TEL AVIV (ANP/AFP) - Het Israëlische leger heeft zondag bekendgemaakt dat het bezig is zijn grondoperaties in het zuiden van Libanon uit te breiden. De operatie in Beaufort Ridge en het gebied van Wadi al-Saluki is enkele dagen geleden al begonnen, aldus de verklaring.

Grondtroepen zijn volgens het Israëlische leger de Litani-rivier overgestoken en trekken nu verder op naar "extra gebieden".

Israël voert ook luchtaanvallen uit op het zuiden van Libanon. De Libanese premier Nawaf Salam veroordeelde zaterdag de "gevaarlijke en ongekende escalatie" door Israël.

WASHINGTON (ANP/AFP) - De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump heeft vrijdag geprobeerd om verschillende voorwaarden van een voorgestelde deal met Iran te wijzigen. Dat meldden Amerikaanse media zaterdag op basis van geïnformeerde bronnen.

Volgens The New York Times gaan Trumps wijzigingen over aanscherpingen van de voorwaarden en zou de herziene versie naar Iran zijn opgestuurd. Nieuwssite Axios meldde dat Trump delen van de overeenkomst die hij belangrijk vond, wilde versterken. Het zou onder meer gaan over het nucleaire materiaal van Iran en wat daarmee moet gebeuren.

Het voorstel dat op tafel lag, zou volgens persbureau AFP ter goedkeuring aan president Trump zijn voorgelegd. Maar tijdens een bijeenkomst in de Situation Room van het Witte Huis nam de president geen besluit. Nieuwe aanpassingen aan het voorstel kunnen ervoor zorgen dat de onderhandelingen tussen de VS en Iran nog dagen langer gaan duren.

Shinjiro Koizumi says Japan valued as a ‘peace-loving’ nation while China expands military capabilities ‘without sufficient transparency’

Japan’s defence minister took a veiled swipe at China on Sunday, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance.

Under the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, Japan has quickened its pivot to a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off – with US encouragement – its pacifist outlook in place since the end of the second world war.

Clever, emotional – and well worth the hype

I couldn’t get a table at Skof for ages: it was too full, too booked up and far too busy. It seemed there’d be no lightly set miso custard with hen of the woods mushrooms and dashi for me. Jersey royals cooked in chicken fat with pickled walnuts? I’d only be able to admire those from afar. It was like catnip: in the spirit of Groucho Marx, I want to be inside any restaurant that doesn’t want me as a customer.

Skof opened in Manchester in May 2024 and by February last year already had a Michelin star, so it’s no wonder that, with only 36 seats, spaces evaporate rapidly. This capacious one-time drapery warehouse could easily accommodate two or even three times that number of covers, but Tom Barnes, formerly of L’Enclume in the Lake District, is not that sort of chef. His restaurant’s name comes from his dad, Barney, telling him rather unceremoniously as a child to “scoff” his dinner. What would Barney have made of his boy’s ornate, complex pre-dinner snacks of chalk stream trout and golden beetroot tartlet, or broad bean, pike roe and shiso on a Spenwood cheese biscuit? Both are hugely scoffable, incidentally. Barney, now deceased, is remembered at the end of every meal via his favourite tiramisu, of which more later.

Skof, like L’Enclume, is one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants. Dress code is come as you are. Deodorant is a boon. As we ate, Aussie post-punk band Mental As Anything bled into Arctic Monkeys by way of Sam Fender, but then, bang, the first two courses proper arrived, each of them intricate and intentional: a soft, juicy Orkney scallop with barbecued kohlrabi and preserved tomato water, followed by that lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi. Think of this custard as a quiche filling on steroids, and one that’s well worth garrotting people for in a buffet queue.

Magazine’s editor Michael Gove will welcome performer who described Conservative party leader as ‘iconic’

The American rapper Azealia Banks said she had been invited to the Spectator magazine summer party in London.

The performer, known for her social media feuds with numerous celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Zayn Malik and Lana Del Rey, wrote on X on Saturday: “Ill be in London July 3 for @spectator.”

Her message received a response from Michael Gove, the Spectator editor and former Conservative cabinet minister, who replied: “Looking forward!”

The annual Spectator summer party is traditionally held in the garden behind the magazine’s offices in Westminster featuring prominent figures across UK politics, media and culture.

