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The former public health official's victory in Michigan US Senate primary race comes after progressive wins in New York and Colorado

Thames Valley chief says he may join Police Federation in court if Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers are freed from prisonThe chief constable of Thames Valley police has said he will consider joining legal action against the government if it fails to block the early release of two of PC Andrew Harper's killers.The Police Federation is contemplating going to court in its attempts to keep Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers in prison. Continue reading...

Schwartz, president's third pick to lead top US public health agency, confirmed in 51-44 Senate voteDr Erica Schwartz was confirmed by the US Senate as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a rare win for the Trump administration after a string of failed attempts to fill senior health posts.Schwartz was confirmed 51-44 by senators. She is Donald Trump's third pick to run the CDC. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed.The geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the strait of Hormuz have been agreed by Iran and Oman, and a joint announcement is being finalised, provided no third parties interfere, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday.Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway. Continue reading...

Joint statement with Oman is being finalised, but Tehran says deal alone would not guarantee waterway's securityIran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the strait of Hormuz, and a joint announcement is being finalised provided certain third parties do not interfere, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Wednesday.Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway. Continue reading...

Sociology professor to stand down after university announces investigation into his qualifications and career Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig's head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professorJason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, has resigned after the university announced he was to face a new investigation into his qualifications and career.Arday, who had been dogged by a growing series of questions over his academic work and credentials, issued a statement on Wednesday night, saying the relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love". Continue reading...

State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and CameroonThe US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China.The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US's bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. Continue reading...

University says it has new information' about academic career of Jason Arday, the youngest black professor in its historyJason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, is to face investigation by the university after it said it received new information" about his qualifications and career.Cambridge initially defended Arday - the youngest black professor appointed in the university's history, with a compelling life story of educational disadvantage - as the victim of a vile campaign". But as questions mounted over Arday's own claims, the university's leaders felt that Cambridge's reputation was in danger. Continue reading...

Data shows victims of torture and trafficking among those prosecuted for crossing Channel by irregular meansMore than 1,100 people, including survivors of torture and trafficking, have been convicted of illegally arriving in the UK since 2022, according to freedom of information data.The Home Office introduced the offence of illegal arrival in 2022 in a bid to deter those planning to come to the UK by small boat or by other irregular means such as lorries. Continue reading...

Sheikh Hasina, 78, plans a December comeback two years after being ousted in a bloody uprising led by studentsBangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by year-end, even though she faces a death sentence.They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go," said the 78-year-old, speaking two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Continue reading...

Initial evidence suggests the drone, which was found near Ukrainian cargo planes at the German airport, came from RussiaThe armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation.Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police say 47-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapon and assault

Ukraine shoots down most drones but no ballistic missiles in overnight attack that mainly targeted civilian facilitiesVolodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed allies for not delivering air defences fast enough after Ukraine failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in a deadly overnight attack that killed at least 17 people and injured dozens more.Preliminary data from the Ukrainian air force showed its defences shot down 98 of the 115 drones fired by Russia overnight, but no ballistic missiles. Continue reading...

Police arrested a woman in central London after four men were found with stab wounds in the shopping and entertainment districtWorkers at the 2 Chairs Grooming Room said one of the victims ran into the shop and took his shirt off, revealing a large gash on his back.Two of the four men stabbed this afternoon have been discharged from the hospital, the Metropolitan Police posted on X. Continue reading...

Hits on two towns among deadliest bombings since start of June ceasefireAn Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed one person and injured 11, the Lebanese ministry of health said, in one of Israel's deadliest bombings since the start of the June ceasefire.Israel carried out an airstrike in the town of Tebnine, hitting a cemetery, the Lebanese health ministry said. It said the town of al-Mansouri, in south Lebanon, was also bombed, forcing families to flee. Continue reading...

Assassination attempt demonstrates Ukraine's ability to continue clandestine operations deep inside Russian territoryThe head of a leading Russian drone manufacturer has been critically injured in a car bomb near Ekaterinburg, in what appears to be the latest in a series of assassination attempts targeting figures linked to the country's war in Ukraine.Vladimir Tkachuk, the founder of the private drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod, was rushed to intensive care on Wednesday after a bomb planted beneath his Mercedes exploded, according to Russian state media, citing emergency services. His bodyguard was killed in the explosion. Continue reading...

