Dozens missing after passenger ferry sinks off coast of Guyana

• The Iranian regime is facing a critical survival crisis driven by a convergence of internal fractures, including severe economic deterioration and persistent nationwide protests. • Key drivers of this instability include declining public legitimacy, leadership disputes, and significant uncertainty regarding the future of political succession.

• A London-based research group has proposed a shared control pact among Gulf states for the Strait of Hormuz, modeled after a defunct European coal and steel agreement. • The proposal aims to resolve an acrimonious dispute over the waterway, which serves as a critical chokehold for one-fifth of the global oil supply.

• Oil prices have climbed above $90 a barrel following Iranian military attacks on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. • Tehran has criticized the U.S. by comparing Donald Trump's attacks on bridges to the tactics used by ISIS.

• Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that critical decisions regarding negotiations were reached without the input of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. • This admission indicates potential internal friction or a breakdown in the decision-making hierarchy within the Iranian leadership.

Bald eagle found hurt in California after fight with other birds, says group, as eagle called Jackie not seen on camerasA beloved female bald eagle missing for several days in California’s Big Bear Lake is believed to have been found alive but injured after a fight with other birds, according to the advocacy group that operates a live, viral nestcam.Friends of Bear Valley said on Facebook on Sunday that observers first spotted the eagle on the ground last Thursday, then witnessed it involved a “short ground altercation with two other subadult eagles” on Friday. Continue reading...

US president says $400m plane will be ‘maxed out’ with appropriate protections but doesn’t give further detailsDonald Trump acknowledged on Sunday that the Boeing jet given to him by Qatar cannot match the defensive armor of a true presidential aircraft, telling reporters it will soon be grounded so engineers can “max it out” with the protections it was never built with.The admission came as Trump touched down in Washington on the jet, fresh off a trip to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he handed the World Cup trophy to Spain alongside Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, after the tournament’s climactic final. Continue reading...

Moscow targets southern city after the Russian capital was hit by 400 drones in response to one of the war’s biggest attacks on Kyiv at the weekendThere is also a bit more from Reuters on the context – and the significance – of these continued strikes on ships:“Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters, and ​the renewed violence on this route has ​raised concerns about supply.Ukraine, which in recent ​seasons accounted for about 6% of global wheat exports and about 11% of global corn ​exports, has lost about a ‌third of its capacity ​to export grain via ​its Black Sea ports due to Russian missile and drone attacks, traders and analysts have said.“Upon prime minister @KoretskyiUA’s instructions, @MFA_Ukraine is already informing the International Maritime Organization and our international partners about Russia’s latest attacks on civilian shipping, as well as the governments of the states whose citizens were killed or injured. During president @ZelenskyyUa‘s recent visit to London, I discussed this issue with the IMO leadership and called for the deployment of an international monitoring mission to Ukraine’s ports. We expect this mission to begin its work as planned in the fall and help document every act of Russia’s maritime terror, paving the way for accountability.” Continue reading...

Jury in Winchester is told James Desborough was convicted in March of murdering Steven Kempster A fan of a TV show about serial killers strangled a cellmate in prison while awaiting trial for allegedly murdering two men and hiding their remains in Cornish woodland, a jury has heard.James Desborough, 40, is accused of killing Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman and concealing parts of their bodies in the dense undergrowth close to his cabin near St Austell. Continue reading...

The first full look at the big-budget December tentpole features returning heroes such as Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Stewart, Florence Pugh and Chris EvansThe first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday has been released online offering a look at Marvel’s big-budget big hope.“Something’s coming, something we may not be able to deter,” is the first line heard in the new preview which proceeds to bring back multiple characters from various Marvel movies and universes. Continue reading...

Lawmakers weakened community air monitoring as industry pushed back against greater scrutinyKimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St Rose, in south-eastern Louisiana. Oily fumes sometimes drift into her home, bringing headaches, nausea and insomnia. On one such night, she grabbed her son at 3am and fled to an all-night Ihop.In 2023, after years of coping with the noxious odors, Kyereh began collecting air samples in her yard for a local environmental justice group. But soon after, Louisiana passed an industry-backed law that sharply restricted how that kind of data could be used.Ten of Louisiana’s heaviest air-polluting facilities, based on self-reported data shared with the EPA, operate without a single public air monitor within five miles.This list includes Dow Chemical’s plastics factory in Plaquemine, which is about eight miles from the nearest air monitoring station. The station measures only ozone even though the plant releases an array of toxic pollutants including ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen.No public monitors measure ammonia – despite the fact that CF Industries’ Donaldsonville plant emits more than 7m lbs of the hazardous chemical each year, according to EPA data.The three chemicals that researchers have concluded “together account for the large majority of total cancer risk” in the area – ethylene oxide, chloroprene and formaldehyde – aren’t monitored by the state at all. Continue reading...

The 51st edition of the Canadian festival will also feature world premieres starring Taron Egerton, Amanda Seyfried and Chase InfinitiWorld premieres of films led by Helen Mirren, Seth Rogen and Chris Rock lead the lineup for this year’s Toronto film festival.The September festival, taking place after the Venice film festival, has previously seen the premieres of Oscar-winning movies such as Green Book, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Still Alice, Dallas Buyers Club and Silver Linings Playbook. Continue reading...

Drivers in West Midlands said heat in cabs was ‘unbearable’ and threatened employee and passenger safetyBus drivers in the West Midlands have spoken out about the “horrendous” working conditions they have experienced during heatwaves, which led to 40C temperatures in their cabs.The UK was hit by high temperatures and dry weather in three successive heatwaves, in which temperatures topped 37C in June, when the country recorded its hottest ever June day. Last week, the Met Office warned climate extremes are becoming the “new ‘normal’ for the UK”. Continue reading...