Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

• Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven Palestinians in Gaza, while a Palestinian American traveled to the West Bank to protect their home from settlers. • Tensions escalated between the U.S. and Iran after Donald Trump posted a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz as "New U.S. Territory," despite Iranian claims that the U.S. is seeking talks.

Five hundred people turn up to adopt plants from conservatory that will reopen in 2030 after renovation projectAbove the waxy monstera leaves and bright pink hibiscus flowers in the Barbican conservatory hangs a giant net to catch the panes of glass that are at risk of falling from the ceiling on the unwitting plant lovers below.This precarious situation has caused the estate to shutter its greenhouse on the third and fourth floors for three years so a full refurbishment can take place. But the hiatus has a silver lining for many of those who visited on Wednesday to give the plants from the conservatory a new home. Continue reading...

Ben Carroll releases terms of reference for inquiry that will include examining allegations of CFMEU corruption on state government building sitesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast“Nothing is off limits” to Victoria’s royal commission into the construction sector, Ben Carroll has said, as he released the inquiry’s terms of reference and confirmed former premiers and ministers could be called to face public hearings.The Victorian premier on Thursday unveiled details of the inquiry while acknowledging there had been “grift”, “thuggery” and “violence” on taxpayer-funded building sites, after the letters patent formally establishing the commission were signed off by the governor following a cabinet meeting earlier in the morning. Continue reading...

Dwindling donations and stiff competition from secondhand sellers online prompt review but ‘no plans for closures yet’Oxfam is reviewing the operations of its three warehouses in Batley, Bicester and Milton Keynes and says it “cannot give guarantees” on the future of its high street shops in a “difficult economic climate”.The charity said it had no plans to close warehouses or shops but insiders fear that Batley, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, will shut as part of a cost-cutting drive because the West Yorkshire site’s lease is up for renewal. Continue reading...

US president pivots towards ‘crushing’ economic operation against Iran and its trading partners as military strikes fail to bring Tehran to the tableDonald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented.“Today, I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences.” Continue reading...

Crown prosecutor tells Victorian court that all seven of Patterson’s grounds for appeal should failGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastVictoria’s highest court has been urged to dismiss Erin Patterson’s appeal against her triple murder conviction, hearing that the case against her during trial was “overwhelming”.On Thursday, three judges of Victoria’s court of appeal continued hearing arguments regarding Patterson’s bid to have her conviction overturned. Continue reading...

The Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator says Dershowitz, who also defended Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, ‘only has himself to blame’ for being ostracisedLarry David has opened up about the collapse of his friendship with Alan Dershowitz, saying that Dershowitz “made a deal with the devil” when he became Donald Trump’s lawyer.Dershowitz, a former Harvard University law professor, has been a member of legal teams for Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, OJ Simpson and Harvey Weinstein at various points in his career, and served on Trump’s defense team during the president’s first impeachment trial in 2020. Continue reading...

Premier Chris Minns tells parliament ‘this is obviously devastating’ after earlier announcing 18-year-old had been ‘found alive’ with half a bottle of waterFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe body of missing 18-year-old bushwalker Lily Hooper has been found in a remote New South Wales national park more than a week after she set out on her hike.“I’ve got some terrible news,” the NSW premier, Chris Minns, told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. Just minutes earlier, Minns had said Lily had been “found alive”. Continue reading...

Death reported after residential areas and warehouses hit in heavy bombardment in capital and surrounding regionA heavy Russian bombardment killed at least six people and wounded dozens in Ukraine’s capital and its surrounding region overnight, authorities said on Thursday.A missile attack on Kyiv struck residential areas and warehouses, said the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko. The attack damaged residential buildings, a medical facility and an educational institution and left five people dead and 23 wounded, city military authorities said. Continue reading...

Independent senator urges prime minister to reconsider, arguing $5,000 cap for allied health services did not go far enoughFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJacqui Lambie has slammed Labor over its controversial $5,000 cap for allied health services for veterans, and accused it of a “callous disregard for veterans’ health and wellbeing”.The independent Tasmanian senator told the Senate in a fiery speech on Wednesday of her own medical battles, and said the department of veterans affairs had shown “no duty of care”. Continue reading...

Former real estate developer leads press corps on tour of grounds and says ‘one thing I know how to do is build’As the US national debt climbed past $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, and the war with Iran he started nearly six months ago dragged on, forcing Americans already struggling to pay the bills to spend more on fuel, Donald Trump led the press corps on a tour of the extensive remodeling of the White House grounds he is personally overseeing in his role as the self-styled “builder-in-chief”.The tour, during which Trump showed off upgrades such as a new granite driveway and refurbished columns, and expounded at length on newly laid grass, culminated in Trump autographing the back of a stone, inscribed with his name, to go in the center of the ornate new helipad he insists he needs. Continue reading...