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Trump rejects Iran’s strait of Hormuz closure claim as fight for control goes on

Donald Trump has rejected Iranian claims to have closed off the strait of Hormuz as both sides battled for control over the waterway, leaving a ceasefire agreed last month at the point of collapse. US forces said they had attacked 140 targets in Iran on Saturday night and Sunday morning after Tehran struck and disabled a container ship in the strait, whose transit it said had not been approved. In a statement, US Central Command (Centcom) said its targets had included missile and drone sites, naval facilities, ammunition depots, communication networks and surveillance locations. Iran on Sunday struck back with drone and missile strikes it said were aimed at US interests across the Gulf, with reports of aerial attacks in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement declaring the strait of Hormuz closed, although US Centcom said some ships were continuing to cross the waterway. “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” the Centcom headquarters, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said on X. Later in the day, Trump said US forces were keeping the strait open by force. “It’s open. We bombed the hell out of them last night,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press programme on Sunday. “They’re very, very evil and sick people. We had meetings with them. They agreed to a deal yesterday, a perfect deal for us. No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything. And then after that, they left the room. And then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship.” The US-run Joint Maritime Information Center said traffic was transiting the strait at “reduced levels”. The White House did not provide any more details of Trump’s claimed deal on Saturday, and Iran did not refer to any talks. A US-Iranian memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on 17 June extended a ceasefire in the war by 60 days to allow the restoration of trade through the strait and create breathing space for talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief, the main points of contention between Iran and the west. Apart from some indirect technical talks, those negotiations have failed to materialise, and fighting has continued between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was supposed to be covered by the agreement. The MoU started to unravel when Iran attacked three commercial vessels on Monday night as they were crossing the strait along a southern route next to the Omani coast that the Iranians said they had not approved. This drew US missile attacks in response, beginning almost a week of tit-for-tat exchanges. Tehran is determined that any long-term settlement in the region recognises its control over the strait, which it seized soon after the US-Israel attack on Iran in February. On Sunday, Mohsen Rezaee, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was quoted in state media as saying: “This strategic passage is more important than dozens of atomic bombs, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will protect it.” In the latest round of strikes, Iran hit a container ship, the Cypriot-flagged GFS Galaxy, which was travelling through the strait on a southerly route along the Omani shoreline, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre, a British military body. The vessel was struck, disabled and its crew forced to take to lifeboats. The Indian government said 10 of its nationals from the ship had been rescued but that one remained missing. In response, Centcom said on Saturday night its forces had struck 140 Iranian military targets “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait”. Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile attacks across the region were apparently aimed at US bases in neighbouring Arab countries. The IRGC claimed to have destroyed “the logistical support centres for naval vessels and the refuelling facilities for US aircraft carriers at the port of Duqm in Oman”. Without confirming details on the damage, Oman condemned the attack, which came just hours after the sultanate hosted an Iranian delegation for talks on security in the strait. Referring to the strait of Hormuz, the IRGC said several vessels had “disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route”. One of them “was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop”, it added. The strait would remain closed until the “end of US interference”, the IRGC said, adding that it would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more American attacks. The return of hostilities has rattled global markets, though the price for Brent crude oil was $75 a barrel going into the weekend, well down from wartime highs of more than $120 and close to its prewar average . The latest price appears to reflect traders’ belief that the US and Iran want to avoid a return to full-scale war, and that the global economy is adapting to the prolonged uncertainty over the strait.

Former Spanish PM accused of racism in remarks about French football team

The former Spanish conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy is facing growing accusations of racism after writing in a World Cup newspaper column that the French national team “does not have any French players”. Rajoy, who was in office from 2011 to 2018, pondered Spain’s looming semi-final showdown with France in an article for the online newspaper El Debate on Friday. “It’s worth remembering that France has been a two-time world champion and was a finalist in the last World Cup,” he wrote. “They’ve won every match they’ve played in this World Cup and are currently ranked No 1 in the Fifa rankings. They also have a top-level squad. That said, they don’t have any French players. And they’re playing very well. They’ll be a formidable opponent.” Rajoy’s remarks, which have drawn comparisons to a Paraguayan senator’s recent racist social media attack on Kylian Mbappé, elicited a scathing response from Spain’s current prime minister. “There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin colour,” Pedro Sánchez wrote in a post on X. “Others measure it by our roots in a country and our will to contribute to it. Playing soccer. Caring for our elders. Or opening businesses. Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it. Not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements.” Rajoy’s words provoked a furious response in France. “That’s completely unacceptable,” France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, told the French channel BFMTV on Sunday. “That’s completely not what France is about. France is a country of diversity where everyone can thrive and find their place.” Olivier Faure, the leader of the French Socialist party, said the French national team was composed only of French citizens. “France is not an ethnic nation; it has no skin colour or religion,” he added in a post on X. “It is a political nation united around the republican motto – much to the chagrin of the racist right.” Fabien Roussel, the leader of the French Communist party, condemned Rajoy and said his words were reminiscent of the racist tirade from the Paraguayan senator, Celeste Amarilla, who called Mbappé a “colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to ⁠pass himself off as French”. Roussel said: “They cannot help but spew filthy racism in an attempt to annoy our beautiful French team.” Others saw a familiar pattern. “The same racist obsessions and insults resurface every time [France] wins,” said Naïma Moutchou, France’s minister for overseas territories. “These aren’t just ‘slips of the tongue’. It’s a methodical and normalised hatred of France and what it represents.” Moutchou called on the French football federation, which has already filed a complaint with Paris prosecutors over Amarilla’s remarks, to “pursue all legal avenues”. Sánchez ended his post on X with a cordial wish: “France, we’ll see you in the semi-finals. May the best team win and may racism lose.”

