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Out of the shadows: Venezuela’s opposition emerges from hiding but remains on political sidelines

For nearly 600 days, Anthony Romero crept between more than a dozen safe houses to avoid being captured by Venezuela’s secret police. After helping challenge Nicolás Maduro’s spurious claim to have won the 2024 presidential election, the opposition activist went underground, as the South American dictator waged a ruthless crackdown in an attempt to cling to power. “He unleashed the harshest repression Venezuela has ever seen – we’re talking about nearly 3,000 arrests,” recalled Romero, 35, a lawyer who is part of the Nobel laureate María Corina Machado’s political party, Vente Venezuela. But on a recent sunny Saturday, Romero had emerged from hiding and was back on the streets, proudly wearing their movement’s signature-blue shirt as pro-democracy activists revived their campaign for change after Maduro’s overthrow appeared to herald a tentative glasnost. “I see a bright and prosperous future for Venezuela,” Romero effused as he canvassed in the winding alleys of La Dolorita, a deprived neighbourhood in east Caracas. Such activism would have been a kamikaze mission before US special forces ended Maduro’s tyrannical reign on 3 January. “We’d have been arrested immediately,” said Jonatan Molero, 46, an activist and restaurateur also wearing the colours of Machado’s movement. A third local campaigner accompanying Romero, a retired carpentry teacher named Oswaldo Rodríguez, 59, recalled being so terrified by the post-election crackdown that, when armed pro-regime thugs arrived at his home, he used scissors to destroy his blue Vente shirt. Now the repression has eased, at least temporarily, with Maduro’s successors largely tolerating opposition protests and gatherings – despite the fact that no democratic transition has taken place and there is still no date for new elections. Three hours after Romero’s visit began, police officers arrived and photographed his group, but they were otherwise left undisturbed. As dozens of party canvassers strolled through the hillside community, Romero promised that Machado would soon return to conclude her push for democracy. “The process that began after 3 January will, without any doubt whatsoever, lead us to a transition, to a democratically elected government and to a free and flourishing Venezuela,” he said. Analysts have their doubts. A recent Chatham House report based on input from election experts, diplomats and scholars of democratic transitions suggests Venezuela has its best opportunity in more than a decade to rescue its democracy and collapsed economy. But the British thinktank warned the momentum for change was fading, with the Trump administration seemingly content to leave Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, in power in exchange for economic concessions and obedience from a country the US president has pondered turning into the 51st state. The report’s author, Christopher Sabatini, said Washington showed little interest in pushing for elections that could threaten a lucrative new relationship some critics compare to colonial rule. “[The US] needs a foreign policy win, and Venezuela – rightly or wrongly – is what they’re holding up as a win in the face of Iran and an uncertain agenda and outcome in Cuba,” Sabatini said of Trump’s parallel crusade to subjugate the Caribbean island’s communist leaders. “[Washington’s] interest was never democracy … much to the frustration of the opposition.” In La Dolorita, some Machado supporters insisted they were keeping faith in Donald Trump’s three-phase roadmap for their country’s future: stabilisation, economic recovery and political transition. “Donald Trump has been a great ally of democracy in Venezuela,” said the retired carpenter Rodríguez, acknowledging that many Venezuelans had been disappointed not to see the “total change” they had hoped for. “But I believe the strategy of Donald Trump’s government is the correct one,” he added, expressing confidence that negotiations and US pressure would gradually produce substantial reforms, including an overhaul of the pro-regime National Electoral Council and free and fair elections. Daniel Gaspar, a 35-year-old motorcycle taxi driver from La Dolorita, said: “We’re moving forwards! Only crabs move backwards!” But there are signs of fraying patience among Venezuelans who hoped Maduro’s abduction would bring immediate democracy. One recent poll found support for Trump’s actions had plunged from 92% in January to 46% in April amid growing discomfort about his obsession with securing access to Venezuelan natural resources and apparent indifference to elections. The longing for a genuine political shift was palpable as Romero’s campaigners advanced through the backstreets of La Dolorita, long considered a working-class stronghold of Maduro’s Chavismo movement but where he suffered a crushing defeat in 2024. On almost every doorstep, they encountered anger at how years of hyperinflation, hunger, corruption and state violence had had brought the area to its knees and caused millions to flee abroad. In a dimly lit shack at the top of a steep stairwell, 63-year-old María Núñez told Romero her house had not received a drop of running water in 21 years. She remembered once having been able to afford pork chops; now she ate chicken feet. She said neighbours faced even greater difficulties: one family of four with a child with special educational needs were so poor they lacked a mattress and slept on the floor. “We want true, profound change,” Núñez said, imploring Romero’s team to find a bed for her neighbours. Of Machado, Núñez said: “I want her to be president of Venezuela because she knows Venezuela … and I ask God to make her Venezuela’s president.” Juan Córdova, a community organiser, said hunger was widespread, and even comparatively better-off families were struggling, making $50 for a seven-day-week. “Fifty dollars buys you nothing,” complained Córdova, 57. Of the government, he said: “Every day they and their friends grow richer and the people grow poorer … We want change – and we hope it comes soon.” Machado, who slipped out of Venezuela in December to receive a Nobel prize she later gave to Trump, has responded diplomatically to the slow pace of change, keen not to alienate her most powerful supporter despite his decision to sideline her. The conservative democracy activist has pledged to return home to seek Venezuela’s presidency by the end of this year – but her path to power appears to be narrowing, given the increasingly cosy relationship between Rodríguez and Trump. Speaking after a recent opposition summit in Panama, Machado urged the US to help “promote a serious, firm and responsible political negotiation with the interim regime to restore democracy in Venezuela”. Sabatini predicted Machado would at some point make good on her promise to return home, where she would seek to reassert leadership of the opposition and a “showdown” with Rodríguez’s regime, with unpredictable consequences, including her possible arrest. “If something happens to her, it really becomes a showdown of whether the Trump administration will go to battle for María Corina Machado against the interim government that it has embraced. I wouldn’t be sure which way that would go … quite frankly,” he said. Romero was more optimistic as he wrapped up his tour with an improvised assembly inside the sitting room of 58-year-old Neirubes Millan. She wept as she described her struggle to feed La Dolorita’s most deprived children during the worst moments of Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis. “We cry because we aren’t the people we used to be,” Millan said. “But happiness is on its way … Soon this will all be over and things will be different. And if once we shed tears of sorrow, we will then shed tears of joy.” After taking a video call from a senior Vente leader who remained in exile, Romero stepped out into the afternoon sunlight, celebrating the enthusiastic welcome his team had been afforded in an area where the opposition had long been shunned. “We’re convinced we’re going to completely break with 21st-century socialism,” he said, before his convoy wound its way out of La Dolorita, old weather-beaten propaganda murals paying tribute to Maduro’s fallen regime. Beneath one wall painting celebrating the dictator’s “good governance”, a scavenger in yellowing Nike trainers used a butter tray to shovel through a rubble-filled dumpster. Farther ahead was a homage to Maduro’s late mentor, Hugo Chávez, accompanied by a slogan given new meaning by the downfall of his heir. “La esperanza está en la calle,” it read. “Hope lies in the street”. Additional reporting by María de los Ángeles Graterol.

