Trump plots capture of DoJ in renewed assault on US justice system

Ex-president determined to destroy independence of justice department if he regains control of White House

Donald Trump is planning an assault on the American justice system should he win re-election to the White House, in which he would seek to destroy the independence of the justice department and turn it into an attack machine for his Make American great again (Maga) movement.

At the heart of his plans is the desire to impose his will on the individual prosecutorial decisions taken by the Department of Justice. The move, if successful, would end half a century of accepted practice that prevents presidents from politically interfering with specific cases.

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Israel-Gaza war live: Gaza facing Israeli attacks from land, sea, and air, witnesses report

Refugee camps under fire across region, according to reports

At least nine Yemeni employees of UN agencies have been detained by Yemen’s Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said on Friday, reports the Associated Press (AP). The news agency adds that others working for aid groups are also likely to have been taken.

The detentions come as the Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The AP reports that the Houthis have cracked down at dissent in Yemen, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.

Regional officials, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to brief journalists, confirmed the UN detentions.

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Muted election win for Modi may usher in new era for India’s oligarch class

Defeats for the ruling Bharatiya Janata party in Uttar Pradesh highlighted an underbelly of malcontent over inequality and lack of jobs

A few weeks before the election that weakened Narendra Modi’s grip on India, the rich, powerful and beautiful descended on his home state of Gujarat. The occasion was what one Indian writer called “likely the most ostentatious pre-wedding ceremony the modern world has ever seen”.

In March, to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump flew in. So did the entertainment: Rihanna and Akon. The airport near the venue was supposed to be reserved for India’s armed forces but the media reported that the authorities had granted special permission for non-military jets to land.

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Joe Biden apologises to Zelenskiy for delay in US military support

US president says sorry for ‘weeks of not knowing’, referring to members of Congress holding up $225m aid package

The US president, Joe Biden, has apologised publicly to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the months of delay in American military assistance that allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield, and announced a further $225m (£177m) in military aid to Ukraine.

Meeting Zelenskiy in Paris on Friday, Biden told him: “You haven’t bowed down, you haven’t yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is … just remarkable. We are not going to walk away from you.”

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German naturists fear for future of lifestyle amid falling interest

Celebrations cancelled due to low uptake as people go off public nudity in country known for liberal attitudes

An organisation promoting nudity and a self-confident approach towards the body in Germany has sounded the alarm over the future of naturism in the country.

The German Association for Free Body Culture (DFK), an umbrella organisation for myriad naturist interest groups, has told its members that celebrations in August marking the anniversary of its creation will no longer go ahead owing to a lack of interest.

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Search for Michael Mosley resumes with helicopter and sniffer dogs

Local police scour Greek island of Symi two days after TV doctor and columnist went missing

The search for the TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has resumed on the Greek island of Symi, two days after he went missing.

Local police have confirmed that officers with sniffer dogs are scouring the island after they paused the search-and-rescue operation for the 67-year-old Briton on Thursday night.

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‘Greed’: John Deere rolls out hundreds of US layoffs and sends work to Mexico

Agricultural equipment company plans to move production out of the country in move condemned by workers

US workers at John Deere plants have accused the company of acting on “greed” as America’s most famous agricultural equipment company plans to shift more production to Mexico.

The company – famous for its green tractors and leaping deer logo – has announced layoffs of several hundred workers over the last several months with more layoffs planned for later this year.

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Alexander Zverev settles assault case brought by ex-girlfriend

German tennis player agrees deal after Brenda Patea alleged he pushed and strangled her, which he denied

The German tennis player Alexander Zverev has settled an assault case against him for allegedly pushing and strangling his then girlfriend, a charge he denied.

The deal reached between the world No 4 and his former partner Brenda Patea marks the end of a lengthy legal battle, with the Berlin court hearing the case officially declaring no verdict.

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South Korea thinktank suggests girls start school earlier to raise birthrate

Critics label as ‘absurd’ idea from government-backed thinktank as country seeks to address population decline

A government thinktank in South Korea has sparked anger after suggesting that girls start primary school a year earlier than boys because the measure could raise the country’s low birthrate.

A report by analysts at the Korea Institute of Public Finance said creating a one-year age gap between girls and boys at school would make them more attractive to each other by the time they reached marriageable age.

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BAT subsidiary lobbies Pakistan to allow export of cigarettes to Sudan

Exclusive: critics say British American Tobacco’s plan to ‘flood a country in crisis with cheap cigarettes’ is ‘shameful’

A subsidiary of British American Tobacco is lobbying the government of Pakistan to allow it to export 10-packs of cigarettes to war-torn Sudan, prompting criticism from a smoking campaign group.

Pakistan is among more than 80 countries that do not permit the sale or manufacture of 10-packs of cigarettes, which the World Health Organization has said make smoking more affordable for children.