Guide dog owners face everyday ignorance | Letter

Joanne Hewitson from Hartlepool only wanted to enjoy breakfast at her local pub, accompanied by her guide dog, Rosie. Instead, a member of staff wrongly and repeatedly demanded identification for her guide dog, making her feel so unwelcome that she felt she had to leave (Blind woman ‘livid’ after Wetherspoon’s pub asks for guide dog’s ID, 7 July). Joanne’s experience is not unique. Guide dog owners are refused entry or told to leave pubs, places to eat, taxis, shops and essential services right across the UK, despite businesses’ own policies stating that assistance dogs are welcome. It is nearly always illegal to do so, yet almost 90% of guide dog owners have been refused access to a business or service because they were accompanied by their guide dog, many of them repeatedly. Guide dogs, like other types of assistance dogs, enable people to live independently, and disabled people should not be forced to justify their presence every time they use a business or service. The onus is not on guide dog owners to educate staff. Constantly having to explain your disability and prove why you should be allowed to spend money or access basic services just like everyone else is exhausting. Heartbreakingly, it has chipped away at the confidence of some people with a vision impairment, so much so that they don’t want another guide dog in the future, despite the freedom their dog usually brings them. The government must strengthen the Equality Act to make it explicit that businesses cannot refuse guide and other assistance dogs, and service providers need to give staff proper disability equality training on their legal obligations. Eleanor Briggs Head of policy, public affairs and campaigns, Guide Dogs • 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.

Wildfires kill long after the flames have gone | Letters

The wildfires sweeping across Europe are damaging precious habitats, destroying property and taking people’s lives (Fast-spreading wildfire kills at least 12 in southern Spain, 10 July), yet they are even more devastating to human health once the flames have died down because of the huge amount of air pollution they generate. As well as releasing carbon dioxide, wildfires also emit huge amounts of black carbon – often known as soot – into the atmosphere. Black carbon harms people’s health and is a major cause of the 7.9 million premature deaths annually attributed to air pollution. Witness the impact of toxic particles from Canadian wildfires in 2023, which killed 82,000 people, with the pollution stretching across Canada, the US and Europe. On top of that, black carbon is one of the super-pollutants responsible for nearly half of current global warming, creating a vicious circle where each wildfire damages our health and makes future wildfires more likely. The good news is that we know how to break the cycle. Better fire prevention, early warning systems and tighter regulation of super-pollutants like black carbon are all essential. As is supporting local authorities to integrate forest fire management into their air-quality plans, so there can be much faster and more comprehensive emergency responses. Jane Burston CEO, Clean Air Fund • 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.

Germany records nearly 100 drowning deaths, many of them young men, in June heatwave

