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Attack on equipment for Ukraine was planned by Wagner mercenaries on behalf of Russian intelligence, prosecutors said.
A jury in the United Kingdom has convicted three men of arson following an attack on an east London warehouse that was storing Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine.
Prosecutors had alleged that the attack on March 20, 2024, was planned by agents of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, acting on behalf of Russian military intelligence.
Jakeem Rose, 23, Ugnius Asmena, 20, and Nii Mensah, 23, were found guilty of aggravated arson on Tuesday at London’s Old Bailey court.
Jurors cleared a fourth man, Paul English, 61, who told police that while he was paid to drive the others, he knew nothing about the fire.
Dylan Earl, 21, who was accused of orchestrating the attack, and Jake Reeves, 23, had already pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and offences under the UK’s National Security Act 2023.
Prosecutors said Wagner used British intermediaries to recruit the men to target an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, where generators and Starlink satellite equipment bound for Ukraine were being stored.
Authorities cast the arson, which caused about 1 million pounds ($1.35m) of damage, as part of a campaign of disruption across Europe that Western officials blame on Moscow and its proxies.
Ukraine’s military frequently uses Starlink in its effort to fend off Russia’s invasion.
This undated handout photo taken in 2024 shows damage to the warehouse in east London [London Metropolitan Police via AP]
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Command at London’s Metropolitan Police, said the case was a “clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using ‘proxies’, in this case British men, to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country”.
He said Earl and Reeves “willingly acted as hostile agents on behalf of the Russian state,” adding that it was “only by good fortune nobody was seriously injured or worse”.
In this undated handout photo taken in 2024 and provided by the London Metropolitan Police on Monday, June 9, 2025, authorities say Jakeem Rose and Nii Mensah can be seen shortly before setting fire to a warehouse in east London [London Metropolitan Police via AP]
Earl also admitted to plotting to set fire to a wine shop and a restaurant in the upmarket London neighbourhood of Mayfair, as well as plans to kidnap their owner, Evgeny Chichvarkin.
Chichvarkin, an exiled Russian tycoon who has been vocal in his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, told the court in a written statement that he is considered “a key enemy of the Russian state and received daily death threats”.
Two other men were on trial in connection with the arson and related plots.
Ashton Evans, 20, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson. After Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of both, he burst into tears and nodded towards the jury.
Jurors were shown evidence from security cameras and of the arson Mensah filmed on his phone, along with a message he sent Earl later saying: “Bro lol it’s on the news.”
They were also shown hundreds of messages among the men and between Earl and a Russian recruiter.
Earl was the first person to be charged under the National Security Act, which created new measures to combat espionage, political interference and benefitting from foreign intelligence services.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said the convicted defendants would be sentenced in autumn.
Founded in 2014, the Wagner Group has become Russia’s largest and most notorious private military company, with operations around the world, including in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Ukraine.
In 2022, Wagner enlisted 50,000 Russian prisoners to fight on the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of which some 20,000 were killed in the months-long battle for control of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said at the time.
In June 2023, Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed north of Moscow shortly after he led Wagner troops who crossed from Ukraine into the Russian border city of Rostov-on-Don, saying he would fight anyone who tried to stop them.
The Post Office Horizon IT scandal dominates many of Wednesday’s front pages, with the first report from the official inquiry finding it had a “disastrous” impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences. Sir Wyn Williams’ report found at least 59 people had contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives, and more than 13 people may have killed themselves over the scandal.
The Daily Mail leads on the reaction to Sir Wyn’s report as campaigners say the Post Office has “blood on its hands”. Catherine, Princess of Wales, also graces the front page as she attends the state banquet for French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at Windsor Castle.
The Post Office scandal is also splashed across the Daily Express, highlighting the impact it had on the lives of those caught up in it. And while Catherine is featured too, the paper is pointing out her “new look hairstyle” ahead of the state banquet. A tribute to the late Norman Tebbit, who served as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, is also featured at the bottom of the page.
The Horizon scandal is covered on the front page of the Times, but it is the vote for strike action from resident doctors in England that is leading the paper. The government made clear a pay rise was off the table after the British Medical Association said 55% of its 48,000 resident doctor members had voted in the ballot with 90% supporting industrial action. The doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year, following a 22% increase over the previous two years. The Prince and Princess of Wales are pictured together for the state banquet for Macron, who earlier warned that Britain and France were dangerously dependent on the US.
The Metro also leads on the first volume of Sir Wyn’s report on the Horizon scandal, which found victims had divorced, suffered serious mental health issues and alcohol addiction as a result of their ordeals. The Post Office apologised “unreservedly” and said it would carefully consider the findings.
Macron’s state visit to the UK and a proposed deal on the small boats crisis lead the Daily Telegraph. The paper reports that the French president is demanding Sir Keir Starmer make Britain less appealing to Channel migrants to secure a “one in, one out” agreement. Gregg Wallace’s sacking from MasterChef is also covered on the front page. The presenter was fired as a result of an inquiry into alleged misconduct, BBC News understands. It comes as 50 more people have approached the BBC with fresh claims about the TV presenter. Wallace denies the claims.
The Sun has splashed Wallace’s sacking on the front page, with the presenter accusing BBC News of “uncorroborated tittle tattle” in its reporting. The inquiry into allegations against him, conducted by an independent law firm on behalf of MasterChef’s production company Banijay, is expected to report back imminently. In a lengthy statement on Instagram on Tuesday, Wallace said he had been cleared by that report of “the most serious and sensational allegations” made against him. BBC News has not seen the Banijay report.
Wallace insists he won’t be “cancelled” after his sacking, the Daily Star reports on its front page. For 20 years, Wallace was one of the most high-profile presenters on British television and the face of the BBC One cooking show. But he stepped aside from the show in November after the BBC’s initial investigation at the end of last year, when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments.
The Guardian is leading its front page with plans to be published on Wednesday designed to save the criminal justice system from total collapse. The paper reports that thousands of cases that would normally be heard in front of a jury should be decided by judges alone, according to recommendations made by a former senior judge. Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with a series of proposals to reduce the backlog of cases in the criminal courts. There are almost 77,000 cases waiting for trial in the Crown Court in England and Wales – meaning some defendants and victims are waiting years for justice.
The Financial Times is leading with a debt warning from the independent budget watchdog, which says the UK faces “daunting” risks to the public finances. The OBR says the country’s soaring debt load has led to “substantial erosion” of its capacity to respond to future shocks.
The OBR’s report also leads the front page of the i Paper. The UK state pension triple lock must go, says the watchdog, arguing it has made public finances “unsustainable”. The triple lock guarantees that the state pension rises each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5% – whichever is the highest. It meant the state pension rose by 4.1% in April 2025.
