Hurricane Isaias barrels toward Gulf coast as category 3 storm

Posted on by

States of emergency declared in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, where residents prepare for ‘long-duration power outages’

Isaias strengthened into a category 3 hurricane on Friday morning as it barreled toward the US Gulf coast, where states of emergency have been declared in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.

The hurricane, the first in the Atlantic in what has turned into a very late 2026 season, is expected to cause a “life-threatening storm surge”, officials said. Isaias is forecast to make landfall on Friday night, somewhere along the Alabama-Florida line with surging seas up to 7ft (2.1 meters) and waves as high as 30ft (9.1 meters).

Continue reading...

Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream execution puts US in dubious company

Posted on by

Only Iran and Afghanistan routinely carry out sentences in public, with Saudi Arabia appearing to have ended practice

If the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, goes ahead with plans to livestream the execution of a soldier radicalised to extremist Islam who killed 13 people at a military base in Texas, his country will join a motley assembly of lesser powers and rogue actors who have conducted public executions in recent years.

Only two countries currently systematically carry out capital sentences in public: Iran and Afghanistan. In 2025, the Taliban authorities carried out six such killings and the regime in Tehran 11, according to Amnesty International.

Continue reading...

Lightsaber Darth Vader used in ‘I am your father’ Star Wars duel up for auction

Posted on by

Saber is expected to fetch at least $1m and is one of more than two dozen props that will be up for sale

A lightsaber used by Darth Vader in the duel where he tells Luke Skywalker “I am your father” is going up for sale at Heritage Auctions next month.

The Vader saber, also used in Return of the Jedi, is expected to fetch at least $1m. It is one of more than two dozen lightsaber props that will be up for sale at the auction that spans Star Wars Episodes I through IX and other films and TV shows from the universe George Lucas created.

Continue reading...

Execution live stream could cause PTSD in viewers, say psychiatrists

Posted on by

Warning follows Pete Hegseth announcement that firing squad execution of Fort Hood killer will be public

• US politics – latest updates

Livestreaming an execution could cause post-traumatic stress disorder in the viewing public, mental health experts have said, after the US confirmed plans to broadcast the death by firing squad of a man who shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers.

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said on Thursday that Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be executed by firing squad on 3 December. Officials later confirmed it would be livestreamed. It is believed it will be the first public execution in the US in almost a century.

Continue reading...

Robert Jenrick launches scathing broadside against ‘Kensington Kemi’

Posted on by

Reform UK economics spokesperson seeks to associate Tory leader with metropolitan elite as party relations sour further

Robert Jenrick has launched an extended attack on Kemi Badenoch, calling her part of a metropolitan elite and saying a coalition deal with the Tories would be like being “handcuffed to a zombie”.

Reform UK’s economics spokesperson repeatedly called the Tory leader “Kensington Kemi” and claimed her party was for people who moaned about the decline of Mayfair clubs and complained that they could not find Ottolenghi recipe ingredients in the shops.

Continue reading...

Tory tax break for banks has cost UK public purse £6bn, says TUC

Posted on by

Exclusive: Chancellor urged to reverse Rishi Sunak’s tax surcharge cuts to claw back billions in lost revenue

Tax cuts for big banks have deprived the UK government of £6bn in revenues, according to campaigners, who are calling on the chancellor, John Healey, to increase taxes and force lenders to pay their “fair share” in the budget.

Calculations by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents unions with more than 5.3 million members across England and Wales, shows that the public purse is billions of pounds worse off as a result of tax cuts introduced under the Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2023.

Continue reading...

Leader of Jewish Greens calls for Zack Polanski to resign after byelection loss

Posted on by

Vivien Lichtenstein urges party leader to quit over ‘Zionism is racism’ policy – but could face no-confidence motion herself

The leader of the Jewish Greens has called for Zack Polanski to step down as pressure increases on the Green leader to acknowledge anger within the party over a new policy that equates Zionism with racism and calls for the state of Israel to be abolished.

