Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to a dramatic end on Friday, after a New Mexico judge dismissed the case against the actor and found that the state had improperly withheld evidence related to how live rounds of ammunition ended up on the film set where the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot.

Just days after courtroom proceedings had begun, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense and agreed that the charges against Baldwin should be dropped, finding that the state had concealed evidence that would have been favorable to the actor. The dismissal, made with prejudice, puts an end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin.

“The state’s willful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”

The news was met with relief from Baldwin, 66, who appeared to weep and hugged his attorneys and his wife, as the judge issued her ruling. Baldwin swiftly left court without making a statement to media.

The evidence in question was live rounds of ammunition turned over to New Mexico police in March, following the conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer. That evidence suggested the live ammunition that made its way on to the set came from the prop supplier, rather than the film’s armorer, Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro said.

A witness confirmed to the judge on Friday afternoon that a special prosecutor in the case, Kari Morrissey, was directly involved in the decision to file the evidence in an entirely different case file separate from the other Rust materials.

The day had the twists and turns of a Hollywood drama as Morrissey’s role was revealed, another special prosecutor in the case resigned mid-day, and Morrissey took the stand herself. During her testimony, Baldwin’s defense attorney asked her whether she had referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

The dismissal brings to a sudden end the criminal case against Baldwin over death of Hutchins on the Rust movie set. The 42-year-old cinematographer died after a gun Baldwin was holding during rehearsals fired a single live round of ammunition.

Prosecutors have long said evidence shows that Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March, was the source of the live round, but the defense said the state had received evidence that suggested otherwise and “buried” it. A “good samaritan” had come forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, Spiro had said on Thursday.

A report of that interview was not included with the other Rust evidence nor shared with the lawyer of Gutierrez-Reed, Spiro said. Testimony from Alexandria Hancock, with the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office, revealed that she and other officials made the decision to file it separately from the other Rust evidence in an entirely different case file.

Baldwin’s attorneys said the the report was relevant to the entire case and relevant to the credibility of witnesses who testified in the trial.

“If this evidence wasn’t as important as we say it is, they would have turned it over,” Nikas said.

In the morning, Morrissey had described the motion as a “wild goose chase” and said she had never before seen the report about the ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office. But as the judge questioned Hancock, the corporal said that Morrissey had taken part in the decision to keep the evidence separate from the Rust case – which elicited gasps in the courtroom.

Troy Teske, the man who came forward with the ammunition, is a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Morrissey had said earlier. She denied the defense’s accusations and said Baldwin’s team was aware of the evidence brought forward.

In a highly unusual move, Morrissey called herself to the stand to defend her conduct – despite instruction from the judge that she did not have to do so. “I was not aware at that point in time that it would not be linked to the Rust case number,” she said.

On cross-examination, Spiro asked Morrissey if she disliked Baldwin – which she denied – and if she had ever referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

She said she did not recall doing so.

“I actually really appreciate Mr Baldwin’s movies,” she said. “I really appreciated the acting he did on Saturday Night Live. And I actually really appreciate his politics.”

The developments upended the prosecution’s case and it was revealed during Morrissey’s testimony that the special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson had resigned in the middle of the day.

Baldwin could have faced 18 months in prison if convicted.

When Alec Baldwin set out to make the western Rust in 2021, it was a passion project for the veteran actor. He co-created the story, served as a producer and starred as the film’s lead Harland Rust, an outlaw with a bounty on his head.

Nearly three years on, the 66-year-old had assumed the role of criminal defendant, standing trial in New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter in the death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film’s set.

As Baldwin entered a Santa Fe courtroom on Wednesday, the day the trial began, he was staring down the prospect of 18 months in prison. By the week’s end, in a dramatic twist fit for a Hollywood drama, he was walking out a free man after a judge found the prosecution and law enforcement had intentionally withheld evidence in the case that could have been favorable to the actor.

The prosecution’s case fell apart in a matter of hours on Friday. A witness testified that Kari Morrissey, a special prosecutor leading the state’s case against Baldwin, was directly involved in a decision to keep potential crucial evidence separate from the Rust case. Another special prosecutor suddenly resigned in the middle of the day, and Morrissey called herself to the stand as a witness.

By the day’s end, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer had found the state withheld information in a manner that was “intentional and deliberate”. Baldwin wept. Hilaria Baldwin, his wife, covered her face and then hugged his attorneys.

It was a shocking end to a high-stakes case that has been closely watched by the film industry and documented by dozens of journalists from outlets around the world.

