Iceland’s weather agency advises residents to stay indoors because of high levels of toxic gas from 1.5-mile fissure
A volcano erupted on Wednesday on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula in the south-west of the country, the ninth eruption in region since the end of 2023.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said the eruption had begun just before 4am local time (05:00 BST), and live video feeds showed lava spewing from a fissure in the ground.
Continue reading...Move follows concerns several papers in Forensic Sciences Research did not meet ethical standards on DNA collection
Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection.
A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year.
Continue reading...US president’s attempt to help his rightwing ally avoid jail has sparked wave of anger and given boost to rival Lula
Silvana Marques was one of thousands of Brazilians who flocked to São Paulo’s most famous art museum one afternoon last week. But the 51-year-old teacher wasn’t there to marvel over fog-filled London landscapes at Masp’s new Monet retrospective. She had come to join a protest heaping scorn on Donald Trump.
Beneath the museum’s brutalist hulk, Marques spotted a cardboard effigy of the US president and took a picture with her phone before the Trump dummy was set on fire. “Laranjão safado,” which translates as big orange dirtbag, she wrote under her photo on Instagram. Nearby, demonstrators hoisted a red banner into the air which read: “Nice try Trump. But we’re not afraid.”
Continue reading...President tries to downplay issue amid growing outrage from conservatives
President Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on X.
Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since 6 July, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.
Continue reading...The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning’
The Ukrainian wing of an internationally proscribed far-right terrorist organization with suspected links to Russia is claiming involvement in the brazen assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv.
Late last week, a masked assailant shot and killed Col Ivan Voronych of the Ukraine security service (SBU) as he walked through a Kyiv parking lot in broad daylight. Shocking footage of the assassination circulated in Ukrainian media and caused a stir among residents in the capital.
Continue reading...US president talks of low tariff to give pharmaceutical firms a year or so to build, and then making it ‘very high’
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical products and semiconductors as soon as 1 August, the latest deadline for the introduction of his “reciprocal” levies on individual countries.
The US president told reporters late on Tuesday the taxes on drug imports could be announced “probably at the end of the month, and we’re going to start off with a low tariff and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we’re going to make it a very high tariff”.
Continue reading...Stinging rebuke from Amnesty International follows EU ministers declining to endorse any sanctions over Gaza war
The EU has been accused of a “cruel and unlawful betrayal” of Palestinians and European values after failing to take action to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.
The stinging rebuke from Amnesty International, echoed by other human rights organisations, came after EU ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday declined to endorse any measures to sanction Israel over the brutal war in Gaza and endemic violence in the West Bank.
Continue reading...Traders affiliated to Iran-backed rebel group found to have been running weapon stores on social media for years
Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms’ policies, a report has revealed.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed group of rebels who have controlled swathes of Yemen since 2014, are designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, Canada and other countries.
Continue reading...Conservative government used superinjuction to hide error that put Afghans at risk and led to £2bn mitigation scheme
Conservative ministers used an unprecedented superinjunction to suppress a data breach that required the UK to offer relocation to 15,000 Afghans in a secret scheme with a potential cost of more than £2bn.
The Afghan Response Route (ARR) was created in haste after it emerged that personal information about 18,700 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK had been leaked in error by a British defence official in early 2022.
Continue reading...Law firm representing thousands says some already killed and others in hiding as a result of government ‘blunder’
When Abdullah received an email from the British government saying his details had been included in the military data leak, it became “the worst day in all time”.
Speaking from Afghanistan, where he is in hiding, Abdullah fears he will be tortured and killed.
Continue reading...Leaked details are just another example of how the UK let down Afghans who believed in what Britain promised their country
This week’s revelations about the UK’s dangerously cavalier treatment of Afghans who worked with British forces are shocking but not surprising.
The carelessness with which Britain went to war in Afghanistan was matched by the carelessness with which it left the country and its people to Taliban rule two decades later.
Continue reading...Sayfollah Musallet’s relatives criticize US government over West Bank killing: ‘Somebody needs to be held accountable’
Relatives of Sayfollah Musallet, a US citizen from Florida beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, are calling for the Trump administration to arrest and prosecute those responsible for his killing.
The 20-year-old from Tampa was visiting his family in an area near Ramallah, and died last week trying to protect their farm from invaders, they said at an emotional press conference in Florida on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...UK, France and Germany say without firm commitment from Iran by 29 August they will reapply embargos that were lifted 10 years ago
The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced.
Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.”
Continue reading...François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.
Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.
Continue reading...Israel targets state forces entering south of Syria after sectarian clashes, while other strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley leave 12 dead
Israel has launched bombing raids against two of its neighbours, hitting government forces in southern Syria and what it said were Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon.
In Syria, the strikes hit forces loyal to the transitional government that had been sent south to the province of Sweida, which is near Israel. Syrian state media also reported Israeli strikes on Tuesday in the nearby province of Deraa.
Continue reading...US president said to have discussed providing Patriot missiles and long-range Tomahawks but no agreement has been reached
Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv.
At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.
Continue reading...Chipmaker’s CEO, Jensen Huang, recently met with Donald Trump as US-China trade rivalry deepens
Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, says the chipmaker has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence to China.
“Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us filing licenses to start shipping H20s,” Huang told reporters in Beijing.
Continue reading...Singh’s east London running club confirms death in India of athlete thought to be first centenarian to run a marathon
The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.
The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.
Continue reading...Lawmakers send letter railing against ‘suffocating’ smoke days after voting for Trump plan likely to boost pollution
A group of Republican lawmakers has complained that smoke from Canadian wildfires is ruining summer for Americans, just days after voting for a major bill that will cause more of the planet-heating pollution that is worsening wildfires.
In a letter sent to Canada’s ambassador to the US, six Republican members of Congress wrote that wildfire smoke from Canada had been an issue for several years and recently their voters “have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air to begin the summer”.
Continue reading...GDP grows 5.2% in second quarter as world’s second largest economy ‘front-loads’ shipments before tariffs kick in
China’s economy grew more strongly than expected in the second quarter as it proved resilient in the face of Donald Trump’s trade war.
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2% in April to June compared with a year earlier, slowing from 5.4% in the first quarter, but just ahead of analysts’ expectations for a rise of 5.1%.
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