Human rights office calls for accountability after 31 people are killed, and 107 others wounded in nationwide ‘Saba Saba’ marches.
The death toll from antigovernment protests in Kenya has surged to at least 31 people, the country’s human rights commission said, with at least 107 others wounded during the nationwide marches.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) also reported two forced disappearances in the wake of Monday’s marches, which commemorated a 1990 uprising against undemocratic governance in the East African nation.
The commission, which initially gave a toll of 10 dead and 29 wounded, said it has also counted at least 532 arrests.
The marches saw clashes erupt between protesters and police in the capital, Nairobi, as well as the city of Eldoret, with the KNCHR accusing the police of cooperating with armed gangs, who were armed with machetes and spears, in the wake of the violence.
There was widespread destruction of property, too, including supermarkets.
The KNCHR said it “strongly condemns all human rights violations and urges accountability from all responsible parties including police, civilians and all other stakeholders”.
Monday’s marches marked Saba Saba Day, meaning Seven Seven, which celebrates the date when Kenyans rose up to demand a return to multi-party democracy on July 7, 1990, after years of rule by then-President Daniel arap Moi.
They came amid more than a year of mostly youth-led protests that have swept across Kenya since June 2024, when proposed tax rises triggered anger about wider issues, including the state of the economy, corruption and police brutality.
Protesters have also been calling on President William Ruto to resign.
Their actions have been met with harsh repression from the police.
The Law Society of Kenya and Police Reforms Working Group said that “heavily armed police with military grade weapons were deployed in violation of court orders, using masks and unmarked vehicles to conceal their identities”.
Overall, the Police Reforms Working Group said that the protests on Monday took place in 20 of Kenya’s 47 counties on Monday, including Nairobi, Kajiado, Nyeri, Mombasa, Kisii, Embu, Kisumu, Kiambu, Meru, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Vihiga, Narok, Kirinyaga, Uasin Gishu, Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, Laikipia and Kakamega.
Kenyan police officers gather on a main road to disperse protesters during clashes at Saba Saba Day demonstrations in Nairobi on Monday [Luis Tato/AFP]
Tuesday’s toll takes the number of people dead in the protests since they began last year to more than 100.
This includes at least 16 people killed in nationwide rallies against police brutality and government corruption in Kenya, on June 25, less than two weeks ago.
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for the Interior Kipchumba Murkomen last week told police to “shoot on sight” anyone who approaches police stations during protests after several were burned.
The Kenya National Cohesion and Integration Commission, a government body whose commissioners are appointed by the president, on Tuesday urged politicians not to heighten ethnic tensions and criticised police for using excessive force towards protesters.
In a statement issued before the revised death toll, the United Nations human rights office, OHCHR, expressed deep concern over the killings of protesters in Kenya on Monday.
It said the deaths occurred “amid reports that police and security forces used lethal force to quell violent demonstrations in Nairobi and across the country”.
Here are the key events on day 1,231 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is how things stand on Wednesday, July 9:
Fighting
A Ukrainian attack on a beach in the Russian city of Kursk killed three people and injured seven, including a five-year-old boy, acting regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein said. The dead included a Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard) officer, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.
TASS reported that a Ukrainian drone attack on Rylsk, also in the Kursk region, hit the Central District Hospital, an ambulance building and an administrative building, injuring two people.
The acting mayor of Kursk, Sergey Kotlyarov, said that debris from a downed Ukrainian drone damaged several houses in the Zheleznodorozhny district.
The governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Vadym Filashkin, said Russia’s attacks killed three people and injured 10 more in the region.
Four people were killed and four others injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, the regional administration said.
In Ukraine’s Kherson region, one person was killed and four others injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region said that Russian attacks injured 20 people and damaged at least 64 homes.
The Kyiv Independent reported that explosions were heard in Kyiv at about midnight on Wednesday after Ukraine’s Air Force issued a missile alert for the entire country.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 54 drones and four guided missiles overnight. Ukraine shot down 34 of the drones, while five hit locations across the country.
Regional security
A jury in the United Kingdom convicted three men of arson in an attack on an east London warehouse that was storing equipment destined for Ukraine. Prosecutors said agents from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, acting on behalf of Russian military intelligence, planned the attack.
Russia detained media activist Pavel Andreev, accusing him of being “in touch with agents of NATO countries and organisations that foreign secret services use to cover up their intelligence and subversive activities in Russia”, TASS reported, citing Russia’s FSB security service.
Ukraine asked the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague to investigate Russian forces’ alleged use of banned toxic munitions following a report from Dutch and German intelligence agencies.
Politics and diplomacy
US President Donald Trump said he is tired of the meaningless “b*******” from Russian President Vladimir Putin during negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will “intensify” talks with the United States on air defence.
Europe will never abandon Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the UK parliament, adding: “We will fight till the very last minute in order to get the ceasefire… because this is our security and our principles together which are at stake in Ukraine.”
Watch: Texas resident survived floods by standing on electrical box for three hours
At least 161 people are still missing in a single Texas county four days after deadly and devastating flash floods hit parts of the state last week, Governor Greg Abbott said, as hope fades for survivors to be found alive.
The missing in the hard-hit Kerr County include five campers and one counsellor from Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp located on the banks of Guadalupe river.
At least 109 people have died in the disaster, including 94 in the Kerrville area alone, Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday.
Texas is not alone. New Mexico saw a flash flood emergency as well, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning of intense flooding on Tuesday night.
In Texas, frantic search and rescue efforts continue, with Abbott vowing emergency crews “will not stop until every missing person is accounted for”.
Abbott added that it is very likely more missing will be added to the list in the coming days, and urged people to report anyone they think is unaccounted for.
General Thomas Suelzer from the Texas National Guard said search efforts include Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoists.
He said there are 13 Black Hawk helicopters helping in the search effort, including four that arrived from Arkansas. He added that authorities were also using reaper drones.
Responders from various agencies are working together on rescue efforts, including agents from border patrol, the FBI and the National Guard.
More than 250 responders from various agencies have been assigned to the Kerrville area alone to help with search and rescue.
One of those rescue volunteers, named Tim, told the BBC he has never seen any destruction at this scale before.
“I’ve done the floods down in East Texas and Southeast Texas, and hurricanes, and this is a nightmare,” he said.
Another rescue volunteer, named Justin, compared the effort to “trying to find a single hay in a haystack”.
“There’s a wide trail of destruction for miles, and there’s not enough cadaver dogs to go through all of it,” he told the BBC.
