US treasury chief urged Trump not to host ‘Mr Bean on crack’ Zelenskyy, book says

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Suggestion that Scott Bessent so described a world leader included in Regime Change, by New York Times reporters

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book.

The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday.

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Boy, 3, ‘critical but stable’ after man throws him into crocodile pen – NewsNation

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  1. Boy, 3, ‘critical but stable’ after man throws him into crocodile pen  NewsNation
  2. Woman who saved boy at Cambridgeshire crocodile zoo is praised  BBC
  3. Mother, father and son rescued boy ‘thrown into crocodile pit’  The Times
  4. Man arrested in UK after toddler ends up in zoo crocodile enclosure  CNN
  5. 3-year-old critically injured by crocodile after ending up in its enclosure in British zoo  NBC News
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Russia Faces Spreading Fuel Shortages After Ukrainian Drones Pummel Refineries – WSJ

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  1. Russia Faces Spreading Fuel Shortages After Ukrainian Drones Pummel Refineries  WSJ
  2. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 16, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  3. Petrol shortages and ‘oil rain’ bring Russia-Ukraine war home to Moscow  Al Jazeera
  4. Russia forced to import fuel after Ukraine refinery strikes  Yahoo
  5. 'It's Come To This': Gas Shortages Hit Russia As Ukraine Hits Refineries  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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Ghost of far-right paramilitaries hovers over Colombia’s presidential runoff vote – The Guardian

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  1. Ghost of far-right paramilitaries hovers over Colombia’s presidential runoff vote  The Guardian
  2. Trump Called Iván Cepeda a ‘Radical Left Marxist.’ Can He Be Colombia’s President?  The New York Times
  3. How Ivan Cepeda emerged a frontrunner in Colombia’s presidential election  Al Jazeera
  4. Colombia faces a historic choice, writes its last president  The Economist
  5. Contributor: Colombia's flirtation with the Trump alliance could prove disastrous  Los Angeles Times
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Israeli attack kills famed turtle sanctuary ecologist in Lebanon

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Mona Khalil led decades-long effort to protect nesting site for turtles near her home in south of the country

The Lebanese marine activist Mona Khalil, who became a beloved figure in the country for a decades-long effort to protect a nesting site for turtles near her home, has died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike.

Khalil, 76, ran a sanctuary called the Orange House Project near the Mediterranean city of Tyre. She hosted volunteers in her house to clean and monitor a mile-long beach and welcomed tourists to stay and learn about conservation.

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Ralph Lauren bridges generations with menswear tie-up in Milan

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Designer turns to the accessory that launched his empire as he invokes the golden age of Italian sport

For his second standalone menswear show in Milan, Ralph Lauren reverted to the accessory that launched his empire in 1967 – ties.

Skinny silk ties featuring subtle swirly prints were neatly knotted and used as the finishing touch to elegant pinstripe suits, while more brightly printed or striped cravats were whirled and worn like ties peeking out from under knitwear and rugby shirts.

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What lessons will Iran’s new leadership draw from the 110-day war?

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Now fighting is over, the question is how Iran’s government will behave. Early clues point to more authoritarianism and prioritising relations with China

The precise ideological lessons that Iran’s new leadership draws from the 110-day war may prove to be the overriding factor in determining whether negotiations with the US culminate in an agreement that verifiably prevents the country from developing a nuclear weapon – an outcome that could usher in a new era for the Iranian economy while also reshaping the Middle East.

Does this rapidly assembled leadership team, forged in the fire of war, still represent an Islamic ideological crusade – a description coined by Henry Kissinger – or does the acceptance of the memorandum of understanding, in the words of JD Vance, denote a desire for pragmatism?

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Bedford train crash: What we we know so far as police confirm at least one dead – BBC

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  1. Bedford train crash: What we we know so far as police confirm at least one dead  BBC
  2. Passenger of Bedford crash says 90% of people on his carriage were injured  The Guardian
  3. Bedford train crash latest: Driver killed and more than 80 injured after horror crash during rush hour  The Independent
  4. Trains Collide in UK, Killing at Least One and Injuring Dozens of Others  The New York Times
  5. One person dead and 89 injured after UK train crash  Financial Times
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Beyond the beach: Spain pushes offbeat regions as tourist numbers nudge 100m

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Exclusive: Tourism minister says another likely record year of visitor growth is not a worry amid move to welcome tourists out of season and market less frequented areas

Spain is redoubling its efforts to push its tourist appeal beyond the familiar “sun and sand and coast” model as it prepares for another record-breaking year in which the number of foreign visitors could reach 100 million for the first time, the country’s tourism minister has said.

Speaking to the Guardian, Jordi Hereu rejected suggestions that Spain was now saturated with tourists but said it had become clear that the “old formulas no longer work”, especially amid growing concerns about overtourism and the effects of the climate emergency.

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