How a shortage of gas, engine oil and spare parts is grinding Gaza to a halt

Palestinians in Gaza already grappling with limited supplies of food and medicine face new threats to their day-to-day existence: shortages of engine oil, spare parts and gas. The knock-on effects are impacting everything from bread production to water supplies and emergency response efforts, producing one fresh crisis after another. Over the weekend, the main hospital in central Gaza warned of an imminent health disaster as its electrical generators failed. Dr Raed Hussein, director of the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, said: “We issued a distress call after a small generator that we depended on to support the operation of the surgery operating rooms during the morning stopped working. “This generator used to support the 400 kVA generator that operates in the morning hours. When it broke down, we could no longer run the surgical operating rooms as usual, and unfortunately we had to close them … the available electrical capacity was no longer sufficient to handle the required load.” The maintenance work being carried was only a temporary solution, he warned, as there was no availability of the materials needed for a full repair. “What is happening now is ‘patchwork’ maintenance, not real maintenance, because Gaza lacks the necessary spare parts,” he said. “Even previous repairs depended on dismantling old generators and using their parts to keep other generators running for a limited period.” Some generators are now permanently out of service while Hussein fears the arrival of higher summer temperatures will soon put those that remain under even greater pressure. Gaza’s civil defence, meanwhile, warned its fire and rescue operations are at risk of coming to a complete halt and that it is already only dealing with the most critical emergencies. It is also facing a lack of spare parts, specifically for vehicles, along with restrictions on the entry of firefighting and rescue equipment, fuel and engine oil. This has already led to the breakdown of three firefighting and rescue vehicles, as well as two ambulances. Engine oil – used for lubrication to reduce the wear in moving parts – may seem like a minor item, but its shortage is deepening the series of crises in Gaza. One litre now costs about 2,200 shekels (£570), compared with roughly 25 shekels before the war. Despite its extremely high price, most of the available oil is old stock and often of poor quality. Tyres and spare parts are also a problem and one small sealing component that used to cost between seven and 12 shekels is now sold for hundreds. A cylinder head gasket, if it’s possible to find one, has increased in price from 120 to about 2,000 shekels. “The nature of our work has changed significantly in recent months because of the severe shortage of engine oil and spare parts,” said Rafiq Hamouda, 52, who repairs engines and vehicles in the al-Mawasi area of Deir al-Balah. “Today we have seven cars that we have fully repaired, but they remain out of service simply because there is no engine oil available to run them.” To cope with the shortage, Hamouda said he has started dismantling entire vehicles to use their parts in repairing others. “We have dismantled around six vehicles that were still relatively functional and used their engines, gearboxes and other components to save other vehicles. It has become like trying to keep a patient alive on life support.” Large numbers of cars have already stopped operating due to the scarcity of engine oil, or have been abandoned near their homes or tents by their owners who can no longer afford them, with huge impacts on the transportation available to Palestinians in Gaza. The deaths of many animals previously used for transportation from war and famine has added yet another challenge. “The transportation crisis has had a major impact on our lives, especially because of my husband’s health condition,” said Heba Qahman, 36, a displaced mother-of-five living in Deir al-Balah. “About two months ago, he was injured in a traffic accident and suffered fractures in his leg. He underwent several surgeries and now needs regular medical follow up. “The hospital is several kilometres away from where we live. I often have to push my husband in a wheelchair all the way there while carrying my baby. Sometimes, it takes me nearly an hour to reach the hospital, which is exhausting for both of us.” Meanwhile, with Israel controlling 60% of Gaza and dividing the territory along its “yellow line”, many residents can no longer access their homes, belongings or businesses to retrieve furniture and personal possessions. It has deepened the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, which has killed about 70,000 Palestinians, displaced more than 1.5 million people and destroyed over 80% of buildings and homes across Gaza. A report last week from Unicef, the United Nations’ children’s agency, also found that Gaza’s water and sanitation sector had been affected by the shortage of spare parts and engine oil. It said essential water systems continued to face severe pressure because of restrictions on energy supplies, chemicals and spare parts. Seawater desalination plants are producing about 16,000 cubic meters of water a day, compared with 20,000 in March, reducing water production and related services. It has contributed to growing health and living challenges, especially with rising temperatures and the increased need for bathing and maintaining personal hygiene, particularly among children. “The shortage of drinking water and the reduced water supply in camps and residential areas have forced us to cut water use for personal hygiene, washing clothes and cleaning household items,” said Walaa Sarsour, 46, from Beit Lahiya. “Water now reaches us only about once every two days and in limited quantities, whereas it was more available before.” The impact of the shortage of engine oil and spare parts is also being felt in bakeries and generators that provide electricity to businesses through monthly subscriptions. “Some generators have stopped working, while other bakeries have reduced production because they no longer have enough oil to operate their generators,” said Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of Gaza’s Bakery Owners Association. “Some bakeries that used to produce pastries, fine bread and other products have stopped making them because they have run out of engine oil and cannot afford it at these prices.” He warned that any disruption in bakery operations would directly affect residents. “If bakeries stop operating, families will struggle to obtain bread and will have to bake on their own using firewood or gas. But gas itself is unavailable, and firewood has become scarce due to heavy consumption. This will only increase suffering of families.” Israeli restrictions on fuel imports since the beginning of the war in October 2023 have already forced families and displaced people to rely on firewood. But prices have risen sharply, reaching nearly $3 a kilogram, and now many families use plastic and nylon as fuel for cooking. “The gas crisis is one of the hardest crises we have faced in these months. We now depend on open fires for cooking, which is extremely difficult, especially with the shortage of water and the harsh living conditions,” said Qahman, the displaced mother-of-five. “Because we cannot afford to buy firewood regularly, we have had to look for alternatives, including collecting burnable waste from the streets.” As prices of many essential goods continue to rise and supplies become scarce, people are increasingly searching for alternatives. A simple gas lighter now costs more than 30 shekels, while a toilet seat can cost about 2,000 shekels. “We have tried to find alternatives for everything that has become unavailable or rare,” said Sarsour. “We have also been forced to give up some non-essential needs and focus only on the most necessary priorities.”