“It’s hard to access a lot of it with heavy machinery. Guys are trying to pick at it with tools and hands, and they’re not even putting a dent in it – not for lack of effort.”
Experts say there were a number of factors that contributed to the tragedy in Texas, including the extreme weather, the location of the holiday homes and timing.
The governor, who had spent part of the day surveying the flood zone, said authorities had issued a storm warning and knew about a possible flash flood, but “didn’t know the magnitude of the storm”.
No one knew it would lead to a “30-foot high tsunami wall of water”, he said.
The governor responded to a question about who was to “blame” for the enormous death toll, saying: “That’s the word choice of losers.”
He made a sports analogy, saying American football teams make mistakes; champion teams are the ones who don’t “point fingers”.
Most of the victims died in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River was swollen by torrential downpours before daybreak on Friday, the July Fourth public holiday.
Camp Mystic had earlier confirmed at least 27 girls and staff were among the dead.
Those who survived are now focused on trying to rebuild.
Justin Brown has lived along the Guadalupe River for more than 25 years.
A week ago, he lived in his mobile home at the Blue Oak RV Park with his two young daughters and dog. Now, there is a huge puddle where his home once stood – his RV swept away in the floods.
“We were one of the few parks that got almost everybody out,” Mr Brown told the BBC as he described the efforts of his landlord and emergency workers, who evacuated almost all of the park’s residents.
Looking out over the empty lot where his home once stood – now just debris – he said he hopes to move back in as soon as he can.
President Donald Trump will travel to the flood-ravaged areas with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday.
Separately, in New Mexico, the NWS declared a flash flood emergency on Tuesday and told residents of Ruidoso to be on high alert for flooding.
Officials there are already working to rescue people trapped in floodwaters and houses are reportedly being washed away.
A flood wave on the Rio Ruidoso has reached 15 feet (4.5m), the NWS in Albuquerque said in a post on X.
The waters receded about two hours later, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
Officials had to perform some swift boat rescues and some people were unaccounted for as of Tuesday evening.
‘Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink,’ UN humanitarian office says.
The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, has warned that the fuel crisis in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade has reached a “critical point” and will cause further deaths and suffering in the besieged Palestinian territory.
OCHA said the fuel powering vital functions in Gaza, including water desalination stations and hospitals’ intensive care units, is running out quickly, with “virtually no additional accessible stocks left”.
“Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink,” the office said in a statement.
“The deaths this is likely causing could soon increase sharply unless the Israeli authorities allow new fuel in – urgently, regularly and in sufficient quantities.”
Israel has imposed a suffocating siege on Gaza since early March.
Over the past weeks, it has allowed some food into Gaza to be distributed through a United States-backed group at sites where hundreds of aid seekers have been shot dead by Israeli fire.
But fuel has not entered the territory in months.
Senior World Food Programme official Carl Skau also decried the lack of fuel in Gaza.
“The needs are greater than ever, and our capacity to respond has never been more constrained. Famine is spreading, and people are dying trying to find food,” Skau said in a social media post.
“Our teams in Gaza are doing their best to deliver aid and are often caught in the crossfire. We are suffering from shortages of fuel, spare parts and essential communications equipment.”
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, said that the situation at the medical centre is alarming due to the lack of fuel supplies.
“We don’t have enough fuel left until morning. If fuel is not available, generators cannot run, and hospitals find it difficult to provide care,” Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.
“Blood banks, nurseries and oxygen stations are not operating because of a lack of fuel. Patients will be doomed to certain death if fuel is not provided to hospitals.”
The health sector in Gaza has already been pushed to the brink under Israeli bombardment and repeated displacement orders.
Aid workers and health experts have been reporting a rise in preventable diseases in the territory amid the dire humanitarian situation.
On Tuesday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the enclave is seeing an uptick in cases of meningitis, a potentially deadly disease, especially among children.
“The catastrophic conditions in shelters, the severe shortage of drinking water, the spread of sewage, and the accumulation of waste are driving the health situation to further deterioration,” the ministry said.
Meningitis, which causes inflammation around the brain and spinal cord, can be caused by a bacterial infection.
In addition to the humanitarian crisis, Israel is pressing on with its intense bombardment of the territory. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks killed at least 95 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday.
Israeli attacks killed dozens of displaced people in and around tents in the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis and in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp.
UN experts and rights groups have described Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza as a genocide.
Israel’s Netanyahu discusses Gaza ceasefire in third meeting with Trump at the White House this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump meet again.
Their third meeting this year is taking place as ceasefire talks are ongoing in Doha.
While the official talks are being held privately, what has openly been discussed are post-war plans for Gaza, which appear to include forcibly displacing Palestinians.
And Netanyahu is nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
What are Israel and the United States hoping to do with Gaza?
How does this affect a possible ceasefire?
And what were Netanyahu’s political ambitions for this visit?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Curt Mills, executive director at The American Conservative magazine.
Yossi Mekelberg, senior consulting fellow at Chatham House.
Xavier Abu Eid, political analyst and former adviser to the chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Tehran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi visits Saudi Arabia for the first time after Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Jeddah in the first visit by a top Iranian official to the Gulf kingdom after Israel’s war with Tehran.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Araghchi’s talks with Prince Mohammed and other Saudi officials on Tuesday were “fruitful”.
The visit after the 12-day intense conflict between Israel and Iran, which saw the United States bomb three Iranian nuclear facilities before mediating a ceasefire, suggests that the war did not derail the rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s official news agency, SPA, said Araghchi and Prince Mohammed “reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the latest regional developments and the efforts being made in that regard”.
“The Crown Prince expressed the Kingdom’s aspiration that the ceasefire agreement would contribute to creating conditions that promote security and stability in the region, emphasizing the Kingdom’s stance in supporting dialogue through diplomatic means as a path to resolving disputes,” SPA said.
It added that Araghchi expressed his gratitude to the kingdom for “condemning the Israeli aggression”.
The top Iranian diplomat also met with Saudi Minister of Defence Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Israel launched a massive bombardment against Iran on June 13, without direct provocation, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists as well as hundreds of civilians.
Iran retaliated with missile barrages that left widespread destruction in Israel.
After the US targeted Iran’s nuclear sites, Tehran responded with a missile launch against a US airbase in Qatar. Shortly after that attack, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
While Arab countries condemned the attack as a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty, Iran appears to be pushing to repair relations with Gulf states.
Ties between Tehran and Riyadh were strained for years over disagreements around regional conflicts and mutual accusations of spreading instability.
But the two countries agreed to restore formal relations as part of a deal brokered by China in 2023, and top Saudi and Iranian officials have been in regular contact.
