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‘Nowhere near a solution’

England’s Ollie Pope scores a century in second day fightback of first Test against India.

Ollie Pope and his latest century spearheaded England to 209-3 after India was bowled out for 471 on Day Two, Saturday, of the test series opener at Headingley.

Pope was 100 not out and the leading scorer as England slashed its deficit to 262 runs by stumps and won the day.

Pope was far from perfect. He survived a testing opening spell from speedster Jasprit Bumrah in gloomy bowler-friendly conditions, narrowly avoided lbw on 34 and was dropped on 60.

He rode his luck to his ninth test hundred and second against India.

Bumrah was England’s greatest threat as expected and took all three home wickets: Zac Crawley in the first over; Ben Duckett on 62 to break his and Pope’s 122-run second-wicket partnership; and Joe Root on 28 to break his and Pope’s 80-run third-wicket partnership.

Bumrah would have had a fourth wicket in the day’s last over — Harry Brook without scoring — but he overstepped for the third time in the over. The world’s best fast bowler was also the victim of two dropped catches in the field.

England wasn’t expected to be batting soon after lunch.

India was 430-3 about half an hour before lunch. A total of at least 550 was on the cards but the demise of captain Shubman Gill for 147 sparked a collapse of 41-7 in 68 balls bridging lunch.

Rodriguez burst out of the blocks, rattling the champion early and buckling Yafai’s legs with a sharp left uppercut. Yafai struggled to fully recover as Rodriguez’s quick hands continued to find the mark through the early stages.

Yafai rallied in the fourth, landing clean with his backhand, but was hampered by blood pouring from a cut above his left eye. Rodriguez also suffered a cut later in the fight.

The Birmingham fighter – who cruised past Sunny Edwards in November – looked second-best throughout, his body language offering little encouragement to the home crowd. He frequently dabbed at the eye and found it difficult to match Rodriguez’s pace.

Rodriguez had his fired-up corner roaring in the seventh when Yafai was floored, although it was ruled a slip. The damage, however, had already been done earlier in the round, with the 31-year-old away fighter landing a flurry of punches.

A crisp straight right and uppercut connected in the eighth, with Yafai showing heart and toughness to stay in the fight. Both men were inspected by doctors before the ninth due to cuts, but it was Rodriguez who continued to dominate, hurting Yafai again as blood stained the referee’s shirt.

By the championship rounds, Yafai looked increasingly resigned to his fate. A clean left-right combination dropped him in the 12th. He rose with a wry, deflated smile before moments later leaving the ring without giving a post-fight interview.

A world title shot against Japan’s unified champion Kenshiro Teraji had seemed within touching distance but instead Yafai’s dream of becoming an Olympic and world champion is paused for now.

“He failed on the hurdle to elite level and that’s sometimes what happens. He’d only had nine fights,” Hearn added.

Authorities have confirmed a bomb explosion that killed at least five people and injured 15 others in Kano State, North West Nigeria, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. 

The explosion in the Hotoro Eastern Bypass area near a metal company sent panic through the neighbourhood. Security and emergency response teams were quickly deployed to manage the situation and aid victims.

Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, told journalists that preliminary findings suggest the explosion may have involved military-grade explosives in transit, not a terror attack.

“Preliminary findings suggest the explosive material was being transported by a trailer, but it remains unclear whether the vehicle was carrying military personnel or contractors,” he explained.

“I received an emergency call about a disturbing incident. Upon arrival, it appeared the explosion came from ordnance possibly being transported by military personnel,” Bakori said.

According to the commissioner, an initial investigation indicated that a large truck carrying explosive materials, reportedly headed toward Yobe State, might have been involved in the blast. 

With regards to the casualties, he said 15 people sustained various degrees of injuries, while tragically, five have been confirmed dead. He says those injured have been taken to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention.

“Security agencies are currently investigating the incident. The facts will be clearer once the investigation is completed,” the Commissioner said.

He also urged residents to remain calm as security agencies continue their investigation.

Meanwhile, photos show officers cordoning off the area and examining debris.

A painful history 

Kano has a long and painful history with bomb explosions, many of them linked to Boko Haram’s violent campaign in Northern Nigeria. The city’s darkest day came on January 20, 2012, when coordinated attacks on police stations and government buildings killed over 185 people. 

In the years that followed, bombings became frequent, especially in civilian areas like Sabon Gari, where explosions at motor parks in 2013 and 2014 claimed dozens of lives. The group’s use of female suicide bombers, including minors, created a new dimension of fear. Hospitals, markets, and schools were no longer safe.

Another devastating attack occurred in November 2014, when over 120 worshippers were killed at the Kano Central Mosque. Although military offensives have since pushed back the group’s operations, and urban attacks have declined, Kano has continued to face sporadic explosions from either suspected insurgent remnants or poor handling of explosives. 

In May 2022, a blast in Sabon Gari killed several schoolchildren. Initial reports blamed terrorists, but authorities later said it resulted from the illegal storage of chemicals by welders. The incident and the recent one in Hotoro have exposed deep gaps in arms regulation and safety enforcement in civilian zones.

This latest explosion in Hotoro, which killed five people and injured 15, revives old fears. Although authorities have said they suspect the blast came from military-grade explosives being transported, the incident reflects Kano’s enduring vulnerability.

