British family speaks out over nine-year ordeal after husband is abducted by Saudi Arabia

• China has expanded its influence across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Indo-Pacific by providing development aid to regions often neglected by Western nations. • The Lowy Institute reports that China has committed $7.5 billion and spent at least $5 billion in development aid in the Pacific islands since 2008.

Several MPs also banned from Israel after UK steps up condemnation of settlements and announces sweeping sanctionsUK politics live – latest updatesIsrael has ordered the closure of the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem in response to sweeping UK sanctions on goods from illegal settlements.Reacting to Ed Miliband’s description of violent Jewish settler activity on the occupied Palestinian West Bank as “ethnic cleansing” carried out with the tacit backing of the Netanyahu government, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced retaliatory measures including the closure of the consulate and entry bans on several UK MPs. Continue reading...

Islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau are under hurricane warning, while Oahu is under a tropical storm warningDamaging winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Lowell were pelting Hawaii’s western islands on Tuesday, bringing the threat of floods, mudslides and tornadoes.The islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau are under a hurricane warning, while Oahu, the state’s most populated island with close to 1 million residents, was under a tropical storm warning. Continue reading...

More rapid use of blood products may have raised chance of 19-year-old making it to hospital, though chance was low, says counselThe death of a 19-year-old student who was killed in the Nottingham attacks in 2023 was “potentially preventable”, a public inquiry into the incident has heard.Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic, on 13 June 2023. Continue reading...

Attorney hopes Trump would ‘consider a pardon’ given ‘the type of person she is’ and ‘what she has been through’Murder trial ends in dramatic deadlock – what comes nextThe lawyer of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three young children, has said he hopes Donald Trump will pardon his client after her trial recently ended with a deadlocked jury.Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, made the appeal on a televised interview on the ABC show Good Morning America on Tuesday. The plea comes to Trump after a judge on Friday declared a mistrial after the jury in the Clancy case could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she was guilty or not guilty.In the US, the national maternal mental health hotline is 1-833-852-6262. In the UK, the Pandas foundation offers support via Whatsapp on 07903 508334. In Australia, the national maternal and perinatal mental health hotline is 1300 726 306 Continue reading...

Israeli PM says allegation that UAE president alerted him more than a week before major offensive is ‘absolute lie’Benjamin Netanyahu was personally alerted by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a large-scale offensive against Israel a week before its 7 October 2023 attack, but did not act on the warning, according to a book by Haaretz reporters.The claim, which comes amid a crucial election campaign, prompted Israeli opposition leaders to describe the prime minister as “unfit” for office, even as Netanyahu denounced the report as an “absolute lie” and denied he spoke to the Emirati leader at that time. Continue reading...

Bloc losing €13bn in revenue with one in 10 cigarettes illegal, watchdog reportsEurope live – latest updatesThe illegal trade in tobacco is booming in the EU, according to a report by the bloc’s financial watchdog, with almost one in 10 cigarettes produced illicitly or smuggled, causing an estimated €13bn loss in tax revenue each year.The European Court of Auditors (ECA) said in a report on Tuesday that the trade had “changed significantly” in recent years as smuggling, while still “a problem”, was overtaken by illicit manufacturing, which has increased dramatically in the bloc. Continue reading...

Amid unpopular Iran war and persistent inflation, governor says state has had its name since before US existedDemocrats have hit back against Donald Trump’s suggestion that the state of New Mexico should be renamed “New America”, accusing the US president of trying to distract from his war on Iran and rising prices.The administration moved to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” hours after Trump’s return to office in January 2025. In August, as trade tensions escalated between the US and Canada, it moved to do the same with Lake Ontario, moving to rename it as “Lake America”. Continue reading...

New research shows turbulent flushes create toilet-generated aerosols that can transmit legionella, influenza and norovirusGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFlushing toilets release particles into the “breathing zone” of adults and can remain suspended in the air for at least 20 seconds, a new study has found.And closing the lid might not be enough to avoid a “plume” of potential pathogens. Continue reading...

David Burke’s defense argues there is no evidence he had any intent of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas HernandezThe family of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez has called for the singer D4vd, who is on trial suspected of killing the girl, to face the death penalty.D4vd, who was born David Anthony Burke, in July was ordered to stand trial over the killing of Rivas, whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of his Tesla car on 8 September 2025. Burke has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Continue reading...

Departures from London airports worst hit with most flights since 2pm affected as National Air Traffic Services investigates technical problemFlights around the UK are facing delays and disruption due to an air traffic control issue which has affected a string of airports including Heathrow and Gatwick.Departures from London airports are most severely affected, with few take-offs since a fault was reported early on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...