The swift unravelling surprised even seasoned legal observers. “It was stunning to see the prosecution fall apart so quickly. One of the special prosecutors bolted before the judge could even make her decision,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers.

“It’s one of the most botched prosecutions in American history. It should be taught in school as an example of how not to bring a case.”

Astonishing courtroom scenes end a tense week

Friday’s remarkable turn of events capped a trial that had all the makings of a film script – a star accused of acting recklessly with a firearm on set and causing the death of a crew member, a famous audience in the form of Baldwin’s actor brother and influencer wife, near-constant battles between the prosecution and defense and grueling cross-examinations.

Over the last week, a bespectacled and stooped Baldwin shuffled into a Santa Fe courthouse each day with his wife and sat alongside his high-profile legal team for proceedings that were livestreamed and viewed across the world.

The potential repercussions for Baldwin had been very real – being found criminally liable for causing the death of 42-year-old Hutchins and up to 18 months in prison – and a guilty verdict would have had lasting effects in the film industry.

A jury was seated on Tuesday and proceedings kicked off on Wednesday. As things got under way inside the courtroom, the prosecution and defense offered very different versions of the events that unfolded on 21 October 2021.

The Rust crew was rehearsing at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular movie set about 30 minutes from Santa Fe, when a gun Baldwin was holding fired a single round of live ammunition, striking Hutchins and the director, Joel Souza.

The bullet entered underneath Hutchins’ right underarm and perforated her right lung before traveling through the spine and lacerating her spinal cord, the prosecution told the jury in opening statements. Hutchins, who was a rising star in the industry, was transported via helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she died.

The aftermath was captured via body-camera from a New Mexico sheriff’s deputy who responded to the incident and testified in court this week. The footage showed medics’ desperate effort to save Hutchins, who was lying on the floor with her arm over her face.

In the view of the prosecution, Baldwin was a reckless and arrogant actor who flagrantly and repeatedly mishandled firearms on set. He broke the “cardinal rules of firearm safety” by leaving his finger on the hammer and trigger, and pointing it at people on set while filming.

The defense countered by portraying Baldwin as an actor who was focused on doing his job and arguing that he was failed by the crew members who were responsible for overseeing weapons and safety on set. The attorney Alex Spiro emphasized that Baldwin had been told the gun was safe moments before it was handed to him.

It all appeared to be setting up days of tense exchanges over whether Baldwin was at fault, with the actor himself expected to possibly take the stand. But ultimately, the jury was unable to render a verdict on the question after things swiftly deteriorated on Friday, when previously unseen evidence was presented.

The court was facing a potentially compelling day as prosecutors were expected to call Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year, to the stand.

But on Friday morning, the defense alleged the state had withheld evidence and asked the judge the to dismiss the case. Shortly after, Sommer dismissed the jury – setting off a day of gripping testimony and astonishing courtroom exchanges.

Things fall apart

Issues first emerged on Thursday, when Baldwin’s defense said that the state had received evidence related to how live rounds of ammunition ended up on the set of Rust. Prosecutors have long said that Gutierrez-Reed was the source of the live round, but the new evidence reportedly called that into question.

A “good samaritan”, Troy Teske, had come forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, Spiro told the court.

The state did not include the report of an interview with Teske with the other Rust evidence. Nor did they share it with Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Spiro said.

Morrissey had said that the ammunition brought forward did not match the ones on the Rust set: “This has no evidentiary value whatsoever.”

The judge asked to see the report and the evidence, a box of ammunition. Moments later, Sommer, who was wearing gloves, stepped down from the bench to examine evidence directly and found that some of the bullets did in fact resemble those from Rust.

At one point while questioning a witness, Morrissey grabbed a bullet and handled it herself – without gloves, drawing an objection from the defense.

Alexandria Hancock, with the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office, testified on Friday that she and other officials made the decision to file it separately from the other Rust evidence in an entirely different case file because they had not yet established it was connected to the case, she said.

Morrissey said several times that Troy Teske, the man who came forward with the ammunition, was a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father. She said she had never seen the report until Friday morning. But as the judge questioned Hancock, she said that Morrissey was directly involved in the decision to keep the evidence separate from the Rust case. The audience in the courtroom audibly gasped.

Morrissey appeared determined to defend her name and by the end of the day, in what looked like a hail Mary, she called herself to the stand, despite the judge telling her that was unnecessary. “You don’t have to say anything under oath if you don’t want to,” Sommer said.

