money

Ronaldo and his Saudi club side Al Nassr made the new deal official via social media, putting an end to rumours he could sign elsewhere.

Cristiano Ronaldo inked a two-year extension with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, the club announced, following weeks of speculation over which team he would sign for next season.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is staying at @AlNassrFC until 2027,” the club wrote in a post on X on Thursday.

Minutes before the official confirmation, the team posted a teaser video, with the 40-year-old Ronaldo walking along a beachfront and saying: “Al Nassr forever.”

The Portuguese superstar arrived in 2023 in the kingdom to play with the club, heralding a rush of players in the latter stages of their careers to the oil-rich country.

Last month, Ronaldo posted “This chapter is over” hours after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al Nassr finishing third and trophy-less once again.

“Ronaldo’s presence is a key factor in developing the Saudi league in the last two years and a half. He opens the door for elite and young players to come to Saudi Arabia,” a source from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a major investor in Saudi football, told AFP last month.

The oil-funded PIF, the sovereign wealth fund behind a number of big-ticket Saudi investments, controls a group of Pro League clubs including Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ahli.

Time for a title

Ronaldo’s announcement in May came just months after Brazilian star Neymar ended his injury-plagued 18-month stay in January, after playing just seven times for Al Hilal – on a reported salary of about $104m a year.

Although Ronaldo was the Pro League’s top scorer with 25 goals, he has been unable to win a Saudi or continental trophy with Al Nassr, who lost in the Asian Champions League semifinals last month.

Last year, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner said he could end his career with Al Nassr, the Riyadh team favoured by a number of Saudi royals.

Saudi Arabia has shaken up football by spending heavily on stars from Europe, starting with Ronaldo’s move in late 2022, and the desert nation will host the World Cup in 2034.

For the past two years, Saudi football fans could watch the likes of Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, with six Ballons d’Or between them, on any given weekend during the football season in the kingdom.

However, the oil-fuelled Saudi football project has drawn comparisons with the Chinese Super League, which imported players on exorbitant salaries until team owners went bust as the Chinese economy fizzled.

But with Saudi Arabia set to host the 2034 World Cup, and desperate to re-model itself as a tourism and business magnet before global oil demand falls for good, there is probably more to come from the Pro League.

Ronaldo appeared to trade an end-of-career payday for football obscurity when he first moved to Riyadh’s Al Nassr two years ago in a deal said to be worth $250m at the time.

The Story continues.. 🐐 💛
pic.twitter.com/XV8WoOREeB

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) June 26, 2025

NATO’s leaders agreed this week to invest 5 percent of their countries’ gross domestic product (GDP) on “core defence requirements as well as defence and security-related spending by 2035”. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called it a “quantum leap” in spending that would guarantee “freedom and security” for the military alliance’s one billion people. It certainly is historic in terms of military escalation, but will it deliver security – and if so, for whom?

The headline demand for 5 percent GDP spending has been so loud, it’s easy to forget that for a long time, many NATO members considered the previous 2 percent goal either unachievable or unimportant. NATO first committed to its 2 percent GDP goal in 2002, but by 2021, only six of its members had achieved it. Yet three years later, 23 members had met the goal and all 32 are expected to comply by the end of 2025.

This week, NATO has committed to more than doubling its spending to 5 percent of GDP. This will be partly met through creative accounting and reflects a desire to trumpet a big number to satisfy a petulant President Trump. The 5 percent headline includes 1.5 percent spent on military-related infrastructure, which could be broadly defined to include civilian expenditure. Even so, it reflects a huge escalation of military expenditure over the next decade from an already very high level.

Last year, NATO spent $1.5 trillion on the military – more than half of global military spending. If members comply with the core 3.5 percent target by 2030, that would mean a total of $13.4 trillion in military expenditure. It’s an impossible figure to grasp, but if you stacked it in one-dollar bills, you could make almost four piles that reach the moon. It could also be distributed as a one-off cash bonus of $1,674 to every person on the planet.

In reality, the money will be diverted – most of all from social and environmental spending – even though 30 percent of Europeans report difficulty in making ends meet and climate scientists warn that we have two years left to keep temperature increases below the international target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who fought for a partial exemption from the 5 percent goal, was the most honest about this costly trade-off: “If we had accepted 5 percent, Spain would have to spend by 2035 an extra 300 billion euros on defence. Where would it come from? From cuts in health and education.”

Social and environmental spending is already on the chopping block. In February, the United Kingdom announced it would reduce its aid budget to 0.3 percent of GDP to pay for military spending increases – a year after it won an election committing to increase foreign aid. Belgium, the Netherlands and France followed suit, announcing aid cuts of 25 to 37 percent. The United States, under Trump, has decimated its overseas aid and climate programmes and reduced healthcare funding while proposing a record $1 trillion expenditure on the Pentagon.

Europe is falling far behind on its own environmental and social goals, with its primary funding vehicle, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), expiring in 2026. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) concludes that most European NATO members will be unable to meet the 3.5 percent NATO target without cutting budgets, raising taxes or changing fiscal rules.

NATO’s spending spree will not only divert money – it will worsen the climate crisis. As one of the world’s biggest carbon polluters, it is investing in more gas-guzzling jets, tanks and missiles. Military emissions are notoriously hard to track due to limited data, but one report estimates that 3.5 percent of GDP spending would lead to 2,330 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases by 2030 – roughly the same as the combined annual emissions of Brazil and Japan.

NATO’s justification is that increased investment is needed to confront the threats of “Russia” and “terrorism”. Yet there is no rationale behind the 5 percent target or details on why threats to NATO have so drastically increased. Nor is there self-examination on how NATO’s actions partly set the stage for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has increased military spending, but it still spends 10 times less than NATO. Nor could it catch up militarily with NATO’s 32-strong alliance, given its economy: $2 trillion in 2024 (nominal GDP), compared with $26 trillion for non-US NATO countries and $29 trillion for the US alone. As for “terrorism”, the idea that NATO’s increased spending could deter it ignores the failures of the “War on Terror”, where NATO interventions in Afghanistan and Libya prompted instability and fighter recruitment.

The security NATO seems most concerned with is that of its arms firms. Long before Trump’s pressure, arms firms have pushed for higher European military spending through lobbying groups like the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD). They have successfully made military security an overriding European Union objective, winning ever more public money for research and industry support. Now they are reaping the rewards with booming revenues and profits. Before the NATO summit, BlackRock released an investment report celebrating the arms industry as a “dynamic growth industry” and a “mega force” that will drive investment trends in the coming years.

