WASHINGTON (AP) — Recent U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba’s leadership and the indictment of former President Raúl Castro are a “pretext” for the Trump administration to persuade the American people to support a military intervention, Cuba’s top diplomat to the United States told The Associated Press.

In an interview on Tuesday, Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera repeated accusations against the Trump administration made by other Cuban officials, including the foreign minister and the president, and complained bitterly that the U.S. is targeting Cuban civilians with its decades-old embargo and new blockade of energy shipments to the island.

“The sanctions against our leaders, we see as a pretext to make the American people think we are a threat,” she said at Cuba’s embassy in Washington. “We are not a threat to the U.S., and we don’t want confrontation.”

Torres Rivera, who holds the formal title of chargé d’affaires, described the situation as “a war without bombs.” She said efforts to change Cuba’s government by coercion or force would be met by fierce resistance.

“Raúl is sacred,” she said of the indictment by a federal grand jury last month of Castro. The 95-year-old former president faces conspiracy and murder charges related to the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue while he was serving as Cuba’s defense minister.

“Raúl is a sacred symbol of the revolution, and we will defend Raúl — as we will the country — until the end,” Torres Rivera said. “If we are attacked, we are going to respond, and we are prepared for that. But we don’t want it.”

Her comments reflect a belief among many Cubans and Cuba analysts that the charges against Castro and the sanctions imposed on others in the socialist government’s leadership are similar to those the Trump administration touted as a reason for the military intervention in Venezuela in January that deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro.

On Thursday, the same day the U.S. Treasury Department leveled sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Castro’s son and grandson, along with others, U.S. President Donald Trump said of Cuba: “We’re going to handle that as soon as we’ve finished” military operations in Iran.

Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island.

Torres Rivera said the moves by the Trump administration to tighten the screws on Cuba’s already faltering economy have resulted in untold misery for ordinary Cubans who are struggling to survive with power cuts of up to 20 hours a day and exorbitant costs for gasoline, kerosene and everyday goods, including food and medicine.

“What is happening now is tough,” she said. “It is heartbreaking.”

Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials have repeatedly denied that Cuba’s economic strife is America’s fault and repeatedly cast the blame on the Cuban government’s socialist policies. They have not ruled out military action against the island but have said they are willing to give Cuban authorities time to make reforms.

Torres Rivera said that recent discussions between senior U.S. and Cuban officials in Havana and elsewhere have been “professional and respectful.” But she said that Cuba is not willing to change unless reforms are made from within and not under duress.

A former Cuban ambassador to Vietnam, another socialist country with which Cuba has long-standing ties, she noted that Washington and Hanoi have forged a positive relationship over the past four decades, but only because the Vietnamese enacted reforms at their own pace. The same should be permitted for Cuba, she said.

“We want to make sure that the only changes to the system are done by us,” she said.

Rubio, however, has said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America.

“I really don’t believe this system is capable of reform unless new people take over or a new mindset takes hold,” he told lawmakers at a congressional hearing last week.

The State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the Cuban ambassador’s comments.

According to US officials, Iran used a drone to launch the attack on the helicopter. But it’s not clear whether the Iranian drone had deliberately attacked, an unnamed US official told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. The semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that Iran had not claimed responsibility for the downed aircraft.

Homelessness in the UK is reaching critical levels, with more than 380,000 people estimated to be without a home in England alone as of late 2025.

There is also a growing recognition that neurodivergent people are over-represented among homeless populations. But much of this comes from anecdotal reports from service providers or localised research projects looking at specific neurodivergences like autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

So, our new research explored why this may be so. Our findings demonstrate how neurodivergent people may face exclusion at various points throughout their social lives, education and employment. In turn, this can lead to increased financial hardship and a higher chance of homelessness.

As homelessness rises across the UK, public debate tends to focus on housing supply or personal responsibility. For example, housing and homelessness charity Shelter highlights the chronic shortage of social housing and an increasingly unaffordable private rented sector.

We spoke at length with six neurodivergent people, from one local authority area, who had experienced homelessness or insecure housing. To structure the interviews, we asked participants to create a life map.

This is a visual timeline of important events that were meaningful to them, such as education, employment, becoming homeless, seeking support and diagnosis. We analysed the life maps and the participant accounts, identifying three central themes across their stories.

