Exclusive: Officials warn department will lose access to database of 26,000 verified cases by cutting fundingThe Foreign Office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and more recently Lebanon has been closed because of cuts within the department, the Guardian can reveal.The decision to shut the international humanitarian law cell follows a review by Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office dismissed last week by the prime minister over the Peter Mandelson scandal. Continue reading...
Iran seizes two ships in critical waterway as Washington and Tehran maintain separate blockades. Plus, Jodi Kantor on how to find a career you loveGood morning.Iranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the shipping waterway.What has Donald Trump said? The US president announced that the US would extend the ceasefire with Iran until the country’s leaders came up with a “unified proposal” to US negotiating positions amid Tehran’s “seriously fractured” government. He had earlier threatened to renew bombing. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump was “satisfied” with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and “understands Iran is in a very weak position”.This is a developing story. Follow the liveblog here.Who took part in the debate? The primetime showdown, hosted by Nexstar Media Group, featured two Republicans – Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host and director of strategy to the former UK prime minister David Cameron, and Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County – and the four leading Democrats: the billionaire Tom Steyer, the former health secretary Xavier Becerra, the former congresswoman Katie Porter and the San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan. Continue reading...
• US equity markets including S&P 500 fell 1.9% last week, breaching the 200-day moving average for the first time since May 2025 amid geopolitical tensions and inflation pressures.
• Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.0% and Dow Jones 2.1%, with VIX near 27 and CNN Fear and Greed Index at 15 signaling high investor anxiety.
• Persistent inflation data and fading AI optimism drove declines, positioning US Tech 100 below key moving averages with risks of further drops to 23,000.
• A hacker claims to have infiltrated a U.S. platform for searching law enforcement hotline messages, accessing over 8 million confidential tips.
• The breach exposes sensitive crime reporting data, raising alarms about vulnerabilities in public safety communication systems.
• This incident highlights ongoing risks to domestic law enforcement databases amid rising cyber threats.
