Hurricane Melissa strengthens again as its eye nears landfall in Jamaica – CNN

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  1. Hurricane Melissa strengthens again as its eye nears landfall in Jamaica  CNN
  2. Hurricane Melissa's eye approaches western Jamaica as catastrophic impacts threaten 'total structural failure'  FOX Weather
  3. Hurricane Hunters Found Something in Melissa’s Eye: Trapped Birds  The New York Times
  4. Photos show Hurricane Melissa’s impact on the Caribbean  AP News
  5. Hurricane Melissa Live Updates: 2025's Strongest Storm Hours From Catastrophic Landfall In Jamaica  Forbes
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Returned body parts were of Gaza hostage recovered two years ago, Israel says

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Netanyahu accuses Hamas of ‘clear violation’ of ceasefire as far-right ministers call for resumption of war

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of a “clear violation” of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, saying the militant group had returned body parts of a hostage whose remains Israeli troops had recovered two years before.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Hamas has yet to return 13 bodies.

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Pakistani farmers to sue German polluters over climate-linked flood damage

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Claimants seek compensation from RWE and Heidelberg Materials after extreme flooding destroyed harvests

A group of Pakistani farmers whose livelihoods were devastated by floods three years ago has fired the starting shot in legal action against two of Germany’s most polluting companies.

Lawyers acting for 43 men and women from the Sindh region sent the energy firm RWE and the cement producer Heidelberg formal letters before action on Tuesday warning of their intention to sue later this year.

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A strange brew: the case of the man behind an audacious Scottish tea fraud

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A charismatic, tweed-wearing grower from Perthshire falsely claimed to be able to create thriving tea plantations in Scotland. His elaborate deception took in luxury hotels, media outlets and tea growers across the country

With its large silver pouch, artistic label and delicate leaves, Dalreoch Scottish white tea might be expected to grace elegant cups with saucers, perhaps with a scone served on the side. Instead, it is nestled with an array of numbered polythene packets in a room just off a laboratory at the University of Aberdeen.

This is not an ordinary afternoon tea but evidence in a crime that science helped solve.

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Three more Reform UK councillors expelled from party over ‘dishonest’ behaviour after leaked video meeting – UK politics live

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Footage of online meeting showed Kent county council leader remonstrating with councillors

Earlier I pointed out that, in his Today interview this morning, the Reform MP Danny Kruger was strangely reticent when it came to explaining why the size of the civil service has grown so much in recent years. (See 11.09am.)

In his speech this morning Kruger was a bit more forthcoming. He said:

Let me be very clear. The growth of the civil service will be reversed. After falling in the wake of the global financial crisis, the headcount of the civil service rose again after Brexit – shame on the Tories – and it passed 500,000 in 2023.

Nothing works properly. It’s impossible to build anything. The streets are dirty and unsafe. Taxes and prices are far too high. Immigration is changing our country for the worse and far too fast. And we’re becoming poor, sick and unhappy. There is a malaise over Britain.

These problems are complex. But the effective cause of them is simple. Since 1997 we have had governments that, firstly don’t share the attitude of the country they govern, and secondly, they aren’t properly in charge of the state.

This announcement only reinforces climate policy as a dividing line in our politics, rather than being the unifying issue it once was.

And, for the Conservative party, it risks chasing votes from Reform at the expense of the wider electorate.

By undermining the judiciary we further erode public trust in the institutions of our democracy and therefore in democracy itself.

So I say to those seeking to villainise a judiciary that cannot easily answer back, who wilfully discredit our legal system for their own expediency – it’s time to show responsible leadership.

This is not just about short-term decisions to make it easier to deal with public concerns about immigration.

Our support for human rights has its origin in Magna Carta. How we deal with issues of human rights is fundamental to our ability to deal with autocracies and dictatorships.

In the world of power where the club of strong men want to carve the world up in their own interests, populism and polarisation are enablers.

And those politicians in the Western world who use populism and polarisation for their own short-term political ends risk handing a victory to our enemies.

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