Morrissey testified that she was not aware that the evidence brought forward would not be linked to the Rust case number.

She countered Spiro’s suggestion that she didn’t like Baldwin. “I actually really appreciate Mr Baldwin’s movies,” she said. “I really appreciated the acting he did on Saturday Night Live.”

Spiro wasn’t done. In the final moments Morrissey was on the stand, he asked if she had ever referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

She said she did not recall doing so.

Baldwin, who had appeared tense during the week, looked increasingly heartened as the day went on. When the judge threw out the case, he wept and covered his face.

What happens next?

The judge dismissed the case with “prejudice”, putting a sudden end the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin. The decision means that prosecutors cannot bring the same case against him again and, in all likelihood, Baldwin is off the hook for good.

The state’s conduct amounted to a “constitutional violation”,Rahmani said. He called it “the cardinal sin for a prosecutor”.

The ruling could also have major implications for Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, who could attempt to undo her conviction based on Friday’s decision.

“Not only is Baldwin a free man and he can’t be retried, but the Gutierrez-Reed conviction will likely be reversed,” Rahmani said.

Carl Tobias, of the University of Richmond law school, agreed that her defense would likely use the same approach as Baldwin’s lawyers.

“Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may attempt to make similar arguments to those that Baldwin and his counsel made and that her conviction should be overturned or at least conduct a retrial and that she be released from jail,” Tobias said.

The attorney for Matthew Hutchins, Halyna’s husband, said in a statement that the respected the court’s decision.

“We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins,” Brian J Panish said.

Joe Biden delivered a defiant speech on Friday evening in the battleground state of Michigan, firmly dismissing the doubt swirling around his survival as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Biden held a rally at a high school gymnasium in Detroit as part of his visit to the critical swing state that chose Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. He walked on stage to audience chants of “don’t you quit” and addressed the speculation head on: “I am running, and we’re gonna win,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Throughout the speech, Biden reiterated his plans for a second term, including codifying abortion rights, signing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, ending medical debt, raising the minimum wage and banning assault weapons.

He also took direct aim at Trump, calling the former president and presumptive Republican nominee “a loser” and challenging his record on jobs and the economy.

“Donald Trump is the only president in American history, other than Herbert Hoover, who lost more jobs than he had when he came in,” Biden said. “That’s why I call him Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”

He also referenced Trump’s continuing legal battles, including his conviction over paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, his sexual abuse case involving E Jean Carroll, and the case over his handling of classified information.

“Do you really want to go back to the chaos of Donald Trump as president?” he asked the crowd, which responded with a booming “no!”

Biden also targeted Project 2025, a policy plan led by the Heritage Foundation, a rightwing thinktank. Trump has tried to disavow the project, which Democrats say shows his extremist agenda.

“Project 2025 is the biggest attack on our system of government and our personal freedom that has ever been proposed to this country,” Biden said, outlining its aims to criminalize the shipment of abortion medication, deny contraceptive coverage, make cuts to Medicare, and eliminate the Department of Education.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “It’s not a joke. It’s time for us to stop treating politics like entertainment and reality TV. Another four years of Donald Trump is deadly serious. Deadly serious.”

He ended his speech with a joke about his age, saying “I know I look 40”, and telling the crowd that “with age comes wisdom”.

“I know how to tell the truth, I know right from wrong, and I know I have demonstrated how to do this job,” he said. “We’re going to stop Donald Trump. Let’s get this done.”

The speech was initially received positively among pundits and voters, with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes saying it was “the best performance [Biden’s] given since the State of the Union”.

The reception will probably be welcomed by Biden’s teams, as calls in Washington for the 81-year-old president to quit intensified. The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives said he had discussed the issue with Biden on Thursday, after Biden’s press conference following the Nato summit.

In a letter to colleagues, Hakeem Jeffries of New York said discussions about Biden’s age and fitness for office had been “candid, clear-eyed and comprehensive”.

“On behalf of the House Democratic caucus,” he said, “I requested and was graciously granted a private meeting with President Joe Biden.

“That meeting occurred yesterday evening … I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward.”

Biden’s response was not disclosed, nor details of Democratic “conclusions”. But as the letter was released, an 18th congressional Democrat said Biden should let someone else face Donald Trump in November.

The 19th Democrat to say Biden should go, Mike Levin of California, was reported by Politico to have told the president so to his face on Friday, during a virtual meeting with the Congressional Hispanic caucus. Levin then stated his position publicly.