NATO’s idea of security diverts money from social needs, worsens the climate crisis, rewards arms firms profiting from global conflict, and chooses war over diplomacy. Its bellicose stance in The Hague this week makes it one of the greatest threats to global security – even to life on this planet. It is up to the peoples of NATO countries to reject this deadly path and reclaim security based on cooperation, justice and peace.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Harry Poulton lives in Benidorm, Spain, and has said there are some activities aimed at tourists that he would never spend his money on – including one he ‘regrets’ doing

For some, going on holiday is just about lounging in the sun and reading a good book, but for others, no trip is complete without taking in all the sights and getting stuck into some activities you’d never do at home. How you choose to spend your holiday is up to you, but one Benidorm local has urged people to consider how they spend their money.

Benidorm, a Spanish resort town in Alicante, is one of the most popular holiday destinations for Brits looking to soak up the sunshine. But if you’re planning on heading there this summer, a British man who has moved out there permanently has said there are some tourist attractions he would never waste his money on – and he would urge others to steer clear, too.

Harry Poulton, known on TikTok as Harry Tokky, claimed there’s plenty to love about Benidorm, but there are some activities on offer that are too expensive for what you get, as you could have a better experience elsewhere for cheaper.

First up on his list, Harry took aim at party boat trips. He said it was “absolutely awful” when he tried it out, and for the 300-400 euros it usually costs, you could have much more fun “getting absolutely hammered” in a pub.

He said: “Absolutely awful. I couldn’t think of anything worse than spending three or four hours in the middle of the ocean getting absolutely hammered.

“I’d much rather save the 300 or 400 euros and get hammered in an actual bar on land here in Benidorm. Definitely one to avoid in my opinion.”

Harry also told tourists to skip the banana boating if they already have sunburn. He said the inflatable banana-shaped boats are “great fun” for most people, but if you’re “red raw with sunburn” you should definitely consider doing something else.

He added: “Take it from me – don’t go on a banana boat if you’re red raw with sunburn. It’s the worst thing you can ever do. It’s so painful. They’re great fun, but if you’re a wimp like me, you don’t want to be going around on one when you get a sunburn – trust me.

“You’ll regret it the next day.”

And as for the activity that Harry would describe as the “worst money” he’s ever spent, the Benidorm local admitted it was parasailing – and it’s something he’ll never do again.

He noted: “I’m speaking from experience. That was the worst water sports I have ever done in my whole entire life. Fifteen minutes of pure hell. It was awful.

“I was up there throwing up, begging to come down, and no one would get me down because they couldn’t hear a word I was saying. If you’re scared of heights or if you get seasick, I would avoid parasailing. It’s the worst money I have ever spent.”

Harry regularly shares his travel tips on social media, but some commenters have been less convinced about his activity recommendations.

One person argued that parasailing is “fantastic fun,” while another called Harry a “fun sponge” for criticising several popular attractions around Benidorm.

No matter what activities you choose to do on holiday, it’s always worth doing your research into the activity itself and any past reviews before you part with any money.

Several protesters were killed and at least 400 others were wounded on Wednesday when antigovernment protests in the capital, Nairobi turned deadly.

Kenyan officials have not disclosed the number of casualties. Reports from media and rights groups varied, placing the number of dead between eight and 16.

This is the latest outbreak of violence in the East African country where young demonstrators have frequently taken to the streets in recent months to protest myriad issues including police brutality, government corruption and high taxes.

The demonstrations on Wednesday were held to mark the bloody June 25, 2024, protests against tax rises when police opened fire on large numbers of protesters, killing at least 60, according to rights groups.

Here’s what we know:

What happened during the protests?

Thousands took to the streets in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisii and several other major Kenyan cities in the early hours of Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the violent 2024 anti-tax protests, particularly the killing of 60 protesters, on June 25 last year.

Bearing Kenyan flags, the protesters chanted slogans like “Ruto Must Go” and “Occupy Statehouse” in opposition to President William Ruto’s government and referring to his official residence.

Banks and schools in Nairobi’s central business district were shut in anticipation of the protests, and police had cordoned off the State House, as well as the parliament building, with layers of barbed wire. Last year, protesters broke into the parliament block, chasing out politicians and setting parts of the building on fire.

Wednesday’s march was largely peaceful at first – and much smaller compared with last year’s protests. Scenes in Nairobi, however, turned violent later on, after “goons” or men believed to be undercover security officials and armed with whips and clubs attacked the protesters. Police also used live fire, rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

Shops and businesses in central Nairobi were also attacked, looted and burned by unidentified groups among the demonstrators. Some protesters also burned security barricades in the city and physically attacked suspected plain-clothed officers.

In Kikuyu town, about 20km (12.5 miles) from Nairobi, protesters stormed and torched local government buildings, including a police station and courtroom. Some were arrested by the police but have not been identified. In other cities, including Mombasa, marches remained peaceful.

Clashes were also reported in the towns of Matuu and Mlolongo in the eastern Machakos County, approximately 100km (62 miles) from the capital. Violence was also reported in Karatina, Nyeri County.

How many people have been killed?

Figures vary and the Kenyan authorities have not confirmed the number of dead.

According to a joint statement issued on Wednesday evening by the Kenya Medical Association, Law Society of Kenya, and the Police Reforms Working Group, eight people were killed, most of them in Nairobi. The group said 400 others were being treated for injuries, including three police officers. Of those, 83 people sustained serious injuries, including at least eight protesters treated for gunshot wounds.

However, Irungu Houghton, the head of Amnesty Kenya, told Reuters that 16 people had died, adding that this figure had been verified by the global rights watchdog and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

Security guard Fred Wamale Wanyonyi, who was on duty guarding a mall in central Nairobi, was one of those confirmed killed, according to rights groups.

What were the protests about?

Protesters had gathered to mark the anniversary of last year’s anti-tax protests, in which some 60 people were killed by police, although no officials have been punished.

Activists said it was important for Kenyans to remember the bloody protests of 2024.

“It is extremely important that the young people mark June 25th because they lost people who look like them, who speak like them … who are fighting for good governance,” Angel Mbuthia, chair of the youth league for the opposition Jubilee Party, told the AFP news agency.

On Wednesday, demonstrators were also demanding the overthrow of Ruto’s government and called for an end to police brutality, corruption and general economic hardship in the country.

Protester Osman Mohamed told Al Jazeera at the scene of the protests that he was there to demand better from the country’s leaders.

“The government is taking us as a joke. They don’t want to listen to us … they don’t listen to us as citizens. We are the people, and they’re supposed to listen because of the power of the people,” he said.

Tensions had risen in recent weeks after 31-year-old blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang died in police custody between June 7 and 8. He had been arrested for allegedly insulting deputy police chief Eliud Lagat, and the police initially told his family he had died from self-inflicted wounds.

Ojwang’s killing prompted outrage and protests across the country, with people calling for the officers involved to be punished. Lagat, who denies any wrongdoing, stepped down from his post last week pending the outcome of an investigation. Three officers were charged with Ojwang’s murder this week.

How have the authorities responded to these protests?

