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‘You just gotta calm down’: Trump says he told Israel to agree ceasefire with Hezbollah – as it happened

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew their ceasefire at 4pm local time on Friday, multiple outlets reported, even as Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley continued, killing at least 47 people and wounding 97 others. Despite the reported ceasefire, the IDF said it would “carry on with its mission [in southern Lebanon] until ordered otherwise”. Donald ⁠Trump told NBC News ⁠in a phone ⁠interview that he spoke with Israel ⁠on Friday and asked them to ⁠agree to the ‌ceasefire ‌with Hezbollah. “You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,” the US president ‌was quoted as telling Israel. The flare-up in fighting saw talks that were due to take place on Friday between the US ⁠and Iran in Switzerland to implement the peace deal abruptly cancelled. It has caused new uncertainty about the timing of negotiations during the 60-day window that began two days ago, vital ‌to ensure the reopening of the critical strait of Hormuz to global shipping and restoring peace in the region. Here’s our story. A “comprehensive” ceasefire is a “fundamental pillar” for advancing negotiations with Israel in Washington next week, Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, told the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio. The next round ⁠of Israel-Lebanon talks will be ⁠held on 23–25 June ⁠in Washington, the US state ⁠department said on Friday. Trump will make a rare trip to Camp David this weekend, where he will hold policy and political meetings, a White House official told Reuters. It comes as the US president works to secure a final agreement to end his war against Iran and faces scrutiny ⁠over his provisional peace deal, which critics say grants Tehran too many concessions and fixes nothing for Trump other than problems his war caused. More on the trip here.

Macron calls for vigilance as western Europe faces second heatwave of year

More than half of France’s population is under a severe weather warning as large swathes of western Europe endure the second extreme heat event of the year, with temperatures expected to exceed 40C (104F). The French president called for “extreme vigilance”, urging people to “take care of our oldest and most vulnerable people” and follow government advice. “We are going through difficult days,” Emmanuel Macron said. A 30-year-old man died after going into cardiac arrest on an athletics track near Paris on Thursday as the temperature reached 37C. The rail operator SNCF cancelled 71 intercity trains, while schools rescheduled exams. Météo-France extended its ⁠orange heatwave alert to 60 of the country’s 96 mainland departments – home to about 41 million people – on Friday and Saturday, warning of a “widespread, prolonged and intense” heatwave. The national weather service said several more departments could be added over the weekend and that some alerts could be raised to red, the highest level. “In terms of duration and severity, this event could equal that of August 2003,” it said. The 2003 heatwave was France’s worst on record, with temperatures above 40C for nearly a fortnight. More than 14,800 people, most of them elderly care home residents, died, leading to a government heatwave planaimed at preventing a repeat. Although astronomical summer does not begin until Sunday, France is already experiencing its second extreme temperature event of 2026, after an unusually hot spell in May shattered local and national monthly temperature records. Météo-France said temperatures were likely to average 36C in the north-west and 39C in central and southern regions on Friday. After a slight dip on Saturday, they are forecast to rise to 40C in many regions, including Paris, early next week. With so much of the country affected, the agency said the national heat index, an average of day and night temperatures recorded at 30 weather stations nationwide, could approach a record high on Sunday and Monday. The power utility EDF has said four nuclear plants were likely to curb output next week because of unusually warm cooling water in the Rhône and Garonne rivers. Meanwhile, several municipalities have cancelled Sunday’s Fête de la Musique festivities. A spokesperson for Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet, said temperatures would reach 40C as the country entered “an episode of persistently high temperatures likely to meet the technical threshold for a heatwave”. Rubén del Campo said it was likely to exceed 35C across the Iberian peninsular and Balearic Islands, climbing to 40C in southern areas – including the Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys, as well as in eastern Cantabria and the Ebro valley in the north. The heatwave could persist until Wednesday or Thursday, after which temperatures are expected to fall. However, it could remain “very hot” across much of the country, with overnight lows remaining above 25C in many areas. Temperatures in south-west Germany are forecast to rise to 36C by the weekend, prompting authorities to issue heat warnings even at altitudes of 600 metres (2,000ft). The DWD weather service also forecast heavy thunderstorms and downpours. The agency advised people to avoid strenuous physical activity where possible, regardless of fitness level, and urged non-swimmers to take extra care after a series of drownings during hot spells. A hitzefrei (heat-free) day was declared for Friday, with lessons cut short and pupils sent home early as school buildings became uncomfortably hot.

