Record breaking heat expected across UK this week, says Met Office

• Recent strikes in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have resulted in five deaths, signaling an intensification of hostilities. • Authorities in Crimea have suspended public fuel sales to prioritize supplies for medical services, emergency responders, and critical infrastructure.

• Diplomatic negotiations have reportedly regressed following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), reversing previous progress. • While the MoU was initially viewed as a breakthrough for broader cooperation, talks have since stalled due to unresolved key issues.

• U.S. and Iranian officials have arrived in Switzerland to initiate critical negotiations regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. • In his first press conference on Wednesday, new chair Kevin Warsh signaled a shift in policy by reversing previous Federal Reserve steps.

Groups say new directive fails to respect Native sovereignty amid complicated history of Indigenous child removalsOne morning early last July, Micha Bitsinnie arrived at work to an onslaught of messages from confused families.New Mexico’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had just issued a directive mandating the state’s child welfare department seek custody of all newborns who had been exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. Some parents wondered whether medications that they were taking for addiction recovery, such as methadone, would flag their cases. Healthcare providers wondered whether the fentanyl in an epidural counted as a drug exposure. Continue reading...

Thanks to rushed deadlines, financial pressure and overworked staff, titles are going to market before they’re ready – and then sliding from view immediatelyA Sydney author – I’ll call her Rebecca – vowed never to write another book after the deranging experience of publishing her first. She’s using a pseudonym because one day she might change her mind; the notoriously small Australian publishing industry does not tend to look with favour on authors who complain.When Rebecca was proofing her debut – a work of nonfiction published by one of the big five – she discovered that a pivotal chapter had been cut. “I thought it was a mistake, that it had somehow been left out of the papers they’d sent,” she says. “Turns out they’d deliberately excised it and thought I wouldn’t notice.” Continue reading...

Albanese government under pressure to wind back fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners as analysis shows cost to budgetGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCoal companies could receive an extra $6.2bn in taxpayer refunds for the diesel they use if the Albanese government greenlights just half the mine developments up for approval.The finding, in an analysis released by activist group Lock the Gate, comes as the government faces an internal campaign before next month’s Labor party national conference to commit to winding back a fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners. Continue reading...

Defendants worry that changes could remove chance of acquittal based on jurors’ consciences in defiance of the lawClimate activists fear that delays to their cases may mean they lose the right to a trial before jurors, who are typically more likely to acquit them than a judge.Scores of defendants facing trials for protests as long ago as 2021 have had proceedings repeatedly postponed and worry that by the time their cases are heard, government changes limiting the right to jury trial may be in force. Continue reading...

Conservative leader says Reform UK’s poor showing in this week’s byelections leaves idea of deal ‘stone-dead’UK politics live – latest updatesKemi Badenoch has attacked Nigel Farage over the £5m gift he received before the general election as she ruled out an electoral pact with Reform UK.The Tory leader questioned Farage’s acceptance of the gift from the Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in the months before he stood to become an MP in 2024. Continue reading...

Engineers need to create access for cranes to lift carriages from site before track can be assessed and repairedMajor disruption on the rail line between Bedford and Luton will continue for at least a week after the collision of two trains which killed a train driver and injured 100 people.In a statement setting out the effects on some services until 28 June, Network Rail said the disaster had been a “tragic, isolated incident”. Continue reading...

Officers find man unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicating a fall from an ‘elevated position’A 51-year-old man fell to his death during a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday night, police said.Officers responding to a 911 emergency call around 9.51pm found the man unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicating a fall from an “elevated position”, New York City Police said in a statement. Continue reading...

Sports and nationwide music festival affected, with temperatures for some expected to reach 42C from MondayAuthorities in France have placed more than a third of the country under a red heat alert, cancelled some outdoor sports events and restricted alcohol consumption at the nationwide Fête de la Musique event amid a brutal heatwave forecast to push temperatures above 40C.Level one or two heat alerts were issued on Sunday for about 53 million people, or 76% of the population. A record 35 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were put on danger-to-life red alert, with another 45 under an orange warning. Continue reading...