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Madrid residents brace for noise and disruption from new F1 circuit

Opponents of Madrid’s newly constructed Formula One circuit have accused the regional authorities of putting profit before people’s wellbeing after tests for the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the track later this month yielded noise levels that were almost twice the legal decibel limit. The regional government of Madrid and the city council are hoping that the 5.4km-long (3.3 miles) Madring circuit – which has been built in the north-east of the Spanish capital at a cost of €83m (£71m) – will attract visitors, boost the local economy and put the city firmly on the motor racing map. The Madring bills itself as “a perfectly connected circuit: just 20 minutes from the city centre”. But recent track tests using Formula Three cars have worried local people who are taking legal action over the construction of the circuit and the noise it is expected to generate. The Stop F1 Madrid platform, which was formed a year ago, said neighbours had recorded average noise levels of 102.7 decibels during the tests, with peaks of between 107.7 and 109.1 decibels. The maximum noise level permitted in residential areas is 55 decibels. “It’s not just about the dust and the noise,” said Antonio Ibáñez, a spokesperson. He said there had been complaints from people who argued it was impossible for them to work remotely during the tests, adding: “We’ve also spoken to people who have children with autism and they had to get them out of the area because of [all the distress].” One of the group’s biggest worries is the huge numbers of people expected to descend on the area for the grand prix itself, putting an enormous strain on public transport and the local area. “An urban Formula One circuit is just a bad idea,” he said. “It’s a nonsense idea.” Regional and city authorities have sought to reassure residents and are attempting to stress the economic benefits of the track. Borja Carabante, Madrid’s city councillor for urban planning, mobility and the environment, said measures, such as acoustic panels, would be put in place to minimise noise during the grand prix on 11-13 September. He also said that the Formula Three cars used to test the track “make and emit more noise than Formula One cars, so there’ll be less noise on 13 September than there was during the tests”. Carabante said the city council would work to ensure traffic disruption was kept to a minimum. But he called on the people of Madrid to celebrate the arrival of Formula One in the city: “We should be congratulating ourselves that Madrid is hosting such an important and significant event that will put us at the epicentre of great sporting events. It’s amazing news for all the people of Madrid and it’s putting Madrid on the map.” The regional minister for housing, transport, and infrastructure, Jorge Rodrigo, said the event would be of huge economic benefit for Madrid, and well worth one weekend’s disruption. “It’s worth a little bit of sacrifice from all of us … given the profitability of this event for the Madrid region and the city of Madrid, and, above all, given how it’ll position us internationally.” A spokesperson for the Madring said it was taking “all measures within our reach to minimise the disruption caused by the construction work and the event”, adding: “Protecting the wellbeing of local residents and reducing the environmental impact are a priority for the organisers, and we are therefore working continuously with the relevant authorities and various stakeholders to implement mitigation and improvement measures.” But environmental groups have questioned the wisdom of building a grand prix circuit in a city where summer temperatures can exceed 40C (104F). According to Stop F1 Madrid , more than 700 trees have been felled or moved to make way for the track, while María Ángeles Nieto, a spokesperson for the Madrid Environmentalist platform, said a seasonal wetland that was home to amphibian species had been destroyed. “Madrid is a city with significant temperature increases during the summer months – the entire city is a heat island,” said Nieto. “We’ve pointed out that this just exacerbates that heat island effect.” Nieto said was “no justification whatsoever” for a track that would subject residents to “a living hell” for the duration of the grand prix and other possible events there. “The people in charge of the city are prioritising the economic interests of Formula One over the wellbeing of the citizens in such an absolutely absurd and unnecessary way,” she said.