First, ambiguity around diagnosis often confused things and delayed or blocked access to support. Second, participants often seemed to have fallen through the gaps at critical points across their lives, where support should have been available. And third, once in crisis, navigating services was often experienced as inaccessible, slow and demoralising.

A lifetime of missed support

There were a number of points in our participants’ lives where support had been needed but was ultimately missed. This had knock-on effects on their ability to remain in education or employment. In turn, this created a lack of opportunities and affected financial security.

For some participants, these challenges began in school. Most described being bullied – an experience that is unfortunately common for many neurodivergent children. Faced with a lack of support for the bullying, participants took their own action, by changing schools, moving areas, or even leaving school altogether.

Those who went on to higher education experienced a lack of specialist neurodivergent support, alongside challenges with living away from home for the first time. Some turned to alcohol in order to manage social anxiety.

Neurodivergent adults are known to experience significant employment gaps. Our participants also outlined numerous challenges to securing and keeping a job. One described being unable to find a placement for some work experience required to complete a qualification. They believed that this was due to stigma associated with their diagnosis.

For others, jobs that may be considered entry-level, such as customer service or retail jobs, presented unanticipated difficulties, including sensory overwhelm and social anxiety. UK employers are required by law to make changes to remove or reduce potential disadvantage faced by disabled employees, which are known as “reasonable adjustments”. But most participants reported a lack of these in practice.

When our participants hit a crisis point and sought help for their housing needs, many experienced the services as confusing or unsupportive of their needs. Most described long waits for various supports and services, often in unsuitable, temporary accommodation.

Sensory and social challenges in these environments contributed to mental health deterioration. Long waiting lists to access therapy or diagnostic assessments also left participants feeling trapped and unable to move forward with their lives.

‘Society doesn’t care about you’

Respondents described patterns of persistent exclusion, starting in early life, that had paved the way to homelessness. Once in need of housing support, they found significant barriers to accessing services that had been designed by and for neurotypical people.

When offered temporary accommodation, in many cases this did not meet their neurodivergent needs. For example, most participants described being placed in busy, “chaotic” hostels that they were desperate to leave. In one case, a person with significant sensory sensitivities was living in shared temporary accommodation next-door to a nightclub which played loud music throughout the night, affecting their sleep.

We also noticed that participants appeared to have internalised these experiences. For example, they blamed themselves and felt like “society doesn’t care about you”, as one described. This affected both their self-esteem and their engagement with services.

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‘Dehumanising policies’ leave autistic people struggling to access health, education and housing – new review

Many people may face similar circumstances yet do not necessarily find themselves homeless. For our participants, however, hardship was heightened by reduced social networks to fall back on during hard times. They described difficulties in maintaining regular contact with friends. They were sometimes rejected by their family and others, due to a lack of understanding of their differences.

The stories we heard were powerful and hard-hitting. They show the serious effects of exclusion which may build up over a person’s life.

There were also many points at which early support or prevention could have been put into place, for example, in education, workplaces and when accessing health and social care. There are now a growing number of toolkits and guidance for services working with neurodivergent people facing homelessness.

Taken together, our findings show how neurodivergent people may face unique pathways into homelessness. It demonstrates why earlier, more joined-up inclusion and support is vital for prevention.

A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that many customers are unaware of support schemes for broadband, water and energy bills, even though they could qualify for lower prices because of their income, benefits or personal circumstances.

The findings suggest checking what help is available could be one of the easiest ways to reduce household costs this year.

The bill discounts many people never claim

The watchdog found that only around one in three eligible broadband customers know about social tariffs – discounted broadband packages designed for people on benefits or lower incomes.

Awareness is also low among water customers, with fewer than four in 10 people who qualify knowing help is available.

These schemes can offer significant savings, but millions are missing out simply because they don’t know they exist.

How you could save on broadband

If you’re claiming certain benefits, you may qualify for a broadband social tariff.

These discounted deals are often substantially cheaper than standard packages and are available from many major providers.

The NAO found that awareness remains surprisingly low despite the potential savings.

Water bill help many households overlook

Water companies also offer support schemes for customers struggling with bills.

Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for:

• Reduced water bills
• Payment support schemes
• Hardship funds
• Debt assistance programmes

Yet the report suggests many eligible households never apply.

Energy customers could save by asking for help

The watchdog found energy debt has surged by 118% since 2021. However, customers who agreed repayment plans with suppliers owed around £1,000 less on average than those who did not.