The real reason a hantavirus disaster was averted | Letters

Devi Sridhar writes about some of the global public health responses to the outbreak of hantavirus centred on the MV Hondius, but her conclusions as to how the world avoided another global outbreak failed to recognise the real reason disaster was averted (Right now, we could be living through a hantavirus disaster. The world avoided that, and this is why, 15 June). The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) programme funded by the Foreign Office and managed by the UK Health Security Agency supports health services in all UKOTs around the globe. These are small and vulnerable communities with very limited medical services in most cases. The key success of this lean but effective programme lies in close communication and strengthening the health services. The astute doctor on Ascension Island recognised a cluster of cases on the MV Hondius when a sick passenger was brought ashore for treatment. Newly developed diagnostic equipment on the island was able to exclude common causes. We knew we were dealing with something unusual. Possible causes were reviewed during a meeting across continents between Ascension, the UKOT programme infection doctor, the ship company medical adviser and a colleague in the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, who tracked down samples from two cases medevaced to South Africa. The diagnosis of hantavirus was made. It was this that alerted the World Health Organization and national public health organisations, and averted disaster. Without this, the ship would have sailed on to Cape Verde. Passengers incubating hantavirus would have disembarked and travelled to their home countries. The outbreak would have been much wider. Dr Matthew Dryden Consultant in infection, UKOTs programme, UKHSA • The good fortune that was with the hantavirus cruise ship, discussed in the excellent article by Devi Sridhar, doesn’t necessarily apply to those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or neighbouring countries, like the Batwa pygmies, a highly vulnerable, marginalised and endangered group of people in Uganda currently fighting the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rare variant for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Until all people throughout the world have equal access to public health measures against novel infectious diseases, we will all be vulnerable to the next unexpected product of a world stressed by inequality and a privileged elite. Dr Brian Jones Yarcombe, Devon • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Italian PM Meloni says she was ‘astonished’ by Trump claims that she ‘begged’ him for a photo - as it happened

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today! European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are due to give a briefing after a two-day EU summit in Brussels. They are a bit late (15:50), but when they eventually come you will be able to watch it here. The leaders discussed the support for Ukraine, and the multiannual financial framework for the bloc (10:54, 10:54, 10:59, 16:25), among other things. Meanwhile, A new transatlantic drama is emerging in Italy, after US president Donald Trump told an Italian broadcaster that prime minister Giorgia Meloni “begged” him for a picture on the sidelines of the G7 summit earlier this week (13:03). The Italian PM said she was “astonished” by “completely made up” claims by Trump. Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani cancelled his planned trip to the US in response, with other senior Italian figures also expressing their outrage over Trump’s comments (13:34, 14:03, 14:51). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Hormuz disruption will continue until 80 mines blocking route are cleared

