USS Lincoln carrier to return to port in San Diego after record-breaking deployment – US politics live

Vessel spent over 260 consecutive days at sea without a port call, a US navy record

As Donald Trump struggled to end the war with Iran, and the Lincoln’s deployment dragged on, reports emerged over the summer of shortages of food and basic supplies, and deteriorating mental health and morale among some crew members, including that two crew members had attempted to jump overboard.

At the time, senior Trump administration officials dismissed the reports. Hegseth claimed they “completely misrepresented” the reality, while Trump, when asked in August whether the deployment had gone on too long, responded, “Not nearly long enough” – a remark that upset some naval families.

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USS Abraham Lincoln scheduled to dock in San Diego after harrowing stretch at sea

Deployment for nearly a year was marked by reports of supply shortages, and deteriorating morale and mental health among crew

The USS Abraham Lincoln, the US aircraft carrier that has been deployed for nearly a year and has spent months supporting US military operations against Iran, is scheduled to dock in San Diego on Thursday afternoon.

It marks the end of a deployment that has been described as “one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era” and that became marked by a record-stretch at sea, repeated deployment extensions, and reports of supply shortages, and deteriorating morale and mental health among some crew members.

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Supermarket shake-up: why Asda or Morrisons could vanish within a decade

Talks between Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have set industry tongues wagging, with analysts saying the market is ripe for change

They may be two of the most recognisable brands in Britain, with a combined 188 years serving shoppers, but industry watchers agree that either Asda or Morrisons – or both – could disappear within a decade.

This week, it emerged that Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – the UK’s second- and sixth-largest supermarket chains – had held merger talks between last November and February, before the larger player decided to walk away.

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New direct train services from London to Wrexham and Rochdale rejected

Regulator also vetoes extra Blackpool service, citing lack of space on west coast mainline for new direct trains to capital

Plans to run direct train services to Wrexham and Rochdale from London have been rejected by the rail regulator because of “significant pressure” on the line.

The Office of Rail and Road said that there was insufficient space on the crowded west coast mainline to introduce the two new separate train services.

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Royal Navy service member charged with spying

Teddy Young, 24, from Bedfordshire, charged under National Security Act after arrest by counter-terror police

A serving member of the Royal Navy has been charged with spying, police have said.

Teddy Young, 24, will appear today at Westminster magistrates’ court after he was charged with obtaining protected information that could benefit a unnamed foreign power.

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British consulate in East Jerusalem will stay open as UK mission, says Ed Miliband

UK and Israel back away from full diplomatic confrontation, though British presence in Palestine will be much reduced

Israel and the UK have backed away from a full-scale diplomatic confrontation, with Britain announcing it is rebranding its consulate general ⁠building in ⁠East Jerusalem ​as a UK mission, a move that will result in UK diplomats leaving Israel, with only seven to remain in the building.

The move was forced on the UK by the Israeli government as punishment for the decision by the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, last month to ban trade with illegal settlements and introduce a tougher sanctions regime against those that aided the building of settlements. The UK is seeking to protect the two state solution as the best means of ending the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

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Covid, Brexit and Liz Truss mini-budget led to lasting decline in mental health, study finds

Researchers found five events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, caused serious damage to mental wellbeing across UK

Brexit, Liz Truss’s mini-budget and other “shocks” over the last 10 years have led to a serious and lasting deterioration in the UK population’s mental health, research has found.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the first and second Covid lockdowns also triggered big rises in psychological distress, as measured by the number of people with depression and anxiety.

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French minister invites UK to ‘come all the way back’ to the EU

Finance minister, Roland Lescure, welcomes Burnham’s pledge to explore closer ties with bloc

The French finance minister has invited the UK to “come all the way back” to the European Union after Andy Burnham raised the prospect of a new referendum to reverse Brexit.

Roland Lescure was speaking after the prime minister used his Labour conference speech to pledge that the government would explore closer ties with the bloc at a summit later this year.

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UK’s military needs to focus spending on domestic defence, not overseas missions – report

Exclusive: Thinktank says Britain’s drive towards global commitments is symptom of ‘outdated foreign policy’

The UK’s military is too focused on global commitments at the expense of domestic defence, meaning the government’s planned increase in defence spending is likely to result in even greater waste, a thinktank report has warned.

According to an analysis by researchers at the Transition Security Project, Britain has the most overseas-oriented military among European nations, with almost a quarter of the defence budget spent on commitments across five continents.

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Bachelor star Sam Wood denied bail as police allege he choked wife until she ‘thought she would die’

Court hears police attended Wood’s Victorian home over a similar allegation about three years ago, but Snezana Wood had not complained then out of ‘fear of retribution’

The wife of former Bachelor star Sam Wood told police she “thought she was going to die” after he allegedly choked and assaulted her, a Queensland court heard on Thursday.