This follows Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s promise to cut energy bills, but rising electricity and gas costs are making this more difficult.

Support can include:

• Affordable repayment plans
• Payment breaks
• Debt support schemes
• Priority customer services

Experts say contacting suppliers early can prevent debts growing out of control.

Check if you’re missing out

You may want to see what support is available if you:

• Receive Universal Credit
• Receive Pension Credit
• Claim disability benefits
• Are on a low income
• Have long-term health conditions
• Are struggling with household bills

Many schemes are available directly through providers, but are not automatically applied.

Recommended reading:

Why millions are paying more than necessary

According to the report, one of the biggest problems is that people simply don’t know what support exists.

The watchdog said regulators need to do more to promote discounts and make it easier for customers to access help.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said it was “more important than ever” that people know what support is available as financial pressures continue to grow.

Have you saved on your household bills? Tell us in the comments below…

Steven Naismith, Ryan Christie and Gordon Durie have recorded the custom alarms to help wake supporters up ahead of Scotland’s World Cup opener.

Scotland heroes have recorded unique wake-up calls for those in the Tartan Army thinking of having a quick nap before the national team’s 2am World Cup kick off.

Steven Naismith, Ryan Christie and France 98 hero, Gordon Durie, have teamed up with Tennent’s Lager to wake supporters up prior to Scotland’s return to the world’s stage for the first time in 28 years. They have recorded custom messages which fans can set as alarms to help them get up for the game versus Haiti on Sunday morning.

Scotland Assistant Manager Steven Naismith, who will be helping to rally the players ahead of their Group C crunch opener, is heard in his custom message telling fans “Haw you! Time to get up!”

Meanwhile former Scotland ace, Gordon Durie who starred in the last World Cup in 1998, is heard brazenly telling fans “Get OOT your bed!”.

And goal-hero of Serbia, Ryan Christie, has also sent his own Wake-Up call all the way from the US, telling fans back home to “Come on!!”.

While an expected 20,000 fans are travelling to Boston for the game, and pubs all over the country have been granted extended licenses to show the match, not every Scot is expecting to pull an all-nighter.

Scotland fan Chris Blackwood, 48, who followed Scotland to France in 1998, said he’s gutted not to be making the journey to Boston this week, but he’ll be cheering the boys on from home with his family.

He said: “I’d love to be over in Boston for the game, but couldn’t make it this time. In my younger days, I might have been able to last the pace but realistically, I’ll be trying to get a few hours kip before the game starts at 2am.

“And with these wake-up calls, I doubt I’ll need to worry about sleeping through the alarm. I’ll be springing out of bed, ready to cheer the boys on.”

The dad-of-two also thinks the alarm could work well in helping get his daughters up for their first experience of the World Cup.

He added: “I’ve got two daughters, and I struggle to get them up on a school day, so there’s nothing like Gordon Durie shouting ‘get oot yer bed’ to get them up and ready for their first World Cup.”

“He made us well up in Belgrade, now he’s helping us wake up for Boston,” said Hazel Alexander of Tennent’s Lager, recalling Ryan Christie’s emotional 2020 interview after Scotland qualified for the Euros, their first major tournament since 1998.

“While thousands will be planning all-nighters to watch the match, we know that doesn’t suit everyone and we thought some well-kent voices of Scottish football might make it that little bit easier for fans to get up and into the spirit of the game.

“It’s perfect for those pals who always sleep in, or that flatmate that will want ‘another 5 minutes.

“The nation has been waiting 28 years for this moment and nothing’s going to get in the way of us watching Scotland’s bid for World Cup glory – this isn’t an alarm we’ll be hitting ‘snooze’ on.”

Accompanied by Fonejacker-style animations, the recordings have been released on Tennent’s Instagram and are available to download as audio files from Tennent’s.com.

Get Daily Record Premium for just £1 per month in exclusive offer to celebrate the world cup. Click HERE.

Volodymyr Zelensky recently suggested that the war in Ukraine was beginning to turn in his country’s favour. The Ukrainian president insisted that Russia was “losing the initiative each day”.

These comments came days after Zelensky wrote an open letter to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in which he called for direct talks to end the war. Zelensky concluded the letter by stating: “when Russia grows tired, change comes”.

There is truth to Zelensky’s claim. As journalist Gideon Rachman pointed out recently in the Financial Times, Russia has experienced dramatic political change four times in the past 100 years or so after defeat in a war or a serious foreign policy miscalculation.