Iceland’s close ties with EU mean no vote is not a Brexit-style rejection

Iceland’s 52.8% to 47.2% vote against reopening EU accession talks is, undeniably, a blow for Brussels. But claiming it as a Brexit-style victory for “national sovereignty” or evidence of broad rejection of the EU misrepresents the reality of the island’s relationship with the bloc. For the EU, Iceland was a dream candidate: small, stable, prosperous and strategically located in an increasingly contested Arctic. Eager as it is to wield more geopolitical clout and revive flagging momentum around enlargement, a vote in favour would have given Brussels a very welcome boost. Instead, Iceland’s rejection handed Eurosceptics another stick with which to beat the bloc. France’s Marine Le Pen said the result showed the appeal of a Europe of “free, sovereign nations” rather than closer integration, while Reform UK’s Nigel Farage congratulated Icelanders on “voting to keep their independence”. But Iceland is a very special case. Its situation bears precious little relation to Brexit or even to a broader EU-critical movement. Icelanders did not vote to isolate themselves from the EU, tear up any treaties or “take back control”, they voted to preserve a close, customised and largely successful relationship. Unlike accession candidates in the western Balkans or eastern Europe, Iceland does not need EU structural funds to build infrastructure or boost living standards. High per capita wealth generally insulates its population from the economic pressures that can make EU membership an attractive financial proposition. As part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Schengen passport-free travel area, Iceland is already solidly within the European fold. It accepts free movement of goods, capital, services and people. Its markets – financial services, energy, transport – are EU-regulated and its social and environmental standards are those of the EU. That means it adopts roughly 75% of EU law and directives into domestic law and there is no question of changing that. Icelandic citizens already enjoy full EU single-market rights without full EU membership, and that, a narrow majority decided, was, on balance, good enough. Although the official reaction in Brussels was muted, some acknowledged EU dismay. “The EU doesn’t inspire people any more,” said the Belgian Green MEP Saskia Bricmont. The centrist MEP Sandro Gozi, who represents France, called it “a warning Europe should take seriously”, adding that the bloc’s “power of attraction” should not be taken for granted. Opposition to full membership was focused heavily on the country’s fishing industry, which accounts for 15% of its GDP and 40% of export revenues and which the no campaign claimed would inevitably be threatened – as during the 1960s and 70s “cod wars” with the UK – were Iceland to join the EU’s common fisheries policy. The vote also revealed a stark divide between people in the capital, Reykjavík, who largely saw membership as an additional form of security for a geographically isolated country in the age of Trump and Putin, and those on the rest of the island, many of whom are fishers and farmers, who overwhelmingly voted against. But if Iceland’s particular circumstances mean the “no” victory cannot be compared to Brexit, it nonetheless holds lessons for Brussels. The first is that existing EEA/EFTA states are probably harder to persuade to join the EU than countries outside the single market. For non-EEA nations, joining the EU offers transformative individual and economic benefits – unrestricted access to the world’s biggest trading bloc, freedom of movement, huge financial aid. For citizens of EEA states such as Iceland (and, for that matter, Norway), most of those already exist. When the status quo provides 80% of the benefits of membership and poses no threat (real or imagined) to vital national industries, the incremental gains of full accession become a hard sell. What should worry the EU more is that despite growing doubts about the US and Nato security umbrella, Icelanders were not won over by the bloc’s protection offer. For all the talk of the bloc “stepping up” as a defensive force, its mutual defence clause, which provides for solidarity if a member state is attacked, did not convince. There is, clearly, work to be done there. But as the EU law professor Alberto Alemanno argues: “Iceland’s referendum result does not reject European integration … It shows that close integration [with the EU] short of membership can be stable, credible and politically attractive.”

