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This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIsraeli warplanes have attacked targets in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after a rocket was launched towards the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz in Israel on Friday, the IDF has said.The Israeli army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the rocket fell in an area near the border fence between Israel and southern Gaza. Continue reading...

Ghassan Abu-Sitta, who was due to speak in French senate, is told Germany has enforced Schengen-wide entry ban

Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota urged the Texas congressman to step down after charges against him were unveiledThe Minnesota congressman who unsuccessfully challenged Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary became the first member of their party to call on fellow US House representative Henry Cuellar to resign after federal bribery charges were unveiled against the Texas politician on Friday.In a post on X, Dean Phillips urged Cuellar to step down, along with other politicians faced with pending criminal cases - including Biden's presidential predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump as well as Democratic US senator Bob Menendez. Continue reading...

Egyptian and US mediators report signs of compromise but many analysts remain pessimistic

Flood watch in effect through Sunday with evacuations in some areas as more rain forecast for already soaked regionThe Houston area was under threat of worsening flood conditions on Saturday, a day after heavy storms slammed the region - and authorities warned those in low-lying areas to evacuate ahead of an expected catastrophic" surge of water the likes of which haven't been seen since Hurricane Harvey.A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted additional rainfall on Saturday night, bringing another 1-3in (2.5-7.6cm) of water to the soaked region and the likelihood of major flooding. Continue reading...

Last year's deadly Maui wildfire revealed the extent of short-term rentals and their contribution to the state's housing shortageHawaii lawmakers have voted to put limits on short-term rentals such as Airbnbs. On Friday, the governor, Josh Green, signed a bill that would give counties the power to regulate short-term rentals and even phase them out to become long-term housing for local residents.The move on short-term rentals was one of several legislative decisions to come out of Friday's meeting of the state legislature. It also appropriated $1b to go toward the ongoing recovery from the Lahaina fire on 8 August, including more than $120m in rental assistance for people who are ineligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and $500m for emergency housing for residents who remain displaced, according to ABC News. Continue reading...

Government investigation into wartime atrocities on Channel Island will ask why Nazi perpetrators never stood trial in BritainThe government inquiry into Nazi wartime atrocities on the Channel Island of Alderney has been extended to investigate why none of the Nazi perpetrators responsible for the crimes was put on trial in Britain, the Observer can reveal.Originally set up to review the number of victims in camps on the island, the inquiry will release a report later this month revealing the full scale of the unspeakable and unimaginable brutality and sadism" that occurred on British soil. Continue reading...

Diplomatic spat began when Spanish minister suggested Javier Milei had taken substances' while campaigningSpain has denounced comments by Argentina's presidency that accused the Spanish government of bringing poverty and death" to its own people.The office of the Argentinian president, Javier Milei, had published a statement on X, accusing the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, of damaging Spain's economy and stability. Continue reading...

Unnamed source said Andy Street was likely to win mayoral vote thanks to Middle East not West Midlands'

Ex-PM turned away from South Oxfordshire police commissioner vote for not having valid ID - a rule he introduced

Tory council representation has imploded, but Labour's gains have not been seismic. These charts show what this may signal for a general election

Third-party hospitality packages are outlawed, yet agency part-owned by associates of Rafael Nadal and LeBron James promises access to top events as well as to starsMembers of the global super-rich are spending as much as $500,000 (400,000) on ultra-exclusive" packages for the Paris 2024 Olympics that promoters claim include meeting athletes, access to the athletes' village and the chance to be part of the opening ceremony".GR8 Experience, an international experience agency" part-owned by the business manager of the basketball star LeBron James and the PR manager of the tennis player Rafael Nadal, is selling Olympic packages that it claims include tickets to 14 events such as the men's 100m finals and the opening ceremony for $381,600. Continue reading...

Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient customTraditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or towers of silence". These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil, and the sacred elements of earth, fire and water, from being contaminated by corpses. Continue reading...

