| | The Azadi or ‘Freedom’ Tower in flames following an air strike in Tehran | | Tom Cotterill Acting Defence Editor, in Tel Aviv | Israel has launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon as the conflict in the Middle East enters its fifth day.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had begun a “broad wave of strikes” targeting Iranian launch sites, air defence systems and other military infrastructure, including a leadership compound.
As strikes continue to rain down on Iran, it has been reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son is the leading contender to take over as his successor.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the former ayatollah who was killed by an Israeli air strike on Saturday, is being considered by the regime’s senior clerics to be the next supreme leader, according to The New York Times.
The 56-year-old hardliner, who managed his father’s office and networks for years, could be named the new supreme leader as early as today.
Overnight, the US military identified four of the six American soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on Sunday.
US Army Reservists Capt Cody A Khork, 35; Sgt Noah L Tietjens, 42; Sgt Nicole M Amor, 39, and Sgt Declan J Coady, 20, were named as those who lost their lives. In other developments, it was claimed that the CIA is reportedly planning to arm Kurdish forces to incite a popular uprising against the Iranian regime.
Weapons have allegedly been smuggled into western Iran over several months to arm thousands of Kurdish volunteers.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has also set himself on a collision course with Donald Trump after branding the US and Israeli strikes against Iran as illegal.
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Plus, for expert analysis as the conflict unfolds, you can listen to our new podcast Iran: The Latest.
Listen to yesterday’s episode here ➤ | | Trump made the comments during a meeting at the White House with Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor |  | Tony Diver Associate Political Editor | If there was any doubt about the parlous state of the special relationship, it has surely been laid to rest by Donald Trump’s latest extraordinary attack on Sir Keir Starmer.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump declared Sir Keir was no Winston Churchill – a damaging and symbolic criticism.
However, it didn’t stop there. Trump went on to say the Prime Minister “ruins relationships”, allows Sharia courts in the UK and has a “horrible” energy policy in the North Sea.
Starmer’s supporters often point to his – perhaps surprisingly – close relationship with Trump as a major win for his foreign policy since taking office 18 months ago. After yesterday’s outburst, there is little evidence that any relationship remains.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is also facing criticism on the domestic front for his handling of the Iran crisis, after he belatedly agreed to send a warship to the region after attacks on a British base in Cyprus. | Starmer announced last night that he would send HMS Dragon, a Type-45 destroyer, and Wildcat helicopters to defend the base | His critics say that the proper response would have been to send an aircraft carrier – the enormous ships commissioned at a cost of almost £8bn under the Tories that have seen little action at sea.
Former military chiefs and defence secretaries are lining up to argue that No 10’s response was too little, too late. He was previously praised by the same people for uplifting defence spending.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
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Allison Pearson: Trump is right, Starmer is no Churchill ➤
Tom Cotterill: Is this the Royal Navy’s biggest humiliation? ➤ | | He has decapitated the Iranian regime, but Donald Trump is still not satisfied. The US president said on Monday that “the big one” is yet to come, suggesting that this conflict is set to escalate further. Gareth Corfield explains why Tehran could be about to suffer the full force of American military strength, including the “Mother of All Bombs”.
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Gulf states to run out of air defences in a week ➤ | | | US-Israeli strikes on Iran have killed almost 800 people in Tehran and other cities over four days of war | | On the ground in Tehran, witnesses describe “apocalyptic” scenes. Bombs have struck hospitals, schools and residential buildings in some of the heaviest strikes on the capital since the conflict began. Akhtar Makoii speaks to residents living under the relentless barrage as food and medical supplies dwindle, and the death toll rises.
This piece of exclusive journalism is only available to subscribers. Click below and sign up to read it. Continue reading ➤ | | | Donald Trump’s attack on Iran has exposed Britain’s desperate lack of gas storage, writes Jonathan Leake, our Energy Editor. The UK consumes around 75 billion cubic metres of gas a year – roughly the volume of 1.5 jumbo jets per person. As global prices of liquefied natural gas soar, could this Middle Eastern conflict force Europe back into relying on Russian energy?