Before the outbreak of the recent war, Saudi Arabia had welcomed Iran’s nuclear talks with the US, saying it supported efforts to resolve regional and international disputes.
On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he believed Tehran could resolve its differences with the US through dialogue, but trust would be an issue after the attacks on his country.
In an article published by the Financial Times earlier on Tuesday, Araghchi accused Israel of preferring conflict over diplomacy.
“Iran remains interested in diplomacy, but we have good reason to have doubts about further dialogue,” he wrote. “If there is a desire to resolve this amicably, the US should show genuine readiness for an equitable accord.”
Watch: Planes douse flames as wildfire rages near Marseille
Some 110 people have been injured in a fast-moving wildfire that has reached the outer edge of Marseille, France’s second largest city.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said about 800 firefighters were at the scene and efforts to tackle the blaze would continue “all night”, as the fire was not yet contained.
The city’s mayor, Benoît Payan, said earlier that the “marine firefighter battalion is waging guerrilla warfare, hoses in hand,” referring to Marseille’s fire and rescue service.
At least 400 people have been evacuated from their homes, according to French media. Nine firefighters are said to have been injured.
Residents had been warned to stay indoors and urged not to evacuate unless they were instructed to, so the roads would be clear for emergency vehicles.
At its peak, the fire spread at a rate of 1.2km (0.7 miles) per minute, the mayor said, according to French broadcaster BFMTV. He blamed a combination of wind gusts, dense vegetation, and steep slopes.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on a state visit to the UK, expressed support for fire crews and called for residents to follow safety instructions.
“Our thoughts are with the injured and all residents,” he wrote on X.
Interior minister Retailleau arrived in Marseille on Tuesday evening, where he met local officials.
Marseille Provence airport said it would partially reopen from 21:30 local time (19:30 GMT) after being closed for many hours from about midday on Tuesday. Julien Coffinier, the airport’s president, said he had “never experienced a situation of this magnitude”.
Getty Images
Huge plumes of smoke rose above France’s second biggest city
The fire, which broke out earlier on Tuesday near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 700 hectares (7 sq km).
Local authorities said the blaze was sparked by a car that caught fire on the motorway.
“It’s very striking – apocalyptic even,” Monique Baillard, a resident of the town, told Reuters news agency. She said many of her neighbours had already left.
Footage showed huge plumes of smoke above Marseille as fire raged in a hilly area to its north.
The Bouches-du-Rhône area has not recorded a single drop of rain since 19 May, according to BFMTV.
Getty Images
A police officer tries to put out a fire in a car near Marseille
Elsewhere in France, another wildfire that started near Narbonne on Monday remains active, fanned by winds of 60km/h (40mph). Some 2,000 hectares have burnt, local officials said.
Wildfires were also reported in other parts of Europe, including the Catalonia region of north-east Spain, where more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at home on Tuesday because of a wildfire in the eastern province of Tarragona.
Emergency units were deployed alongside 300 firefighters as high winds overnight fanned the flames, which have spread across nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.
Several other parts of Spain – which experienced its hottest June on record – were on high alert for wildfires.
In Greece, some 41 wildfires broke out across the country on Monday. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening, according to the fire service.
Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, sparking fires that saw thousands evacuated from their homes.
US president voices frustration over the continuing war in Ukraine, says Vladimir Putin is ‘killing a lot of people’.
United States President Donald Trump says he is not happy with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the continuation of the war in Ukraine and suggests he is considering additional sanctions against Moscow.
“We get a lot of b******t thrown at us by Putin,” Trump said during a meeting with his cabinet at the White House on Tuesday. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Putin is “killing a lot of people” and a lot of them are his soldiers and Ukraine’s forces, Trump added.
When asked about his interest in a bill proposed by the Senate for further sanctions on Russia, Trump said: “I’m looking at it very strongly.”
But he refused to preview his plans further when asked whether he will act on his frustration with Putin.
“I wouldn’t be telling you. Don’t we want to have a little surprise?” Trump told reporters. He then pivoted to discussing the lengthy planning for last month’s US strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump made the comments as French President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the British Parliament that Europe will “never abandon Ukraine”.
Macron stressed that the United Kingdom and France will work with a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine.
“We will fight till the very last minute in order to get the ceasefire, in order to start the negotiations to build this robust and sustainable peace, because this is our security and our principles together which are at stake in Ukraine,” Macron said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said his administration will send more weapons to Ukraine, adding that the new shipments would be primarily comprised of “defensive weapons”.
According to US media reports, Washington had paused the transfer of certain missiles and munitions to Ukraine due to its dwindling weapons stockpiles. The Pentagon said it was conducting a “capability review” of US weapons.
As a candidate, Trump promised to swiftly end the war in Ukraine. But so far, his diplomatic efforts – including several phone calls with Putin – have failed to stem the violence.
Ukrainian and Russian officials met for direct talks in Turkiye in May and agreed to a prisoner swap, but the two sides have not been able to reach a temporary truce, let alone a lasting ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is waiting for Ukraine to propose possible dates for further negotiations. “As soon as dates are agreed – and we hope that it will be done – we will make an announcement,” he said.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks and has been slowly grinding its way forward along several parts of the Ukrainian front line in recent months.
On Monday, it announced that it had captured the Ukrainian village of Dachne in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would meet with President Trump again on Tuesday to discuss a Gaza ceasefire. He also praised Washington’s “unprecedented” military ties with Israel following a meeting with Capitol Hill lawmakers.
Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents.
The hope of finding survivors of the catastrophic flooding in the US state of Texas continues to dim a day after the death toll surpassed 100, and crews kept up the search for people missing in the aftermath.
As the storms that had battered the Hill Country for the past four days began to subside, more attention was being paid to the government’s response.
Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth holiday weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as “flash flood alley”.
At public briefings, officials in hard-hit Kerr County have deflected questions about what preparations and warnings were made as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions.
“We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said on Monday. “We’re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.”
Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods. But many were caught by surprise.
Debate has also intensified over how state and local officials reacted to weather alerts forecasting the possibility of a flash flood and the lack of an early warning siren system that might have mitigated the disaster.
On Monday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick promised that the state would “step up” to pay for installing a flash-flood warning system in Kerrville by next summer if local governments “can’t afford it”.
“There should have been sirens,” Patrick said in a Fox News interview on Monday. “Had we had sirens here along this area … it’s possible that we would have saved some lives.”
The Houston Chronicle and New York Times reported that Kerr County officials had considered installing a flood-warning system about eight years ago, but dropped the effort as too costly after failing to secure a $1m grant to fund the project.