Tuesday's debate on whether the existing rules do not in fact bar women comes amid rising resignations and threatsIn May 1924, the Manchester Guardian revealed a recent innovation in the Garrick Club to admit ladies to one of its rooms" meant that the queen of Romania would be lunching at the club during her visit to London. What would Queen Victoria have said about such a notion!" the article wondered.A hundred years later, the club's lethargic advance towards allowing women into the building on equal terms with men continues. On Tuesday, members will once again vote on the matter. Continue reading...

Exhibition of mini Moores is billed as first of its kind and Holburne also hosting Mr Doodle's first UK museum exhibitionHenry Moore is celebrated for his monumental sculptures that turn city squares and parks into outdoor art galleries. But the Holburne Museum in Bath is staging a groundbreaking exhibition called Henry Moore in Miniature, a collection of the great artist's works that could fit into the palm of the hand.The museum's director, Chris Stephens, said its relatively small spaces meant one of the themes of its programme was to showcase the intimate in art - and the retrospective of mini Moores met the brief perfectly. Continue reading...

Survey by NAHT union finds funding shortages mean pupils are losing out on vital supportShortages and funding cuts are causing a full-blown crisis" in special needs education for children and young people in England, according to school leaders who say they are struggling to give pupils the support they require.Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the school leaders' union the NAHT, accused the government of treating schools as a sideline" compared with headline-grabbing issues such as immigration. Continue reading...

Sydney airport is auctioning more than 2,500 unclaimed items, including a wedding dress and laptops

Spread of Tory losses leads former minister to say there's no such thing as a safe seat any more'The Conservatives are facing one of their worst local election results in 40 years, with striking Labour gains across England and Wales in key battlegrounds they need to secure victory at the general election.The spread of the Conservative losses led one former minister to claim there was no such thing really as a safe Tory seat any more", but the prime minister appeared committed to clinging on until polling day, with rebels in his own party lacking the support to oust him. Continue reading...

Prime minister said there were credible allegations' that India was behind killing of Hardeep Singh NijjarCanadian police have charged three members of an alleged hit team for their role in the assassination of the Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the first arrests in a high-profile killing that officials believe was masterminded by India.The arrests come nearly a year after the prominent activist was killed in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara on the evening of 18 June in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. In what investigators previously described as a carefully orchestrated operation, two assailants fired about 50 bullets at Nijjar and escaped the area in a grey car. Continue reading...

With almost all council elections declared, Conservatives are on course to lose up to 500 seatsAt the start of a long weekend of election results, the first outcomes have been every bit as dire for the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak as analysts had predicted. Here is the state of play. Continue reading...

Many see demonstrations as an attack on Israel itself rather than its government, reinforcing a sense of isolationAt the Jerusalem Theatre on Thursday night, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks of pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses reached a tumultuous climax 6,000 miles away.The noisy demonstrations have been closely followed in Israel, reported by major media and discussed by prominent public figures. Continue reading...

Francois Legault advocates removal of week-long demonstration at Montreal's McGill University: The encampment is illegal'Quebec's premier has said police should begin dismantling an illegal" week-long pro-Palestinian encampment at Montreal's McGill University, as students at Canada's largest universities ramp up demands that the schools sever relationships with groups linked to Israel.The encampment is illegal," Francois Legault told reporters. The law must be respected, so I expect the police to dismantle these illegal campsites, which is what McGill has requested." Continue reading...

Communications minister Michelle Rowland won't rule out strengthening the news media bargaining code to compel platforms to make news available

Russia had said that a Ukrainian agent had entered country from Lithuania with the aim of targeting a fuel facilityUkraine's president and foreign minister has pressed British foreign secretary David Cameron to accelerate the delivery of promised military aid to Kyiv, as Russia heaps battlefield pressure on depleted Ukrainian forces in the third year of war.It is important that the weapons included in the UK support package announced last week arrive as soon as possible," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the social platform X, as Cameron visited Kyiv on Thursday. Continue reading...

Glencore understood to be considering takeover offer while BHP could move again after initial rejectionThe global mining industry is braced for a multi-billion pound bidding war for Anglo American amid growing speculation that mining companies are preparing rival bids.The Australian miner BHP is understood to have sent senior executives to Anglo's base in South Africa to meet key company stakeholders after an initial offer of 31bn was rebuffed by Anglo's board last week. Continue reading...