Politico also quoted a “pro-Biden Democrat who attended the meeting” as saying the president “sounded very lucid, sharp, engaged”.

There was further worrying news for Democrats when the New York Times reported that so long as Biden remains the nominee, major donors will put on hold “roughly $90m in pledged donations”.

The Sunrise Movement also called for Biden to quit. Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led climate-focused activist group, said she was “concerned Joe Biden isn’t in a position to mobilise young voters and win”.

As Biden headed for Detroit, the capital remained abuzz. At the Nato summit on Thursday, Biden spoke assertively and showed his foreign policy experience but also made embarrassing slips, introducing Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine as “President Putin” and referring to Kamala Harris, his vice-president, as “Vice-President Trump”.

Trump seized on that, posting on social media: “Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ press conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice-President Trump to be vice-president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!”

Biden had appeared to say: “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice-President Trump to be vice-president [if] I think she’s not qualified to be president.”

Online, Biden fired back, posting: “By the way: Yes, I know the difference. One’s a prosecutor, and the other’s a felon.”

Trump, 78 and facing questions about his own cognitive fitness, was convicted on 34 charges arising from hush-money payments to an adult film star. He faces 54 other criminal charges, concerning election subversion and retention of classified information, and was fined millions of dollars in civil cases over business fraud and defamation arising from a rape allegation a judge called “substantially true”.

There was good news for Biden on Friday: a poll showing him improving since the disastrous debate against Trump in Atlanta that pitched Democrats into crisis.

“Biden actually gained a point since last month’s survey, which was taken before the debate,” wrote Domenico Montanaro of NPR, which carried out the poll with PBS and Marist. “He leads Trump 50%-48% in a head-to-head matchup. But Biden slips when third-party options are introduced, with Trump [leading] 43%-42%.”

But Politico noted telling dissonance in responses to Biden’s Nato performance. One unnamed Biden aide said the president exceeded expectations and had some great lines. A Democratic aide said Biden had “lowered the bar … until it’s on the floor”.

Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the dean of the Congressional Black caucus, told NBC that Biden “sometimes mangles words and phrases but all of that is almost natural for people who grew up stuttering”.

He added: “He has one of the best minds that I have ever been around … and so I would hope that we would focus on the substance of this man … and how he has run this country.

Asked “Is this the same Joe Biden that we saw four years ago?”, Clyburn said: “No!”

“I’m not the same Jim Clyburn that I was four years ago and in 10 days I’ll be 84. But I’m a bit wiser than I was before … It’s biblical. When I became a man I put away childish things. Joe Biden has put away childish things because he has become a man. His opponent [Trump] is still a child.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting

As he addressed reporters at the conclusion of the Nato conference on Thursday, Joe Biden sent a defiant message to his critics: I’m not going anywhere. Despite demands from dozens of Democratic lawmakers that he withdraw from the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance, Biden argued he was the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November.

“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” Biden said. “There’s a long way to go in this campaign, and so I – I’m just going to keep moving.”

That message did not assuage some skeptics in Biden’s party, as three more House Democrats called on the president to drop out in the hours after the press conference. Biden and his team have not yet quieted critics’ concerns, but the president’s detractors have few options beyond their public pressure campaign to get him to step aside.

With just one month left before the Democrats convene in Chicago for their convention, the party has limited time to determine who will be on the top of the ticket in November.

Here’s what you need to know about Biden’s path forward:

Emergency workers claim to have recovered the bodies of approximately 60 Palestinians from two districts of Gaza City after Israeli forces pulled back from days of battles with Hamas militants in the territory’s biggest urban area.

The civil defence agency in Hamas-run Gaza on Friday said the bodies were found in the Tal al-Hawa and Al-Sinaa districts after the week-long offensive.

“There are still missing people under the rubble of destroyed homes, which is difficult for our crews to reach,” the agency’s spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said. “There are reports that many people are missing since the first day of the incursion.”

“There are many calls for help but we just cannot reach them. We just do not have enough crews,” Bassal added. He said the Sabha medical centre, near the Gaza City district of Shujaiya, which provides care for 60,000 residents, had been destroyed in the new fighting. This was not immediately confirmed by Israel.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet intelligence agency announced on Friday that they killed Ayman Shweidah, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Shujaiya battalion. The joint statement said he was involved in planning the 7 October attacks and took part in the fighting that followed.

