Internet restricted after fighting breaks out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
During the two-year civil war in Tigray, the region was totally cut off from the outside world.
Africa’s richest man helps fund $660m fuel pipeline between Ethiopia and Djibouti
The pipeline would strengthen energy security in landlocked Ethiopia, while creating jobs at Djibouti's port.
Special agents’ blood and urine test results stolen in FBI hack
Experts say the hack could leave agents vulnerable to scams, blackmail and targeted attacks.
Man shot during 2024 Trump campaign rally in Butler dies
A gunman shot Jim Copenhaver twice while also killing another man and grazing Trump's ear with a bullet.
Healey appoints Labour manifesto writer, fuelling election speculation
Exclusive: Economist Ravinder Athwal who worked in Keir Starmer’s team is poached from Flint Global
Ravinder Athwal, the economist who wrote Labour’s 2024 manifesto, is taking on a senior role as an adviser to John Healey, in a move likely to fuel speculation about an early general election.
The chancellor is keen to beef up his team before the critical budget on 28 October, as the economy is buffeted by high oil prices and rising government borrowing costs.
Continue reading...Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump releases data from Nolan Wells’ cellphone
Messaging ‘very telling’, says Crump after grand jury said it found no evidence of criminal conduct in teen’s death
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump released information from a forensic examination of Nolan Wells’ cellphone as well as details of the official autopsy on Thursday, just days after a Mississippi grand jury said it found no evidence of criminal conduct in the teen’s death.
Attorneys representing the 18-year-old Black college student’s family have called for transparency, asking that the grand jury investigative materials and the official autopsy report be publicly released.
Continue reading...Woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her aged 13 says claims were false
Unnamed woman who filed and later dropped lawsuit against rap superstar states that she never met him, contrary to initial allegation of 2000 assault
A woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 years old has formally withdrawn her allegation, saying that she has never met the rap superstar.
The unnamed woman had originally made the allegation in a lawsuit filed in 2024, claiming that Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, had drugged and raped her with Sean Combs, known as P Diddy. The incident was alleged to have happened at a party after an MTV awards ceremony in 2000.
Continue reading...Removal of 760,000 people from ACA marketplace could undermine US health system
Trump administration move weakens federal insurance programs – and some poor people will likely forego healthcare
The Trump administration is removing 760,000 people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace on allegations of fraud, officials said on Tuesday – adding to previous efforts to chip away at federally subsidized insurance programs and likely causing some of the lowest-income Americans to forego healthcare, experts said.
The US government is also investigating about 420,000 people whom they suspect of fraud, and they are putting a six-month enrollment moratorium on new agents and brokers selling Obamacare policies, officials said at a press conference.
Continue reading...Pomp over progress as Trump rolls out red carpet for China’s president Xi Jinping
While the US president hailed the visit as ‘great’, almost nothing of substance was achieved, which was a win for Xi
If the Beijing meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in May was the “stalemate summit”, the second round of talks between the presidents of the US and China this week seemed to give up entirely on the idea of breakthroughs.
Instead, it was dubbed a celebration of “diplotainment” rather than diplomacy, where pomp prevailed over progress, and where one of the main outcomes was the news that two giant pandas would soon be sent from China to the Atlanta Zoo.
Continue reading...Trump’s executive order on recreational fishing is a ‘giveaway of fish and ocean ecosystem’, advocates warn
Federal agencies told to prioritize recreational fishing and to reconsider scientific standards as well as regulations
Donald Trump’s latest fishing order is raising new concerns about US marine protections, as it directs federal agencies to prioritize recreational fishing while reconsidering the scientific standards and environmental regulations that govern American fisheries.
The National Marine Fisheries Service hailed last Thursday’s order, Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation, telling the Guardian: “By addressing long-standing flaws in federal data collection, streamlining permitting, and expanding marine habitats, this action delivers long-overdue stability to America’s $1.2tn outdoor recreation economy.”