Russians in separate compound and do not have access to US forces or equipment, says defence secretary

Man who emerges from German TV series is a far cry from myth of tortured artist alienated from his family and jobThe word kafkaesque" has come to describe the sensation of powerlessness when dealing with bureaucratic systems; of getting lost in labyrinthine administrative errands, being shut out by faceless officialdom and having your hopes strangled by red tape.But kafkaesque does not come close to describing the life of the man who lent the term his name, according to an irreverent biopic of the Prague-born author. Continue reading...

Matthew Dunster, who directed Allen in her West End debut 2:22: A Ghost Story, will write and direct the show for Bath's Ustinov Studio next yearLily Allen is to play Hedda Gabler in a new version of Henrik Ibsen's classic at Theatre Royal Bath's Ustinov Studio next summer.The production will see the actor and singer reunite with Matthew Dunster, who directed Allen in her West End theatre debut in the supernatural thriller 2:22: A Ghost Story in 2021 and her subsequent role as a writer held prisoner in The Pillowman in 2023. Continue reading...

Some are optimistic about a change of government after the next general election while others are frustrated with both main partiesJoshua Holmes, 29, from Barton Hill, Bristol, went out to vote in the local elections on Thursday afternoon.The polling station was pretty quiet," he said, I was probably the youngest person there, and the only person in my shared house that voted." Continue reading...

One tornado in Oklahoma was the first of 2024 to be rated as EF-4, the second most severe categorySevere thunderstorms affected parts of the US last week, spawning at least 129 tornadoes across midwestern and southern states between 25 and 28 April. The majority occurred on 26 April, with most touching down in Nebraska and Iowa.Two that formed were particularly large and long-lived, lasting about an hour and reaching a mile in diameter, with surface wind speeds of about 160mph at their strongest. The first travelled over 31 miles across eastern Nebraska, causing severe damage in the Omaha suburb of Elkhorn. The second, which also developed secondary vortices, travelled almost 41 miles across western Iowa, and killed one person in Minden. Continue reading...

Group of Eight chief says campuses don't want to see escalation' like what is occurring in the US

Pledge comes after Victoria's supreme court dismisses residents' class action against government, saying it has no real prospect of success'

The Illawarra, Sydney and Hunter coast regions are expected to see up to 100mm of rainfall, with Sunday the very wet day'

After a long spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and foundations at PantabanganRuins of a centuries-old town have emerged at a dam parched by drought in the northern Philippines.After a prolonged spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels in the dam have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and the foundations of structures from the 300-year-old town in Nueva Ecija province. Continue reading...

Patrick Stephenson charged over crash that occurred months before Ballarat mother's alleged murder

Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson went missing on a surfing trip to the Baja California region

Boy band cites technical issues' at new Manchester site, where Olivia Rodrigo, Keane and Peter Kay had also been due to performTake That have announced they will not be performing at the new Co-op Live Arena due to ongoing technical issues" with the venue in Manchester.The boyband had been due to perform from Tuesday but will instead switch their shows to the rival AO Arena. Continue reading...

Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his vote in Thursday's elections after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.The former prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire without proving his identity. Continue reading...

Hundreds have fled their homes as violence once again gripped Port-au-Prince after new prime minister sworn in last weekGunmen have launched a string of fresh attacks in Port-au-Prince, burning homes and exchanging gunfire with police for hours in one of the biggest outbreaks of violence since Haiti's new prime minister was announced.The attacks, which forced hundreds of to flee their homes, began late on Wednesday in neighborhoods including Solino and Delmas 18, 20 and 24, south-west of the main international airport, which has remained closed for nearly two months. Continue reading...

Jewish students warn about a hostile and toxic' atmosphere created by pro-Palestinian encampments at universitiesThe prime minister has backed a police crackdown on any outbreak of disorder on university campuses, as Jewish students warned that pro-Palestinian encampments are creating a hostile and toxic atmosphere".In recent days, new encampments have been set up at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle, among others, after violent scenes on US campuses resulted in mass arrests of students and staff. Continue reading...