The court also heard that police in Victoria had attended Wood’s home in relation to a similar incident about three years ago, but that his wife, Snezana Wood, had not wanted to make a complaint at that time out of “fear of retribution”.

Sam Wood, a 46-year-old wellness influencer from Melbourne, was denied bail in a Queensland court on Thursday and will be held in custody indefinitely awaiting trial, after police argued his behaviour was “escalating” and that he posed an unacceptable risk.

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Thursday briefing: Why young people are taking to the streets across France

In today’s newsletter: A youth-led movement is protesting crumbling school buildings and teacher shortages while turning adult focus onto wider educational inequalities

Good morning. In my experience, at any protest, the most memorable and encapsulating slogans are always the ones written by hand with marker pen on cardboard placards.

“School is a right, not a privilege,” read one such sign held aloft by a student in Paris, where huge youth protests over the state of high school education have brought tens of thousands of young people and adults on to the streets, with further strikes planned today.

UK politics | Kemi Badenoch has announced that the Conservatives would abolish inheritance tax on family homes if elected, prompting criticism that she is prioritising cutting taxes for the rich.

Education | Labour’s flagship changes to special education in England are at risk of unravelling because parents are rushing to secure support for their children before the system changes, new analysis has found.

Spain | María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis, has died.

Science | A type of gene therapy based on Nobel prize-winning science is safe and can partly restore sight in blind people, researchers have revealed.

Epstein | British billionaire Sir James Goldsmith warned that Jeffrey Epstein was a “sexual deviant” decades before the FBI closed in on the abuser, a Guardian investigation has found.

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‘That is a lie’: alleged Alan Jones victim denies family tried to get money out of broadcaster, court hears

Youngest complainant in trial alleges Jones put his tongue in his mouth and touched him on the bottom during visit to shock jock’s property

An alleged teenage victim of Alan Jones has denied his family tried to deceive the broadcaster and get as much money out of him as they could during a tense cross-examination in a Sydney court.

Asked whether he was intent on getting as much financial assistance as he could from the former 2GB host, the witness replied: “That is a lie.”

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South Korea threatens legal action if fuel shipments to Russia found to have broken law

Responding to a Guardian report that revealed thousands of tonnes of fuel was transported to Russia, Seoul said it was investigating the cases

South Korea will take legal action if it finds that shipments of fuel from its ports to Russia broke domestic law, the government has said, responding to a Guardian report on the trade.

The government, in a statement issued by the foreign and trade ministries and the customs service, said that it is “checking additional information concerning the loading cases reported by the Guardian” and “if the verification establishes that our laws and regulations have been violated, it plans to act in accordance with the law”.

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Jurors in Beau Lamarre-Condon murder trial shown photo of alleged ‘execution-style’ gunshot wound

Former NSW police officer has pleaded not guilty to the February 2024 murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney

Marks made by a gun at close proximity were found on Jesse Baird after his decomposing body was discovered, a jury has heard.

Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to the February 2024 murders of Baird, his ex-partner, and the TV presenter’s new partner, Luke Davies.

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Japan beer giants raided over suspicions they colluded to set the price of beverages

Investigators probe Asahi, Kirin, Suntory and Sapporo breweries – which together control more than 90% of Japan’s beer market

Japanese authorities have raided the country’s four biggest breweries over suspicions they colluded to set the price of beer and other beverages – a practice media reports said could have forced drinkers to pay over the odds.

Officials from the Fair Trade Commission this week searched the offices of Asahi Breweries, Kirin Brewery, Suntory Beer and Sapporo Breweries – which together control more than 90% of the domestic market. The quartet are suspected of violating the anti-monopoly law.

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Donald Trump’s Texas rally rocked by repeated protests

Trump briefly stepped away from the microphone after one protester appeared to approach the stage

Donald Trump’s latest campaign rally was rocked by repeated protests on Wednesday as the US president urged Texas voters to back embattled Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

At least half a dozen demonstrators interrupted the US president during his remarks in San Antonio, with some led away by police. One was physically assaulted by an older Trump supporter as he tried to leave the arena.

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OpenAI used AI to help write email warning Australian government AI had hacked its websites

Exclusive: Revelation comes after executive told parliamentary inquiry he did not believe AI had been used to write message, but was ‘happy to go and confirm’

OpenAI used AI to help write the email to the Australian government advising that its AI agent had hacked into key departmental websites, Guardian Australia can reveal.

On Tuesday, one of the company’s executives told a parliamentary inquiry that he didn’t believe that its own technology had been used to create the email, but said the company needed to confirm this.

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