Hamas to release six Israeli captives, hand over four bodies this week
Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas leader in Gaza, says six Israeli captives will be released on Saturday under a ceasefire deal.
Republican proposes making Trump’s birthday a public holiday
Claudia Tenney’s bill combining Flag Day with Trump’s birthday could face steep odds of success in Congress
A Republican congresswoman has proposed making Donald Trump’s birthday a public holiday, in an effort probably doomed to failure in Congress but obviously intended to curry favor with the president.
Claudia Tenney, a representative from New York’s Finger Lakes region, introduced legislation on Friday aiming to combine the US annual commemoration of Flag Day with a new observance of Trump’s birthday on 14 June, arguing that the president is “the most consequential … in modern American history”.
Continue reading...‘We’re just terrified’: People evacuate homes after sinkhole appears on Surrey high street
Water supply turned off in Godstone as 20-metre hole swallows up a garden
Villagers in Surrey have been forced to evacuate their homes over fears of an explosion after a large and expanding sinkhole appeared in the high street.
On Monday night, a sinkhole appeared on Godstone High Street. By Tuesday afternoon, it had grown to at least 20 metres, which led to water supplies being cut off and a garden being swallowed up.
Continue reading...Ukraine officials say US is ‘appeasing’ Russia with talks in Riyadh
Absurd for Moscow to talk about peace while it is killing Ukrainians, official says, after drone strikes across country
Ukraine reacted with gloom and dismay on Tuesday to the meeting between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia, with officials in Kyiv saying the Trump administration was “appeasing” Moscow.
They said negotiations between the two delegations got under way in Riyadh just hours after Russia attacked Ukraine with dozens of drones. At least two people were killed and 26 injured in strikes across the country.
Continue reading...Who is Steve Witkoff? Trump’s Middle East envoy is a real estate mogul and old friend – NPR
- Who is Steve Witkoff? Trump's Middle East envoy is a real estate mogul and old friend NPR
- Who is Steve Witkoff, dealmaker at the heart of Trump’s foreign diplomacy? The Washington Post
- How Trump's dealmaker is shaping U.S. foreign policy Axios
- Dil, dosti, Donald: Trump's golf buddy part of Russia-Ukraine war talks India Today
- US army general or NY tycoon: Who will lead Ukraine-Russia talks? Euronews
Trump’s Ukraine policy shift: How are European leaders planning to respond?
European leaders are scrambling for responses after Trump reached out to Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Real Madrid vs Man City: UEFA Champions League – start, team news, preview
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says Manchester City must not be underestimated in their Champions League playoff.
Acting social security head who denied access to Musk team leaves agency
Michelle King opts to retire after 30 years rather than grant request by ‘department of government efficiency’
The acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) left the agency after she refused to give billionaire Elon Musk and the so-called ”department of government efficiency” (Doge) access to sensitive information about beneficiaries.
The SSA processes retirement and disability benefits for more than 71 million Americans – and it uses sensitive personal information, such as banking information and tax information, to do so.
Continue reading...No evidence of hate crime in killing of US transgender man, authorities say
Five people charged with murder in Sam Nordquist’s death in upstate New York also identified as LGBTQ+, say officials
Authorities investigating the alleged torture and murder of Sam Nordquist in upstate New York say they have found no evidence the transgender man’s killing was a hate crime, pointing out that five people recently charged in connection with the slaying also identified as LGBTQ+.
“We urge the community not to speculate into the motive behind the murder as we work to find justice for Sam,” authorities said over the weekend in a joint press release from the Ontario county district attorney’s office and New York state police. “At this time, we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime.”
Continue reading...As Deadline for Withdrawal Lapses, Israel Says It Will Stay in Southern Lebanon – The New York Times
Gaza ceasefire “imperative” for children’s needs
“We need to ensure that aid continues to flow.”
Tren de Aragua: America’s new bogeyman
The 'extraordinarily violent' Venezuelan gang is the latest source of US hallucinations about horrors of migration.
Is the Israeli-Lebanon truce a ceasefire or a cover?
Did Israel use the Lebanon ceasefire as a cover to solidify its military presence?
Thames Water wins court backing for £3bn debt package
Deal approved at high court gives company £1.5bn in upfront cash to stave off collapse
Thames Water has won court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn that should stave off the collapse of Britain’s biggest water company for at least another few months.
London’s high court said on Tuesday that the deal could proceed, after hearing four days of complex arguments earlier this month over whether it should go ahead. The deal will allow the company to avoid special administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.
Continue reading...A letter from Gaza to Mr Trump
Gaza was already the 'Riviera of the Middle East' and it will be again - when we, the Palestinians, rebuild it.
Was this man really swallowed by a whale? Experts analysed the video and here’s what they think – BBC Discover Wildlife
- Was this man really swallowed by a whale? Experts analysed the video and here’s what they think BBC Discover Wildlife
- Rafter Is Briefly ‘Swallowed’ by Whale in Chile, as His Father Films The New York Times
- A humpback whale briefly swallows kayaker in Chilean Patagonia — and it's all captured on camera The Associated Press
- Did a whale swallow a kayaker? The truth behind the viral video NPR
- 'I thought I was dead': Kayaker gets swallowed by humpback whale in dramatic moment caught on camera Fox News
As an election looms, will Australians remember Labor for one rate cut or the 12 hikes before that?
The Albanese government had been sweating on the RBA decision, which clears the way for an election as soon as early April
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Jim Chalmers tried to say he wasn’t taking credit for the big banks dropping their interest rates, but the sense of satisfaction – or perhaps relief – among other Labor MPs was palpable in the moments after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its cut of 25 basis points.
Labor MPs Justine Elliot and Kristy McBain, both under pressure in tough races, tweeted “breaking” updates within two minutes of the announcement. Within a few more minutes, the likes of Jerome Laxale, Josh Wilson, Pat Conroy, Shayne Neumann, Mark Butler, Helen Polley, Tony Sheldon and the retiring Graham Perrett had also taken to their social media accounts to broadcast the news.
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Continue reading...Syrian authorities arrest three men with suspected links to Tadamon massacre
Men are accused of involvement in the execution of nearly 300 civilians by government forces in Damascus in 2013, which the perpetrators filmed
Authorities in Damascus have arrested three men they claim were involved in a notorious massacre of civilians by Syrian security forces revealed by the Guardian three years ago.
Footage posted online purported to show one of the men, Monzer al-Jazairi, with his hands bound and being led through the heavily damaged streets of Tadamon, the Damascus suburb where nearly 300 people were killed in an atrocity filmed by the perpetrators themselves and then leaked by a whistleblower to activists in Europe.
Continue reading...Why are white South Africans mocking Donald Trump?
Thousands of white South Africans have been mocking their privilege after US President Donald Trump offered them asylum.
British motorcycling couple detained in Iran charged with espionage
Craig and Lindsay Foreman accused of entering country ‘under guise of tourists’
A British couple detained in Iran have been charged with espionage after travelling to the country as part of a round-the-world motorbike trip.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency said Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who are in their early 50s, had been charged after allegedly gathering information in different locations in the country.
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