The 1905 revolution that led to the imposition of limits on the power of the ruling Tsars was sparked by Russia’s humiliating loss in the Russo-Japanese war. The Bolsheviks then came to power in 1917, laying the foundations for the Soviet Union, after Russia’s disastrous military performance in the first world war.

Nikita Khrushchev’s decision to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 brought the world to the brink of disaster and convinced other leading figures in the Kremlin that he had to go. And in 1991, just two years after withdrawing Soviet troops from Moscow’s failed war in Afghanistan, Mikhail Gorbachev faced an attempted coup that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union itself.

Public humiliation on the world stage was an important element in each of these cases. It focused attention on Moscow’s weaknesses, demonstrating that Russia was not as strong as it appeared. This display of weakness emboldened those who wanted change.

But more was needed. A real sense of hardship and grievance experienced by society or political elites – or both – was necessary to deepen and broaden that desire for change and provide an impetus for action. The leaders of political change also had opportunities to organise, gain support and establish a power base.

So, will the war in Ukraine cost Putin his position as Russia’s leader? Some signs point in that direction. The war is increasingly becoming a public humiliation for Russia. When the so-called “special military operation” began in February 2022, Russian officers leading the invasion were told to pack dress uniforms to wear in a victory parade in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

But more than four years later, Russia is struggling to achieve its far more limited goal of taking and holding the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. During 2026, Russia’s rate of advance has slowed to a crawl and has even been reversed in some places. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s effective use of drones has given Kyiv the initiative.

There are now signs that the Russian government realises it cannot achieve its war aims in Ukraine. In May, a leaked document revealed that the Kremlin is making plans for a propaganda campaign to spin the war in a way that avoids conceding that none of its stated goals have been fulfilled.

The war is also unpopular among ordinary Russians. An April opinion poll, which was carried out by Russia’s Levada Center, showed 62% of Russians want the war to end. The poll found that only 27% of Russians favour continuing it.

Considering the pressure to give “the right” responses in such surveys out of fear of retribution from the state, it is remarkable that such a high proportion of those surveyed were willing to express dissatisfaction with the war. It also suggests that the true extent of war weariness among Russians could be even greater.

This desire for an end to the war may stem from the fact that the conflict is becoming increasingly real to Russians. While economic sanctions against Russia have been an inconvenience to most citizens, Ukraine’s ability to manufacture drones that can strike deep in Russian territory is truly bringing the war home. Russian oil refineries and depots have been particular targets, driving up prices and creating shortages and petrol rationing in several regions.

Limited signs of change

However, while there is a widespread desire among Russians for the war to end, there are no signs of mass protests that might put pressure on the state to end the war quickly or, indeed, bring about real political change.

Legislation rushed through days after the start of the mass invasion of Ukraine made it an offence to spread “false information” about the military or “discredit” the armed forces. And although some individuals continue to protest as “single pickets”, most Russians are discouraged from taking a public stance by the prospect of arrest and fines or custodial sentences.

Another factor that prevents large-scale protests or uprisings in Russia is the absence of any political opposition to the state. Russia’s remaining prominent opposition leaders are either in exile or in prison. The state also makes extensive use of legislation that allows it to declare individuals, organisations or groups that are critical of the state as “foreign agents” or “undesirable organisations”.

Those who are designated foreign agents face financial penalties and lose a number of legal rights, including the right to stand for election. Undesirable organisations face even harsher restrictions. They are not permitted to conduct financial transactions or spread information in the media or on the internet.

The extent of legal restrictions on society and opposition figures mean that political change is most likely to come from inside the ruling regime. This happened in 1964 when Khrushchev was removed from power. A group of fellow political leaders confronted Khrushchev, who agreed to step aside when he found that no powerful institutions were willing to support him.

Putin is well aware of this precedent and has been careful to avoid naming a successor. He has also been very effective at keeping the various competing interests in Russian politics at odds with each other while ensuring that the country’s intelligence and security forces are loyal to him personally.

The obstacles to a coup are significant. But if Putin continues his refusal to consider making any concessions to end the war in Ukraine, those who surround him might decide that their own interests are better served by removing him from power.

Owners are being warned that their cars may burst into flames even while parked, with motorists urged to park the affected vehicles outside and away from buildings

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Thousands of cars already on British roads have been the subject of a mass recall amid fears they may catch fire, with the same issue impacting a staggering total of 1.3 million vehicles in total worldwide.

