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Biological parents given custody of child born in Texas amid dispute over surrogate mother’s claim of abortion requestA two-day-old baby with a rare heart defect at the center of a complex surrogacy dispute in Texas has been handed over to the parents’ custody and is receiving care, lawyers for the parents said on Friday.The baby has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect that requires surgeries to correct. The baby was born on Wednesday to surrogate mother McKenna West of Alaska after she reportedly refused requests to get an abortion from the biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California – requests they deny making. Continue reading...

McKenna West initially agreed to an abortion after diagnosis, but then fled to state where abortion is illegal and broke contact with biological parents, attorney allegesA surrogate mother who traveled to Texas, where abortion is illegal, claiming she was pressured to end the pregnancy after the discovery of a severe heart defect, gave birth on Wednesday to a baby boy.The child’s biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, confirmed the birth through their lawyer, while denying they forced McKenna West, who is from Alaska, to undergo an abortion, the Texas Tribune reported. Continue reading...

• Scottish and English football clubs are actively pursuing new signings, with several high-profile moves currently in progress. • PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech is expected to join his new club following an agreed £7 million transfer deal. • Hearts have accepted a £1.7 million bid for Alexandros Kyziridis after recovering from a heavy Europa League qualifying loss to Benfica.

• Disney+ and Hulu have entered a strategic partnership with iHeartMedia to integrate six video podcasts into their streaming platforms. • The deal includes popular titles such as "Hey Jonas!", expanding the variety of non-scripted content available to subscribers. • This move signifies a growing trend of streaming giants incorporating podcasting formats to diversify their libraries and attract new audiences.

• Scottish clubs, including Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, and Hibs, are actively pursuing new signings in the current transfer window. • One undisclosed deal involves a loan agreement where the acquiring club will cover the player's wages and pay a loan fee, with an option to buy for approximately £2.5 million. • Former Dundee United playmaker Scott Fraser is currently weighing transfer offers from several clubs in English League One and League Two.

A Guardian investigation finds irrigation canals polluted with microplastics in Turkey, a major destination for UK waste• ‘Nobody cares’: Turkish farmers bear the burden of UK’s plastic waste problemHigh levels of microplastics and other plastic contamination have been discovered in a waterway close to a major recycling hub in Turkey supplied with plastic waste by British companies.The polluted waterway, which floods into agricultural fields after heavy rain, feeds into a larger canal used for irrigating crops on the Çukurova plain, in the city of Adana, in the south of the country. It is one of the largest and most fertile agricultural basins in Turkey. Continue reading...

Texts reveal that singer and Celeste Rivas Hernandez had been in touch stretching back to when she was 11 years oldThe rising pop singer D4vd and 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were in the throes of a clandestine relationship months before her mangled and decomposing body turned up last September stuffed in an impounded car registered to the musician.D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, is set to stand trial for murder, child sexual abuse and mutilation of human remains in connection to the teenager’s death. Continue reading...

Nigel Farage’s £5m gift, the Cottrell family’s links and donations, and Richard Tice’s business dealings form part of an increasingly clear nexus of relationshipsIt has been three months since the Guardian revealed that Nigel Farage had accepted a £5m gift from Christopher Harborne, a billionaire donor to Reform UK.This was not the first story in our continuing investigation. But it has proved the most significant, and the consequences of the disclosure are still being played out. Continue reading...

• A review for the film "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was released on July 30, 2026, describing the movie as a heartfelt sequel. • The film is praised for expanding Peter Parker's world and narrative scope while maintaining the core essence of the character. • This release is part of a broader trend in the $2.83 trillion global entertainment industry, which continues to drive massive interest in blockbuster franchises.

• Irish construction firms are expanding their operations into Europe following a surge in data center growth, leveraging expertise gained from Ireland's domestic boom. • While grid capacity concerns have slowed new projects within Ireland, companies like Sisk are now securing contracts in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. • This shift allows Irish builders to export specialized technical skills to other EU markets facing similar digital infrastructure demands.

• Rangers are accelerating transfer talks with Brighton for winger Amario Cozier-Duberry and are nearing a £3 million deal for Philadelphia Union defender Olwethu Makhanya. • These recruitment efforts come as the club prepares to kick off their new campaign against Dundee United this Friday night. • The activity highlights a broader period of squad rebuilding for the Ibrox side and other top Scottish clubs including Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, and Hibs.

Robert Assaf tells Icac that Angus Taylor wasn’t ‘that involved’ but the federal opposition leader ‘definitely wasn’t opposed’ to work of conservative groupA member of a group of young conservative Liberal power brokers being investigated for allegedly soliciting illegal donations has compared their factional work to Mel Gibson’s Braveheart – and said they “didn’t think the law applied to us” when it came to political funding.The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Thursday heard from Robert Assaf, the first witness from the conservative right Liberal factional group the Reformers to give evidence. Continue reading...

Christian Ellis, a former registered lobbyist, is named in two Independent Commission Against Corruption allegationsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA key figure at the centre of an anti-corruption inquiry involving the New South Wales Liberal party has moved to the UK and is not expected to give evidence during eight weeks of public hearings.The Independent Commission Against Corruption will start its Operation Rosny hearings on Monday. The first witness will be a hotelier, Michael O’Hara, followed later in the week by a former Liberal staffer, Dylan Whitelaw, and a consultant, Robert Assaf. Continue reading...

Sister Leticia Ugboaja says she went into a cold sweat as ICE officers approached her in McAllen on her way to church A nun who was taken into immigration custody last month in Texas said on Thursday that she went into a cold sweat as two armed men approached her while she walked to Sunday mass in her habit, thinking about the day’s Bible readings and carrying little more than her rosary and cellphone.“Honestly, in that moment, I did not understand what was going on, what was happening to me,” Sister Leticia Ugboaja said at a news conference at Our Lady of Sorrows church in McAllen, Texas, on the US-Mexico border, where she spoke out for the first time since US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested her on 28 June. Continue reading...

