Headlines for July 16, 2026

The film-maker behind Selma and 13th will focus on the 14th amendment for a new film out later this year as Donald Trump targets those protected by itAva DuVernay announced on Thursday that she has made a documentary for Netflix on the 14th amendment, which gave liberty and rights to formerly enslaved people following the civil war, and which has come under legal attack from Donald Trump.Netflix said on Thursday that it will release 14th later this year. The film will mark a return to nonfiction for DuVernay, the film-maker of Selma and Origin, and a follow-up to DuVernay’s 2016 film 13th, her examination of the legacy of the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery. Continue reading...

Giovanni Castellucci among 32 people convicted over the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse, which killed 43Thirty-two people, including the former chief executive of Italy’s motorway operator, have been convicted over the 2018 collapse of a Genoa bridge in which 43 people died.In a hushed courtroom on Thursday in the north-western Italian city, Giovanni Castellucci, former boss of Autostrade per l’Italia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the highest in the case. Continue reading...

Rachel Menitoff praised for her professionalism as giant insect lands on her during piece to cameraViewers of a now-viral video are sharing their amazement at a TV reporter who maintained her composure during a live broadcast after a huge flying cockroach unexpectedly landed on her mid-report.Rachel Menitoff, a reporter for Los Angeles station KTLA News, was covering dangerous conditions caused by extreme heat from Sherman Oaks, California, on Wednesday during an evening live shot. Her report took an unexpected turn when a giant insect interrupted the segment. Continue reading...

Few know who will get top jobs when new PM enters No 10 and the vacuum of information has its downsidesAs Labour MPs filed out of Portcullis House on the last day before parliament rose – and Andy Burnham ascends – one said they were struggling with a metaphor for how concentrated Burnham’s power had become. Flailing for something that did not sound insulting, he gave up and likened Burnham’s absolute control to North Korea’s Kim dynasty.It is a very congenial and receptive kind of dictatorship. But never in British politics has such power been concentrated in the hands of such a tiny number of individuals. Never in British politics have so many of Labour’s biggest beasts had so little influence or leverage. Continue reading...

Landmark high court ruling calls for fresh inquiry into Jools Sweeney’s death to allow for previously omitted social media evidenceThe inquest into the death of a 14-year-old boy, whose mother believes he died after a TikTok challenge gone wrong, is to be reopened in a landmark ruling by the high court.Jools Sweeney, a schoolboy from Gloucestershire, died in April 2022. His parents, Ellen Roome and Matt Sweeney, believed social media played a role in his death, pointing to the popularity of the “blackout challenge” online at the time. Continue reading...

Flash flood emergencies were issued on Thursday for parts of Kerr and Uvalde counties and Texas Hill CountrySign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email “Life threatening” flooding has taken hold in south-central Texas, where up to 20in of rain have already fallen in some areas – just one year after the same region endured catastrophic flooding that killed more than 100 people.Flash flood emergencies were issued on Thursday for parts of Kerr and Uvalde counties, where emergency crews performed water rescues, as well as areas around the Guadalupe River and the Pedernales River, according to morning updates from the National Weather Service (NWS). There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. Continue reading...

Lipfendra can be taken in conjunction with or an alternative to statins, the most prescribed medication in the USSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The drug giant Merck on Thursday announced it had received FDA approval for a daily pill that can be an alternative to statins for treating high LDL levels, or so-called bad cholesterol. The new pill, Lipfendra, is a version of a drug called a PCSK9 inhibitor.For decades the go-to therapy to treat high cholesterol levels has been statins, the most prescribed medication in the US. But statins come occasionally with side effects like muscle aches and they sometimes don’t drop cholesterol levels enough to meet recommended levels. Continue reading...

President says he had to choose ‘one side or the other’ after breakdown of relations between ministry and military leadersEurope live – latest updatesUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has defended his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership.Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov – widely seen as a reformist and moderniser – and the military’s commander in chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi. Continue reading...

Critics say Foreign Office figures send ‘global message about the role the country wants to play on international stage’Labour’s foreign aid cuts mean reductions of as much as 90% in the bilateral support the UK will give to some African countries, Foreign Office figures show.The department’s annual report includes a long-awaited breakdown of how the reduction in the aid budget will affect individual countries for the next three years. Continue reading...

Appointment by outgoing prime minister, potentially opens door for London mayor to join Burnham cabinetSadiq Khan has been given a peerage by Keir Starmer just days before the prime minister stands down, potentially opening the door to one of Labour’s most high-profile mayors joining Andy Burnham’s cabinet in future.The London mayor has long been tipped for the House of Lords, with Starmer said to have been keen to put him there immediately after the May local elections in an attempt to shore up Labour’s progressive flank. Continue reading...

Long-running AIHW survey shows daily rates of smoking dropped to 5.6% last year – down from 8.3% two years agoGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDaily smoking rates have fallen to a historic low and are tracking well ahead of national targets, while vaping rates have stabilised, according to the largest nationally representative survey on tobacco use.But those who do smoke are increasingly using illicit tobacco, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) National Drug Strategy Household Survey also found. Continue reading...