Pope uses Spain speech to warn of global ‘spiritual and cultural crisis’

• Latin America is experiencing a record surge in internal displacement driven by criminal violence, weak state governance, and the neglect of marginalized neighborhoods. • According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), families are being forced from their homes but remain trapped within their own national borders due to a lack of protection.

• Israel's military campaigns in Gaza have expanded into Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf, fueled by significant financial and military support from the United States. • The escalation threatens to trigger a prolonged international disorder if diplomatic efforts fail to halt the current trajectory of regional conflict.

• President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a "vile" drone strike that allegedly targeted a spent nuclear fuel facility near the Chernobyl site. • Zelensky stated that attacks on nuclear infrastructure are "completely unacceptable" and violate the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) "seven indispensable pillars" for nuclear safety during armed conflict.

Chokehold on shipping route draws Houthis in Yemen back into conflict as commenters see ‘no turning back’Middle East crisis – live updatesIran’s reversion to large-scale military exchanges with Israel broadened the conflict that began in February not only by making the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah a direct casus belli for Iran for the first time, but also by drawing the Houthis in Yemen back into the conflict with as yet incalculable consequences.Some in Tehran, buoyed up by past perceived military success and emboldened by the chokehold of the strait of Hormuz, would like to turn this moment into the point of no return in the conflagration with Israel. A minority would welcome the abandonment of ceasefire talks with the US, an outcome for which they have been agitating for weeks. Continue reading...

Annual killing of infant gannets has been carried out on a remote Scottish island for at least 400 yearsAnimal welfare campaigners have called for talks on phasing out the “inhumane” hunt for infant gannets known as guga, which are killed by hunters on a remote Scottish island once a year.OneKind and the League Against Cruel Sports said it should be slowly phased out in dialogue with the Hebridean islanders who see the hunt, which has been carried out for at least 400 years, as a cultural pursuit and as sustainable food harvesting. Continue reading...

Australia leads world in residential solar per capita with 22GW installed but commercial and industrial sector has deployed only a quarter of thatGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s revolution in rooftop solar has left behind commercial and industrial buildings where installations have lagged far behind homes, according to new analysis.Australia leads the world in residential solar on per capita terms, with 22GW installed as of last December. But businesses have only installed about a quarter of that – 5.6GW – despite consuming more electricity than households, a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found. Continue reading...

No one injured in incident, volunteer fire department says, and it is not known how truck caught fireFirefighters in Tennessee had to respond to an unexpectedly early Fourth of July scene after a truck caught fire on a major highway and its load of fireworks went off, triggering a spectacular display.Video of the scene on Interstate 75 in the community of Ooltewah showed a huge cloud of sparks and rockets emerging from a trailer that the truck was hauling, as a stunned crowd watched from an overpass. Continue reading...

Suspect in custody at busy rail hub adjacent to Madison Square Garden one day before game three of NBA finalsSix people were stabbed in a Sunday night attack at New York’s Penn Station, authorities said, with Amtrak police saying a person believed to be homeless was being held in custody as a result.The stabbings at the US’s busiest railroad hub came one day before thousands of basketball fans were expected at the third game of the NBA finals at the adjacent Madison Square Garden complex, although the events are not believed to be linked. Continue reading...

Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of starting the blaze that became Los Angeles’s deadliest and destructive wildfireThe trial of a 29-year-old charged with sparking a wildfire that went on to become the deadly Palisades inferno, the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history, is set to begin on Monday in a case that has gripped the city as Angelenos seek answers more than a year after the deadly fire.Jonathan Rinderknecht, an occasional Uber driver, is accused of starting a small blaze on New Year’s Day 2025, later dubbed the Lachman fire. Although the Los Angeles fire department extinguished the fire on 2 January, it reignited five days later due to high winds and tinderbox conditions after burning undetected deep in the dry hillsides. Continue reading...

President posts screenshot on Truth Social attacking Californian election, after walking out of NBC interview after refusing to substantiate his claims of election riggingSign up for the Breaking News US emailWelcome to our coverage of US politics.Donald Trump has repeated a claim made during an NBC interview on Sunday that he walked out of claiming that the California gubernatorial race is rigged.Later today Trump is expected to attend a campaign rally in New Jersey, before attending the Knicks game in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Trump’s appearance at the game means that there will be heightened security, a strict no-bag policy and airport-style screening for attenders of the game.This comes after a stabbing occurred in Penn Station directly below the arena, injuring 6 people. The suspect is in custody.The president also claimed that Iran’s military has been “virtually decapitated” as the war between the Middle Eastern country and the US reaches its 100th day. Earlier today, Trump urged Iran and Israel to “stop shooting” in a social media post. You can follow our Middle East liveblog coverage here: Continue reading...

Government urged to help speed up vital industrial project amid growing alarm over National Grid delaysTrade unions have called for the government to intervene to speed up Tata Steel’s connection to the electricity grid in south Wales, after the company said its new furnace would be delayed by up to a year.Tata Steel last month told investors that National Grid had said it would face a six- to eight-month delay. That could stretch to 12 months amid unexpected engineering difficulties. Continue reading...