Marco Rubio to meet pope at the Vatican after Trump attacks on pontiff

People came to Montgomery by bus, car and plane to march on the state capitol with local and national leaders Thousands of people from across the country descended on Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, on Saturday. They arrived by bus, by car and by plane to gather for the All Roads Lead to the South rally, following the supreme court’s Louisiana v Callais decision last month, which essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act and severely limited protections against voting discrimination.Organized by a coalition of national and local civic engagement groups, the rally took place outside the Alabama state capitol building, in the same plaza where the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches – three nonviolent demonstrations in support of Black voting rights – are enshrined. Continue reading...

Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSome federal politics for you coming up: we’re expecting to hear federal treasurer Jim Chalmers speaking on ABC’s Insiders shortly – we’ll bring you that when it happens.The prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Melbourne today and doing a press conference at about the same time as his treasurer is speaking on the telly. We’ll let you know what comes out of that presser, too.I do think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, guys. I think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, but boy, oh boy, what an incredible campaign from an incredible, incredible candidate.Labor is likely to retain Stafford. There has been a 4.1 per cent swing against Labor with additional postal votes still to be counted. But for the LNP to win from here, those postal votes would need to break very strongly in its favour. That is very unlikely to happen.I am so thrilled to tell you that Luke Richmond is the new member for Stafford. Continue reading...

Donald Do allegedly sought to export 292 loggerhead musk turtles under the false claim they had been captive-bredA California man, who received a federal permit to export turtles under the false claim that they had been captive-bred, has been arrested on wildlife-trafficking charges, authorities said on Friday.Donald Do and an unidentified accomplice allegedly sought to export 292 loggerhead musk turtles to Taiwan from December 2022 to May 2024. The accomplice obtained the US Fish and Wildlife Service export license, after which, authorities say, Do purchased turtles poached from the wild in Florida and other locales. Do had also allegedly sent instructions for the animals to be shipped to San Francisco. Continue reading...

Asylum seekers express dismay at continuation of scheme agreed last year that has failed to stop crossings in ChannelThe Home Office is extending a controversial scheme to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats, the Guardian has learned.The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, signed a deal they hailed as “groundbreaking” last July, known as “one in, one out”. Continue reading...

Met police say they pursued vehicle believed stolen before it collided with another vehicle in IlfordNine people have been injured after a car being pursued by police crashed in east London.The Metropolitan police said officers had tried to stop a vehicle they believed had been stolen. Continue reading...

Exclusive: several Liberals say they now believe Pauline Hanson’s party was in control of the Liberal agendaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLiberal MPs have expressed concern over Angus Taylor’s immigration policy, with one claiming the party’s soul is being “corroded by hate”.Several Liberal MPs have said they now believe Pauline Hanson’s party was in control of the Liberal agenda. Continue reading...

The person was on board the MV Hondius, the center of the outbreak that has claimed three livesCanadian officials said oon Saturday that one of the four Canadians currently quarantining in British Columbia after being exposed to the hantavirus while on board the cruise ship where the outbreak occurred has presumptively tested positive.Speaking at news conference, Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, said the individual developed mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago, and that the individual and their partner, who had also been on board the cruise ship where they had been isolating together, were transferred to a hospital in Victoria for assessment and testing. Continue reading...

Turnout down at second Unite the Kingdom march featuring Islamophobic and ethnonationalist hate speech and flyersThe far-right activist Tommy Robinson told tens of thousands of supporters to prepare for the “battle of Britain” during a rally in central London on Saturday.Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, drew tens of thousands of supporters on to the streets of central London for the second year running in an event where Islamophobic and ethnonationalist hate speech and flyers were distributed to the crowds. Continue reading...

Humpback had been found deceased on Friday after rescue attempt criticised as ‘pure animal cruelty’Timmy the whale has been confirmed dead by Danish authorities two weeks after the beached humpback was transported to the North Sea in a rescue attempt criticised as “pure animal cruelty”.Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency said a whale had been found dead on Friday near ​the small ⁠island of Anholt in the Kattegat, a broad strait between Denmark and Sweden, and confirmed it was Timmy on Saturday. Continue reading...

Man in 30s arrested over incident in Modena that left two seriously hurtSeven people were injured, two seriously, on Saturday after a car rammed into a group of pedestrians in the northern Italian city of Modena.Police said the driver, in his thirties, has been arrested. He is also alleged to have attempted to stab a passerby who had tried to stop him. Continue reading...

Three paramedics at health centre among dead, while Israel also says it killed Hamas military chief in GazaIsrael carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, killing at least six people, including three paramedics working at a health centre, just hours after its envoys had agreed with the Lebanese government to extend a ceasefire.Israel also said it had killed the Hamas military chief, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, in a targeted strike in Gaza on Friday. Continue reading...

FBI director reportedly took a snorkel excursion at site containing remains of more than 1,000 navy sailors and marinesThe FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkeling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer.The outing was first reported this week by the Associated Press, which obtained government emails describing the excursion as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona – the site that holds the remains of more than 1,000 US navy sailors and marines who died at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Continue reading...