Police to seek criminal charges against 77 companies and people over Grenfell fire

Odai Shanah details being among the children forced to huddle in a classroom during attack at the Islamic CenterA nine-year-old boy has described witnessing Monday’s deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, saying that he “saw bad stuff” and huddled in closet during the attack.Odai Shanah, whose mother emigrated from war-torn Gaza and settled in southern California two decades ago, told Reuters that he heard a barrage of gunshots coming from outside the walls of the mosque complex, which also houses an Islamic day school. Continue reading...

Abstract expressionist’s Number 7A, 1948, becomes the fourth most expensive work ever sold at auctionA Jackson Pollock painting has sold for a record $181.2m (£135.3m) at Christie’s in New York.The sale on Monday made Number 7A, 1948 the fourth most expensive work ever sold at auction, according to ARTnews. Continue reading...

Enthusiasts track down weapon used to fell fleeing Eli Wallach amid preparations for 60th anniversary of film’s releaseSix decades after Clint Eastwood nonchalantly used a cigar to light a cannon’s fuse in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to fell a fleeing Eli Wallach, the Manchester-made weapon has been rediscovered in a museum in south-east Spain.The artillery piece was tracked down by the Sad Hill Cultural Association, a group of volunteers dedicated to restoring the graveyard near Burgos, northern Spain, built for the climax of Sergio Leone’s seminal spaghetti western. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper and Jonathan Reynolds urge colleagues to support each other and remember ‘who we’re here to serve’UK politics live – latest updatesTwo cabinet ministers have warned Labour colleagues against damaging anonymous briefings as the party prepares for a probable leadership contest, arguing it is disrespectful to voters to wage a factional war in public.The comments by Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, and Jonathan Reynolds, the chief whip, came as Labour MPs gathered late on Monday for the weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labour party. Continue reading...

A ‘thrillingly fresh’ 30th-anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s musical will open at the Duke of York’s theatre in London, directed by Luke SheppardThe Pulitzer prize-winning musical Rent will return to London this autumn in a 30th-anniversary production starring Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo in his West End debut.The rock opera, based on Puccini’s La Bohème and set in New York’s East Village during the Aids crisis, ran for more than 5,000 performances on Broadway and won four Tony awards. Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, died aged 35 of an aortic aneurysm shortly before it opened in 1996. The musical also ran for 18 months in London, became a 2005 film and has had several major revivals including one directed by Luke Sheppard at Manchester’s Hope Mill theatre in 2020. Sheppard, who last month won an Olivier award for Paddington: The Musical, is staging the new revival, directly inspired by his Manchester production. Continue reading...

Smotrich vows to retaliate by waging ‘war’ on Palestinian Authority and orders evacuation of a West Bank villageMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor has sought a confidential arrest warrant against him, and promised to retaliate by waging a “war” on the Palestinian Authority.He said he had ordered the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as part of measures against the authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank under agreements with Israel. Continue reading...

Russian leader says relations between two countries have reached ‘unprecedented level’ on eve of 25th visit to ChinaVladimir Putin is due to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a state visit, four days after Donald Trump left China.Putin’s visit to China – his 25th, according to Chinese state media – reflects Beijing’s growing confidence on the world stage as a centre of global diplomatic activity. Continue reading...

Transport secretary says first official estimate in 2026 prices shows ‘obscene increase’ after ‘shocking legacy’ of previous governmentBusiness live – latest updatesThe HS2 high-speed railway will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains will not start running between London and Birmingham until as late as 2039, the government has admitted – £70bn more and 13 years later than originally promised.The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said that the truncated railway would not be entirely completed until as late as 2043. Continue reading...

Party confirms that no other candidates have been shortlisted for election expected to take place on 18 JuneUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has been confirmed as the candidate for the Makerfield byelection as Labour’s national executive committee rubber-stamped the mayor of Greater Manchester.Labour confirmed no other candidates had been shortlisted in the seat vacated by Josh Simons – with the byelection now widely expected to take place on 18 June , once the date is confirmed by Commons authorities. Continue reading...

The emergency caused by the Bundibugyo variant has revived fears shaped by conflict, mistrust and delayed detection, even as the WHO moves quicklyTo be around the centre of an Ebola outbreak is to become used to the smell of chlorine. At hospitals and government buildings, surfaces are sprayed with it and hands washed in a 0.05% solution that can kill the virus in 60 seconds.Infrared handheld thermometers take temperatures at airports and border crossings. Any indication of a fever prevents passage. Contact-tracing teams crisscross the countryside. Continue reading...

Ruling blocks detentions at three federal courthouses except in rare cases amid protests over tacticsA federal judge in New York has banned US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting immigrants in or around three federal courthouses in lower Manhattan, where vigorous confrontations have played out since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency.Under an order issued on Monday by P Kevin Castel, a US district judge, federal agents are no longer allowed to make arrests of immigrants except under exceptional circumstances at the sites where hearings are held before immigration judges. Continue reading...