Friday briefing: How Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have found themselves caught in an escalation without end

Good morning. It’s been another week of brinkmanship via Truth Social and ceasefires broken before they’ve been announced. While US president Donald Trump claims an agreement with Iran could happen soon, for those living in the Middle East it does not feel like peace is anywhere near. People have seen more bombs dropped in Lebanon this week; and the death toll continues to rise, national economies falter, and displacement abounds. For those in the region, it means that having your bag packed, ready to flee by bus, car or even on foot to a safer place – maybe for a few days, perhaps indefinitely – has become a fact of life. Emma Graham-Harrison spent over a decade reporting from Kabul, Beijing and Madrid before basing herself in Jerusalem last May as our chief Middle East correspondent. I spoke to her as she waited to board her flight to Zurich, where she’s been nominated for an award for her reporting from Gaza. We talked about what it’s like for people living in a region that faces constant instability while the world watches on, and other times looks away. But first, the headlines. Five big stories UK politics | Andy Burnham has signalled he would begin transforming the broken social care system this year if he became prime minister, he has said in an interview with the Guardian, accusing Westminster of “flinching away” from tackling difficult policy problems. Environment | Humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality and keep global heating within a 2C rise, according to a sweeping vision for planetary survival. Ukraine | The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. England news | The poorest and most nature-deprived communities in England will be further left behind in their access to green spaces if proposed changes to planning laws go ahead, a report finds. UK news | Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received private income from subletting three cottages on his Windsor Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent” to the crown estate, a report into royal property arrangements has revealed. In depth: ‘This is not a ceasefire. It’s a never-ending auction over our lives and our blood’ As the week draws to a close, Donald Trump has insisted once again Iran is “pretty close” to signing a peace agreement with the US, which would see the strait of Hormuz, the narrow maritime passage through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes, reopen. But many would be forgiven for thinking it doesn’t feel like peace is coming. This week saw Israel make its deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than 26 years, with Israeli strikes killing at least nine people, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes in the south of the country. The strikes complicated diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran. On Thursday, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military will continue its ground operations there, just hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a US-backed ceasefire to end hostilities. Later the leader of Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire too, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. It’s a territorial escalation for sure, says Emma, which has delighted far-right elements in Netanyahu’s coalition government, who have called for the annexation of southern Lebanon, as well as Gaza and the West Bank. But while Trump is scaling back, aware of the war’s unpopularity domestically and the impact of rising inflation and oil prices, analysts inside Israel believe Netanyahu is now seeking to broaden the conflict for his own strategic ends. *** Does Israel desire a broader conflict? “This war began looking incredibly impressive for the US and Israel,” Emma tells me – but in her view, the totally predictable blocking of the strait of Hormuz has stalled it – leaving little indication of what success might look like. Emma says: “Many Israelis believe the election will be a test of whether Netanyahu can convince voters that he has achieved security gains since 7 October 2023, [when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and injured many more] that outweigh the failings that left so many Israelis vulnerable to Hamas attacks on that day.” Since the start of the war in Iran, thousands of Israelis have been injured and 23 have been killed in missile strikes from Iran and Lebanon, figures up to April from Israel’s ambulance service say. Even at the start of the war, Emma wrote about how senior Israeli defence figures believed it was wishful thinking that Israel and the US could achieve regime change in Iran. With that ostensible goal never likely to be achieved, whether Iran held on to its enriched uranium stores would be the true measure of whether the war was a success or failure. “Now the war is in stalemate, and the thing that was most critical for Israel, the nuclear proliferation programme, doesn’t seem to be on the table in negotiations. It looks very much like it’s going to be a failure,” says Emma. But what could be on Netanyahu’s mind are the upcoming elections in Israel’s Knesset, which my First Edition colleague Michael Segalov explained in great detail a few weeks ago. “In that context returning to war in Lebanon – and Gaza – is absolutely a political and electoral strategy,” she adds. *** An ongoing catastrophe in Gaza and global disinterest Despite a US-brokered “ceasefire” coming into force last October, Emma explains that over 900 people have been killed in Gaza by continued Israeli bombardment since then. And over one in 10 of the 2.3 million prewar population have been killed or injured since Israel began its war on Gaza, devastating the strip in what a UN commission has declared a genocide. Now those who remain are crammed on to a sliver of land along the coast, which we can see on the map above, while Israeli troops push back the agreed “yellow line” in order to seize even more territory. “Israel controls at least 60% of Gaza, which is now a wasteland. They’ve demolished almost everything in the area and almost no Palestinians can live there,” says Emma. “Part of the so-called ceasefire deal was supposed to be a lot more aid going in, but there still isn’t enough. There are severe shortages of clean water, medical supplies, food. A lot of people are still going hungry.” Israel, which has repeatedly weaponised access to food and other basic supplies, says sufficient aid reaches Gaza. Last summer a bar on food shipments caused a famine. “It’s an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe,” says Emma. “That’s in addition to the combat actions killing on average over 100 people each month, which in most parts of the world would be considered an active war zone.” Yet there is little interest from the White House, despite Trump’s well-rehearsed obsession with winning the Nobel peace prize. “[Special envoy] Steve Witkoff and [Trump’s son-in-law] Jared Kushner have reportedly been taken off Gaza to focus on Iran because its more of a priority for Trump. It’s unpopular at home, and has had a damaging effect on the cost of living in the US,” says Emma. EU leaders are expected to rebuke Netanyahu for his continued expansion in Gaza and Lebanon at a forthcoming Brussels summit but, says Emma, he has a long history of shaking off criticism, and the EU has yet to use any of its considerable economic and political leverage – it is Israel’s biggest trading partner. The situation in Gaza does not seem to be a priority for governments around the world which are more concerned about the impact of the war in Iran on higher oil prices and inflation. “We see plenty of condemnation but very little practical steps that mean an improvement for people in Gaza who are living in this terrible limbo.” *** Living day to day in Iran and Lebanon Indeed, people are living in limbo across the region, says Emma. “Undeniably many Iranians really hate their government – we saw that in January, then they came out in protest and were killed in very large numbers trying to get rid of it,” But that doesn’t mean they have faith that the war will bring about a better alternative. “Equally, they don’t believe – and history provides plenty of evidence for this – that liberation is going to come through a western bombing campaign.” Iranians need only recall the decades-long conflict and political turmoil prompted by the US-led coalition’s disastrous invasion of neighbouring Iraq. “If you’re in Tehran, particularly if you’re anti-government, you’ve probably lost friends in January, you’re living under some bombardment, which