In San Antonio and in Washington, Democrats are questioning whether cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) affected the forecasting agency’s response to catastrophic and deadly flooding in Central Texas.
The White House and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have denied the allegations and accused them of “politicising” the disaster.
The NWS’s San Antonio office is responsible for forecasting the area’s weather, collecting climate data and warning the public about dangerous conditions. Texas officials criticised the NWS over the weekend, arguing it failed to warn the public about impending danger.
The office issued a stream of flash flood warnings on Thursday and Friday across its digital and radio services, which are used to communicate with public safety professionals, according to alert records.
The messages grew increasingly urgent in the early hours of Friday morning. The team sent an emergency text message to area mobile phones at about 1:14 am, calling it a “dangerous and life-threatening situation”.
Phones must have reception or be near a cell tower to receive that message, said Antwane Johnson, former director of the Public Alert Team for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Mobile coverage is spotty in areas around the Guadalupe River, according to Federal Communications Commission records last updated in December.
“Even though those messages were issued, it does not mean it got to the people who needed them,” said Erik Nielsen, who studies extreme rain at Texas A&M University.
Here’s a closer look at the timeline of how the floods hit Texas and what warnings were sent when:
July 2
The Texas Division of Emergency Management announces that the agency “activated state emergency response resources in anticipation of increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas heading into the holiday weekend”.
In a statement, the agency urges Texans to “monitor local forecasts and avoid driving or walking into flooded areas”.
July 3
9:47am (14:47 GMT) – The Texas Division of Emergency Management posts warnings on social media of “the flood threat in West & Central TX”. These urge drivers to check road conditions before heading out and to turn around upon seeing water.
3:35pm (20:35 GMT)- The NWS Austin/San Antonio office issues a flood watch for portions of the western Hill Country.
11:14pm (04:14 GMT) – NWS issues a flash flood warning for Bandera County, marking the first official warning to go out.
July 4
1:14am (06:14 GMT) – A flash flood watch is issued for Bandera and Kerr counties. More than a dozen flash flood warnings for counties across the affected areas will be issued by mid-morning. A mobile alert goes out to all mobile phones with reception in the area. Three more warnings are sent in the next few hours, according to the New York Times.
3:30am (08:30 GMT) – The level of the Guadalupe River at Hunt in Kerr County has grown from 2.3 to 5.1 metres (7.7 to 16.8 feet), according to the New York Times. With the water so high, the gauge goes offline for an estimated three hours.
4:35am (09:35 GMT) – The river level hits 8.8m (29 feet) in Hunt County, according to meteorologists at San Antonio TV station KSAT. The water makes its way rapidly downriver. Ten minutes later, it crests at 7m (23 feet) in Kerrville.
5-7am (10-12:00 GMT)- According to CBS, NWS sends out three mobile phone messages in Kerr County reading: “This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!” News reports have noted that mobile service can be patchy in the more rural parts of Kerr County, and that some residents, accustomed to seeing flood warnings, were inclined to ignore them.
5:15am (10:15 GMT) – NWS reports “record high” water in Hunt.
6:29am (11:29 GMT) – The City of Kerrville Police Department (KPD) urges all residents who live near the Guadalupe to evacuate. “This is a life threatening event,” the KPD writes in a Facebook post. “Do not wait.”
7am (12:00 GMT) – The KPD and firefighters begin evacuating residents. Reunification sites and shelters are set up across town, including at a church and Walmart.
9:30am (14:30 GMT) – The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office announces fatalities, saying it will not release details until the next of kin have been notified. “This is a catastrophic flooding event,” reads a Facebook post. “The entire county is an extremely active scene. Residents are encouraged to shelter in place and not attempt travel. Those near creeks, streams, and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground.”
Throughout the morning and afternoon, news of fatalities trickles out. Officials announce that around 20 children are unaccounted for at Camp Mystic. The camp later confirmed that 27 campers and counsellors died.
3:45pm (20:45 GMT) – The river gauge begins recording again, according to the New York Times. By now, the level at Hunt has dipped back to 9 feet. Although rains continue to lash the region, the river reaches extreme heights as it moves further downstream.
Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz produced a Wimbledon masterclass to end British hope Cameron Norrie’s run and move into the semi-finals once again.
Second seed Alcaraz underlined why he is the tournament favourite with a scintillating 6-2 6-3 6-3 win.
The Spaniard will face Taylor Fritz – the American fifth seed bidding for a first major title – in the last four.
Fritz secured his place in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time with a 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Alcaraz is seeded behind Italian rival Jannik Sinner because of their respective world rankings, but his superior record on grass courts – and current hot streak – makes him the man to beat.
Victory over Norrie was a 23rd win in a row for Alcaraz, who is bidding to become the fifth man to win three successive Wimbledon titles in the Open era.
“I’m really happy – to play another Wimbledon semi-final is super special,” said Alcaraz, who secured victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
Houthis strikes on Israel prove without a shadow of a doubt that America’s air strikes on Yemen are a failure, Nasr Al-Din Amer, deputy head of the Houthi group’s media office, said yesterday.
In statements to Al Jazeera, Amer added: “As much as the destruction of our infrastructure pains us, it does not affect our military operations, and we will respond.”
He stressed that “the blockade on Umm Al-Rashrash [Eilat] Port will not be lifted, nor will it resume operations. It will remain closed, and navigation will not return to normal at the Israeli enemy’s airports. They will remain closed until the aggression against Gaza stops.”
“We tell them that the operations will not end, and we are in a long battle, not an exchange of strikes. Our strikes are coming, even if you don’t attack Sana’a airport or Hudaydah Port. We will attack you because you are killing the Palestinian people,” he continued.
Amer asserted that the group’s operations intend to support the Palestinian people, vowing to intensify them with other advanced methods “if Israel continues to threaten ground operations in Gaza.”
He ended by saying: “We are responding within the framework of a battle with the Israeli enemy entity. As long as the aggression against Gaza continues, along with the siege and the violation of a number of Arab countries continues, we remain in a state of engagement with the enemy. We will respond with full force, we will say no, and we are confident that we will achieve victory in the battle.”
Yesterday, the Israeli occupation army announced it bombed Sanaa airport and central power stations used by the Houthis in the capital, as a response to the attack on Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Top British diplomat David Lammy says the US-backed aid distribution mechanism in Gaza is ‘not doing a good job’.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has decried the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying that the United Kingdom could take further action against Israel if a ceasefire deal to end the war in the Palestinian territory does not materialise.
