State media says Tehran’s response to peace plan passed to Pakistan as drone strikes or incursions reported in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq

Iran has said it has replied to a US peace proposal, on a day when a month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying, with drone strikes reported around the region.

Iranian state media reported that the Iranian response had been passed to Pakistani mediators, without giving further details. The announcement came a week after the US presented a peace proposal, which was reported to consist of a one-page 14-point memorandum of understanding that would reopen the strait of Hormuz while setting a framework for further talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

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There are many good reasons to not like the prime minister. But ours is an age in which hatred is a remarkably popular currency – leaders need a strategy for countering it

It might be that Keir Starmer, not known for his rhetorical skills, expresses himself most clearly through his furrowed brow. It has a way of telling the public that none of this is easy and that difficult decisions must be made. It says that although Starmer wishes it were otherwise, things will get worse before they get better, if they do indeed get better; that there are no good options, only difficult decisions. The local and regional elections on Friday meted out another round of pain for Starmer, and his furrowed brow was once again doing a lot of the talking. “The results are tough, they are very tough,” he said. “That hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”

Starmer’s furrowed brow courts pity and patience – but voters are in no mood to feel sorry for their prime minister. Instead, if the public’s feelings towards Starmer could be reduced to a single emotion, it would probably be hatred, resentment or scorn. Even those who don’t like Starmer can be surprised at the sheer intensity and spread of the animosity towards him. “[It] is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,” John McDonnell said on LBC recently. On Newsnight on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey said that “visceral dislike” of Starmer was the local elections’ defining theme – and the Labour peer Thangam Debbonaire conceded that “I’ve certainly picked that up on the doorstep, yes.”

Samuel Earle is the author of Tory Nation: The Dark Legacy of the World’s Most Successful Political Party

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Gordon gets in touch: “I am wondering if the Chelsea players will give their opponents today a guard of honour after City became WSL champions?”

Let’s see, perhaps that would only happen in an actual WSL match.

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The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

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Sinds Assad de winter van zijn carrière beleeft in een Moskouse tandartspraktijk, zien we Syrië steeds verder opklimmen de vaart der volkerenmoord volken. Stapje voor stapje keren de Westerse geneugten des levens er terug. Onlangs zagen we voormalig terrorist en huidig president al-Sharaa al de tijd van zijn leven beleven met cheerleaders in een hypermoderne basketbaltempel. Nu heeft nieuwe bewind heeft betalingen met Visa en Mastercard goedgekeurd, dus kunnen de Syriërs hun kaartjes voor het basketbal zelfs MET EEN PASJE afrekenen. Dan doe je weer helemaal mee in de wereld. Wat is Syrië toch weer een gezellig land. Wie wil daar nou niet op vakantie? Of misschien zelfs: naar terugkeren.

HOE GING DAT OOK ALWEER

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Michael Lukyniuk has added a photo to the pool:

My second attempt at a linocut

Michael Lukyniuk has added a photo to the pool:

These are my first attempts at creating linocut prints. I've been curious about this artform for a long time and thought that I'd try it out. While the results resemble pen and ink drawings, the linocut artist has the ability to create multiple originals. Each print is made by hand and may be different from others created with the same block. For example, the prints may be produced with different colours, be made on various kinds of papers (or fabrics), or contain slight imperfections making each one unique. The linocut print is also different from a pen and ink drawing in the manner that the ink isn't absorbed into the paper but seems to stand on top of it. (At least that's what I've noticed from my attempts.) I can tell that this is a complex artform which may take a long time to create descent results.

Tegen het einde van de route werd het meisje onwel. Reanimatie ter plekke mocht niet baten. De afstanden van de Leiden Marathon die nog van start zouden gaan, zijn geannuleerd.

De evacuatie van zo’n 150 opvarenden van het cruiseschip MV Hondius, dat is getroffen door een uitbraak van het hantavirus, is begonnen op Tenerife. Het is een ingewikkelde logistieke operatie, waarbij veel landen betrokken zijn. De eerste Nederlandse reizigers worden zondagavond verwacht op vliegveld Eindhoven.