Donald Tusk says very consistent and convincing' intelligence assessment point towards Russian plans for strikesMeanwhile, we are getting some interesting lines from Paris that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, convened the chiefs of the different political parties to discuss the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences on the energy market.The meeting will be held on Friday morning at 10:30am local time on Thursday (that's 9:30am UK) and military and intelligence officers will share the information they have provided to Macron, his office said in a statement. Continue reading...
It comes after the Green leader, who is standing as a candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, recorded a campaign video in UrduAndrew Griffith has delivered his speech, and he is now taking questions.Q: You want the government to pause the making tax digital programme. Is that an admission that the last government got this wrong when it introduced it?It is an admission that despite [good] intentions, the execution of that has left a lot to be desired.In fact, coming to parliament from business, I can confess the law that we pass the most often is the law of unintended consequences. And I think making tax digital is a good example of that.The truth is that Burnham and Miliband ignored the advice they were given - which was that if they were determined to sanction Israel, they should not do so before the Israeli election on 27 October.It may not be surprising that this was the message from the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, when Miliband called him on 11 August to warn sanctions were imminent. He said postpone it until after the elections,' a diplomatic source confirms. It was also the message the Israeli embassy in London - and its new charge d'affaires Chris Cantor - was relaying to the Foreign Office. Their message was clear: why do it now? Wait until after the elections, because something might change,' a senior Labour figure says. Continue reading...
Maria Elvira Salazar says some enforcement has gone too far' as GOP seeks distance from Trump before midtermsA Republican congresswoman has released a campaign ad criticizing Donald Trump's approach to immigration enforcement, in the latest sign that a key plank of the president's 2024 re-election campaign has become a liability for his congressional allies ahead of November's midterm elections.Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far," Florida's Maria Elvira Salazar says in a 30-second ad. In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy." Continue reading...
by Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent on (#78F2W)
Ulf Kristersson has stood down from his post, paving way for Social Democrats leader to form a governmentSweden's centre-right prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has stood down, clearing the way for Magdalena Andersson, the Social Democrats leader, to attempt to form a government.In a victory speech on Thursday, Andersson said the Swedish people had voted for a new direction for our country, voted for unity and against division". Continue reading...
Banker, 44, was arrested in connection with 2017 incident but family say no credible evidence' he was involvedThe family of Nicholas Brandram have denied he was the so-called Putney pusher" and said he took his own life after months of immense pressure caused by a Metropolitan Ppolice investigation".Brandram, 44, was found unresponsive inside a property in Chiswick, west London, believed to be his home, on Tuesday evening. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#78F0C)
Terrible thing' happened to infant boy found wrapped in 1910 newspaper at Bishop Auckland property, says coronerA baby boy who was found with twine looped and knotted round his neck and wrapped in a 116-year-old newspaper was unlawfully killed, a coroner has concludedCrispin Oliver on Thursday said the child, known only as Baby Auckland, had been garrotted by an unknown person. Continue reading...
As concern about loneliness and social isolation grows, we spoke to people who have joined groups and set up activitiesAmid growing concern about loneliness and social isolation, new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research found the number of young people in England with no close friends has risen fivefold since 2014, with one in 20 now reporting having none at all.Making new friends as an adult is not always easy. We spoke to people who have taken deliberate steps to make new connections about what worked for them. Continue reading...
by Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent on (#78F0E)
Community groups and schools work with Wales's folk arts organisation to set stories of the area's people to musicGrowing up in Wales, Liz Puleston-Jones was familiar with the country's rich heritage of storytelling and traditional music, but none of it ever seemed to have much of a connection to her life in Swansea.Researching the history of the area as part of Can y Cymoedd (When Valleys Sing), a project in nearby Port Talbot, she came across the story of Isabel Thomas, a 14-year-old girl in the 1940s who left school and lied about her age to work in a tin plate works to support her family. Continue reading...
Keith Townsend says he hopes death of Ronald Paquin in prison helps victims and families to keep pressing forward'A survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a defrocked Boston Catholic priest who was portrayed admitting to molesting minors in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Spotlight says he hopes the clergyman's recent death in prison helps victims of his crimes and their families keep pressing forward every single day".We live with a big burden in our hearts and on our backs," Keith Townsend said on Wednesday while reflecting on the criminal charges which he successfully pursued against Ronald Paquin, who was imprisoned in 2019 and died in custody at age 83 on 11 September. And my hope is that people can find closure and move on." Continue reading...