Nearly 100 people, the largest proportion of whom were young men, died by drowning in Germany last month, authorities have said, as extreme temperatures in western Europe that have been blamed for hundreds of excess deaths geared up again. In Germany’s worst death toll from drowning for more than two decades, 99 people died in June, according to official figures, after temperatures rose as high as 41.7C (107.1F) in some areas. The victims were largely young men, the federation said, with 40 of them under 30 years old – the biggest group among those whose ages were known. More than 90% were male. Germany’s lifeguarding federation said in a statement that the country “had not registered this many drownings since the heatwave of June 2003, when 107 people died”. More than 1,300 people across Europe died in the blazing start to the summer, according to the World Health Organization. Deaths by drowning have risen across the continent, with France’s sports minister, Marina Ferrari, saying on Friday it was the cause of death of 131 people there since 19 June. Last week, Germany’s main public health institute reported that the country had recorded at least 5,120 heat-related deaths this year, most of them in June. The Robert Koch Institute said about 4,270 were people aged 75 and older. Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters such as heatwaves and wildfires. In France this weekend, the Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks announced early closures as a quarter of the country sweltered under the third heatwave to hit the country since May. Twenty-four of the country’s departments, home to 22.2 million people, according to a calculation by Agence France-Presse, were under the maximum alert level issued on Sunday by the national weather service, Météo-France. The operator of the Eiffel Tower said the monument would close early on Saturday and Sunday at 4pm, “due to the high temperatures forecast”. The 330-metre-high (1,083ft) structure, which attracts 7 million tourists a year, usually stays open past midnight during the high season. Two of the French capital’s most popular museums, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, have taken similar measures. The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, said on Thursday it would close at 4pm on Friday until Monday, while the Musée d’Orsay announced it would close early “due to the extreme heat”, from 5pm on Saturday until Wednesday. The organisers of the Tour de France cycling race also said Sunday’s 185.5-km (115 miles) stage would be shortened by 30km, cutting out a hilly loop, because of the intense heat – the first time in its history that such a decision has been taken. The Belgian cyclist Tim Merlier, who won Saturday’s stage, welcomed the news. “We are now one week of racing; it was always above 35C degrees,” he said. “It’s definitely a fight to have water, ice and drinks between the [support] cars.” Across the country, many towns have called off their firework displays for the Bastille Day national public holiday on 14 July because of the increased risk of fires amid the dry conditions. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, called for vigilance, warning that nine out of 10 fires were due to human activity. “A single second of inattention can put families at risk, endanger those who protect us and destroy our countryside,” he wrote on X. France recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, and 300 during the high temperatures in late May, according to official figures. The government has faced a barrage of criticism, including accusations of being “unprepared” for the extreme weather. In Spain, a wildfire that killed at least 12 people as they tried to flee in the south has been contained, allowing about 1,500 evacuees to return home, officials said. “The fire has been contained within its perimeter and brought under control, with no danger of flames spreading,” said the head of the regional government of Andalucía, Juan Manuel Moreno. “This is, so to speak, the beginning of the end of a terrifying wildfire that has set records for how quickly it spread.” Moreno said about 600 people evacuated from the fire zone in Spain’s Almería province had been allowed to return home late on Saturday, while the remaining 1,000 evacuees would now be able to do the same in stages. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is scheduled to visit the devastated area on Monday. Officials have said many of the victims could be foreign nationals, including a number of Britons. The son of a Belgian man who died in Spanish wildfires disputed authorities’ claims that his father and other victims ignored official advice to shelter in place, saying the emergency services gave them no ⁠guidance. The Belgian virologist Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt told ⁠Reuters that he spoke to his father, the 63-year-old businessman Stanislas Verdonckt, by phone just before 9pm on Thursday as the fire advanced on the mountain village of Bédar in Almería. “The people who died did not fail to follow any ‌orders because no orders were given. No ‌information was provided,” Verdonckt said. “They only started to run when the flames were almost upon them. That was their absolute last resort.” Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

Middle East crisis live: Trump claims strait of Hormuz open to commercial traffic despite Iran earlier announcing closure – as it happened

Donald Trump claimed the strait ⁠of Hormuz was open to commercial traffic, despite Iran having earlier claimed to have closed the waterway “until further notice” after the latest escalation in fighting. The president’s comments came as US central command said American forces were “positioned and prepared” to ensure freedom of navigation in the strait despite “Iranian aggression”. Iran launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours this morning in retaliation to a number of US strikes. Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE all reportedly came under attack. Qatar said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel but there were no immediate reports of any casualties. The US said it had struck Iran early on Sunday after the country’s ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they claimed was sailing an “unauthorised route” through the strait of Hormuz. The US said the targets had included missile and drone sites, naval facilities, ammunition depots, communication networks and surveillance locations. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said that the maritime security threat level in the strait of Hormuz remains “severe”. But despite claims from Iran that the strait has been closed, the UKMTO said a southern route remains available, though it warned of potential mine dangers. We are closing this blog now. Thanks for following along. You can keep up with our latest Middle East coverage here.

UK couple found burned and semi-conscious in Almería amid Spanish wildfires

A British couple have been found badly burned and semi-conscious in a Spanish ravine amid deadly wildfires that have swept through the country’s Almería province, according to local media reports. The couple were on holiday in the region and were thought to be out hiking when they were caught up in the wildfire, which has so far killed 12 people and burned more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres). At least 23 people are missing. They were found on Thursday by Guardia Civil officers who were searching the charred landscape near the worst-hit community of Bédar for survivors. They found the couple in a critical condition, semi-conscious and with severe burns covering 40% of their bodies, before they were airlifted to hospital in a two-hour rescue operation. They remain in hospital in intensive care. Sgt Pedro Barre, one of three officers involved in the search operation, told Spain’s TVE state broadcaster officers heard a sound in the distance but at first thought it was an echo. He said: “As you gain more experience, something inside you tells you: ‘Look again, try one more time.’ We’ll never forget that look of surprise and emotion on their faces.” Rafael Zea, another of the officers involved in the operation, said: “Being able to call out in the condition they were in was a titanic effort.” On Saturday afternoon, after high winds eased, firefighters were able to start gaining control of the flames. On Sunday, Andalusia’s regional government head, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, said the fire had been contained and its perimeter secured. At least 1,400 people have been evacuated from their homes due to the blaze, which has involved more than 500 firefighters and emergency workers. Most of those ⁠killed are thought to be British and Belgian nationals, along with one Spaniard. Forensic scientists in Madrid are using samples from the bodies of the victims and DNA samples from the families of those reported missing to try to identify the dead. It is one of the deadliest wildfires in Spanish history, with officials saying the damage to the landscape made it look “like a bomb has gone off”. Bonilla said the dry weather, caused by high winds and several heatwaves fuelled by the climate crisis, had made the area a “ticking timebomb” for a wildfire.

