Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russia–Ukraine conflict will “determine the future of Europe” ahead of the anticipated G7 summit next week.

In a post online, the Ukrainian president said his country is making “the greatest sacrifices for Europe” as it fights for its independence.

He wrote: “We are not simply carrying out internal reforms, nor are we simply going through a transformation. We are fighting for our state, for our independence, and for our right to choose our own path and to be Europe.

“That is why the fate of Europe is being decided here – it is being decided in Ukraine, in this war, and in how this war ends – and whether Russia will still have the strength and the desire after this war to threaten the existence of Ukraine and its other neighbors, and the entirety of Europe.”

It comes as Ukraine has used AI-powered “terminator” drones to kill Russian soldiers without human oversight for the first time, a senior military general has claimed.

Alexander Kokhanovskyy, a senior figure in Ukraine’s defence industry, said that AI-controlled drones were used on the frontline in a one-off test.

It has not yet been implemented more widely after the test took place two years ago, he told the New Scientist.

A number of travellers have moved into Locke Park, on Corporation Road in Redcar, this afternoon (Saturday, June 13).

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said it is currently monitoring and assessing the situation and is now “working on an appropriate solution”. 

As a result, some of the gates to the park, which is home to a boating lake, tennis courts, children’s play area, have been locked. The main gates remain open.

Access to the park will be available only at this entrance until further notice. 

A full statement from the council said: “The council is aware that travellers have moved into Locke Park, Redcar, this afternoon.

“We are currently monitoring and assessing the situation and working on an appropriate solution.

“For security reasons, and until further notice, all park gates will be locked except for the main entrance on Corporation Road. 

“Access to the park will remain available via this entrance.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding while we manage this situation and will provide further updates as appropriate.”

He said you should check the terms and conditions closely

Martin Lewis has offered advice on managing your bank account and potentially earning many hundreds of pounds. The consumer champion provided general guidance that applies to customers of major banks, including Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax and Santander.

He issued the words of wisdom after a query on his BBC podcast regarding switching bank accounts. A listener contacted the programme explaining she currently banks with Lloyds but was interested in current account switching incentives from rival banks. Several banks are providing one-off bonuses if you transfer to them. These include Nationwide Building Society offering £175, Barclays providing £200 payments, Santander offering £180 and NatWest paying £200.

HSBC is also providing payments of £500 and First Direct is offering a £200 incentive. However, in this instance the listener said she was reluctant to leave Lloyds as she benefits from additional perks with her account, including cinema ticket vouchers.

Extra account perks

Club Lloyds customers can select from a range of Lifestyle Benefits. Additional perks available to customers include a Disney+ subscription, coffee and dining offers and vouchers for cinemas such as ODEON and Vue.

Her enquiry was whether she could create a secondary account simply by switching a handful of direct debits and fulfilling the other requirements, thereby claiming a switching incentive, while maintaining her Lloyds account as her primary bank account. In response, Mr Lewis had some encouraging news for the prospective switcher.

He said: “Everything you say is absolutely possible and is the textbook way for savvy money savers to do this.” However, he noted it requires “a little bit of planning” to take advantage of multiple switching incentives.

‘Make thousands of pounds’

Mr Lewis outlined that this strategy involves having a “mule account” or a “burner account” which you transfer between different providers to capitalise on these switching bonuses, potentially earning you many hundreds of pounds.

Mr Lewis said: “You’ve got to check the terms and conditions each time, but there are lots of people who do this and who make thousands of pounds.”

He continued by saying that many members of his Money Saving Expert team have “made decent money” by taking advantage of these promotions.

He recommended starting by opening a basic current account without any additional features or benefits, so you can transfer it easily when you want to claim a switching reward.

These switching deals typically require moving across two direct debits, so you’ll need to have these arranged in your burner account ready for transfer.

You may also need to pay in a minimum amount as part of your switch to be eligible for the incentive.

The United States and Iran appear close to a deal to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday the U.S. and Iran agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators were working with both sides to finalize a deal.

However, Tehran has cast doubt over the timing of the signing. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, speaking before Trump’s post, had cautioned against commenting on the timing of the signing but was quoted by state media saying, “It will not be tomorrow,” but could happen “in the coming days”.

Previous declarations of an imminent breakthrough failed to materialize.

The apparent breakthrough in negotiations comes after Iran exchanged fire with the U.S. and Israel over three days this week, threatening to push the region into a full-scale war. U.S. Central Command late Friday said in a social media post that it intercepted several Iranian attack drones that were targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the Middle East and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 7.

Here’s what to know:

Iran’s nuclear program terms to be finalized within 60 days of agreement

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday the terms of dealing with Iran’s nuclear program would be finalized in the 60 days after the initial agreement is signed and that the parties could decide to extend that period.

