French local election results give unexpected lift to centrist parties

• U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, stated in an interview that the military campaign against Iran is 'ahead or on plan' amid ongoing strikes. • Israeli forces launched a wide-scale wave of strikes on Iranian terror regime infrastructure early Monday, with Iranian media reporting new airstrikes in Tehran. • Death toll exceeds 1,500 in Iran, 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel, and 13 U.S. military members, displacing millions in both countries.

Pontiff tells Italian airline staff aerial bombings should be banned, in latest condemnation of warMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesPope Leo has said aeroplanes should be “carriers of peace” and that aerial bombardments should be banned, in his latest condemnation of war amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.The Catholic church’s first American pontiff made the comments during a meeting on Monday with staff from the Italian national airline ITA Airways. Continue reading...

Belfast court heard how Stephen McCullagh livestreamed recording of himself as part of concocted ‘cover story’A live stream lie unravelled: how Stephen McCullagh tried to get away with pregnant girlfriend’s murderA man who set up a false alibi involving himself livestreaming a video game on YouTube has been found guilty of murdering his pregnant partner.Natalie McNally, 32, was 15 weeks’ pregnant when she was violently attacked and killed at her home in Lurgan, County Armagh, in December 2022. Continue reading...

YouTube gamer planned audacious alibi, appeared grief-stricken at wake and apparently spied on victim’s familyMan who used false gaming alibi found guilty of Natalie McNally’s murderTo get away with murder, Stephen McCullagh planned an audacious alibi: he would trick the world into thinking he was at home livestreaming a video game when in fact he was 17 miles away, extinguishing a life.He prerecorded a six-hour session of him playing Grand Theft Auto and uploaded it on the night of 18 December 2022, to give the impression to his YouTube channel’s 37,000 subscribers that he was at home in Lisburn, County Antrim, wearing a Santa hat, eating snacks, sipping Guinness and making jokes. “I am not leaving the house tonight,” he said. Continue reading...

Gavin Burrows said claimants in case against Daily Mail publisher ‘very misled’ over his workA private investigator whose disputed confessions of illegal activity form a key part of the case brought by Prince Harry and others against the Daily Mail’s publisher has said the admissions were “a thing of fiction”.Giving highly anticipated evidence at the high court, Gavin Burrows said the claimants in the case, as well as their lawyers, had been “very misled” over his work, adding that the supposed admissions in his name were “a pack of lies”. Continue reading...

President claims immigration agents could help manage long lines as TSA agents go unpaid during partial shutdown Pilot and co-pilot killed after jet collision at LaGuardiaUS politics live – latest updatesSecurity lines stretched for hours on Monday at US airports where unpaid Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) screening agents refused to report for duty and ICE agents deployed by Donald Trump were reportedly seen in a dozen cities.The president claimed over the weekend that immigration agents could help manage long lines, but in Atlanta, little immediate impact of their presence could be observed. Meanwhile, airport staff were getting creative trying to herd thousands of discontent passengers. Continue reading...

Video of Reacher star allegedly showed him striking a man in what looked like a suburban Tennessee neighborhoodAlan Ritchson, the actor best known for his role in the hit action series Reacher, was filmed allegedly assaulting his neighbor in front of his children.In a video obtained by TMZ on Sunday, the 43-year-old appeared to strike a man several times as he kneeled on the ground in what looked like a suburban neighborhood in Tennessee. Two children, reported by TMZ to be Ritchson’s, can be seen nearby sitting on motorbikes and watching the incident unfold. Continue reading...

Local people say incident is just the latest example of hostility that has built up over a long timeThe blasts that boomed out in the early hours of Monday in suburban north-west London struck terror into people living in the surrounding streets. Their effects in Golders Green, with its large Jewish population, were still reverberating later that morning.The antisemitic attack, in which four ambulances run by the Jewish charity Hatzola were set on fire, has left local people afraid. They are afraid because of the incident itself but also because of what they see as a febrile atmosphere of antisemitism in the UK more generally. Continue reading...

Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned subscription service for adult content died of cancer, the company saysLeonid Radvinsky, the owner of OnlyFans, has died of cancer at the age of 43, the company announced on Monday.“We are deeply saddened ​to announce the death of Leo ​Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a ⁠long battle with cancer,” said a spokesperson for the company, best known for subscriptions to pornographic content creators. “His family have requested privacy at ​this difficult time.” Continue reading...

Woodcocks and pochard, pintail and goldeneye ducks among threatened species protected by proposalsHunters will be banned from shooting a rare and beautiful duck under new proposals to halt the decline of six British wild birds.The new rules would restrict the shooting of species including the distinctive woodcock, and the striking pintail, goldeneye and pochard ducks, all of which are classed as under threat and have seen their populations fall sharply in recent years. Continue reading...

Airline has hedged much of fuel into 2027, avoiding soaring prices, but costs likely to hit passengers by end of summerBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of easyJet has said the war in the Middle East has started to hit flight bookings, while the soaring price of oil would probably mean a rise in air fares by the end of the summer.The chief executive, Kenton Jarvis, said that while the airline had hedged much of its fuel into next year, avoiding soaring kerosene prices, it was “unavoidable” that some of the costs would be passed on in fares. Continue reading...

The EU’s reluctance to replace petrol cars and gas boilers keep it hooked on foreign fuels, say industry groupsEurope has made “staggering progress” in producing clean power but neglected efforts to phase out fuel-burning machines, the head of an industry group said as the global oil crisis deepens.Adrian Hiel, director of the Electrification Alliance, said the EU has “radically transformed” its power supply and must now focus on getting “more electricity into the stuff we use every day”. Continue reading...