Speaking to the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Lammy also criticised the new aid distribution mechanism in Gaza via a group backed by the United States and Israel, dubbed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
“We’ve been very clear that we don’t support the aid foundation that has been set up,” Lammy said. “We it’s not doing a good job. Too many people are close to starvation. Too many people have lost their lives. We have led globally on our condemnation the system that has been set up.”
Hundreds of Palestinians have been gunned down by Israeli fire while seeking GHF assistance over the past weeks.
Asked by a legislator whether the British government will take measures against Israel if the “intolerable” situation in Gaza continues, Lammy said: “Yes, we will.”
Last month, the UK joined Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in sanctioning Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.
Weeks earlier, the UK had also suspended talks for a free trade agreement with Israel over the blockade on Gaza, which has sparked a starvation crisis in the territory. And last year, London halted some arms exports to Israel.
While welcoming the moves, some Palestinian rights supporters have criticised them as symbolic and failing to impose serious consequences on Israel for its apparent abuses of international humanitarian law.
On Tuesday, Lammy condemned settler violence and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying that they are “flouting international law”.
Pressed on whether the UK’s pressure on Israel has led the Israeli government to alter its behaviour, Lammy acknowledged that the change is “not sufficient”. Still, he defended London’s record, including recent moves against Israel and support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
“I am very, very comfortable that you would be hard pressed to find another G7 partner or another ally across Europe that’s doing more than this government has done,” he said.
Ultimately, Lammy played down the UK’s sway in the Middle East, saying that it is “but one actor”.
The UK is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also a major trade partner of Israel. And according to numerous media reports, the British Royal Air Force has conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza to help locate Israeli captives in the territory.
The UK has also cracked down on Palestinian rights activists at home, recently banning the advocacy group Palestine Action and arresting dozens of its supporters.
The Labour government in the UK has not recognised Palestine as a state – a move that several European countries have made over the past year.
Lammy said London wants its recognition of Palestine to be part of a concrete push towards the two-state solution, not just a symbolic gesture.
He added that the UK wants to recognise Palestine at a moment that helps shift “the dial against expansion, against violence, against the horrors that we’re seeing in Gaza, and towards the just cause that is the desire for Palestinian statehood”.
But Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry warned Lammy that with settlement expansion and annexation threats, if the UK continues to delay the decision to recognise Palestine, “there won’t be anything left to recognise”.
“We should recognise a Palestinian state and then work towards ensuring that one happens practically,” Thornberry said. “But if we continue to hold back, it’ll slide through our fingers.”
The Liverpool player is believed to have been driving at high speed when he and his brother Andre Silva died last week, according to Spanish police.
Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota was likely speeding when his car veered off a motorway in Spain last week, killing him and his brother, Spanish police said.
The shock deaths of Jota, 28, and Andre Silva, 25, on July 3 plunged the football world into mourning, less than two weeks after the striker had gotten married.
An ongoing investigation is examining “the marks left by one of the vehicle’s wheels … everything points to a possible excessive speed beyond the road’s speed limit”, the Civil Guard said on Tuesday.
“All the tests conducted so far indicate that the driver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota,” it added.
The force had previously said a tyre had probably blown out while the vehicle was overtaking, causing it to crash and burst into flames in the northwestern province of Zamora.
Just hours before the accident, Jota had posted a video of his June 22 wedding to partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children.
The deaths sparked an outpouring of grief, particularly in the brothers’ native Portugal and at Jota’s Premier League club Liverpool.
Political leaders as well as star players from Portugal and Liverpool joined family and friends at the funeral on Saturday in the Porto suburb of Gondomar.
Following spells at Atletico Madrid, Porto and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jota became a fan favourite at Liverpool after joining the Premier League giants in 2020.
He netted 65 times for the Reds in five seasons, lifting the League Cup and FA Cup in 2021-22 and helping them win a record-equalling 20th English league title last season.
The striker also earned 49 caps for Portugal and was part of the team that won this year’s UEFA Nations League.
Younger brother Andre played in midfield for FC Penafiel in Portugal’s second tier.
Debris is pictured along the A-52 motorway at the crash site where Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash near Cernadilla, Zamora, Spain, July 3, 2025 [Cesar Manso/AFP]
Who: Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) What: Semifinal 2, FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Where: MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, United States When: Wednesday, July 9 at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from noon (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
The last two winners of the UEFA Champions League clash for the remaining spot in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) when Real Madrid play Paris Saint-Germain in an epic face-off at the 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium, just outside New York.
Real are hoping to add a record sixth CWC crown to their collection while PSG need to win this trophy to complete a rare quintuple of major titles in a single season.
The contest has some extra spice thrown in with superstar Kylian Mbappe, an ex-PSG player, lining up against his old club for the first time since signing with Real Madrid last year.
Here is all to know before the second CWC semifinal:
How did Real Madrid reach the semifinals?
Los Blancos finished atop Group H with two wins and one draw.
Real opened their CWC campaign with a 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in Miami, before thumping Mexican side Pachuca 3-1 in a rematch of their FIFA Intercontinental final last December. The Spaniards ensured a smooth passage into the knockout rounds with a 3-0 demolition of RB Salzburg in the final group fixture on June 27.
In the round of 16, Real played out a tough 1-0 win against timeless rivals Juventus at Hard Rock Stadium. They then prevailed in a five-goal thriller to eliminate Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in a 2024 Champions League final rematch, capped off by Mbappe’s spectacular match-winning bicycle strike in the 94th minute.
Mbappe’s bicycle strike against Borussia Dortmund in stoppage time put Real Madrid through to the semifinals [File: Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images via Reuters]
How did PSG reach the semifinals?
PSG finished atop Group B with two wins and one loss.
They opened their Club World Cup with a dominant 4-0 victory against Atletico Madrid at the famous Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
In their second group fixture, the European champions suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Botafogo after a first-half goal from Igor Jesus proved to be the match-winner for the Brazilian side.
PSG bounced back in their final group match to defeat hosts Seattle 2-0 at Lumen Field to comfortably qualify for the knockout stage.
In the last 16, the French side demolished Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
In the quarterfinal, they hit top gear, crushing the challenge of German champions Bayern Munich to win 2-0 and cruise into the last four of the tournament.
Mbappe vs Dembele: The battle of the high-scoring forwards
Real Madrid have netted 11 goals in the Club World Cup so far, while PSG have 12; both teams have been boosted by the return of their injured star strikers, with Ousmane Dembele and Mbappe scoring in the quarterfinals.
The two forwards, who were teammates at PSG until Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid in June 2024 and play together for the France national team, enjoyed incredible offensive statistics in the 2024-25 season.
Mbappe’s superb goal against Dortmund on Saturday was his 44th for Real Madrid in 58 appearances this season.
