No major damage has been reported in the Tokara island chain, Japan’s meteorological agency says
More than 900 earthquakes have shaken a remote island chain in southern Japan in the past two weeks, according to the country’s weather agency, leaving residents unable to sleep and fearful of what might come next.
Although no major damage has been reported, the Japan Meteorological Agency has acknowledged that it does not know when the quakes would end.
New court documents allege physical and psychological torture at Cecot in one of first looks at conditions in prison
Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and detained in one of that country’s most notorious prisons, was physically and psychologically tortured during the three months he spent in Salvadorian custody, according to new court documents filed Wednesday.
While being held at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador, Ábrego García and 20 other men “were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM”, according to the court papers filed by his lawyers in the federal district court in Maryland.
A conversation between the prime minister and Cambodia’s former leader has sparked chaos and coup concerns and possibly the end of the Shinawatra family’s political fortunes
It was a call to someone she considered an old family friend. When Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra picked up the phone to Hun Sen, the powerful former leader of neighbouring Cambodia, she was trying, she says, to ease tensions that had erupted over a border dispute.
Instead their conversation, curiously leaked in full by Hun Sen himself, has sparked a fresh political crisis in Thailand that could signal the end of her premiership and significantly dent the position of her family, the powerful Shinawatras. It is also likely to usher in a new chapter of political uncertainty in a country prone to military coups and judicial warfare.
Ukraine warns that any cut-off will ‘only encourage the aggressor’ while Pentagon spokesperson says Donald Trump still has ‘robust options’ for military aid to Ukraine. What we know on day 1,226
A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv on Wednesday that the move would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying airstrikes and battlefield advances. Ukraine said it had called in the acting US envoy to Kyiv to underline the importance of military aid from Washington continuing, and cautioned that any cut-off would embolden Russia in its war in Ukraine. The Pentagon’s decision – tied to concerns that US military stockpiles are too low – began in recent days and includes 30 Patriot air defence missiles, which Ukraine relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles, four people familiar with the decision told Reuters on Wednesday. It also includes nearly 8,500 155mm artillery shells, more than 250 precision GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles and 142 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, they said. “The Ukrainian side emphasised that any delay or procrastination in supporting Ukraine’s defence capabilities will only encourage the aggressor to continue the war and terror, rather than seek peace,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said. The defence ministry said it had not been officially notified of any halt in US shipments and was seeking clarity from its American counterparts. A Ukrainian source familiar with the situation said the decision was a “total shock.”
US officials downplayed the White House announcement, saying President Donald Trump still had “robust” options for military assistance to Kyiv. “The department of defence continues to provide the president with robust options regarding military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told journalists. “The department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach towards achieving this objective while also preserving US military readiness and defence priorities,” he said. State department spokesperson Tammy Bruce meanwhile told reporters that “this is not a cessation of us assisting Ukraine or of providing weapons. This is one event, and one situation, and we’ll discuss what else comes up in the future.”
An arson attack on a restaurant and supermarket in Estonia last year were ordered by Russian intelligence, an Estonian court said Wednesday. The attack was one in a series across Europe tracked by The Associated Press and linked to Russia by western officials. The goal, they asserted, was to sow division in western societies and undermine support for Ukraine. The Harju county court in Estonia said the perpetrators were two Moldovan men who are cousins, both named Ivan Chihaial.
Russia has made incursions near two towns key to army supply routes in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said on Wednesday, as Moscow seeks a breakthrough in its summer offensive. In recent weeks, Russia has amassed forces and despite heavy losses has advanced in rural areas either side of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, which both sit on crossroads running to the frontline from larger cities in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Four companies of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) will receive 2.4bn złotys ($665m) in financing from the state assets ministry for a project to build three ammunition factories, the ministry said on Wednesday. Poland is leading a European push to boost its defence readiness to deter any possible attack from Russia and to be less dependent for security on the United States.
Russia is using the online media outlet Red to sow discontent in German society as part of a disinformation campaign waged alongside its war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday. “Red presents itself as a revolutionary platform for independent journalists. However, it has close links with the Russian state media outlet RT,” a spokesperson for the foreign ministry told reporters in Berlin. “Today we can confirm that Red is being used by Russia specifically to manipulate information,” the spokesperson added. Red is run by Turkish media company AFA Medya, which together with its founder Huseyin Dogru is already the subject of EU sanctions targeting Russia and is accused of “undermining the democratic political process” in Germany. After they were sanctioned, Red announced on 16 May that it was closing down. Dogro has denied any links with the Kremlin or that the site is funded by Russia, according to media reports.
