Former lab analyst sentenced to 10 years in prison for manipulating DNA data

• Israel announced it is closing the British consulate in Jerusalem in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the UK Labour government. • The closure follows the UK's decision to unveil a package of sanctions targeting settlements in the West Bank.

• Retired Admiral Cem Gürdeniz published an analysis on September 8, 2026, proposing new security frameworks for Europe and West Asia to move toward a multipolar global order. • The author suggests implementing a "New Helsinki Process" in Europe and a "New Westphalia Process" in West Asia to manage confessional and political differences.

• The Middle East Council on Global Affairs is organizing the Hili Forum 2026 to analyze how Gulf states can improve security and economic resilience during regional instability. • The forum focuses on the unresolved U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and the lack of progress toward Arab-Israeli peace.

• China has expanded its influence across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Indo-Pacific by providing development aid to regions often neglected by Western nations. • The Lowy Institute reports that China has committed $7.5 billion and spent at least $5 billion in development aid in the Pacific islands since 2008.

Decision marks setback for president and Republicans, who set in motion national redistricting battle last yearThe US supreme court refused an emergency appeal by Missouri officials to use a newly drawn congressional map backed by Donald Trump in the November midterm election, letting stand a ruling by the state’s highest state court that blocked the new lines from taking effect.Last week the Missouri supreme court ruled that the map must go before voters to approve or reject the new districts, meaning it cannot be used in the November election. Trump and Republicans fumed over the decision, with the president calling it “horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional”. Continue reading...

A total of six people apprehended as clean-up of rubbish stacked 10 metres high cost about £6mTwo men have been arrested after fly-tippers dumped a “mountain of illegal waste”, stacked 10 metres high, in Oxfordshire.Hundreds of tonnes of waste appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington in November last year. The waste tip was so large that removing it could cost more than the local council’s annual budget, the area’s MP said. Continue reading...

Officials say sighting a sign species – driven to extinction in state before reintroduction in 2011 – expanding its rangeA gray wolf has recently been seen in California’s Mendocino national forest for the first time since the species returned to the state 15 years ago, state wildlife officials confirmed.Officials in Lake county, which is about two hours north of San Francisco, said last week the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) had received reports of sightings in the forest in late August. The agency verified the presence of a wolf in the far north end of the county, county supervisor Brad Rasmussen said in a statement on social media. Continue reading...

Follow the day’s news liveDigital duty of care bill risks ‘malicious compliance’, say GreensGreens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the government’s digital duty of care legislation is too vague on whether it allows users to opt-in or opt-out of algorithms, and says that risks manipulation or malicious compliance by the platforms.It’s neither opt-in nor opt-out. And what I’m concerned about is how the tech platforms will manipulate that. Unless the rules are tight, unless there’s no gaps, big tech is going to spend a lot of money fighting these laws in the first place and finding every which way to get around them. Malicious compliance at best.I think the fines element is one of those areas that I think is just not good enough … you need to hit them really where it hurts, and that’s their revenue. So it should be a percentage of global revenue.I don’t know whether this is deliberate misinformation by the opposition leader or he just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He hasn’t really spent much time engaging on these issues. Either way, it’s wrong. Continue reading...

Guy Campanile addresses ouster in Facebook post and says ‘we were told to leave because we insisted on doing our jobs’The former managing editor at 60 Minutes, who was fired in May with several other top correspondents, has spoken out about the ouster, saying he and his colleagues, were dismissed because they “would not compromise our principles or reputations by jamming unverifiable notions or White House talking points into our reporting”.Guy Campanile, who worked at CBS News for 34 years, said in a private Facebook post obtained by the Guardian on Tuesday that he had held off on commenting about his dismissal right away, having decided it was “wise to remain quiet when emotions are raw”. Continue reading...

Centcom says ‘defective’ drone was surveilling regional waters and was not collecting sensitive dataIranian forces claimed to have seized an American underwater drone in the strait of Hormuz that the US military said had “malfunctioned” more than a day earlier.US Navy Capt Tim Hawkins, a United States Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement the drone was surveilling regional waters when it malfunctioned “more than a day ago”. Continue reading...

Brothers, convicted of parents’ killings and denied parole last year, permitted to apply for another hearing earlier than expectedErik and Lyle Menendez will be before a parole board again in March, about 17 months earlier than expected.The brothers were originally sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for the 1989 fatal shootings of their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. A Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in May 2025, making them eligible for parole because they were under age 26 when they committed their crimes. Continue reading...