On Wednesday the Israeli army had dropped leaflets warning “everyone in Gaza City” – the focus of a heavy Israeli assault this week – that it would “remain a dangerous combat zone”. The leaflets urged residents to flee and set out designated escape routes from the area where the UN humanitarian office said up to 350,000 people had been sheltering.

Many civilians told the Guardian they had concluded there was no refuge in war-stricken Gaza and said they lacked confidence in the safe corridors set by Israel. Residents said they also feared that if they left they would not be able to take belongings or return.

The offensive came as Arab mediators, backed by the US, are trying to reach a ceasefire deal that would free Israelis held hostage by Hamas in return for many Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Hamas said the heavy Israeli assault on Gaza City this week could wreck efforts to finally end the war just as negotiations have entered the home stretch. In a statement, the Palestinian Islamist militant group said mediators had yet to provide it with updates on the state of the talks since it made concessions last week in response to a US-backed Israeli peace offer.

“The occupation continues its policy of stalling to buy time to foil this round of negotiations, as it has done in previous rounds,” the statement said.

The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US was “cautiously optimistic” about talks taking place in Egypt and Qatar.

“There are still gaps remaining between the two sides,” Kirby told CNN. “We believe those gaps can be narrowed, and that’s what US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and CIA director Bill Burns are trying to do right now.’’

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who faces opposition from within his coalition government to any deal that would halt the war without Hamas being vanquished, has said a deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until it meets all its objectives.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the UK next week to address European leaders at Blenheim Palace who are meeting to discuss Ukraine, European security and democracy.

He will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning when he touches down in Shannon airport, Co Clare, for a meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris.

Ireland, which has a longstanding policy of military neutrality but is contributing non-lethal aid such as clearance of landmines to Ukraine through the EU, is expected to offer more support to Ukraine’s efforts to return an estimated 20,000 children, who have been forcibly relocated to Russia and Belarus.

The Ukrainian president met Keir Starmer last week at the Nato summit in Washington, but this would be his first opportunity to meet a wider delegation of the Labour government, who will be eager to reiterate the UK’s continued support.

His travel arrangements are rarely confirmed but a source said it is “90% certain” Zelenskiy will be there.

Thursday’s conference is the fourth meeting of the European Political Community, a collective launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that was the brainchild of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

It is being seen as a “very significant” opportunity for Starmer to not just host up to 50 European leaders but to restore confidence in the UK and show the world the country is back on the international stage after years of reputational damage caused by Brexit.

The EPC is designed to facilitate the strengthening of ties between EU and non-EU leaders in an informal setting, with previous conferences held in Spain, Moldova and the Czech Republic.

Apart from the UK, non-EU countries including Norway, Iceland, Georgia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Turkey are invited, though it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president who did not attend previous summits, has not confirmed participation.

As host Starmer will address the opening plenary session, which will be held in one of the halls in Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. He is expected to underline the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and Zelenskiy, and to resetting the country’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU.

The prime minister has already pledged to establish closer ties with the EU, and the new minister for European relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, travelled to Brussels for an introductory meeting with the former Brexit negotiator Maroš Šefčovič on Monday.

Ahead of the meeting, Starmer said: “Europe is at the forefront of some of the greatest challenges of our time.

“Russia’s barbaric war continues to reverberate across our continent, while vile smuggling gangs traffic innocent people on perilous journeys that too often end in tragedy.

“I said I would change the way the UK engages with our European partners, working collaboratively to drive forward progress on these generational challenges, and that work starts at the European Political Community meeting on Thursday.”

Harris has pledged to support the UK at a European level and has instructed his ministers to increase contact with London counterparts.

Starmer will have a number of bilateral talks – he is meeting Harris the night before at Chequers and is expected to have a separate meeting with Macron on Thursday in addition to taking soundings from EU leaders on what a new security and defence pact with the UK could look like post-Brexit.

Ukraine will dominate the plenary discussion with leaders, who will then be invited to join three break-out working groups centring on defence and democracy, which will include sessions on the disinformation crisis, energy and migration.

Macron is also determined to use the occasion to send a strong message of support to Ukraine from the EU in face of renewed threats from Vladimir Putin and more ominous comments this week by the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who denounced Nato’s summit promise to eventually support Ukraine’s membership of the defence bloc.

Security around the summit is tight with airspace restrictions in place over the Oxfordshire palace between 14 and 18 July. Police drones and the police air service will enforce the restricted airspace, according to Thames Valley police.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the UK next week to address European leaders at Blenheim Palace who are meeting to discuss Ukraine, European security and democracy.

