Republican senator denounces Trump’s ‘crazy, stupid’ claims about MMR vaccine safety

• Five years after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan faces a severe human rights crisis, highlighted by the barring of 2.4 million girls from attending school. • Humanitarian funding has plummeted by nearly 70% since 2022, driven by donor fatigue and competing global political crises.

Four-year-old boy, two men and three women among those who died since storms began on 11 August, officials sayDays of storms and flooding in Indiana left at least six people dead as flood waters peaked in Indianapolis’s White River – and rains were expected to ease in the state capital region and other parts of the state on Sunday.A four-year-old boy, two men and three women were among those who had died since the storms began on 11 August, state homeland security department spokesperson Liz Woods said. Continue reading...

President, 80, vows to keep far-right from power as Flávio Bolsonaro tells supporters he will ‘fight this system’Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has launched his campaign for a historic fourth term and vowed that as long as he lived he would not allow the “shameless” right to return to power.Addressing a sea of supporters in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial city where his political career began nearly half a century ago, the 80-year-old politician reminded voters of the chaos and violence that unfolded during the 2018-2022 presidency of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, whose son, Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula will face in October’s presidential election. Continue reading...

Efforts of emergency services and military in Blaenavon appear to be working but there are fears for the futureMore than three weeks after it began burning and two days after the military deployed to the area, there is hope that the huge wildfire on the hillside above the Ebbw valley village of Blaenavon may finally be coming under control.Emergency workers and soldiers described a gruelling battle against the deep-seated peat fire that has spread over 4,000 hectares (9,800 acres), putting lives, farmland and property at risk. Continue reading...

Senator Ruben Gallego calls carrier’s months-long deployment a ‘deep problem’ as wellbeing concerns mountDemocrats on Sunday intensified their demands for answers from the Trump administration over conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln as the aircraft carrier’s nearly nine-month deployment continued fueling concern over crew morale, mental health and living conditions.Ruben Gallego, a Democratic senator from Arizona, said on Sunday that problems aboard the Lincoln had kept mounting – and he blamed the carrier’s prolonged deployment on the unresolved war that Donald Trump started in February with Iran as well as lackluster leadership in general from the Republican president’s administration. Continue reading...

Suppliers could factor water scarcity into charges as part of Ofwat proposal to reduce consumptionWater companies could be allowed to raise bills for customers during periods of drought under proposals being considered by the sector’s regulator for England and Wales.Suppliers would be permitted to factor “water scarcity” into bills as part of efforts to reduce consumption under Ofwat’s plans, which are being likened to surge pricing – the practice where private hire firms raise taxi fares at times of higher demand. Continue reading...

Revelation comes after it was disclosed that Reform UK backer had paid for spying on prominent journalistThe businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks commissioned a private intelligence firm to dig into the Conservative party chair, in addition to having paid for an investigation into a prominent journalist.Banks, a former Reform UK candidate and leave campaign donor, appeared to confirm on Sunday that he was behind an investigation into Kevin Hollinrake. Continue reading...

Suspect, 19, who is not enrolled at the university arrested in connection with shooting of five people, authorities sayA young man suspected in connection with the shooting of five people on Saturday on the campus of Virginia State University (VSU) hid in a dormitory closet for more than 14 hours being found and arrested, according to authorities.The suspect – identified as 19-year-old Camron Harris – was found in Seward Hall on VSU’s campus at 4pm, local police Lt James Lamb said, according to the Virginia news outlet WTVR. The shooting occurred at about 1.30am on Saturday. Continue reading...

Belgium battling biggest fire in more than a century as flames near German border and 600 people told to evacuateTwo people have died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis as firefighting aircraft were called on to help tame the biggest blaze in Belgium in more than a century in the latest wave of wildfires in Europe.The bodies of two people were recovered from the Peristeria beach area of Salamison Sunday after two fires broke out on the island, a fire department spokesperson told AFP. Hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate. Continue reading...

Hundreds watched the 56-metre monument’s consecration, including anti-communist leader Lech WałęsaAn enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of the anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa.Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 55.6 metres (182ft) over Konotopie in central Poland, a village of fewer than 150 people. Continue reading...

One seller says second world war memorabilia containing banned Nazi symbols is legal under exemptions to the lawsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNazi artefacts bearing prohibited symbols are being openly sold in Australia three years after the federal government made it illegal to do so, with vendors saying they are doing so for “educational” reasons.The government in 2023 outlawed the display and trade of items bearing the Nazi Hakenkreuz (swastika) and double-sig rune that was the logo of the Schutzstaffel (SS), after multiple states passed similar laws that banned the display of Nazi symbols and the performance of the Nazi salute. Continue reading...