US military disables ad trackers on troops’ phones amid security fears

• The news — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the 'RAKSHA' document in New Delhi, establishing a strategic framework for India's global defence diplomacy. • The number — The comprehensive roadmap outlines India's vision for international defence partnerships over the next 10 years.

• The news — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has unveiled ‘RAKSHA’, a strategic roadmap designed to make defence diplomacy a more structured component of India's international engagement. • The number — The roadmap outlines a strategic focus spanning the next decade to enhance global partnerships and maritime security.

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report confirming that the El Niño phenomenon is now firmly established. • The WMO warns that the event will intensify into a "very strong" phase over the coming months.

Lorena Isceri was thrown off a motorway bridge, allegedly by ex-boyfriend Federico VellaA 45-year-old woman has been killed and thrown off a motorway bridge near Florence, in the seventh alleged femicide in Italy since mid-August.Lorena Isceri was abducted on Thursday afternoon, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, Federico Vella, in the Rifredi area of Florence, before being forced into the boot of his car and driven towards the bridge on the A1 motorway.In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org Continue reading...

Footage provokes outrage, as bellicose and performative far-right politics continue to spread across AmericasColombia’s hardline president, Abelardo De La Espriella, has provoked outrage after posting a video on social media in which he strides through rows of white body bags that he says contained the corpses of 23 “neutralised” guerrillas.De La Espriella took power last month vowing “all-out war” against illegal armed groups and he published the footage on Thursday in an apparent attempt to show he was fulfilling that pledge. Continue reading...

Comedian and his wife, Cerys Morgan, set up charitable foundation in memory of Felix, who died shortly after birthRussell Howard has announced the death of his baby son, in what he described as the “most devastating time of our lives”.The 46-year-old comedian said his family had been “changed for ever” after their “beautiful baby boy”, Felix, died shortly after birth. Continue reading...

Film-maker acclaimed for his celebrations of Roma culture had been working on a ‘historical film project’ in ProvenceTony Gatlif, the French director of more than 20 films that mostly concentrated on celebrating Roma culture across the world, has died aged 77.His family said in a statement to AFP that Gatlif died on Wednesday of “a health issue” while working on a “historical film project” in Arles in Provence, France. “The beauty of his films, his generosity, his joy, his poetry, and his love of music will remain with us forever.” Continue reading...

Five jailed after targeting victim and subjecting him to ordeal linked to past relationship breakdownDramatic footage shows a kidnapped man jumping from a first floor window into a tree before running into the street and, by chance, coming across a police car.Lincolnshire police said the ordeal of the unnamed man had been “horrifying” and the presence of a marked police vehicle “may have saved his life”. Continue reading...

Family-run Al-Qarara Seed Bank is striving to help Palestinians gain sovereignty over their food securitySalama Ayesh Muhanna still remembers the first seeds he planted on his family’s land in al-Qarara, Gaza. At just 17, Muhanna had proudly sprouted cucumbers.“I was very happy because I saw the results,” Muhanna says. “We were farmers at heart.” Continue reading...

Nick Park began modelling the character as a feline, before finding it too difficult and changing him to a dogThe creator of Wallace and Gromit has revealed that the world’s most famous stop-motion animated dog was nearly a cat.As Aardman Animations marks its 50th anniversary, Nick Park, who joined the studio in 1985, told the BBC he originally modelled Gromit as a feline companion for Wallace. Continue reading...

Vice-president’s claim US-Iran conflict is not war draws ridicule from Democrat Ro Khanna. Plus, iconic feminist Gloria Steinem dies aged 92Good morning. The US vice-president, JD Vance, has responded to claims that an American strike was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran by saying that “sometimes things happen”. The deaths were reported by the Iranian Red Crescent, which operates independently of Tehran and is treated by most international monitors as a credible source on casualty figures.In a further comment, described by the congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, as “gaslighting”, the vice-president said the conflict between the US and Iran, which has stretched into a seventh month and caused the deaths of 18 US service members, was not presently “a war”. Iranian authorities have put the overall death toll from US and Israeli strikes in the thousands, figures outside observers, including US-based monitoring groups, have broadly corroborated.What did Vance say? At a White House press briefing he said: “I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far, so I’m extremely skeptical of this. What I can say with 100% confidence is that, unlike the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US never targets civilians in combat. We never will do that. We never have done that, and unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen”. Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to blow up Iran’s civilian infrastructure.What is happening with US military leadership? Trump on Thursday named Adam Telle as the acting army secretary after the departure of Daniel Driscoll amid widespread reports of tensions with the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the army for civil works.What has the House decided about university boycotts of Israel? The House has passed a Republican-backed bill that would penalize universities that participate in boycotts of Israel. “This legislation is about a simple principle: our colleges and universities should not discriminate against Israel,” said Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the House education committee. Thirty three Democrats broke with the rest of their party to vote in favor. It now goes to the Senate for consideration. Continue reading...