German state prosecutors including units working on extremism and terrorism prevention take over investigation into Leipzig incidentFor what it's worth, DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said the German logistics firm was studying the overnight incident which also involved an object clashing with one of its planes near Leipzig.We've got plans for cases like this, and we'll try to make sure that the influence on our customers will be as low as possible," Meyer said during a quarterly results call earlier this morning, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

New data shows the federal government scheme has been used by high-income borrowers, including one couple earning an annual $674,000

Add-on fees such as the new overhead locker baggage charge can make it harder to compare air fares, experts say

Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council to meet with Tory party but decline meeting with Joshua Bonehill-Paine

Wayve Uber wins first minicab licence for autonomous cabs from TfL but vehicles will have a safety driver (at first)The taxi app company Uber and the autonomous technology developer Wayve have been granted the first minicab licences in London, allowing them to offer self-driving taxi rides to paying customers - but with a human safety driver in place, for now.The companies said they would start trips in the UK later this summer" before the full public launch. Continue reading...

Investigators looking into whether incidents at Leipzig are linked after DHL plane forced to make emergency landingA DHL cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing after colliding with an unknown object as it was climbing away from Germany's Leipzig airport, where police later found a drone on the ground.The German government on Wednesday confirmed the incident, which led to serious disruption of air traffic. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rukhsar Ahmed was re-elected as an MP in Pakistan last week despite being on police bail in the UKA former Pakistani state minister has been arrested on suspicion of raping vulnerable young girls in Manchester in the 1990s, the Guardian can reveal.Rukhsar Ahmed, who was re-elected as an MP in Pakistan last week after five years out of office, is on police bail in the UK after his arrest in July 2024 on suspicion of rape and trafficking children in care as part of a grooming gang. Continue reading...

Police say man, 35, was known to nine-year-old girl, who was found seriously injured in industrial estate in ArbroathA man has been charged in connection with the death of a nine-year-old girl on a family camping trip in Scotland.The girl, from West Yorkshire, was found seriously injured just after midnight on Monday morning at the Elliot industrial estate in Arbroath, Angus. Continue reading...

Exclusive: cases of Afghan man, Ukrainian man and Saudi woman show repeated nasogastric tube insertions and lack of legal representationOne hunger striker in an immigration detention center was force-fed for almost six months.One detained immigrant with mental health problems was about to be force-fed, until his attorney intervened and stopped the process.Read part one and part two of our Ice force-feeding series Continue reading...

National Autonomous University of Mexico says applicants must take test in person after online debacleMexico's largest and most prestigious university has announced that about 58,000 students will have to resit their entrance exam after abnormally high test results raised suspicions of widespread cheating.The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Unam) said the exam would take place in person after its first attempt at a fully remote online version led to a debacle and thousands of annulled results. Continue reading...

Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislationEnergy minister Chris Bowen says the federal government will override state governments that oppose new national rules on datacentres, with commonwealth legislation forcing new AI datacentres to be powered by renewable energy and banning those fuelled by gas.Bowen said he expected his counterparts in Queensland and the Northern Territory - who had protested the new federal rules at a meeting last week - to be unhappy with the move, but said the Albanese government was committed to powering the AI revolution with renewable energy. Continue reading...

UN forecasters warn of worsening conditions in 45 countries currently experiencing severe food insecurityAbout 50 million people are likely to be pushed into acute hunger before the end of next year by the rapidly developing El Nino weather system, according to forecasting.This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of people already facing dangerous levels of hunger, owing to years of drought in parts of Africa and pressure on food prices from the war in Iran. Continue reading...

Sarah Henderson says bill ignores gambling inducements, uniting parties and independents against controversial legislation

In a Choice test of 48 products, the Aldi powder also came out on top for top loaders

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Emergency services were seen outside Hilton's home in Miami on Tuesday night after members of the public reported seeing Hilton harm himselfThe celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has been hospitalised after livestreaming footage of himself self-harming on TikTok.Emergency services were seen outside Hilton's home in Miami on Tuesday night after concerned members of the public reported seeing Hilton harm himself in a graphic video streamed live on TikTok. Hilton's TikTok account was suspended minutes later. Continue reading...

Flurry of articles has raised eyebrows and drawn response from Kemi Badenoch defending stance on net zeroNobody can deny that the UK is getting warmer and high temperatures are becoming a clear threat to homes, nature and food security," read the lengthy news report, which explored the devastating effect of British wildfires on families in recent years.The article's conclusions, written after the wildfires in Suffolk last week, were no surprise given the UK's changing climate. However, the fact that the piece appeared in the Telegraph, the rightwing title that has been a leading critic of green policies, did raise eyebrows among some readers. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The past week shows how quickly images, rumours and right-wing political opportunism can eclipse the facts on the groundGood morning. Last week, an estimated 72,000 migrants began crossing into a tiny Spanish enclave on the tip of Morocco. Within 24 hours, most of them had headed home. At least 88 people died after attempting the crossing, according to local officials. This isn't the whole story of what happened over the last week, but the facts are worth remembering.At an emergency meeting yesterday, EU interior ministers sought to draw a line under Ceuta, insisting that the passport-free Schengen area had never been at risk from the arrival of migrants at this scale. Despite this, much of the media coverage has suggested that events in Ceuta represent a territorial threat to Europe, sparking calls for greater security across the region's borders.Environment | Eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fuelled climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves.UK politics | Women should not feel pressurised into experiencing an ideal birth", the new health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said, promising a root-and-branch reform of standards after several damning maternity scandals.Middle East | Jordan is convening an emergency meeting over an imminent" threat of an Israeli takeover of the most important Muslim site in Jerusalem, with the potential to trigger a religious conflict".Ukraine | Russian strikes in and around Kyiv killed at least 14 people, injured 27 and damaged warehouses, emergency service officials said. Some reports put the death toll at 15.Ceuta | Hundreds of people have gathered in the northern Moroccan town of Fnideq, near the border with Spain's Ceuta, flashing photos of their missing loved ones to passersby in the hope of tracking them down. Continue reading...

