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Hamas and US CIA officials will meet Egyptian mediators on Saturday, according to an Egyptian security sourceIsraeli warplanes have attacked targets in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after a rocket was launched towards the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz in Israel on Friday, the IDF has said.The Israeli army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the rocket fell in an area near the border...

The results of mayoral elections in Greater Manchester, London and the West Midlands are among those expected on SaturdayLocal elections 2024: full council results for EnglandRishi Sunak is braced for the result of key mayoral elections in London and the West Midlands, after the Conservatives were trounced in the first day of local election results.As Friday’s result declarations closed, the Conservatives had suffered a...

Only women can rid the club of the guardians of the Y-chromosome’s ‘we’ve always done it this way’ misogynyHere’s a surprise: the Garrick Club is a really lovely place.It’s full of lively and fascinating people. The staff are superb, the food is great, the wine list divine. The library is to die for (or in), we have the finest theatrical portraiture in the world,...

Congress party’s Arun Reddy held over fake video of interior minister Amit ShahIndian police have said they have arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over a doctored video widely shared during the ongoing national election.Arun Reddy of the Congress party was detained late on Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister, Amit...

‘Intentions’ badges also launched, as dating app sector sees drops in share prices and moves to diversify “In the end it was the data that killed me,” says Penny* about her decision to leave the dating app Bumble. If she opened the app she might receive 100 likes, 25% of which she might be interested in. She would look at their profiles and write...

Cruise control sensors taken by thieves, forcing drivers to pay to replace them or face higher insurance premiumsVolkswagen owners targeted by thieves who have stolen cruise control sensors from cars across London are furious after discovering the car’s “poor design” that makes them so easy to steal is set to cost them £1,600 each.The sensors, which cost about £700 each, are fitted behind the...

Palestinian restauranteur speaks from Bethlehem, where food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attackFadi Kattan looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said. “And over there should be piles of aubergines and courgettes.”The watermelons from Jenin looked too small for the season, while he...

Even products marketed as ‘organic’ may be toxic, say campaigners, with risks for the wider ecosystemGardeners are inadvertently killing scores of earthworms with soil conditioners marketed as “organic”, experts fear, as they call for tighter regulation on products that poison the invertebrates.Earthworms may appear humble, but Charles Darwin thought their work in improving soil structure and fertility was so important he devoted his final...

Tory council representation has imploded, but Labour’s gains have not been seismic. These charts show what this may signal for a general electionLocal and mayoral election results – liveFull 2024 council results for EnglandUK general election opinion poll trackerConservative representation has collapsed to its lowest level since 1998 in the areas that voted in Thursday’s local elections, according to a Guardian analysis.The Tories now...

Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the areaA flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement. Continue reading...

Third-party hospitality packages are outlawed, yet agency part-owned by associates of Rafael Nadal and LeBron James promises access to top events as well as to starsMembers of the global super-rich are spending as much as $500,000 (£400,000) on “ultra-exclusive” packages for the Paris 2024 Olympics that promoters claim include meeting athletes, access to the athletes’ village and “the chance to be part of the...

Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson and US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad were travelling on a surfing holiday when they were reported missingGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThree bodies have been found in an area of northern Mexico where two Australian brothers and an American friend are missing.Perth siblings Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, were...

Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient customTraditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or “towers of silence”. These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil,...

China’s president arrives as EU anti-subsidy investigations and tensions over espionage, Ukraine and Taiwan continueChina’s president, Xi Jinping, is to visit Europe next week for the first time in five years, in a tour that will take in the unlikely trifecta of France, Hungary and Serbia.The visit comes as China pushes to avoid a trade war with the EU, while attitudes towards Beijing in...

Sydney airport is auctioning off more than 2,500 unclaimed items, including a wedding dress, an electric scooter and a collection of lightsabersGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA jaffle maker, a leaf blower and a Darth Vader helmet are just some of the items left behind by passengers at Sydney airport that are up for auction in the...

The UN says two camps for displaced people were hit near the city of Goma where thousands are seeking refuge from fighting in surrounding areasBomb attacks on two camps for displaced people in eastern Congo have killed at least 12 people, including children, according to the UN.The bombs hit the camps in Lac Vert and Mugunga, near the city of Goma, the UN said...

Police investigating after Brittany Lauga allegedly assaulted in central Queensland town of YeppoonGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastQueensland Labor MP Brittany Lauga has alleged she was drugged and sexually assaulted in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon last weekend, and claims other women may also have been similarly attacked.Lauga posted a statement on social media, saying she...

A huge infrastructure agenda helped win Andrews three elections but the priority now for the state – and new premier – is the housing crisisGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastIn the seven months since Jacinta Allan took over as Victoria’s premier, she’s worked to shirk off the impression she’s Daniel Andrews’ apprentice and differentiated herself from the...

Heaviest falls forecast for Illawarra, Hunter, Central Coast and greater Sydney from Saturday eveningGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAn already saturated New South Wales is bracing for significant and widespread rain that could lead to flash flooding on the state’s east coast.The Bureau of Meteorology says the heaviest falls will hit the Illawarra, Hunter, Central Coast and...

Actor brings force of Hollywood to trumpet Biden’s legislative record in briefing that both delighted and bemused journalists“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” But enough about Washington. The Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who once saw off gangsters at a fictional spaceport, came to the US capital on Friday for a meeting with Joe Biden.Quite why he was...

Prime minister said there were ‘credible allegations’ that India was behind killing of Hardeep Singh NijjarCanadian police have charged three members of an alleged hit team for their role in the assassination of the Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the first arrests in a high-profile killing that officials believe was masterminded by India.The arrests come nearly a year after the prominent activist was killed...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, read our coverage here. Judge Juan Merchan was referring to a claim Donald Trump made while addressing the media yesterday outside of court.Speaking to reporters after court adjourned for the day on Thursday, the former president said:I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order. I guess, right?I’m not...

Ex-president’s former communications director says Access Hollywood tape ‘was a crisis’ for his campaignHope Hicks, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, broke into tears on Friday while testifying in the ex-president’s New York criminal hush-money trial, hours after she described his complete control over the campaign.Hicks, who cut a skittish figure in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, is a key prosecution witness. She described Trump...

Texas Democrat says he and his also accused wife are innocent amid claims they took money from Azerbaijan and Mexican bankThe US justice department on Friday accused the Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, of accepting about $600,000 in bribes in exchange for influencing policy in favor of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.The Cuellars had made their first appearance before a...