The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a peace deal which Donald Trump said he brokered – resulting in the US getting “a lot” of mineral rights in the process.

The deal has been touted as an important step towards ending the decades-long conflict in eastern DRC which has caused the deaths of six million people.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio called it “an important moment after 30 years of war”.

The Congo-Rwanda conflict explained

Earlier on Friday, President Trump said he was able to broker a deal for “one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen”.

“I was able to get them together and sell it,” Mr Trump said. “And not only that, we’re getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from Congo.”

‘Great deal of uncertainty’

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, the most prominent armed group in the conflict, has suggested that the agreement won’t be binding for them.

It hasn’t been directly involved in the planned peace deal.

DRC foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner invoked the millions of victims of the conflict in signing the agreement with Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.

The agreement, signed by the foreign ministers during a ceremony with Mr Rubio in Washington, pledges to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern DRC within 90 days, according to a copy seen by Reuters.

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“Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear,” Ms Wagner said. “Those who have suffered the most are watching. They are expecting this agreement to be respected, and we cannot fail them.”

Mr Nduhungirehe noted the “great deal of uncertainty” because previous agreements were not put in place.

“There is no doubt that the road ahead will not be easy,” he said. “But with the continued support of the United States and other partners, we believe that a turning point has been reached.”

The government is warning that the NHS will be under even more pressure this weekend as temperatures soar, so looking after yourself in the sunshine is crucial.

Read more: Amber heat health alert issued for England

But how much do you know about the science behind sunburn… and how to prevent it?

What is sunburn?

While we all know what sunburned skin looks like – red and sore – it might not be so clear what is happening underneath the skin.

“Essentially, it’s inflammation,” said Dr Rachel Abbott, a consultant dermatologist who specialises in skin cancer for the Cardiff and Vale University health board.

“It’s triggered by ultraviolet radiation, primarily UVB but also by UVA.”

Ultraviolet radiation is carcinogenic and when it is allowed to penetrate the skin, it triggers an inflammatory reaction, said Dr Abbott.

Histamines – chemicals produced by the body’s immune system – and prostaglandins – compounds that help the body deal with injuries and illness – are released as your body begins reacting to the damage.

Although the inflamed, red, itchy skin will fade, those carcinogens will do permanent damage to your DNA, according to Dr Abbott.

“The redness and pain can be managed symptomatically, but that DNA damage is permanent,” she said.

“We’ve all got DNA repair mechanisms in our bodies. But this is why we’re seeing such a massive increase in skin cancer, because [as we get older], the battle between the DNA damage and the skin cells becomes more than the immune system can cope with.”

Since the early 1990s, the number of skin cancer cases in Britain has more than doubled and last year, the number of cases was predicted to hit an all-time high of 20,800, according to Cancer Research UK.

The cancer charity partially attributed the rise in cases to older groups of people knowing “less about the dangers of tanning in their youth”, who “may have taken advantage of the cheap package holiday boom from the 1960s”.

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This would lead to increased sun exposure and more damaged DNA, increasing the risk of skin cancer further down the line.

The ‘most effective’ protection (and it isn’t suncream)

There is currently no conclusive treatment to deal with the DNA damage caused by sunburn – although Dr Abbott said there is “exciting” work being done in that area.

Instead, the way to stop yourself from sustaining long-term damage is to protect yourself from UV rays.

“A lot of people associate temperature with the heat of the sun, whereas actually it’s the UV index that’s the critical thing. And that usually peaks around midday,” said Dr Abbott.

Contrary to what some may think (or hope), suncream should be a last resort.

Shade “is the most effective thing”, she said, but if you have to be out in the sunshine, “obviously we recommend hats, clothing and then sunscreen”.

“It is a last resort for those areas that you can’t cover up with clothing and hats, and sunglasses.”

The cancer care charity Macmillan recommends a suncream with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 50, or at least 30, and to reapply it regularly.

“There is no such thing as a safe suntan,” advises the charity.

It also recommends using around six to eight teaspoons of suncream for an adult – one teaspoon for each limb, one for your chest, one for your back and one for your head and neck.

Prince William has had a lot to say this week, attending three events about the environment as part of London Climate Action Week and giving three speeches.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t really heard what he had to say. The eyes of the world have, understandably, been elsewhere.

Conflict, not the climate crisis, has been the primary focus of world leaders and continues to be – a problem you could say for William and all those trying to whip up momentum ahead of COP30 in Brazil, with only four months to go until the UN’s climate conference in November.

It was William and his team who specifically convened a meeting at St James’s Palace on Thursday with the Brazilian ministers in charge of the summit and indigenous leaders from other parts of the world.

With Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, just a few seats away, William made a call to action, saying: “We’ve made bold commitments: to halt deforestation, restore ecosystems, and protect 30% of land, sea, and water by 2030.

“But these goals will remain out of reach unless we move from promises to action – grounded in respect, equity, and shared responsibility.

“Looking ahead to COP30 in Belem and beyond, we must act with greater ambition and deeper collaboration. This is a moment for courage.”

When I put it to a palace source that maybe it all feels a bit futile in the current climate, with attentions firmly elsewhere, I was told there is “no change in course” – the prince always has and will continue “to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet”.

In the past, we’ve been more used to his father being more vocal.

The King’s involvement in London Climate Week was more fleeting, albeit involving a handshake with a giant gorilla puppet, and a discussion with the Brazil delegation in which he hinted that he would love to attend the summit in November, saying: “It’s fitting it all in.”

Attendance by either the King or the Prince of Wales hasn’t been confirmed yet, although it’s looking likely William will go. He told one person this week: “I’ll be in the area”, with his Earthshot Prize being held in Rio in the days running up to the climate conference.

But in the coming months, we do now know that father and son will be meeting with one key player, who has certainly voiced very different views on the severity of the climate crisis.

This week, it was confirmed that Donald Trump’s full state visit to the UK will go ahead later this year, likely in September.

His potentially disruptive presence when it came to the climate debate was hinted at on Tuesday, in front of Prince William, during a speech by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Mr Bloomberg, a global adviser to Earthshot Prize, said: “There’s a good reason to be optimistic, lots of problems around the world, America has not been doing its share lately to make things better, I don’t think. Nevertheless, I’m very optimistic about the future.”

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The King and Prince William have worked in this environmental sphere long enough to weather the frustrations of other distractions, a lack of interest or momentum.

I’ll never forget in 2015 ahead of COP21, when Islamic State and Syria were dominating the news agenda, Prince Charles told me very firmly that of course there was a link between the civil war in Syria and climate change.

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He said there was “very good evidence indeed that one of the major reasons for this horror in Syria was a drought that lasted for about five or six years, which meant that huge numbers of people in the end had to leave the land”.

“It’s only in the last few years that the Pentagon have actually started to pay attention to this,” he added at the time. “I mean, it has a huge impact on what is happening.”

But as a family, they know how much their global profile and ability to get people in the room can help attract attention that others simply can’t.

It’s easy to be sniffy about that convening power, but as one delegate at an Earthshot event put it, they have an ability to “bring people together not around politics but purpose”. And in a currently noisy, fractured world, it feels like that is needed more than ever.