In May, Banks and fellow rapper Minaj publicly supported the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch.

Banks wrote on X at the time: “Sorry i made fun of you guys in Britain, i rolled over and realized its actually no longer a laughing matter and I shouldnt be making jokes. I hope you all vote conservative and Listen to Kemi Badenoch.”

In a later post, the 32-year-old said of Badenoch: “She is a star.”

In April, Banks shared a clip of the Conservative leader speaking in the House of Commons on X, with the message: “Kemi Badenoch is f**king iconic. World leaders will respect her Professionalism alot more than goofball Nigel [Farage].”

The artist is known for her forthright political views and on Saturday posted a link to an article entitled “Congress advances unprecedented U.S.-Israel military integration plan” and wrote on X: WE WON!!!!! PULL OUT OF NATO NOW!”

The New York rapper won wide acclaim for her debut single 212 which appeared on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Local leaders are optimistic investment and regeneration plans will help make ‘ocean city’ an appealing place to live

Plymouth may only have been rebranded as “Britain’s ocean city” in recent years, but its role as a centre of UK defence can be traced back to the 16th century thanks to its strategic location on Devon’s south coast. Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the globe and it was here the Pilgrims finally departed England for America on board the Mayflower.

In more recent decades, a dependence on the defence sector no longer seemed an asset, as spending cuts and the loss of dockyard jobs forced the city with a proud maritime history to square up to a new foe: economic uncertainty.

Twin threats from east and west have clearly made the bloc more appealing – but its rule-bound institutions need urgent attention

Giant butter mountains, wine lakes and an apocryphal EU ban on bendy bananas formed the mythological backdrop to Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum debacle. Yet while many Vote Leave claims were exaggerated, inaccurate or blatantly untrue, the EU’s capacity for laying itself open to ridicule is undiminished 10 years on. Take the strange case of the whingeing EU commissioners, annoyed that their officially provided electric vehicles cannot manage the time-consuming 280-mile journey between Brussels and Strasbourg without stopping to recharge.

This important issue, first reported by Politico, raises vital questions. Do these highly paid bureaucrats really need chauffeur-driven “company cars”? Surely they could catch a train, or fly, or cycle. EV use is mandatory for road trips. The vehicles are supplied in line with the EU’s Green Deal emissions-cutting policy, which commissioners might be expected to support, not carp about. So why is the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, allowed a petrol engine? The biggest question of all is why make these tedious Brussels-Strasbourg journeys in the first place?

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

Would you want this to become sexual? If the answer is yes, then think about what might be holding you back

I don’t know whether I am in love with my friend or not. We hang out a lot, because we work together in the same university. My feelings developed over many months and it took us a long time to fit with each other as we do now. I don’t find him perfect; I sometimes don’t like his behaviour, especially when we are with other people. However, I want to be with him a lot: I imagine going on holiday with him and doing things together.

We do have physical contact sometimes – just things like touching arms. I appreciate that and have deep affection for him. So I wonder if this could be love or if I am mistaking great friendship with love just because he is a guy. I do not know whether he is a friend, almost like a brother, or more than that.

The dire state of roads has provoked pothole vigilantes and become a political flashpoint from Manchester to Manhattan. How did we get here?

Sitting in St Albans crown court, waiting for his case to be called, Derek Bennett’s anger momentarily gave way to a sense of disbelief. “I mean, there’s rape and murder cases going on,” he says. “I couldn’t believe I was there, with this stupid subject.”

Initially, neither could the judge, whom Bennett says remarked that such issues were surely a matter for the magistrates. But Bennett, a 68-year-old construction consultant who has spent decades navigating building rules and regulations, had read the law carefully. Section 56 of the UK’s Highways Act 1980 clearly states the “highway authority or other person” responsible for a road in Britain is liable to maintain it, and should it fall into “disrepair”, a member of the public may apply for a crown court order to fix it. The other crimes would just have to wait. Bennett was here about potholes.

SC-Wang(TY) has added a photo to the pool:

Monzen-Nakacho is famous for its "Japan's No. 1 hardest senbei" (日本一坚いせんべい), a long-established shop known as "Kizukaku Senbei" (其角せんべい). Its signature senbei is so hard it pushes the limits, making it a must-buy souvenir recommended by many TV programs and tourists.