Bandits in north-west Nigeria abduct villagers they invited to discuss peace talks

• President Zelensky met with his closest European allies to establish a framework for potential peace negotiations. • The allies have outlined five specific conditions that must be met before peace talks can commence.

• Israel's air force launched strikes against targets in Iran following a series of escalating military exchanges between the two nations. • Donald Trump has urged both sides to cease hostilities, calling for a return to peace and diplomacy to avoid further violence and destruction.

• Global Research criticizes CNN for reporting that Russia is facing a "strategic defeat" and labeling Ukraine as a "military innovator." • The analysis argues that such claims ignore the reality of shifting battlelines and the unreliable nature of casualty counts provided by both sides and their allies.

• Latin America is experiencing a record surge in internal displacement driven by criminal violence, weak state governance, and the neglect of marginalized neighborhoods. • According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), families are being forced from their homes but remain trapped within their own national borders due to a lack of protection.

ChatGPT maker expected to be valued at more than $850bn, one of most highly valued listings in market historyOpenAI has filed confidentially to go public on the US stock market, according to a company blogpost published on Monday. The artificial intelligence giant’s debut on Wall Street is expected to be one of the most highly valued listings in market history with a valuation at more than $850bn.“We recently submitted a confidential S-1. We expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it,” the company’s post reads. “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.” Continue reading...

Government-funded JobsPlus trial in 10 neighbourhoods could be scalable nationwide, evaluation showsWe would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job-hunting experiencesA government-funded pilot of “hyperlocal” job support in 10 neighbourhoods across England has shown “promising early signs of effectiveness”, including for young people, and could be scalable nationwide, a new evaluation has shown.The JobsPlus scheme, backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Youth Futures Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation, focuses intensive support in a small area of predominantly social housing. Echoing a similar, long-established scheme in the US, “community champions” at each site help to engage hard-to-reach people in the local area. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Analysis shows 72.5% of 91 judgments in England and Wales contained judicial victim-blaming, with mothers scrutinised more intenselyA report has found “widespread and concerning evidence” of bias and victim-blaming in the family courts – primarily disadvantaging women.The report, Scratching the Surface: Victim-Blaming and Bias in Family Court Judgments, by the nonprofit organisation Right to Equality, will be shared with MPs on Tuesday at an event in parliament. Continue reading...

David Lammy to announce trial of AI assistants in crown courts in effort to cut backlog of casesA plan to roll out virtual legal assistants powered by artificial intelligence to crown courts has prompted warnings that the technology should not be used to “replace vital funding and additional court staff”.David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, will announce on Tuesday that AI assistants will be trialled in an effort to cut the backlog of court cases in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Echo project will help erase images as part of package of support to end ‘prolonged suffering of survivors’Victims of child sexual abuse in England and Wales will be given help to remove online images of their abuse as part of a wider package of support to end the “prolonged suffering of survivors”.The Echo project will help those who have reported their abuse to the police to identify and remove images of abuse online. They will also be given trauma support, the possibility of having a victim impact statement read in court against their perpetrators and the opportunity of criminal or civil compensation. Continue reading...

Senior administration officials jump on death of Henry Nowak – and statements echo language of the far rightOver a breathtaking few days that spanned Saturday’s 82nd anniversary of D-day, senior Trump administration officials have trampled over diplomatic protocol to tear into Europe’s immigration and anti-racism policies and argue that such actions could end western civilization.From the United States, Vice-President JD Vance and other administration officials jumped on a controversial murder case in Britain to accuse Keir Starmer’s government of lacking the Trump administration’s “political will and leadership” to stop mass migration and defend national sovereignty. Continue reading...

In speech on Tuesday, Tory leader will claim obligation to consider equality being used to advance ‘divisive agendas’Kemi Badenoch will vow to scrap the duty on public bodies to consider how they can promote equality as she seeks to head off the challenge from Reform UK by presenting her party as responsible but also in tune with populist anger.Badenoch, who was Conservative minister for equalities between 2020 and 2022, will commit to scrapping the public sector equality duty (PSED), a legal requirement obliging those bodies to think how they can improve society and promote equality in their day-to-day business. Continue reading...