Healey urged to be bold on borrowing in first test of Burnham’s growth pledge

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Some want the chancellor to exploit newly flexible fiscal rules – others want a more creative approach, such as borrowing from markets

With just 12 weeks to go until his first budget, new chancellor John Healey is seeking ways to ramp up public investment, without busting the Treasury’s fiscal rules – and some economists are urging him to be bold.

As he settles into No 11 Downing Street, the former defence secretary’s most immediate challenges concern day-to-day government spending.

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Healey urged to be bold on borrowing in first test of Burnham’s growth pledge

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Some want the chancellor to exploit newly flexible fiscal rules – others want a more creative approach, such as borrowing from markets

With just 12 weeks to go until his first budget, new chancellor John Healey is seeking ways to ramp up public investment, without busting the Treasury’s fiscal rules – and some economists are urging him to be bold.

As he settles into No 11 Downing Street, the former defence secretary’s most immediate challenges concern day-to-day government spending.

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Israeli strike that killed journalist in Lebanon was war crime, say rights groups

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Investigation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Legal Agenda shows Israel deliberately attacked Amal Khalil and colleague Zeinab Faraj knowing they were civilians

An Israeli strike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was a war crime, three rights organisations said on Thursday.

Investigations from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and Legal Agenda showed that Israel deliberately and directly attacked Khalil and Faraj, with apparent knowledge that they were civilians. The organisations called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, while HRW called for states to halt arm sales to Israel and put targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing crimes.

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Israeli strike that killed journalist in Lebanon was war crime, say rights groups

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Investigation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Legal Agenda shows Israel deliberately attacked Amal Khalil and colleague Zeinab Faraj knowing they were civilians

An Israeli strike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was a war crime, three rights organisations said on Thursday.

Investigations from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and Legal Agenda showed that Israel deliberately and directly attacked Khalil and Faraj, with apparent knowledge that they were civilians. The organisations called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, while HRW called for states to halt arm sales to Israel and put targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing crimes.

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Good Samaritan dies days after being attacked while trying to stop Melbourne shoplifters

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Van Viet Truong was critically injured after coming to the aid of a fellow retail worker in Sunshine

Council flags are flying at half-mast in honour of a good Samaritan who died days after he was allegedly attacked by shoplifting youths outside a Melbourne shopping strip.

Van Viet Truong was critically injured after he rushed to the aid of a fellow retail worker trying to stop the group stealing clothes in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west on Saturday, police allege.

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Good Samaritan dies days after being attacked while trying to stop Melbourne shoplifters

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Van Viet Truong was critically injured after coming to the aid of a fellow retail worker in Sunshine

Council flags are flying at half-mast in honour of a good Samaritan who died days after he was allegedly attacked by shoplifting youths outside a Melbourne shopping strip.

Van Viet Truong was critically injured after he rushed to the aid of a fellow retail worker trying to stop the group stealing clothes in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west on Saturday, police allege.

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Pregnant woman dead and toddler found unharmed after outback Queensland siege ends in apparent murder-suicide

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A 45-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were found dead in the Charleville home after a near eight-hour police siege

A pregnant woman and a man have been found dead at a home in the outback Queensland town of Charleville, in an apparent murder-suicide after a protracted overnight standoff with police.

Police confirmed on Thursday that a toddler, who was found unharmed, had been at the home during the eight-hour siege that began on Wednesday evening.

Several streets in the remote town, 600km west of Toowoomba, were locked down by police after officers arrived at the property on King Street following reports of “a serious assault”.

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Nato to ‘urgently’ get air defences for Ukraine, as Zelenskyy warns of surge in Russian missile production

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After Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic missile fired by Russia on Wednesday, the president urged allies to increase supplies of Patriot interceptors

Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it “urgently needs”, its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile ⁠production ahead of winter.

Speaking at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on winter resilience, the Ukrainian president did not rule out the idea that stalling missile supplies from western allies were “aimed at making Ukraine, so to speak, more willing to compromise” in peace talks with Russia.