The protests were anticipated, and authorities had been informed of them, rights activists said. Elijah Rottok of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights told Al Jazeera that protest organisers had received assurances from government officials that they would be allowed the space to protest peacefully. Despite this, he said, there was clear evidence of excessive force in the police response.

“We’ve seen a deliberate use of force to suppress (protests),” he said. “We are condemning the excessive use of force … They need to abide by the rule of law and ensure that human rights are upheld at all times.”

Authorities shut down live coverage of the protests on Wednesday afternoon, but that directive was later overturned by Nairobi’s High Court, which ordered the Communications Authority of Kenya to restore signals to three independent television stations.

Ruto, who was attending a burial in the coastal town of Kilifi on Wednesday, called for the demonstrations to remain peaceful in a statement.

“Protests should not be to destroy peace in Kenya. We do not have another country to go to when things go wrong. It is our responsibility to keep our country safe,” he said.

What were the June 2024 protests about?

Violent protests shook the country starting on June 18, 2024, after Ruto announced a controversial Finance Bill, a tax law that many said would make essential commodities costlier, as the country was gripped by an economic crisis that had seen the value of the Kenyan shilling drop by 22 percent.

Young people largely led the protests, which went on for more than a week, but older Kenyans also filled the streets in anger. Although lawmakers removed certain clauses from the bill before passing it into law, the protests continued, with demonstrators calling for Ruto to step down. Officials insisted higher taxes were needed for the government to fulfil loan agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On June 25, protesters broke into the Kenyan parliament, where lawmakers were convening. The demonstrators ransacked the building and set its entrance on fire. In response, the police opened fire, killing at least 60 people and abducting several others, including some journalists.

Ruto withdrew the bill on June 26, but the violence continued. Human Rights Watch has reported that following the protests, the bodies of some of those missing have turned up in rivers, forests and mortuaries, and showed signs of torture and mutilation. Some abductees told the rights group they were taken by officials who forced them to reveal the names of protest leaders.

What will happen next?

Calm returned to Nairobi on Thursday morning, although devastation was evident.

Smoke was still rising from at least 10 torched buildings in downtown Nairobi as business owners returned to ransacked and looted stores in the central business district.

In parliament, Ruto assented to the new Finance Bill 2025, from which tax rises had been removed. However, a controversial proposal which will see the Kenya Revenue Authority provided with access to taxpayers’ personal and financial data was included.

It’s unclear yet if or how lawmakers plan to address the protesters’ demands.

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The euro breached the $1.17 mark on Thursday, reaching levels last seen in September 2021. This 13% year-to-date surge positions the common currency on course for its strongest annual performance since 2017 — and potentially even since 2003. The rally therefore brings the euro closer to the psychologically significant 1.20 threshold.

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20 January 2025, the euro has appreciated roughly 15% against the dollar. But what are the reasons behind the euro’s recent success, and how much further can it rise?

Fiscal turn in Germany is a game changer

The explanation lies in an unusual convergence of fiscal stimulus in Europe, waning confidence in US monetary policy, and a build-up of speculative dollar short positions that are fuelling the euro’s ascent.

While the European Central Bank (ECB) has extended its rate-cutting cycle, the key shift underpinning the euro’s strength has come from fiscal policy — particularly in Germany.

In March, the Bundestag approved a constitutional amendment exempting military and infrastructure spending from the country’s strict “debt brake” law.

This legal reform paved the way for a €500 billion infrastructure fund, earmarked for green energy, digital transformation, and regional development through 2035 — all structured off-budget to bypass debt constraints.

Simultaneously, Berlin has pledged to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, aligning with NATO’s Readiness 2030 goals and the broader €800 billion ReArm Europe initiative.

US turmoil weighs on dollar sentiment

Across the Atlantic, the US economy has shown signs of softening. First-quarter GDP contracted, driven partly by a front-loading of imports ahead of new tariffs which were set to take effect in April.

However, market attention has focused more sharply on the political pressure mounting against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Despite Powell reiterating this week that rate cuts are premature — citing solid growth and tariff-driven inflation uncertainties — investor confidence in Fed independence has been shaken.

According to BBVA analysts: “Jerome Powell is not leaning toward a rate cut as soon as July, although there is an internal debate at the Fed about the timing of the next rate cut, and it may well continue to grow.”

They added that the dollar’s weakness has deepened “amid reports that US President Donald Trump is considering selecting and announcing a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell by September or October”. This is despite the fact that Powell’s term is set to end in May 2026.

Markets interpret this as a potential “shadow chairman” scenario, where someone behind the scenes could keep interest rates low, thereby putting negative pressure on the dollar.

Euro-dollar outlook: What analysts are watching

Francesco Pesole, analyst at ING, underscored the growing relevance of upcoming US employment data.

“News on the jobs market has significant impact potential now that inflation figures for May have failed to trigger a dovish response by Powell. The rationale could be that if something moves on the second part of the mandate (full employment), a few more FOMC members could join the dovish ranks despite inflation concerns.”

He noted that markets currently price a one-in-four chance of a rate cut on 30 July and 62 basis points of easing by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, investor positioning continues to steer euro-dollar movements.

Matthew Ryan, Head of Market Strategy at Ebury, said: “EUR/USD is almost entirely driven by rising dollar shorts, rather than a more positive outlook for the common bloc’s economy.” In other words, the euro is rising against the dollar because investors are betting against the greenback, rather than placing more faith in the euro.

Technical indicators also point to continued momentum. Luca Cigognini, analyst at Intesa Sanpaolo, commented: “The short-term structure of EUR/USD remains generally bullish. A break above 1.1717, now a resistance level, could push the euro toward 1.1750, raising the next target to 1.1800/1.1820.”

Beyond those levels, traders are eyeing resistance at 1.1910 — the highs of August 2021 — followed by the psychological barrier at 1.20.

Higher targets include 1.2350 (January 2021) and 1.2550 (February 2018), but much will depend on how economic indicators and political developments evolve in the second half of the year.

Six people have died from floods in China’s Guizhou province, state media said, after more than 80,000 people were driven from their homes this week.

Towns and villages by a key river in China’s Guangxi lay half-submerged as floodwaters from a province upstream roared into the mountainous region, with the expected landfall of a tropical cyclone later on Thursday compounding disaster risk.

The flooding that overwhelmed the counties of Rongjiang and Congjiang in Guizhou province on Tuesday has spread downstream to other parts of southwest China, including rural settlements in Guangxi by the Liu River, which originates from Guizhou.

On Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV said “exceptionally large floods” had swept through Guizhou’s Rongjiang county since Tuesday.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather.

This week, authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the capital, Beijing, on one of its hottest days of the year so far.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated last week in Hunan province – neighbouring Guizhou – due to heavy rain.

EU leaders gather in Brussels to address sanctions on Russia, US tariffs, and Middle East conflicts.