Extensive ungoverned forested areas in Kano State compromise security, serving as transit points for terrorist groups exploiting the complex landscape of northern Nigeria. Although Kano has historically been protected from widespread terrorism due to strategic military initiatives and its geographic advantages, recent incidents suggest a decline in safety. The local authorities’ inadequate communication and response during attacks heighten residents’ feelings of vulnerability and diminish their reliance on traditional security measures.

Here are the key events on day nine of the Israel-Iran conflict.

Here’s where things stand on Saturday, June 21:

Fighting

• Israeli air strikes hit a key nuclear site in Iran’s Isfahan province. An Israeli army spokesperson said the air force “struck the central facility along with buildings used to produce centrifuges”.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at the site was hit, adding that there was no nuclear material at the site and therefore no radiological consequences.
• The deputy governor of Isfahan said the cities of Lanjan, Mobarakeh, Shahreza and Isfahan were targeted.
• Iranian media reported a drone attack on Isfahan later.
• Israeli forces also hit a military installation in Shiraz.
• Fars news agency reported attacks on two cities in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, saying “frightening explosions” were heard in the provincial capital of Ahvaz and a large column of smoke had risen above the port city of Mahshahr.
• In other Israeli attacks, defence systems were activated over Najafabad, while explosions were reported in Malard. There were also reports of attacks on Tehran.
• The Israeli military’s chief spokesperson said the army had been told to be prepared for a “prolonged campaign” to destroy Iranian targets.
• The Iranian army said that the seventh and eighth stages of launching dozens of “destructive” drones towards Israel had been carried out, with a report saying “most of the drones hit the intended targets”.
• Iran’s armed forces threatened to strike shipments of military aid to Israel, warning that “any military or radar equipment by boat or aircraft from any country to assist the Zionist regime” would be considered a “legitimate target”.
• The Israeli army said it had shot down approximately 40 drones launched from Iran.
• German newspaper Bild reported that Israel’s foreign minister claimed that attacks on Iran had delayed the country’s prospects of creating a nuclear bomb by “at least two or three years”.
• Explosions were heard above Tel Aviv, where buildings were seen on fire. In central Israel, the emergency services released images showing fire on the roof of a multistorey residential building.
• A spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi group, in a video statement, threatened to attack US “ships and warships” in the Red Sea should Washington get involved in Israel’s campaign against Iran.

Casualties and disruptions

• Israel’s defence minister said that Israeli forces killed three senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• The IRGC said five of its members had died in Israeli attacks.
• At least five people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Iranian city of Khorramabad.
• An Israeli aircraft struck a residential building in Qom, killing a 16-year-old and injuring two people.
• Hussein Khalil, a former bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in an Israeli strike on Tehran.
• Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Health Minister Mohammadreza Zafarghandi as saying Israel had struck six ambulances and three hospitals, killing two health workers and a child in the attacks.
• Iran’s deputy health minister said the department was preparing to treat any victims suffering from the effects of Israel’s continued targeting of the country’s nuclear capability, “in the event that nuclear reactors are targeted”.
• Tasnim News Agency reported Iran’s information minister as saying that access to “international” internet should be fully restored across the country by 8pm on Saturday.
• Iran’s health ministry said that Israeli strikes over the past nine days had killed at least 430 people and wounded approximately 3,500.
• In Israel, Iran’s strikes have killed at least 25 people.
• The head of Qom province’s intelligence police said the force had arrested 22 people “on charges of being connected to the Zionist regime’s spy services” since Israel’s assault on the country began on June 12.

Protests

• In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the centre of the city in support of Gaza.
• More than 1,000 protesters joined a rally in front of Berlin’s Reichstag, seat of the German Bundestag, to call for the leadership in Iran to be deposed.
• In London, pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city centre waving Iranian flags and calling for the UK government to stop allowing arms exports and military cooperation with Israel.
• A pro-Palestine march also took place in Stockholm.
• A mass rally took place in Baghdad’s Shia district of Kadhimiya, under the slogan “Iran is not alone”.

Politics and diplomacy

• Iran’s president spoke with his French counterpart, warning of a “more devastating” retaliation should Israel’s bombing campaign continue, saying that Iran would not halt its nuclear programme “under any circumstances”.
• Macron said that the pair had agreed to “accelerate” nuclear negotiations between European powers and Iran. Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to it to provide every assurance that its intentions are peaceful,” he said.
• Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said no country has violated international human rights more than Israel, which “has always felt complete immunity from punishment for its crimes”.
• Attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Iran’s foreign minister said the United States had been involved in Israel’s “aggression” from “day one”, despite denials from Washington.
• Addressing the OIC summit, Turkiye’s president said Netanyahu was the “biggest obstacle to regional peace” and that Israel’s attacks on Iran aimed to sabotage nuclear talks with the US.
• Qatar’s state news agency reported that Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors expressed concerns to UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi about the “dangerous repercussions” of Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities close to their countries.
• A German Foreign Ministry official said the country had temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad.
• India’s embassy in Iran said it was “evacuating all Indian Nationals in Iran”.
• Hundreds of US citizens have departed Iran using land routes over the past week.

Trump has repeatedly said he averted a nuclear war, saved millions of lives – and grumbled that he got no credit for it.

Pakistan says it would recommend United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, an accolade that he has said he craves.

