California faces more extreme weather as hot, windy days raise wildfire risk

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Warnings come as Californians have already in autumn felt brutal heatwave and storm surge that battered coast

Communities across California are bracing for more dangerous weather this week, with strong winds and high temperatures that could set the stage for rapid wildfire growth over the next several days.

“A moderate to strong Santa Ana wind will bring widespread strong winds and critical fire weather conditions to much of south-west California through Saturday,” the National Weather Service said in a forecast issued on Thursday.

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US winter is likely to be wetter and warmer, forecasters say, with more snow in the south

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El Niño will likely shift weather patterns to bring more rain, but much snow still isn’t forecast for the northern sates

Winter in the United States looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government’s seasonal outlook and other meteorologists’ forecasts. You can thank or blame El Niño.

El Niño is likely to shift weather patterns to bring more moisture, but with it higher temperatures. That should help erase persistent western drought, but it is unlikely to make northern snow-lovers happy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday.

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Houthi missiles strike Saudi-led forces HQ at presidential palace in Aden

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Witnesses report at least six explosions near palace used by Yemen's internationally recognized government

At least six explosions struck on Thursday near the palace used by Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the port city of Aden, witnesses said.

An official told the Associated Press that at least two people were killed, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen quickly claimed responsibility. Government military sources in Yemen told Agence-France Press (AFP) that at least four people were killed and 10 wounded.

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Farage accused of ‘protecting’ Reform candidate over racist slurs against David Lammy

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Exclusive: ITV investigation shows leader stood by mayoral candidate who said Labour MP should ‘go home to the Caribbean’

Nigel Farage was told by a senior Reform official that he was “protecting” a high-profile mayoral candidate accused of making racist comments about David Lammy, an undercover investigation has revealed.

The latest footage from an undercover investigation by ITV also shows Sarah Pochin, one of two female MPs for Reform, complaining that other party officials “are so fucking chauvinistic” and that “they just exclude you if you are a woman”.

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Wes Streeting urges US to back Ukraine on Washington visit after Starlink row

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UK defence secretary trying to cool tensions and is arguing it is in America’s economic interests to support Kyiv

Wes Streeting urged the US to stand by Ukraine on his visit to the American capital and sought to cool tensions between the two countries in the wake of the Starlink row that is threatening to set back Kyiv’s war effort.

The British defence secretary, giving a speech before a meeting with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, argued that supporting Ukraine was in the long-term interests of Washington, and a business opportunity.

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Russell Brand made alleged rape victim take photos of him half naked, trial told

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Woman claims comedian ‘pranced around like an ostrich’ before forcing himself on her in hotel room attack

Russell Brand transformed into a “monster” when he allegedly made a woman take half-naked photographs of him before raping her in a hotel room at a Labour party conference, a court has heard.

The 51-year-old comedian has denied attacking the woman, who broke down in tears in the witness box at Southwark crown court as she told how she could not fight him off.

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Albania’s prime minister vows not to resign over student-led protests

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Demonstrators demand resignation of Edi Rama after three days of clashes in capital Tirana

Albania’s prime minister has said he will not resign as a protest movement, initially prompted by a proposal to build a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state, turned violent with clashes convulsing the capital for a third consecutive day.

Speaking on Thursday after calls by students who this week assumed control of the anti-government demonstrations that have rattled Tirana since June, Edi Rama said: “Governments are changed through democratic elections. We had elections last year, not a revolution.”

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Seven sailors missing after drones strike tankers near Romania’s Black Sea coast

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Nato source says drones came from Russia, while Romania’s president says attacking commercial ships ‘is unacceptable and has to stop’

Seven sailors are missing after drones struck two tankers near Romania’s Black Sea ⁠coast, setting them ablaze and raising ⁠fresh security concerns on a ​vital shipping route used by Ukraine.

A Nato military source told Reuters the drones that had hit the Wine Trader and the Yara J came from Russia. “The drones that caused ⁠the fires on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin,” the source said.

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Thames Water asks for £2.4bn more to avoid going bust this year or early 2027

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Water company tells creditors it will not survive long enough to agree refinancing deal without more money

Thames Water has asked its creditors for another £2.4bn as the embattled water company comes close to running out of cash.

The UK’s largest water company said on Thursday it needed another short-term cash injection because it would be unable to reach a longer-term deal to sort out its giant debt pile before running out of cash by “the end of 2026 or the start of 2027”.

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Eritrea accuses Shabana Mahmood of ‘political gimmick’ over visa ban threat

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Home secretary says she will block all Eritreans from UK unless a returns deal is agreed for rejected asylum seekers and criminals

Shabana Mahmood has been accused of launching a “perfunctory political gimmick” by the Eritrean government in a row over the return of rejected asylum seekers and criminals.

After the home secretary threatened to block all Eritreans from entering the UK unless a returns deal was agreed, the country’s embassy claimed the UK had failed to engage in “meaningful and appropriate” dialogue.

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Nicolás Maduro tells New York court new torture allegations are ‘false’

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Rewritten indictment accuses ex-Venezuela president and wife Cilia Flores of leading campaign of torture

Nicolás Maduro insisted on Thursday during an appearance in a New York court that torture allegations in a rewritten drug trafficking indictment against the deposed Venezuelan president and his wife were “false accusations”.

Maduro, shackled at the ankles, was brought to court to face the new charges accusing the couple of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans.

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Tech market sell-off deepens amid fears over US inflation and AI debt

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Chip makers and tech investors such as Samsung and SoftBank plunge as potential interest rate hikes spook markets

An accelerating sell-off of AI-linked shares has hit global markets, as fears over rising inflation and future interest rate hikes spooked traders already wary of the heavily indebted sector.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi 200 index, which is heavily skewed towards the companies that make memory chips, fell more than 8% overnight to a six-month closing low, triggering circuit breakers that brought trading to a halt at various points.

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Queensland’s LNP has trodden softly in government. It’s now baring its teeth over the power to break up workers’ strikes

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The controversial legislation may end up placing large sections of its suburban support – critical to the party’s lead in the polls – on the bonfire

For almost two years, the Liberal National party’s strategy for government in Queensland has been to stay well clear of issues that risk burning through political capital.

On Wednesday, one of the most tentative conservative governments in recent history announced plans for sweeping and controversial changes to workplace laws.

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