Kellie Sloane says leaking a report is never good' as Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet tells inquiry group signed up members to dodgy' branches

Victorian corruption watchdog finds serious and concerning' conduct by senior Andrews government members in dealings with union boss

Airline says struggling to find room in overhead lockers on planes a stressful part of the airport experience'

Increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change mean people are losing homes, crops and livestockAs rain lashed the Pir Panjal mountains before dawn on 19 July, Haji Mohammad Latief stepped outside his home in Murrah, a remote mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir. His daughter had asked him to move the family's car to a safer place as the rain got heavier.I had only just parked it," Latief recalled. When I turned around, I saw the water coming." Minutes later, a cloudburst sent mud, boulders and water crashing down the hillside. Continue reading...

Spin Time provides homes, food banks and after-school clubs but the authorities have locked out residentsHundreds of people have spent a week sleeping in tents in the Rome heat amid a standoff between Giorgia Meloni's far-right government and local politicians over the future of Italy's most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance.A minor fire last week forced the evacuation of the building, occupied by grassroots groups since 2013, and it has remained closed as the Meloni government attempts to crack down on such squatted properties. Continue reading...

People hope to see friends or relatives among those still returning as death toll from mass crossing nears 100Hundreds of people have gathered in the northern Moroccan town of Fnideq, near the border with Spain's Ceuta, flashing photos of their missing loved ones to passersby in the hope of tracking them down.Their perch was the same small tranche of land that made headlines around the world last week as extraordinary scenes emerged of about 72,000 people making their way into Ceuta, a tiny Spanish territory in north Africa. Continue reading...

Video from group claiming responsibility for arson attack raised prospect of further vandalism or targeted action and said Stop arming Israel or else'

Exclusive: Warren Pickering told 2025 podcast mass deportations not a reality' in Australia and suggested politicians over 55 should handball it to the next generation'

As home affairs minister's National Press Club address is postponed, refugee advocates lament missed opportunity to bring Australians together'

WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home countryThe Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour.On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title. Continue reading...

The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on Tuesday

Dogs Trust points to hundreds of incidents over recent years, some involving deaths of pets or peopleWith its gentle rippling water, tall purple flowers and rustling trees, Earlswood Lakes near Solihull in the West Midlands seems the perfect spot for dogs to paddle. But their owners have been warned that the otherwise idyllic open water could prove perilous to pets.We've had all this hot weather and millions of families are now spending time around open bodies of water, and it's easy to not realise the dangers," said Emma-Jane Thomas, rehoming manager at Dogs Trust Kenilworth during a walk around Earlswood. Continue reading...

Official action by regulator for England and Wales comes after formal complaint made by Labour MP about the fundsAn official investigation has been launched into charities in England and Wales donating funds to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.The Charity Commission will aim to establish the amount of charitable funds going to illegal settlements, whether the spending was in furtherance of their purposes and any regulatory action that may be necessary. Continue reading...

Louise Haigh says taxpayer money must benefit local communities amid backlash from environmental groupsMinisters will scrap the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work.As part of a government push to reduce the number of people not in education, employment or training (Neets) in the UK and boost regional growth, public sector buyers will double the consideration they give to whether companies will get more people into jobs, rather than if they can show they are improving social and environmental wellbeing. Government procurement contracts account for about 90bn of taxpayers' money spent each year. Continue reading...

US secretary of state comments come after treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Washington could reach a deal by tomorrow'

Incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate who owns an auto repair shop, hopes to retain congressional seatThe two-term Democratic congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is heading into one of the country's most closely watched contests on Tuesday after national recognition for flipping a Republican seat in 2022.Representing Washington state's third district, Gluesenkamp Perez finds herself squeezed between Democrat and progressive Brent Hennrich and Republican state senator John Braun on her right. There are six other candidates on a single crowded ballot and the top two finishers will advance to the November general election regardless of party. Continue reading...