San Francisco supervisor recalled after voting to close highway for car-free park

Joel Engardio, who becomes fifth elected city official to be ousted in four years, says he stands by his decision

A San Francisco supervisor was recalled on Tuesday after he successfully pushed to turn a stretch of coastal highway used heavily by neighborhood motorists into a car-free park despite strong objections by some of his constituents.

Joel Engardio became the fifth elected official in San Francisco to be ousted in a recall vote in four years. He conceded, saying in a statement that he accepted the outcome and still stood by his decision to help create a park called Sunset Dunes.

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Navalny’s widow says new lab evidence proves he was poisoned in prison – The Washington Post

  1. Navalny’s widow says new lab evidence proves he was poisoned in prison  The Washington Post
  2. Tests show Navalny was poisoned in jail, his widow says  BBC
  3. Alexey Navalny’s widow says lab tests prove Russian opposition figure was poisoned in prison  CNN
  4. Navalny Vomited and Convulsed in Prison Before Dying, His Wife Says  The New York Times
  5. Alexei Navalny's widow says lab reports show her husband was poisoned  ABC News
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Shabana Mahmood accuses asylum seekers of making ‘vexatious, last-minute claims’

Home Office says it will review modern slavery laws to save PM’s ‘one in, one out’ returns deal with France

Shabana Mahmood has accused asylum seekers of making “vexatious, last-minute claims” to avoid removal to France as the Home Office said it would review modern slavery laws to save Keir Starmer’s returns deal.

After an 11th-hour injunction that scuppered Labour’s “one in, one out” scheme, the home secretary said she would stop claimants “suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal”, adding that it made a “mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity”.

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Russia gives Ukrainian kids military training and reeducation, Yale researchers find – NPR

  1. Russia gives Ukrainian kids military training and reeducation, Yale researchers find  NPR
  2. Russia subjecting abducted Ukrainian children to "forced militarization" at 210 facilities, study finds  CBS News
  3. Russia Indoctrinates Children From Occupied Ukraine at 210 Sites, Study Says  The New York Times
  4. The Russian Camp Where Abducted Ukrainian Children Reportedly Made Drones  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
  5. Russia’s imperial aggression against Ukraine has reached a terrifying level  The Telegraph
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UK to explore extraditing Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brückner

Met chief Mark Rowley says many questions remain and detectives are liaising with German and Portuguese police

Mark Rowley has said the British police investigation into Madeleine McCann will explore extraditing the German national Christian Brückner to the UK to stand trial over the three-year-old’s disappearance.

Brückner was released from a German prison on Wednesday after serving a seven-year jail term for the rape of an elderly woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005, two years before Madeleine disappeared while on holiday with her family in the same town.

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Police arrest man filmed at far-right rally allegedly calling for Keir Starmer to be shot

Video from ‘unite the kingdom’ rally captured man saying ‘someone needs to shoot Keir Starmer’

A man allegedly captured on video at the far-right rally in London on Saturday threatening to kill Keir Starmer has been arrested by police.

An investigation was launched on Sunday in connection with the video, which was filmed at the event organised by the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.

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Irish police find child remains in hunt for boy not marked as missing for four years

Gardaí believe body is that of Daniel Aruebose, whose 2022 disappearance was not noticed by authorities until last month

Irish police investigating the fate of a boy who disappeared four years ago but was only registered by authorities as missing last month have found the remains of a child on Dublin wasteland.

Gardaí named the missing boy as Daniel Aruebose, who is thought to have vanished in 2022 aged three, after they discovered the remains on Wednesday in the Donabate area of north Dublin.

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Scottish parliament scraps legal verdict of ‘not proven’

Third option for juries – blamed for country’s lower conviction rates for rape and sexual assault – abolished

The Scottish verdict of “not proven” – a global legal anomaly thought to be a key factor in the country’s significantly lower convictions rate for rape and sexual assault – has been abolished.

MSPs agreed to scrap the unique Scottish verdict as they voted through a series of major changes that Angela Constance, the justice secretary, said “put victims and witnesses at the heart of a modern and fair justice system”.