is pretty terrifying because there aren’t air raid shelters, and you’re staring down more war, or at the worst, collapse into a failed state,” says Emma. “You can see why people are very worried and very frightened.” Iranians have told the Guardian they feel abandoned by foreign powers, enduring the fallout out of the war, which has damaged an already faltering economy and strengthened the oppressive regime. “I feel humiliated,” Amir, a business owner from Mashhad, told one of our reporters recently. He had once desperately hoped for US intervention, but he now finds himself questioning that. “This is not a ceasefire. It’s a never-ending auction between the US and the Islamic Republic over our lives and our blood.” The situation is similar in Lebanon, Emma tells me. “Large sections of the population do not support Hezbollah. But Israel is bombing Beirut, occupying the south and demolishing whole villages, which Human Rights groups say should be investigated as war crimes; there’s no belief that this is going to bring them freedom or prosperity.” Alongside the immediate threat to personal safety, there’s the economic impact – which always hits women, minorities and poorer people the hardest – as well as the psychological drag of uncertainty. “In Lebanon, there’s the difficulty of planning summer visits for families when international travel shuts down. And obviously, hanging over them, are generational memories of the horrors of the civil war in the 80s, and the 2006 war with Israel.” *** Will elections bring about any meaningful change? With upcoming elections in the US and Israel, some may be tempted to look for a glimmer of hope in the months ahead. Emma fears that might be misplaced. Israel’s leading opposition contender does not seem to differ meaningfully from Netanyahu politically; meanwhile, it is hard to predict how Trump will react to the midterms – whether they offer humiliation or celebration for him. What is known is the impact on the people who have to live through this day to day, with a bag packed. Emma says that across Lebanon, Iran and Gaza, many people are asking the same question: why western democracies are allowing Israel to trample over international law that protects civilians. “And particularly when it comes to European countries, why they are so vocal and committed about holding Russia to account for targeting civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, but are almost silent about similar violations when they are the targets.” We want to hear from you Yesterday I was at the opening night of the Design and Disability exhibition at V&A Dundee, and I’d like to hear from you about your experiences of in/accessible spaces before I write about it next week. To get in touch hit reply or email first.edition@theguardian.com What else we’ve been reading From Argentina’s Messi to Cape Verde’s Laros Duarte, our sports desk have made an amazing guide to all 1,248 players at the 2026 World Cup. Patrick I‘m a huge admirer of Dave Grimstead, whose entirely volunteer-run cold case unit, takes the time and persistence to unravel the stories of lost and missing people and, crucially, to support their families too. Libby The one and only Alexis Petridis has reflected on 50 years of punk on the half century anniversary of the first ever Sex Pistols gig. Patrick This manifesto for an equal, sustainable world, from the likes of Thomas Pinketty and Cornelia Mohren, is an infusion of optimism. Libby And, as World Cup fever takes hold, Michael Hann ranks the top 20 songs about football. Patrick Sport Tennis | Poland’s Maja Chwalinska became the first qualifier to play in a French Open final after defeating the No 25 seed, Diana Shnaider. Cricket | Ollie Robinson admitted that just a few months ago he “thought I was never playing for England again” after he produced an extraordinary comeback performance on the first day of the Test summer. Football | Khaldoon al-Mubarak has revealed Pep Guardiola “quit 100 times” as Manchester City manager, with the chair comparing the empty threats to The Boy Who Cried Wolf, one of Aesop’s Fables. The front pages “Burnham: I won’t flinch from need to fix the broken social care system”, is the Guardian’s top story today. The Times has “Andrew cashed in with Windsor cottage sub-lets”, a story also featured by the Telegraph, which writes “Andrew cashed in with secret rent deals”, while the Mirror’s take is “What a cheek”. The Mail says “Beatrice and Eugenie have lived at Palaces rent-free for years”. Elsewhere, the FT has “AI revenues must surge 100-fold for SpaceX to achieve $1.78tn valuation”. The i Paper runs with “Revealed: King’s private concerns over Trump state visit to UK”, the Express says “Kate shares in mum’s joy” and Metro has “Fifa sucking fans dry”. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Film Savage House | ★★★☆☆ Black-belt performances from Claire Foy and Richard E Grant put some vim and vigour into this haranguingly one-note and unidirectional period romp of the raucously bewigged and be-poxed 18th century. It’s written and directed by American film-maker Peter Glanz, who gives us candlelit interiors like a knockoff Barry Lyndon, and periodic deafening orchestral stabs with a touch of Amadeus, as furious people in costume storm down corridors. Grant and Foy play Sir Chauncey and Lady Savage, who are living in a vast crumbling country estate. It’s all a bit strenuous but Foy and Grant are such class acts that they make this watchable. Peter Bradshaw Music Lizzo: Bitch | ★★☆☆☆ Bitch, Lizzo’s fifth album, lands at a deeply peculiar juncture in her career. Given that the public apparently don’t want her going rock, nor rapping in the style of her 2013 debut Lizzobangers, nor indeed making the kind of music they were buying in their millions three years ago, the question of what they actually do want has presumably hung heavy over its making. Lizzo hasn’t come up with a definitive answer. Bitch tries a bit of everything, this scatter-gun approach makes it a disjointed listen. There’s something oddly subdued about its tone and the lyrics often seem equivocal. What’s definitely lacking is a pop smash, the kind of thing that Lizzo once seemed to be able to write to order. Alexis Petridis TV Cape Fear | ★★★★★ Welcome to the latest screen incarnation of John D MacDonald’s taut psychological thriller, published in 1957 as The Executioners and now adapted for the third time under the title Cape Fear. Nick Antosca’s 10-part series matches our new sophistications and probes every single modern weakness, fear and pressure point. It is a wild ride. The new Cape Fear stars Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson as lawyers Anna and Tom Bowden and Javier Bardem having the absolute time of his life as Max Cady. It is a masterclass in tension, in taking things right to the edge of credulity and it never forgets the power of the jump scare. Lucy Mangan Books Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam Sufiyaan Salam’s high-octane debut novel is written largely in gen Z lowercase – and you’re in for a ride. The Boyz are British Pakistani friends in their early 20s. The eponymous Wimmy Road reflects the deteriorating mood of the characters. Violence simmers, then overflows. Nothing about Wimmy Road Boyz is subtle: Salam lays his cards on the table. But despite the foreshadowing work, when he finally hits the brakes on the narrative, the effect is immediate, a raw shock. A literary performance like no other, this coming-of-age meets state-of-the-nation novel tears through Britain’s social fabric to examine toxic masculinity, community and youth culture. Sana Goyal Today in Focus: The Latest Is the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire over before it began? Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities as the US attempts to overcome one of the largest barriers to reaching a broader deal to end the war with Iran. But the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is dependent on a complete halt of fire from Hezbollah, and the evacuation of all its fighters in southern Lebanon. Lucy Hough speaks to Beirut-based reporter William Christou. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad The Guardian’s Alternatives series has been brilliant at showing us all another way to live. This time, Chloé Farand is writing about an alternative to fossil fuel based fertilisers that are made using recycled urine. With swathes of the world’s chemical fertiliser supplies clogged up in the strait of Hormuz, VunaNexus, the Swiss startup behind the technology, is betting that this can be a solution in a fossil fuel-free world. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

