[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-52477-en":3,"doc-seo-52477-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},52477,2336464648746,"Skyler","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",8,"Research & Report","Independent 2026-07-09 Newspaper Digest","A newspaper analysis and news coverage examine US President Donald Trump’s fresh airstrikes against Iran and his harsh comments at the Nato summit in Ankara. The piece critiques the tone of Trump’s “tirades,” while highlighting European leaders’ efforts to defend the strikes and calling for stronger UK leadership. It argues for separating reasonable defence demands from rhetoric, funding the Defence Investment Plan fully, and addressing fiscal trade-offs through likely tax rises to maintain security in a changing European threat environment.","| THURSDAY 9 JULY 2 0 2 6 | WWW. INDEPENDENT. CO. UK |\n| --- | --- |\n\nMAIRA BUTT  \nThe US launched a fresh round of airstrikes against Iran on the orders of Donald Trump last night. The president had earlier threatened to carry out further attacks a month after  \npromising peace talks. Mr Trump yesterday launched an extraordinary tirade against the country at the Nato summit in Ankara.“To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them,” Mr Trump said when asked whether the  \ninterim accord with Iran was over.“They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people.” Yesterday, the Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and the French president Emmanuel Macron defended the latest US strikes on Iran.  \nThursday 9 July 2026  \nNews   \nUS president’s childish Nato tirades pose an early challenge to Burnham  \nhe minute Sir Keir Starmer announced his intention to resign 17 days ago, power began to drain away from him and towards his almost certain successor, Andy Burnham. Our prime minister therefore attended his final Nato meeting in Ankara as half a ghost, half a figure of fun.  \nBut make no mistake, Europe is crying out for a stronger Britain.  \nThe Finnish prime minister was reduced last night to pleading with Britain: “Sort yourselves out. Please, we need you.” That need for clarity and leadership was indeed underlined by the latest perplexing fusillade of tirades from an increasingly erratic Donald Trump. The US president described Iran’s rulers as  \n“scum” while launching verbal attacks on America’s allies –  \nDenmark, Spain and the rest of Nato.  \nThis is an extraordinary graceless way to respond to the theme of the summit in Turkey, a “more European Nato”, which was a response to the reasonable part of Mr Trump’s demand that European nations should shoulder more of the burden for their collective security, and rely on America less.  \nBut then, extraordinary gracelessness is Mr Trump’s hallmark, and the challenge for Britain’s new prime minister, just as it was for the old one, is how best to manage it. The first step is to  \nseparate the reasonable from the wild and absurd. That Europe should pay for more ofits defence is reasonable, and so Mr Burnham must stand by his promise to fund the Defence Investment Plan “fully”.  \nAssuming that he does become prime minister, he needs to set out how that additional defence spending will be paid for. He needs to eschew the gimmicks of efficiency savings and asset sales resorted to by Sir Keir. Ideally, he should reverse the cuts to the capital budgets of other departments. Instead, he should be cutting current spending on welfare and on public sector pay.  \nUltimately, he should be prepared to be straight with the British people. He should tell them that taxes will have to rise further to keep the country safe. In The Independent’s view, the fairest way to do this is through income tax. This would not be a breach of a manifesto promise because the international situation has become considerably more threatening in the past two years.  \nIf this is necessary, it will no doubt be unpopular, but Mr Burnham must show leadership where Sir Keir fell short by explaining to the British people, without alarmism, why they are in danger.  \nEuropean war is not an abstract threat any more, and yet too many in Western Europe seem to think that loud declarations of solidarity with the Ukrainians and a bit of money to pay for their drones is all that is needed to keep us safe.  \nThose expressions of solidarity with Ukraine are important, especially when Mr Trump so frequently seems to belittle and undermine the Ukrainian people’s struggle to decide their own future. But they are part of a wider security landscape, in which the threat from Mr Putin’s regime is not limited to Ukraine’s borders.  \nFor all that Sir Keir’s cumbersomely named “coalition of the willing” has rallied most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New  \nZealand and Japan behind the rightful Ukrainian cause, it can beno substitute for a ","cbCaic8bTeYvJBPu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaic8bTeYvJBPu","pdf",3220437,5,1,128,"English","en",105,"# US strikes and Trump’s remarks\n## Nato summit context and allies\n# Policy implications for UK leadership\n## Funding defence spending and tax trade-offs\n# Europe’s security needs\n## Common defence policy and cooperation","[{\"question\":\"What triggered the US airstrikes against Iran in the coverage?\",\"answer\":\"The article states the US launched a fresh round of airstrikes against Iran on Trump’s orders, linking the action to aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews.\"},{\"question\":\"How did Trump describe Iran and what was said at the Nato summit?\",\"answer\":\"Trump said the interim accord was effectively “over” when asked, and he referred to Iran’s leaders as “scum,” making broader verbal attacks during the Nato summit in Ankara.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the analysis say the UK’s new prime minister should do about defence funding?\",\"answer\":\"It argues for fully funding the Defence Investment Plan, avoiding reliance on efficiency gimmicks and asset sales, and identifying how additional spending will be paid for, including possible further tax 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