El Salvador’s president denies that Kilmar Ábrego García was abused in notorious prison

Nayib Bukele disputed claims of Ábrego García’s lawyers that he was tortured and deprived of sleep while in custody

The president of El Salvador has denied claims that Kilmar Ábrego García was subjected to beatings and deprivation while he was held in the country before being returned to the US to face human-smuggling charges.

Nayib Bukele said in a social media post that Ábrego García, the Salvadorian national who was wrongly extradited from the US to El Salvador in March before being returned in June, “wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight”.

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Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co-lead new party’ with him – as it happened

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

My colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:

Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.

About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number … and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.

You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances …. The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.

In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli military operations, it is increasingly urgent to confirm whether the UK has contributed to any violations of international humanitarian law through economic or political cooperation with the Israeli government since October 2023, including the sale, supply or use of weapons, surveillance aircraft and Royal Air Force bases.

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Smartphone bans in Dutch schools have improved learning, study finds

After initial concerns, pupils are said to be more focused and have better social interactions with each other

Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands.

National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five.

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Jeremy Corbyn confirms talks about forming new party with Zarah Sultana

Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after MP’s surprise announcement, and is understood to be reluctant to take title of party leader

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is in discussions about creating a new leftwing political party, hours after the MP Zarah Sultana announced she was quitting Labour to co-lead the project.

Sultana, the MP for Coventry South who had the Labour whip suspended last year for voting against the government over the two-child limit on benefits, said on Thursday night she was quitting Labour and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Corbyn.

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Power outage hits the Czech Republic and disrupts Prague public transport – AP News

  1. Power outage hits the Czech Republic and disrupts Prague public transport  AP News
  2. Czech Republic hit by major power outage triggered by fallen cable  Reuters
  3. Major blackout hits Czech Republic  DW
  4. Czechia recovers from power blackout after day of chaos and confusion  Expats.cz
  5. Grid Gaps and Cyber Threats: Why Smart Infrastructure Stocks Are Poised to Surge Post-Czech Outage  AInvest
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Russia expanding Ukraine chemical weapons use, allege European spy agencies – Al Jazeera

  1. Russia expanding Ukraine chemical weapons use, allege European spy agencies  Al Jazeera
  2. Russian use of chemical weapons against Ukraine 'widespread', Dutch defence minister says  Reuters
  3. Russia ramps up use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including WWI-era poison gas, 3 European intel services say  CBS News
  4. Dutch and German Intelligence Say Russia Increasingly Uses Chemical Weapons in Ukraine  The Moscow Times
  5. Netherlands, Germany Collect ‘Concrete’ Evidence of Russian Chemical Attacks  Kyiv Post
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Boy, 8, is found being raised by pack of DOGS in squalid drug den – and can only communicate by barking – The US Sun

  1. Boy, 8, is found being raised by pack of DOGS in squalid drug den - and can only communicate by barking  The US Sun
  2. Thai Boy Found Barking Like Dogs Due to Mother's Drug Neglect  Khaosod English
  3. Authorities Rescue Boy, 8, From Neglect and Find Him Unable to Speak  People.com
  4. Boy, 8, found being raised by DOGS in squalid conditions and can only communicate by barking  The Mirror
  5. 8-year-old Thai boy raised by dogs rescued from drug den, only communicates by barking  Hindustan Times
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