UK News

Middle East crisis live: Vance leaves Pakistan as historic peace talks with Iran break down | US-Israel war on Iran

Published

4 months ago

April 12, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

Pakistan foreign minister says ‘imperative’ for ceasefire to be upheld

Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar insisted on Sunday that Washington and Tehran must uphold a ceasefire agreement, after marathon talks between the two sides to end the war in the Middle East ended without an agreement.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” he said.

Pakistan has been and will continue to play its role to facilitate engagement and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in the days to come.

Pope Leo XIV himself stepped into the international political arena yesterday, the Guardian’s Edward Helmore reported, saying “enough of war” and decrying the “delusion of omnipotence” that drives leaders into global conflict, at evening prayers in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington and a close ally of Pope Leo XIV, has called for Catholics to take civic action against the “immoral” war on Iran.

Reporter Christopher Hale, whose Substack chronicles the Trump administration’s interactions with the papacy, shared a video of the archbishops’s address, in which McElroy called for his congregation to “move beyond prayer”.

As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders.

It is not enough to say we have prayed. We must also act. For it is very possible that the negotiations will fail because of recalcitrance on both sides, and the president will move to re-enter this immoral war.

At that critical juncture, as disciples of Jesus Christ called to be peacemakers in the world, we must answer vocally and in unison: ‘No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country.’

What makes this especially interesting, a colleague of mine points out, is that JD Vance, who less than two hours ago led the US exit from peace talks with Iran, converted to Catholicism in 2019.

He recently announced a new memoir on the subject, which you can read more about here:

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is citing an “informed source” saying Iran is in no hurry to negotiate, Reuters reports – and that as long as the US does not agree to a “reasonable deal”, there will be no change in situation in the strait of Hormuz.

As William Christou reported earlier, the opening of the strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for a fifth of the world’s oil supply – is a primary demand of the US to end the war in Iran.

Opening summary

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, as US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad seemingly broke down on Sunday.

After a marathon 21-hour first day of talks, US vice-president JD Vance announced on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan without reaching a deal.

Vance said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including a commitment to not build nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media said the talks had failed due to the US’s “unreasonable demands”.

If you are just joining us, here is a quick recap of the latest updates from the past few hours:

High-stakes negotiations between the US and Iran appeared to break down on Sunday, despite the historic and face-to-face meetings marking the highest-level direct engagement between Washington and Tehran in decades. The talks in Pakistan were aimed at securing a peace agreement to end the weeks-long war. The core US delegation was led by Vance, who has now left Pakistan.
The Iranian foreign ministry had warned earlier that the success of this weekend’s talks depended on Washington avoiding “excessive demands” and “unlawful requests”. Among issues discussed were the strategic strait of Hormuz, nuclear development, war reparations, and sanctions.
The strait of Hormuz remains among the main points of “serious disagreement”, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel remains committed to keep fighting Iran. “Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies,” Netanyahu wrote on social media. Israel was not present at the US-Iran talks.
Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House that it made “no difference” to him if a deal was reached with Iran. “Regardless of what happens, we win,” Trump said. “Whether we make a deal or not, makes no difference to me.”
The latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon have pushed the death toll to more than 2,000 with more than 6,300 wounded, according to the health ministry. Earlier, the Iranian negotiators demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon, reparations and commitment to unblock frozen assets as part of a peace deal in a preliminary meeting with Pakistani mediators.
The US military says it “began setting conditions for clearing mines in the strait of Hormuz” in an update released on Saturday afternoon, saying two navy destroyers had transited the strait. A spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command later denied the claim by the US military that the navy destroyers transited the waterway.

Source link

UK News

Driver killed in Bedford train crash named

Published

1 month ago

June 21, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.

Source link

UK News

Spain v Saudi Arabia: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026

Published

1 month ago

June 21, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.

Oyarzabal profile

Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.

“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “

News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.

“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.

“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”

Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.

Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.

The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.

The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.

An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.

In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.

For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:

“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.

“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”

Saturday’s match reports here.

The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same ⁠team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.

“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are ⁠missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against ‌Cape Verde.

“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you ‌should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.

“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.

“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.

“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”

The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”

Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.

The teams – Lamine Yamal starts

Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.

Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.

Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)

Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?

Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.

Al-Aqidi profile

Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat

The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.

The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.

Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.

“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.

Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.

Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.

A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.

Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP

Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?

Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.

Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.

“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”

A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.

“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”

We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.

The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.

Lamine Yamal profile

Preamble

Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.

Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.

Source link