In May, a surprise announcement by Trump of a ceasefire brought an abrupt end to a four-day conflict between nuclear-armed foes India and Pakistan.

Trump has since repeatedly said that he averted a nuclear war, saved millions of lives and grumbled that he got no credit for it.

Pakistan agrees that US diplomatic intervention ended the fighting, but India says it was a bilateral agreement between the two militaries.

“President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation,” Islamabad said in a statement posted on X.

“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue.”

Governments can nominate people for the Nobel Peace Prize. There was no immediate response from Washington, DC, or New Delhi.

Some analysts in Pakistan said the move might persuade Trump to think again about potentially joining Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Pakistan has condemned Israel’s action as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump gave a long list of conflicts he said he had resolved, including India and Pakistan and the so-called Abraham Accords in his first term between Israel and some Muslim-majority countries. He added: “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”

Pandering to Trump’s ‘ego’?

Trump has repeatedly said that he is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region, their main source of enmity. Islamabad, which has long called for international attention to Kashmir, is delighted.

But his stance has upended US policy in South Asia, which had favoured India as a counterweight to China, and put in question previously close relations between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pakistan’s move to nominate Trump came in the same week its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met the US president for lunch. It was the first time that a Pakistani military leader had been invited to the White House when a civilian government was in place in Islamabad.

Trump’s planned meeting with Modi at the G7 summit in Canada last week did not take place after the US president left early, but the two later spoke by phone, in which Modi said “India does not and will never accept mediation” in its dispute with Pakistan, according to the Indian government.

Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defence Committee in Pakistan’s parliament, suggested nominating Trump for the peace prize was justified.

“Trump is good for Pakistan,” he said. “If this panders to Trump’s ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time.”

But the move was not universally applauded in Pakistan, where Trump’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has inflamed passions.

“Israel’s sugar daddy in Gaza and cheerleader of its attacks on Iran isn’t a candidate for any prize,” said Talat Hussain, a prominent Pakistani television political talk show host, in a post on X.

“And what if he starts to kiss Modi on both cheeks again after a few months?”

There is no single figure in television history whose longevity and influence match Barbara Walters’.

She became a star on NBC’s “Today” in the early 1960s, raising the stature of the morning franchise. She opened doors for women as a network anchor and turned newsmaker interviews into major television events — 74 million tuned into her 1999 sit-down with Monica Lewinsky. She created one of daytime TV’s longest-running hits with “The View,” which evolved into a major forum for the country’s political discourse.

“The audience size that Barbara was able to capture and harness is unmatched in today’s world,” said Jackie Jesko, director of the new documentary “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” debuting Monday on Hulu after its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month. “Everything she did sort of made a difference.”

Jesko’s feature — produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries and ABC News Studios — is the first in-depth look into Walters’ storied career. The film also serves as a sweeping historical review of the decades-long dominance of network news that made figures such as Walters a gatekeeper of the culture, as Jesko describes her.

Before the advent of social media and podcasts that allowed celebrities to control their messages, going through the X-ray machine of a Barbara Walters interview delivered exposure on a massive scale. David Sloan, a longtime ABC News producer who worked with Walters, recalls how the screen images of her specials flickered through the windows of Manhattan apartment towers.

“Tell Me Everything” came together not long after Walters died at the age of 93 in 2022. Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, approached Betsy West, executive producer and co-director of the Julia Child documentary “Julia,” about taking on a Walters project. Sloan, who oversaw an Emmy-winning tribute after Walters’ death, also wanted a deeper exploration into the impact of her career. West, also a former Walters colleague, and Sloan became executive producers on the film. “Tell Me Everything” taps deeply into the ABC News archives, which contain thousands of hours of interviews Walters conducted over her 40 years at the network.

Former President Richard M. Nixon during an interview with Barbara Walters in 1980 for ABC.

(Ray Stubblebine / AP)

Imagine not only gained access to program content but also outtakes that give parts of the film a cinema vérité-like look at Walters on the job. The newly unearthed footage provides some surreal moments, such as Walters — in a pink Chanel suit — exploring the damaged palace of Libya’s deposed leader Moammar Kadafi.

“The archive gave us a the perfect canvas to relive her scenes and her moments,” Bernstein said.

Walters’ story also gives a guided tour of the obstacle-ridden path women faced in the early days of TV news when it was dominated by patriarchy and self-importance. Female reporters were relegated to writing soft features and kept at a distance from hard news. But Walters shattered those barriers through her grit and wits. She toiled as a writer in local TV and a failed CBS morning program before landing at NBC’s “Today” in 1961. (“They needed someone they could hire cheap,” she said.)

Walters went from churning out copy for the program’s “Today Girl” to doing her own on-air segments, including a famously beguiling report on a Paris fashion show and a day-in-the-life look at being a Playboy bunny. More serious assignments came her way.

The morning viewing audience loved Walters even though she didn’t believe she was attractive enough to be on camera. Her career trajectory was slowed down only by male executives unwilling to embrace the idea that a woman could be the face of a network news operation.

Harry Reasoner with Barbara Walters during her first broadcast as co-anchor of ABC Evening News on Oct. 4, 1976.

(Associated Press)

By 1971, Walters was the main attraction on “Today” when she sat alongside host Frank McGee every morning. But she was denied equal status.

