‘Görli is our garden’: Berliners fight to stop mayor locking their park at night

Historians and campaigners accuse US defence secretary of desecrating memory of soldiers who fell in NormandyThe US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been accused by historians and rights campaigners of “grotesque stupidity” and desecrating the memory of the soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy after he sought to link immigration to the D-day anniversary, saying that Europe was facing a different “invasion” of its shores.Speaking in north-west France on Saturday to mark the 82nd anniversary of the D-day landings, Hegseth seized on the moment marking the wartime liberation of Europe to reiterate the US administration’s longstanding attack on European immigration policies. Continue reading...

Attack was ‘extremely vile’ and deliberate, says Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy A Russian Shahed drone has substantially damaged a building used to store spent nuclear fuel close to the disused Chornobyl nuclear power plant, in what Ukraine’s president described as a deliberate and “extremely vile” attack.While the structure – the reception building of the spent fuel storage facility – was empty of containers at the time, the targeting of the sensitive site appeared to be direct messaging from Moscow amid an intensifying battle of long-range aerial strikes in which high-profile locations on both sides have been hit. Continue reading...

Holy Family Catholic primary school says enthusiastic response from parents has been biggest surpriseSchools banning pupils from having smartphones are commonplace. But what about a school where pupils ban teachers from using their smartphones, and then get their parents to join in?And not just phones: at Holy Family Catholic primary school in west London teachers are also barred from using laptops, monitors or tablets during the school’s screen-free Mondays, after an idea that came from the pupils themselves. Continue reading...

Video of figures clambering in and out of manholes sparks intrigue – and comparisons with crime-fighting turtlesIt started in early May. Under cover of darkness, three people pried open a manhole cover in Queens, New York, and clambered down into the sewer.The incident might have gone unnoticed, but the subterranean quest, which was caught on film, captured New Yorkers’ interest when it happened again, and again, in the same month, with two other groups filmed making their way in and out of the sewer system in Brooklyn. The string of events have seen those involved dubbed “mole people” by the local press. Continue reading...

Aaron Spencer never denied fatally shooting Michael Fosler, 67, the sexual abuser of his daughter, aged 13An Arkansas sheriff’s candidate who was alleged to have killed his teenaged daughter’s sexual abuser says he is focused on “family and getting back to a normal life” after the dismissal of a murder charge filed against him.“I’m grateful this chapter is closed,” Aaron Spencer also said in a statement after the dismissal on Thursday. Continue reading...

As Trump officials take aim at vaccine schedule, scientists encouraged by companies’ desire to continue coverageA group of insurers will continue covering routine vaccines through 2027 as the Trump administration once again takes aim at the shots and outbreaks of preventable illnesses such as measles and whooping cough lead to hospitalizations and deaths.Experts told the Guardian that the move has raised questions ahead of the November midterms, but certainly indicates that insurance companies believe vaccines are “safe and effective”. Continue reading...

UK lagging behind rivals on tourism growth because of travel costs and lack of joined-up planning, says CEO Sean DoyleThe cost of travel to and around the UK is keeping millions of tourists away and slowing economic growth, the boss of British Airways said, as he urged a rethink of aviation taxes.The airline’s chief executive, Sean Doyle, said the UK had some of the highest aviation taxes in the world and was falling behind countries such as Japan, France and Germany in boosting its inbound tourism. Continue reading...

In his first visit to an EU country outside Italy, pope urges world leaders to stop dividing electorates and to respect ‘every human being’More than a million people have filled the streets near one of Madrid’s main squares to join Pope Leo for an outdoor Mass, likely to be the largest event of his week-long visit to Spain.Throngs of people pressed along barriers near the landmark Cibeles Square, waving flags and shouting “Long live the pope”, as Leo arrived in his white popemobile for the event. Some tossed flower petals as he arrived in the square. Continue reading...

Backlash against AI is taking an extremist turn, following in the footsteps of earlier techno-pessimist militantsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email When a 20-year-old man from Texas was arrested earlier this year for allegedly trying to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters and Sam Altman’s house, authorities found an anti-AI manifesto alongside his lighter and a jug of kerosene. It was one of a spate of attacks that has caused alarm among researchers, the tech industry and law enforcement about the rise of anti-tech extremism.In April, an Italian “nature pilled” Instagram influencer was arrested in Rome and charged with plotting a series of anti-tech attacks that took inspiration from Ted “The Unabomber” Kaczynski. Two self-described “ecofascists” that carried out a deadly anti-Muslim attack on a mosque in San Diego last month also cited “AI slop” and JD Vance’s ties to Palantir as motivations for their violence in their manifesto. An Indianapolis city councilor woke up earlier this year to gunshots being fired into his home before finding a note that read “NO DATA CENTERS”. Continue reading...

Deputy PM says he spoke to US vice-president about post that blamed ‘mass invasion of migrants’ for teenager’s death David Lammy has said he told the US vice-president, JD Vance, he was “wrong” to blame the murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration.The deputy prime minister said he spoke to Vance in a phone call on Saturday to tell him “our democratic process is working well” and that he was wrong in his commentary about the murder. Continue reading...

Voters to choose between pro-Russian opposition and incumbent Nikol Pashinyan, who is more closely aligned with the westArmenians are going to the polls in an election that could cement the country’s shift towards Europe and away from its traditional alliance with Russia.Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party enters the vote as the favourite, ahead of three opposition candidates who advocate for closer ties with Moscow. His main challenger, Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian billionaire who built much of his fortune in Russia, has been forced to campaign from house arrest at his mansion outside Yerevan. Continue reading...