| Iranian missiles have penetrated Israel's Iron Dome, killing at least eight and injuring hundreds, as the fighting continues into a fourth day. Donald Trump reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but warned Tehran that American forces would retaliate with "full strength and might" if the US was attacked in any way. G7 leaders will discuss the escalating conflict as the group's annual summit kicks off in Canada today. US police have arrested a 57-year-old on suspicion of killing a Democratic politician and her husband in Minnesota and wounding a Democratic state senator and his wife. Vance Boelter, who allegedly tricked his way into the victims' homes using a fake police badge and uniform, reportedly had a list of 70 pro-abortion targets in his car. Rosé sales jump by 150% as soon as the weather hits the "rosé tipping point" of 20C, according to Waitrose. Sales of "lady petrol" should be strong this week, with some parts of Britain expected to enjoy temperatures of up to 33C. Cheers. | | |  | An Iranian boy during a rally in Tehran earlier this year. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty |
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| Israel is doing the world a favour | Israel's strikes on Iran are not as morally complicated as many Western commentators suggest, says Matthew Syed in The Sunday Times. "If Iran gained nuclear weapons, it would use them against Israel." This isn't an opinion, it's what the mullahs have been saying ever since they came to power in 1979. They call Israel "Little Satan" and the "enemy of humanity"; social media posts show children starting the school day by chanting "genocidal slogans". Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who "sat malignly" behind the October 7 atrocity, recently described Israel as a "cancerous tumour that must be removed". | We in the West struggle to understand "religious fanaticism". Growing up the descendent of Persians with Shia Muslim family members, I remember vividly learning about the "child martyrs of Iran". These were innocent kids indoctrinated by fanatics into believing they could glorify Allah by running into minefields and towards machine-gun fire in the Iran-Iraq war. At least 20,000 children died in this way, "egged on by those who were supposed to protect them". Survivors recall death being "eulogised" by the clerics, whose greatest hero was a 12-year-old who threw himself under an enemy tank holding a grenade. Others remember two boys sprinting across a field arguing over who would get to step on a landmine first. Iran's religious psychopaths convinced children to love death more than life. Who seriously believes they would be deterred from using a nuclear bomb by fear of counterstrike? No wonder most Iranians want the mullahs gone, and many welcome Israel's strikes on their nuclear facilities. The rest of us should thank the Israelis too. They are the ones facing reprisals for "hitting the head of the snake on behalf of us all". | | | | Advertisement | | When it emerged in 2015 that carmakers had been using "cheat devices" to bypass emissions regulations in the US and Europe, it made headlines around the world. In May 2022, Volkswagen's parent company paid £193m in compensation to customers in England and Wales, without admitting guilt – and now the other manufacturers are in the firing line. If you leased or owned a diesel vehicle from Mercedes, Renault, Ford, BMW, Nissan, Jaguar or Land Rover between September 2008 and September 2020, you could be eligible for compensation. Use our Free Reg Checker to find out – click here. |
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| | |  | Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans in Materialists (2025) |
| Smoking is "wildly on trend", says Esther Zuckerman in The New York Times. The musicians Addison Rae and Lorde both mention cigs in recent singles, while Sabrina Carpenter uses a fork as a cigarette holder in her latest video. The cast of chef comedy-drama The Bear are smokers "on and off screen". Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson puff away in their recent movie Friendship; Dakota Johnson plays a devoted smoker in the new "romantic dramedy" Materialists. Even Beyoncé is lighting up – during her Cowboy Carter tour she throws a cigarette on a piano, which "artfully ignites". Smoking celebs used to be a rarity, says Jared Oviatt, who runs the @cigfluencers Instagram account. Now, "every week there's at least one or two people where I'm like, 'OK, that's new'". |
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