WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Dagestan attacks, election bets probe, and Barcelona's war on Airbnb

 
today's international story

Deadly attacks on Dagestan synagogue and churches

What happened 
At least nine people have been killed and 25 injured by gunmen in Russia's southernmost Dagestan province in attacks that local authorities say appear to have been co-ordinated.

Six police officers, a priest and a security guard were among those killed in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala on the Orthodox festival of Pentecost. Four of the attackers were also believed to have been killed.

Who said what
Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission chairman Shamil Khadulaev named the priest who was killed as Father Nikolay. "They slit his throat. He was 66 years old and very ill," Khadulaev said.

Though the attackers have yet to be identified, Dagestan has in the past "been the scene of Islamist attacks", said the BBC. Dagestan is one of the poorest parts of Russia and a predominantly Muslim republic, the broadcaster added.

Dagestan sits to the east of Chechnya, where Russian authorities "battled separatists in two brutal wars" – first between 1994 and 1996 and again from 1999 to 2000 – said France 24. Since the Chechen insurgents were defeated Russian authorities have been "locked in a simmering conflict with Islamist militants from across the North Caucasus" that has killed scores of people.

What next? 
Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened criminal probes over "acts of terror" as authorities continue to hunt the remaining gunmen.

 
 
today’s politics story

Gambling watchdog expands election bets probe

What happened
The UK's gambling watchdog has widened its investigation into hundreds of bets placed on the date of the general election shortly before Rishi Sunak's announcement last month.

Who said what
Gambling Commission investigators are "sifting through a spreadsheet of hundreds of names to identify gamblers who were employed by the Conservative Party – or had ties to someone who was", said The Times.

Four Conservatives, including one of Sunak's security officers, are already facing serious questions over the scandal. Nick Mason, the Tories' chief data officer, is the latest to come under investigation for allegedly placing dozens of bets and potentially winning thousands of pounds, The Sunday Times said.

What next?
Senior Conservatives have called for those under investigation to be suspended while the prime minister has been "urged to get a grip on the drip-drip of revelations", said The Guardian.

The "deepening crisis" threatens to "derail the Tory election campaign for yet another week", said The Independent.

 
 
Today’s tourism story

Barcelona to ban Airbnb by 2028

What happened
Barcelona's mayor has promised to prohibit Airbnb rentals in the city within five years amid a backlash against mass tourism and concerns over the city's rapidly rising rents.

Who said what
By November 2028 Barcelona's council will revoke 10,101 tourist flat licences, said the city's Socialist mayor Jaume Collboni, and "those 10,000 apartments will be used by the city's residents or go on the market for rent or sale". He said the measure would be "equivalent to building 10,000 new homes".

The decision puts the Catalan city at the "forefront of a backlash against the effect of online-based, short-stay rentals on cities", said The Times, and represents the "most radical global measure yet".

What next?
Some left-wing councillors said 2028 was too far into the future for people currently being forced out of the city. Meanwhile, Barcelona's tourist apartments association Apartur called the policy a "mistake" driven by "tourism phobia" and populism. "They are destroying a sector that contributes €347 million to the public coffers of Barcelona," said Apartur's president Enrique Alcantara.

 
 

It's not all bad

A boy with severe epilepsy has become the first person in the world to trial a new skull-fitted device to control seizures. The neurostimulator, which sends electrical signals to his brain, reduced Oran Knowlson’s seizures by 80%. His mother Justine said he now had a “much better quality of life.” The surgery, part of the CADET project involving multiple UK institutions, was performed at Great Ormond Street Hospital when Oran was 12. Oran's device currently provides constant electrical stimulation, but in future the team plans to make the it respond in real-time to block seizures before they occur.

 
 
under the radar

China's pork battle with the EU

China is facing a "pork in the road", said the Daily Pnut newsletter.

The country has opened an investigation into pork imports from the EU in its "first retaliatory move" against Brussels' latest tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, said Semafor. The EU had been "bracing for Beijing's tit-for-tat response" amid escalating trade tensions.

The Commission said it was "not worried" by Beijing's announcement, denying the accusation that the bloc was exporting pork at a lower price through unfair subsidies last year. But the anti-dumping probe is expected to hit Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain (the largest supplier of pork to China) particularly hard. Last year pig meat accounted for 17% of EU agri-food exports to China, said Euractiv. 

With a population of more than 1.4 billion China is "by far the world's largest pork producer, consumer and importer", said Statista in December. Pork "dominates" the Chinese meat market, accounting for more than 50% of domestic meat consumption in 2022. A "push for more production" led to China's pig numbers swelling to "the point of overcapacity", said the Financial Times.

The price of pork – the "most important component" of China's consumer price index – has "fallen drastically as a result", exacerbating the deflation that has "pressured Beijing for the past six months".

Any restrictions on EU exports could benefit suppliers from the Americas while Russia, "increasingly a close trading partner of China" and since February its latest pork supplier, could also "step up meat shipments", said Reuters.

"A full suspension of EU pork exports to China would be a potential nightmare scenario for the pork supply chain", said Justin Sherrard, global strategist on animal protein at Rabobank, "with implications across the EU".

 
 
on this day

24 June 1540

Henry VIII ordered Anne of Cleves to leave court, having quickly decided his then wife was not an appropriate match. His fourth marriage was the shortest, lasting just six months and three days. A new exhibition at the National Gallery, "Six Lives", shines fresh light on the stories of Henry's wives.

 
 
Today’s newspapers

Rishi Sunak has been urged to drop candidates being investigated over betting allegations, says The Guardian, as senior Tories tell him to "get a grip". However, says the i newspaper, Sunak is resisting calls to suspend the candidates and party officials. Labour plans to remove guidelines banning children from being taught there are more than two genders in school, says The Telegraph, while The Times claims that Labour plans to make it easier for people to legally undergo a transition. Meanwhile, the first 30C (86F) heatwave of the summer may be on the way this week, according to Metro.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Lovers' lawsuit

A New Zealand woman has taken her boyfriend to a disputes tribunal for not dropping her off at the airport. The unnamed woman claimed she and her long-term partner had a "verbal contract" that he would give her a lift before she flew to attend a concert with friends. But he didn't show, causing the woman to miss her flight and incur extra travel costs. Her claim was dismissed.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Julia O'Driscoll and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: STR / News team / AFP via Getty Images; Matthew Horwood / Getty Images; Pol Albarran / Getty Images.