The heads of the European Union’s 27 member nations will meet in Brussels to discuss tougher sanctions on Russia, ways to prevent painful new United States tariffs, and how to make their voices heard in the Middle East conflicts.

Most of the leaders will arrive at the event taking place on Thursday from a brief but intense NATO summit, where they pledged a big boost in defence spending and papered over some of their differences with US President Donald Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join the EU summit by videoconference, after having met Trump on Wednesday.

US-led NATO downgraded Ukraine from a top priority to a side player this week, but Russia’s war in Ukraine remains of paramount concern for the EU.

Members will be discussing a potential 18th round of sanctions against Russia and whether to maintain a price cap on Russian oil, measures that some nations oppose because it could raise energy prices.

Meanwhile, Trump’s threatened tariffs are weighing on the EU, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of all 27 member countries. He lashed out at Spain on Wednesday for not spending more on defence and suggested yet more tariffs. France’s president criticised Trump for starting a trade war with longtime allies.

European leaders are also concerned about fallout from the wars in the Middle East, and the EU is pushing to revive diplomatic negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

EU members have internal disagreements to overcome. They are divided over what to do about European policy towards Israel because of its conduct in its war on Gaza. And left-leaning parties are attacking European Commissioner Ursula von Der Leyen’s pivot away from the EU’s climate leadership in favour of military investment.

Defence and security are likely to top the agenda. The summit will end with a statement of conclusions that will set the agenda for the bloc for the next four months, and can be seen as a bellwether for political sentiment in Europe on key regional and global issues.

The order to restrict cannabis use for medical purposes only must pass another hurdle before becoming law.

The Thai government is moving to tighten rules around the sale of cannabis, just three years after the kingdom decriminalised recreational use of the popular substance.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday night ordered that cannabis use be restricted to medical use only, throwing the estimated $1bn industry into a state of uncertainty.

Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said cannabis had created serious social problems for young people, and the industry, which has boomed in recent years, needed to be scaled back.

“The policy must return to its original goal of controlling cannabis for medical use only,” Jirayu said in a statement.

The order, however, is not law yet.

It will need to be published in the official Royal Gazette to come into force, and the government has not indicated when that will happen.

Thailand became the first country in Asia to fully decriminalise cannabis in 2022, in a move that has been wildly popular with tourists but less so among more conservative Thais.

Thousands of cannabis stores have opened across Thailand in the past three years, although it has remained relatively unregulated despite multiple attempts by the government.

The latest move to restrict cannabis use comes amid wider political turmoil in Thailand.

Last week the Bhumjaithai Party, previously a champion of decriminalising cannabis, withdrew from the government’s ruling coalition due to its mishandling of a border conflict with Cambodia.

The Thai Chamber of Commerce previously estimated that the cannabis trade could be worth $1.2bn by 2025, although experts say it has not reached its full potential due to the uncertainty that has plagued regulation around the industry since it was decriminalised.

Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’, is due to be extradited to the US on drug trafficking and weapons smuggling charges.

The fugitive leader of Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang has been recaptured after nearly 18 months on the run, according to President Daniel Noboa.

Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as “Fito”, escaped from Guayaquil prison in January 2024, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.

Following his capture, Macias will now be extradited to the US, where he was indicted by a federal court for charges related to drug trafficking and firearms smuggling, Noboa said on the X social media platform on Wednesday.

Noboa had previously offered $1m for assistance in Macias’s capture and dispatched thousands of police officers and members of the armed forces to find him.

“My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,” Noboa said on X.

Para los que se opusieron y dudaron de la necesidad de las leyes de Solidaridad e Inteligencia: gracias a esas leyes, Fito fue capturado hoy y está en manos del Bloque de Seguridad.

Mi reconocimiento a nuestros policías y militares que participaron en esta operación. Caerán más,…

— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) June 25, 2025

Macias reportedly escaped ahead of his transfer to a maximum-security prison, but authorities have yet to explain how he succeeded.

The successful escape “triggered widespread riots, bombings, kidnappings, the assassination of a prominent prosecutor, and an armed attack on a TV network during a live broadcast”, according to the United States government, leading Noboa to declare a 60-day state of emergency across Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian president also designated 22 gangs, including Los Choneros, as “terrorist groups”.

The US Department of the Treasury separately sanctioned both Macias and Los Choneros in February 2024 for drug trafficking and instigating violence across Ecuador.

Ecuador was once one of Latin America’s most peaceful countries, but its proximity to Peru and Colombia – the world’s top producers of cocaine – has made it a prime target for criminal groups exporting drugs abroad.

Competition between rival local gangs, backed by foreign criminal syndicates from Mexico to as far as Albania, has led to an explosion in violence across the country.

Once upon a time, sports fans wanted freedom of choice. Why pay for dozens — or perhaps hundreds — of television channels when all you wanted to do was to see your favorite teams play?

The cable era is in its sunset. Streaming is all the rage. No longer need you pay for channels that feature news, movies, cooking and gardening in order to watch the home team.

For sports fans, this has become an expensive mess, too.

The Dodgers require one subscription. The Lakers require another. The Angels, Kings and Clippers require another. The Galaxy and LAFC require another. The Ducks require another — although theirs is free for now.

Truth be told, the Dodgers and Lakers run L.A. The most valuable sports broadcasting property in town could be one that carries the Dodgers and Lakers.

For many fans in Los Angeles, that might represent freedom of choice: the one and only must-have sports subscription.

Could that future — one broadcast channel and one streaming app for the Dodgers and Lakers — become reality now that Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, is the new controlling owner of the Lakers? Walter hasn’t yet talked publicly about the Lakers deal, so we floated the idea by sports business insiders.

The Lakers are on Spectrum SportsNet. The Dodgers are on SportsNet LA. Who owns those channels?

Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, owns SportsNet. The Dodgers, through an affiliated company, own SportsNet LA, although Charter operates it and pays the team a rights fee every year, just as it does with the Lakers.

Can Charter walk away from the Lakers deal because of the ownership change?

No.

Could Walter buy out Charter and put the Dodgers and Lakers on the same channel?

In theory, yes. Charter probably would give him the Lakers’ channel for free.

In reality? That appears unlikely any time soon. Walter didn’t get to be a billionaire by turning down half a billion dollars every year.

Go on.

When Charter’s predecessor, Time Warner Cable, launched the channels for the Lakers in 2012 and the Dodgers in 2014, cable and satellite channels were the way most fans watched their home teams. And, because cable and satellite packages required subscribers to pay for 100 channels even if they only watched five, those cooking and gardening enthusiasts helped enrich all those teams.

Fast forward to today: Nielsen reported that in May — for the first time — more Americans watched television via streaming than via broadcast and cable combined. This so-called “cord cutting” has turned the ownership of most sports channels from an asset to a liability, and many operators have either gone out of business or forced teams to take nine-figure hits to their rights fees.

What does this have to do with whether I can watch the Dodgers and Lakers on one channel?