A respected journalist with the demeanor of an undertaker, McGee insisted to management that he ask the first three questions of any hard news subject who appeared on “Today” before Walters could have a chance.

The restriction led to Walters going outside the NBC studios to conduct interviews where her subjects lived or worked. The approach not only gave her control of the conversations but added a level of intimacy that audiences were not getting elsewhere on television.

Walters also had written into her contract that if McGee ever left “Today,” she would be promoted to the title of co-host. NBC brass agreed to the provision, believing McGee was not going anywhere.

But McGee was suffering from bone cancer, which he had kept secret. He died in 1974 and Walters was elevated to co-host, making her the first woman to lead a daily network news program. (Or as Katie Couric candidly puts it in the film, “She got it literally over Frank McGee’s dead body.”)

Walters made history again when she was poached by ABC News in 1976. She was given a record-high $1-million annual salary to be the first woman co-anchor of a network evening newscast, paired with Harry Reasoner, a crusty and unwelcoming veteran. Walters was mistreated by her colleague and roasted by critics and competitors such as CBS News commentator Eric Sevareid, who, with disgust in his voice, described her as “a lady reading the news.”

The evening news experiment with Reasoner was a short-lived disaster, but Walters found a supporter in Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports impresario who took over the news division and had an appreciation for showmanship. He recognized Walters’ strengths and made her a roving correspondent.

Barbara Walters arranged a joint interview with Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1977.

(ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Con)

Walters scored a major coup in 1977 when she was the first TV journalist to speak jointly with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem.

“She was a household name in the Mideast,” Sloan said.

Over time, Walters would become known for her prime-time specials, where lengthy interviews with world leaders aired adjacent to conversations with movie stars. She could be a blunt questioner in both realms, asking Barbra Streisand why she chose not to get her nose fixed and former President Richard M. Nixon if he wished he had burned the White House tapes that undid his presidency (“I probably should have”).

News purists clutched their pearls, but the audience welcomed it. “She had a vision back then that celebrities are news,” said Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger in the film. “She was practicing the art of journalism when she was interviewing them.”

The film explains how Walters developed an understanding of celebrities after growing up around her father’s nightclub, the Latin Quarter, a hot spot in Boston. Sitting in the rafters above the floor show, she observed how audiences responded as well.

Barbara Walters with Barbra Streisand, whom the journalist interviewed for a special in 1976.

(ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Con)

Even though Walters’ programs earned significant revenue for ABC News, she still had detractors, including the network’s star anchor Peter Jennings. A clip from the network’s political convention coverage in 1992 shows Jennings surreptitiously flipping his middle finger at her following an on-air exchange.

But Walters was unstoppable, and as the 1980s and 1990s progressed, she became a mother confessor for perpetrators and victims of scandal. During a memorable jailhouse meeting with the Menendez brothers in which Eric describes himself and Lyle as “normal kids,” a stunned Walters replies, “Eric, you’re a normal kid who murdered his parents!”

As always, she was speaking for the person watching at home.

“She always wanted to ask the question that was percolating in the brain of someone who didn’t have the opportunity or was too afraid to ask,” said Meredith Kaulfers, an executive vice president at Imagine Documentaries.

Walters became a pioneer for women broadcasters out of necessity. While in her 20s, her father’s nightclub business collapsed and she became the sole source of financial support for her family, which included her mentally disabled older sister. The terror of the insecurity she felt during that period never left.

President Barack Obama speaks to Barbara Walters during his guest appearance on ABC’s “The View” in 2010.

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

“There was a survival instinct in her that drove her,” said Marcella Steingart, a producer on the film. “Not necessarily on purpose, but in her wake, she opened doors for people.”

“Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything” is not a hagiography. The film explores her fraught relationship with her adopted daughter Jacqueline, who did not sit for an interview. Walters’ unhealthy obsession with colleague and rival Diane Sawyer is covered, too, as is her willingness to use the social connections she developed through her career, and not just to land big interviews.

Walters had a friendship with unsavory lawyer Roy Cohn, who pulled strings to make her father’s tax problems go away. She carried on a secret romance in the 1970s with a married U.S. senator — Edward Brooke — while she was a fixture in national political coverage.

While the film draws on interviews where Walters laments not being able to have both a successful career and a family life, Jesko sensed no regrets. “I think if she could live her life over again, she wouldn’t change anything,” Jesko said.

The tourism balloon carrying 21 people went up in flames in the early hours of Saturday, crashing in the city of Praia Grande

At least eight people have been killed and 13 injured when a hot air balloon they were on caught fire and crashed in Brazil’s southern state of Santa Catarina.

The tourism balloon carrying 21 people went up in flames in the early hours of Saturday, crashing in the city of Praia Grande on the Atlantic coast, according to Santa Catarina’s military fire brigade.

Footage shared by local news outlet G1 showed billows of smoke coming from the balloon as it plummeted dozens of metres toward the ground.

The survivors were transported to nearby hospitals, said firefighters.

“We are in mourning. A tragedy has happened. We will see how it unfolds, what happened, why it happened. But the important thing now is for the state structure to do what it can,” said Jorginho Mello, governor of Santa Catarina, in a video on X.

Mello said he had asked authorities to head to the municipality “to do as much as possible to rescue, to help, to take to hospital, to comfort the families”.

