limited to one hour of screen time a day

Josh MacAlister, the minister for children and families, said there has been “a complete rewiring of childhood” over the last decade due to social media and screen time.

Speaking on the new government guidance for parents of young children, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’re trying to help create some new social norms.

CCTV showed three people setting light to an ambulance in Golders Green in the early hours of Monday morning

The London Fire Brigade received 56 calls about the fire attack on four Jewish community ambulances, which involved the explosion of several cylinders stored in the vehicles, a senior figure from the fire service said.

Giving a statement at the scene in Golders Green, Paul Askew, deputy assistant commissioner for the London Fire Brigade, said:

Early this morning, London Fire Brigade control room took the first of 56 calls reporting a fire on Highfield Road in Golders Green.

Upon arrival, crews were met with a well-developed fire involving four ambulances. Several cylinders stored within the vehicles exploded because of the heat, causing damage to the windows of a nearby residential block.

We have already spoken to local community and faith leaders and will continue that work today. A specific policing plan focused on key community locations across the area is under way and will continue beyond the coming days as we move towards Passover in early April.

This attack comes at a time when fears are already heightened given global events and recent attacks targeting Jewish communities in other parts of Europe.

This blog is closed. Follow our new liveblog here.

British prime minister Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting on the economic fallout from the war in Iran on Monday, with chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey also attending, the UK government has said.

Financial markets face another turbulent week after Iran said it would strike its Gulf neighbours’ energy and water systems if Donald Trump followed through on his threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open up the crucial strait of Hormuz.

Topics expected to be covered are the economic impact of the crisis on families and businesses, energy security and the resilience of industry and supply chains alongside the international response.

EU leaders fail to convince Viktor Orbán, shortly facing Hungarian elections, to drop his opposition to aid

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for de-escalation in the Middle East, welcoming what he said were signals by US president Donald Trump that combat action in Iran could come to an end, which could allow Europe to contribute to securing peace in the region.

“I am expressly grateful that the US president sent a signal in this regard last night that he is prepared to bring the fighting to an end,” he told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels in comments reported by Reuters.

This liveblog is closed. Follow the latest coverage on our new liveblog here.

The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes “across Iran” on Sunday, targeting military sites.

A military statement said it had “initiated a wave of strikes targeting the Iranian terror regime military infrastructure across Iran”.

The prime minister is expected to offer an update on the unfolding crisis across the region in a press conference this afternoon

She says “we will always offer protection to genuine refugees” and outlines how the UK has taken in Ukrainian and Hong Kong refugees.

She says “restoring control at our borders is not a betrayal of Labour values”. She says we must attract high-skilled workers. And that “the privilege of living in this country forever must be earned”.

Pressure continues to build on Keir Starmer and chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over decision to appoint Peter Mandelson despite friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

Nearly 60,000 unauthorised migrants and convicted criminals have been removed or deported from the UK since Labour took office, the Home Office has said.

The announcement came amid claims that the government was promoting “harmful stereotypes” by equating migration with criminality.

Downing Street gives no date for when the agreement of 30 days of visa-free travel will come into force

For more context on today’s Starmer-Xi meeting, China is the world’s second-biggest economy and Britain’s third-largest trading partner – to which it exports £45bn of goods and services a year – so it is no surprise the UK has turned to Beijing in its search for economic reliability.

As the Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar reported earlier today, the UK does not rank among the top 10 of China’s trading partners but the Beijing leadership has spied a political opportunity to improve links with one of Washington’s closest allies at a time of deep uncertainty in the transatlantic alliance.