He will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning when he touches down in Shannon airport, Co Clare, for a meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris.

Ireland, which has a longstanding policy of military neutrality but is contributing non-lethal aid such as clearance of landmines to Ukraine through the EU, is expected to offer more support to Ukraine’s efforts to return an estimated 20,000 children, who have been forcibly relocated to Russia and Belarus.

The Ukrainian president met Keir Starmer last week at the Nato summit in Washington, but this would be his first opportunity to meet a wider delegation of the Labour government, who will be eager to reiterate the UK’s continued support.

His travel arrangements are rarely confirmed but a source said it is “90% certain” Zelenskiy will be there.

Thursday’s conference is the fourth meeting of the European Political Community, a collective launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that was the brainchild of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

It is being seen as a “very significant” opportunity for Starmer to not just host up to 50 European leaders but to restore confidence in the UK and show the world the country is back on the international stage after years of reputational damage caused by Brexit.

The EPC is designed to facilitate the strengthening of ties between EU and non-EU leaders in an informal setting, with previous conferences held in Spain, Moldova and the Czech Republic.

Apart from the UK, non-EU countries including Norway, Iceland, Georgia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Turkey are invited, though it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president who did not attend previous summits, has not confirmed participation.

As host Starmer will address the opening plenary session, which will be held in one of the halls in Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. He is expected to underline the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and Zelenskiy, and to resetting the country’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU.

The prime minister has already pledged to establish closer ties with the EU, and the new minister for European relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, travelled to Brussels for an introductory meeting with the former Brexit negotiator Maroš Šefčovič on Monday.

Ahead of the meeting, Starmer said: “Europe is at the forefront of some of the greatest challenges of our time.

“Russia’s barbaric war continues to reverberate across our continent, while vile smuggling gangs traffic innocent people on perilous journeys that too often end in tragedy.

“I said I would change the way the UK engages with our European partners, working collaboratively to drive forward progress on these generational challenges, and that work starts at the European Political Community meeting on Thursday.”

Harris has pledged to support the UK at a European level and has instructed his ministers to increase contact with London counterparts.

Starmer will have a number of bilateral talks – he is meeting Harris the night before at Chequers and is expected to have a separate meeting with Macron on Thursday in addition to taking soundings from EU leaders on what a new security and defence pact with the UK could look like post-Brexit.

Ukraine will dominate the plenary discussion with leaders, who will then be invited to join three break-out working groups centring on defence and democracy, which will include sessions on the disinformation crisis, energy and migration.

Macron is also determined to use the occasion to send a strong message of support to Ukraine from the EU in face of renewed threats from Vladimir Putin and more ominous comments this week by the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who denounced Nato’s summit promise to eventually support Ukraine’s membership of the defence bloc.

Security around the summit is tight with airspace restrictions in place over the Oxfordshire palace between 14 and 18 July. Police drones and the police air service will enforce the restricted airspace, according to Thames Valley police.

US senator Susan Collins didn’t vote for her fellow Republican Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020 – and the third time will not be the charm.

The longtime moderate conservative from Maine told reporters on Friday that she intended to write in former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley’s name on the ballot in November. The move recalls 2016, when Collins said she wrote in then-US House speaker Paul Ryan for president over Trump, who won the White House before losing to Democratic rival Joe Biden in 2020.

Collins is the only New England Republican in Congress and the only Republican holding statewide office in Maine, where Trump has twice won an electoral vote. She said Friday that she is sticking with her endorsement of Haley despite the fact Haley will not be on the ballot.

“I publicly endorsed Nikki Haley, and I wanted her to win. She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it,” Collins told WMTW-TV.

Collins made the remarks about the election at an event in Limerick, about 34 miles west of Portland, where she was speaking at a ribbon-cutting for a new fire and emergency medical services station.

After the event, Collins spokesperson Annie Clark said the senator “has said this before”, including during a June television appearance.

During that appearance, on Spectrum News, Collins said she “does not support the Democratic nominee either” and supports “some of … Trump’s policies”.

However, she also said Trump’s style is “divisive at a time when our country is already so polarized”.

Collins was also one of seven Republicans who voted at an impeachment trial to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Collins was elected to the Senate in 1996. She is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate, is often a key vote and is famous for not missing votes.

Collins is not on the ballot in 2024 and was most recently reelected in 2020, when she defeated Democratic challenger Sara Gideon.

She represents a state where Trump has twice lost the statewide vote – but he picked up one electoral vote because Maine is one of two states to apportion electoral votes by district.