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What the Iran war means for your money ➤ | | | Ian Bowskill, his dog Coco, and Paul Langshaw, spent weeks camping out to watch military planes take off for the Gulf | | The Iran war may have taken the United States’ enemies and allies by surprise, but plane-spotters in rural Suffolk claimed they saw it coming. For weeks, they have been camped outside RAF Lakenheath watching US fighter jets depart for the Middle East, giving a unique insight into how British bases are being used in the conflict. Continue reading ➤ | | | Philip Johnston Behaving like an attorney general in a time of international crisis is not working for Britain’s third-rate leader Continue reading ➤ David Patrikarakos The hardline Islamic theory that explains what Iran will do next Continue reading ➤ Peter Frankopan Trump underestimated the Iranian regime’s will to survive Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Angelina Jolie is reportedly among the celebrities planning to live and work in France | | George Clooney, Matt Dillon and Angelina Jolie are just some of the stars who suddenly feel more welcome in France than in the US – and it’s not all Donald Trump’s fault. Forget Hollywood and say hello to “Frollywood”, writes Liam Kelly. Continue reading ➤ | | | Marcus Armytage visited the African island nation in 1990, months after his victory at Aintree | | While my children may know Madagascar as a film about talking animals, any mention of the country makes me relapse into PTSD, writes Marcus Armytage. Winning the 1990 Grand National, paired with my have-saddle-will-travel attitude, put me on a journey across some of the world’s most obscure racing tracks. For the last leg, I set off to Madagascar, to be brought firmly back to earth – here’s what happened. Continue reading ➤ | | | Adolf Hitler pictured in March 1945, just over a month before his death | | How did Hitler really die? With few witnesses to his suicide, this was a pressing question in 1945: Nazi radio proclaimed that the dictator died fighting; the Soviets claimed that he’d taken the easy way out. Many faithfuls hoped that he was still alive. The result was a string of conspiracy theories that quickly took on a life of their own. Continue reading ➤ | | | Caroline suggests getting up and out for a walk first thing, before your brain has time to object | Waiting to feel motivated before you exercise is a losing game, writes Caroline Idiens, our Fitness Columnist. Evidence shows that long-term behaviour change depends more on habits and environment than on motivation or self-control. People who stick with exercise aren’t superhuman – they’ve simply made it easier to show up. Here are 11 tips to help you stay on track, even on days when your energy is at its lowest. Continue reading ➤ Below is another helpful article for you this morning: | Solihull Every week, one of our writers argues that their hometown is the best in Britain – but will their case convince you? This week we’re in Solihull, often overshadowed by its neighbour Birmingham. According to Liam Kelly, there is more to the town than meets the eye...  | Liam Kelly Senior Culture Writer | For most of the time after I left Solihull – first to go to Manchester for university, then to London for work – when people asked where I grew up I tended to say “Birmingham”. Not out of shame, but because most of the time when I did venture to name the place where I grew up, I was met with puzzled looks or glazed-over eyes.
Solihull, for the most part, is a town that most people seemed not to know. Those who had heard of it tended to ask if it was not just part of the second city. While the town is close to its larger neighbour (trains can take you into the city centre in as little as 10 minutes), it is so much more than a mere satellite of Birmingham. People ought to know it better.
I’ve always thought that Solihull offered the best of both worlds: despite having a population of more than 200,000, it never feels crowded or terribly urban, with large parks and rolling countryside never far away. Childhood weekends or school holidays alternated between aimlessly, but enjoyably, meandering around the Touchwood shopping centre – still one of the country’s finest – and finding a patch of grass for a quick game of cricket. | Liam (right) playing cricket with his brother, Charlie | At the risk of sounding like an estate agent, the town has a lot going for it.
It is supremely well-connected by road and rail links (and Birmingham Airport is actually in Solihull), with excellent state and private schools. The town also boasts a Michelin-starred restaurant (the fantastic Grace & Savour in Hampton in Arden), and its rural hinterland is studded with some of the best gastropubs in the land (three cheers for The Boot in Lapworth and The Orange Tree in Baddesley Clinton, two places I always visit when I go to visit my mother).
To me, Solihull is best summed up by its official motto: Urbs in Rure (the town in the country) – a description of its charms which is as good as any.
Is Solihull the best hometown in Britain? If not where is? Let us know your thoughts here and your response could feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here. | The strange case of egg swapping: cracked Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
I’ve long maintained that it’s worth spending a bit more on eggs, meaning that a sizeable chunk of my disposable income has ended up in the coffers of Clarence Court. However, a recent story has prompted me to revisit my assumptions, to interrogate everything I think I know – even, perhaps, to question who I really am.
I’m talking, of course, about the spate of egg-swapping in supermarkets. Crafty shoppers have been smuggling out Burford Browns and Seabright Sages in the boxes of less bougie brands, leaving hapless connoisseurs to pay a premium for cheaper eggs in Clarence Court packaging. In moments of soul-searching, I wonder: would I notice? Would I instantly detect a pallor in the yolk, a paucity in the flavour? I just can’t say for sure.
Then there was this article in The Telegraph, considering whether even bona fide Clarence Court eggs are worth the extra few quid. Many readers disagreed. Harvey Peacock wrote: “To my untrained taste buds they taste like – guess what? Eggs. What a load of rubbish. Any free-range egg is fine.”
Paul Yarrow added: “It seems to me that, on balance, you are getting fleeced. Feed manufacturers actually have a yolk colour chart that means you can pick the feed that gives the desired hue.”
Others, however, offered reassurance that I might not be entirely gullible. Anne Mellor, for instance, was defiant: “Well, I don’t care what anyone says. I am not giving up my Burford Browns.”
Another added: “I like them. The golden yellow colour is comforting and a quality worth paying extra for.”
For Rachel Clark, “Burford Browns taste a lot better than even Duchy Organic, the shells of which seem to be pretty thin these days. However, nothing comes close to the taste and colour of the eggs I ate when I worked on a farm once. They were sublime. The hens roamed free and we had to go and look for the eggs wherever they had laid them. Boy, was it worth it.” Is acquiring a flock of chickens the only way to guarantee a really good egg? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was MIDWIFERY. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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