World Today: Trump Threatens War Again with Iran over Hormuz Closure

US President Donald Trump has threatened to restart the war with Iran, while his vice president, JD Vance, has already met with Iranian officials for the first dialogue on a temporary peace agreement. The talks between the United States and Iran were held at Qatar’s Bergenstock mountain resort in Switzerland, marking the first meeting between the two countries following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreed a week ago. The MoU called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a cessation of hostilities, including in Lebanon, which was invaded by the US ally Israel in March. However, Iran stated that the United States failed to meet its commitment to halt the fighting in Lebanon, prompting it to close the Strait of Hormuz again. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If not, we will hit Iran very hard again, like we did last week, only harder,” Trump said, apparently referring to Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resign or set a timetable for his departure as early as today (22/06). For weeks, the Labour Party leader and his allies insisted he would fight for his position and participate in any leadership contest, but the government’s tone shifted significantly yesterday (21/06). Sir Keir’s leadership is hanging by a thread after Labour candidate Andy Burnham’s landslide victory in the Makerfield by-election in Northern England. Burnham, consistently rated as Britain’s most popular politician, said that if he won in Makerfield, he would challenge Sir Starmer’s leadership as prime minister. A “red alert” has been imposed across half of France today (22/06) as temperatures are set to exceed 40 degrees Celsius across mainland Europe. France has already placed emergency services and military forces on wildfire alert, restricted alcohol consumption in public places, and cancelled several outdoor sporting events over the weekend to cope with the major heatwave. Temperatures in some areas reached more than 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday, with predictions of even higher temperatures today (22/06). The Eiffel Tower and other sites in Paris have installed water sprays to cool crowds, alongside a number of other measures taken by local authorities to minimise risk. Several French trains have been cancelled, and thousands of additional staff have been deployed to handle potential rail and power line problems caused by the heat.