Former Labour MP calls for Starmer to face Commons committee over Mandelson vetting

Episode four of Peacock’s Gilgo Beach Serial Killer: House of Secrets features interviews with Rex Heuermann’s ex-wifeThe meticulous rituals of the Long Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann, have been revealed in a Peacock documentary released on Thursday.The confessed killer of eight women relays via a therapist that he maintained a four-day ritual of preparation, building trust with his victims, murdering them in a basement “kill room”, a day of “playtime” with their bodies, and then using a stopwatch to perfect dumping them on a beach 20 miles from his home. He’d use the fourth day to deal with any unforeseen complications. Continue reading...

Rosemarie Milsom, who formed and runs Newcastle writers festival, will take over from Louise Adler after the literary festival imploded over invitation to Randa Abdel-FattahIn January, as the implosion of Adelaide writers’ week made headlines around Australia and the world, Rosemarie Milsom was watching closely.The Adelaide festival board, which oversees AWW, had overridden the literary festival’s director, Louise Adler, and disinvited the Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah over past comments she’d made about Israel and Zionism. This decision resulted not in a quieter, less-controversial festival as the board members may have hoped, but a boycott by 200-odd writers, the resignation of Adler – followed by the whole board – a potential defamation lawsuit against the South Australian premier and the collapse of AWW. Continue reading...

Tectonic plate movements over millions of years have lifted and tilted the layers, with records of ancient earthquakes in the rocksGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMicroscopic fossils embedded in limestone have helped reveal the true age of Victoria’s Twelve Apostles, as 8.6 to 14m years old.The conclave of giant golden pillars is visited by 2.8 million tourists each year, a highlight for those travelling along the Great Ocean Road south-west of Melbourne. Continue reading...

Lawsuit follows exchange on X in which airline suggested customer should clear their cache or book with incognito windowSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxJetBlue has been sued in a proposed class action claiming it uses customers’ personal data to set ticket prices, after its response to a social media post raised concern that the carrier employed “surveillance pricing” to make flying more expensive.According to a complaint filed late Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, JetBlue conceals its use of “trackers” to set prices dynamically, and shares data with third parties whose programs help it decide when to raise fares. Continue reading...

Bristol University project aims to help directors make better movies and take greater risks – with one already onboardAt first glance, it looks like any high-end cinema: booming surround sound, a razor-sharp 4K projector and rows of reclining seats. But instead of clutching popcorn, a headset records my brain activity and a heart rate monitor wraps around my arm while infra-red cameras capture every blink and fidget.I’m sitting in a one-of-a-kind cinema at the University of Bristol where researchers are studying how people respond to what they see on screen. By combining viewers’ physical reactions with verbal feedback on the parts of the film they found most compelling, the team hopes to understand which moments truly grip attention – and whether that insight could help film-makers create better movies and take greater creative risks. Continue reading...

Police chief says human remains had been in a wooded area for years and did not match local missing persons reportsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMemphis police have found the remains of three children in an area of woodland, saying they had probably been there “for several years”.Police said the children are believed to have been between three and seven years old. Continue reading...

Georgia players celebrated championship at White HousePresident shakes hands of men, not women in videoFormer tennis star Navratilova leads criticismA White House photo celebrating a champion women’s sports team has drawn backlash due to the positioning of Donald Trump and a group of men, who overshadowed the female athletes by lining up in front of them.The University of Georgia women’s tennis team was one of several collegiate teams to visit the White House on Wednesday to mark a recent championship win. In a photo shared by press aide Margo Martin, a group of six men, including Donald Trump, took up the front row of a stage setup, with 11 women standing in the background largely obscured. Continue reading...

Technology minister tells Commons ‘de-identified’ information from UK Biobank advertised for sale on AlibabaUK politics live – latest updatesThe confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been offered for sale on Chinese website Alibaba, the UK government has confirmed.The data, belonging to participants in the UK Biobank project, was found for sale on three separate listings last week. The records have now been removed and it is not believed any sales were made. Continue reading...

Special envoy to Donald Trump suggested the idea‘Firstly not possible … secondly not appropriate’The Italian sports minister, Andrea Abodi, has described a proposal for his country to replace Iran at the World Cup as “not appropriate”, rejecting any idea that the Azzurri will be granted a last-minute berth at this summer’s tournament.On Wednesday it emerged that Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy to Donald Trump, had suggested Italy should be fast-tracked to the World Cup despite their shock defeat by Bosnia & Herzegovina in last month’s playoffs. Zampolli proposed the four-time winners Italy replace Iran and said they would “have the pedigree to justify their inclusion”. But Abodi said that football’s showpiece tournament should remain meritocratic. Continue reading...

Criminal investigation under way after carcasses found across Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park within a weekThe carcasses of 18 wolves have been found in an Italian national park within the space of a week in an apparent series of poisonings described by conservationists as the most serious crimes against wildlife in Italy in a decade.Authorities of the national park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise said eight wolves were found dead in recent days in three different areas of the vast park, adding to the 10 carcasses discovered last week. Three dead foxes and a buzzard were also found. Continue reading...

Media rights groups condemn killing of Amal Khalil, who said in 2024 she had been threatened by ‘an Israeli enemy’Middle East crisis – live updatesThe Lebanese journalist killed in an Israeli attack on Wednesday had previously complained of receiving a threat via an unidentified Israeli phone number that she would be killed if she did not leave southern Lebanon, where she had long been based and worked.Amal Khalil, 43, who worked for al-Akhbar newspaper and had described herself as supporting the resistance against Israel “whether communist or Islamist”, was killed in a sustained attack by Israeli forces in which a colleague was also wounded. Continue reading...

Where Olly Robbins relied on recollections, Cabinet Office’s top civil servant was at pains to link her account to paper trail Seen through the Westminster bubble, the Peter Mandelson vetting affair looks like an age-old conflict pitting ministers against mandarins. Yet the latest top civil servant to testify to parliament over what some are now calling “Mandygate” gave an intriguing account that suggested it has never been as simple as that.Cat Little, the top civil servant at the Cabinet Office, did not put it in these terms, but what she revealed was an extraordinary dispute between the country’s most senior civil servants. Continue reading...