The Dodgers’ channel and the Lakers’ channel each lose money. Walter would choose between acquiring a money-losing Lakers channel or keeping intact the two Charter deals that pay the Dodgers and Lakers more than $500 million combined each year. No team in baseball makes as much money from local television as the Dodgers, and no team in basketball makes as much money from local television as the Lakers.

The Lakers’ deal runs through 2032. The Dodgers’ deal runs through 2038.

Why are those dates important?

While other teams are experimenting with various combinations of cable, satellite, streaming and even free TV, the Lakers and Dodgers can cash in on guaranteed income and let those other teams be the guinea pigs for learning what works and what does not work in the new media world.

Major League Baseball would like to sell a national streaming package in 2028 — one spot to watch your team from wherever you are, with no blackouts — and the NBA figures to explore that option, too. That gives the Dodgers and Lakers a fairly long runway to see what might be best for them, including whether to retain their streaming rights or contribute them to a league package — and what they would require in order to do so.

Might a joint Dodgers-Lakers channel be a long-term solution?

It could be. With the NBA joining MLB in making postseason broadcasts entirely national, the calendar would align nicely: April to September for the Dodgers, October to April for the Lakers. Behind the scenes, one staff could largely replace two.

The time for the single-team sports channel has come and largely gone. The economics are poor, and the enthusiasm for 24-7, all-access coverage of one team has dissipated into the reality that most fans just want to watch the game.

How about Walter adding teams?

Nothing is impossible. Ted Leonsis, who owns the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards and WNBA’s Washington Mystics, says the key to sports success could be an ownership bundle: own multiple teams, own the venues in which they play and own the platforms on which fans view their games.

Walter’s investments now include the Dodgers, Lakers and Sparks. SportsNet also airs the Sparks.

In 2012, Walter and his partners looked into buying AEG, which owns the Kings, the Galaxy and Crypto.comArena. AEG owner Philip Anschutz opted not to sell then, but Walter could renew that pursuit and, if successful, would control the two venues and four teams that call downtown L.A. home.

Ukrainian leader signs an accord with the Council of Europe to set up a special tribunal to one day put top Russian officials on trial.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he accused of being a “war criminal” for launching Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy issued the call late on Wednesday after he signed an accord with the Council of Europe to set up a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials, including Putin, for the invasion of Ukraine.

“We need to show clearly, aggression leads to punishment, and we must make it happen together, all of Europe,” said Zelenskyy after signing the accord with Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset.

“It will take strong political and legal courage to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice, including Putin,” Zelenskyy said.

Putin is already facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the alleged war crime of illegally transporting children out of Ukraine.

The ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, but it does not have the jurisdiction to investigate “crimes of aggression” or the use of armed force against another state.

The special tribunal is being established to one day prosecute Russia’s “crime of aggression” for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The tribunal could, in theory, put on trial senior Russian figures, including Putin.

It has not yet been decided where the tribunal would be based, but Zelenskyy said The Hague, the home of the ICC, would be “perfect”.

This is the first time such a tribunal has been set up under the aegis of the Council of Europe, the continent’s top rights body.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, previously said the special tribunal would “give Ukraine a path to justice for the top-level decision to invade its territory – a wrong that no other international court or tribunal can currently address”.

The European Council said the proposed tribunal could potentially be used to prosecute North Korean and Belarusian individuals who assisted Russia in the invasion.

The 46-member Council of Europe is not part of the European Union and members include key non-EU European states such as Turkiye, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Russia was expelled from the body in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Alongside its arrest warrant for Putin, the ICC is also seeking to arrest four of Russia’s top commanders for targeting civilians.

Here are the key events on day 1,218 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Thursday, June 26:

Fighting

• Russian air defence units destroyed two drones targeting Moscow, the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said. Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport suspended departures and arrivals in response to the threat, news agencies quoted aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya as saying. Restrictions were also in place for a time at airports along the Volga River.

• The governor of the Russian region of Voronezh, which borders Ukraine, reported that more than 40 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed throughout the day.

• In Russia’s Bryansk region, also on the border, the regional governor said that seven drones had been destroyed.

• The Russian Ministry of Defence, in a report earlier in the evening, reported that 18 drones had been destroyed over a three-hour period in several regions extending through central and southern Russia.

• Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Yalta in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s state-run RIA news agency claimed, citing the Defence Ministry in Moscow.

Politics and diplomacy

• NATO allies have pledged to increase their annual defence spending to a total of 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. Amid Russia’s military threat, the transatlantic military bloc also reaffirmed its commitment to collective defence, stating that “an attack on one is an attack on all”.

• United States President Donald Trump said he would consider providing more Patriot missiles that Ukraine needs to defend against mounting Russian strikes, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “really has to end that war”.

• Trump also said that he will speak to Putin “soon” about ending the war. He also told reporters that it is possible that Putin has territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed with Trump the possible joint production of drones during their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

• Ukraine and the Council of Europe human rights body have signed an agreement forming the basis for a special tribunal intended to bring to justice senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. An agreement on the matter was signed by Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset at the Council’s headquarters in Strasbourg.

• Following the signing of the agreement in Strasbourg, Zelenskyy said “strong political and legal courage” was required to make sure every Russian “war criminal faces justice”, including Russian President Putin.

• The whole of NATO, including the US, is “totally committed” to keeping Ukraine in the fight against Russia’s invasion, the alliance’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, said in an interview.

• Putin will not travel to next week’s BRICS summit in Brazil because of an outstanding arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said.

• Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the European Union had evolved into an enemy of Russia that posed a direct threat to its security, and Moscow was now opposed to Ukraine joining the trade and political bloc.

• German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stressed the importance of the US as a partner in the Ukraine conflict and said allies were working to prevent Washington from losing interest, in comments to the ARD broadcaster.

Mexican Finance Ministry says it has not received evidence to support claims against CIBanco, Intercam and Vector banks.

The United States has imposed sanctions on three Mexican banks, alleging they had been used to launder money for drug cartels.

On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury tied the banks – CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa – to the cross-border trafficking of the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl.

It accused them of playing “a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl”.

The sanctions are part of a wider pressure campaign by the administration of US President Donald Trump against Latin American gangs, criminal networks and drug traffickers.

That campaign has included designating several groups as “foreign terrorist organisations” and using tariffs to pressure Mexico’s government to increase enforcement of irregular traffic across the border.

In a statement, the Treasury Department said the banks were the first to be targeted under new pieces of legislation – the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act – passed to expand its ability to target money laundering related to opioid trafficking.

The sanctions would block transfers between the targeted Mexican banks and US banks, although it was not immediately clear how far-reaching the limits would be.

In a statement, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent accused the banks of “enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain”.

But Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit responded to the sanctions by saying it had yet to receive conclusive evidence justifying them.