‘Extremely intelligent’ Japanese bear that attacked four people still at large, police say

Police and hunters in Fukushima, Japan were searching for an “extremely intelligent” bear which, after attacking four people, apparently evaded capture by unlocking a window from the inside. The one-metre-long bear was seen drinking from a tap and showed no reaction when struck by a tranquilliser dart. On Wednesday, the bear was filmed on CCTV chasing and then mauling an employee in a company car park before being chased off by a quick-thinking passerby who drove their car at the animal. Unfortunately, the animal escaped by running inside the office building where it attacked another man, before taking flight again. After injuring two more people, the bear entered an electronics factory, where workers saw it using its paws to turn on a tap. Local officials set four traps at the entrance to the factory and deployed trained personnel with tranquilliser guns. A police officer on watch saw the bear climb over a gate just before 11pm on Wednesday evening. After searching the factory, it was discovered that the bear had apparently escaped by unlatching and opening a locked window. Media reports showed images of scratch marks around the lock. In response to the rise in bear attacks on humans, Japan’s ultra-strict gun laws were recently amended to allow for the discharge of firearms in residential areas in emergency situations. But regular guns were not deployed in this case because there were flammable materials at the factory. At an emergency press conference on Thursday, Fukushima City officials said the bear had been shot with a tranquilliser dart, but it was unclear why the anaesthetic had not taken effect. “This bear was seen turning on a faucet to drink water and appeared capable of opening a locked window by itself,” said Yuki Baba, the city mayor. “I believe it was an extremely intelligent bear.” An expanded search was launched involving local government officers, police, hunters and drones, but the bear is still on the loose on Friday. “The bear was in an agitated state, creating an extremely difficult situation where we had to proceed with caution while monitoring its condition. The city will continue to work in coordination with relevant agencies and do our utmost to ensure safety,” Baba said. Local schools were closed on Thursday but reopened on Friday. The headteacher of the local elementary school said it was taking extra precautions and locking all the ground floor doors and windows. In the year to March, bears killed a record 13 people in Japan, with the 238 serious attacks also an all-time high. Factors including rural depopulation and fluctuations in bears’ food supplies due to climate change are believed to be driving the increase in encounters with humans.