Australians missing in the Nepal floods: what we know so far

Pilgrims trekking to a holy site in Tibet make up the majority of Australians who have been reported missing after deadly flash floods and landslides tore through valleys on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday. The total number of Australians missing in the disaster remained 43 on Tuesday, with most travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventures, Kailash Journeys, and the Isha Foundation. Cara Severino, 25, is no longer included in the figure after the Sydney woman made contact with her parents, two days after she was reported missing. Across Nepal and Tibet, thousands of people have been reported missing and Nepali and Chinese authorities have confirmed hundreds have died. Here’s what we know about the Australians who remain missing. This article will be updated as more information becomes available. Venkatraman Balakrishnan and Chitra Venkatraman New South Wales couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, were among 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash on a spiritual trip with the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour group. Their son, Akash Venkatraman, said his parents planned to leave their riverside accommodation in Syabrubesi before it was devastated by flood waters. Muralitharan family Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, Chandresekaran Muralitharan, 47 and their children Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11, were also taking part in the Himalayan Glacier Adventures spiritual tour to Mount Kailash when the flood hit. The parents and two children had been training together for the long walk, Shylaja’s younger sister, Vaishnavi, said. She had lost contact with the family shortly after breakfast on the morning of the flood. Iyer family Sreedharan Iyer, 52, and Lakshmi Iyer, 50, and their adult sons Rishab Iyer, 23, and Rudhra Iyer, 20, were taking part in the spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with Himalayan Glacier Adventures. The Iyer brothers are medical students at the University of Newcastle and members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club in Sydney’s north-west. Karan Bhardwaj, Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval Karan Bhardwaj, Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval were travelling together on a Kailash Journey tour of the region. Bhardwaj’s family says the three men have known each other since 2009, when they met at university. Raval’s wife, Bhavinkumar Raval, has told the ABC she believes her husband is still alive and is making plans to travel to Nepal. Bhardwaj is a 40-year-old Brisbane-based member of the Royal Australian Air Force. “Karan is a dad to my beautiful seven-year-old nephew, as well as a brother, uncle and brother in law,” said his family member Jen. “He is so desperately loved by his family and right now we are desperately praying, hoping and believing that Karan is safe, alive and somehow making his way back to us.” Narayan Panthi Narayan Panthi, from Brisbane, has been listed by Nepali police as travelling with operator Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel. It is understood Panthi had been carrying out independent volunteer charity work in Kathmandu earlier in the week before travelling towards the border region. Panthi’s cousin, Amrit Bhusal, told Guardian Australia his family were devastated but “holding on to hope and praying for positive news”. “We are still hoping,” Bhusal said. “We are still searching. We are still praying for Narayan to come home safely.” Bhusal said Panthi was “helping disadvantaged children in Nepal reach their full potential through education”. Bharat Mangwani Bharat Mangwani, 42, was travelling with the Isha Foundation as part of a pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar when his family lost contact with him on Wednesday morning. He was last seen at Gyirong before the group was set to depart for Kathmandu. “All of us are praying for him and hopefully he comes back to us soon,” close friend Kushagra Tiwari said. Mangwani’s family, including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, have travelled to India with a family friend, while his wife has flown to Nepal to look for him. Sumi Adhikari Sumi Adhikari, 41, was at the Gyirong Port crossing with the Isha Foundation group when the flood hit. Her husband, Nava Pandey, has travelled to Nepal seeking information about her whereabouts. “We still have no clear or official information about Sumi or the other members of her group,” Pandey said on Saturday morning. Renee Spry A Sunshine Coast disability support worker, Renee Spry has been described as a “deeply spiritual” person who travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage. “She had two degrees, and she chose to do something that was … a completely selfless vocation. Her priority was always other people,” her sister Clair Spry said. “Every person she touched, they knew her love and kindness. She would be so uncomfortable with all this.” Clair Spry has set up a GoFundMe so her family can travel to Nepal to look for signs of Renee. Suhasini Kandimalla A mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, Suhasini Kandimalla was hiking with another Springfield local, according to her sister, Supreethini Kandimalla. While she was a New Zealand citizen, Suhasini had been approved for Australian citizenship, her sister said. She had planned to attend a citizenship ceremony for it to be granted soon after she returned. “I don’t know if it was a religious calling for her to do it,” Supreethini said of the Nepal trip. “But she certainly loved the treks in New Zealand too, and would go on lots of long hikes.” Reshma Patel Newcastle woman Reshma Patel, 46, was in the Isha Foundation group. She didn’t know Sumi Adhikari beforehand, but the pair had become friends on the pilgrimage, Patel’s family friend Chin Valsan says. “They were talking to each other, and they were supposed to come back on the same flight on Thursday,” he says. He describes Patel, who has two children aged 10 and 14 and works casually for Canterbury-Bankstown council, as “full of life” and a “kind soul” who loves her family and friends. Kanagamah Sundrasan The mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, was part of the Kailash Journey trek to Mount Kailash. Her daughter, Swaatika Kanniah, said her mother had been excited about the hike. “It was a pilgrimage, she really wanted to go and have that experience.” A photograph of her on the trip shows her smiling with five other members of the tour; all are now missing. “I feel like everyone is trying their best, but yes we don’t know much about what’s going on,” Kanniah said of the recovery efforts. Michael Keats The family of 37-year-old Michael Keats, from Mollymook in NSW, said on social media that he had died. Keats’s partner, Emily Boyd, said on Instagram on Sunday that he had been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, which had been his “dream for many years”. “Mike went on a pilgrimage to Mt Kailash seeking enlightenment,” Boyd said. “There’s a bittersweetness knowing that there was nothing more that Mike wanted [than] to know God, and to merge with the divine. “He was a mystic, a medicine man, a teacher, leader, partner, father, brother, son, uncle and dearly beloved friend. He showed up for so many people in so many ways. A heart of pure gold. We love you forever and always.” On Tuesday, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government “has not yet received official confirmation of Mr Keats’ passing. He does remain unaccounted for in terms of the information we have. But … we respect the rights of the families to make the statements they have”. “Our thoughts go out to his family and to every Australian family who is hoping that the many who are missing can be located,” she said.

