US Postal Service rule tightens mail-in voting despite federal court orders

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo is expanding its response to an Ebola outbreak that has caused nearly 2,500 deaths as of August 18. • The government and aid partners have established five operational priorities to scale up the emergency response.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, threatens harshest sanctions yet on Russia after strike on Kryvyi Rih, the home town of Volodymyr Zelenskyy Russian drones have slammed into a busy shopping centre in central Ukraine, killing 16 people in an attack that Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as “cynical and despicable”.The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, condemned Friday’s attack on Kryvyi Rih – the president’s home town – as “terror by design” and said she was “putting forward the most far-reaching Russia sanctions listings since the start of the war” when ministers meet in Ireland next month. Continue reading...

President at rally in South Carolina makes comments on key strategic waterway and also jokes about bombing IranDonald Trump called the strait of Hormuz “an American territory” on Friday, as the US continues its military blockade of Iran’s shipping and ports while Trump’s administration struggles to end its war with the country.“We don’t even know if we won, because I view the strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now,” Trump said, addressing a crowd in South Carolina. He was campaigning for senator Darline Graham, who is running to permanently fill her late brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat. Continue reading...

Saja El-Khawas had been in critical condition after incident that also killed her sister and parents off coast of ShorehamA six-year-old girl has died in hospital three days after being pulled from the sea off Shoreham in West Sussex, in an incident that also killed her mother, father and sister.Saja El-Khawas died on Friday after the deaths of her sister Sara El-Khawas, 14, and her parents Hassan El-Khawas, 55, and Zeina Alayn, 37, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The DoJ sued TikTok and its former parent company in August 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy and collecting their information⁠TikTok and its Chinese former parent company ByteDance on Friday agreed to a $400m settlement to resolve the US Department of Justice’s allegations that the short-form video app ⁠violated children’s online ⁠privacy.The justice ​department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy and illegally collecting their information. The defendants were accused ⁠of violating a law requiring online services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under age 13. Continue reading...

The dark lord – or someone dressed like him – said the technology would aid the empire in tracking ‘rebel scum’A man dressed as Darth Vader appeared to poke fun at San Diego officials for using Flock Safety automated license plate readers at a city council meeting this week, a stunt that comes as the company faces growing backlash linked to spying concerns.The man, whose real identity remains unknown, masqueraded on Thursday as the Star Wars villain at a San Diego public safety committee meeting. Continue reading...

A report released by thinktank Cap argues the deployment of the National Guard failed to have a measurable impact on crime, despite costing billionsThe Center for American Progress (Cap) received a letter from Donald Trump’s lawyer threatening a $5bn lawsuit unless the liberal research organization retracts a report criticizing the effectiveness of the president’s National Guard rollout.The report released 13 July argues that the National Guard deployment in Washington DC, Memphis and Los Angeles failed to have a measurable impact on crime in these cities despite an estimated cost of $1.7bn. The report looks at the falling rate of crime in cities without a National Guard intervention and concludes that they are not statistically different from the rate of decrease in those that had the intervention, noting that violent crime began falling well before Trump took office in 2025. Continue reading...

European regulators have imposed billions in penalties on US technology companies due to privacy, competition and digital market rulesThe Dutch data protection authority has fined ⁠Uber €825m ($966m) for deactivating driver ⁠accounts through automated systems without ​adequately informing them, according to a 17 August decision.The penalty would be the second-largest issued yet under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Continue reading...

Closing arguments could come on Monday as prosecutors seek murder conviction over deaths of three young childrenLindsay Clancy’s defense in her murder trial rested on Friday after calling witnesses to testify about the ailing mother’s mental state and attempts to seek help before she killed her young children.The defense wrapped more quickly than some expected given that the prosecution rested their case on Monday. Continue reading...

David Campanale seeks damages after what he says was organised campaign against his faith in Sutton and Cheam How much is a career in politics worth? The Liberal Democrats, despite admitting claims of religious discrimination, say about £22,800. A former Lib Dem candidate claims £790,000.It is a question before the Central London county court after David Campanale argued that discrimination against his Christianity cost him his political career in a civil case against the party. Continue reading...

UN secretary general has said UN faces ‘imminent financial collapse’ due to unpaid contributions from member statesThe Trump administration has started the process to transfer $725m to the United Nations, a congressional notification seen by Reuters ⁠showed – a move aid experts said ⁠was a welcome step towards paying ​billions in dues owed.There was no immediate response from Washington DC to questions about the reasons for the payment from an administration that has slashed funding to many UN agencies and blasted the global body for not living up to ⁠its potential. Continue reading...