US president says he will briefly pause Project Freedom after just one day; Rubio says US has achieved objectives of Iran operation; Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi flies to China

• Trump puts ‘Project Freedom’ on hold, saying he hopes to finalise deal with Iran

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi for talks in Beijing on Wednesday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, without giving details on the discussion.

Iran’s Fars news agency earlier said Araghchi would “discuss bilateral relations and regional and international developments with his Chinese counterpart”.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the military objectives of so-called “Operation Epic Fury” have concluded and the offensive stage of the war with Iran is “over”. Speaking at the White House press briefing, Rubio insisted that ongoing US military action in the strait of Hormuz is “defensive” in nature and a separate operation, in line with the Trump administration’s argument that it doesn’t need approval from Congress to continue the war against Iran. “There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first,” he told reporters, urging Iran to “make the sensible choice” and negotiate a deal.

With the status of the ceasefire in doubt, Donald Trump declined to say what would constitute a violation, telling reporters only that Iran knows “what not to do”. It comes amid rising tensions after both sides exchanged fire in the strait of Hormuz on Monday. “Well, you’ll find out because I’ll let you know,” the US president said. “They know what to do, or what not to do more importantly.”

Before Trump’s announcement on Tuesday evening, his defense secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that “Project Freedom” had allowed the US to gain control of the strait, despite Iran claiming it has actually strengthened its control of the waterway, and thousands of cargo ships remain stranded there.

Tent where twins were born up to a 15-minute walk away from nearest public toilets or running water

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The tent where a newborn baby was found dead at Wagga beach at the weekend was part of a homeless encampment up to a 15-minute walk away from the nearest public toilets or running water, with residents in a nearby apartment block saying conditions were “worse than a Syrian war camp”.

The tragedy has prompted fury in the community, with residents of Wagga Wagga calling on authorities to take urgent action to make the encampments safe and sanitary.

Objection after museum removes word ‘Palestine’ from list of countries of ancient Levant and Egypt and from some explanatory panels

The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called for Foreign Office intervention after the British Museum removed references to Palestine from its exhibits.

The UK recognised the state of Palestine in September 2025, but the same year the museum removed the name “Palestine” from a panel listing the present-day countries encompassed by the ancient Levant, and replaced it with Gaza and the West Bank.

Scores of women have told how they were affected by placenta accreta spectrum for an awareness campaign

Women have had to undergo major emergency surgery, including a hysterectomy, when medical staff failed to detect they had a rare but potentially fatal complication of pregnancy.

Scores of women have come forward to tell their stories of how they were affected by placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) since the launch in February of a campaign to raise awareness among NHS staff and mothers-to-be of the dangers it poses.

Wastewater from nearly 40,000 people and businesses pumped straight into sea as island still has no treatment plant

Raw sewage from nearly 40,000 people and businesses is being pumped straight into the sea because the British overseas territory of Gibraltar does not have, and has never had, a wastewater treatment plant.

For decades, untreated sewage has poured into the Mediterranean from the southern tip of the peninsula at Europa Point, where the government of Gibraltar says there are “high levels of natural dispersion”.

Glyphosate is currently sprayed on cereal and pulse crops to dessicate them and make them easier to harvest

A new trade deal with the EU could lead to restrictions on the use of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate on UK food crops.

The full-spectrum herbicide, which kills almost every plant it touches, is often sprayed on wheat, oats and other cereal and pulse crops immediately before harvest to desiccate them and make them easier to handle.

Plans to install tougher netting and window grilles set back because walls cannot take extra weight, prison governors say

Weak and crumbling walls in Victorian prisons are hampering attempts to halt drones from delivering drugs and weapons to inmates.

Plans to install tougher netting and window grilles to stop drones from entering have been hampered because the walls have been unable to take the extra weight, prison governors said.

Shoppers concerned about effect of Middle East conflict, as UK retailers say government running out of time to cut costs

Four in five people are worried that the Iran war will make food more expensive, according to a new poll, as businesses warned the “window is closing” for ministers to cut energy costs for UK retailers.

Research by Opinium found that 80% of people are worried about the rising price of groceries, which would come from retailers passing on cost increases to consumers, while 73% expect the conflict to push up prices of other products.

Without offering details or evidence, US Southern Command describes the people killed as ‘narco-terrorists’

The US military said on Tuesday it had struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing three people, in the latest such attack that rights groups label as “extrajudicial killings” and Washington describes as targeting “narco-terrorists”.

US Southern Command posted about the strike on social media Tuesday evening, alleging that the vessel struck on Tuesday was operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations” that it did not identify.

Police suspend ‘extensive’ six-day air and ground search in Nova Scotia, citing ‘no new information’

Teams in eastern Canada have called off an “extensive” six-day air and ground search of a rugged park for a missing Australian hiker.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said this week it had suspended operations after an effort involving dogs, 100 people, aircraft and ground crews yielded “no new information” in the whereabouts of Denise Ann Willams.

Home affairs minister Tony Burke says government continues to refuse to help the group of 13

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Some of the Australian women linked to Islamic State fighters face arrest and criminal charges on their return from Syria this week, with the government and federal police promising a hardline response when the group touches down.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed that the government was aware that four Australian women and nine of their children had begun the journey home, after more than a decade of planning by a joint Asio and Australian federal police counter-terrorism taskforce.

Education minister confirmed a temporary ban would be made permanent after author pleaded guilty to child exploitation offences. Follow updates live

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Federal shadow treasurer says any handouts in budget could add to inflation

The federal shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has warned that potential cash handouts in next week’s federal budget could add to inflation.

Unfortunately when the government hasn’t take inflation seriously, we’ve ended up in this situation and the risk is that if you keep handing out money to households, what you’ll actually do is fuel inflation.

This is a government that cuts taxes. We’ve cut taxes already and we will cut taxes again, we made that clear and we made that public.

The issue is, the budget won’t be pumping a lot of extra stimulus in the economy, in fact overall we’ll be winding back spending in the budget.