UN human rights chief sounds ‘red alert’ over violence around Sudan’s el-Obeid city – AP News

  1. UN human rights chief sounds ‘red alert’ over violence around Sudan’s el-Obeid city  AP News
  2. Human rights catastrophe unfolding in Sudan's al-Obeid, says UN's Turk  Reuters
  3. UN warns of impending ‘catastrophe’ as paramilitaries close in on Sudanese city  Financial Times
  4. Sudan’s people subject to ‘relentless’ drone strikes in El Obeid  UN News
  5. Fears of new massacre in Sudan’s el-Obeid: What do we know?  Al Jazeera
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Albania’s flamingos meet the Trump family bulldozers – Financial Times

  1. Albania’s flamingos meet the Trump family bulldozers  Financial Times
  2. Protests Over Kushner-Linked Project Turn Violent in Albania  Bloomberg.com
  3. Man who sold land for Kushner-backed Albania development probed over alleged money laundering, drug trafficking  CBS News
  4. Albania warned EU accession at risk over Jared Kushner-backed resort plans  The Guardian
  5. Albania’s PM denounces ‘beautiful’ Flamingo Revolution protests turning violent  politico.eu
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Russia’s triumphant tone shifts as Ukraine deploys ‘asymmetrical tactics’ – Al Jazeera

  1. Russia’s triumphant tone shifts as Ukraine deploys ‘asymmetrical tactics’  Al Jazeera
  2. Putin Retaliates With New Strikes After Ukraine Takes the War to Russia  The New York Times
  3. Ukraine is raising the cost of war for Russia — and testing Putin's resolve  CNBC
  4. Ukraine’s Plan to Unnerve Putin  The Atlantic
  5. Putin’s Two Pillars of Russian Resilience Are Crumbling  Newsweek
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At least 40 killed in passenger bus crash in southwest Pakistan – Al Jazeera

  1. At least 40 killed in passenger bus crash in southwest Pakistan  Al Jazeera
  2. Overcrowded bus plunges into ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing 40 passengers and injuring 8  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  3. Bus Plunges 70 Feet Into a Ravine in Pakistan, Killing 40  The New York Times
  4. 40 killed, 8 injured as passenger bus falls into ravine near Balochistan-KP border  Dawn
  5. Pakistan: Overcrowded bus plunges into ravine, killing at least 32  BBC
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Zohran Mamdani to deliver speech to mark US’s 250th birthday in New York

New York mayor’s remarks at city hall to come just hours before Trump is set to deliver address at Mount Rushmore

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, is expected to deliver a speech on Friday morning to mark America’s 250th birthday.

The address, scheduled to begin at 10am local time and streamed live, will be delivered from behind George Washington’s desk in New York city hall. Mamdani will be surrounded by recently naturalized citizens.

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Salvaged steel and a slice of countryside: Caro sculptures on show in Oxfordshire fields

Visitors can get free peek at works by one of UK’s most significant 20th-century artists and one of his successors

Swifts screech overhead, hares lope along the grassy paths and butterflies flutter in the woodland fringe. There is an orchard; there are chickens, beehives. It seems simply a lovely, if conventional, slice of English countryside – until you happen upon striking sculptures fashioned out of chunks of reclaimed steel or machinery parts salvaged from factories, shipyards and farms.

The pieces are the stars of a show called Heavy Metal, which brings together work by one of the UK’s most significant 20th-century artists, Anthony Caro, and one of his successors, James Capper.

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Australian officials ask fans to respect the privacy of Neil, a 1-ton seal who respects nothing – NBC News

  1. Australian officials ask fans to respect the privacy of Neil, a 1-ton seal who respects nothing  NBC News
  2. Watch Neil the Seal wreak havoc in Tasmania  USA Today
  3. A 1,000kg mammal is wreaking havoc in Tasmania – and Neil the seal is loved for it  The Guardian
  4. Tasmanians warned of ‘loving Neil to death’ as 1,000kg seal’s antics feed ‘double-edged sword’ of fame  The Guardian
  5. Neil the seal's antics make him popular, but there's a big risk  ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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Keir Starmer ally Hollie Ridley to step down as Labour general secretary

Exclusive: As well as citing personal reasons, Ridley says she is making way for a successor ‘to work alongside new leader’

Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, is to step down this autumn after two years in the job, she has announced to party staff.

