Charities decry UK plan to use AI to assess age of young asylum seekers

• ACCORD is analyzing the evolving African mediation landscape, questioning if current mediation architectures are failing to keep pace with rapidly changing conflict dynamics. • A critical "seventh shift" identified is geopolitical fragmentation, where global powers have moved away from multilateral norms toward pursuing transactional interests.

• The Taliban administration has officially welcomed China's expanded role in managing Afghanistan-related discussions and draft resolutions at the United Nations. • This diplomatic shift indicates a growing reliance on Beijing to mediate Afghanistan's international standing and navigate complex UN processes.

• Evidence suggests the current Ebola outbreak is broader, more fragmented, and more entrenched than the initial assessment of a regional emergency. • Public health officials are struggling to contain the virus, indicating that critical lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic have not been applied.

• Max Hastings argues that the United Nations' global influence has significantly declined, leaving it unable to effectively mediate modern conflicts. • The analysis highlights a shift from Cold War-era relevance to a current state of great-power deadlock that hampers international cooperation.

• India expanded its defense diplomacy during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh conducting high-level bilateral meetings. • The engagements focused on strengthening security ties and strategic cooperation with senior counterparts from the Netherlands and Australia.

Scientific dating proves streaks on walls of Bacon Hole, near the Mumbles in south Wales, is Palaeolithic rock artIn 1912, the Guardian reported on the discovery of Palaeolithic rock art on the walls of Bacon Hole, a cave near the Mumbles in south Wales – only for the painted panel’s authenticity to be dismissed by 1928.A series of horizontal bands in red pigment were subsequently deemed no more than a natural phenomenon and the newspaper added an updated statement: “It was later established that the red streaks … turned out to be red oxide mineral seeping through the rock and not prehistoric art.” Continue reading...

‘Megafires’ in California, Canada, South Korea and Europe in 2025, but changes to farming slowed spread in parts of Africa“Devastating” wildfires ripped across the wealthier parts of the world in 2025, a study has found, even as globally, the area ravaged by flames fell.Catastrophic blazes claimed lives, homes and jobs last year in California, Canada, Europe and South Korea. But the 335m hectares burned was the second-lowest since 2002, the review found, largely owing to the expansion of African farms that have fragmented landscapes and hampered the spread of large savannah fires. Continue reading...

Attacks reported in Kuwait – home to a US military base – and around the strait of Hormuz in latest exchange of fire as peace negotiations continueMiddle East live – latest updatesThe US said it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Monday it had targeted a US base in response, the latest in a series of exchanges amid negotiations to end the three-month-old war.The strikes on Iran’s Gulf coast were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters”, the US military’s central command (Centcom) said on X. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 25 years after race riots in north of England, Arooj Shah says extremist groups and lies about grooming scandal are poisoning Oldham“Identity politics is tearing communities apart”, the former leader of Oldham council has warned, in the week marking the 25th anniversary of race riots across the north of England.Arooj Shah quit as leader of the Greater Manchester borough earlier in May, after the local elections left the council with no group in overall control. Continue reading...

Sterling Nasa had tickets to see Justin Hurwitz’s La La Land in Concert. When the keyboardist suddenly fell ill, he found himself on stage performingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLa La Land is a much adored homage to Hollywood, where dreamers take chances and seize unexpected moments.On Saturday night at the ICC’s Darling Harbour theatre, that idea became a reality for a 21-year-old university student who was thrust into the spotlight at a live performance of the movie’s score – and saved a concert from derailment. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP and campaigners say sensitive citizen and company data could be subject to US disclosure lawsThe UK’s financial watchdog is being urged to prove its relationship with the US tech company Palantir will not provide the Trump administration with backdoor access to troves of sensitive citizen and commercial data.A US law that can oblige tech companies to disclose information to American authorities may apply to Palantir’s deal to help the Financial Conduct Authority detect crime, Martin Wrigley MP, a member of the House of Commons science and technology select committee, has warned. Continue reading...