Iran’s nuclear program has been a key point of division. The U.S. and Israel fear it could lead to an atomic weapon — a main reason their leaders cited for going to war. Tehran has insisted its nuclear efforts are for peaceful purposes.

A senior U.S. administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said Friday that the emerging agreement would begin the process of destroying or removing Tehran’s highly enriched uranium.

The official said the 60-day period after both sides sign the deal would be used to work out technical details for removing Iran’s enriched uranium. The official did not detail who the U.S. envisions taking charge of removing the uranium, believed to be entombed under three nuclear sites that were battered by American strikes last year.

Deal to include conditions to reopen Strait of Hormuz, official says

The U.S. official said the emerging agreement includes provisions for reopening the strait.

Araghchi said Iran wants a deal that allows Tehran to charge ships “for services rendered” when they transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has imposed a toll system during the war, which the U.S. and other nations say violates international law.

Transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil and natural gas, has been disrupted and crimped global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other basics more expensive well beyond the region.

The agreement is set to include Iranian sanctions relief

Three regional officials said the emerging deal is also expected to include the phased lifting of sanctions on Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

They said they expect a signing ceremony for the agreement in the coming days after officials in Washington and Tehran approve it.

In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.

The exhibition tells the story of Arthur Wharton, who came to Darlington in 1882 as a Methodist student but left seven years later as the fastest man on the planet and a box office sportsman – he was one of the first stars of the railway age, using trains to travel the country to play matches and win prizes.

The exhibition, therefore, is in the Carriage Works at the Hopetown railway attraction in Darlington and runs until the end of August.

The opening of the Arthur Wharton exhibition, from left: England’s first black cricketer Roland Butcher, former Darlington footballer Lloyd Maitland, Shaun Campbell of the Arthur Wharton Foundation, Darlington mayor Cllr Helen Crumbie and Jason Lee of the Professional Footballers’ Association (Image: Stuart Boulton)

The eclectic guestlist, like the exhibition, was pulled together by Shaun Campbell, who runs the foundation dedicated to promoting Wharton’s legacy. The town mayor, Cllr Helen Crumbie, introduced Shaun as “one of Darlington’s most tireless characters”, and looking at the guestlist, Dorothy Compai, Arthur’s great-grand-daughter said: “My mum always said Shaun will get where Castor oil can’t get.”

Shaun Campbell of the Arthur Wharton Foundation with Arthur Wharton’s great- granddaughter Dorothy Compai at the opening of the Arthur Wharton exhibition at Hopetown in Darlington. 10/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Dorothy had come from Rotherham, where the football club had given Arthur the first professional contract for a black player in 1889.

She had brought with her items from a suitcase of family treasures. These include Arthur’s own bible and a picture of his father, the Reverend Henry Wharton, which now appear in the exhibition.

The Reverend Henry Wharton, probably in 1863 in London. He was the father of Arthur (Image: Hopetown, Darlington)

Henry was of mixed race, born in Grenada in the Caribbean to a Grenadian woman and a Scottish sea captain. He spent six years being educated in Glasgow and then became a Methodist missionary in Ghana in west Africa.

There he met and married Annie, who was the daughter of a member of the Fante royal family and a Scottish sea trader.

This explains how Arthur came to be in Darlington: his father put great store in his son receiving a religious education in the British motherland.

(Image: Supplied)

However, Arthur had a determined streak, and became estranged from his family as single-mindedly pursued his sporting career. Playing for the Quakers, he became the finest goalkeeper in the north; wearing a Darlington shirt, he became the first person to run 100 yards in exactly 10 seconds. He set cycling records, he played cricket professionally, he could throw a cricket ball so far he won prizes.

Roland Butcher, the first black cricketer to play for England said as he looked at Arthur’s bible: “The level that he attained in so many sports is truly an inspiration to everybody, not just the black race, but to everybody who aspires to do anything in sport.”

Railways were a major part of Arthur’s career. Alison Grange, the collections engagement manager at Hopetown, said: “Railways helped professionalise sport. They helped teams travel across the country, and they helped spectators attend the matches. The idea of the cup final became a thing because of the railways, and Arthur Wharton is involved in that.”

In 1887, when Arthur starred in the Durham Cup final for Darlington against their town rivals St Augustine’s, the North Eastern Railway laid on two special excursion trains so the crowd of 6,000 could see the match in Middlesbrough.

In the same year, Arthur signed to play in the FA Cup for Preston North End, who were the Manchester City of the day. The third round took them to play Renton, then a leading Scottish club near Glasgow. Preston took the train, and onboard Arthur played cricket in the corridor, using a footwarmer as a wicket. He was said to be “cat-like” taking catches at short leg as the train rocked along.