Kākāpō rising: 90 chicks swell population of the world’s heaviest parrot

The population of the world’s heaviest parrot, the kākāpō, has surpassed 300 birds for the first time in 75 years, after a record breeding season triggered by the mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree. Ninety chicks were officially added to the population of the critically endangered birds on 1 September, pushing the total to 325 – a record high since recovery efforts began. “The last time the population is thought to have exceeded 300 birds may have been as long as 75 years ago,” said Deidre Vercoe, the conservation department’s kākāpō recovery operations manager. “We had a four-year gap between breeding seasons, so it’s fantastic to finally see the population increase after all that time.” Kākāpō, the world’s only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats. By the 1900s, they were nearly extinct. A recovery programme was established in 1995 with a population of just 51 birds and has battled challenges with genetic diversity, infertility and poor chick hatching rates. There are three kākāpō breeding populations, all based on predator-free islands off the South Island. Kākāpō breed only every two to four years when the native rimu trees produce large numbers of berries, so repopulation is slow. This year, after a four-year wait, a bountiful harvest of rimu berries prompted the birds to breed and produce a record number of chicks. “In the early years of recovery, it took 16 years to produce that many chicks,” Vercoe said. Kākāpō are thought to live between 60 and 80 years, can weigh up to 4kg and are famously entertaining. More than 100,000 people tuned in to watch a live stream of a kākāpō sleeping, eating and attending to her nest and chicks during breeding season. The parrots have unusual mating rituals. Male birds gather in a “lek” to produce a distinctive booming sound, emitted from air sacs in their chests while sitting in a dugout bowl in the ground. The deep boom, which can travel up to 5km, sounds similar to a softly plucked cello string. After choosing a partner and mating, females typically lay one to four eggs. The females become solely responsible for their eggs and hatched chicks for roughly six months. At 150 days of age, the chicks are fledged and considered independent enough to be added to the total population. The youngest chick of the 2026 breeding season was female Awarua-A3, who hatched on 30 March. Modelling indicated the next breeding season could occur as soon as 2028, Vercoe said. “So, while we’ll take a moment to stop and reflect on this remarkable year, we’re already looking ahead to 2028 and preparing for what could come next.”

Ukraine war briefing: Pressure stays on Russian economy until war is over, says Bessent