Fact-finding mission says military strikes on school and sports facility in February constitute war crimesA UN fact-finding mission on Iran has said there are reasonable grounds to believe the US was behind two military strikes on a school and sports facility in Iran in February, and that these constituted war crimes.It also found Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. Continue reading...
Lords' report faces criticism from lobby groups after suggesting ban would be most effective' way to reduce public harmsThe UK should introduce a ban on almost all gambling advertising to protect public health, a cross-party group of peers has urged, prompting fury from the lobby group for bookmakers and casinos.In a 173-page report, the House of Lords liaison committee said the government had been too passive" in response to an explosion of digital advertising and social media influencers promoting the gambling sector. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: The Houthi advance along the Red Sea coast raised fears for global trade and energy supplies, while more than 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the fightingGood morning. The lightning advance of Houthi militants along the west coast of Yemen over the past week has prompted fears of a spiralling conflict in the region and a new oil supply crisis.For families living in the Middle East's poorest country, the most significant fighting between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces in years is a crisis upon a catastrophe, with escalating civilian casualties and at least 100,000 displaced in recent days.UK politics | Key allies of Andy Burnham have warned the prime minister not to back down over his promises to put water companies under public control, after details emerged about the prime minister's plan to give mayors more oversight of the industry.Environment | Climate breakdown probably weakened the glacier that collapsed causing catastrophic floods and killing hundreds of people in Nepal and Tibet last month, the first scientific study of the disaster has found.Health | Women with the same medical condition as men are less likely to be offered treatment such as surgery, a stent or a strong painkiller, research has found.Europe | The UK government's EU reset summit will be delayed again unless the bloc agrees to discuss legislation that could lock British business out of parts of EU industry, government sources have said.UK news | Police searching for a three-year-old boy who went missing from a playground on the Suffolk-Essex border have found a body. Continue reading...
Thousands with HER2-low advanced breast cancer will have access to Enhertu after ministers strike deal on priceThousands of women in England with incurable breast cancer will get access to a life-extending drug on the NHS after negotiations over its cost proved successful.About 1,000 women a year with HER2-low advanced breast cancer will be able to obtain Enhertu from Thursday after ministers and the drug's makers struck a deal on its price. Continue reading...
by Patrick Greenfield. Photographs by Scott Creel on (#78ER2)
As three siblings came of age and had to leave their pack, scientists tracked the dogs' perilous 2,500-mile odyssey to find their own territoryIt sounds like a Disney movie: three wild dogs, all brothers, on an epic journey to find a home of their own after their family tells them to leave. They dodge cars and hunters in search of a new life, navigating bushmeat snares and the hostility of a human-dominated landscape until they find a new haven on the African savannah.But this is exactly what happened in Zambia last year, when three endangered African wild dogs made the longest-ever recorded single journey of any mammal from the continent. The brothers travelled more than 2,500 miles (4,100km) over eight months in their dispersal" - when a young dog comes of age and must establish new territory to find a mate and start a family of their own. Continue reading...
Initiative aims to keep alive age-old skill, and at Muchelney Abbey in Somerset improve habitat for rare shrill carder beeIt sounds like something out of a Thomas Hardy novel: a merry band of men and women roaming the West Country cutting meadows by hand in exchange for hunks of bread and cheese.But the conservation charity English Heritage is recruiting a team of volunteer scythers to maintain 21st-century meadowland in the old-fashioned way. Continue reading...
Protesters teargassed as minister claims widespread raids and arrests under obscenity laws were to protect families'Turkish authorities have used accusations of obscenity to justify a wave of raids and arrests targeting the LGBTQ+ community, which has grown to include journalists as well as more than 150 arrested during protests against the raids.Starting in the early hours of Sunday, Turkish police carried out simultaneous raids on the offices of LGBTQ+ rights organisations and HIV-advocacy groups in the cities of Istanbul, the capital, Ankara, and the coastal city of zmir, as well as the cities of Aydn and Mersin. Continue reading...
Government estimates that one in 60 adults in Fiji now living with HIV, as escalating use of methamphetamine fuels epidemic'Fiji has declared a national HIV emergency amid a spike in infections as the Pacific nation grapples with a correlating rise in methamphetamine use.The country's health and medical services minister, Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, said in a statement on social media that an outbreak-level response was no longer sufficient to address what he described an epidemic". Continue reading...
