Co-op boss Shirine Khoury-Haq to step down after difficult year for group

• Israel's military launched a wave of airstrikes in the heart of Tehran early Friday, March 27, while U.S. President Donald Trump delayed his deadline to strike Iran's energy plants until April 6 amid ongoing Strait of Hormuz tensions. • The conflict has resulted in over 1,900 deaths in Iran, nearly 1,100 in Lebanon, 18 in Israel including four soldiers, and 13 U.S. military members, with millions displaced in both countries. • Trump cited Iran's request for a grace period and stated talks on a 15-point proposal are going 'very well,' despite Tehran's public denials of negotiations.

• The US Pentagon is developing plans for a 'final blow' in the Iran war, involving ground troops and massive bombing, as reported by Axios citing two US officials and knowledgeable sources on March 27, 2026. • US Central Command confirmed an Israeli airstrike killed Iran's IRGC Navy commander, amid escalating naval tensions near the Strait of Hormuz. • The Wall Street Journal revealed considerations for deploying 10,000 additional US troops with armored vehicles to the Middle East, coordinating with existing Marines and the 82nd Airborne Division.

• Costa Rica signed a pact on March 27, 2026, to accept 25 migrants deported from the US each week, as part of President Trump's third-country deportation initiative overseen by special envoy Christine Noim. • The agreement advances the Shield of the Americas policy amid broader US immigration enforcement tied to geopolitical pressures. • This development supports US efforts to manage migration flows during escalating Middle East conflicts.

• Israel's military launched a wave of airstrikes targeting the heart of Tehran early on March 27, 2026, as confirmed by military statements, while smoke rose over Beirut. • The strikes coincide with US President Donald Trump extending his deadline to bomb Iran's energy plants until April 6, 2026, after Iran's request, claiming talks are 'going very well' despite Tehran's denials. • Trump referenced a 15-point US proposal to end the conflict, amid convulsing stock markets and Iran's insistence on no direct negotiations, heightening global tensions over the Strait of Hormuz closure.

Agency uses devices, which are uncomfortable and interfere with employment, to push people to self-deport, advocates saySign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxFor five years, an asylum-seeking woman attended routine check-ins with immigration authorities without issue. At her most recent appointment in October, she was unexpectedly ordered to strap on an ankle monitor, according to her attorney, Deepa Bijpuria.Bijpuria, a supervising attorney in the immigration unit of Legal Aid DC, described the client as a single mom who fled her home country because of severe domestic violence, escaping while pregnant with her young daughter. Continue reading...

Experts see potential hallmarks of Iranian involvement in firebombing of four ambulances in Golders Green on MondayTo some it was the moment the mask slipped. Wearing an open-necked white shirt, Mohsen Rafighdoost, former minister of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was filmed last March fondly reminiscing with an interviewer from the Tehran-based Dibdan Iran news website about the assassinations he had organised around Europe.There was Prince Shahriar Shafiq, the last Shah of Iran’s 34-year-old nephew, who was shot twice in the head outside his mother’s home in Paris in 1979. Continue reading...

Intelligence reports find Russia is close to completing phased shipment of drones, medicine and foodMiddle East crisis – live updatesIntelligence agencies in Europe believe Russia is in the final stages of preparing to supply supply drones to Iran for use in its war with the US and Israel, according to a senior European official.Russia has already been providing intelligence sharing with Tehran to help it target US forces in the region, the official said, but the upcoming delivery of explosive-laden drones would mark the first evidence of lethal support since the start of the war. Continue reading...

Microglossum cyanobasis – or blue-based earthtongue – is only the second such specimen ever to be found in EuropeThe discovery of a rare, tongue-shaped fungus is being hailed as a sign of the crucial ecological value of England’s national nature reserves.Never before recorded in the UK, the blue-based earthtongue, also known as Microglossum cyanobasis, was found sprouting at the Kingley Vale national nature reserve in West Sussex. Continue reading...

Force issues strongly worded rebuttal after Tory former cabinet minister alleges ‘egregious failures’ in call for reviewThe police force that conducted the investigation into Lucy Letby has made a strongly worded public statement rejecting criticism after David Davis called in parliament for a review of the case.The Conservative former cabinet minister, who last year said that Letby had suffered “a clear miscarriage of justice”, said Cheshire constabulary had approached the investigation into deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital with too much focus on suspecting Letby, and made “egregious failures” in not following guidelines and best practice, including in the appointment of expert witnesses. Continue reading...

Alen Zheng, a US citizen, allegedly planted device that went undiscovered for a week at MacDill air force base in FloridaA man who allegedly planted a bomb that went undiscovered for a week in the visitors center of the Florida headquarters of US Central Command, which oversees the ongoing war in Iran, remained at large on Friday after fleeing to China.Authorities charged Alen Zheng and his sister Ann Mary Zheng, both US citizens in separate indictments this week for their alleged role in planting the explosive device at MacDill air force base. Ann Mary Zheng was arrested in the US after a short trip to China, and was arraigned Thursday in a federal court in Florida. Continue reading...

Government, industry and opposition see growing public support for a new gas tax but the industry is fighting backGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe gas industry is mobilising in opposition to a potential new tax on the sector as political momentum builds – including among Labor MPs – for the government to use the May budget to prevent producers profiting from the Middle East war.The Australian Energy Producers (AEP) chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, claimed a new tax would punish the same Asian trading partners Australia was leaning on to supply more fuel amid the global energy crisis. Continue reading...

President’s move, dubbed Trump Always Chickens Out, appears to have soured as he loses hold on situation in IranFrom Wall Street to the White House, the dish everyone’s talking about this week is the Persian Taco. It’s what’s served when Trump chickens out in Iran.In the early hours of Monday morning, witnessing oil prices surge, stock futures plummet and bond yields climb due to his threat to pummel Iran’s civilian power infrastructure, the president hurriedly walked it back, announcing he would put off the bombing because talks with Iran were actually going great. After the bombast and bloodshed, it was time for Taco (Trump Always Chickens Out), a move he first put on display during the tariffs crisis last year. Continue reading...