Family and boxing community grieving deeply after Rapp was killed by motorist while she was cycling in TexasThe violent death of the US boxer Hannah Rapp, whom authorities say was killed recently by a motorist while she cycled, has left her sport, her communities outside the ring and her loved ones grieving deeply just weeks after she took her first world title shot.A statement from the Bryan Boxing gym where Rapp trained in Texas commemorated her as “an amazing lady and soul” while the Aggieland Cycling club to which she belonged recalled how her “kindness and excitement for life [buoyed] all who knew her”. Continue reading...

People gather at cafes and outdoor screenings to support team after Spain’s backing for Palestinian rights The Spanish football team’s World Cup win has been celebrated in the streets of Gaza, where Spain’s support for Palestinian rights and Israel’s backing for the Argentinian team turned the competition into more than a football showdown.Gathered at cafes and outdoor screenings, Palestinians defied the risk of Israeli attacks to cheer on a team they had taken to their hearts. Continue reading...

• The AI industry is facing a critical inefficiency crisis as Large Language Models (LLMs) experience severely diminishing returns. • According to a report by The Atlantic, the cost of inference—the process of using trained models to handle new data—is rising exponentially. • This trend threatens the industry's financial viability, as the technology is becoming significantly less lucrative than it was six months ago.

• Motherwell has agreed to a club-record, multi-million pound deal to sell World Cup star Elijah Just to Swansea City. • The transfer fee, which includes add-ons, is expected to surpass the previous record set by Lennon Miller's sale to Udinese last summer. • Other Scottish clubs, including Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs, and Aberdeen, are actively scouting for new signings across various markets.

• Rangers are reportedly competing with Cardiff City to sign a highly-rated Norwegian midfielder, though reports of an Ibrox delegation visiting the Arctic Circle have been disputed. • Record Sport clarifies that the Rangers hierarchy remains in Spain, where manager Derek McInnes is concluding a week-long training camp this Friday. • The news comes amid a broader window of activity as major Scottish clubs, including Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, and Aberdeen, pursue new signings.

Thalha Jubair, 20, and Owen Flowers, 19, sentenced to five and a half years each for cyber-attack that cost Transport for London £39mThe teenage hackers had London’s transport network at their mercy. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers had burrowed into the heart of Transport for London’s IT systems and held the “keys to the kingdom”.TfL said the attack, which occurred between 31 August and 3 September 2024, could have caused “catastrophic damage” to its technology systems and could have led to “significant and extended transport service degradation and disruption”. Continue reading...

Rebecca Slaughter, who was fired by Trump from the FTC in 2025, worries agencies will be undermined by threat of removal if a decision is contrary to president’s favorFederal officials fired by the Trump administration are calling the recent supreme court decision a “dagger in the heart” of the civil service that will open independent federal government agencies to corruption and manipulation at the whim of the president.Since Donald Trump took office again in January 2025, he has fired more than 50 officials from federal agencies as the Trump administration openly sought to have the supreme court overturn a landmark 1935 ruling that limited the president’s power over independent agencies, known as Humphrey’s Executor. Continue reading...

• Major streaming releases for July include the conclusion of the "Heartstopper" series and a new album from artist Steve Lacy. • Other recommended titles selected by Associated Press journalists include "Lucky," starring Anya Taylor-Joy, and "The Hawk," featuring Will Ferrell as a retired golfer. • The lineup also highlights the release of the game "D-topia," offering a variety of entertainment options across music, film, and gaming.

Welsh singer and Eurovision entrant’s other hits included Footloose soundtrack smash Holding Out for a HeroBonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer whose husky yet commanding voice made songs such as Total Eclipse of the Heart into 1980s classics, has died aged 75.A message on her Facebook page reads: “Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for.” Continue reading...

Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron sent nearly £200,000 to school in Hebron – where Israel has been accused of imposing apartheid – between 2019 and 2024A British charity is funding a religious school at the heart of expansion plans for the illegal Israeli settlement in the Palestinian city of Hebron.Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron sent nearly £200,000 to the school between 2019 and 2024, the last year for which accounts are publicly available on the website of the Charity Commission, the charity regulator for England and Wales. Continue reading...

• Airdrie manager John Rankin has guaranteed fans that the club will secure additional player signings this week. • These reinforcements come ahead of the club's first competitive match under Rankin, a Premier Sports Cup opener against Premiership side Dundee this Saturday. • The team recently prepared for the fixture with a 2-1 friendly defeat against Championship side Ayr United.

• Kevin Warsh, a potential candidate for Federal Reserve Chair, has signaled a desire for an ideological overhaul of the central bank. • His blunt approach and commitment to a different monetary framework contrast with current market expectations. • This shift is viewed as a significant risk for Wall Street, as the stock market is currently "priced for perfection" and relies on specific Fed policies.

• Tottenham Hotspur have signed midfielder Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United in a club-record transfer deal worth £85 million. • The Portuguese international previously played for Sporting Lisbon and Southampton, though both of his most recent clubs suffered relegation. • This high-profile move signals a significant investment by Spurs to strengthen their squad with top-tier talent.

• South Korea captain Son Heung-min issued a public apology on Instagram following the national team's disappointing group-stage exit from the World Cup. • Son expressed being "indescribably hurt" by the result and vowed to work toward winning back the hearts of South Korean fans. • The team's poor performance triggered harsh criticism from the country's president and led to the resignation of head coach Hong Myung-bo.