Praia Grande is a common destination for hot-air ballooning, a popular activity in some parts of Brazil’s south during June festivities that celebrate Catholic saints such as St John, whose feast day is on June 24.

Last Sunday, a balloon came down in Sao Paulo state, killing a 27-year-old woman and injuring 11 other people, G1 reported.

Jack Draper’s hopes of winning Queen’s were ended by Jiri Lehecka when the British number one was beaten in a thrilling semi-final while suffering from tonsillitis.

The 23-year-old, who lost 6-4 4-6 7-5, had been feeling unwell for a few days but said he “wouldn’t have pulled out for anything” as he chased a childhood dream to reach the final on home soil.

Draper had battled back from losing the first set to take the second and then went toe-to-toe with his Czech opponent in the third.

But Lehecka got a crucial break at 5-5, prompting Draper to smash his racquet into the advertising hoardings as he knew just how damaging that was to his chances.

And so it proved as Lehecka served out the victory in west London to advance to Sunday’s final, where he will face either top seed Carlos Alcaraz or Roberto Bautista Agut.

He goes through to his fifth ATP Tour final but the wait continues for a first British singles champion since five-time winner Andy Murray’s most recent victory in 2016.

Draper will now take a few days rest before resuming his preparations for Wimbledon, which starts on 30 June.

“Today’s probably the worst I have felt,” said Draper, who was diagnosed with tonsillitis on Friday.

“Did I think about withdrawing? No, not at all. I’m in the semi-finals at Queen’s. I’d probably go on court with a broken leg. I wouldn’t have pulled out for anything.”

The three largest European nations by population, Germany, France and the UK, held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, in an effort to avert a protracted war in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump, who has said he will decide within two weeks whether to join the assault on Tehran, denounced the talks with European leaders as a failure.

“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one,” he told reporters.

Araghchi had said Iran was not attending the talks in Geneva to negotiate anyway, only to listen.

However, he added, “There is no room for negotiations with the US [either] until the Israeli aggression stops,” as Iran and Israel traded salvoes of missiles and drones.

The US has been Israel’s chief ally and supporter in all its wars, and is the only country with major military assets deployed in the region, which might be able to alter the course of the war.

Why are the Europeans getting involved?

Germany, France and the UK – referred to as the E3 in the context of Iran talks – helped negotiate a 2015 treaty with Iran.

The 2015 treaty, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saw Iran agree to develop only peaceful nuclear programmes and to submit to independent monitoring. Russia, China and the United States also helped negotiate it, as did the UN.

But Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in May 2018, during his first term as president. The E3 tried to keep the treaty alive but failed. Iran abandoned it a year after the US did.

On Saturday, the EU high commissioner for external action, Kaja Kallas, who also attended the talks on Friday, issued a statement reaffirming “commitment to Israel’s security” and “longstanding concerns about Iran’s expansion of its nuclear programme, which has no credible civilian purpose, in violation of almost all the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provisions”.

But Israel’s war in Gaza has divided the E3 over their approach to Israel, weakening European foreign policy unity further, although all want to avoid another war on Europe’s doorstep.

How are the E3 divided in their approach towards Israel?

The E3 positions on Israel have diverged since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023.

Germany has remained the most ardently pro-Israel, refusing to criticise Israel for indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Gaza and halting its funding to UNWRA, the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees, which Israel accuses of aiding Hamas.

Originally pro-Israel, the UK somewhat changed its stance after Labour’s election victory last year. Earlier this month, the UK joined four other countries in formally sanctioning Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for “incitement of violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israel called the decision “outrageous” and “unacceptable”.

France is even more sceptical towards Israel. It was one of four EU members that started calling for a Gaza ceasefire in April last year. A year later, on April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would formally recognise the state of Palestine within months, partly because “at some point, it will be right”, and partly to encourage Arab states to recognise Israel. France was reported to be lobbying other European nations to follow suit. Spain, Norway and Ireland all formally recognised Palestine the following month.

What leverage do the E3 have with Iran or Israel?

They are the three biggest economies in Europe, with a collective gross domestic product (GDP) of about $11 trillion.

Two of them, France and the UK, possess aircraft carriers and expeditionary forces that have deployed to the Middle East and North Africa regions. They are also nuclear powers.

Ultimately, though, none of these things is enough to sway either Iran or Israel on matters of national security. The true value of the E3 lies in their “acceptability” to both Iran and Israel as good-faith mediators and their ability to work towards common goals with the US.

“Germany, France and the UK have attempted to mediate for more than 20 years, and their approach has been milder than that of the US,” George Tzogopoulos, a lecturer in international relations at the European Institute in Nice, told Al Jazeera. “The same is happening now. We have a war crisis, and these three prioritise diplomacy for the conflict to stop if possible and for negotiations to restart.”

Could the E3 broker a deal between Iran and Israel?

It would be difficult, given their failure to resuscitate the JCPOA without the US.

“The main reason [the E3 failed with the JCPOA] is the conclusion, made by both the Trump administration, President Trump himself, and the Israeli government that diplomacy cannot work in the case of Iran and, therefore, the role of the three was sidelined,” said Tzogopoulos.

But it is also difficult for them to coordinate with the US. Trump has now sidelined his own intelligence community to adopt the Israeli view that Iran is developing a bomb. On Friday, Trump told reporters that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” when she testified that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not re-authorised the country’s suspended nuclear weapons programme.