Chef Ahmed Abdalla with the ceramic football, now in the exhibition, that he used to create a dish inspired by Arthur Wharton on the Great British Menu (Image: Chris Lloyd)

All this inspired Ahmed Abdalla, chef at the Grand Hotel in York (an NER railway hotel, designed by the same architect as Bank Top station) when he appeared on the Great British Menu a couple of years ago.

“We were asked to make a course with the title ‘Great Britons’,” he said.

“I found myself surrounded by different figures from history, by people from Yorkshire: George Hudson (the railway king, from York), Anne Lister (the lesbian diarist known as Gentleman Jack, from Halifax) and the chocolatiers from York, but Arthur brings my two passions of football and food together.”

Following Arthur’s Caribbean roots, he produced a jerk-spiced monkfish in a callaloo sauce (a Caribbean plant) with a Scotch bonnet emulsion and pickled okra, all served in an old-fashioned lace-up football that had dry ice pouring out of it.

“We smoked the monkfish for a bit, and people like to see a show to go with the story, and it all came out well,” he said. It was the highest scoring fish dish on the show, and he has placed his ceramic football in the exhibition.

Jason Lee, the former Nottingham Forest striker who is now an equality officer with the Professional Footballers’ Association, said: “Arthur is one of the trailblazers. When I was a kid, Pele, John Barnes and Viv Anderson were my idols, and he is up there with them. I think it is important to hear the history, and, especially if you are from Darlington, this is a very big story.”

(Image: Supplied)

• Arthur Wharton: He Changed the World from Here is free at Hopetown until August 31

The wait is almost over. Eighteen months after he was unveiled as England manager, Thomas Tuchel will lead the Three Lions into the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday, with the express goal of “putting a second star on the shirt”. For fans, the extreme psychological sport that is watching England in a major tournament begins.

Qualification was perfect – no draws, no defeats, no goals conceded – but some of England’s friendly performances have been uninspiring and even at this late stage, there remain some questions over exactly who makes up England’s best XI as they prepare to face Croatia in Dallas.

Jordan Pickford will, of course, start in goal and we have a fairly clear idea of the back four. Reece James and Nico O’Reilly will be the full-backs, and the centre-back pairing will be two of Marc Guehi, John Stones and Ezri Konsa.

BBC Sport reported this week that Tuchel is leaning towards Stones and Konsa, which perhaps points to the manager’s preference for height and physicality in a tournament where he has stressed the importance of set-pieces. Konsa has played regularly for England under Tuchel, while Stones is England’s most experienced tournament defender.

The full-backs will play an important role not just defensively but in the way England build up from the back. Both James and O’Reilly have played in midfield for Chelsea and Manchester City respectively this season and their ability and creativity on the ball – particularly James’s passing range – will add another element to the tenacity of Elliot Anderson and the drive of Declan Rice, England’s preferred pair in central midfield.

Jude Bellingham is most likely to start in the No 10 position. Morgan Rogers played a key role throughout qualifying and Tuchel took a hard line on Bellingham’s inclusion in the squad last autumn. But the Real Madrid midfielder is a leader for England, someone who can take the burden off Harry Kane both in terms of his attacking output, with his runs beyond the striker and by assuming responsibility on the field.

Bukayo Saka will start on the right side, although Tuchel has hinted that fitness issues may limit his minutes at the World Cup – Noni Madueke could turn out to be crucial. Madueke was excellent in England’s best game under Tuchel, the 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in qualifying, and it is possible that Madueke could even usurp Saka as England’s starting winger later in the tournament if he impresses from the bench and Saka struggles for sharpness.

Tuchel’s biggest decision is on the left wing, and a choice between Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford. It is a strange dynamic, given Gordon has just signed for Barcelona days before travelling out to the US for this World Cup. He is effectively replacing Rashford, who spent the season on loan at the Nou Camp but will not have his temporary stay made permanent. Rashford is expected to find another place to play rather than return to Manchester United, where relations broke down last season.

They are difficult to split. Rashford had an impressive season for Barcelona, scoring 14 goals and recording 14 assists in 49 appearances. Gordon’s numbers weren’t far behind, with 17 goals and five assists in 43 games for Newcastle.

Gordon played well against Costa Rica in a friendly last week to push his case, but Rashford might just have the edge, given his experience on this stage. He is the more natural striker, and ultimately England’s left winger will be required to make attacking runs in behind when Harry Kane drops deep to get involved in the play.

It could also make sense for Gordon to be the finisher, rather than the starter, given his penalty prowess. Rashford’s career penalty record is actually very good, but he hasn’t taken many in recent seasons and England might rather finish extra time with Gordon on the pitch.

