Trump says hundreds of tankers have escaped Iran’s blockade. Data suggests shipments are increasing but many questions remain

Donald Trump has claimed that the US has been conducting a “secret mission” in the strait of Hormuz to help Gulf petrostates bypass Iran’s chokehold on oil flows – which has roiled global energy markets for months.

In televised comments from the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president claimed Iran was unaware that dozens of tankers had been escorted out of the blockaded channel at night with their transmitters off.

Have you followed the big stories in football, cricket, cycling, tennis, motor sport, basketball, rugby and athletics?

The world No 1’s setback in Oslo and reduced participation coincides with the emergence of a new star

Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, had his worst tournament result since 2015 last week when the 35-year-old ended up fourth of six in the $178,000 Norway Chess event at Oslo, losing four games out of 10.

There were reasons for his disappointing showing. Previous editions of the event were in distant Stavanger, far from the hometown pressures of Oslo, while Carlsen is the father of a baby son, and he arrived at several games seemingly unprepared.

Eight years on from being sacked by Spain on the eve of the World Cup, Julen Lopetegui will get his chance on the big stage as head coach of Qatar

When the Qatari national team’s flight from Dublin touched down in Los Angeles at 2.12pm on 30 May there was applause on board the Boeing 777‑300ER. For the 26 players arriving in America, this represents the first time they have qualified for a World Cup. For the coach who has led them there it is the third, but this time is different; this time he will get a game.

“Football didn’t owe me anything,” says Julen Lopetegui in the dining room at the team hotel in Montecito, Santa Barbara, yet maybe he owed himself a moment like this. And, he says, if there were many reasons to answer the call from Doha 12 months ago, the simplest stood out most of all: this is the World Cup.

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Former street seller celebrates newfound rights after debacle in claiming €500,000 scratchcard prize while undocumented

A Nigerian man who won €500,000 in an Italian lottery – but was barred from collecting his windfall because he was undocumented – said the hardship of his more than decade-long immigration journey had been eased after he was finally granted a residency permit.

“I’ve been praying for this moment ever since I arrived in Italy,” said Imagbe Ehizomwengie, 36. “It’s a huge relief. You might think it’s incredible, but receiving the permit means more to me than winning the money. I want to work and contribute to society.”

Rolling coverage of SpaceX’s record-breaking initial public offering

The SpaceX IPO also led to an unusual protest yesterday in New York.

A 40-foot high giant inflatable of Elon Musk, smiling and shirtless, appeared at Times Square. It was created by the Safe AI Now (SAIN) coalition, to warn of the dangers of SpaceX’s AI assistant Grok.

The enormous inflatable of Musk is meant to draw attention to a serious issue: SpaceX’s Grok has been widely used to generate illicit images of real people – including children. In fact, a NYT report found that of the 4.4 million images Grok pushed out in a recent nine-day period, an estimated 65% were sexualized or explicit. There are entire online communities, with hundreds of thousands of visitors each week, dedicated to sharing Grok-generated pornography and tips for explicit content generation.

While this inflatable is a fitting metaphor – much like Musk and his companies, it is inflated, full of hot air, and could pop at any minute – it serves as a warning to investors eager to buy into Musk’s SpaceX IPO on Friday morning. Because the reality is, shareholders’ investment in SpaceX means financially supporting a company that has been involved in child exploitation, revenge porn, and worse.

The show featuring a host of Latin American talent raced along and was over in a flash, leaving those at the Estadio Azteca wanting more

ITV’s Mark Pougatch could barely contain his excitement. “Let’s be honest, opening ceremonies aren’t very memorable,” he offered, clearly intent on whipping up viewers into a frenzy of anticipation before events in the Estadio Azteca got under way. A few minutes later, he was at it again. “Nothing is happening,” he shrugged, when the opening ceremony didn’t kick off bang on time. “This is why they don’t live long in the memory.”

