Two people dead after explosion at house in Bristol

• Israel reportedly deployed its cutting-edge Iron Beam laser system to the United Arab Emirates during the Iran conflict, designed to destroy incoming drones and rockets mid-air despite the prototype not being fully integrated into Israel's own defense network. • The advanced laser weapon was rushed into combat alongside an advanced surveillance system that detected incoming Iranian drones, signaling deepening military cooperation between Israel and the UAE. • The deployment highlights the Abraham Accords alliance and raises questions about real-world testing of next-generation weapons systems during active Middle East conflicts.

• During a heated Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand directly challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over rising Iran war costs, specifically questioning reports of a potential $200 billion additional spending request. • Gillibrand pressed Hegseth on the lack of evidence that military operations have made Americans safer, arguing the massive spending burden conflicts with domestic economic pressures and inflation affecting citizens. • Hegseth defended the campaign as a necessary and "defined mission" with strategic objectives, comparing it to long-term conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting growing Washington tension over war costs and direction.

• An Israeli Defense Forces official warned that the Iran conflict risks becoming "one big failure" unless Tehran's estimated 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, stored near weapons-grade levels, is removed. • Israeli officials claim the current stockpile could potentially yield up to 11 nuclear weapons if further processed, while Iran maintains its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. • The Trump administration signals ongoing concerns over Iran's nuclear capabilities, raising fears of potential renewed escalation as negotiations remain stalled and both sides maintain hardline positions.

• Reports indicate Iran may be circumventing international sanctions through cryptocurrency exchanges, with Nobitex allegedly linked to figures close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's circle acting as a key financial conduit for sanctioned entities and individuals. • Blockchain analysis suggests millions of dollars have moved through the platform despite Western restrictions, utilizing advanced obfuscation tactics to obscure transaction trails. • The alleged sanctions evasion exposes enforcement gaps as the Trump administration grapples with containing financial flows from Iran, raising questions about the effectiveness of existing economic pressure campaigns.

• A CNN investigation based on satellite imagery and damage assessments found that Iranian strikes damaged at least 16 U.S. military installations across eight Middle Eastern countries during the conflict. • Some U.S. military facilities suffered extensive harm classified as operationally unusable or facing difficult repair decisions, suggesting the scale of attacks was far greater than publicly acknowledged. • The report raises questions about whether the Pentagon has understated both physical damage and the true financial costs of the Iran war, challenging official public accounting of the conflict.

• President Donald Trump signed a comprehensive executive order significantly expanding U.S. sanctions against Cuba, targeting individuals, entities, and sectors linked to the Cuban government. • The new measures focus on key economic areas including energy, defense, financial services, and security sectors, with secondary sanctions allowed on foreign entities conducting business with targeted Cuban organizations. • The escalation reflects Trump's intensified pressure campaign against the Cuban government and signals broader shifts in U.S. foreign policy toward adversarial regimes.

House panel divided on whether Trump should pardon Maxwell so she can cooperate with Epstein investigationThe possibility of clemency for Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, however unlikely, has long outraged survivors and their advocates who view the former British socialite’s lengthy jail sentence as giving them some justice in the long-running saga.Recent reporting that a pardon for Maxwell is now being discussed supportively in some circles, however, has highlighted how Epstein and Maxwell remain a political minefield for Republicans and Donald Trump – while presenting yet another blow to survivors’ fight for transparency. Continue reading...

Deputy leader plays down leadership talk and says party must focus on long-term challenges rather than personnelLabour’s deputy leader has warned there will be “no magic bullet” to solve Labour’s problems – or major challenges facing the country – as its MPs grapple with how to navigate the fallout out from the local elections.Lucy Powell told the Guardian she understood there was “huge anger and despondency” from Labour MPs in the aftermath of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, but said the prime minister would not make a similar mistake again. Continue reading...

Councillors in Leicestershire support move in efforts to reduce flooding as Reform faces divisions on nature policyA Reform UK council has backed the release of wild beavers into the countryside, despite the party’s opposition to rewilding.The Reform-led Leicestershire county council has backed the release of the rodents as part of efforts to reduce flooding. Continue reading...

Health officials in Trump administration were accused of fueling ‘crisis of public trust’ over autism and vaccinesMisinformation from top health officials in the Trump administration has created a “crisis of public trust” – and Congress should conduct oversight hearings and possibly impeach officials such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a recently released report.Experts say that officials in the past year have focused intently on both vaccines and autism, including efforts to connect autism to the use of acetaminophen (frequently sold as Tylenol) during pregnancy, despite growing evidence of no link, and replacing all members of the federal autism committee with advisers who have anti-vaccine and pseudoscientific histories. Continue reading...

US secretary of state will be in Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo’s papacyUS secretary of state Marco Rubio will travel to Rome this week, a visit reportedly aimed at thawing frosty relations with the Italian government and the Vatican.Rubio will be in the Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, which will also mark the one-year anniversary of the papacy of Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff. Continue reading...