Remains of LA millionaire missing since 1981 identified after more than 40 years

• The U.S. State Department is hosting a meeting with international officials to discuss the threat of left-wing terrorism. • Counterterrorism experts argue that the Trump administration's specific focus on the far left fails to provide necessary context regarding the broader spectrum of political extremism.

• The U.S. has conducted strikes against Tehran for five consecutive days, while Israeli forces killed four people in Gaza, including a 6-year-old girl. • Israel’s Security Cabinet approved nearly $500 million for new settlements in the occupied West Bank, as half of congressional Democrats now support cutting military funding to Israel.

Expectations grow that US president – who promised ‘really big news’ – to focus on election security and war with IranDonald Trump will address the nation on Thursday in a live primetime televised address that has become the subject of fevered guesswork amid speculation he will make headline-grabbing announcements on election security and the war with Iran.Expectations surrounding the address have been raised by Trump himself, who promised “really big news” without being specific. Continue reading...

A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon ‘in distress’ after a vehicle fireHeartwarming footage of California firefighters treating perhaps their smallest patient on record has captivated the internet.A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon “in distress” earlier this week after a vehicle fire, and jumped into action to assist. Continue reading...

Move comes as prediction platforms rapidly gain popularity and offer opportunities to bet on virtually anythingKalshi is expanding its wagers to include bets on drug trial results, an expansion into new predictions territory as platforms continue to rapidly gain popularity and offer opportunities to bet on virtually anything.The betting platform said the expansion into clinical trials and FDA regulatory decisions would help surface information on drug trials that otherwise go unreported. A publicly listed contract on a drug trial would produce a “continuously updated, public probability that reflects the weight of the evidence, rather than the preferred message of the trial sponsor”, the company said. Continue reading...

Karoline Leavitt calls apparent bets on Kalshi prediction platform ‘deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace’Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator has been placed on administrative leave, the White House said on Thursday, after reports that he used his position to win $100,000 by placing bets on the president’s speeches using the online prediction market Kalshi.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president had been informed about the situation, which she described as “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace”. Continue reading...

Vicki Brady due to appear at inquiry over mobile outage last week. Follow today’s news live.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTelstra’s bosses are set to be grilled over a nationwide outage that affected triple zero calls and businesses, disrupted payment systems and stopped trains in two states.Telstra’s chief executive, Vicki Brady, will be among a group of executives who will front a parliamentary inquiry into the incident in Canberra on Friday. Continue reading...

Liz Oyer tells of how she refused to ‘rubber-stamp a political favor’ in gun rights case involving Trump ally Mel GibsonFormer pardon attorney Liz Oyer condemned Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, over his Wednesday testimony to the Senate judiciary committee. Blanche fired Oyer after she refused to recommend restoring firearms rights to the actor and Trump ally Mel Gibson, who was previously convicted of domestic violence.“I declined to rubber-stamp a political favor for a friend of the president, and it cost me my job,” the former US pardon attorney told the committee on the second day of Blanche’s confirmation hearing. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller took aim at only leftwing activism at meeting of 66 nations against political violenceTop Trump officials on Thursday hosted a gathering of 66 nations to discuss the supposed threat of leftwing violence, and launched a series of diatribes, harsh even by the standards of the Trump administration, against leftism.The conference, convened by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and attended by Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser, and Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, was billed as a “ministerial on the resurgence of political violence” but the focus was solely on crushing leftist violence. It came as Donald Trump ramps up his efforts to label his political opponents, and a rising number of politicians identified with the Democratic Socialists of America as “communists”. Continue reading...

His comments come after 103 House Democrats backed an unsuccessful bid to halt billions in military aid to IsraelIsrael’s support among Democrats is starting to buckleSenator John Fetterman said he would consider leaving the Democratic party it ever became “the anti-Israel party”, as more than 100 House lawmakers backed halting military aid to the Middle Eastern ally over its incursions into Gaza and Lebanon.The Pennsylvania senator has emerged as one of Israel’s most prominent advocates among Senate Democrats, even as others in the party back away from their traditional support for the country amid accusations that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government committed genocide in Gaza. Continue reading...

Lack of change in key roles could mean next week’s policy announcements may lack radicalism many hoped forAndy Burnham’s Downing Street operation is beginning to take shape, with many of Keir Starmer’s aides due to remain at the centre of government.The incoming prime minister has now picked most of the senior No 10 jobs, according to those who have been involved in the process, and the names of several key staff were confirmed on Thursday. Continue reading...