New Zealand signs defence pact with Cook Islands after quarrel over China deal

US president says venue was ‘not a particularly secure building’ as man is held after shots fired at annual press dinnerHello and welcome to our live updates on US politics.A suspect is in custody following a shooting incident at last night’s White House correspondents’ dinner. Continue reading...

Men in tuxedos and women in dresses dove under tables, like a scene from a dozen Hollywood movies, but now it was happening to meShocking. Unnerving. Unpredictable. Violent. For a decade I have been following the twists and turns of Donald Trump’s America with the privilege of journalistic distance. On Saturday night I felt the darkness come viscerally close.Bang! Bang! What was that? Where was it? At 8.36pm panic and pandemonium reigned in the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel. There were men running and cries of “Get down!” and “Stay down!” Continue reading...

No indication grandmother knew what Markel Lee, 17, was suspected of doing, and she later identified him to policeSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA 17-year-old accused of murder in Thursday’s mass shooting at a Louisiana mall that left a high school senior dead while wounding five others got a ride away from the crime scene from his grandmother – and was arrested after investigators used surveillance video and license plate readers to track her car down, authorities allege.There is no indication that Markel Lee’s grandmother knew what he was suspected of doing prior to his arrest, which evidently occurred after she told police that her grandson was in a surveillance image they showed her depicting someone seemingly aiming a pistol toward the shopping center food court where the shooting occurred. Continue reading...

Prime minister says ‘you never hear from … the people who are supportive, loyal and just want to get on with the job’Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of UK politics.Despite several calls for his resignation from within his own party, Keir Starmer told the Sunday Times that the “vast majority” of the Labour party are supportive of his leadership. Continue reading...

Health secretary’s ‘power grab’ to override Nice comes amid growing concern move may be illegal and benefit big pharmaDozens of MPs are opposing Wes Streeting’s decision to award himself power to dictate what the NHS pays for drugs amid growing concern the move may be illegal.Thirty-one MPs have signed a House of Commons motion voicing their disapproval of the health secretary being handed the power to override the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (Nice) judgment on how much the NHS should spend on individual medicines. Continue reading...

Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zeroOne vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers. Continue reading...

Man, 51, arrested after allegedly assaulting multiple people at Prince of Wales hospitalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA patient has been shot with a Taser after allegedly attacking several people at a Sydney hospital, including a nurse who was left seriously injured.Police restrained a 51-year-old patient after the Saturday night melee at Sydney’s Prince of Wales hospital, which left a nurse in hospital. Continue reading...

Secondhand car buyers urged to carefully inspect vehicles, while owners told to beware tests that are suspiciously quickRise of the ‘ghost owner’: 18,000 UK vehicles in use without proper recordsYou have just bought a secondhand car. It was older than you wanted, but were reassured because it had recently passed its MOT.Within a few days, you notice a problem with the steering and take it into a garage to be checked. As well as that issue, they find the tread depth of the tyres is so low it should not have passed the test. Continue reading...

The rival superpowers are ramping up preparations for a crewed lunar landing nearly six decades after the first moon walkThe world watched earlier this month as Nasa sent four astronauts around the moon – but to actually land on the surface the US is once again in a space race, this time with China. And China may well win.Both countries plan to build inhabited lunar bases – the first settlement on another celestial body – as well as searching for rare resources and using the deep space environment to test technology for future crewed missions to Mars. Continue reading...

NHS chiefs fear rising costs and healthcare shortages due to the shipping standstill in the GulfThe war in Iran has put the NHS on high alert amid fears about looming shortages and rising costs for medicines and medical products such as syringes, intravenous bags and gloves.Much of modern healthcare is dependent on the petrochemicals now held up by the Gulf shipping standstill – whether for active pharmaceutical ingredients or to produce the millions of sterile single-use items, ranging from personal protective equipment (PPE) to catheters and diagnostic-device casings. Continue reading...

President says incident, in which Secret Service agent was saved by bulletproof vest, was ‘totally shocking to me’White House correspondents’ dinner shooting – follow liveDonald Trump said on Saturday night he initially thought that the sound of a gunman charging a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was a tray falling, in his first remarks about what was going through his mind as the incident unfolded.“Actually, it was totally shocking to me, and that never changes,” Trump said, appearing to refer to the assassination attempt against him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a second incident on his golf course in Florida during the 2024 presidential campaign. Continue reading...

Soaring cost of building materials, lack of affordability and planning bottlenecks are some of the obstacles thwarting housing targetAt South and City College in Birmingham, dozens of young people clad in hi-vis vests and hard hats are building mini-walls and plastering half-formed rooms.Some weave in and out of stacks of bricks with wheelbarrows, while others use spirit levels to check the walls are straight and flat. In a few days time, these walls will be demolished and the plastering scraped away, for a new class to come in and try their hands. Continue reading...