EU summit with western Balkan leaders to reaffirm membership prospects

European leaders will seek to show six western Balkan countries that they have a real chance of joining the EU one day, despite splits over how to handle enlargement of the 27-member bloc. Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen are among more than 30 leaders expected to gather in the Montenegrin coastal resort of Tivat on Friday for summit talks. The focus will be on integrating the six Balkan countries – among them Montenegro and Albania – more deeply into the EU single market, paving the way for them to join the bloc. “The commitment of the European Union to the western Balkans is real. As real as the opportunity for enlargement,” said the European Council president, António Costa, earlier this week in Sarajevo. Costa described EU enlargement, as Russia and China vie for influence in the region, as a “geostrategic interest for Europe” and an “investment in the peace, stability and security of our continent”. The summit comes after Hungary’s new government dropped its veto over Ukraine moving to the next stage of EU talks, a step hailed as a milestone by insiders. Péter Magyar’s decision on Wednesday enables Ukraine and Moldova to open negotiations later this month on the first chapters of the EU rulebook, the section dedicated to the rule of law and democratic standards. The two eastern European countries were fast-tracked to EU candidate status after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. But EU institutions are anxious to show six western Balkan countries they are not in the slow lane. Montenegro, which hopes to become the EU’s 28th state by 2028, is the most advanced in its membership quest, prompting existing members to put safeguards on new joiners. The Guardian reported earlier this month that new member states could be denied veto rights for several years, to prevent a repeat of the experience with the Russia-friendly former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who repeatedly blocked EU decisions. Albania is seen by Brussels as the next country likely to join, although some EU governments harbour doubts about its progress in tackling organised crime. The hopes, meanwhile, of North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are clouded by internal and external political disputes. Serbia is perceived as drifting away from the EU under its autocratic president, Alexander Vučić, who has cracked down on anti-government protesters and refused to align with European sanctions against Russia. Faruk Bašić, a researcher at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, said the region was no longer peripheral for the EU but a strategic priority. “The war in Ukraine has singlehandedly reframed what European enlargement is meant to be and what it is for.” While the EU’s traditional enlargement logic was that “you align with EU values and principles and you eventually join”, Bašić said, Ukraine’s candidacy – granted within four months in 2022 – showed “real geopolitical urgency that we haven’t seen before”. EU leaders are at odds over when and how Ukraine should join. A German proposal for Ukraine to gain associate membership – essentially, representation in EU institutions without voting rights, as a step to fully joining – has gone down badly in Kyiv and some EU countries. Berlin thinks the associate membership plan – presented in a letter by Merz to von der Leyen and Costa – is an unprecedented and generous offer that will accelerate Ukraine’s path to EU accession, in the face of unspoken reluctance from some member states, notably France. Despite these assurances, some EU member states have doubts. One senior EU diplomat said the German proposals on associate membership were a “substitute” for Ukraine joining the EU that would make it “almost impossible” for that to happen. “It will decrease the will to move forward and find the solutions,” the person said. While Ukraine’s path to EU membership is seen as unique because of its status as a country at war and colossal needs for postwar recovery finance, its treatment is likely to affect the western Balkans. One EU official said “people underestimate the progress being made”, citing the first meeting of a technical group tasked with drafting Montenegro’s accession treaty last month. “This is actually something extremely real, which starts a clock ticking for the next accession of the European Union.” Sources also cautioned against expecting further big announcements on membership talks on Friday, suggesting the focus would be on how the EU could make a tangible difference to people’s lives in the region. Before the summit, the EU council rubber-stamped a decision to begin talks on dropping mobile roaming charges in the western Balkans. The abolition of the charges, often presented as an EU success story, would be extended to western Balkan states pending their take-up of relevant EU law and further negotiations. While no launch date for the policy is fixed, it would give European citizens reciprocal benefits to make calls, texts and use data without facing extra charges while travelling in the European Economic Area or the six western Balkan countries. The “roam like at home” plan is part of a wider strategy of gradually integrating the western Balkans into the EU single market. Several Balkan countries, for instance, have joined schemes under the single euro payments area, which harmonises electronic payments, enabling consumers to use just one account and card when making payments in euros.

Divine intervention: why Pope Leo visit could be a godsend for Pedro Sánchez

While Pope Leo XIV isn’t due to touch down in Madrid until 10.30am on Saturday, his presence in the Spanish capital is already verging on the ubiquitous. The smiling, avuncular face of the first US pontiff greets visitors from posters, from the sides of buses, from commemorative travel cards and even from the digital screens on the metro system, where it flickers up between adverts for sun cream and banking deals. In the Plaza de Cibeles, in front of the wedding-cake palace that serves as the seat of Madrid city council, the huge stage from which Leo will say mass on Sunday in front of as many as 1 million worshippers is taking shape. The Paseo del Prado, which runs off Cibeles and down to the eponymous museum, is hung with banners welcoming the pope and urging the faithful to heed Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John and “alzad la mirada”, or “lift up your eyes”. For a country that is not the Roman Catholic redoubt it was 50 – or even 20 – years ago, there is palpable excitement over the first papal visit since Benedict XVI came to Spain in 2011. Back then, 71.7% of Spaniards described themselves as Catholics; today, that figure has slumped to 56.1%, with only 18.3% of them practising. Still, Leo may take heart from a survey that found that the number of young people aged 15-29 who identify as Catholics rose from 31.6% in 2020 to 45% last year. He will also find a land far more politically polarised than it was 15 years ago. Issues such as housing, immigration, public services and a seemingly never-ending slew of political corruption allegations have created a febrile – some would say feral – political mood. The seven-day itinerary for Leo’s first visit to an EU country outside Italy, which takes in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, is a carefully curated mix of the official, the pastoral and the personal. As well as the protocol meetings with King Felipe, Queen Letizia and the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez – and the inauguration of the Jesus Christ tower of the basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona – the pontiff will spend time with homeless people, migrants and the professionals and volunteers who work with them. On Thursday, he will visit the port of Arguineguín on the island of Gran Canaria to speak to some of the people who have risked their lives on the perilous Atlantic migration route from Africa to Europe. Leo’s determination to highlight the plight of migrants and asylum seekers – at least 1,172 of whom died en route to the Canaries last year – will not go unremarked in Spain or beyond. The pope’s commitment to the basic human rights of migrants has led him to criticise the Trump administration, over what he has termed its “extremely disrespectful” treatment of foreigners in the US. That stance has also brought him into alignment with the policies of Sánchez’s socialist-led government, which has bucked European political trends by defending the economic and social benefits of migration, and which is now regularising the status of at least 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. After a meeting at the Vatican last month, the prime minister praised the pontiff for being a “moral compass in the fight against injustice’” and said they shared “a humanist vision of migration”. Such talk does not go down well with the far-right Vox party, which opposes the regularisation programme and its endorsement by the Spanish bishops’ conference. In July last year, Vox floated the idea of deporting up to 8 million people of foreign origin – including the children of immigrants – arguing that “it’s very difficult for them to get used to our customs”. The party later backtracked on the “remigration” plan. Vox’s leader, Santiago Abascal, recently took exception when the bishop of the Canaries diocese suggested that looking after migrants was a basic Christian, and human, duty – and that anyone who believed otherwise would do well to spend five days without food on a small boat. Abascal hit back by claiming that the bishops were out of touch and urging them to “leave their palaces and go out to see the consequences that illegal immigration has for Spaniards when it comes to healthcare, safety, salaries and taxes”. He later said that while his party respected the bishops’ conference – which he described as “a very important alliance within Spanish society” – he would probably not endorse the pope’s address to congress on Monday. “Look, if a religious leader – whether it’s the Dalai Lama, the pope or a rabbi … tells us that we have to accept a process of massive immigration and an advance of Islamism within society, then we’re going to say no,” he said in an interview last week. Vox’s lukewarm reaction to the papal visit is significant. Its “Spaniards first” policies are having a big influence on the conservative People’s party (PP), which is forecast to win next year’s general election, but to fall short of a majority, leaving it dependent on the support of Abascal’s MPs. Vox has recently re-entered three regional coalition governments with the PP after convincing the conservatives to adopt its “national priority” policy, which would favour Spaniards over foreign-born people when it comes to housing and benefits. Although the prime minister once described himself as “an atheist, plain and simple”, the timing of the pontiff’s visit could prove something of a godsend. Spain’s international profile is arguably higher than ever – thanks largely to Sánchez’s pro-immigration stance, his repeated criticisms of Israel’s war in Gaza and his stinging rebukes of Trump’s attacks on Iran. Leo’s presence will boost that profile further. A full-page advert in Tuesday’s Guardian, taken out by Spain’s tourist board, showed a picture of the Sagrada Familia with the caption: “We build peace. Good things are happening in Spain.” There are also more immediate political dividends. Not only will the pope’s visit reinforce Sánchez’s pro-immigration policies and put the PP in an awkward spot because of its growing proximity to Vox, it may also drag the spotlight away from the mounting corruption allegations facing his family, his party and his administration. The prime minister’s brother, David Sánchez, is on trial for alleged influence-peddling and misuse of public office while his wife, Begoña Gómez, has been charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds, and is due to appear before a judge on Tuesday 9 June. Both David Sánchez and Gómez deny any wrongdoing – as does the prime minister’s socialist predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was recently placed under investigation for alleged influence peddling and other offences. Police are also investigating allegations that a team inside the socialist party acted to thwart police and judicial investigations that threatened the interests of the party or the government. But for the next few days, at least, attention is likely to be blessedly focused on the words and deeds of a 70-year-old American visitor whose purview extends far beyond the temporal.

