First Thing: Trump does deal with Nato allies to arm Ukraine and warns Russia of severe sanctions

The Guardian

15-07-2025

Good morning.
Donald Trump said he had sealed an agreement with Nato allies that will lead to large-scale arms deliveries to Ukraine, including Patriot missiles, and warned Russia that it will face severe sanctions if it does not make peace within 50 days.
After a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump said they had agreed 'a very big deal' under which 'billions of dollars' worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States, going to Nato … And that's going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.'
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he was 'grateful to President Trump' in his nightly video address.
What does it mean for the war? The US will sell weapons to Ukraine, the president said, with other Nato countries paying the bill. Otherwise, specifics were scant. No sums of money were mentioned, making it hard to calibrate how much of a difference the proposed weapon supply will make to Kyiv.
What about sanctions? Nothing new right now. Trump did promise to levy a 100% tariff on Russia if Putin did not agree a deal to halt the fighting within 50 days.
So what's the significance? Make no mistake: tonally, Trump's statements are a significant U-turn on his approach to the war. 'We're very unhappy – I am – with Russia,' he said.
A feud has broken out between the Israeli government and the military over the cost and impact of a planned camp for Palestinians in southern Gaza, as politicians criticized the former prime minister Ehud Olmert for warning that the project would create a 'concentration camp' if it goes ahead.
The row came as Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals. Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point, according to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Meanwhile, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, hailed a 30-nation conference aimed at ending Israel's occupation of Palestine as 'the most significant political development in the past 20 months'.
How have Hamas negotiators reacted to the news? It has become a sticking point in ceasefire talks with Hamas, which is pushing for a more comprehensive withdrawal. Husam Badran, a senior member of the group, said the camp plans were a 'deliberatively obstructive demand' that would complicate talks, the New York Times reported.
Undocumented farm workers feel they are being 'hunted like animals', they told the Guardian, as Donald Trump's administration ramps up its crackdown on immigration.
Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) have caused workers to lose hours and income and forced them into hiding at home, according to interviews.
An Ice raid at a cannabis farm in the county last week resulted in a worker suffering fatal injuries after falling from a greenhouse.
What did workers tell the Guardian? An undocumented farm worker in Ventura County, California, said: 'You can't go out peacefully to do things, or go to work with any peace of mind any more. We're stressed out and our kids are stressed out. No one is the same since these raids started.'
Who was the man who died after an Ice raid? Jaime Alanís died a day after a frenzied immigration raid of Glass House Farms in Ventura County where authorities arrested at least 200 workers. The 57-year-old, who was from the town of Huajúmbaro in Michoacán, Mexico, was described as a 'hard-working, innocent farmer'.
The former New York governor Andrew Cuomo will run independently for New York City mayor, after losing in the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed nearly 300 people in attacks in North Kordofan state that began on Saturday, according to Sudanese activists.
The French government has signalled a willingness to discuss reparations for colonial massacres in Niger, more than a century after French troops burned villages and looted cultural artefacts.
The week after its Grok chatbot identified itself as 'MechaHitler' and generated antisemitic posts, Elon Musk's xAI firm announced a contract with the Department of Defense worth nearly $200m. The deal is for developing and implementing artificial intelligence tools for the agency.
Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old state assembly member who won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor last month, campaigned on a platform of affordability, including proposals for free childcare for children aged six weeks and older. He plans to fund it by raising taxes on corporations and the city's richest residents. How would it work?
In July 1987, the Guadalupe River in Texas rose nearly 30ft during a ferocious rainstorm, which led 10 children to drown. On 4 July this year, another flash flood hit the Guadalupe: the death toll is now nearly 130 people. One survivor asked: 'Why didn't they learn from this?'
Cameras have started rolling for HBO's Harry Potter TV series at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in the UK. HBO has provided a first glimpse of the new series, which promises to be a 'faithful adaptation' of JK Rowling's novels – 'full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years', according to HBO's announcement in 2023.
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