The comments by Vivien Lichtenstein come after Caroline Lucas, the Greens’ former leader and first MP, criticised Polanski for a lack of leadership in missing the debate and vote at the weekend that resulted in the policy being passed.

Continue reading...

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faced £1.8m repair bill after leaving Royal Lodge

Posted on by

Ex-prince was granted £302,000 in compensation for early end of lease and king has reportedly contributed to costs

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faced a £1.8m bill to cover repair and restoration of his former Royal Lodge home in Windsor after the lease was officially surrendered.

But the former prince was granted £302,000 in compensation for giving up the lease early on the 98-acre property, meaning his total costs came to £1.5m.

Continue reading...

Thieves make off with €5m haul from prestigious Italian winery

Posted on by

Gang breaks into cellar of Marchesi Antinori in Cortona and loads two trucks with 30,000 bottles before getaway

Thousands of bottles of wine worth €5m (£4.2m) have been stolen from a prestigious winery in Tuscany in what is thought to be the biggest heist of its kind in Italy.

A gang of at least seven masked individuals broke into the cellar of Marchesi Antinori, a family-owned winery dating back to the late 1300s, in Cortona after shutting off the alarms and surveillance cameras before using company forklifts to load two large trucks with 30,000 bottles of wine and making off.

Continue reading...

Pro-Kremlin Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk arrested in Montenegro

Posted on by

Founder of influential Rybar blog detained after warnings of attempts to destabilise Balkan country, officials say

A leading pro-Kremlin Russian military blogger with reported ties to Russia’s intelligence services has been arrested in Montenegro, after warnings of attempts to destabilise the Balkan country, officials have said.

Mikhail Zvinchuk, the founder of the influential Rybar war blog, was detained on Friday alongside his wife and three other Russians by police and security agents in the Adriatic resort town of Risan, on suspicion of spreading Russian influence, local media reported.

Continue reading...

Three Saudis killed in Riyadh airport attack claimed by Houthis

Posted on by

Attack is deadliest in kingdom since it launched major military offensive with allies against Houthis in Yemen

Three Saudi citizens have been killed and several other people were wounded in attacks targeting Riyadh ⁠airport for which Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility, Saudi officials have said.

The attack late on Thursday was the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighbouring Yemen launched a major military offensive last weekend against the Iran-backed Houthis.

Continue reading...

Mélenchon declares ‘Bastille retaken’ after major student rally in Paris – Euronews.com

Posted on by
  1. Mélenchon declares ‘Bastille retaken’ after major student rally in Paris  Euronews.com
  2. French students keep up protest pressure with some demonstrations hit by violence  Reuters
  3. France’s Long, Fervent History of Protest  The New York Times
  4. The week in 30 photos  CNN
  5. France Bids to Quell Student Anger By Placing of Extra Teachers  Bloomberg.com
Posted in Uncategorized

Adidas accuses Australian label White Fox of ‘trading off its reputation’ with use of four-stripe branding

Posted on by

Global sportswear brand is suing online retailer in the federal court for selling clothes featuring ‘deceptively similar’ design

Global sportswear brand Adidas claims Australian label White Fox is trying to trade off its reputation by infringing its distinctive three-stripe trademark.

Adidas is suing the online fast-fashion retailer in the Federal Court for selling clothes with a four-stripe design, which it argues is deceptively similar to its classic design.

Continue reading...

Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election, beating Greens – follow live – BBC

Posted on by
  1. Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election, beating Greens - follow live  BBC
  2. UK PM Burnham's Labour fends off left-wing Greens in London  Reuters
  3. Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras byelection; Polanski ‘absolutely’ intends to remain Green party leader – UK politics live  The Guardian
  4. Zack Polanski’s star is fading  The Economist
  5. Labour Holds Off Green Party in Election for Starmer’s Former London Seat  The New York Times
Posted in Uncategorized