Continue reading...DNA database of UK dogs could help police collar criminals
Experts working on database that could identify particular breeds involved in crimes, or rule out canine suspects
From tracking criminals to sniffing out drugs, dogs have long helped police crack cases. Now experts are hoping a database of canine DNA could offer vital leads.
While hair, saliva and other canine material may be found at crime scenes, or on individuals connected to incidents, scientists say they are often not fully investigated.
Continue reading...‘Gamechanging’ brain tumour test reduces diagnosis from eight weeks to two hours
NHS England says test can be done while patient is on operating table and is being piloted in five centres around the country
A rapid new test for brain tumours can diagnose patients while they are still on the operating table.
Scientists have called the development “gamechanging” and said it could secure early treatment for those who “do not have time on their side”.
Continue reading...Daniel Thomas pleads not guilty after alleged dinghy slashing in Channel
Far-right activist who was filmed appearing to slash boat with blade is refused bail as he denies charges
The far-right agitator Daniel Thomas has denied causing criminal damage after he was filmed appearing to slash a boat in the Channel with a blade, while an emergency responder was onboard.
Thomas, 37, appeared at Basingstoke magistrates court on Friday morning. He also pleaded not guilty to not disclosing to police the pin number of his phone, under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Continue reading...Meloni accused of ‘running scared’ with cap on foreign children in classrooms
Critics say decree also banning burqa in schools shows Italian PM worried about losing far-right voters in next year’s elections
The Italian government has been accused of ramping up divisive rhetoric to try to court far-right voters ahead of next year’s general election after it passed a decree aimed at capping the number of newly arrived migrants in classrooms and banning the burqa and niqab in schools.
The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who leads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, said her government had approved what she called “commonsense measures that do not divide but genuinely help to integrate”.
Continue reading...When Trump’s narrative meets voters’ realities
By Donald Trump’s telling, we’re in a US ‘golden age’. Americans may feel differently. Plus: Anger at the elite and a gunfluencer runs in Texas
One of Donald Trump’s greatest talents – deployed during his time as a real estate tycoon, source and subject of tabloid gossip, reality TV protagonist, and president of the United States – is his ability to tell stories. With six weeks until the US midterm elections, he is likely to lean on this instinct more than ever.
Rarely does the US president appear more comfortable than when behind a microphone, speaking without interruption, sometimes for multiple hours. Long before entering the White House, he wholeheartedly embraced social media as a means of crafting his narrative, going so far as to launch his own social network when booted off others.
Continue reading...Tall, dark and hated: plan to renovate ‘Paris’s ugliest building’ put on hold
Tour Montparnasse modernisation project at a standstill after clashes over pricing and other issues
It has been called a carbuncle on the Paris skyline, a sombre skyscraper where visitors to its viewing platform often joke that the city looks better when you can’t see the building itself.
The much-maligned Tour Montparnasse, a lone, dark monolith with tinted windows rising above a historic neighbourhood in the south of the city, is once again at the centre of controversy after its long-awaited renovation was halted this week because of disagreements between its many private co-owners.
Continue reading...Jay-Z rape accuser says her allegation was false
A woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 now says she has never met the rap superstar.
Trump and Xi exchange warm words at state dinner but little progress on key issues
Despite diplomatic niceties and gifts, little was shared on substantial issues separating the leaders.
‘She never accepted no’: Liam Neeson on dogged heroine behind Tuam mass baby grave film
Catherine Corless’s exposure of almost 800 infant deaths at a home led by nuns prompted Neeson to bring the story to screen
Liam Neeson still remembers his shock and shame when he read a New York Times article about the mother and baby institution in Tuam, County Galway.
It was 2017 and the article chronicled the campaign by Catherine Corless, an amateur local historian, to expose abuse and neglect by Irish nuns that led to hundreds of children being buried in a mass, unmarked grave.
Continue reading...US backs Elon Musk’s bid to overturn €120m EU fine against X
The EU had said X "deceives users" by selling blue ticks without "meaningfully verifying" accounts.