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Cyril Ramaphosa open to forming South African unity government with rivals

ANC leader and president accepts he will need help of opposition parties to tackle serious problems facing country

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said that his African National Congress (ANC) would seek to form a government of national unity with a broad group of opposition parties.

“The purpose of the government of national unity must be, first and foremost, to tackle the pressing issues that South Africans want to be addressed,” Ramaphosa said late on Thursday after a marathon ANC meeting.

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Biden and Macron use D-day event to emphasise support for Ukraine

Leaders rally behind Zelenskiy to make clear to Putin that, as in 1944, freedom in Europe is worth fighting for

Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron have marked the 80th anniversary of D-day with a rallying cry for support for Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskiy was embraced by western leaders in Normandy.

The US president used his address at the American commemorative event to send a message to Moscow that the US and its allies “will not bow down” and will “stand for freedom”.

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D-day: Biden calls for supporting Ukraine in struggle against ‘dark forces’

President warns at 80th anniversary that democracy is under greater threat than at any time since second world war

Joe Biden has marked the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings in Normandy with an impassioned call to western allies to continue supporting Ukraine in the face of the “unending struggle between dictatorship and freedom”.

Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony at the Normandy American cemetery attended by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and dozens of surviving veterans from the second world war, Biden drew parallels between the Allied troops who fought to free Europe and the alliance of nations that came together to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression.

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D-day 80th anniversary: ‘let us have their courage,’ says Macron of veterans as he warns of war returning to Europe – as it happened

World leaders attend international commemorative ceremony as French president draws comparisons with Ukraine conflict

The British prime minister Rishi Sunak will miss the major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day but the Labour leader Keir Starmer will attend alongside world leaders at the Omaha Beach event.

Sunak is attending events in Normandy including speaking at the major British ceremony, but he will not be present alongside leaders including Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden at the international gathering.

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Two more British judges resign from Hong Kong’s top court

Democracy campaigners welcome move by Lord Sumption and Lord Collins, who cited political situation in statement

Two of the last remaining British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s top court have resigned, with one citing the political situation in the former colony.

Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption, former UK supreme court justices, announced their resignations on Thursday. “I have resigned from the court of final appeal because of the political situation in Hong Kong, but I continue to have the fullest confidence in the court and the total independence of its members,” Lord Collins said.

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TV doctor Michael Mosley goes missing during holiday in Greece

Agent says columnist and presenter has been missing since he went for a coastal hike on Greek island of Symi

A search is under way for the TV doctor and newspaper columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing after going on a coastal walk on the Greek island of Symi.

The 67-year-old, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was last seen when he set off hiking along St Nicholas beach at 1.30pm local time (1130 BST) on Wednesday. His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, alerted authorities after he failed to return by 7.30pm, but they were unable to locate him overnight.

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‘We will not go away’: Israeli demolitions leave Bedouins homeless

Bedouins erect tents only for Israeli forces to return and dismantle them in Negev village earmarked for clearance

Under the unrelenting heat of the Negev desert, for the fifth time in the last two weeks, Tayaeer Abu Asda has set up an improvised tent, which will serve as a temporary home for his wife and five children for at least the next three days. Abu Asda, 38, a Palestinian Bedouin and truck driver, is one of a group of Bedouins now numbering 500 who have been living for decades in Wadi al-Khalil, a village east of Be’er Sheva, about 12 miles (20km) from Gaza.

In early May, Israeli authorities demolished 350 structures in the community, 47 of them homes, leaving hundreds of children homeless. In the shadow of the conflict in Gaza, the government described this action as “an important move of sovereignty and governance”.

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Narendra Modi faces first coalition test as allied parties demand cabinet seats

Smaller allies emerge as powerful kingmakers in effort to form government before swearing in of PM

Narendra Modi is facing the first test of coalition politics after losing his outright majority in the Indian election, with smaller coalition allies emerging as powerful kingmakers in the formation of the government.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won the most seats in the election results declared on Tuesday, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark, forcing it to rely on coalition partners to return to power.

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Amanda Knox vows to fight ‘unfair’ rejection of slander appeal

American says she is ‘sad but determined’ after Italian court upholds her conviction

Amanda Knox has said an Italian court’s decision to uphold her slander conviction for wrongly accusing a bar owner of murdering the British student Meredith Kercher was “unfair and incorrect” and vowed to continue her fight against “this injustice”.

Knox, 36, left through a back exit of a Florence appeals court on Wednesday and cancelled a planned press conference after judges rejected her appeal to have the conviction dropped.

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At least 100 killed after RSF paramilitary group attacks village in Sudan

Claims of looting as dozens injured during Rapid Support Forces clash with Sudanese army in Gezira province

At least 100 people were killed and dozens more injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a village in Gezira province in Sudan on Wednesday.

Women and children were among the victims in the RSF attacks on Wad al-Noura village in Gezira, Mini Arko Minawi, the governor of Darfur province, said on X.

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