Donald Trump speaking at the White House. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/ReutersView image in fullscreenDonald Trump speaking at the White House. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/ReutersFirst Thing: Oil price relief as Trump says US war on Iran ‘ending fairly soon’Speaking in the White House, the president said the US remained ‘locked and loaded’ but escalation was not needed. Plus how Grand Theft Auto became a cultural colossus
Good morning. Oil prices have dropped after Donald Trump unilaterally declared that the US war on Iran was “effectively over”. During a White House press conference, Trump said Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and that an escalation was not needed.
He said, however, that the US remained “locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason”, adding: “We’re seeing momentum toward the end of this conflict. I think it’s going to be ending fairly soon.” Brent crude has dropped below $90, its lowest level since August.
What is the latest development with Pete Hegseth? A Republican lawmaker has moved to force a vote to impeach the US defense secretary. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of illegally waging war without congressional authorization and abusing his powers.
What has happened at a US airbase in England? The US military has reportedly evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain after a threat from Iran. Two US refuelling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall military base diverted to Germany on Monday morning, while several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day.
View image in fullscreenJensen Huang. Photograph: Jeffrey McWhorter/APNvidia and its chief executive, Jensen Huang, have been accused of defrauding shareholders in a lawsuit over the Chinese spying scandal engulfing the $4.3tn company. The legal action came as Donald Trump said the FBI was investigating Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
There is little public information available about Alice Huang, a fact that has only added fuel to claims she is an intelligence asset. Rebecca Bailey has put together what we know about her, while Aisha Down and Dan Milmo have this exploration of how the affair may have harmed US security.
View image in fullscreenA portion of border wall under construction. Photograph: John Locher/APThe US supreme court has allowed Donald Trump to continue his administration’s construction of a border wall in Texas’s Big Bend region, including parts of Big Bend national park. The nation’s highest court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to suspend a lower court order that had temporarily stopped the project.
Opponents have argued the project threatens wildlife and public lands, and could destroy “iconic sections” of the Rio Grande’s protected river corridor.
View image in fullscreenLindsay Clancy. Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/ReutersA Massachusetts judge cleared the way for Lindsay Clancy to be tried again on murder charges for killing her three young children, saying a retrial would not unconstitutionally subject her to a double prosecution for the same crime. He rejected an attempt by Clancy’s attorneys to have the case against her dismissed.
In September the judge declared a mistrial after the jury reported that a holdout juror was preventing it from reaching a unanimous verdict. March has been floated as the timing for a second trial.
View image in fullscreenCourt artist drawing of Brand in the dock at Southwark crown court, London, as he is sentenced. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PAThe disgraced actor and comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced in London to more than 10 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Brand – who has recently tried to reinvent himself as a Christian influencer and has been a featured speaker for a Maha group allied with RFK Jr – was described by the British judge as a sexual predator who had used his fame and power to carry out crimes and protect himself.
View image in fullscreenWinner of the Booker prize M John Harrison. Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock M John Harrison has won the Booker prize for The End of Everything, a post-apocalyptic novel set on a near-future Kent coast in England. The 81-year-old becomes the oldest winner in the award’s history, and the first science fiction author to win it.
France has said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind “unprecedented” cyber-attacks on supermarket fridges in the country last month.
An Ohio State fraternity has been suspended after a viral video showed two men on fire. The university and police are conducting investigations over the “extremely concerning incident”.
California voters failed to pass a proposed one-time tax on billionaires’ wealth.
Joe Biden will undertake only limited promotion of his upcoming White House memoir because of advancing cancer, the former president has said.
Boeing will cut about 5% of its commercial plane workforce through a mix of layoffs and attrition.
Hungarian authorities have detained the brother of Viktor Orbán as part of a people-smuggling investigation.
The only known handwritten final draft of MLK Jr’s I Have a Dream speech is to be auctioned. The document is expected to fetch more than $10m and the proceeds will be donated to several charities.
View image in fullscreenRussian president Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin pool/EPADeath records leaked from the state statistics agency, Rosstat, have revealed losses since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began that are unprecedented in Russia’s modern history. The news comes as talks begin in Abu Dhabi, with US officials seeking a “final end” to the war and a new “long-term security architecture” between Moscow and Europe.
View image in fullscreenA still from The Greatest. Photograph: Brooke Palmer/PrimeThere are small pleasures to be had in The Greatest, but this straightforward retelling of the boxing champ’s life doesn’t have much most viewers haven’t seen before, Andrew Lawrence says. But at least it isn’t All’s Fair. Lucy Mangan gave season one zero stars. Season two has earned one. “Is this getting good?” she asks. No, I suspect is the answer.
View image in fullscreenGrand Theft Auto 6 will arrive next week. Photograph: Rockstar GamesI’ve already devoted five minutes to clearing out the storage on my PS5 in anticipation of the mammoth download dropping. Christian Donlan explores the phenomenon that is GTA, with the newest instalment set to arrive next week.
View image in fullscreenFlare stack at a petroleum refinery in Texas. Photograph: Rex Wholster/AlamySoaring oil and gas prices following the war in Iran have encouraged people to look beyond fossil fuels, leading to an easing of climate-damaging carbon emissions this year. Carbon dioxide from oil, gas and coal is forecast to flatline for 2026, based on data from the year so far.
View image in fullscreenTofane alpine skiing centre in Cortina. Photograph: Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty ImagesKFC will open its first high-altitude restaurants on the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo and Madonna di Campiglio, in the Dolomites. The move has not been entirely welcomed, with a prominent local businessman threatening legal action. The conflict hasn’t got quite as spicy yet as a recent food battle in Dortmund, however. Police were attacked as a crowd stormed a kebab shop that was offering introductory meals for the equivalent of $1.10.
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
