Benjamin Netanyahu describes UK as ‘first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon’

• Pakistan has historically utilized mediation as a core pillar of its foreign policy to manage conflicts between neighboring adversaries. • Unlike global superpowers, Pakistan's drive for mediation is fueled by immediate security threats, including refugee influxes, cross-border terrorism, and narcotics smuggling.

• UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to aid Colombia. • The funding is designated to support the humanitarian response following a devastating earthquake that struck the region.

Lawyer says restriction comes at ‘significant moment’ in appeal process for White House Farm murder convictionThe legal team of Jeremy Bamber, who has served 41 years in prison for murdering five members of his family, has challenged Wakefield prison’s decision to ban him from talking about his case to the media and long-term supporters.His lawyers have issued a claim for judicial review against the secretary of state for justice and the governor of the category A high-security prison, arguing that it is violating his right to free speech and obstructing his access to justice. Continue reading...

Steven Sansom and Adam Watson accused of trying to kill Urfan Sharif, who murdered his daughter, in Belmarsh prisonTwo men have been charged with attempted murder after the father of the murdered schoolgirl Sara Sharif was attacked in prison.Steven Sansom, 47, and Adam Watson, 39, are accused of trying to kill Urfan Sharif at HMP Belmarsh on New Year’s Day last year. Continue reading...

Russia is losing 30,000 casualties a month, and the country’s regions are under pressure to feed the ‘meat-grinder’. Experts say it may not be enoughIn kitchens and Telegram chats across Russia, the same question is being asked with growing frequency: will Vladimir Putin order another mobilisation?Nearly five years into the war, Russia is scrambling to find enough soldiers to replenish its ranks, as voluntary recruitment slows and its forces suffer heavy losses on the battlefield in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Interior department calls incident ‘utter disgrace’ after area filled with bubbles and paint reading ‘Clean hands Dirty $’A memorial in Washington DC for the second world war was vandalized with bubbly ⁠soap and graffiti on Thursday, prompting vows from the US government to find the perpetrator.The fountain bubbled over with suds ⁠and someone painted “Clean hands Dirty $” ⁠on one ​surface, splattering the area with red and green paint. Uniformed police and national guard troops converged on the scene, which was ⁠cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape, keeping visitors away. Continue reading...

More than 180 minors among those detained, as firefighters tackle blazes across Europe amid record-breaking heatwaveEurope heatwave – latest updatesAlmost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave.With three out of five Europeans facing temperatures of at least 30C on Friday and about 150 million enduring 35C or more, France’s interior ministry said 474 people, including 183 minors, had been detained over wildfires in the country since 1 July. Continue reading...

Plus, heartbreakingly brilliant Cats: the Jellicle Ball, summer reads and Taylor Swift’s low-key weddingI’ve been in New York for two weeks, where the unthinkable has happened: even for a city accustomed to extremes, it is so hot, so humid, so reminiscent of Mobile, Alabama, or Mumbai, that all over the city, New Yorkers have been forced to break persona to talk about the weather. “Was it always like this?” (No.) “Can you believe this?” (No.) “Are you having a stroke?” (Possibly.) Continue reading...

Undercover agents infiltrated meetings, private chats and local events. Plus Wile E Coyote returns to the big screenGood morning. The extent to which federal law enforcement targeted political opponents and peaceful organizers has been laid bare in newly disclosed court documents.Internal investigative files reveal that the Department of Homeland Security launched a sweeping surveillance operation against anti-ICE protesters, major labor unions and left-leaning advocacy groups – sending undercover agents to infiltrate community meetings and issuing administrative subpoenas to seize financial records. The documents show that DHS investigators obtained financial records of unions and non-profits, as part of an inquiry into “domestic terrorist financing”.What did undercover government agents do? They infiltrated community meetings, joined private activist Signal chats and surreptitiously recorded audio at local events – including a “resistance skills training” at a public library and a sparring session at a church gym, where an agent accidentally dropped his recording device. Agents posed as activists and actively engaged participants by offering to help with “direct-action” protests.How have activists responded? Emilia González Avalos, the executive director of Unidos MN, a Minneapolis social justice non-profit group, said: “I believe that this is a clear attempt to intimidate us, to punish and politically repress disagreement and difference. And that is not the America that we have built through hundreds of years. And it’s definitely not the America that we are organizing for.”Where did the attack take place? The attack took place in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea. ​The regional governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said a woman had been arrested on suspicion of ⁠assassinating Shageyev on behalf of Ukrainian special services.What has Poland said about Russian activity there? A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Companies that kept policies did just as well financially, even after Trump’s executive order, as those that didn’tConservative backlash was supposed to put an end to the diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) movement as companies were warned “go woke, go broke”.In January 2025, Donald Trump delivered a death knell, ending DEI within the federal government with executive orders and threatening to target companies that still supported it. Companies including Google, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s and Walmart that had embraced DEI years earlier fell into line and announced an end to their policies. Continue reading...

Ben Crump and Rev Al Sharpton, also present at National Association of Black Journalists, demanded ‘truth’ and ‘transparency’ in Wells’ caseOn Thursday morning, the parents of Nolan Wells, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley, along with Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney, and Rev Al Sharpton, the famed civil rights activist, spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Atlanta. Wells was an 18-year-old college student who was found dead on 6 July after a boating trip with friends, and his death captured national attention.Wells went missing on 4 July and a photo of the teen, who was Black, and his three friends on the trip, who were white, went viral. Social media users have speculated that Wells’s disappearance, death and the perceived lack of urgency in the county’s investigation into what happened to the teen are because of his race. Continue reading...