Haiti to replace national police chief in effort to counter gang violence
Newly installed Prime Minister Garry Conille has vowed to bring security to crisis-wracked nation and strengthen police.
8 Israeli soldiers killed in southern Gaza ambush; deadliest day in months
Hamas says it carried out 'a complex ambush against enemy vehicles' in Tal as-Sultan district of southern Rafah city.
Putin peace terms slammed as Ukraine summit begins
Leaders from Italy and Germany called the Russian president's plan "propaganda" and "dictatorial".
Oregon officials rescue 28 people stuck upside down on amusement park ride
Visitors to the Oaks Amusement Park were stuck on the AtmosFear ride for a half hour after it unexpectedly stopped
Emergency crews in Oregon rescued 28 people on Friday after they were stuck for about half an hour dangling upside down high on a ride at a century-old amusement park.
Portland fire and rescue said on the social platform X that firefighters worked with engineers at Oaks Park to manually lower the ride, but crews had been preparing to conduct a high-angle rope rescue if necessary. All riders were being evacuated and medically evaluated, and there were no reports of injuries.
Continue reading...Rainbow flags vandalized at Stonewall National Monument in New York City
Investigation ongoing as state attorney general Letitia James says: ‘In New York, we stand for love and acceptance, not hate and bigotry.’
Rainbow flags lining the Stonewall National Monument in New York City to celebrate Pride month were taken down and destroyed this week, police said, marking the second year in a row that the flags have been vandalized during the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community throughout June.
Authorities received a report early Friday about the missing flags at the monument in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.
Continue reading...UK royal Kate Middleton makes first public appearance since cancer revealed
The princess of Wales has said she is making progress as she undergoes preventive chemotherapy treatment.
People left dangling upside down on amusement park ride
Footage recorded by an eyewitness shows the moment people got stuck on a ride in Portland, Oregon.
Surrey police face criticism after using car to ram escaped cow
Home secretary demands ‘urgent explanation’ over ‘heavy-handed’ attempt to capture wandering animal
The home secretary has asked Surrey police to provide a “full, urgent explanation” after footage showed officers using a car to ram an escaped cow.
James Cleverly made the comments after footage posted online showed officers ramming the cow twice with their police car, while an onlooker is heard shouting: “What are you doing that for?”
Continue reading...ICC must be allowed to carry out work ‘without intimidation’, say 93 member states
Joint statement of support for international criminal court issued following revelations of Israeli interference
The international criminal court must be allowed to carry out its work “without intimidation”, a group of 93 states has said in a significant public intervention intended to reinforce support for the judicial body.
In a joint statement issued late on Friday, the large group of ICC member states vowed to defend the institution and “preserve its integrity from any political interference and pressure against the court, its officials and those cooperating with it”.
Continue reading...Eight Israeli soldiers killed in southern Gaza, military says
Deaths will likely fuel calls for ceasefire and heighten Israeli public anger over military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox
Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in a blast that engulfed their armoured vehicle in southern Gaza, in the biggest loss of life for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a single incident since January.
The deaths came amid continuing fighting around Rafah in which at least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes.
Continue reading...US vice-president Kamala Harris announces $1.5bn in Ukraine aid
Money will go towards repairing country’s energy infrastructure as well as providing humanitarian assistance
US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has pledged more than $1.5bn in aid for Ukraine’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation amid its ongoing war with Russia.
Harris made the announcement at a peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She is expected to address the summit later.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections
Crowds have gathered daily in France to protest since President Macron called parliamentary elections earlier this week.
Biden wishes Trump a happy 78th birthday as campaign goes into offense over age
Dogged by age issue, president, 81, is now highlighting Trump’s many peculiarities, from hair style to Bible sales
Taking a line out of Donald Trump’s playbook, Joe Biden offered his rival a tongue-in-cheek birthday greeting on X on Friday, saying: “Happy 78th birthday, Donald. Take it from one old guy to another: Age is just a number.”