No economic relief for Russia is ‌possible ‌until its war in Ukraine ‌ends, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has told a Russian counterpart. Bessent met with Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, at a G20 finance leaders’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, where Moscow’s representatives were a surprise and unwelcome presence. A source told Reuters that Bessent said no agreements of any kind were ‌possible ‌until the war ended. The Russian finance minister’s ⁠first in-person G20 appearance since Russia invaded Ukraine has irritated European officials ‌who are working on more sanctions against Russia. Britain on Monday ramped up pressure on ⁠shadow financial systems underpinning Russia’s war economy, doubling penalties for sanctions breaches, the UK treasury said. Fines would increase from 50% of the value of a sanctions breach to 100%, said John ⁠Healey, the UK finance minister. The UK’s National Crime Agency issued a nationwide ‌alert targeting the Kremlin-backed A7 network, which the British government has said was used to route funds and evade restrictions. Four people ⁠were killed and more than a dozen injured in Russian air attacks on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, local authorities said, as a sixth day of strikes began. In Kyiv, three people were killed ⁠and another five wounded, and a fire broke out in a non-residential area. In ‌Boryspil in the wider Kyiv ‌region, one person was killed and another nine, including a child, were injured after missiles and drones ‌damaged an apartment building and a business, said the governor, Tymur Tkachenko. Odesa in Ukraine’s south came under heavy attack on Monday night, including by glide bombs, local officials said. It comes as Kyiv endures hours of daytime air raids and air raid warnings, Dan Sabbagh writes from the Ukrainian capital. Russia fired 800 jet-powered drones into Ukraine in the previous four days. Past versions of the Iranian-style Shahed drones were propeller-driven. In response, Ukrainian engineers are racing to make faster interceptor drones. “Four companies have developed the relevant interceptor drones, and one company has the most successful technology,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president. Nato ⁠fighter planes were scrambled, Latvia’s military said early on Tuesday, after ⁠a warning ‌of a ‌possible air ‌threat near the town of Ludza, close ‌to the Russian border. Separately, Russia’s north-western Leningrad region issued a drone ⁠threat alert, according to the governor, ‌Alexander Drozdenko. More than a dozen drones heading for Moscow were shot down, claimed the mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, on Tuesday morning. Ukrainian drones also caused damage in the Samara region, home to ⁠a number of major oil refineries about 800km (500 miles) south-east of Moscow, the local governor said. Finland restricted air ‌and maritime traffic close to Russia, armed forces of both countries said, as Russia’s north-western Leningrad region, home to major export ports, came under drone attack. Ukrainian drones have hit another Wildberries warehouse, this time in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The Russian local governor confirmed the strike ‌on Monday, claiming that drones ‌and debris ‌also struck residential buildings. There were no casualties, he said. The suspected Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker MV Sun was boarded ⁠by the ⁠European Union’s naval mission in the Mediterranean on Sunday, said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s ⁠foreign policy chief. “The oil ‌tanker MV Sun, suspected ‌of sailing under false flag in breach of international maritime law, was boarded on August 30 in the ‌Mediterranean by Operation Eunavfor Med Irini forces for flag verification,” Kallas posted. The war in Ukraine must end for humanity’s sake, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, told Vladimir Putin as the two met in Kyrgyzstan. “Every day that the war continues, humanity is, in effect, set back a step, whilst every step towards peace gives all of humanity real hope for peace,” Modi said. “We need to move from endless war to an end to the war, to a cessation of hostilities. And we will need to move precisely in this direction.” Despite international condemnation and sanctions, India, along with China, has remained one of the biggest buyers ‌of Russian oil, which has helped Moscow fund its war against Ukraine. Modi and the Russian president met on the sidelines of ‌the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit where Putin ⁠and his Chinese counterpart, Xi ⁠Jinping, also met and briefly discussed ⁠the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said. Indonesia said it was investigating claims that several citizens had joined the Russian military to fight in the war in Ukraine. Information from Ukrainian authorities was being checked, the foreign ministry in Jakarta said. It did not say how many Indonesians were under suspicion, but they risk losing their citizenship. “If the involvement of Indonesian citizens in the armed forces of a foreign country is verified, it is an individual act and does not represent the policy or position of the Indonesian government,” the foreign ministry said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that he ⁠held a “detailed ⁠and constructive” call with US envoys ⁠Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Both sides were ⁠working to finalise dates for their visit ‌to Ukraine. “I ‌also informed them about the situation on the battlefield, where Russia’s gains have been sparse and at the cost of ‌huge losses, and about the strikes,” Zelenskyy said. “We shall see what the US president’s representatives manage to achieve. September ⁠could bring about a lot of changes. And we, together with our partners, must do ‌everything we can to protect people.” Polish prosecutors are investigating a fire at a drone factory as an act of terrorism arranged by a foreign intelligence service. The fire at the WB Electronics factory in the central city of Skarzysko-Kamienna was started deliberately using a “device containing flammable materials”, a prosecution statement said. Several countries in eastern Europe have said they have been the target of spying and sabotage as part of a “hybrid war” by Russia. Ukraine’s top sanctions official, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, will visit Washington this week to urge members of the US House ⁠of Representatives to approve sweeping ⁠Russia sanctions legislation. It would enable the president to sanction Russian officials and authorise tariffs on China, India and other countries for buying Russian oil and gas. Some US lawmakers and industries are wary, though, that Donald Trump might abuse the powers that the legislation contains. The House has not yet scheduled a vote on the legislation.