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EU’s new approach to lure India away from Russia’s orbit – DW

  1. EU's new approach to lure India away from Russia's orbit  DW
  2. EU's new strategy to lure India away from Russia's orbit  DW
  3. EU needs deals with India, others to reduce US dependency, von der Leyen says  Reuters
  4. EU calls for closer ties with India despite Modi’s links to Russia  The Guardian
  5. Russian oil purchases an issue: EU’s Kaja Kallas says partnership with India 'not only about trade’; what  The Times of India
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Precious gold samples stolen in raid on French natural history museum

Museum says specimens taken are worth €600,000 based on price of gold but have ‘immeasurable heritage value’

Historic gold samples with a street value of €600,000 but priceless to scientists and researchers have been stolen from the French national natural history museum in the latest of a series of museum robberies in France.

“This has happened in a critical context for cultural establishments in France, particularly museums,” the Paris museum said. “Several public collections have been the victims of robberies in the past months.”

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Iran and European ministers make little progress as renewed UN sanctions loom, diplomats say – Reuters

  1. Iran and European ministers make little progress as renewed UN sanctions loom, diplomats say  Reuters
  2. ‘Ball still in Iran’s court,’ European powers say after nuclear issues call  Al Jazeera
  3. Europeans say Iran has yet to take necessary actions to stop the ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions  AP News
  4. Snapback mechanism: A turning point in Iran nuclear crisis? | Daily Sabah  Daily Sabah
  5. Iran’s FM to speak with European powers to avert sanctions on nuclear program  The Times of Israel
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Israel’s culture minister threatens national film awards after Palestinian story takes top prize

Miki Zohar says he will cancel funding for the Ophir awards after The Sea, about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who is denied entry to Tel Aviv, wins best picture

Israel’s culture minister, Miki Zohar, has announced that funding for the Ophirs, the country’s national film awards, would be cancelled after The Sea, a film about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, won the best feature film prize.

In a statement on X, translated by Israeli news media, Zohar said: “There is no greater slap in the face of Israeli citizens than the embarrassing and detached annual Ophir awards ceremony. Starting with the 2026 budget, this pathetic ceremony will no longer be funded by taxpayers’ money. Under my watch, Israeli citizens will not pay from their pockets for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”

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EU’s top body presents proposal to suspend free trade agreement with Israel – The Times of Israel

  1. EU’s top body presents proposal to suspend free trade agreement with Israel  The Times of Israel
  2. Weak sanctions that do not stop the massacre  Vatican News
  3. Merz: Germany still to decide whether to back sanctions on Israel  Reuters
  4. Europe finally stands up to Israel — but only halfway  Responsible Statecraft
  5. EU unveils plan to hit Israel with tariffs, sanctions amid Gaza war outcry  politico.eu
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Israeli tanks surround Gaza City ahead of ground incursion as EU proposes sanctions amid global outcry – CNN

  1. Israeli tanks surround Gaza City ahead of ground incursion as EU proposes sanctions amid global outcry  CNN
  2. Israel Pounds Gaza City as Fears Mount for Those Inside  The New York Times
  3. Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF operating 'in the heart of Gaza City'  ABC News
  4. Israel opens new route out of Gaza City, death toll passes 65,000  Reuters
  5. Gaza City’s communications cut amid widening Israeli ground invasion  The Washington Post
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What Elon Musk gets wrong about Europe’s hard right – The Economist

  1. What Elon Musk gets wrong about Europe’s hard right  The Economist
  2. I left the Tommy Robinson rally with the worrying realisation: this movement is only going to get bigger | Helen Pidd  The Guardian
  3. Elon Musk says UK needs ‘revolutionary’ change of government in speech to anti-migrant rally  CNN
  4. ‘Stop the boats’: Anti-immigration rally in London taps into economic malaise  The Christian Science Monitor
  5. Elon Musk's comments at march were abhorrent, says home secretary  BBC
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