No one was going to accuse him of overselling Mexico’s big night, but then perhaps he was underwhelmed by the lineup. With the global star power reserved for the final’s half-time show – which features Madonna, Coldplay and BTS – the Mexican ceremony stuck fast to relatively local talent. It kicked off with Maná, the most successful Latin American rock band of all time, who – to judge by the 1992 hit they performed, Oye Mi Amor – have sold 45m records by sounding not unlike The Police. They were pretty good, as was Venezuela’s Danny Ocean and the Mexican singer-songwriter Belinda, both of whom broke out one of the 18 (eighteen!) official World Cup songs: Ocean’s Partidazo was a nippy bit of reggaeton, Belinda’s Por Ella a sweet collaboration with veteran cumbia band Los Ángeles Azules, the latter a disconcerting sight for British viewers on account of the fact that their bass player looked as if he was being impersonated by Paul Whitehouse.

Flood of tributes for Victorian athlete, who died while overseas

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Local Australian athletics organisations have paid tribute to 2025 Stawell Gift finalist Jemma Stapleton, 25, who died while on holiday overseas with her family.

The cause of death has not yet been disclosed, though an online fundraising page shared by her brother said she “tragically lost her life in an accident”.

Beamish/Corbett/Whitehead/Havlat/ Irvine/Thomson/Ventris
(Delphian)
The British composer’s celebratory album is a family affair

Sally Beamish celebrates 70 years on planet Earth with an eclectic and profoundly personal album featuring friends and members of her talented musical family. At the centre of it all is Beamish herself, a musical shapeshifter, at home in classical, jazz or folk fiddle, performing on her own instrument, the viola.

It opens with April, a luminous chaconne for viola and accordion memorialising her friend, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. Equally poignant is Gerropaedie for viola and harp, a Satie-inspired birthday gift for an elderly patron.

Bizarre beelden van de ravage in de hoofdstad, waar in Osdorp, Nieuw-West, aan het begin van de nacht zeker zeven gewonden zijn gevallen na een grote explosie bij een flatgebouw. Honderden mensen moesten het gebouw verlaten en stonden plots op kousenvoeten op straat, de brand is inmiddels geblust maar mogelijk liggen er nog mensen onder het puin. Onderaan het gebouw zit (of zat) Fitness Studio Onna, een 24/7 sportschool voor leden: "De gewonden zouden ook onder deze groep zijn gevallen. Volgens aanwezigen zou de explosie binnen zijn ontstaan en niet buiten." De eigenaar van de sportschool schrijft op Instagram: "Op de camerabeelden van binnen het pand is duidelijk te zien dat de explosie van onder onze vloer vandaan komt. Op de begane grond, onder onze sportschool, bevinden zich onder andere leiding, een transformatorruimte en opslagruimtes van bewoners. Deze ruimtes zijn geen onderdeel van onze sportschool." De precieze toedracht is nog onduidelijk. Later meer...

Drone en speurhonden aan het werk

Reactie eigenaar sportschool

Meer beeld

BERGEN (ANP) - De NAVO gaat haar troepenmacht in Kosovo afbouwen. Het is rustiger in het Balkanstaatje en de eigen veiligheidsdiensten zijn beter toegerust voor hun taken, zegt de hoogste commandant van de NAVO.

"De veiligheidssituatie in Kosovo is blijven verbeteren de laatste jaren", stelt de Amerikaanse NAVO-generaal Alexus Grynkewich, die de verdediging van Europa leidt. Daarom zal het bondgenootschap "zijn huidige sterkte in de loop van volgend jaar geleidelijk aanpassen". NAVO-diplomaten verwachtten al langer dat het aantal NAVO-militairen in Kosovo zou worden verminderd. Dat past volgens hen ook bij de nieuwe richting die de alliantie is ingeslagen. De eigen verdediging krijgt weer voorrang op ingrijpen in andere landen.

In 2023 stuurde de NAVO juist honderden extra militairen naar Kosovo na gewelddadige botsingen tussen de Servische minderheid en de Albanese meerderheid. Kosovo vocht zich in de jaren negentig vrij van Servië.

