About 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenza
An outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has killed more than two dozen elephant seal pups in California, leading to the temporary closure of seal-viewing areas at a popular Bay Area park.
California’s Año Nuevo state park is home to an elephant seal colony with about 5,000 seals during the marine mammals’ breeding season, which runs from mid-December through March. Researchers said about 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenza.
Netflix has been given four days to beat a sweetened offer by Paramount Skydance for the assets of Warner Bros Discovery in the latest twist in the battle for control of the media giant.
In an announcement on Thursday afternoon, WBD said that its board had determined Paramount’s revised offer to be a “company superior proposal” compared with Netflix’s $82.7bn deal – triggering Netflix’s window to respond.
For 67 minutes, Nottingham Forest were at risk of making unwanted history. At that point Fenerbahce were 2-0 up and full of belief that they could achieve the miracle their head coach Domenico Tedesco had been manifesting since their 3-0 first-leg defeat in Istanbul.
Only one team in the history of European competition had lost the first leg of a tie by a three-goal margin at home and advanced. Up in the City Ground directors’ box, Evangelos Marinakis, more than an interested party on that occasion, presumably had flashbacks of Olympiakos suffering a 4-1 home defeat by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Conference League two years ago, only to triumph 6-1 in Serbia in the second leg.
European Anti-Fraud Office to look into the former US ambassador’s time as trade commissioner in Brussels
Peter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU’s anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels.
The commission said it referred the peer, 72, to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as Olaf, last week after the US Department of Justice released documents allegedly showing he shared sensitive government information with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A heavy burst of more than 100mm of rainfall over three hours in Australia’s most populous city has led to flash flooding, sparking evacuations and rescue operations.
There were 42 rescues in Sydney overnight into Friday, with more than 250 personnel across the city responding to about 500 calls for help, particularly in the south-west, the NSW State Emergency Service said.
Tasmania police have confirmed remains found near the state’s Philosopher Falls last month have been provisionally identified as those of missing Belgian tourist Celine Cremer.
Police said on Friday morning that expert reports had provided “compelling evidence” that the remains were likely hers, extending their condolences to her family, who have have been awaiting confirmation of the remains since being alerted to the discovery.
Transgender Kansas residents have begun receiving letters from the state’s department of motor vehicles notifying them that their driver’s licenses will be invalid beginning Thursday, as a new law goes into effect that demands that forms of identification must now reflect the credential holder’s “sex at birth”.
The bill, known as SB 244, also bans transgender people from using bathrooms in public buildings that match their gender identity, and creates a sort of bounty hunter system, in which citizens can sue transgender people they encounter in restrooms for $1,000 in damages.
Action relates to corruption case over allocation of government land in Dhaka to a private company
A court in Bangladesh has ordered officials to request an Interpol red notice for the British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over a corruption case linked to the allocation of government land in Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission has alleged Siddiq used her relationship with her aunt, the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to influence the allocation of a plot of state-owned land in Dhaka’s Gulshan district to a private company. Siddiq has rejected the claim as baseless and politically motivated.
On the telly, they’ve just been discussing James McAtee, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does tonight. City are now in that spot United were under Alex Ferguson, where clubs buy their players because they know the standard can be too high for good ones to make it and respect the managers who keep them around. He’s got a lovely touch and decent vision, but does he have the ability to impose that? We don’t yet know.
Forest actually did pretty well to keep as many players as they did after last season – and getting £52m+£3m for Anthony Elanga was a remarkable piece of business. I’m not sure Anderson will still be around after the summer, whereas Gibbs-White has a contract – but there surely comes a point at which players don’t trust Marinakis with their careers and just want to up sticks from the upheaval.
Largest ever image obtained by specialist telescope in Chile represents scientific and aesthetic breakthrough
Scientists have captured a beautiful image in unprecedented detail of the vast Milky Way galaxy, of which our own solar system is a part.
The stunning image is the largest ever obtained by the specialist telescope in Chile called the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (Alma) radio telescope, according to the group behind the project.
Melania Trump is set to lead a session of the United Nations security council on Monday, coinciding with the US assuming the body’s rotating monthly presidency, the White House announced.
According to a statement, first cited by CNN, the first lady plans to spotlight education as a tool for fostering tolerance and promoting global peace at the global body, which has its headquarters in New York.
Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere
EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a “victory for women”.
The roots of Thursday’s announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.
US ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he does not appreciate an AI video released by the White House that shows him insulting Canadians.
Tkachuk played in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which secured the US men their first gold medal since 1980. In the wake of that win, the White House’s TikTok account published video of Tkachuk saying: “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fuckers a lesson.”
Italian reportedly fell three floors in South Africa
Golfer ‘in good spirits’ according to his former coach
Italian golfer Andrea Pavan is “thankful to be alive” after reportedly falling three floors down a lift shaft.
The 36-year-old, a two-time European Tour winner, was scheduled to be playing in this week’s South African Open Championship at Stellenbosch Golf Club but was forced to withdraw after the incident on Wednesday.
Deficit is the highest ever recorded by an English club
BlueCo partner Strasbourg also lost £69m in same period
Chelsea made a financial loss of £355m in the 2024-25 season, according to new data released by Uefa, the biggest deficit ever recorded by an English football club.
According to Uefa, Chelsea’s losses were more than double the second-worst in Europe, the £171m posted by Lyon. The figures are also about £260m worse than those posted by the Blues in 2023-24.
New York mayor visited president – who called Mamdani a ‘nice guy’ during State of the Union – for second time
Zohran Mamdani met with Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, during an unannounced trip to the nation’s capital.
On social media, the New York mayor said he had a “productive” meeting with the US president and he was “looking forward to building more housing in New York City”.
A Columbia University student was arrested on Thursday by federal immigration officers who reportedly misrepresented themselves by posing as New York police officers looking for a missing child in order to to gain entry to a residential building to make the apprehension.
The acting president of the elite institution in New York City, Claire Shipman, wrote in a statement sent to the wider Columbia community on Thursday that the university was working to to reach the family and providing legal support.
Cuba has vowed to defend itself against any “terrorist and mercenary aggression”, a day after border guards said they had killed four exiles on a Florida-registered speedboat that opened fire on a patrol.
Scientists say DNA evidence indicates male Neanderthals and human females interbred more often than opposite
Tens of thousands of years ago, as modern humans migrated into northerly territories inhabited by our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, the two species met – and sometimes mated.
Now, genetic evidence has revealed a striking imbalance in these prehistoric trysts, suggesting that interbreeding was mostly between male Neanderthals and female humans.
The far-right activist’s trip came amid calls for the US to be included in a probe into foreign interference in UK politics
The hosting of Tommy Robinson by the Trump administration has been condemned by British MPs amid calls for the US to be included in a probe into foreign interference in UK politics.
The far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is being feted in the US, where he met figures including a political appointee at the Department of State in Washington DC and a congressman.
The UK, like many other countries, has a falling birthrate. But Danny Kruger’s perverse 1970s-style policies offer nothing to mothers-to-be
Babies are beautiful. I always want to smile at them in the street, perhaps because they are a rarer and more precious sight in this ageing country or because they remind me of my grandchildren. There are about 3.5 million children aged four and under, while dogs on the streets are a more plentiful 13.5 million. Is the dog boom compensating for fewer children? As time goes by, there are going to be ever more grandparents and ever fewer children to beam at foolishly.
That is not only a sadness and a loss, but becoming an aged society is a cultural and economic threat. Older people, by and large, are not the innovators or new thinkers. An ageing society risks declining in optimism, creativity and, above all, risk-taking: a top-heavy preponderance of older people makes for a conservative and fearful electorate. We are there already – and it’s getting worse.
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
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Mediators say more talks to be held next week but no clear evidence two sides any closer on uranium enrichment
High-stakes talks between the US and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Thursday without a deal, as the White House weighs a military operation that would mark its largest intervention in the Middle East in decades.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, claimed “good progress” had been made at the talks and Omani mediators predicted negotiations would reconvene at a technical level next week in Vienna.
Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will also explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrolling
Ministers will take another step towards banning social media for under-16s next week as they launch a consultation on the policy, with government insiders increasingly certain Keir Starmer will back the idea.
Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, will publish the terms of reference for the consultation, which is expected to explore options including an age limit and less hardline action such as curbs on infinite scrolling.
Connexion