“We want to be clear: If we have conclusive information proving illicit activities by these three financial institutions, we will act to the fullest extent of the law,” the Finance Ministry said.

“However, to date, we have no information in this regard.”

CIBanco did not immediately respond to the allegations. The US Treasury Department accused it of being connected to money laundering by the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Gulf Cartel.

Intercam, which is also accused of having connections to the CJNG cartel, also did not respond.

Meanwhile, the brokerage firm Vector, which was linked to money laundering by the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, said the US claims tying its operations to drug traffickers were false.

“Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity,” the company said in a statement, adding that it would cooperate to clarify the situation.

At least four Palestinians, including a teenager, have been killed in the occupied West Bank, where soldiers have been carrying out deadly raids for months and settlers have been violently rampaging against civilians unchecked, backed by the military.

The teenager was shot by Israeli forces, while the other three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli settler attack on the town of Kafr Malek, northeast of Ramallah. Seven others were injured in the settler attack.

Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the town, burning vehicles and homes as residents of neighbouring villages attempted to confront them, local sources said. Israeli troops provided protection for the settlers and fired live rounds.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated at least five wounded Palestinians who suffered gunshot wounds, with some in serious condition.

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said the settlers were acting “under the protection of the Israeli army”.

“We call on the international community to urgently intervene to protect our Palestinian people,” he added, in a message on X.

In the other deadly incident, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Israeli troops shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid on al-Yamoun, a town west of Jenin.

The ministry identified the teenager as Rayan Tamer Houshieh and said he succumbed to his wounds after being shot in the neck.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that its teams had handled “a very critical case” in al-Yamoun, involving a teenager, before pronouncing him dead.

The al-Yamoun incident marked the second time a teenager has been reported killed in the occupied territory in two days.

On Monday, the Health Ministry said that Israeli fire killed a 13-year-old, identified as Ammar Hamayel, in Kafr Malek.

The occupied West Bank is home to more than 3 million Palestinians who live under harsh Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority governing in limited areas cut off from each other by a myriad of Israeli checkpoints.

Israel has so far built more than 100 settlements across the West Bank, which are home to about 500,000 settlers – Israeli citizens living illegally on private Palestinian land in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

Daily Israeli raids

Although Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has garnered more attention, Palestinian suffering in the occupied West Bank has been acute, with hundreds of deaths, thousands of people displaced, house demolitions and significant destruction since October 7, 2023.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine has expressed alarm at the “wave of renewed violence” by Israeli settlers and armed forces in the West Bank earlier this year.

“Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.

Separately, earlier on Wednesday, a 66-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the Shu’fat refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, according to several local media reports.

The Jerusalem governorate identified the woman as Zahriya Joudeh al-Obaid.

Her husband, Joudah Al-Obeidi, a 67-year-old resident of the camp, said his wife was standing on the roof of their home when Israeli forces stormed the area. He confirmed that police shot her in the head, and that she had posed no threat.

Like other refugee camps in Israeli-occupied areas, Shu’fat has seen repeated Israeli raids that often result in deaths, injuries and arrests.

In the northern West Bank, large-scale military incursions into Jenin and its refugee camp, as well as Tulkarem and the Nur Shams refugee camp, have resulted in widespread destruction and displacement of at least 40,000 people, according to UN figures.

Since Israeli forces launched its latest operation in Jenin 156 days ago, at least 40 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Wafa news agency.

The complaint alleges that a law requiring the religious text violates ‘fundamental religious-freedom principles’ in the US.

A group of faith leaders in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the state of Texas from requiring the Ten Commandments, as detailed in the Old Testament of the Bible, to be displayed in public classrooms.

Their legal challenge on Tuesday comes just days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the legislation, which would make Texas the largest state in the country to impose such a requirement.

In the lawsuit, the Christian and Muslim faith leaders argue that the law would subject nearly six million students across Texas’s 9,100 public schools to “religious mandates, every single school day”.

“This is wholly inconsistent with the fundamental religious-freedom principles … upon which our nation was founded,” said the lawsuit.

It further noted that children who attend public schools in Texas “follow various faiths and religions, or do not practice any religion at all”.

The US Constitution protects the right to practice — or not practice — a religion without interference from the government.

Meanwhile, the concept of the “separation of church and state” has long been seen as a bedrock principle in US law. While it is not directly referred to in the US Constitution, its roots have been traced back to the US colonial period.

Thomas Jefferson, the country’s third president, used the phrase to discuss the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion”. The concept has also been upheld by several Supreme Court rulings.

Still, a handful of conservative-led states have sought to pass laws mixing public education with elements from the Christian religion.

In 2024, Louisiana became the first state in the US to mandate displaying of the Ten Commandments in public schools. Last week, a federal appeals court blocked the requirement.

Arkansas also passed a similar law in April, which several groups say they plan to challenge.

Proponents of those kinds of laws argue that the Ten Commandments have historical significance beyond their religious context and are foundational to US society.

A sponsor of the Texas bill, Candy Noble, said the requirement to show the Ten Commandments concerns “what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially”.

In Biblical narrative, the Ten Commandments were scrolled on two stone tablets and given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. Moses was then given the instruction to spread the teaching.

The commandments include rules such as “Thou shall not kill” and “Thou shall not steal”, as well as prohibitions against other gods, taking “the Lord’s name in vain” and not honouring the Sabbath day.

The Texas law requires public schools to display a poster or framed copy of an English version of the commandments, which should be no smaller than 16 by 20 inches or 41 by 51 centimetres.

Translations and interpretations, however, vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship.

Several other groups have also vowed to challenge the law. They include the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

In a statement in May, the groups said the law “is religiously coercive and interferes with families’ right to direct children’s religious education”.

When US President Donald Trump entered the war between Israel and Iran late on Saturday night, the region was braced for escalation.

The US dropped 17 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs and two dozen cruise missiles on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Esfahan, assisting Israel, which had already been trading missile fire with Tehran since July 13.

Iran’s response soon came. On Monday evening, it launched 14 missiles aimed at the US Air Force’s Central Command in the Middle East, at Al Udeid in Qatar, a neutral country. Those missiles flew over the capital, Doha, spreading alarm.

Yet instead of leading to the “rathole of retaliations” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned against, the attack presaged a truce that Trump announced hours later, and that was facilitated by sophisticated diplomacy involving Qatar, the US and Iran.

So, how did a ceasefire emerge from the smoke of an attack?

What options did Iran have?

A military response against a US base was an obvious choice, because the US has exposure in Iran’s neighbourhood.

Apart from Al Udeid airbase, its Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain. Both are just more than 200km (125 miles) across the Persian Gulf from Iran. There is also an air base in Kuwait and four logistics air bases in Oman. Further afield, the US has three air bases in Saudi Arabia, three air bases in Iraq, and an air base in Jordan.