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Nato to ‘urgently’ get air defences for Ukraine, as Zelenskyy warns of surge in Russian missile production

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After Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic missile fired by Russia on Wednesday, the president urged allies to increase supplies of Patriot interceptors

Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it “urgently needs”, its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile ⁠production ahead of winter.

Speaking at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on winter resilience, the Ukrainian president did not rule out the idea that stalling missile supplies from western allies were “aimed at making Ukraine, so to speak, more willing to compromise” in peace talks with Russia.

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Meta says its AI model hacked into another company during testing

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Company is the third to report such an incident after Anthropic and OpenAI reported breaches during training

Meta said on Wednesday that one of its AI models hacked ⁠another company during cybersecurity testing, after an error by its testing partner gave the model unintended internet access.

The incident adds to a ⁠growing list of ⁠cases in ​which AI agents from major developers breached systems at other companies during testing, after Anthropic said last week that some of its models ⁠hacked three companies, and OpenAI disclosed that an AI agent breached the startup Hugging Face.

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Winner of Florida python hunting contest nabs 96 snakes: ‘I was on a mission’

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Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them

The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year.

The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida fish, wildlife and conservation (FWC), the south Florida water management district, the National Park Service and others.

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Winner of Florida python hunting contest nabs 96 snakes: ‘I was on a mission’

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Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them

The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year.

The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida fish, wildlife and conservation (FWC), the south Florida water management district, the National Park Service and others.

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Lindsay Clancy murder trial: toxicologist testifies about medications found in defendant’s blood

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Variety of prescriptions were found in blood of mother accused of strangling her three children, court hears

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in January 2023, continued on Wednesday with a forensic toxicologist testifying to the variety and concentration of medications found in the defendant’s blood.

Justin Brower, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Laboratories, testified that his lab examined the levels of four psychiatric medications detected in Clancy’s blood after she allegedly strangled her children and attempted to take her own life.

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Lindsay Clancy murder trial: toxicologist testifies about medications found in defendant’s blood

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Variety of prescriptions were found in blood of mother accused of strangling her three children, court hears

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in January 2023, continued on Wednesday with a forensic toxicologist testifying to the variety and concentration of medications found in the defendant’s blood.

Justin Brower, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Laboratories, testified that his lab examined the levels of four psychiatric medications detected in Clancy’s blood after she allegedly strangled her children and attempted to take her own life.

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Spain’s Ceuta seeks transfer of unaccompanied migrant minors to mainland Spain after border rush – Reuters

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  1. Spain's Ceuta seeks transfer of unaccompanied migrant minors to mainland Spain after border rush  Reuters
  2. Ceuta border rush: Loved ones in limbo over missing family members  CNN
  3. Europe encourages its neighbours to practise migration blackmail  The Economist
  4. Migrant Crisis Reveals Vast Differences Between Ceuta and Its Moroccan Neighbor  The New York Times
  5. Why Spain’s EU allies turned on Pedro Sanchez over Ceuta: the hard right now sets their agenda on migration  The Guardian
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Toronto zoo announces birth of pygmy hippo calf, third for mother Kindia

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The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said

The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf.

Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo.

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Toronto zoo announces birth of pygmy hippo calf, third for mother Kindia

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The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said

The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf.

Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo.

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Live Updates: Trump says Strait of Hormuz deal could happen today or tomorrow amid Iran-Oman talks – cbsnews.com

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  1. Live Updates: Trump says Strait of Hormuz deal could happen today or tomorrow amid Iran-Oman talks  cbsnews.com
  2. An agreement on the Strait of Hormuz is taking shape – but not one Trump wants  CNN
  3. Iran, Oman say Strait of Hormuz talks in final stages, as Trump again teases a deal being close  CNBC
  4. Trump says Strait of Hormuz deal could come Wednesday as gas prices stay high  Fox News
  5. Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic, sources say  Reuters
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