First Thing: Global spending on nuclear weapons up 13% in record rise

World’s nuclear states on course to spend $100bn in 2024. Plus, Benjamin Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet

Good morning.

Global expenditure on nuclear weapons is estimated to have risen by 13% to a record $91.4bn in 2023, according to calculations from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), propelled by a sharp increase in US defense budgets.

After the US, China is the world’s largest spender, with a budget of $11.9bn – though still a long way from the US’s $51.5bn. All nine of the world’s nuclear powers are spending more, Ican said.

Since the 1950s, the largest nuclear states have been the US and Russia, which hold about 90% of all warheads. Russia has 4,380 nuclear warheads deployed or in storage, while the US has 3,708, the researchers said.

Which nuclear powers have increased spending? All nine: US, China, Russia, the UK, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea.

What does Ican say about this trend? With funding forecast to hit $100bn in 2024, Susi Snyder, one of the research’s authors, argued that it could be spent instead on environmental and social programmes.

Benjamin Netanyahu dissolves Israel’s war cabinet

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has disbanded his six-member war cabinet, an Israeli official confirmed on Monday, after the centrist former general Benny Gantz quit government.

The development follows demands from the nationalist-religious partners in Netanyahu’s coalition, including the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to be included in the cabinet – a move that could damage relations with the US and other allies.

Anti-Netanyahu protesters are staging a week of demonstrations against the government’s handling of the war in an attempt to force an election before the first-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack.

With the war in its eighth month, Netanyahu is reported to have criticized the military’s decision to enact daily pauses in fighting in the Rafah area along a main road to facilitate the delivery of aid. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an unnamed Israeli official told media late on Sunday.

What will Netanyahu do after dissolving the cabinet? Netanyahu is expected to hold consultations about the war with a small group of ministers.

Maryland governor to pardon 175,000 marijuana convictions

The Maryland governor, Wes Moore, has promised to issue a mass pardon of 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions – a decision expected to affect 100,000 people.

Moore said he would make the mass pardon on Monday morning, the Washington Post reported. It has been timed to coincide with this week’s Juneteenth holiday, a day that marks the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

He said the action could “right a lot of historical wrongs”. Black Americans have historically been over three times as likely as white Americans to be arrested on marijuana charges, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Will this mean people are freed? Pardons would not result in anyone being released, the Post reported.

In other news …

At least 14 Jordanian pilgrims have died while on the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as temperatures soared, reaching 47C (116.6F) in Mecca on Sunday.

New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, was forced to travel from Papua New Guinea to Japan on a commercial flight after defence force planes were grounded due to maintenance issues.

The actor Armie Hammer has said he feels “grateful”, three years on from multiple sexual misconduct and abuse allegations being made against him . He has denied accusations of rape and physically abusive behaviour.

Stat of the day: ‘In excess of 2.5 million people’ could die due to famine in Sudan before September

Sudan is facing a famine that could become worse than any the world has seen since Ethiopia 40 years ago, US officials have warned, with warring armies accused of controlling food access as a weapon. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said: “We’ve seen mortality projections estimating that in excess of 2.5 million people, about 15% of the population in Darfur and Kordofan – the hardest-hit regions – could die by the end of September.”

Don’t miss this: Surviving a torturous childhood to become a world-class athlete

As she prepares for the 2024 Paris Games, Oksana Masters, the US Paralympic skier and cyclist, speaks to Emine Saner about what drives her, self-doubt, and the total transformation of her life. Masters, who survived physical and sexual abuse during her early years in a Ukrainian orphanage before being adopted by an American woman age eight, says sports have helped her treasure her body: “I’ve learned how to love myself, appreciate my unique abilities, and my body has given me the strength to do so many different things.”

Climate check: US braces for ‘dangerous’ conditions as heatwave to hit midwest and north-east

“Dangerously hot conditions” will affect millions of Americans this week, as a heatwave hits the midwest and north-east US, the National Weather Service has said. Authorities warned people to take precautions as New York City, and other parts of the state, were expected to reach temperatures of up to 40.5C (105F) this week, while Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania were all under heat warnings. US heat-related deaths have risen in each of the last three years, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Last Thing: Tony awards 2024: Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along and The Outsiders win big

The 77th annual Tony awards meant big wins for actors Jeremy Strong and Daniel Radcliffe, while shows Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along and The Outsiders also cleaned up at the Broadway celebration. For a peek inside Sunday’s ceremony – and the outfits worn – here’s our photo gallery.

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