“The US has 40,000 troops in the region [on] 19 US bases, eight of which are permanent, and Iran has said previously they will become legitimate targets if the US strikes Iran,” said Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari.

In the past, Iran’s proxies in the region have been Tehran’s “primary Iranian means of retaliating against adversary attacks,” wrote The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, on Friday.

Houthi militias could resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and Iran could itself attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz – thus menacing two of the world’s most economically important shipping chokepoints simultaneously.

But the proxy attacks never came, demonstrating the limitations of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance”, and “how exhausted it is after months of fighting the United States and Israel”, said the ISW in a comment on its website.

Still, even as the world prepared for Iran to respond to the US attacks, an Iran historian at St Andrews University in the UK, told Al Jazeera on Monday that he thought “an ‘off ramp’ with the United States” was likely.

“There will be a lot of public bluster, but privately, I think feelers will be put out,” he said, before the Iranian strike later that evening.

How did the strike unfold?

At around 7pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Monday, Iran struck Qatar.

Qatar condemned the attack as “an extremely dangerous escalation that represents a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar”. It issued a demarche to the Iranian ambassador in Doha.

But the “feelers” Ansari had talked about appear to have been put out beforehand.

“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice,” wrote Trump on social media, “which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”

The warning also allowed Qatar to prepare its air defences, shooting down 13 of the missiles and allowing one to fly “in a nonthreatening direction”, according to Trump.

Satellite images suggested the US had evacuated staff and aircraft from Al Udeid even before it struck Iran, so targeting it represented a low risk of casualties. Neither the US base at Al Udeid nor the Qatari Air Force suffered few material losses.

“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system’,” wrote Trump three hours after the attack.

A mere two hours later, he announced the ceasefire.

“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Trump later revealed that “Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, ‘PEACE!’”

Iran’s government was eager to put the war behind it, issuing a statement early on Tuesday saying it had delivered a “humiliating and exemplary response to the enemy’s cruelty”, and framing the ceasefire as a “national decision to impose the cessation of war on the Zionist enemy and its vile supporters”.

How are Qatar’s relations with the US and Iran?

Qatar hosts the largest US airbase in the Middle East and has worked closely with Washington on a series of tricky diplomatic negotiations, involving the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hamas in Gaza, among others.

At the same time, it enjoys warm diplomatic and economic ties with Iran. “The South Pars and North Pars and North Field have been a joint [venture] for a long time – over 25 years,” Doha-based energy expert Roudi Baroudi told Al Jazeera, referring to gas fields that Qatar and Iran share.

The South Pars gas field alone holds almost as much gas as all the other known gas fields on the planet, said Baroudi.

Right after he announced the ceasefire, Trump thanked the emir of Qatar.

“I’d like to thank the Highly Respected Emir of Qatar for all that he has done in seeking Peace for the Region,” he wrote on Truth Social. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian telephoned the Qatari emir on Tuesday to express “regret” over the attack the previous day.

Pezehkian clarified that Qatar and its people were not the target of Iran’s strikes. “[Pezeshkian] stressed that the State of Qatar will remain a neighbouring, Muslim, and sisterly state, and expressed his hope that relations between the two countries will always be based on the principles of respect for the sovereignty of states and good neighbourliness,” the emir’s office said in a statement.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said on Wednesday that “Qatar undertook significant diplomatic efforts with regional and international partners to defuse tensions.”

And the impact of those efforts will be felt well beyond just Israel and Iran, Baroudi suggested.

“Washington and Doha defused an unseen economic and ecological bomb,” he said, because the Gulf is a powder keg of highly inflammable oil and gas wellheads, offloading terminals and tankers.

“The whole region has over 34 refineries along the coast. We have over 105 power plants and desalination plants, so a ceasefire will put away any danger to the water and electricity [supply] of the whole region,” he said, suggesting Qatar be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Iran’s parliament has passed a bill that would effectively suspend the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as Iran insists it will not give up its civilian nuclear programme in the wake of massive attacks on the country by Israel and the United States.

The move on Wednesday comes after a US and Qatar-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel ended 12 days of fierce hostilities – including an intensive US military intervention that struck three Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that parliament voted to suspend – but not end – cooperation with the IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

He said the US had “torpedoed diplomacy” and could no longer be trusted, citing extensive damage to nuclear infrastructure. He reaffirmed Iran’s right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Addressing the parliamentary bill, Baghaei said it sets conditions for Iran’s future engagement with the IAEA, including guarantees for the safety and security of Iranian scientists and nuclear facilities.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticised the IAEA for having “refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities” that the US carried out.

“For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend cooperation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme will move forward at a faster pace,” Ghalibaf told lawmakers.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme was peaceful, and both US intelligence agencies and the IAEA had concluded that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities.

Iran claims to have moved its highly enriched uranium ahead of the US strikes, and Grossi said his inspectors need to reassess the country’s stockpiles. “We need to return,” he said. “We need to engage.”

But given that Tehran has castigated Grossi for the IAEA’s censure of Iran the day before Israel attacked on June 13, and his subsequent comments during the conflict, that seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said it is “clear that Iran’s nuclear programme will continue despite everything that has happened”.

Hashem said the bill will now go to the Guardian Council, which will study it “legally and religiously”.

“If there is consensus in the body, the bill will go to the Supreme National Security Council to be approved and finally to the government to become policy,” he added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described Iran’s decision as a direct consequence of the US and Israeli attacks on its nuclear sites.

‘Disgraceful, despicable’

US intelligence officials have assessed the strikes as a targeted operation with limited effectiveness, saying the US bombings had only set Tehran’s nuclear programme back by a few months.

The findings are at odds with US President Donald Trump’s claims about the strikes. Trump has insisted that the nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were “obliterated” by a combination of bunker-busting and conventional bombs.

Meanwhile, the fragile truce between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding on Wednesday following a rocky start.

Trump told reporters at a NATO summit that it was going “very well”, insisting that Iran was “not going to have a bomb and they’re not going to enrich”.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the ceasefire agreement with Iran amounted to “quiet for quiet”, with no further understandings about Iran’s nuclear programme going ahead.

In Iran, health officials said the number of Iranians killed in Israeli strikes has risen to 627, while the number of those wounded stood at 4,870.

Other signs of life returning to relative normality in Iran came as officials said they will ease internet restrictions that were put in place since the conflict began nearly two weeks ago.

“The communication network is gradually returning to its previous state,” said the cybersecurity command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a statement carried by state media.

A spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development said that Iran’s airspace will reopen at 2pm local time (10:30 GMT) on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Trump said US and Iranian officials are due to speak next week, continuing a dialogue that was interrupted by Israel’s attack and the subsequent conflict.

“I’ll tell you what, we’re going to talk with them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump told reporters.

Separately, Iran slammed NATO chief Mark Rutte’s praise of Trump for the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“It is disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for [NATO’s secretary-general] to congratulate a ‘truly extraordinary’ criminal act of aggression against a sovereign state,” Baghaei wrote on the X platform.