The centre of the strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said. Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran. However, shipping is not expected to return to normal for some time, even if a ceasefire lasted, because of the mines and other obstacles, underlining the continuing challenges facing global trade. “The main route … through the middle of the strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, the marine director at Intertanko, the tanker owners association. “The latest figure we had was that there’s 80 mines in the strait of Hormuz. It’s an enormous amount and it’s going to take some time to clear.” During the conflict Tehran laid mines in the centre of the strait in the traffic separation scheme, which has been in place between Iran and Oman since 1968, to restrict the movement of tankers and other vessels. About 20,000 seafarers were left stuck either side of the channel, although some ships managed to sneak through at night near the Omani coast with their transmitters off and with US assistance. Others paid to travel through Iranian waters in an arrangement nicknamed “Tehran’s tollbooth”. The shipping industry is keen to see a return to using the standard route, which before the conflict allowed about 130 ships a day to cross the strait, through which about 20% of global oil used to flow. “This is like a highway where the road in the middle is closed and you are using the hard shoulder,” said Belcher. “We need to get the highway open so we can get the volume of traffic through safely. One of the big issues we’ve got at the moment is the navigational risk, the risk of running aground on the rocks. It’s very close to the rocks on the southern route, the Omani route.” With high numbers of vessels trying to pass through narrow areas of the strait, the shipping industry is warning of the risk of collision. This risk is intensified by the “signal jamming” that Iran has reportedly carried out during the conflict, where electronic interference has prevented ships’ navigating and positioning systems from operating, leaving them effectively sailing blind. A collision, grounding or sinking could further disrupt global trade. Shipping companies still remember the disruption caused in 2021 when the container ship Ever Given blocked the Suez canal for a week. Almost 600 vessels are believed to still be in the Gulf, where they have been anchored since February, meaning the backlog will take time to clear. Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at the maritime data provider Lloyd’s List, said: “We are in uncharted territory. I don’t think [shipping in the strait] is getting back to normal this year.” The shipping industry is cautiously waiting to see whether the ceasefire in the strait will hold, after Israel and Hezbollah traded deadly strikes on Friday. The industry was already on high alert after the April ceasefire unravelled within hours of being announced. The MoU signed by the US and Iran this week should be “greeted with realism and extreme caution”, said Peter Sand, the chief analyst at the ocean and air freight analytics firm Xeneta. “Even if the ceasefire holds, around 10% of global container shipping capacity is impacted by the blockade and freight rates are spiralling across major trades. This scale of disruption and market volatility cannot be reversed overnight.” Further concerns remain over Iran saying it plans to charge a maritime fee to vessels crossing the strait. Such tolls are illegal under international law. Under the terms of the US-Iran memorandum, Iran is required to ensure toll-free passage for commercial vessels for at least 60 days, with full restoration of traffic within 30 days. Tehran has said it would charge ships fees to cover the cost of managing the waterway after the 60-day period. The German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has said it would be “fundamentally wrong” to charge vessels to pass through international waters. A company spokesperson added: “Tolls for infrastructure such as the Suez or Panama canals are different, as they reflect major infrastructure investments. That’s not the case in the strait of Hormuz.” The shipping industry is concerned that Iran charging fees could set a precedent for other key maritime channels that are bordered by several states, including the strait of Malacca – a narrow stretch of water between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia – or the Taiwan strait separating the island of Taiwan from mainland China.

Venice’s new mayor seeks to raise day-tripper fee to up to €50

Venice’s new mayor has said he hopes to raise a controversial entrance fee for day-trippers to the lagoon city to as much as €50 (£43). Simone Venturini, the rightwing former tourism councillor who was elected as mayor in late May, said the proposal was aimed at further discouraging arrivals “during periods of heightened tourist pressure”. In 2024, Venice became the first tourist city in the world to charge people to enter, introducing a €5 fee on 29 peak dates between April and July. The levy returned in 2025, with an expansion to 54 dates and charging last-minute day-trippers double. This year, the initiative covers 60 dates. Although the scheme has had little impact on visitor numbers, it did rake in €2.4m for the city’s coffers in its first year, much more than expected, and Venice authorities still believe it will eventually contribute to helping the Unesco world heritage city tackle overtourism. Venturini pledged during his election campaign to raise the fee to between €30 and €50, depending on the dates. He said the council was studying a proposal that it intended to present to the national government seeking permission to increase the entrance fee “on certain days and when specific booking thresholds are exceeded”. The toll is payable online, and in return visitors get a QR code that they must present to stewards hired to patrol the city’s main entrance points, such as Venezia Santa Lucia train station. Anyone who books an overnight stay in Venice is exempt from paying the fee, as are tourists from the wider Veneto region, which is where most day-trippers come from, as well as children under the age of 14. But even if a visitor has booked a hotel room, they are still obliged to register their presence on the website. Venturini said: “The admission fee is currently the only effective tool to control daily visitor numbers. We are therefore working on a proposal to make it more effective on high-traffic days, with the aim of finding a new balance between the needs of residents, workers and visitors.” He said the funds generated from the fee would be used “to finance city services and support the maintenance and protection of a unique city, built on water, whose costs exceed €100m each year”.