Turkish deep-sea search vessel joins efforts to retrieve 20 still missing after Cyprus ferry disaster

A deep-sea search and rescue vessel is on its way to Cyprus as Turkey joins efforts to retrieve the 20 people still missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the island’s northern coast. The TCG Isin will join the vast operation to find survivors after the high-speed ferry sank on Sunday barely four nautical miles outside the port town of Kyrenia. Authorities confirmed late on Monday – the first of three days of national mourning in Turkish-held northern Cyprus – that the tragedy had claimed eight lives, increasing the number of passengers still unaccounted for from 17 to 20. A total of 241 of the 267 people aboard the Filo Jet, bound for Taşucu on the Turkish mainland when it began to take on water, had been rescued, they said. Almost all were either Turkish or Turkish Cypriot. International sympathy for the victims was highlighted as the Anglo-Cypriot founder of easyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, offered €260,000 (£223,000) in support for the families of the deceased and missing, in a move hailed by Turkish Cypriot officials. Visiting Kyrenia’s new port, where relatives gathered for news of loved ones on Monday, Tufan Erhürman, the self-styled state’s president, vowed search efforts would “continue with the same intensity, with no interruption, through the day and night”. The Isin, capable of searching up to 3,000 metres below the sea surface, was due to arrive on Tuesday, he said, as he comforted the families of those still missing. The ship is expected to play a vital role in recovering the ferry’s voyage data recorder, or black box, now viewed as key in deciphering the cause of a maritime disaster not seen since the breakaway territory declared independence in 1983. Turkish Cypriot officials told the Guardian it was likely “all those responsible” would be charged with gross negligence as the seaworthiness of the 26-year-old ferry was also questioned. The owners and shareholders of the privately owned company operating the passenger vessel have also been ordered to appear in court. It remained unclear whether those still missing had been trapped on board. “Nobody is saying it publicly, but the hope of any survivors being found at this point is very slim,” one official confided. “Those who weren’t rescued very likely didn’t find a lifejacket. We believe many were elderly people and mothers with babies and young kids.” In testimony – and video footage – that emerged on Monday, panic-stricken passengers could be seen desperately looking for lifejackets and screaming before the double-hulled ferry flipped over. One mother, Ayten Biçer, described feeling her 12-year-old daughter slip from her hands and disappear as the ferry capsized and sank in a matter of minutes. “She was saying, ‘Don’t let go.’ And I didn’t let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn’t let her go,” she sobbed. Two of Biçer’s other children are among the 20 still missing. The captain of the ferry and seven crew members were detained on Monday as judicial authorities launched an inquiry into the tragedy amid claims they had been among the first to abandon ship. Appearing before a local magistrate, the crew attributed the disaster to the bow of the catamaran-style ferry breaking apart in turbulent seas. But eyewitness accounts contradicted that version of events, with passengers telling officials that appeals to turn back to port had fallen on deaf ears as the ferry began to take on water. Ünal Üstel, the northern Cyprus prime minister, told reporters the Filo Jet was lying on the seabed at a depth of 514 metres and that he foresaw the Turkish salvage ship “reaching [it] tomorrow afternoon”. Boats, helicopters, aircraft and other search and rescue teams had joined the operation, he said, adding that search efforts were continuing “on a 24-hour basis”. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a coup aimed at union with Greece – engineered by the military junta then in power in Athens – prompted Turkey to invade and seize the island’s northern third. Ever since, as many as 45,000 mainland Turkish troops have been stationed in the north. In 1983, the territory unilaterally declared independence, but in the absence of a settlement, decades of international isolation have ensued.