The fire risk has seen global carmaker Stellantis forced to recall more than one million Jeep vehicles globally, with many pulled from UK roads amid fears of spontaneous combustion, caused by overheating. The fire risk is caused by faulty wiring in electric hydraulic power steering pumps in the cars.

The cars at risk were made between 2021 and 2025, with Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator models impacted. Jeep has been aware of the fault since 2023, but closed an investigation into multiple cases of cars catching fire “due to the low rate of occurrence”. Investigations were reopened in August 2024 after “an increase in incidents”.

It then took the carmaker two years of investigation to confirm the fault in April of 2026, One person has been injured as a result of the fault, but documents indicate that Jeep is unaware of the fire fault causing any accidents.

Owners are being warned that their cars may burst into flames even while parked, with motorists urged to park the affected vehicles outside and away from buildings and other cars to allow time for an appointment.

Owners of vehicles at risk will be contacted so that an appointment at a Jeep retailer can be arranged.

Stellantis told The Sun that the global revall notice has impacted 1,834 Jeeps in the UK – a drop in the ocean, compared with the 1.07 million vehicles being recalled in the US, 106,000 from Canada, 23,000 from Mexico and a fruther 12,000 worldwide.

The global carmaker added that recalled models will undergo repairs or have the dangerous parts replaced. Stellantis hopes to have the issue rectified by July.

A Stellantis spokesperson said: “Having customer safety and satisfaction at the core of its values, Stellantis is voluntarily recalling 1,834 Jeep Wrangler in the UK to inspect, and if necessary, repair or replace the wiring harness and/or electric hydraulic power steering pump.

“An internal investigation determined that certain model-year 2021-2025 Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator vehicles may have an electrical connection issue in the electric hydraulic power steering pump wiring,” the representative added.

“In rare circumstances, this may cause combustible materials to overheat, potentially leading to a vehicle fire.

“As a precautionary measure, Stellantis is taking this action and advising owners of these vehicles to park away from structures or other vehicles until the remedy is obtained.”

Jeep owners with the models at risk of fire will be contacted by their retailer to arrange a remedy appointment.

This isn’t the first time this year Stellantis has issued an urgent vehicle recall amid fears their cars may catch fire.

Thousands of drivers in the UK were warned to stop driving their vehicles as it could set on fire after the manufacturer issued a major safety recall back in April.

Prominent brands like Peugeot, Jeep, Fiat, Citroen and Vauxhall have been affected but one expert is concerned that people won’t act on the warning.

Most car manufacturer’s websites will have a tool where people can check if their car has been part of a recall. Louise used an example of the Vauxhall website where people will need their vehicle identification number which can be found in your logbooks and various places around the car.

The other way to check if your car has been part of the recall is using the Government’s checker tool. There’s two ways of using this tool depending on what information you have about the car.

You can use the car’s registration number to check if it has been involved in safety recalls that have not been checked or fixed. Or if you don’t know the registration number you can check using the manufacturer, model and year of manufacture.

YouTuber Sam Wilder is on a mission to find the best burger in the UK, and he thinks he’s found the best Belfast has to offer, revealing he loves one of the burgers he tasted

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A burger enthusiast thinks he has discovered Belfast’s best burger, calling the meal “fantastic”.

With the weather set to improve this weekend, thoughts will be turning to barbecues once more. If you don’t want to fire up your own though, one YouTuber recommended a burger that he “loved”.

Sam Wilder is on a mission to find the best burger in the UK. His gut-busting challenge will see him visit 54 locations in total, and he will try two burgers in each venue – the bog standard offering and one burger recommended by his subscribers or a member of staff.

The latest leg of the burger odyssey saw him visit Northern Ireland, where he spoke very highly of Smash Bros in Belfast’s Common Market.

There was one item on the menu that he loved and said he would eat again – the burger joint’s Chipotle Smash.

He described it as “basically the same” as the original urger except they included chipotle mayo instead of the company’s special sauce. It also came with pickled jalapeños and pickled onions.

Sam said: “That is a damn beautiful looking burger. It’s everything I loved about the first burger but then that chipotle mayo really packs a punch, then you’ve got pickled onions in there as well. And then those pickled jalapenos which give a really nice, hot tang to your mouth.

