Regional news

Sahar Baruch, 25, was taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October, and his community now says he has been killedSee all our Israel-Gaza war coverageHeavy fighting continued overnight in northern Gaza, both from the air and on the ground, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.According to the IDF, fighters from the battle team of the Kafir brigade fought and killed a group in the area of ​​a school in the Shejaiya neighbourhood. IDF forces later found a number of Kalashnikov weapons, grenades and ammunition inside the classrooms. Continue reading...

As US Republicans block a key aid bill, Ukraine’s first lady asks for the west not to get ‘tired of this situation’ What we know on day 654Russian police have put the prominent Russian American journalist and author Masha Gessen on a wanted list after opening a criminal case against them on charges of spreading false information about the Russian army.The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona was the first to report on Friday that Gessen’s profile has appeared on the online wanted list of Russia’s interior ministry, and the Associated Press was able to confirm that it was. It was not clear from the profile when exactly Gessen was added to the list. Continue reading...

PM likely to be asked about WhatsApp messages from pandemic that he says are irretrievable, despite reports number accessedFresh questions are being raised over whether Rishi Sunak has handed over all relevant material to the Covid inquiry after reports that pranksters have been able to access an old phone number he used during his time as chancellor.The prime minister will face a day of questioning at the inquiry on Monday, where he is expected to be questioned about his claims that scientists had too much power. He will also be asked detailed questions about the “eat out to help out” scheme that many experts believe allowed the virus to spread. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereThe other day, our eagle-eyed reporter Patrick Greenfield spotted former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng striding through the Cop complex.We all wondered what on earth Kwasi, who was at the top of a government which tried to overturn the UK’s fracking ban, could be doing at Cop, and whether the chancellor who crashed the UK economy was a vital part of the negotiating team. Continue reading...

Ethan Crumbley apologized before the sentencing for the 2021 high school shooting as parents still in jail on related chargesA judge sentenced a Michigan teenager to life in prison on Friday for killing four students and terrorizing others at Oxford high school in 2021, after listening to hours of gripping anguish from parents and wounded survivors.Judge Kwame Rowe rejected pleas from defense lawyers for a shorter sentence and ensured that Ethan Crumbley, 17, will not get an opportunity for parole. Continue reading...

Former Met PC Alice Vinten says online abuse worse since publication of book about women in force that inspired BBC dramaWhen Alice Vinten wrote The Real Happy Valley, she intended the book to be a celebration of women in the police force, the real-life accounts of those who served as inspiration for protagonist Sgt Catherine Cawood in Sally Wainwright’s acclaimed BBC drama. Vinten interviewed women officers across Yorkshire who told of their careers on the frontline of policing, as depicted by Sarah Lancashire in the series that was set in the Calder Valley around Halifax.Instead, the book has prompted a campaign of abuse against Vinten, 42, a former Metropolitan police officer herself, on Twitter, now known as X, including what the author calls an orchestrated campaign of leaving bad reviews and even threats. Worse, she says, they’re from police. Continue reading...

The Refugee Council is welcoming those who fled the Taliban and providing legal advice on resettlement in the UK• Donate to our charity appeal hereTwo years on from their arrival in South Yorkshire, young footballers Elaha Safdari, Najma Arifi and Narges Mayeli are still baffled by the array of regional accents in the UK. “I’m always like, ‘Pardon? Can you please repeat? What did you say?’” laughs Arifi, now 20.This barrier is only a minor hurdle for the trio, who were forced to flee for their lives when the west pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Continue reading...

In the United States, speaking freely about Israel’s war on Gaza often has a price.

Turkish media say Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud crashed into and killed a motorcycle courier before leaving country.

For the Jewish community in York, as elsewhere, fears and distress over the war in Gaza haunt this year’s festival of lightOn Thursday evening, the small progressive Jewish community in York will gather at Jewbury, the city’s medieval Jewish cemetery, to light memorial candles and say prayers for 150 people who died in a 12th-century pogrom at Clifford’s Tower.The flames will then be used to light the eighth and final candle on menorahs, or special candelabra, brought to the ceremony by members of the community, marking the end of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light that began last Thursday. Continue reading...

Singer, who reportedly bought $58m property last year, says she also gets left alone in Los AngelesAdele has said she is likely to stick around in Los Angeles because the sunny weather helps her stave off seasonal depression.In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, she said the California city’s sunny weather was “good for me”. Los Angeles has an average of about 263 sunny days in the year. Continue reading...

UN human rights chief calls 'persistent and systematic' attempts to undermine poll outcome 'extremely disturbing'.