Trump has many fans in rural Maine, which makes up most of the second congressional district.

Prosecutors in Argentina have charged two French rugby players with aggravated rape, in the grisly case of a woman who said she was repeatedly assaulted by the athletes after they took her back to their hotel room and prevented her from leaving.

The prosecutor’s office in the western city of Mendoza – where the alleged assault took place last Sunday following the French team’s test match against the Argentinian Pumas – ordered the two players, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, to remain in detention until trial.

After being arrested in Buenos Aires, Jegou, 21, and Auradou, 20, were transferred 1,000km (620 miles) to Mendoza on Thursday for their first court appearance. They chose not to testify in Friday’s hearing.

The French Rugby Federation had previously said that the players admitted to having consensual sex with the alleged victim and denied any acts of violence.

The prosecutors said the court would soon decide whether to grant the defendants’ request for house arrest.

The account of the assault – provided by Natacha Romano, the lawyer of the victim – has drawn outrage in France and caused a stir in Argentina, where recent scandals involving professional athletes have prompted questions within the greater sports community about misogyny and sexual violence.

The woman says that after meeting the players at a nightclub, she was taken to their hotel room and subjected to violent, non-consensual sexual acts and prevented from leaving. After escaping the hotel room, Romano said the victim filed a police complaint and underwent physical examinations.

The charges of aggravated sexual assault in Argentina carry the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The mandatory minimum is eight years.

Authorities said that they would move the defendants to another jail later on Friday.

• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

An ambush bug with a darker-coloured body is better at snagging a sexual partner than its brighter counterpart when it is chilly. Darker males can warm up more easily in the early mornings, and therefore get busy while everybody else is still warming up.

This is one of the many examples of how temperature affects colouring in insects, and in turn can affect their ability to mate, according to a new review article published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

But scientists are still trying to work out what will happen to insects’ sex lives now that human-induced climate breakdown is raising temperatures to unprecedented levels.

“On the one hand, we could be rejoicing, saying: how are the insects? They are responding to climate change. We don’t have to worry about them,” said Mariella Herberstein, a behavioural ecologist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, who is one of the authors of the study.

“And then we could wake up the next day going: Oh, damn – they can’t find each other any more because they have lost really important identification colours that help them find a mate.”

The prevailing theory among scientists, says Herberstein, is that when temperatures increase, insects largely evolve to produce less of the melanin pigment that regulates their hue, becoming lighter and brighter in colour. That is because darker objects absorb more heat and heat up quicker, while lighter objects reflect more incoming irradiation and can stay cooler for longer.

For example, the wing colours of the Mead’s sulphur butterflies of the North American mountains have faded over time as temperatures have risen – their shimmery, sulphur yellow wings paler, according to a 2016 study. Between the 1980s and the 2000s, it became increasingly less likely for the two-spotted ladybug to be black with red spots rather than red with black spots. The dark spots on the back of the similarly patterned subarctic leaf beetle have also decreased as springs get warmer.

But Herberstein’s team have found the pattern is not always so straightforward. A follow-up study on the Mead’s sulphur butterflies that looked at more than 800 butterflies collected for museum samples between 1953 and 2013 found that in some areas, their pale yellow wings actually got richer and darker in colour over time. One species of the walking stick insect got greener and darker over time as temperatures got warmer, according to a study from 2018, as did one species of planthopper, as researchers sampled it higher and higher up the mountain.

“The mechanism isn’t so clearcut – it’s confusing,” said another of the study’s authors, Md Tangigul Haque, a PhD student at Macquarie University. This may be because researchers are working with a limited set of data, and because much of that little data collected comes from similar studies with similar insects in similar locations, he says. It is probably also because melanin does not just have a heat-related function, but is involved in immunological defences and helps protect against ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

But colour is also involved in attracting mates, in camouflage from predators or from prey, and in allowing one member of a species to easily recognise others – and all of this could be altered by rising temperatures. “If we’re affecting their reproduction, we’re seriously impacting their population viability,” said Herberstein. “It is just one of those pieces that we need to figure out.”

Cracking this conundrum could play a crucial role in figuring out exactly how insects might be able to weather climate breakdown, said Michael Moore, an integrative biologist at the University of Colorado Denver. Moore was not involved in the latest research but in 2021 spotted that male dragonflies were losing their wing colour patterns where the climate is hotter, and is trying to establish whether that makes it harder for the dragonflies to find their mates.