“It definitely adds a lot to it. The sheer amount of cheese I love, the sheer amount of sauce I love, it’s really, really well balanced, a nice amount of heat to it, it’s not too overpowering like one of the other hot burgers I had.”

He went on to give the “solid” burger 8.4 out of 10, placing it at the top of the Northern Ireland leaderboard, before finishing the clip by thanking Smash Bros and lauding them for an “epic name”.

Smash Bros, which opened in the market in 2022, has become a hugely popular spot. The menu contains just four burgers but Sam also spoke highly of the bog standard burger.

It comes with a double patty, double cheese, onion, lettuce, pickle and Smash Bros’ special sauce.

Sam said: “And this looks like an absolutely phenomenal smash burger. A lot of smash burgers we find don’t seem to put the lettuce inside them so I’m intrigued to see how this actually helps it. You’ve got these incredibly nice caramelised edges, loads and loads of cheese.

“I really like the sauce first of all. The sauce is definitely mustard-based. The pickles and the lettuce add so much too much and those caramelised edges are gorgeous. Fantastic bun, fantastic beef, the pickles in there really help cut through it, this is a very very good burger.”

He concluded by saying that it was one of the best standard burgers he has had so far on his quest, scoring it 7.5 out of 10.

Smash Bros was up against Bunsen, with the firm’s double cheeseburger scoring 7.6 and the standard cheeseburger earning just 6.3 out of 10.

Riyadh Air has announced the launch of a service connecting Manchester to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with flights beginning July 23 this year.

The service will operate three times a week, reflecting the growing demand for stronger travel links and economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the UK.

Tony Douglas, chief executive of Riyadh Air, said: “The launch of our new service to Manchester marks another milestone in our journey to connect Riyadh to the world and the world to Riyadh.

The new Dreamliners include ergonomic seats (Image: JB McCabe)

“This route has been carefully selected to serve a key market for connecting the North of England to the Middle East, aligning with our ambition to become a global airline and a significant contributor to Vision 2030.

“We look forward to welcoming our guests aboard to experience our distinctive Saudi hospitality as we connect these two great cities and continue to redefine the future of air travel.”

Flights will operate on Riyadh Air’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which feature a four-class cabin configuration: Business Elite, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.

Services from Manchester to Riyadh (flight RX0418) will depart at 8.40am and arrive in Riyadh at 5.20pm.

The return flight (RX0417) departs Riyadh at 1.30am and arrives in Manchester at 6.40am.

The route is expected to benefit the significant Asian communities in the North of England and support longstanding educational connections, including the large population of Saudi students living in the region.

It will also provide convenient onward connections from Riyadh to destinations such as Jeddah, Dubai, Cairo, and additional cities across Asia that will be announced soon.

Riyadh Air plans to offer passengers a “world-class travel experience” both on the ground and in the air.

The new Dreamliners include ergonomic seats made with premium materials, advanced in-flight entertainment, Bluetooth audio connectivity, and multiple charging options across all classes.

Flights will operate on Riyadh Air’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners (Image: JB McCabe)

Business Elite and Business cabins feature a fully flat-bed 1-2-1 layout, immersive audio in the headrests.

Sfeer members will benefit from a “Best Offer Guarantee,” no points expiry, and the ability to share level points with family and friends.

Early members, known as “The Founders,” will receive priority access to new routes and other exclusive perks.

Passengers will also enjoy Saudi-made Kayanee wellness products, Disney amenity kits for children, and premium bedding by John Horsfall.

Business Elite and Business travellers will also receive Kayanee loungewear, while Premium Economy guests will be provided with a Kayanee top.

Bookings for both routes are now open through the Riyadh Air app, website, and approved travel agents.

Dahlias thrust their colours skywards; hollyhocks frame a child at play; peasants tend cabbages; water lilies dot the surface of a pond. The “impressionist garden” captures all of these moments and more.

But why were Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Pissarro and their colleagues so attracted to gardens? It’s a subject I sought to answer in my book In the Gardens of Impressionism.

One answer lies in the sheer ubiquity and sensory intensity of gardens by the second half of the 19th century, when impressionism came into being. Social change that made leisure gardens accessible to all (no longer just kings and aristocrats) combined with “the great horticultural movement” – the introduction of new and exotic plants, trees and flowers as a result of imperial expansion, international trade and developments in technology.