Israeli foreign minister accuses Turkish leader of acting like dictator' in row that could deepen tensionsTurkey has reportedly halted all trade with Israel over its actions in Gaza, prompting strong criticism of its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, from the Israeli foreign minister.Israel Katz accused Erdoan of acting like a dictator" after Bloomberg cited two senior Turkish officials saying that Ankara had significantly ramped up restrictions first brought in last month, halting all imports or exports as of Thursday. Continue reading...

5.5bn loss in 2023 comes after gas sales more than halved following Russia's invasion of UkraineThe Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom has plunged to its first annual loss in more than 20 years, after gas sales more than halved following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.The company made a net loss of 629bn roubles (5.5bn) in 2023 amid dwindling gas trade with Europe, once Gazprom's main sales market, as a result of sanctions and the throttling of pipelines to the continent. Continue reading...

Senior company lawyer agrees that 2013 draft report shows needless adversarialism' by Post Office teamPost office operators who blamed the Horizon IT system for cash shortfalls in their branches were viewed by the state-owned company's investigators as enemies of the business", a public inquiry has heard.The Post Office inquiry has seen part of a draft report prepared in 2013 by investigators at the accountancy firm Second Sight, which had been asked to examine concerns around the Horizon IT system. Continue reading...

Decision appears to be based on official assessment of Israel's compliance with humanitarian law that did not cover recent eventsDavid Cameron personally recommended that the UK should continue to sell arms to Israel two days after three British aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike.James Kirby, 47, from Somerset, James Henderson, 33, from Cornwall and John Chapman, 57, from Dorset, members of World Central Kitchen, were killed on 1 April. Continue reading...

The 28-year-old senior constable is facing five assault charges, three counts of stalking and two counts of harassment

Speaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers not playing with a full deck'John Cleese said that he decided to cut the N-word from a scene in his West End Fawlty Towers revival because in contemporary Britain there are too many literal minded people" who don't understand irony".Cleese was speaking at the media launch for the West End theatrical adaptation of the classic comedy, which follows a repressed hotelier trying to control his chaotic staff. The TV show finished in 1979 after two series that are widely regarded to contain some of the best-ever British sitcom writing. Continue reading...

UN agency says reconstruction will require effort on a scale unseen since second world warThe EU has offered Lebanon a financial package of 1bn (855m / $1.07bn), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Beirut on Thursday.The funds would be available from this year until 2027, von der Leyen told a joint news conference with Lebanon's prime minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides.This continued EU support will strengthen basic services such as education, social protection and health for the people in Lebanon. It will accompany urgent economic, financial and banking reforms. Furthermore, support will be provided to the Lebanese armed forces and other security forces with equipment and training for border management and to fight against smuggling. Continue reading...

Committee say use of WhatsApp should be banned on official devices unless there is transparencyMinisters should have to publicly declare contact from lobbyists on WhatsApp or face a ban on its use on official government devices, a committee of MPs has said.The public administration committee said current transparency measures did not command public confidence, in the wake of the Greensill scandal over David Cameron's private lobbying of ministers on behalf of his employer. Continue reading...

Bill has raised concern country is moving away from democratic norms and closer to MoscowNicolas Schmit, the Socialists' lead candidate in the European elections, said he is deeply concerned" by the violence in Tbilisi.In a statement late yesterday, the US state department said Georgia's western trajectory is at risk.Use of force to suppress peaceful assembly and freedom of speech is unacceptable, and we urge authorities to allow non-violent protesters to continue to exercise their right to freedom of expression. Continue reading...

Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham surround coach before it can take people to barge in DorsetA standoff was under way in London on Thursday after a coach sent to collect asylum seekers and take them to the Bibby Stockholm barge was surrounded by protesters.Dozens of demonstrators blocked the coach before it was able to pick up passengers, surrounding it on all sides. Hours later, hundreds were at the scene, while hire bikes had been placed underneath it. Continue reading...