Ridley, an ally of Keir Starmer who ran Labour’s field operations in the 2024 general win election, said in an internal email she would stand down after the party’s annual conference in September.

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Ukrainian woman suspected of Monaco parcel bombing was ‘disguised as a man’

Suspect seen in Germany after attack apparently targeting tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev

The main suspect in a Monaco bomb attack this week that seriously injured a Ukraine-born business tycoon and two of his family members is a Ukrainian woman living in Germany who disguised herself as a man, authorities have said.

Interpol, the international police organisation, on Friday issued a red notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, aged 39, describing her as German-speaking with dark hair and a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow.

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Trump says U.S. maintaining current support levels for NATO would be “ridiculous” – CBS News

  1. Trump says U.S. maintaining current support levels for NATO would be "ridiculous"  CBS News
  2. ‘Ridiculous’ for US to maintain current Nato support, Trump warns ahead of alliance summit  The Guardian
  3. Angsty in Ankara  Foreign Policy
  4. Pay more for defence to get goodies from Trump, US tells Nato allies  Financial Times
  5. Donald Trump Melts Down at Allies in Late-Night Takedown  The Daily Beast
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In the West Bank, Israeli settlers take over Palestinian’s dream home – Reuters

  1. In the West Bank, Israeli settlers take over Palestinian's dream home  Reuters
  2. Colonizer Attacks Escalate Across West Bank Farmlands, Communities  - IMEMC News
  3. Settlers Establish New Outpost Near Bedouin Community Adjacent to Khan al-Ahmar East of Jerusalem  jordannews.jo
  4. Israeli settlers seized unfinished Palestinian home in Jalud  Межа. Новини України.
  5. Settlers plow lands in Kafr Ni’ma, storm Burqa, and occupation forces set up checkpoints around Ramallah  شبكة يافا الإخبارية
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What’s China’s new ethnic unity law, and what does it mean for minorities? – Al Jazeera

  1. What’s China’s new ethnic unity law, and what does it mean for minorities?  Al Jazeera
  2. China Defends Widely Criticized ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law  The New York Times
  3. McGovern, Smith, Khanna lead Bipartisan Group of 14 House Lawmakers Asking State Department to Condemn Chinese Government’s harmful “Ethnic Unity Law”  Congressman Jim McGovern (.gov)
  4. Press Release: The World Uyghur Congress Joins Global Day of Action to Protest the Ethnic Unity Law  World Uyghur Congress
  5. China tells its ethnic minorities to integrate or face consequences with sweeping new unity law  CNN
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At least 3,700 excess deaths reported during heatwave in France, Belgium and Netherlands – Reuters

  1. At least 3,700 excess deaths reported during heatwave in France, Belgium and Netherlands  Reuters
  2. France records 2,025 excess deaths at peak of heatwave as Europe braces for more extreme weather  BBC
  3. Deaths surged 29% in France during week of record heat, health agency says  AP News
  4. Weather tracker: Heatwave breaks June temperature records across Europe  The Guardian
  5. June heatwave may have killed around 20,000 people in Europe  New Scientist
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Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, seized by Chinese authorities in 2015, dies in Taiwan at 70 – AP News

  1. Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, seized by Chinese authorities in 2015, dies in Taiwan at 70  AP News
  2. Ex-HK bookseller Lam Wing-kee, detained by China in 2015, dies in Taiwan at 70  NPR
  3. Taiwan’s leader pays tribute to Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee after his death  South China Morning Post
  4. Hong Kong dissident Lam Wing-kee dies at 70 in Taipei  Focus Taiwan
  5. Taiwan Obit Hong Kong Bookseller  Bluefield Daily Telegraph
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Oman walks a diplomatic tightrope over Strait of Hormuz fees, creating a ‘blind spot’ for markets – CNBC

  1. Oman walks a diplomatic tightrope over Strait of Hormuz fees, creating a ‘blind spot’ for markets  CNBC
  2. Iran and Oman propose fee plan for Strait of Hormuz, sources say  NBC News
  3. Iran warns oil tankers to use approved routes in Strait of Hormuz or face a ‘forceful response’  AP News
  4. Iran war updates: Tehran rejects third-party intervention for Hormuz  Al Jazeera
  5. U.S. Dangles Rewards for Opening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran Isn’t Budging.  WSJ
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