Scientists say global heating was a destabilising factor in collapse of 200,000 sq metre glacier in AugustClimate breakdown probably weakened the glacier that collapsed causing catastrophic floods and killing hundreds of people in Nepal and Tibet last month, the first scientific study of the disaster has found.Researchers identified unusually warm conditions before the glacier's collapse, which sent an avalanche of 110m cubic metres (3,885 cu ft) of snow and ice into the valley below. This triggered flash floods on an almost unprecedented scale, hitting communities downstream without warning. Continue reading...
Rapper, who was dropped from tour after his speech in support of Palestine, challenges Robert Kraft to do the sameMacklemore has announced that he will donate the $1m salary he was paid as an opening act for Ed Sheeran's Loop tour to organizations working with Palestinian people and relief in Gaza, after being dropped from the tour following backlash to his onstage comments in support of Palestine.The rapper also challenged Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and prominent donor to Israel who refused to let Macklemore play at his Gillette Stadium outside Boston, to match his donation. Continue reading...
String of reckless decisions' by Utah Valley University officials left him exposed to sniper, attorneys sayCharlie Kirk's family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative political activist's fatal shooting at a state university, according to a wrongful death notice announced on Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.Attorneys for the family said Kirk's death resulted from a string of reckless decisions" by officials at Utah Valley University (UVU) that left him exposed to a rooftop sniper, who fired a fatal shot from more than 400 feet (122 meters) away on 10 September 2025. UVU has faced harsh criticism for a lack of key safety measures on the day of the shooting. Continue reading...
NBC4 colleagues Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw were working to report on a collision between a bus and an SUVMore details are emerging after a local news helicopter crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday evening, killing two people onboard and one person on the ground.Eliana Moreno, an aerial photojournalist, and pilot George Marciniw have been identified as the two victims on the helicopter. A third individual, Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a pedestrian near the crash site, was also killed. Continue reading...
Government sources say legislation aimed at China poses a risk to British businesses and must be addressedThe UK government's EU reset summit will be delayed again unless the bloc agrees to discuss legislation that could lock British business out of parts of EU industry, government sources have said.The Made in Europe" legislation - formally known as the Industrial Accelerator Act - is designed to curb China's increasing presence in European industry, but was not on the reset plan agreed by the former prime minister Keir Starmer and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, in London in May 2025. Continue reading...
by Lisa O’Carroll Senior correspondent on (#78EEC)
Ursula von der Leyen has opened door for Canada to become associate member to deepen links in openly hostile world'Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, has been advocating closer alignment with middle powers" since January in the face of recklessness in Washington.But what should worry another middle power, the UK, is that it was Brussels that came up with Wednesday's big reveal in Strasbourg. Continue reading...
Ivan Jennings, 46, sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to encouraging terrorism on social mediaA rightwing extremist who discussed poisoning Jews and Muslims and called for the killing of migrants and minority communities has been jailed.Ivan Jennings, 46, called for the murder of hundreds of people he labelled subhumans", saying it was justified and actually needed", in extreme far-right groups over a period of three months in 2024. Continue reading...
Mark Rutte asked UK and Europe to provide the hard power Nato needs' in face of geopolitical uncertaintyNato needs more UK and more Europe in the alliance" to deal with the most dangerous security environment faced by the west in a generation, the secretary general of the 32-country military alliance said this afternoon on a visit to the UK.Mark Rutte praised Britain for promising to increase defence spending in line with US demands after a meeting with prime minister Andy Burnham - but argued that the military and financial effort must continue into the future. Continue reading...
by Shrai Popat, David Smith, Alice Speri, Joseph Gede on (#78DQ3)
Who are the Democrats running in the midterms, and where do they stand? Our US political reporters are live now to discuss the state of the Democrats, the party's moderate and leftwing candidates and key races to watch
Family of Jaysley Beck, 19, voice concern after two officers acquitted over handling of sexual assault before she killed herselfThe family of a teenage soldier who killed herself after she was sexually assaulted fear the collapse of the trial of two officers accused of failing to investigate her case properly could discourage other young members of the armed forces from reporting attacks.Relatives of Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, said it felt like the end of a long and sad" journey and expressed concern that during the trial a military witness described the assault as not being out of the ordinary. Continue reading...
Body found in pond in Suffolk village of Brantham, where Noah was last seen on Tuesday afternoonPolice searching for a three-year-old boy who went missing from a playground on the Suffolk-Essex border have found a body.Noah Woods was last seen at 3pm on Tuesday in Merriam Close, Brantham, near Manningtree, before becoming separated from a relative. Continue reading...
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