Dembele, meanwhile, blossomed after Mbappe’s departure from the Paris club, switching from the wing to the attacking talisman role in coach Luis Enrique’s system, scoring 34 goals in 51 appearances across all competitions in 2024-25, and carrying PSG to domestic and European titles.
“I’m feeling really good. It’s the best season of my career,” Dembele told PSG’s official website. “I signed for PSG to have moments like this. It’s been an exceptional year, for me personally and for the team as a whole. It’s magnificent. But we want more. Once you’ve tasted it [championships], you want more.”
Once teammates, now rivals. Dembele, left, and Mbappe celebrate PSG’s French Cup Final victory over Olympique Lyonnais at Stade Pierre Mauroy, Decathlon Arena on May 25, 2024, in Villeneuve d’Ascq, France [Jean Catuffe/Getty Images]
Head-to-head
The last time these two sides met was in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in 2022 when Mbappe still played for PSG.
Real Madrid won the knockout match 3-2 on aggregate before going on to lift their 14th European title – but PSG were a very different team then, and that was before Enrique took charge of the French side.
How many Club World Cup titles have Real Madrid won?
Real Madrid have won the FIFA Club World Cup a record five times. Their last victory was in 2023 when they beat Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal 5-3.
They also won the trophy in 2015 and 2017, 2018 and 2019.
They also hold the most tournament wins (12) and the most total goals scored in the competition (40).
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr scores the match-winning fifth goal against Al Hilal in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup final on February 11, 2023, in Rabat, Morocco [Michael Steele/Getty Images]
What titles have PSG already won this season?
PSG achieved their best season in club history in the 2024-25 campaign, winning a perfect four-out-of-four titles: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Trophee des Champions and the UEFA Champions League trophy.
In doing so, PSG became the first French side to win a continental treble and also a continental quadruple.
If they win the FIFA Club World Cup, they can add a fifth trophy to their spectacular season, completing a rare quintuple of titles in one season.
Manchester City, in 2023, were the last club side to win five titles in a single season: Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.
Team news: Real Madrid
Gonzalo Garcia, who has led the Real Madrid attack in Mbappe’s absence and scored four goals in five appearances, will likely hand back the starting job to the French superstar against PSG. Earlier in the tournament, Mbappe was hospitalised with gastroenteritis but is now believed to be ready to lead the line from the opening whistle.
“He is still not perfect, not 100 percent, but he is getting better every day,” Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said of Mbappe after their quarterfinal victory over Dortmund.
Centre back Dean Huijsen, who picked up a late red card against Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinal, will not play due to suspension.
Real continue to be without the injured trio of David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga and Endrick.
Team news: PSG
Enrique will be without suspended defenders William Pacho and Lucas Hernandez after both were sent off in PSG’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over Bayern Munich. Lucas Beraldo is expected to be named Pacho’s replacement in the starting XI.
Up front, Dembele is a strong probability to make his first start of the tournament after coming on as a substitute against Munich, with Bradley Barcola moving to the bench.
PSG remain relatively injury-free with only Nordi Mukiele unavailable.
Injured during the group stage of the Club World Cup, Dembele, left, came on as a substitute against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinal and is now pushing for a starting position against Real Madrid in the semifinal [Jason Allen/ISI Photos via Getty Images]
Possible lineups:
Real Madrid: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Rudiger, F Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Guler, Bellingham; Mbappe, Vinicius Jr
Xabi Alonso, Real coach: “The tactical battle with Luis Enrique will be a big test for us. We will prepare for the upcoming game [PSG] in a positive spirit after today’s [quarterfinal] victory.”
Luis Enrique, PSG coach: “It doesn’t matter who we play in the semifinals. All that matters is that we are there and that we want to get to the final.”
Antonio Rudiger, Real defender: “PSG are a very, very tough team to play against,” Real defender Antonio Rudiger told FIFA. “They’ve shown they’re one of the best teams in Europe, so it’ll be a hard match. But we’re Real Madrid and we’re ready for the challenge.”
Xabi Alonso, centre, faces the biggest test of his young Real Madrid managerial career against European champions PSG in the Club World Cup semifinal at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday [File: Hannah Mckay/Reuters]
In March, NewsGuard – a company that tracks misinformation – published a report claiming that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, were amplifying Russian disinformation. NewsGuard tested leading chatbots using prompts based on stories from the Pravda network – a group of pro-Kremlin websites mimicking legitimate outlets, first identified by the French agency Viginum. The results were alarming: Chatbots “repeated false narratives laundered by the Pravda network 33 percent of the time”, the report said.
The Pravda network, which has a rather small audience, has long puzzled researchers. Some believe that its aim was performative – to signal Russia’s influence to Western observers. Others see a more insidious aim: Pravda exists not to reach people, but to “groom” the large language models (LLMs) behind chatbots, feeding them falsehoods that users would unknowingly encounter.
NewsGuard said in its report that its findings confirm the second suspicion. This claim gained traction, prompting dramatic headlines in The Washington Post, Forbes, France 24, Der Spiegel, and elsewhere.
But for us and other researchers, this conclusion doesn’t hold up. First, the methodology NewsGuard used is opaque: It did not release its prompts and refused to share them with journalists, making independent replication impossible.
Second, the study design likely inflated the results, and the figure of 33 percent could be misleading. Users ask chatbots about everything from cooking tips to climate change; NewsGuard tested them exclusively on prompts linked to the Pravda network. Two-thirds of its prompts were explicitly crafted to provoke falsehoods or present them as facts. Responses urging the user to be cautious about claims because they are not verified were counted as disinformation. The study set out to find disinformation – and it did.
This episode reflects a broader problematic dynamic shaped by fast-moving tech, media hype, bad actors, and lagging research. With disinformation and misinformation ranked as the top global risk among experts by the World Economic Forum, the concern about their spread is justified. But knee-jerk reactions risk distorting the problem, offering a simplistic view of complex AI.
It’s tempting to believe that Russia is intentionally “poisoning” Western AI as part of a cunning plot. But alarmist framings obscure more plausible explanations – and generate harm.
So, can chatbots reproduce Kremlin talking points or cite dubious Russian sources? Yes. But how often this happens, whether it reflects Kremlin manipulation, and what conditions make users encounter it are far from settled. Much depends on the “black box” – that is, the underlying algorithm – by which chatbots retrieve information.
We conducted our own audit, systematically testing ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Grok using disinformation-related prompts. In addition to re-testing the few examples NewsGuard provided in its report, we designed new prompts ourselves. Some were general – for example, claims about US biolabs in Ukraine; others were hyper-specific – for example, allegations about NATO facilities in certain Ukrainian towns.
