Shropshire council staff met with rising ‘abuse and intimidation’ over removal of flags

Future of Calvin Duncan’s position as the clerk of New Orleans’ criminal district courthouse remains unclearLouisiana Republicans eliminated an elected position days before a Democratic exoneree who overwhelmingly won the New Orleans-based post was set to take office on Monday.A temporary restraining order did allow the exoneree, Calvin Duncan, to take office as scheduled Monday as the clerk of New Orleans’ criminal district courthouse – though it remained unclear how long his tenure may prove to be. Continue reading...

US secretary of state’s two-day visit reportedly intended to thaw Washington’s frosty relations with Vatican and ItalyThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will meet Pope Leo on Thursday, weeks after Donald Trump’s unprecedented broadside against the pontiff.Rubio will meet the first US-born pope privately in the Vatican’s apostolic palace at 11.30am (10.30 GMT), the Holy See’s press office confirmed on Monday after media reports on Sunday. Continue reading...

Chris Minns says technology has been ‘weaponised against women, and our laws have not kept pace’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAfter their marriage of 25 years deteriorated and his wife expressed a desire to leave, a man in regional New South Wales bought a GPS tracking device from an auto parts retailer.He used it to monitor her movements for the month, and up to at least the day before he shot and killed her, and then turned the gun on himself. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sperm re-transplant offers hope that boys left infertile by chemotherapy could have biological children one dayIn a groundbreaking fertility trial, a man whose testicular tissue was frozen before he underwent chemotherapy as a child to be re-transplanted 16 years later has been able to produce sperm.It is the first time a transplant of cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissue has been demonstrated to restore sperm production in an adult patient. The 27-year-old man had the sample frozen when he was 10, before undergoing potent chemotherapy as part of treatment for sickle cell disease. Continue reading...

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey backs launch of Vine reboot, Divine, where content must be made by a humanAs a pioneer of the short-form video format, Vine has been credited as one of the most influential – if short-lived – social media platforms.The app, which allowed users to record a looping six seconds of video, boomed in popularity after its launch in 2013, creating a plethora of viral comedy sketches and internet memes. It hit 100 million monthly active users at its peak and helped launch the careers of influencers like Logan Paul. Continue reading...

Delivery truck driver emerged with minor injuries after underside of jet hit tractor trailer in New Jersey on SundayThe driver of a delivery truck emerged with only minor injuries after his tractor trailer was struck by a passenger jet landing in New Jersey’s busy Newark airport on Sunday afternoon, officials said.New Jersey state police said a landing tire and the underside of a United Airlines plane arriving from Venice, Italy, hit the truck in question. The Boeing 767 aircraft also clipped a light pole, which in turn struck a Jeep. Continue reading...

Kent schoolgirl tracks down 10,000 namesakes as part of campaign – but non-Kirstys are welcome to donate tooCalling all Kirstys! A schoolgirl from Tunbridge Wells in Kent is seeking people who share her name to help raise money for research into paediatric brain tumours like the one for which she is being treated.Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already persuaded more than 10,000 Kirstys, Kirsties, Kersties and assorted other variants to plot their locations on a map that shows Kirstys can be found everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia, and even at the Rothera research station in Antarctica. Continue reading...

Lobbyist Tara Singh says stripping projects of subsidy contracts would undermine investor confidence in UKBritain could be beset by levels of economic chaos last seen under Liz Truss if a Reform UK government were to fulfil its promise to strip renewable energy projects of subsidy contracts, according to the industry’s chief lobbyist.The anti-renewables policy put forward by Nigel Farage’s populist party would severely undermine investor confidence in the energy industry and across the wider UK economy, the new chief executive of RenewableUK said. Continue reading...

No arrests made, police say, and site of shooting – a heavily wooded area – is slowing search for evidence and suspectAt least 13 people were hurt in a mass shooting during a party at a campground in Oklahoma on Sunday night, authorities said.The shooting took place at Spring Creek Park on Arcadia Lake about 15 miles north-east of downtown Oklahoma City, when gunfire erupted during a gathering of young people at about 9pm. Continue reading...

Comments at European Political Community summit come as Britain seeks to join EU’s loan scheme for UkraineUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has acknowledged that “tensions” between Donald Trump and Europe are high as he attends a summit of the European Political Community dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.With European leaders concerned over the US president’s waning interest in the Ukraine war, the prime minister will use the summit in Armenia to begin negotiations to participate in the European Union’s loan scheme for Kyiv. Continue reading...

US president’s post follows flurry of mixed signals including concern Tehran had not ‘paid big enough price’. Plus, could Santa Marta climate talks mark ground zero in push to ditch fossil fuels?Good morning.Donald Trump has announced this morning that the US will “guide” ships trapped in the Gulf by the Iran war through the strait of Hormuz, and claimed his representatives were having “very positive” discussions with Iran.What has Iran said? The head of the Iranian military’s unified command has said US and foreign armed forces will be attacked if they enter the strait. It told US forces to stay out of the area and said its forces would respond harshly to any threat. It also told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement in the absence of coordination with Iran’s military.What did Comey say about the post? Comey deleted the postand apologized. He said the hadn’t known what the expression meant and condemned violence. He has said he is innocent and denies any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Hangings are latest wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear in Iranian societyMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks, in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear in society at a time of international and domestic tension. Continue reading...