“If Israel has evidence that Iran was dashing for a bomb, I think it needs to come out more publicly and share that, because nobody else is confirming that assessment,” said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, a nongovernmental organisation based in the US.

“If there is some coordination between the US and the E3, we might be more optimistic, but for Europe, for the E3 to act autonomously, I wouldn’t bet my money on their potential success,” he said.

“The Europeans have very low chances,” agreed Angelos Syrigos, a professor of international law at Panteion University in Athens. “The only people who can intervene seriously are the Americans. But I don’t know if the Iranians are open to that. To have final peace, you usually need a decisive defeat,” he said, referring to the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Egypt of 1973, which led to the Camp David agreement six years later, and US intervention in the Yugoslav War, which led to the Dayton Accord in 1995. “One party has to understand there is no military solution.”

Could the United Nations Security Council find a diplomatic solution?

No, say experts, because China, Russia and the US disagree on Israel and Iran.

“The Security Council won’t find a solution to this,” said Syrigos. “Either the US or Russia or China will veto it. The difference is mainly between the US and China. The Chinese have invested a lot in Iran in recent years. That’s where they buy most of their oil; they send [Iran] materials for nuclear weapons. It’s China that is mostly connected to Iran.”

Russia has called on the US not to attack Iran, because of the risk of destabilising the region. But Russia also does not have the power to come to Iran’s aid, said Syrigos.

“Right now, Russia is going along with the US. It doesn’t want to get involved. It hasn’t the power. So, it’s turning a necessity into a voluntary act,” he said.

“The logic of war will guide diplomatic efforts at this point, and we cannot know how the war will go, or the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear programme,” said Tzogopoulos.

It was the second attack on Isfahan as the conflict enters a second week, killing at least 430 people in Iran and 24 in Israel.

A key nuclear site in Iran’s Isfahan province has come under Israeli attack, with local officials saying there were no radiation leaks.

Early on Saturday, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in the city of Isfahan after Israeli air strikes hit the nuclear site overnight, triggering the air defence system.

It was the second attack on Isfahan as the conflict between the Middle Eastern nations entered a second week, killing at least 430 people and wounding nearly 3,500 others in Iran, according to Iran’s health ministry.

No casualties were reported in the Isfahan attack, authorities said.

Israeli forces also hit a military installation in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in Fars province, according to Iranian media.

On the Israeli side, explosions were heard above Tel Aviv, where buildings were seen on fire.

In central Israel, the emergency services released images showing fire on the roof of a multi-storeyed residential building. Local media reports said the blaze was caused by falling debris from an Iranian missile that was intercepted.

At least 24 people have been killed by Iranian missile attacks in Israel, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that Israel has killed Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) overseas arm, in a strike on an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom.

Calling his killing a “major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force”, Katz said in a statement that Izadi had allegedly financed and armed the Palestinian group Hamas ahead of its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

IRGC said five of its members died in Israeli attacks, according to Iranian media. They did not mention Izadi, who was on United States and British sanctions lists.

Hostilities broke out on June 13 when Israel launched air strikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israel claims it attacked Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb, although Iranian negotiators were engaged in talks with the US to curb its enrichment programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence have both said there were no signs that Iran was building a nuclear weapon, despite Tehran having enriched uranium beyond the threshold needed for civilian purposes.

However, Trump on Friday said US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard was “wrong” in saying that Iran was not developing a nuclear bomb.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told Al Jazeera that Tehran remains open to dialogue at the United Nations and other such forums.

“We believe in listening to the other side. That’s why our diplomats are present in Geneva, to hear the other side out,” Mohajerani said, adding that any diplomacy must begin with global recognition of Israel’s attack on Iran.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Iranians are angry over Israel “not just targeting nuclear facilities and military complexes”.

“The reality on the ground is ordinary people are being attacked on a daily basis,” he said.

“Many in the Iranian capital have chosen to leave, but we have to keep in mind we’re talking about 10 million people living in Tehran city and 14 million in Tehran province. It’s putting pressure on surrounding areas.”

A young boy in Gaza was filmed wailing over the boy of his father, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Jabalia. Israel’s bombing of Gaza has not subsided despite it’s escalating military campaign on Iran.

Every newborn baby in England will have their DNA mapped to assess their risk of hundreds of diseases, under NHS plans for the next 10 years.

The scheme, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, is part of a government drive towards predicting and preventing illness, which will also see £650m invested in DNA research for all patients by 2030.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said gene technology would enable the health service to “leapfrog disease, so we’re in front of it rather than reacting to it”.

It comes after a study analysing the genetic code of up to 100,000 babies was announced in October.

The government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, which is set to be revealed over the coming few weeks, is aimed at easing pressure on services.

The Department for Health and Social Care said that genomics – the study of genes – and AI would be used to “revolutionise prevention” and provide faster diagnoses and an “early warning signal for disease”.

Screening newborn babies for rare diseases will involve sequencing their complete DNA using blood samples from their umbilical cord, taken shortly after birth.

There are approximately 7,000 single-gene disorders. The NHS study which began in October only looked for gene disorders that develop in early childhood and for which there are effective treatments.

Currently, newborn babies are offered a heelprick blood test that checks for nine serious conditions, including cystic fibrosis.