If the Pravda network was “grooming” AI, we would see references to it across the answers chatbots generate, whether general or specific.
We did not see this in our findings. In contrast to NewsGuard’s 33 percent, our prompts generated false claims only 5 percent of the time. Just 8 percent of outputs referenced Pravda websites – and most of those did so to debunk the content. Crucially, Pravda references were concentrated in queries poorly covered by mainstream outlets. This supports the data void hypothesis: When chatbots lack credible material, they sometimes pull from dubious sites – not because they have been groomed, but because there is little else available.
If data voids, not Kremlin infiltration, are the problem, then it means disinformation exposure results from information scarcity – not a powerful propaganda machine. Furthermore, for users to actually encounter disinformation in chatbot replies, several conditions must align: They must ask about obscure topics in specific terms; those topics must be ignored by credible outlets; and the chatbot must lack guardrails to deprioritise dubious sources.
Even then, such cases are rare and often short-lived. Data voids close quickly as reporting catches up, and even when they persist, chatbots often debunk the claims. While technically possible, such situations are very rare outside of artificial conditions designed to trick chatbots into repeating disinformation.
The danger of overhyping Kremlin AI manipulation is real. Some counter-disinformation experts suggest the Kremlin’s campaigns may themselves be designed to amplify Western fears, overwhelming fact-checkers and counter-disinformation units. Margarita Simonyan, a prominent Russian propagandist, routinely cites Western research to tout the supposed influence of the government-funded TV network, RT, she leads.
Indiscriminate warnings about disinformation can backfire, prompting support for repressive policies, eroding trust in democracy, and encouraging people to assume credible content is false. Meanwhile, the most visible threats risk eclipsing quieter – but potentially more dangerous – uses of AI by malign actors, such as for generating malware reported by both Google and OpenAI.
Separating real concerns from inflated fears is crucial. Disinformation is a challenge – but so is the panic it provokes.
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Scorching heat forces closure of the iconic site amid severe weather warnings and fire risks across the country.
Greece has shut the Acropolis and halted outdoor work across the country as a fierce heatwave scorches the region, pushing temperatures to above 40C (104F) and leading to fire alerts and severe weather warnings across the Balkans.
The Greek Ministry of Culture announced that the 2,500-year-old Acropolis site would remain closed until 5pm on Tuesday “for the safety of workers and visitors, owing to high temperatures”.
The landmark, perched above capital Athens with little natural shade, typically attracts tens of thousands of tourists each day.
This is Greece’s second severe heatwave since late June. Meteorologists expect temperatures to peak at 42C (107.6F) in some parts of the country, with Athens facing highs of 38C (100.4F). Similar conditions are forecast for Wednesday.
To protect labourers exposed to the sun, Greece’s Ministry of Labour has ordered a work pause from noon to 5pm in multiple regions, including popular islands. The restriction applies to outdoor jobs such as construction and food delivery.
“Days with a heatwave make my job more difficult,” 43-year-old courier Michalis Keskinidis told the AFP news agency. “We drink a lot of water, use electrolytes, and take breaks whenever possible.”
Heatwave across the Balkans
Last year, the Acropolis recorded 4.5 million visitors – up by more than 15 percent from the previous year – and authorities have been forced to close the site during previous heatwaves as well.
Fire danger remains a key concern. Civil protection officials have issued high-risk warnings for areas including greater Athens, central Greece and the Peloponnese. Greece’s fire service is already tackling up to 50 blazes daily, said senior fire officer Constantinos Tsigkas.
Elsewhere in the Balkans, extreme weather continues to batter neighbouring countries. In Serbia, meteorologists warned of elevated fire risks after 620 wildfires were reported on Monday. Simultaneously, parts of the country face threats of hail and hurricane-strength winds.
In Croatia, storms injured two people in Vinkovci when a power line collapsed onto a home. Strong winds and rain have flooded roads, knocked down trees and caused widespread power outages in Split, where a ferry broke loose and sank a tourist boat.
Hungary and Slovakia also suffered storm damage. In Budapest, wind speeds reached 137km/h (85mph), downing power lines and trees. The Hungarian Transport Ministry said rail services might take weeks to fully resume. In Slovakia, fierce winds tore roofs from buildings and disrupted transport across the east.
Polish government says step aimed to check migrants more thoroughly amid public concerns over immigration.
Poland has reintroduced temporary checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania, citing a growing influx of undocumented migrants and increasing public concern over security.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the move on Monday, arguing that Warsaw needed to “redirect” migration routes that bypass barriers along the Belarusian border and instead pass through neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania.
“To redirect this stream of people, which is deflected by our barrier, but which wants to cross Poland again through the border with Latvia and Lithuania, and further into Europe,” Tusk said.
The decision came amid heightened tensions across Europe over irregular migration, with other Schengen members like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands having already taken similar steps over the past 18 months, putting strain on the European Union’s passport-free travel zone.
Germany has maintained controls on its border with Poland since 2023, but recently adopted a tougher approach, rejecting undocumented arrivals and sending them back to Poland under EU and bilateral agreements.
Polish authorities say this has placed an unfair burden on their country.
Knut Abraham, Germany’s envoy for Polish relations, warned the new checks could cause traffic congestion and disrupt trade, without curbing migration effectively. Similar concerns were raised by Rafal Gronicz, mayor of the border town of Zgorzelec, who dismissed fears of a migrant crisis as exaggerated.
“As long as I live, I have never known anyone who wanted to escape from Germany to Poland,” he told local radio. “There are no pressing waves of migrants walking around Zgorzelec.”
Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said checks on the German border will be lifted when Berlin ends its tougher controls.
“If Germany lifts its controls, we are not going to delay either,” Siemoniak said. “We want this movement to be absolutely free, that the problems of illegal migrant and migration be resolved together, without either side suffering.”
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks in Poland after a Venezuelan national was charged with murdering a 24-year-old woman in Torun. That killing triggered mass protests led by nationalist groups, with some 10,000 people marching on Sunday in her memory.
A separate incident on Saturday saw a Polish man fatally stabbed during a brawl in the northern town of Nowe. Authorities said on Monday that 13 people had been arrested – three Poles and 10 Colombians. Angry crowds gathered outside a workers’ hostel where the Colombians had been staying, state media reported.
Far-right groups have also begun patrolling Poland’s western frontier, claiming to protect the country from migrant flows. Human rights organisations condemned these vigilante efforts, warning they fuel xenophobia and undermine trust in official institutions.
“The actions of these self-proclaimed groups are the result of a radicalising political narrative,” said the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. “Debate on migration should be grounded in facts, not fear.”
