Trump withdraws nomination of Casey Means for US surgeon general

• The United Arab Emirates withdrew from OPEC yesterday, marking a historic split from Saudi Arabia during the escalating regional crisis. • This decision coincides with the Strait of Hormuz being almost entirely shut down due to a US naval blockade aimed at halting Iranian oil exports. • The US is threatening to cut off major Chinese banks from its financial system to prevent processing of Iranian oil, intensifying global energy tensions.

DoJ announces changes including ‘loophole’ that allows people to buy guns at shows without background checkThe US justice department has rolled back several significant restrictions on guns, including reinstating the so-called “gun show loophole”, which allowed people at such events to buy firearms without a background check.The changes, announced by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, amount to a shift in firearm policy advocated by supporters of the second amendment, who are prominent in Donald Trump’s supporter base. Continue reading...

Decision follows backlash from Italian government and European CommissionThe jury of the Venice Biennale has quit just days before the prestigious art exhibition was due to begin, amid a row over the decision to allow Russia to participate.The resignation of the five-member international jury was announced late on Thursday in a brief statement by the Venice Biennale organisers, and came a day after the Italian culture ministry sent inspectors to Venice in search of information about the decision to allow Russia to have a pavilion at this year’s event. Continue reading...

Researchers say results mark a ‘profound change in technology that will reshape medicine’From George Clooney in ER to Noah Wyle in The Pitt, emergency department doctors have long been popular heroes. But will it soon be time to hang up the scrubs?A groundbreaking Harvard study has found that AI systems outperformed human doctors in high-pressure emergency medicine triage, diagnosing more accurately in the potentially life and death moments when people are first rushed to hospital. Continue reading...

Senator Jack Reed says at hearing that defense secretary failed to give Trump accurate picture of war in IranUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailPete Hegseth has failed to give Donald Trump an accurate picture of the war on Iran while resorting to “dangerously exaggerated” statements to create an inaccurate picture of a US military triumph, a senior Democrat told a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, told Hegseth, the defense secretary, that far from victory, US citizens were having to bear the cost of a war they did not support in the form of increased fuel prices. Continue reading...

Congress advances Homeland Security funding after Republicans used procedural tool to pass up to $75bn for ICE and border patrolSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA historically long 75-day partial government shutdown has ended after the House voted narrowly to advance funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following a late-night Republican rally to boost a GOP budget blueprint.The tides turned on Wednesday evening when the House passed the Republican resolution following a last-minute deal over unrelated ethanol fuel provisions that flipped enough holdouts to push it over the line. Continue reading...

Lambeth council candidates Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey understood to have been detained over social media postsTwo women standing as Green party candidates in the local elections have been arrested over alleged antisemitic social media posts.The women, running in seats for Lambeth council, south London, were arrested by the Metropolitan police on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly stormed the White House correspondents’ association dinner and is being held as case proceedsThe man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump by rushing the black-tie press gala in Washington DC at the weekend where the US president was a guest, agreed on Thursday to remain in custody while his federal criminal case moves forward.The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was not planning immediately to contest prosecutors’ arguments that he was a danger to the community and should remain in jail, his attorney, Tezira Abe, said during a federal court hearing in the capital. Continue reading...

Vehicle was travelling through Juvisy-sur-Orge when it veered off the road and fell in the riverFour people have been rescued from the Seine near Paris after a bus driven by a trainee driver collided with a parked vehicle before plunging into the river.The bus was travelling through the town of Juvisy-sur-Orge south-east of the French capital when it veered off the road and fell into the Seine, prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre’s assessment means terror attack ‘highly likely’The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is thought to be “highly likely”.The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described Wednesday’s attack as a vile act of terrorism. “Today, the national threat level has increased to ‘severe’, which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely,” she said. Continue reading...

The World Press Freedom Index, which assessed 180 countries, finds established journalism is ‘being asphyxiated’Press freedom around the world is at its lowest ebb in a generation, according to an influential annual index that highlights growing authoritarian pressure on the media.The average score for the 180 countries assessed by the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was the lowest in the index’s 25-year history. Continue reading...