“Ward cases”, named after their British inventor, botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, facilitated the transportation of live plants across the world. Glass and iron construction gave rise to greenhouses that allowed exotic and tender plants to be overwintered. New understanding of hybridisation, fuelled by Charles Darwin’s discoveries, made flowers ever bigger, more scented or overtly decorative, while also boosting commercial vegetable growing.

Gardens, in short, were central to the “modern life” that the impressionists radically pursued – answering powerfully their desire to capture the sensations of the present moment in spontaneous brushwork and vibrant palette.

Green lungs

In Paris, the new parks introduced by Napoleon III from the 1850s were essential to public hygiene: green lungs above ground complementing the new sewer-arteries below ground, as part of France’s fight against cholera.

The city’s trees and lavish corbeilles (floral display beds) were also undeniably alluring. Yet the impressionists’ response was highly selective and often trod a delicate balance between the old and new.

Édouard Manet subversively chose an old park, the Tuileries Gardens, for his pioneering depiction of modern life in 1863. Its fashionable figures listening to an off-scene band recede into a mass of trees that seems more like primal forest than cultivated green space.

And Pierre-Auguste Renoir recalled in old age how, before the modern tree-lined boulevards, manicured squares and English-style parks, there was “behind every house … a garden … Plenty of people still knew the pleasure of eating freshly-picked lettuce.”

Evicted in childhood to make way for the “new Paris”, Renoir had reason for his regret. Already in 1867, he had naughtily plonked a not-yet-in-bloom corbeille in the foreground of his painting of the Champs-Élysées. Napoleon’s prefect Baron Haussmann’s famous “bedding out” regime, intended to ensure continuous floral colour, here experiences an embarrassing glitch.

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In 1875, Renoir made an old, overgrown garden in Montmartre, full of “poppies, convolvulus and daisies”, the subject of Woman with a Parasol in a Garden, in which nature seems to return to its original, uncultivated state.

Claude Monet likewise eschewed the arterial path newly driven through the Parc Monceau, capturing instead the play of light and shade on figures chatting under tall trees in a secluded corner of the former aristocratic garden appropriated by Haussmann for public use and speculative building.

It was, rather, in his private gardens at Argenteuil in the 1870s that Monet seemed – at least to some extent – to have echoed Haussmannian horticulture, by cultivating display beds and trying out new flowers. But even here, in the 1873 painting The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil, his novelty giant dahlias surge across the picture surface like some colourful, organic riptide.

The private garden

If the impressionist garden was both outdoor studio and motif, what strikes the viewer in images like this is the evocation of what art experts nowadays call an attachment environment – a place imbued with personal significance, because it was cultivated by the artist himself.

Monet often inscribed his wife and young son within his Argenteuil artist’s garden. These paintings project familial pride and even hope for national renewal.

After the horror of the Franco-Prussian war and Paris Commune of 1870-1, when Monet and Camille Pissarro had taken refuge with their young families in London, the very act of growing a garden was inherently symbolic. It was a celebration of French soil following the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

Pissarro’s multiple depictions of kitchen gardens near his home at Pontoise, meanwhile, asserted his utopian socialist vision of a better future based on working off the land – just as Berthe Morisot’s airily brushed images conflate the growth of her young child with that of cultivated nature.

Such images suggest that, for all their modernity, the impressionists shared the nostalgia for rural existence that accompanied urban expansion and industrialisation.

At rural Vétheuil, where he lived from 1879-81, Monet planted sunflowers almost obsessively in his steep, terraced garden overlooking the Seine. Their late-summer gold and yellow seems almost elegiac after Monet’s wife Camille’s tragic death in 187.

Monet’s most ambitious garden was in turn at Giverny in Normandy, his near-sole painting motif for the last third of his life.

The new, scented and coloured hybrid water lilies he grew there were showpieces of modern horticultural invention – yet his serial paintings of his pond, capturing successive effects of light and atmosphere, construct a profoundly poetic vision of nature as a perpetually unfolding harmony. Coordinates disappear leaving only water, flowers and the reflected sky; the garden now embraces the cosmic.

It was only logical that Monet used this motif for his Paris Orangerie murals, which he gave to France as a first world war memorial. Water lilies open to the light, defeating darkness.

Though often called precursors of abstraction, the Orangerie’s Water Lilies offer the ultimate logic of the garden as attachment environment – encircling the viewer, placing us physically within the impressionist garden’s better world.

Do you have a favourite impressionist garden painting? Let us know in the comments below.

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