France, UK and Spain see record temperatures as heatwave grips western Europe
Tens of millions of people are grappling with punishing temperatures, which have led to red heat alerts across the continent.
US opens second federal investigation of deadly Tesla crash into Texas home
Driver told authorities he had driver-assistance technology engaged before crash that killed 76-year-old Martha Avila
The US government has opened a second federal investigation into a recent crash of a Tesla that reportedly had driver-assistance technology engaged, struck a Texas home and killed a resident.
Meanwhile, the family of Martha Avila, the 76-year-old resident who was killed, has sued over the wreck.
Continue reading...Mystery of Gracie the giraffe deepens as sheriff calls recapture claims a tall story
Sheriff in rural Texas says ‘it’s still at large’ after claim Gracie had been located after wandering off private ranch
For almost two weeks, residents of a rural Texas county have been looking, mostly up, for a missing giraffe called Gracie that wandered off from a private game ranch.
On Wednesday, the mystery of the free-roaming mammal’s odyssey deepened further, when a local sheriff disputed an account that it was reportedly found safe a “little farther out than expected” from its hill country home, and said the search was most definitely still on.
Continue reading...Man who died in suspected murder at Peak District stone circle named by police
A 41-year-old man has been arrested after Isaac Clare-Watts, 26, found at Nine Ladies monument on Monday
A 26-year-old man who died in a suspected murder during a summer solstice event at a Bronze Age stone circle has been named by police.
Isaac Clare-Watts, from Nottingham, was found at the Nine Ladies stone circle in Stanton Lees in the Peak District in Derbyshire at about 1.38pm on Monday.
Continue reading...Shabana Mahmood’s immigration and asylum bill to go before MPs next week
Refugee charities fear controversial changes, including on forced removals and age checks, are being rushed through
Shabana Mahmood’s controversial plans to increase the forced removal of people refused asylum, introduce stringent age checks for people claiming to be children and limit applications under human rights laws are scheduled to be placed before MPs within days.
The immigration and asylum bill is expected to be put before parliament next Tuesday and will face opposition from some Labour, Lib Dem and independent MPs. Andy Burnham’s team, widely expected to be in No 10 within weeks, is understood to be aware of the bill and its contents.
Continue reading...Pakistan police rescue French woman and children allegedly held captive by husband for 12 years
Husband arrested after Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and five children found at home in north-western province
Pakistan police say they have rescued a French woman and her five children after she told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and subjected to years of domestic abuse in the country’s north-west.
The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued earlier this week from a mud-brick home in Bara, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, the district police chief, Waqar Ahmad, said.
Continue reading...Israel says IDF is staying in southern Lebanon, undermining Iran peace talks
Defence minister says troops not withdrawing though Tehran sees end to war in Lebanon as part of deal with US
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that Israeli troops would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, further complicating Iran peace talks as fighting in Lebanon continues to be an obstacle to permanent peace.
Speaking on stage in an interview in Tel Aviv, Katz said Israeli troops would remain in south Lebanon – echoing sentiments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Continue reading...Germany’s railways grind to halt as IT maintenance snag takes down network
Deutsche Bahn widely criticised after hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in operator’s latest setback
Germany’s rail network ground to a halt late on Tuesday as a result of maintenance work that went wrong, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers unable to get home as the national operator faced widespread criticism over the chaos.
The Deutsche Bahn (DB) meltdown was initially thought to have been caused by a cyber-attack, but it later emerged that it was likely to have been triggered by a scheduled attempt to replace an ageing component in the railway’s internal communication network, without which the trains are unable to run.
Continue reading...Brazilian federal police arrest Spanish citizen at São Paulo airport for racism
Woman detained at airport after allegedly making racist remarks directed at workers unloading baggage, police say
Brazil’s federal police have detained a Spanish citizen in São Paulo’s international Guarulhos airport for racism, in the latest of a series of high-profile arrests of foreign tourists on similar grounds.
Brazil has some of the strictest anti-racism laws in Latin America. Insulting a person on the basis of race carries a penalty of imprisonment from two to five years and a fine.
Continue reading...UN nuclear chief says inspectors will visit Iran sites as part of war deal
Rafael Grossi says the IAEA is "working on modalities" but an Iranian minister says such access would only be part of a final deal with the US.
Colombia’s left-wing presidential candidate concedes defeat
Senator Iván Cepeda was beaten by right-wing businessman Abelardo de la Espriella by less than a percentage point.
AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption
Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour
The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.
Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC.
Continue reading...Colombia’s leftwing candidate concedes election to Trump-endorsed millionaire
Leftist Iván Cepeda conceded to far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella who won by razor-thin margin
The defeated leftwing candidate in Colombia’s presidential runoff has conceded to the far-right, Trump-admiring millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.
Since Sunday night, the preliminary count had already pointed to a De la Espriella victory by a razor-thin margin of less than 1% of the vote.
Continue reading...France confirms first Ebola case
The French doctor had been working in DR Congo, where more than 260 people are known to have died.
The pianist from the audience at La La Land in Concert was a global feelgood story – but all was not what it seemed
Two orchestra members from the Sydney performance allege tensions behind the scenes were the cause of pianist failing to appear after intermission
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When an audience member stepped in for a pianist at a Sydney performance of La La Land in Concert last month it made global headlines.
During the intermission of the concert at Darling Harbour Theatre on 30 May, the two-time Oscar-winning composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz appealed to the 2,000-strong crowd for an “amazing sight-reader”, saying one of his two keyboardists had fallen ill.
Continue reading...Critic of Labor’s tax changes deletes anti-immigration AI video reposted from rightwing nationalist account
Fund manager Geoff Wilson says he did not watch full video and deleted it after ‘inappropriate associations were identified’
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The fund manager Geoff Wilson, a prominent public critic of the government’s tax changes, has deleted an inflammatory AI-generated video he reposted from a rightwing nationalist account portraying Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers taking money from white Australians and giving it to recently arrived migrants wearing Islamic face coverings.
Wilson said he had not watched the full video before sharing it or examined other accounts, some of whose content he reposted on Wednesday morning – which included content relating to the QAnon conspiracy theory – and deleted his posts after being contacted by Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Congress passes war powers measure for first time, breaking with Trump over Iran
Experts say Trump is likely to ignore it, but that even though it carries little power, it is politically significant.
German swimming lake criticised for ban on non-German speakers
Policy at Heidesee lake in Halle introduced after cases in which visitors ignored rules and lifeguards’ instructions
An open air swimming lake in the eastern German city of Halle which has refused entry to bathers who don’t speak German has been told it must lift the ban or face possible legal action.
The Heidesee lake, a lake in a flooded former open-cast mine, recently introduced a check at the entrance to filter out visitors whose German was deemed not good enough to follow safety instructions.
Continue reading...Kenya to charge students with murder over deadly school fire
Sixteen pupils, aged between 15 and 18, died when a fire broke out in a dormitory at Utumishi Girls' School last month.
Air conditioning creates political divide after France records hottest day
France is being forced to re-think its longstanding reservations about air-conditioning as temperatures soar.