WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Israel-Iran truce, Palestine Action banned, and U2's The Edge becomes Irish

 
today's international story

Trump announces ceasefire between Israel and Iran

What happened
Donald Trump has declared an end to what he called "the 12-day war", claiming that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran has been agreed. According to the US president, each side will begin by observing a 12-hour truce, culminating in a "salute" to peace after 24 hours.

The announcement followed Iran's missile strike on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to 10,000 US troops, in retaliation for America's attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. No casualties were reported. Iran had provided advance notice, which Trump acknowledged, calling the strike a "very weak response".

Who said what
Trump celebrated the purported ceasefire, saying it avoided a war "that could have gone on for years". The truce – if it holds – will be "claimed by the administration as one of the most significant foreign policy wins of this White House", said Bernd Debusmann Jr on the BBC. An end to the fighting will be something that the president and his allies "point to as tangible progress", particularly if coupled with an end to the Iran nuclear programme that previous presidents have failed to achieve.

What next?
There was no official confirmation of a ceasefire from either Israel or Iran, and missiles continued being fired by both sides as "confusion reigned as to whether the two countries were still at war", said The Guardian. In what The New York Times called "characteristically" incautious language about the ceasefire's prospects, Trump concluded: "God bless Israel, God bless Iran … and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!"

 
 
today's protest story

Palestine Action group will be banned

What happened
The Home Office has said it will proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into an RAF base and vandalising aircraft last Friday.

Who said what
The "disgraceful attack" on RAF Brize Norton was "the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action" since 2022, said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in a statement to Parliament. But the right to "peaceful protest", including in support of Palestine, will remain unaffected.

The proscription is "completely irrational" and "without precedent", group member Saeed Taji Farouky told Sky News. Proscribing an organisation under anti-terrorism laws "raises the stakes amid already increased powers to stop protests", said The Guardian's legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique. The ban is "likely to make every group" that uses protest to affect change "think twice".

What next?
A draft proscription order will be laid in Parliament next week. If it passes, it will be illegal to be a member of or invite support for Palestine Action, punishable by up to 14 years in jail. Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said a "full review" of security at military bases had begun.

 
 
Today's health story

Labour to investigate maternity care failings

What happened
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced a national inquiry into maternity and neonatal services in England following decades of avoidable deaths and harm. The urgent investigation, beginning this summer, will examine up to 10 of the worst-performing NHS units and report back by December. A second phase will propose nationwide reforms, including measures to tackle racial disparities in maternal outcomes.

Who said what
"We must act – and we must act now," said Streeting (pictured above). What the health secretary "did not announce was a full, public statutory inquiry", said Hannah Barnes in the New Statesman. Bereaved families "do not speak with one voice", but "some don't feel today's announcement goes far enough".

Streeting’s new inquiry "must learn from past mistakes, not repeat them", said The Guardian's editorial board. The health secretary "deserves praise for trying something new ... but links between poor care and overstretched staff must not be avoided".

What next?
The inquiry will scrutinise trusts including Leeds and University Hospitals Sussex. Its findings are expected to drive sweeping reforms.

 
 

It's not all bad

After 62 years of living in Ireland, U2 guitarist The Edge has officially become an Irish citizen. Born in England, David Howell Evans was conferred with citizenship at a ceremony in Killarney, where he said the moment felt “long overdue". “I have always felt Irish,” he added. Wearing an Irish tricolour clip, he joined 7,500 other people from 143 countries in swearing loyalty to the Irish state, calling the event deeply moving and a proud step.

 
 
under the radar

How Southwark was the 'Beverly Hills' of Londinium

Archaeologists have pieced together thousands of ancient fragments that suggest Southwark was once the "Beverly Hills of Roman London".

The South London borough has "always been seen as the scruffier, rough-around-the-edges" part of the capital, said The Times, but this "extraordinary" new finding suggests that its backstory is "a little grander than originally thought".

Fragments of painted plaster were discovered during excavation work and collected into 120 boxes. But it was only when a team of archaeologists started fitting together the plaster shards – in what they called "the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle" – that they realised they had discovered a group of 2,000-year-old wall paintings. They feature "beautiful drawings of birds, fruit and flowers",  said The Independent. One fragment depicts what was first thought to be a bunch of grapes, but archaeobotanists now believe it's actually a plant that grows more locally: mistletoe. Other fragments include details of musical instruments and "unusual graffiti" of the ancient Greek alphabet.

It is, according to The Times, one of the largest collections of painted frescoes ever found in the capital, and most likely graced a "luxurious suburban" villa beyond the "hustle and bustle" of what was then the main city.

The discovery is already updating experts' knowledge of Londinium. The settlement's "main footprint" was north of the river in what has become the City of London, but this find suggests that the Romans were "committed to more than just that square mile", added The Times.

 
 
on this day

24 June 2010

Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first – and so far only – female prime minister after leading the Labor Party to victory. Every Australian state and territory bar South Australia has had at least one female head of government, and the Liberal Party has just chosen its first female federal leader, Sussan Ley.

 
 
Today's newspapers

"Middle East in turmoil", says the Daily Mirror, as it covers last night's developments in the Iran-Israel conflict. "So whose side are you on, Sir Keir?" asks the Daily Mail, saying Britain is becoming "increasingly irrelevant" because the PM "failed to back Donald Trump's strikes against Iran". Meanwhile, we're all going to have "glummer holidays" believes the Daily Star, as holidaymakers "ditch heatwave for big chill".

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Licensed to thrill

A bar in Barnsley has had its late licence upheld despite complaints from local businesses that a woman had been seen "jiggling her breasts at customers" – including an 85-year-old man. The council approved The Country Club's application after solicitors also addressed a separate incident involving a hen party and blow-up doll in the town centre's Victorian Arcade, promising conditions to mitigate concerns, including noise monitoring and a dispersal policy.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Elliott Goat, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Daniel Torok / The White House / Getty Images; Leon Neal / Getty Images; Leon Neal / Pool / AFP / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.