Middle East crisis live: Trump pausing strikes on Iran energy sites; Houthis say ‘no reason’ to halt Red Sea shipping

• China and Indonesia have agreed to deepen military cooperation and expand strategic ties in technology, energy, and minerals to strengthen bilateral relations amid Asian geopolitical competition. • The Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros has withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, citing concerns that the event's independent and neutral character has been compromised.

Washington says it acted after observing Iran was planning to deploy fresh mines in strait of HormuzMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesThe US and Iran have exchanged fire for the first time in a month, with missiles and drones fired at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, and Iran targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response.The US president, Donald Trump, on Monday threatened further action. The US is to trying to prise open Tehran’s grip on shipping going through the strait, which before the war accounted for a fifth of the world’s seaborne energy supply. Washington claimed that Iranian control over the waterway had been loosened by repeated US attacks on Iranian missile launchers and radars. Continue reading...

Frank Furedi announces resignation with immediate effect after organisation’s staff ‘not paid in July or August’The head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite Brussels thinktank has quit, citing unpaid wages following the change of government in Hungary.Sociology professor Frank Furedi said he was resigning as executive director of MCC Brussels with “immediate effect” on Monday over “persistent failure to provide the contractually agreed funds”. Continue reading...

Congressman says Thomas abandoned his principles to become an extremist, hard-right member of benchSenior Democratic congressman James Clyburn said his decision to support Clarence Thomas for a US supreme court seat “was a mistake” and called for the expansion of the nation’s highest legal panel to 13 justices.Clyburn, of South Carolina, spoke up for Thomas at his fiery 1991 confirmation hearings, calling him “a personal and professional friend” who would use their shared experiences lifting minorities and advancing civil rights to become a respected and accomplished jurist. Continue reading...

Both thefts occurred on 17 August at a distribution center east of Los AngelesThieves made off with tens of thousands of cans of Pabst beer in two separate heists from a southern California warehouse on the same day, police said.Pabst Blue Ribbon has turned the thefts – valued by police at $70,000 – into a lighthearted social media promotion. But police in Montclair said Friday that investigators are trying to determine whether they were part of a single operation. Continue reading...

The queen of country was interred next to her late husband in an intimate ceremony attended by close familyDolly Parton was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Nashville on Friday, her family has confirmed.The queen of country music, who died aged 80 on 25 August “after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer”, was interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum alongside her husband of 60 years Carl Thomas. Continue reading...

Technology trained on millions of routine ECGs could fast-track high-risk patients for treatmentDoctors have developed a “superhuman” AI tool that can spot heart disease in less than two seconds.The groundbreaking technology has been trained on millions of patients and works by extracting more information from a routine electrocardiogram (ECG) than the human eye can typically see. Continue reading...

Response seeks to discredit Washington Post story that four generals and admirals advised against prolonging Iran warPete Hegseth regularly receives formal objections from senior commanders and proceeds anyway, the Pentagon’s top spokesman has said, as he tried to discredit a Washington Post report that four generals and admirals had advised against prolonging the war in Iran.“Of course, we demand candid military advice,” Sean Parnell wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Non-concurs are standard. The Secretary sees them constantly. That’s how you run a real military.” Continue reading...

Fashion designer was convicted of hate crime by French court in 2011 after series of racist and antisemitic remarksThe controversial fashion designer John Galliano announced on Monday that an exhibition honoring his work that New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art had scheduled to open for the upcoming spring’s Met Gala is not going to go forward.The museum’s decision to honor Galliano, who was convicted of a hate crime by a French court in 2011 after a series of racist and antisemitic remarks, had drawn controversy and backlash. Continue reading...

Majority of missing Australians were near Gyirong Port minutes before impact. Rescuers say the area is now destroyed, covered in metres of silt and debrisGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt has been almost a week since the catastrophic floods in Nepal and not even a vehicle can get into the area where the majority of missing Australians were last heard from.Gyirong Port, the border area between Nepal and China, was the first to be hit. Images from Chinese rescue teams who have managed to get in by helicopter or hiking show the area has been completely flattened. The immigration building, the power lines, everything, just wiped away. Continue reading...

Cape Town stunt sparks major debate over safety risksAirlink insist flyby conducted according to regulationsA pre-game stunt involving two passenger jets flying dramatically low over a stadium in South Africa drew huge cheers from the estimated crowd of around 56,000 people, but also sparked a major debate over safety risks.The flyby by two Embraer jets, operated by local airline Airlink, happened on Saturday before the second rugby union Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town. Continue reading...

Workers thought to be stuck in underground areas at 11 sites after last week’s devastating flash floodsRescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 11 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, ​the ⁠country’s disaster ​management authority has said.The death toll from the ⁠unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud ​and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 903, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. Nearly 5,000 are missing on the two sides of the border. Continue reading...