Separately, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that the head of the IRGC command centre, Ali Shadmani, died of wounds sustained during Israel’s military strikes on the country. The command centre vowed “harsh revenge” for his killing, state media added.

Israel had said on June 17 that it killed Shadmani, who it says it ascertained was Iran’s wartime chief of staff and most senior military commander.

As the Israel-Iran ceasefire staggered into effect on Tuesday, all of the combatants launched a plausible argument for victory.

In the United States, President Donald Trump claimed that both his diplomatic and military interventions had largely been responsible for halting the fighting, while the leaders of Iran and Israel each claimed to have secured a decisive win in a regional contest that dates back decades.

In Israel, however, the emerging narrative is that the end result of the conflict with Iran has solidified the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Just two weeks ago, Netanyahu was in real trouble. On the night before he ordered the unilateral strike on regional nemesis Iran, his governing coalition was only able to survive thanks to a last-minute deal with dissenting members. Public and political opinion had also appeared to have turned against his war on Gaza, and internationally, Israel’s allies were beginning to protest the blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Now, he can argue that he has severely weakened Israel’s most dangerous regional enemy, Iran, and he claims that its nuclear programme has been destroyed and sent “down the drain”.

The Iran threat

Buoyed by rising poll numbers and the sense of having successfully confronted Iran, Netanyahu may, according to reports in Israel, seek to take advantage politically and call snap elections.

Having built up the threat of Iran over three decades, and repeatedly warned that his country’s principal bogeyman was about to build a nuclear weapon despite Tehran’s denials, Netanyahu can now take advantage of being seen as the man who ended that threat.

“Entire generations have grown up in Israel with this fear of Iran,” Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg said. “There’s a foundational narrative that there’s this crazy state out there that, without any logic or reason, wants to destroy us.”

“My oldest daughter is 22 now, and has never known anything else,” Goldberg said. “Netanyahu is now getting the credit for having confronted that.”

In a video statement released earlier today, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich framed the conflict in characteristically apocalyptic terms, telling his social media followers, “The State of Israel has defeated in the last twelve days the empire of evil that threatened the entire world and sought the destruction of Israel.”

That argument is supported by much of the Israeli public – which has largely supported right-wing and far-right parties in recent years.

“Netanyahu is stronger than ever,” Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and former political aide to several senior Israeli political figures, including Netanyahu, told Al Jazeera. “No one’s going to bring him down, no one’s going to challenge him, not his opponents, not his detractors, nobody.”

“He showed that Israel can go it alone. He held off, before American help, then continued alone. Bennett, Lapid can’t challenge that,” Barak continued, referring to two former Israeli prime ministers, the right-wing Naftali Bennett and the centrist Yair Lapid, who are both opponents of Netanyahu.

Not so rosy

However, how long the Israeli prime minister’s perceived victory will last is uncertain. The Iranian government and its Islamic Republic form of governance remain in place, even as Netanyahu has repeatedly called for its overthrow. Netanyahu insinuated that regime change was a possible result of the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Trump used the term in a social media post on Sunday, before clarifying on Monday that he was opposed to regime change because it could lead to “chaos”.

And despite Israeli claims, it is too early to have a definitive answer on the condition of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes. The former, despite Israel’s effective air defence systems, led to the deaths of at least 28 Israelis during the conflict, while Iran is likely to shroud its nuclear programme in secrecy going forward. Early intelligence assessments are reported to have determined that Iran’s nuclear timeline has been delayed, but not destroyed.

And analysts have previously suggested to Al Jazeera that Iran is likely to accelerate its nuclear programme, with hardliners within the Iranian regime now even more convinced of the need for a plausible deterrent against Israel.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions out there, such as how much uranium remains enriched, or even where it is, but, in the short term, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s been destroyed or not,” Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, told Al Jazeera. “Netanyahu and his allies in the White House will be able to spin it. What matters to them is that Iran has suffered a real physical and psychological blow.”

However, how long Netanyahu may be able to survive on spin alone remains far from certain, Mekelberg added. “Every Houdini eventually comes across a lock they can’t pick,” he said.

Netanyahu’s actions since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023 have arguably made his country’s position weaker in the long term. Israel’s international isolation has increased, with revulsion worldwide at the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza, where it has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians. Netanyahu himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, and South Africa has led a number of other countries in taking Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of carrying out genocide in Gaza.

The images of those killed, including thousands of children, and the total destruction of Gaza, have spread on social media in particular, turning many in the West against Israel. This has become particularly noticeable in the US, where even on the right – traditionally a bastion of support for Israel – support for the country has become controversial.

And while Trump has shown himself to be a pro-Israeli president, the perception among many in his “America First” movement that Israel dragged the US into a war against Iran has led to anger and heavy criticism of Israel among many of Trump’s most prominent supporters.

Trump himself publicly reprimanded Israel after the latter planned to launch a large attack on Iran after the ceasefire began on Tuesday. Eventually, Israel conducted only a small and symbolic attack, following what it said was a ceasefire violation by Iran – one that Trump was clear did not warrant a response.

Some indication of the fury that has greeted Netanyahu’s decision to abuse the terms of Trump’s ceasefire was provided by Trump’s former chief strategist and ally Steve Bannon. Speaking on his War Room podcast on Tuesday, Bannon called Netanyahu a “bald-faced liar” and Israel a “protectorate”.

Appearing to address Netanyahu directly, Bannon continued, “You have the gall – particularly after what [Trump] did for you and the grief he’s taken over here – you have the gall … When he said, ‘This is what I’ve done, and I need you to be a partner, I need you to stand down first’, you lied to him. That’s why he’s furious”.

Gaza deal?

While Israel can put the conflict with Iran behind it – for now – the war on Gaza continues, with no sign of Israel finding an alternative force to Hamas to rule the enclave, and no deal to secure the release of the Israeli captives still held in the Palestinian territory.

That may put a wrench in any plans for Netanyahu to secure another term as prime minister in the short term.

“I’m not so sure about snap elections,” Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of parliament representing the Hadash-Ta’al Party, said.

“The polls are in Netanyahu’s favour, but it’s still not certain. I can’t see Netanyahu going to the polls with Gaza still going on,” she added, suggesting that the prime minister might wait for the summer parliamentary recess on July 26, when he would be freer to negotiate some kind of conclusion to the war on the enclave.

Based on Netanyahu’s attitude towards negotiations over the past 20 months, it is not clear that finding a deal to end the war on Gaza is something he wants. Instead, any deal is likely to require a significant push from Trump – if the US president wants to make one.

“I can’t see how Netanyahu can reach any kind of settlement in Gaza,” Goldberg said. “Everyone’s waiting for Trump to act again … Negotiations with Hamas may start again, but it’ll be Trump that imposes some kind of end to [the war].”