Thursday briefing: The largest cluster of cases in a generation – what’s behind the meningitis B outbreak?

• Israel has recognized Somaliland, a self-declared statelet, signaling a strategic move to expand its influence within the Horn of Africa. • This development aligns with a June 1 report from the Global Conflict Index, which warns that separate conflicts in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa are merging into a singular system.

Family, friends and colleagues attend service at Buckfast Abbey in Buckfastleigh, which former MP described as her ‘safe haven’Around 100 family, friends and colleagues have attended the funeral service of the former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe, who was killed in her home in Devon last month.Politicians and broadcasters were among the mourners at Buckfast Abbey in Buckfastleigh, a Catholic abbey where Widdecombe regularly worshipped, and which she described as her “safe haven”. Continue reading...

Family ‘extremely grateful’ to four-month-old ‘Goosey’ who ran out of fire-billowing building and repeatedly squawkedA pet goose is being credited with helping save a Texas family’s animals after sounding a honking alarm as a fire tore through their barn.The dramatic moment unfolded on the morning of 4 August in Fort Bend county, where four-month-old Goosey repeatedly squawked outside the burning barn, alerting his owners, the Gerber family, to the danger. Continue reading...

Rumors of plea deal in federal case have been circulating since June for suspect accused of killing Brian ThompsonAn unexpected hearing in the federal stalking case against Luigi Mangione has been scheduled, leading to speculation that the alleged United Healthcare CEO assassin was seeking a plea deal that would in turn end a murder prosecution in New York state court beginning next month.Prosecutors and Mangione’s lawyers filed a joint letter requesting the hearing at 11am on Friday in Manhattan federal court. Continue reading...

Darrell Hines’s lawyers ask supreme court to intervene, arguing he could face fate similar to failed execution in MayTennessee is scheduled to execute a man this week despite bipartisan backlash after the state botched its previous lethal injection, which dragged on for more than an hour before it was canceled.Darrell Hines, who was convicted of the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins, a motel maid and mother of four, is due to be put to death on Thursday. Continue reading...

With almost all votes counted in Republican primary for governor, Lisa Demuth is ahead by over 10% of ballotsProgressive Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary in race defined by anti-ICE angerUS politics live – latest updatesMike Lindell, the pillow salesman, Trump supporter and election denier, has refused to concede defeat in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary, despite trailing by a double-digit margin the morning after polls closed.The Associated Press called the race for Lisa Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, late on Tuesday night. Continue reading...

Amid doubling prices and fraying tempers, shoppers hunt for elusive eyewear to prepare for rare eclipse of sun• Europe solar eclipse – latest updatesA secretive WhatsApp group was pinging with notifications throughout Wednesday, letting its members know where in London the latest “drop” would take place.The group’s focus, rather than being for an illicit substance, was for the much coveted eclipse glasses, which have prompted a frantic rush on shops before the celestial event. Continue reading...

‘Outstanding young Americans’ came together to catch a tennis ball for freedomThe Patriot Games, held this week in Ohio, was intended to be a “national athletic competition celebrating the character, determination, and excellence that define the American spirit”, according to a press release.The competition, which organizers insisted would be nothing like the Hunger Games, was to bring together “outstanding young Americans” from across the country, “to compete, inspire, and showcase the values that have shaped the United States for nearly 250 years”. ESPN, hosting the games, said it would “test excellence in skillsets of beloved American sports”. Continue reading...

Crew is in ninth month at sea and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land, record for an aircraft carrierMilitary families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and the Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ‘Peaceful community rally’ of more than 150 people was walking in Broadmeadows when car travelling in same direction allegedly approachedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastVictorian police are investigating allegations that a car was deliberately driven at speed towards a protester taking part in an anti-racism rally in Melbourne last month.More than 150 people gathered in the outer-north suburb of Broadmeadows on 25 July for what organisers described as a “peaceful community rally”. Continue reading...

Air traffic controllers are short-staffed and exhausted – and new recruits face a difficult aptitude test and must train in MelbourneGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTravellers flying in and out of Sydney airport had already been dealing with heavy delays even before a Jetstar plane narrowly avoided colliding with a Qatar Airways plane on the tarmac early on Sunday.The day before, more than 150 flights passing through Sydney were delayed as the airport grappled with a lack of air traffic controllers, highlighting how just how delicate the rostering situation is. Continue reading...

Mortgage and student loan balances saw ‘small decline’ with increases elsewhere, says post alongside Fed reportCredit card debt in the United States is growing close to a record high, having creeped up from $54bn to $1.26tn between April and June compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.That figure is just shy of last year’s record high of $1.28tn. Continue reading...