The health secretary said in a statement: “With the power of this new technology, patients will be able to receive personalised healthcare to prevent ill-health before symptoms begin, reducing the pressure on NHS services and helping people live longer, healthier lives.”

Streeting added: “The revolution in medical science means that we can transform the NHS over the coming decade, from a service which diagnoses and treats ill-health to one that predicts and prevents it.”

Sequencing DNA gives a lot of information about a person which can then be used to make predictions about the likelihood of them having particular genetic diseases, according to Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, a geneticist at the Francis Crick Institute.

These include conditions like muscular dystrophy, liver diseases and some kidney problems, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Funding for the new initiative will also support efforts by Genomics England to build one of the world’s largest research databases, with the goal of containing over 500,000 genomes by 2030.

It builds on work the NHS carried out in recent months, in which it embarked on a study to track the entire genetic code of up to 100,000 newborn babies in England to screen for genetic conditions.

But Prof Lovell-Badge cautioned that the government would not only need to hire people to collect the data, but qualified professions who could interpret it for patients.

“You need people to have conversations with individuals who might be affected by genetic disease,” he said, adding that “one of the things that worries me” was an insufficient number of genetic counsellors.

“It’s not just having the information, it’s conveying the information in an appropriate, helpful way.”

On a humid, late afternoon in November, Edith sits giggling loudly and bantering with two older members of her team during a lull between heavy rain showers. They watch as younger staff members dodge puddles and sweat through a daily aerobics routine in the muddy courtyard.

As energetic pop music blares across the compound made up of three single- and double-storey buildings, seven-year-old Diego, who has cerebral palsy, heads up a concrete ramp towards a therapy room. His wrists twisted, he crawls forward slowly until Edith spots him.

“Diego, my boy!” the 49-year-old calls out with a wide grin.

She runs over to him, her loose dress billowing as she scoops him up and swings him quickly onto her hip. He gives her a high five, and the two laugh before turning their attention to the workout.

The warmth and affection between Edith and her staff and the children at the orphanage make the place feel like it belongs to a very large family.

Edith’s own journey as a disability rights figure in Uganda began in 2000 with the birth of her first child, Derrick, in Jinja.

When Derrick was two days old, he turned yellow and cried excessively. So Edith and her husband, Richard, took him to a hospital where he was misdiagnosed with malaria. For two weeks, their son suffered convulsions, and upon seeing another doctor, he was found to have complications with his spinal cord after contracting meningitis.

“When he made three months, this is when I realised that my son was not growing as a normal child. He had poor head control. He had a curved spinal cord. He was very floppy,” Edith recalls while sitting in her office. Its walls are adorned with certificates of appreciation and merit, and a portrait of President Yoweri Museveni hangs above the door.

As she looks out a window onto a playground full of children, Edith recalls how she and Richard struggled to get information about their son’s condition and were ostracised by their friends and family who were fearful of them and Derrick.

“We started coming into the hospital, in and out. Home, hospital, home, hospital. And with his situation, especially with convulsions, people were like, ‘He has got epilepsy. He has demons.’ And this is where I was rejected by the community,” she says.

“They were like, ‘She gave birth to a demon-possessed child.’”

Historically and until today, education about disabilities has not been promoted through government-run schools or local clinics, leading many Ugandans to resort to traditional healing. Without a diagnosis and feeling helpless, Edith succumbed to social pressure and took her son to traditional healers.

“I tried to take him to different witch doctors. They were cutting him all over the body, smearing him with their herbs, washing him with blood of the chicken, the blood of the goat. They could take us in at night to shower us with the blood of the chicken, but still, Derrick didn’t change,” she recalls. “It was just worsening.”

But then an elderly couple at her church encouraged her to return to the hospital and supported her family. So Edith returned with Derrick to the hospital. After 12 months, he was diagnosed with permanent disability. The prolonged lack of treatment for meningitis had led to severe brain damage and cerebral palsy, leaving him nonverbal and unable to walk or feed himself for the rest of his life.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel’s prime ministers have sought to leave legacies that would outlast them — some through war, others through diplomacy, and a few through historic blunders. David Ben-Gurion secured the state’s independence and built its foundational institutions. Golda Meir presided over a war that cost her office. Menachem Begin signed peace with Egypt while expanding illegal settlements. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for trying to make peace with the Palestinians.

Each leader, in some way, left their mark. But none has ruled as long – or as divisively – as Benjamin Netanyahu. And now, more than ever, the question is not just what kind of legacy he wants to leave, but what legacy he is actually creating.

In 2016, I argued that the Arab world had effectively crowned Netanyahu “King of the Middle East” — a title that reflected his success in positioning Israel as a regional power without making any concessions to the Palestinians. Today, I believe he sees an opportunity not only to consolidate that title, but to reshape Israel’s regional position permanently — through force, impunity, and a strategy rooted in securitised dominance.

Since his first term, Netanyahu has insisted that Israel’s security must override all other considerations. In his worldview, a Palestinian state is not merely incompatible with Israel’s security; it is an existential threat. Even were such a state to be created, Netanyahu has made clear that Israel must retain what he calls “security sovereignty” over all of historic Palestine.