‘You can stop your war’: Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin – in full

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an open letter to the Vladimir Putin, has called for a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president to end his war against Ukraine. The letter sets out Zelenskyy’s view of the four-year-old conflict and says that while Ukrainians’ resilience remains intact, most Russians have grown weary of its effects and are ready for peace. The Ukrainian president has rarely addressed Putin directly, but has repeatedly called for a meeting with him, saying it is necessary for any agreement on territory. Putin has previously ruled out such direct talks, falsely calling Zelenskyy an “illegitimate” leader and saying he would meet him only to finalise a deal agreed beforehand. Here is the full text of Zelenskyy’s letter, which is published on the president’s website and his office says has been sent to other countries including the US. 4 June 2026 – 21:20 Open Letter To the President of the Russian Federation From the President of Ukraine When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That is how it was. But that is now in the past. Now, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kilometres. As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities. For 26 years, your time in power has completely changed the agenda of relations between Ukraine and Russia. From discussions about trade and other civilian matters, our nations have moved to talking almost exclusively about strikes and losses. You have spent nearly half of your 26 years in power in Russia waging war against Ukraine. Whatever you may say about Nato, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice – a war without a real cause. That is how history will remember it. Those years could have been very different. We often hear that you are comfortable with this war. Of course, not in those cases when it comes to the security of your residence in Valdai or your parade in Moscow. Your own life is valuable to you. But now we can all see that Russians are finally becoming less comfortable with this reality – with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negative consequences to Russia. They do not like our drones and missiles. They do not like gasoline shortages and constantly rising prices. They do not like constant restrictions. They do not like your intention to launch a second wave of mobilisation in order to expand the war into another direction in Ukraine or to use it against other countries neighbouring Russia. They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war. Yes, you can still force Russians to exist this way. But your resources are shrinking significantly. You will not have enough money or political capital to keep buying the loyalty of Russians the way you have for the past 26 years. And we will do everything we can to ensure that the world helps bring that moment closer. As you yourself like to say, “we need to run the numbers.” Yesterday, I received a report on the losses of your army on the front in Ukraine during May. Once again, the number exceeded 30,000 Russian soldiers killed and seriously wounded. We have been maintaining that level month after month, and we have video confirmation of every one of your losses – these are not empty claims. We know that 63% of your battlefield losses are killed, while only 37% are wounded. In the 21st century, no army can afford such a ratio. And the share of those killed will continue to grow. It is not as if we in Ukraine are concerned about the fate of Russian soldiers after everything your war has brought to our country. But I do care about Ukrainians. We are losing our people, and every loss is painful to us. Even when the ratio of Ukrainian losses to Russian losses is one to five or one to six, it still matters greatly. It also matters that you regularly postpone, every few months, your own deadlines for capturing our regions – especially the Donetsk region. And you will not capture it this year either. But we in Ukraine do not want a permanent war. We know very well that life without war is infinitely better. And we want to achieve that. I am convinced that the majority of Russians would respond positively to this as well – and you know it. Many did not believe that Ukraine would be able to hold out for so long. You did not believe it. And those who advised you did not believe it either. That was a mistake. You did not expect full-scale resistance from Ukraine, and you did not foresee that things would go this far. Yet here we all are – in the fifth year of this full-scale war. Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war. That is the main thing that is required of you now. Ukraine has preserved its independence. And it will preserve it. Despite all predictions to the contrary. We have united many around the world to stand with Ukraine and against you. We found the weapons and the financing we needed. We receive support. You receive sanctions. And this will continue until there is justice for Ukraine – the justice we seek and the justice that can be achieved. We will not allow those who are trying to convince you that sanctions against Russia will be significantly eased, and that support for Ukraine will be significantly reduced, without any meaningful change in your position toward Ukraine, to succeed. The example of Orban shows how those who choose to help Russia in its war against us end in disgrace. Ukraine has endured harsh winters while you tried to destroy our energy system. We held firm – and even in darkness, the resilience of Ukrainians remained intact. We brought the war on to your territory, and you would not have been able to cope with it without North Korea’s help. You are the first ruler of Russia to turn to Pyongyang for assistance. And today you are fully dependent on China – also for the first time in Russia’s history. You believed Ukrainians would not have the strength to defend themselves. Yet today, our people are helping our partners in the Middle East and the Gulf build their own defences. You hoped for internal unrest in Ukraine. Instead, it was your own military formations that staged a mutiny against you. June 23 will mark another anniversary of that event, and silence will not erase this fact from history. And now it is you whom your own officials, businessmen, and propagandists look at with obvious fatigue. The world can see it. The world has not grown tired of Ukraine, as you long hoped it would. But there is growing fatigue with Russia – even among those in the wider world who help you bypass sanctions and keep your economy afloat. You cannot fail to notice it. After 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll. And with time, the fatigue with you will only grow. We have seen intelligence reports showing that you are now considering plans to continue the war into 2027 and 2028. We also know that you hope ballistic missiles will achieve for you what everything else has failed to achieve. You want to draw Belarus even deeper into this war, and we are now forced to prepare for that as well. We see that you are trying to orchestrate something around Transnistria. Your propagandists threaten, in one way or another, every country neighbouring Russia. Do you really want to go through all of this? The choice is yours now. Enough of war. Ukraine proposes to end this war. This must be done honestly, with dignity, and with guarantees that the war will not be reignited. We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the centre of its attention. Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us – and you. I am proposing a meeting. Everyone heard your representatives, smiling, say that I could supposedly come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, there is nothing for a Ukrainian leader to do in your capital – just as there is nothing for a Russian leader to do in Kyiv. There are countries that have traditionally hosted leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Türkiye, the countries of the Arab world – many are able and willing to host such a meeting. It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be. I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting. We have heard that you were promised in Alaska the resolution of certain issues concerning Ukraine and Europe. But you can see for yourself that Ukrainian and European issues are not decided in Anchorage. Other agreed participants could join the bilateral track to be established between us. Since the war is taking place in Europe, and since Ukraine needs security guarantees, while you also seek security guarantees for yourself, it would be logical to involve those who can genuinely serve as guarantors. We believe Europe should be part of this process – those who truly have the capacity to influence the situation. We also believe that the United States must be part of the process. This is what could help shape a new security architecture for our part of the world. We’ve already experienced many agreements with Russia, including the Minsk agreements, that ultimately failed. That is why we must first find direct answers between us to the questions that remain, and not hide from difficult issues behind formulas, technical working groups, or endless time lost in shuttle diplomacy. Your war has permanently set Ukraine and Russia apart. The frontline today is the line from which diplomacy must begin. Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current developments around Iran only reinforce that point. An attempt to establish real silence is the best way to begin talking to one another. We believe it would not simply be an attempt, but a real ceasefire – if that is what you want. You know that the United States has the capability to monitor a ceasefire along the line where hostilities stop. Ukraine is ready for an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war, and this could become a good prologue to ending the war. Serious steps must be taken to return civilians and children who were taken away during the war. We must determine what kind of future awaits the generations of Ukrainians and Russians who will come after us. If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence. We will have those who support us. But you, too, will have to fight much harder for your own existence – not Russia’s, but your own. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes. We can work toward that fatigue. You can stop your war. Eternal memory to all those whose lives were taken by this war. Glory to Ukraine!