Trump says US will ‘hit Iran hard’ as hostilities resume – as it happened

Our latest story on hostilities between Iran and the US is here:

Trump threatens further action as US and Iran exchange fire in new flare-up

The US and Iran have exchanged fire for the first time in a month, with missiles and drones fired at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, and Iran targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response. The US president, Donald Trump, on Monday threatened further action. The US is to trying to prise open Tehran’s grip on shipping going through the strait, which before the war accounted for a fifth of the world’s seaborne energy supply. Washington claimed that Iranian control over the waterway had been loosened by repeated US attacks on Iranian missile launchers and radars. US Central Command said it acted late on Sunday, launching the first strikes on Iran since July, after it detected the Iranians were planning to deploy fresh mines in the strait. Last week Trump claimed the US navy had cleared the strait of mines for the first time since the conflict started on 28 February, a claim the Iranians rejected as lies. In response to the US attack, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it “targeted technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and enemy fighter jet positions at the US-operated King Hussein and al-Azraq airbases in Jordan” with ballistic missiles, causing “heavy damage”. The UAE defence ministry said it intercepted a drone over its territorial waters. Trump responded to the Iranian reprisals by telling Fox News: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response.” The US president called Iran “officially a failed nation without an airforce, a navy or a currency”, adding that inflation was at 300% and its leaders were incapable of representing their country. The White House last week signalled that Trump was shelving military measures in favour of a campaign to destroy the Iranian economy by enforcing sanctions. Iranian state TV claimed the military exchanges escalated on Sunday after a tanker caught fire when hitting two Iranian naval mines while attempting to pass through the southern side of the strait close to Oman. Officials later said Iran had targeted three ships trying to navigate the southern route that Tehran says is unauthorised. The IRGC warned that other ships violating ⁠its rules would face the same fate and said compliance with its regulations ‌for passage through the strait was mandatory. However, the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan on Monday that continuing the war was not in Iran’s interest, adding he was still ready to implement the memorandum of understanding with the US that Pakistan had mediated in June. The Iranian currency was under renewed pressure on Monday and the inflationary impact of its rapid depreciation is causing growing concern to MPs. Iran and Oman last week reached a verbal agreement on a new single temporary route for shipping through the strait in which Oman retains controls on shipping in Omani waters. One western diplomat familiar with the talks said the message had got through to Washington that this bilateral agreement would not be enough for Iran to open the strait and that to do so would at least require the US to end its blockade of Iranian oil exports, something Trump is not currently prepared to do. “There are many in Iran determined to torment Trump right up to the end of his presidency,” the western diplomat said. “We are stuck.” He said some oil was getting through but not very much. The latest fighting broke out late on Sunday with the US claiming it attacked Larak Island in the strait. A US official said: “I can confirm that earlier today US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic ⁠Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait of Hormuz.” The IRGC said the US attack had killed three soldiers and wounded two citizens. Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted the IRGC as saying its air defences shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the strait, causing it to crash ‌into Gulf waters. The US said all missiles fired towards US forces in Jordan had been intercepted with no significant impact. The White House claim that the US now controls the strait and ships are free to navigate its waters is heavily contested. Tanker Trackers, an independent tracking agency, said on Sunday: “Past seven days daily average of crude oil exports via the strait of Hormuz was 3.8m barrels per day. During the formal ceasefire period (which in effect only lasted for 25 days), it was 9.8m.” The agency said Iranian crude exports had been at zero for some time. A meeting of G20 finance ministers in the US is likely to lead to a clash over American demands that more countries impose sanctions on Iran or face punitive action by Washington. The German finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, who is facing difficult regional elections, is to urge the US to bring the conflict to a diplomatic end, pointing to the war’s inflationary impact. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, echoing Trump, claimed on Monday the resumed exchanges of fire showed Iran was “lashing out” because the fresh sanctions were taking a heavy toll on its already battered economy. “They’re taking it very seriously ... they’re in shock at the state of their ‌economy,” Bessent told reporters at the G20 finance ministers ‌meeting in North Carolina. “I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically.” China, a key Iranian customer for its oil, has said it opposes the new US sanctions campaign. In Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian will be looking for concrete assurances from the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, that he will not allow the US to spread economic chaos through Iran.