“One thing that really sticks out to me is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule,” said Moore. “We have a lot more work to do – we haven’t solved this one yet.”

Five people have been jailed over the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed by gunmen on motorcycles last year.

Villavicencio, 59, was a former journalist and killed on 9 August as he left a school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, after a campaign rally. Thirteen people were injured.

On Friday, two people who were described as instigators were each sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison, and three accomplices were each jailed for 12 years.

Prosecutors accused at least two of those tried of belonging to the Los Lobos crime gang, among 22 criminal gangs designated as terrorists by President Daniel Noboa in January.

According to the prosecutor’s office, one of the instigators, Carlos Angulo, alias “Invisible”, coordinated the murder from a prison where he was held in Ecuador and gave instructions by videoconference to another person for the execution, which was recorded in their mobile phones. The latter has not been tried.

Laura Castillo, the other instigator, was described as being in charge of providing the gunmen with logistical elements including motorcycles and money.

The three accomplices – Erick Ramírez, Víctor Flores and Alexandra Chimbo – were in charge of alerting the actual killers of the victim’s movements, prosecutors said.

The prosecutor’s office had requested the maximum sentence for the five defendants.

The sentences for Angulo and Castillo included a compensation payment of $100,000 by each to the politician’s family. The other three defendants were ordered to pay $33,000 each.

As the judges announced the sentence, family and friends of Villavicencio demonstrated in Quito carrying posters, his photographs and flags.

Villavicencio’s journalism exposed corruption and connections between organised crime and politicians and he had previously reported receiving threats, but authorities have never said anything about the motive for the killing.

A total of 13 people were accused in the case, including several Colombians who, after being arrested, were murdered last October in prisons in Guayaquil and Quito where they were being held in pre-trial detention.

The ruling, read out by Milton Maroto, one of the court’s three judges, can be appealed against by both the prosecution and the defence.

Prosecutors are conducting a separate investigation into who requested the murder.

With Associated Press and Reuters in Quito

Taylor Swift’s willingness to openly talk about struggles with body image and disordered eating have aided the pop superstar’s fans in grappling with those issues themselves, according to new scientific research.

The authors of a University of Vermont (UVM) study published in the July issue of the Social Science & Medicine journal reached that conclusion after analyzing the top 200 TikTok and Reddit social media posts containing more than 8,300 comments pertaining to Swift, eating disorders and body image.

“Our findings suggest that fans who felt highly connected to Swift were influenced to positively change their behaviors or attitudes around eating or their body image because of Swift’s disclosures and messages in her music,” said a press statement attributed to study co-author Lizzy Pope, a registered dietitian nutritionist and associate professor in UVM’s nutrition and food sciences department.

Pope’s fellow registered dietitian nutritionist and study author Kelsey Rose, a UVM clinical assistant professor, added: “Fans seem to take inspiration from the fact that Swift had recovered from disordered eating and subsequently appeared to be thriving.”

Yet the study’s findings about the “parasocial” – or one-sided – relationship between Swift and the so-called Swifties who support her career aren’t exclusively good news. The survey found that some fans ignore Swift’s message and insist on objectifying the her body, demonstrating “the limitations of personal disclosures to [affect] understanding of systemic issues like anti-fat bias”.

Swift earned news headlines in 2020 when the songwriter-vocalist detailed how she grappled with outsiders’ perception of her weight – and the physical beauty standards by which many women are measured – in her Miss Americana documentary.

The singer explained how seeing pictures of herself made her feel like her “tummy was too big” or how speculation over whether she was pregnant would trigger “to just starve a little bit”.

“If you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass … everybody wants. But if you have enough weight … to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough,” Swift remarked.

She then uttered the words which provided the title of Pope and Rose’s recent study: “It’s all just fucking impossible.”

The survey also alluded to Swift’s 2022 music video for her No1 hit Anti-Hero, which depicted her stepping onto a scale, looking down at the weight reading, sighing in disappointment and casting a guilty glance at her alter ego, who shakes her head in consternation.

Ultimately, although Swift had not managed to completely silence comments objectifying her, the survey determined the singer-songwriter was an effective role model for those confronting disordered eating recovery, particularly after she embarked on her record-setting Eras concert tour in May 2023.

The release of Pope and Rose’s study arrived within days of an opinion column published by Newsweek which declared Swift was “not a good role model” because she was “unmarried and childless” at age 34 despite a high-profile relationship with pro football player Travis Kelce and prior romances with other famous men.

Many who encountered the column dismissed it as misogynistic and insane.