Nederland nam eerder deel aan KFOR, maar al een poos niet meer.

BRUSSEL (ANP) - Rabobank en ING hebben interesse in een belang in de Belgische staatsbank Belfius, meldt de Belgische krant De Tijd. Eind vorig jaar stemde de Belgische regering in met de verkoop van een belang van 20 procent van de bank, die sinds 2011 volledig in handen is van de overheid.

Het is de bedoeling om het minderheidsbelang in Belfius, het voormalige Dexia België, rechtstreeks te verkopen aan een of meerdere geïnteresseerde partijen. De verkoop kan de Belgische overheid meer dan 2 miljard euro opleveren, aldus De Tijd.

Tot nu toe kwam volgens de krant slechts de naam van één potentiële koper naar buiten, die van de Europese investeerder CVC, die een beursnotering heeft in Amsterdam. In afwachting van het officiële startschot van de verkoop, dat mogelijk binnen enkele weken wordt gegeven, doen volgens De Tijd nu ook andere namen de ronde, zoals Rabobank en ING. Ook de Franse bank Crédit Agricole wordt genoemd.

NICOSIA (ANP) - De Cypriotische minister van Migratie, Nicholas Ioannides, verwacht dat de EU "zeker een jaar nodig heeft" voordat het asiel- en migratiepact goed functioneert. Dat zei hij vrijdag bij aankomst in Nicosia, waar het officiële startschot wordt gegeven van het pact waarin strengere en uniforme regels staan voor de screening, beoordeling en verdeling van asielzoekers over de EU. Er is tien jaar over onderhandeld en de lidstaten hadden twee jaar de tijd om alles te implementeren.

Nog steeds zijn niet alle EU-lidstaten klaar met alle voorbereidingen. In een enkel land is bijvoorbeeld het wetgevingstraject nog niet afgerond.

"De inwerkingtreding van het pact vandaag is niet het einde; we beginnen pas", zei Ioannides. "We moeten hard werken om ervoor te zorgen dat het pact toekomstbestendig en functioneel is en een succes wordt. We zijn hier vandaag om te vieren, maar we zijn ons ervan bewust dat we hard moeten blijven werken om onze doelstellingen op migratie te verwezenlijken."

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on back of photograph June 21, 1933

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

This week, friend Adam R. sent in an entry and included with it a link to a short-form YouTube video. Presumably this was a mistake, because I watched that video and the next one and the next one and the next one and after two hours I still haven't got this column ready. I won't share the video link with you. You're welcome.

What Adam really wanted to say was: "The USPS offers a sincerely service called Informed Delivery that, every morning, emails you scans of the exterior of your postal mail that you're expected to receive that day, which is a genuinely useful service (#not-sponsored). In today's digest, however, the subject line had an extra None thrown in there. Some Python script gone wrong that wasn't tested before production, perhaps?" We get lots of NaN, null, and undefined submissions, but None are actually rare.

Carlos sent us a fresh email, reporting "Mint Mobile hit the jackpot but their template engine didn't."

"No Rush" stated Robert F. calmly. "My Carbonite backup files will be deleted in 11250001 days if I don't reconnect the drive. Well, there's no rush, really. They have given me 30,822 years to reconnect it. (It was never disconnected in the first place!)"

"Roosting indeed" harumphs The Beast in Black. "Somebody should tell Claude Code that it keeps using that word but I do not think it means what it thinks it means. On the other hand, considering how sssllllllooooooowwww it usually is, perhaps this is honesty."

Peter S. has been driven to madness by Sixt, right along with me. "Now that I am silver, Sixt's top offer is to fill all mandatory fields in their data extension. I wonder what gold gives me."

[Advertisement] Keep all your packages and Docker containers in one place, scan for vulnerabilities, and control who can access different feeds. ProGet installs in minutes and has a powerful free version with a lot of great features that you can upgrade when ready.Learn more.