Entire Cairngorms village evacuated as raging wildfire nears

• The United States is subtly shifting its strategy toward Iran, moving away from the goal of regime collapse, which is now viewed as unlikely. • This revised approach aims to degrade Iran's strategic position while managing regional stability to avoid catastrophic economic fallout.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the UN Security Council on Thursday, July 24, emphasizing the critical role of diplomacy in resolving global crises. • Guterres acknowledged that while diplomatic efforts may have failed to prevent current military confrontations and border tensions, they remain the most effective tool for ending them.

• Iran is utilizing Chinese technology and Russian tactics to launch increasingly accurate and lethal bombing campaigns against US bases in the Gulf. • US intelligence estimates reveal that Iran's ballistic missile program remains roughly 70% intact, contradicting previous Washington claims that Tehran's military capabilities had been obliterated.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the UN Security Council on Thursday to emphasize the critical role of diplomacy in resolving global crises. • Guterres acknowledged that while diplomatic efforts may have failed to prevent current military confrontations and border tensions, they remain the most effective tool for ending them.

• Mike Coté argues that the United States is currently trapped in an ineffective cycle of alternating between conflict and negotiation regarding Iran. • The author proposes a "third option" to break this pattern, suggesting a strategic shift in how the U.S. manages its relationship with the Iranian regime.

Comment follows news Axel Rudakubana had been transferred from prison to psychiatric hospitalThe lawyer for the families of Axel Rudakubana’s victims has said the Southport killer is “trying to retraumatise the families from his cell” after it emerged he had been transferred from prison to a psychiatric hospital.Rudakubana, now 19, was given a life sentence for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults. Continue reading...

Dharmendra Pradhan steps down after demonstrations over exam leak scandal in major victory for youth political movementIndia’s education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has resigned after a week of mass demonstrations, handing a major victory to a new youth movement that has posed an unprecedented challenge to Narendra Modi’s government.In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Pradhan said he had submitted his letter of resignation to the prime minister after student pressure. Continue reading...

After a Kyiv visit, rightwing firebrand now supports Ukraine – but perhaps it’s just because Trump favors a winnerLaura Loomer, the online Maga provocateur, has never worked in the White House or anywhere else in the government, but her sudden conversion to the Ukrainian cause this week is significant because her social media posts often have real policy implications in the second Trump administration.The rightwing commentator has spent the last few days in Kyiv, where she announced a newfound sympathy for Ukraine in its long war with Russia, and admitted that she had previously fallen for Russian propaganda. Continue reading...

Lucy Harrison, 23, was shot in 2025 with her father’s gun. He was never arrested and a grand jury chose not to indict himLucy Harrison felt that 2024 was her best year yet. The 23-year-old had graduated from university with first class honours, landed her dream job and bought her first house with her boyfriend.She was a “big girl adult” now, Lucy would say. She shed tears of joy seeing her idol, Taylor Swift, at Wembley on the Eras tour that summer. Life could hardly get any better. “All the hard work, all the tears, everything was coming to fruition,” said her mother, Jane Coates, from Warrington in north-west England. Continue reading...

No press briefing has been held for months, as the defence department belatedly or inaccurately releases figuresThe Pentagon is taking a “shameful approach” to releasing information about US casualties in the Iran war, Leon Panetta, a former defence secretary and CIA director, has told the Guardian.The defence department has not held a press briefing for two-and-a-half months. Officials have faced accusations that they are engaged in a cover-up designed to hide the true cost of Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, fearing a public backlash before November’s midterm elections. Continue reading...

US president responds to question about NBA’s ‘best ever’James backed three candidates who ran against TrumpIn a bizarre response to being asked to weigh in on the basketball careers of ⁠Michael Jordan and LeBron James, the US president Donald Trump said that James might be “a racist”.In Friday’s ⁠White House press ⁠conference, ​the Fox News reporter Peter Doocy mentioned that James intends to sign with ⁠the Philadelphia 76ers, then asked the president whether Jordan or James is the “best ever”. Continue reading...