This has never been mere rhetoric. It has shaped his every major decision, none more so than the current war on Gaza. The assault has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced most of its two million people, and created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel stands accused by human rights groups and United Nations agencies of committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. It is facing genocide charges, supported by multiple countries, at the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

Yet Netanyahu presses on, arguing that Gaza must never again pose a threat to Israel, and that the destruction is necessary to secure the country’s future.

This logic does not stop at Gaza. He has used similar arguments to justify Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, including targeted strikes on Hezbollah figures and the attempted assassination of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Using the same rationale, Israel has also launched strikes in Yemen and made clear that it will act in Iraq whenever and wherever it deems necessary.

The security argument has likewise been used to justify the continued occupation of Syrian territory and is currently invoked to legitimise ongoing attacks on Iran, ostensibly to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and to degrade its missile and drone capabilities.

In every case, the same narrative is repeated: Israel cannot be safe unless its enemies are broken, its deterrence unchallenged, and its dominance undisputed. All dissent, disagreement, or resistance — whether military, political, or even symbolic — is cast as a threat to be eliminated.

Even Netanyahu’s diplomatic efforts follow this logic. The Abraham Accords, signed with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco during his premiership, were hailed as peace deals but functioned primarily as instruments of regional alignment that marginalised the Palestinians. For Netanyahu, normalisation is not a path to peace — it is a way to cement Israel’s position while avoiding a just resolution to the occupation.

What, then, is the legacy Netanyahu seeks?

He wants to be remembered as the prime minister who crushed all resistance to occupation, permanently ended the idea of a Palestinian state, and enshrined Israel’s dominance in the Middle East through sheer force. In his vision, Israel controls the land, dictates the rules, and answers to no one.

But history may remember him differently.

What Netanyahu calls security, much of the world increasingly sees as systemic violence. The global response to the war on Gaza — millions marching in protest, international legal action, growing boycotts, and diplomatic downgrades — suggests that under his leadership, Israel is not gaining legitimacy but losing it.

Even among its allies, Israel faces growing isolation. While the United States continues to provide diplomatic cover, terms like “apartheid”, “ethnic cleansing”, and “settler colonialism” are no longer confined to fringe activism. They are entering mainstream political discourse and shaping public consciousness, particularly among younger generations.

Many commentators argue that Netanyahu is clinging to power merely to avoid prosecution for corruption or accountability for the failures of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. But I believe this analysis misses a deeper truth: that he sees this moment — this war, this absence of accountability — as a historic window of opportunity. In his mind, this is legacy work.

The tragedy is that in pursuing this legacy, he may achieve the opposite of what he intends. Not a stronger Israel, but a more isolated one. Not a secure homeland, but a state increasingly seen as a violator of international norms. Not a legacy of strength, but one of moral and political collapse.

Netanyahu will be remembered. Today, as Gaza burns and Iran faces strike after strike, there is no longer any doubt about that. The only question is whether his legacy will be one of national security, or one that leaves Israel more alone, more condemned, and more precarious than ever before.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

The Supreme Court has revived long-running lawsuits against Palestinian authorities from Americans killed or wounded in attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The United States Supreme Court has upheld a statute passed by Congress to facilitate lawsuits against Palestinian authorities by Americans killed or injured in attacks abroad as plaintiffs pursue monetary damages for violence years ago in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The 9-0 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision that the 2019 law, the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, violated the rights of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization to due process under the US Constitution.

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the ruling, said the 2019 jurisdictional law comported with due process rights enshrined in the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.

“It is permissible for the federal government to craft a narrow jurisdictional provision that ensures, as part of a broader foreign policy agenda, that Americans injured or killed by acts of terror have an adequate forum in which to vindicate their right” to compensation under a federal law known as the Anti-terrorism Act of 1990, Roberts wrote.

The US government and a group of American victims and their families had appealed the lower court’s decision that struck down a provision of the law.

Among the plaintiffs are families who in 2015 won a $655m judgement in a civil case alleging that the Palestinian organisations were responsible for a series of shootings and bombings around Jerusalem from 2002 to 2004. They also include relatives of Ari Fuld, a Jewish settler in the Israel-occupied West Bank who was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian in 2018.

The ruling comes even as Jewish settlements on Palestinian-owned land are considered illegal under international law.

“The plaintiffs, US families who had loved ones maimed or murdered in PLO-sponsored terror attacks, have been waiting for justice for many years,” said Kent Yalowitz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“I am very hopeful that the case will soon be resolved without subjecting these families to further protracted and unnecessary litigation,” Yalowitz added.

Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, and now Iran, served as a backdrop to the case. Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, more than 55,000 people have been killed and 130,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

US courts for years have grappled over whether they have jurisdiction in cases involving the Palestinian Authority and PLO for actions taken abroad.

Under the language at issue in the 2019 law, the PLO and Palestinian Authority automatically “consent” to jurisdiction if they conduct certain activities in the United States or make payments to people who attack Americans.

Roberts in Friday’s ruling wrote that Congress and the president enacted the jurisdictional law based on their “considered judgment to subject the PLO and PA (Palestinian Authority) to liability in US courts as part of a comprehensive legal response to ‘halt, deter and disrupt’ acts of international terrorism that threaten the life and limb of American citizens”.

New York-based US District Judge Jesse Furman ruled in 2022 that the law violated the due process rights of the PLO and Palestinian Authority. The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.

President Joe Biden’s administration initiated the government’s appeal, which subsequently was taken up by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on April 1.

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