The president then coupled his thoughts with a caustic video sarcastically touting “78 of Trump’s historic … ‘accomplishments’” before a Biden re-election campaign spokesperson added: “On behalf of America, our early gift for your 79th: making sure you are never president again.”
Continue reading...Iranian convicted of war crimes freed in Swedish swap
Hamid Noury will return to Tehran in exchange for two Swedish citizens detained by Iran.
Russia-Ukraine war: ‘history being made’, says Zelenskiy, as world leaders plot path to peace – as it happened
This lvie blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here
Three people were killed and five others injured by Russian shelling in Ulakly village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, local governor Vadym Filashkin wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
He said the village was hit by cluster munitions, adding that administrative buildings, a private house, a shop and eight cars were damaged.
Continue reading...‘Rushed’ deadline for UK digital visas puts millions at risk of losing legal rights
FOI reveals non EU migrants could be caught in ‘Windrush style scandal' at end of 2024 as Home Office struggles to contact them
More than 4 million non-EU migrants living in Britain will need to switch to digital “eVisas” by the end of this year or risk being unable to prove their legal rights, according to figures seen by the Observer.
Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) – given to all foreign nationals with permission to live in the UK for at least six months – demonstrate proof of an individual’s right to study, access public services and claim benefits. But they are being replaced under the Home Office’s digitisation programme.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage trying to destroy Tory party, says David Cameron – as it happened
This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK election coverage here
David Cameron has said that being prime minister was a “good apprenticeship” for serving as foreign secretary, in an interview with the Times.
Speaking about his decision to take the role, Cameron said he had told his family he was “going to really go for this job and give it everything I had”. In just over six months, Cameron said he had visited 35 countries as foreign secretary.
I really like having the focus. That juggling act, as prime minister, is incredibly difficult. You have to do so many different things and different topics. I loved the challenge of it, but it does mean you’re always frustrated.”
When I look at Starmer I think he’s sitting there with his fingers crossed to please, please, please let them pass judgment on Lettucegate, three prime ministers and all the rest of it.
I think we can win this election. Even when I was ahead in the polls in 2010, or somewhere behind in the polls in 2015, I used to say ‘can win’ rather than ‘will’ because it’s up to the public, it’s up to the country.”
Continue reading...‘It’s the perfect place’: London Underground hosts tests for ‘quantum compass’ that could replace GPS
Subatomic instrument will be able to accurately pinpoint locations under ground and under water, where satellite signals are often blocked
Dr Joseph Cotter takes some unusual pieces of luggage on his trips on the London underground. They include a stainless steel vacuum chamber, a few billion atoms of rubidium and an array of lasers that are used to cool his equipment to a temperature just above absolute zero.
While not the average kit you would expect to find being dragged into carriages on the District Line, this is the gear that Cotter – who works at Imperial College London’s Centre for Cold Matter – uses on his underground travels.
Continue reading...Prisoner swap: Iran releases EU diplomat, Sweden frees Hamid Nouri – The Associated Press
- Prisoner swap: Iran releases EU diplomat, Sweden frees Hamid Nouri The Associated Press
- Iranian convicted of war crimes freed in Sweden prisoner swap BBC.com
- Sweden and Iran exchange prisoners in breakthrough deal, officials say CNN
- Iran and Sweden agree to a prisoner swap including Hamid Nouri The Washington Post
- Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus freed from Iranian jail in prisoner swap The Guardian
Anthony Fauci says he turned down pharma jobs while he was Covid chief
Former infectious disease head says big pharma tried to poach him while he was combating coronavirus
Before retiring from his lengthy run as the US government’s top infectious disease doctor, major pharmaceutical companies tried to lure Anthony Fauci away from his post by offering him seven-figure jobs – but he turned them down because he “cared about … the health of the country” too much, he says in a new interview.
Fauci’s comments on his loyalty to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) – which he directed for 38 years before retiring in December 2022 – come only a couple of weeks after he testified to Congress about receiving “credible death threats” from far-right extremists over his efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
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