Blow for Rachel Reeves after UK economy shrinks by more than expected
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economist
24 minutes ago
- Economist
Israel launches an attack on Iran—without America
THE FIRST indication Israelis received that their country was at war with Iran was a siren a few minutes before 3am on June 13th, accompanied by an alert on their mobile phones. In Iranian cities, people were shaken awake by huge bomb blasts. For over two decades, Israeli leaders have spoken of the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, if necessary by force. Now they have launched a full-scale campaign on Iran that could last for days, without clear American backing, plunging the region into turmoil. The oil price surged by 13% in the hours after the first attacks. Huge uncertainty now looms over how Iran will retaliate, how resilient Iran's regime is to a new war and whether America is inevitably dragged into a conflict.
Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Israel is just getting started, but can a weakened Iran respond?
Israel's warplanes were in the air barely two hours after Donald Trump, the US president, had laid out the case for continuing talks with Iran at the weekend. 'We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue,' he posted on his Truth Social site. 'My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran.' Had Benjamin Netanyahu, the headstrong prime minister of Israel, not got the memo? Or was he sending a clear signal to Washington that he was not going to take orders from anyone. As ever in the Middle East's quagmire of religious strife and decades of power struggles, it was all a lot more complicated than that. The Americans had been forewarned that Israel had run out of patience with Iran and its deadly pursuit of nuclear weapons. Just a day earlier, the State Department had announced it was reducing its diplomatic footprint in Baghdad and other regional facilities, Mr Trump warning the Middle East 'could be a dangerous place'. The US president was asked directly whether Israeli strikes were imminent. 'Well, I don't want to say imminent,' he told reporters in the East Room of the White House, 'but it looks like it's something that could very well happen'. Strikes, he said, could upset delicately poised negotiations. Or, maybe, he mused, it 'might help it actually'. So when explosions echoed across Iran early on Friday morning, Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu were settling into rather familiar roles. The American president had spent the day as good cop – talking up the idea of a negotiated settlement and trying to keep his people in the region from becoming targets. However, while officials said negotiators were on their way to Oman for a sixth round of talks on Sunday – he was happy to let the Israeli prime minister play the bad cop, pulling the trigger. 'In my assessment, the timing of an Israeli strike on Iran reflects a convergence of interests between Trump and Netanyahu,' said Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official. 'From Trump's perspective, as long as the US is not directly militarily involved, there is an advantage to a situation in which Israel takes military action aimed at forcing the Iranian regime back to negotiations from a significantly weaker position. 'The one who will pay the price for this move is Israel.' As he announced Operation Rising Lion to his nation, Mr Netanyahu set out the scale of the threat just a few hundred miles away. For decades, the tyrants of Tehran have 'brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction,' he said, describing how their weapons programme had produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs. The strikes, said Gabriel Noronha, president of POLARIS National Security and a former adviser to the State Department, were simply the first in maybe a week of attacks, starting with command and control centres, top leadership, and aerospace headquarters that would have launched drone and missile retaliation. The question now is whether Iran will have the ability or the intent to strike US facilities or at any of the 40,000 military personnel in the Persian Gulf and the rest of the Middle East. 'They've threatened the US for a long time,' Mr Noronha said. 'The question is whether they will have the munitions and the capability to strike US bases or they say, 'We barely have enough to inflict damage on Israel. We're going to keep it at that.'' Either way, it is just the start.
South Wales Guardian
28 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Israel launches attacks on Iran's nuclear programme
It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq with multiple sites around the country hit. The leader of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed, Iranian state television reported. Another top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead. Israeli leaders said the attack was necessary to head off what they described as an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs and they warned of a reprisal which could target civilians in Israel. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. Dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including… — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned 'severe punishment' would be directed at Israel. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, he said Israel had 'opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centres'. In Washington, the Trump administration, which earlier cautioned Israel against an attack amid continuing negotiations, said it had not been involved in the attack and warned Iran against retaliations against US interests or personnel. Multiple sites in the capital were hit in the attack, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted both nuclear and military sites. Also targeted were officials leading Iran's nuclear programme and its ballistic missile arsenal. The assault came amid warnings from Israel that it would not permit Tehran to build a nuclear weapon, although it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that. Mr Netanyahu said in an address on YouTube that the attacks will continue 'for as many days at it takes to remove this threat'. 'It could be a year. It could be within a few months,' he said as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to 'remove this threat'. 'This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.' The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed an Israeli strike hit Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and said it was closely monitoring radiation levels. The attack followed increasing tensions that led the US to pull some diplomats from Iraq's capital and to offer voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took 'unilateral action against Iran' and that Israel advised the US that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defence. 'We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,' Mr Rubio said in a statement released by the White House that warned Iran against targeting US interests or personnel. The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. The board of governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency censured Iran on Thursday for the first time in 20 years over its refusal to work with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more-advanced ones. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country carried out the attack, without saying what it targeted. 'In the wake of the state of Israel's preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately,' he said in a statement. The statement added that Mr Katz 'signed a special order declaring an emergency situation in the home front'. 'It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,' it said Both Iran and Israel closed their airspace.