Kane, of course, will lead the line. The England captain scored 61 goals for Bayern Munich this season, and provided seven assists, in an astonishing campaign.

Who are the most likely players to be used from the bench? Madueke and either Gordon or Rashford will regularly appear in the second half of games to inject fresh energy on the wings. One or both of Rogers and Eberechi Eze will come on, particularly if England are searching for a goal. Kobbie Mainoo may get some minutes in central midfield, and Tino Livramento is the frontrunner among the reserve full-backs.

Perhaps therein lies the logic of Tuchel’s squad selection. The omissions of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer raised eyebrows and felt like a waste of English talent, but the result a lack of star names left stewing on the bench. That might make Tuchel’s life a little easier over the coming weeks.

Roman and Iron Age people were the first to settle in the area now known as Cambourne

Roman pottery and items from the Iron Age have been found by archaeologists at a Cambridgeshire housing development. Excavations at Burghley Green and Chivers Rise in West Cambourne have uncovered signs of the area’s history.

Archaeologists found signs of a 24m circular enclosure which was probably used by people in the Iron Age to manage livestock. The findings also included evidence of everyday life, including pottery, animal bones, and burnt stones that suggest the area was used for cooking.

One of the discoveries was a prehistoric 3m log ladder found at the bottom of a deep well shaft, believed to be one of the longest of its kind found in the UK. The well was inside a large watering hole that had preserved the wood through waterlogging.

Other finds also suggest the presence of early Roman activity. A small section of the excavations uncovering more than 780 pieces of pottery from this time period.

The team from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit investigated a five-hectare area at West Cambourne, uncovering more than 150 archaeological features dating back approximately 2,000 years to the Iron Age and early Roman communities.

Dr Matthew Brudenell, director at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, said: “Iron Age and Roman communities were the first to permanently settle the Cambourne landscape. The excavations are helping us to piece together the ways they used the land for agriculture and settlement.

“Watering holes would have been an important feature for sustaining livestock, and the well-preserved example we’ve uncovered has incredible potential to tell us more about how the land was managed. The Romans constructed an intricate network of fields for growing crops around the landscape, suggesting they were able to exploit the heavy but fertile clays of the Cambourne area in new and productive ways.”

Tom Wheeler, land director for Taylor Wimpey East Anglia, said: “When constructing new homes, it’s really important to try to establish what was there before. Often, this can be easy to see, but sometimes we need to work with an expert team of archaeologists to dig a little deeper.

“It’s been fascinating to learn what the team has uncovered in West Cambourne. While the Iron Age and Roman communities had long since disappeared from sight, this discovery means it can be recorded in history as an early example of settlement in West Cambourne.”

Scrambled eggs are a popular breakfast dish, but they can be hard to perfect

Scrambled eggs are a breakfast staple for countless people, with numerous recipes available online, yet they can prove tricky to perfect. They can transform from undercooked to overcooked within moments, becoming rubbery and bland. While many add milk to enhance their eggs’ flavour, one GoodFood chef has revealed a superior ingredient to use instead.

This recipe boasts 150 five-star ratings, with users praising the eggs’ deliciousness. User JudeMabe commented: “This recipe is perfect,” while user Nickd noted that the eggs were “creamier” than they’d ever imagined possible. The recipe notes explained: “Learn how to make scrambled eggs in a pan with this easy, foolproof recipe. This speedy breakfast is packed with protein and takes just 10 minutes.”

Ingredients:

• Two large free-range eggs
• Six tablespoons of single cream
• A knob of butter

Method:

Lightly whisk together two large eggs, six tablespoons of single cream, and a pinch of salt until the mixture reaches one consistency.

Heat a small non-stick frying pan for approximately a minute, then add a knob of butter and allow it to melt. Ensure the butter doesn’t brown, as this will discolour the eggs.

Pour in the egg mixture and leave it for 20 seconds before stirring with a wooden spoon. Lift the eggs and fold them over from the bottom of the pan.

Leave it for another 10 seconds, then stir and fold again.

Repeat this process until the eggs are softly set and slightly runny in places.

At this point, remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs finish cooking for a brief while.

This crucial step ensures the eggs do not become overcooked.

Give the pan one final stir with the wooden spoon and serve the “velvety” scrambled eggs immediately on toast.

Incorporating cream into scrambled eggs produces a richer, creamier and more tender result, as the additional fat lends a more indulgent consistency.

It can also help slow the cooking process, reducing the likelihood of the eggs turning dry and rubbery.

It is worth noting, however, that adding too much cream can dilute the egg flavour and leave the dish feeling overly heavy.