Number of confirmed meningitis cases linked to fatal Kent outbreak drops to 20

Shadow justice secretary had called Trafalgar Square event an ‘act of domination’James Cleverly has said he disagrees with his Conservative frontbench colleague Nick Timothy that public Muslim prayers are an act of domination, as another senior Tory called for the party to respect the right to worship.Kemi Badenoch has defended Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, after he posted images of mass prayer at a Ramadan event on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, calling it “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”. Continue reading...

Nasa confirms meteor after residents reported hearing thunder-like noises about the time the fireball was visibleA suspected meteorite crashed into a home in suburban Houston on Saturday night, according to local residents and officials.Speaking to the local news outlet KHOU11 over the weekend, Spring area resident Sherrie James recalled the incident, saying: “My grandson went to check and said there was a hole in the ceiling … then I saw the rock, and I thought, ‘That looks like a meteor.’” Continue reading...

Witnesses describe coordinated raids in which homes and vehicles were set on fire and several Palestinians injured Middle East crisis live – latest updatesIsraeli settlers have carried out a series of attacks across the occupied West Bank, setting homes and vehicles on fire and wounding several Palestinians in what witnesses described as coordinated raids on communities.The violence, reported across at least half a dozen locations overnight from Saturday into Sunday, comes amid a wider surge in tensions in the territory. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited local sources as saying settlers had entered al-Fandaqumiya and the nearby town of Seilat al-Dahr, south of Jenin, late on Saturday. Continue reading...

About 65% of US firefighters are volunteers, as New York state says number has fallen to lowest level in 40 yearsOfficials have warned of serious consequences after the number of volunteer firefighters, the bedrock of firefighting in the US, plunged, leading to entire departments to close in some states.About 65% of American firefighters are volunteers, serving in their free-time alongside regular jobs. In 2008 there were 827,000 volunteers nationwide, but that figure dropped to 635,000 in 2023, the last year data is available. Continue reading...

Trump and border czar Tom Homan confirm plan to assist TSA agents amid partial government shutdown standoffDonald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have confirmed that the president’s administration is sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to US airports beginning Monday to assist with security amid extremely long lines – and to help airport security agents who have been working without pay since 14 February because of a partial government shutdown.Homan will lead the effort, Trump said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Energy and oil sites across region would become ‘legitimate targets’, Tehran saysMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIran has said it will “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East if the US attacks its energy sites, hours after Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” the country’s power plants if the strait of Hormuz was not opened within two days.As Iranian missiles struck two southern Israeli cities overnight, injuring dozens and shattering apartment buildings, the developments signalled a dangerous potential escalation of the war in the Middle East, which is now in its fourth week. Continue reading...

University polling and focus groups found sharpest increase in those worried about national security was cohort aged 18 to 24Nearly half of Australians believe a foreign military will attack the country within five years, as anxiety over national security issues rises sharply, a new study suggests.The Australian National University’s National Security College report found that two-thirds of those polled in 2026, including an increasing number of teenagers and young adults, were worried about national security issues. Continue reading...

The phrase should evoke optimism, positive expectations about the future, trust and belonging. That seems almost out of reach in a chaotic worldOne term has already become the well-intentioned weasel word of 2026: “social cohesion”. A phrase that can be dropped into speeches, inquiries and legislation, its meaning shape-shifts depending on the audience. Is it about “glue” or the rule of law? About community resilience or countering fear? Does it mean finding places of real exchange, or shutting up and getting on?Although it has been in the political lexicon for years, the terror attack that targeted Jewish people celebrating Hanukah in Bondi last December brought social cohesion to the fore as an urgent problem to solve. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Townsville lawyer and former detective Darren Robinson’s appointment by attorney general Deb Frecklington has ‘brought back a lot of trauma’ for Indigenous communityGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Queensland government has “opened old wounds” by appointing a former police detective who was heavily criticised for his role in events surrounding the 2004 riots on Palm Island to the state’s Legal Aid board, say First Nations community leaders and members of the legal fraternity.The Liberal National party government sacked and replaced all Labor-appointed members of the Legal Aid Queensland board last month. Continue reading...

Heather Danae Lewis who was one of 30 people charged in Minnesota church protest showed she did not attend eventFederal prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a woman accused of participating in a controversial January protest at a Minnesota church after the woman apparently did not attend the event at all.Prosecutors notified a federal judge they intended to drop charges against Heather Danae Lewis, who was one of 30 people charged in connection with an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that disrupted a service at Cities church in St Paul. Officials have charged the protesters with civil rights crimes, saying they interfered with the right of the congregants at the church to exercise their religious beliefs. The media professional Don Lemon, who was at the event reporting on the protest, was among those charged. Continue reading...

Leveraging Australian gas exports to ensure we get oil in return is among the offbeat ideas we could be hearing more aboutGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe International Energy Agency suggested Australia reduce road speed limits, restrict car use in big cities and encourage more working from home in a bid to nullify what it called the “greatest threat to global energy supply in the history of the world”.They won’t be the only interesting or offbeat ideas raised in federal parliament this week, as the Albanese government comes under pressure to find fixes – short-term and long-term – to the oil shocks seeing more bowsers run dry across the nation. Continue reading...

PM’s ‘cost of living champion’ calls for consideration of temporary measure to prevent profiteering from Iran warThe government’s top cost of living adviser has called on ministers to explore a temporary cap on the profits of energy and petrol companies to prevent them from cashing in excessively on the war in the Middle East.Richard Walker – a Labour peer, the chair of Iceland supermarkets and the prime minister’s “cost of living champion” – said he had asked the government to examine limiting how much businesses were able to benefit from higher energy prices after Iran’s blockade of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for Europe’s oil and gas, and the wider conflict in the region. Continue reading...