Ukraine war briefing: Ukrainian men should be turned back from EU to fight, says Swedish minister

Temporary protection should be rolled back for Ukrainian men of military age wanting to shelter in Europe, while EU visas should also be refused to Russians coming for “shopping weekends and fancy trips”, Sweden’s migration minister, Johan Forssell, said on Thursday. EU ministers heard the proposals at a Luxembourg meeting. After Russia’s 2022 invasion, the EU activated a “temporary protection directive” granting residency, work and welfare rights to manage large-scale arrivals of displaced Ukrainians. “It is essential for us to provide Ukrainians with protection, but at the same time the war needs to be fought and won,” said Forssell. “For that to happen, it is essential that more men stay in Ukraine and fight.” Any restrictions should apply only to new arrivals seeking temporary protection status, not to those already covered by the scheme, he said. The European Commission would need to propose any extension or modification of the scheme, which must then be approved by EU countries. More than 4.33m people who have fled Ukraine currently receive protection under the directive, according to Eurostat data. Most are in Germany, followed by Poland and the Czech Republic. A group of member states has meanwhile demanded the EU make it harder for Russians to holiday in Europe. The issue was raised in a letter by Poland, Norway, the Baltic states and another nine members of the free-movement Schengen area at the Luxembourg meeting on Thursday. Despite wartime restrictions, more than 470,000 tourist Schengen visas were issued to Russian citizens in 2025, many multi-entry, according to the letter. “I want there to be no more shopping weekends. I want there to be no more fancy trips to Europe while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield,” said Sweden’s Forssell. “This situation is completely insane and it needs to be stopped.” According to Agence France-Presse, member states wrote: “It has been deeply troubling to witness increasing numbers of Russian tourists enjoying leisure travel on European beaches and in European resorts while missiles and drones continue to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Vladimir Putin. “It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be,” he wrote. “I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting.” Zelenskyy suggested Switzerland, Turkey or Arab states as possible hosts. Donald Trump, the US president, responded by saying “we had a lot to do with it” and both sides would need to agree to compromises that were his idea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wanted talks. Vladimir Putin said at his drone-affected St Petersburg economic event on Thursday that Trump had asked Russia to make some compromises for a Ukraine peace deal and Russia was ready to do so provided Ukraine did the same. Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks. “To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the strikes on his home town of St Petersburg. “Russia has an air defence system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.” Asked whether the war had become a strategic disaster for Moscow, Putin falsely claimed that “Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact”. Russian-controlled Crimea tightened its rationing of fuel supplies on Thursday as attacks by Kyiv have constricted supplies from adjoining Russian-controlled territory in south-east Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said on Thursday that it struck a Russian gunpowder factory in the Ryazan region. As a result of the strike, a fire covering an area of more than 400 sq m (4300 sq ft) broke out, said the Ukrainian general staff. The US House of Representatives has passed legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy. The 226-195 vote, which included 18 Republicans, is a sign of impatience with Trump and his approach of trying to appease and cajole Putin. It seeks to provide more than $1bn in security and reconstruction aid, and make another $8bn available for Ukraine’s defence through loans. Republican leaders objected to the bill, but supporters forced action by gathering 218 signatures on a discharge petition, which allows a majority of the House to bypass leadership and bring on a vote. Supporters know the Senate would also have to pass the bill, which is unlikely without Trump’s endorsement. The Senate has been dithering over its own bill that would impose sweeping tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state, told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday that there would be news “pretty soon” on $400m Congress has approved for Ukraine-related needs but which has been delayed at the defence department.