Ukrainian drone strikes force Russia to suspend shipping in Sea of Azov

Russia has been forced to suspend shipping in the Sea of Azov after 90 vessels were targeted by Ukrainian drones in less than a week. Ukraine’s drone forces chief, Robert Brovdi, said on Sunday that his units had hit 10 tankers and four ferries overnight, as well as a major oil refinery in the city of Syzran. There had been several strikes on electricity substations in occupied Crimea, he added. “The technological humiliation of the [Russian] empire continues. It will fall because of Crimea,” Brovdi wrote on social media. He said Moscow’s shadow fleet, which transports sanctioned oil products around the world, was “noticeably shrinking” and could no longer use the Kerch strait, connecting the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. The Sea of Azov is a vital waterway that connects Russia with eastern Europe. It is of crucial economic and military importance to Moscow, which uses it to ship oil, grain and other products such as steel to international markets. Russia suspended shipping through the Don-Azov canal on Friday, Reuters reported. The canal connects with a Russian river network and the Caspian Sea. This export route via Kerch and the Bosphorus strait in Turkey is effectively shut down. Ukraine’s former defence minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, said the Kremlin had lost control of a “critical” maritime corridor. He said the blockade affected military vessels and shipping transporting grain stolen from occupied southern Ukraine and moved through the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol. “The Caspian Sea doesn’t have any connection to the world’s oceans. It has turned into a lake. All of its products – agricultural, fertiliser, whatever – go through this channel and river,” Zagorodnyuk said. Russia’s small flotilla in the Caspian was likewise trapped, he added, predicting further strikes on Russian ships in and around the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Ukraine has been systematically destroying much of Russia’s radar and anti-aircraft defences. This has enabled it to carry out a series of devastating long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, including one last week in the Siberian city of Omsk, 2,700km (1,700 miles) from Ukrainian territory. Residents in Syzran reported the sound of drones at 5am on Sunday followed by loud explosions. Photographs and videos showed a large fire at the oil refinery, with thick columns of black smoke rising above an industrial area. The complex supplies the Russian military and sends fuel abroad via the Azov-Kerch canal. Kyiv has also launched a wave of mid-range strikes on land and sea supply routes into occupied Crimea, hitting lorries, ships and crossing points. One tanker caught fire overnight as it entered the Azov-Black Sea canal, Russian officials said. On Sunday, local channels reported two large oil spills off the coast of Taganrog. Yevgeniya Gaber, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council thinktank, said the attacks were part of a much broader strategy that included isolating Crimea and “turning it into an island”. The overall goal was “to progressively degrade Russia’s ability to sustain offensive operations by disrupting logistics, fuel supplies and transport infrastructure, and cutting off military units in the south of Ukraine”, she said. Gaber added: “There is not a single oil refinery that is unhit now. Maritime logistics in the Sea of Azov, all of this fits into the same strategy and operational concept, which is a strategic neutralisation of Russia. I’m sure we will see more deep strikes on Russian territory.” Video released by Brovdi’s unmanned strike aviation brigade, Magyar’s Birds, shows Russian tankers fitted with protective cages and ropes. These have not prevented night-time Ukrainian drone strikes and crews have abandoned some damaged and burnt-out vessels, leaving them adrift. Repeated Ukrainian attacks have forced the authorities in Crimea to declare a state of emergency. Widespread electricity blackouts and acute petrol shortages have been reported and the peninsula’s tourist industry has collapsed. Car drivers have been forced to travel to Russia in search of fuel, with long queues outside petrol stations in many regions. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, has described the strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure as part of Kyiv’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” carried out in response to Moscow’s refusal to end its war. Vladimir Putin insists his original military goals – to seize the eastern Donbas and other Ukrainian regions – are unchanged. Overnight, three people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, including two in a bombing of an industrial facility in Zelenskyy’s home city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. A separate drone attack on the southern city of Kherson killed a 48-year-old, reported its mayor, Yaroslav Shanko.