Our 10-year plan, backed by an extra £29bn, will transform the service through AI and neighbourhood care – and hand power back to patients
Wes Streeting is secretary of state for health and social care
There are moments in our national story when our choices define who we are. In 1948, Clement Attlee’s government made a choice founded on fairness: that everyone in our country deserves to receive the care they need, not the care they can afford.
That the National Health Service was created amid the rubble and ruin of the aftermath of war makes that choice all the more remarkable. It enshrined in law and in the service itself our collective conviction that healthcare is not a privilege to be bought and sold, but a right to be cherished and protected. Now it falls to our generation to make the same choice.
Wes Streeting is secretary of state for health and social care
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The film the BBC refused to air shows the targeting, detainment and torture of medics in Gaza. Its relentless timeline of horrors will never leave you
The biggest, and possibly only, failure of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is that the circumstances of its broadcast threaten to overshadow its content.
A brief recap: this film was first commissioned by the BBC, only to be dropped when another documentary – Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone – sparked a furore over impartiality.
It was painful to watch. An intrusion into something deeply private. A grief observed. Rachel Reeves breaking down in tears. Her face lined with misery as Keir Starmer failed to guarantee she would still be in her job at the next election. A reminder that politicians are humans too. If you prick us, do we not bleed?
Rachel, a woman alone in the uncaring, public gaze of prime minister’s questions. A mere punchbag for the leader of the opposition. Undefended by Starmer. Keir couldn’t even bring himself to make sure she was OK. Too wrapped up in his own world. Maybe he didn’t even notice. Too busy trying to protect his own reputation.
The Pentagon has collected intelligence material that suggests Iran’s nuclear program was set back roughly one to two years as a result of the US strikes on three key facilities last month, the chief spokesperson at the defense department said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The spokesperson, Sean Parnell, repeated Donald Trump’s claim that Iran’s key nuclear sites had been completely destroyed, although he did not offer further details on the origin of the assessments beyond saying it came from inside the defense department.
A New York Jury has found Sean “Diddy” Combsguiltyof two counts and not guilty on three counts, following a closely watched seven-week federal trial marked by emotional and graphic testimony.
The mixed verdict saw Combs being found not guilty of the biggest charge, racketeering conspiracy, not guilty of the sex trafficking of Casandra Ventura or the sex trafficking of “Jane”, and guilty of both the transportation to engage in prostitution related to Casandra Ventura and the transportation to engage in prostitution related to “Jane”.
Raducanu will face world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka next
On the eve of another tense fortnight at Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu had every reason to feel overwhelmed by the circumstances she found herself in. As her troublesome back injury continued to restrict her work on the practice court, she has also had to deal with undisclosed personal issues. Her expectations for the tournament were low.
It is reflective of Raducanu’s personal growth and maturity that she has taken those difficulties in her stride and found a way to continue to move forward. In one of her most significant matches of the year so far, the British No 1 spectacularly rose to the occasion on Centre Court, producing a brilliant performance to outplay the 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 and return to the third round.
Batter was a model of self-control before being dismissed cheaply, with England having their three wishes granted
Turns out Rishabh Pant is a dab hand at doing impressions. At Edgbaston he showed off his new one, of the batter his coaches would like him to be. Pant was, by the standards of his own scatterbrained batting, a model of self-control, and restricted himself to just one glorious four and a single crisp, delicious six in the 60 minutes or so he was at the crease. They were good ones, a roly-poly sweep off Shoaib Bashir and a skip down the pitch to punch another of his deliveries over long-on, but otherwise Pant restrained himself to showing off his range of ascetic leaves, blocks and defensive shots.
There was, it’s true, the odd moment or two when he nearly broke character. He couldn’t help himself but come running out to try to belt one of the first balls bowled by Chris Woakes after tea over the road into the botanical gardens. He seemed to change his mind midway through his swing, and ended up scuffing it away for a single, like a kid reaching his hand out to grab a cookie and then yanking it back again as they remember the promise they’d made to their parents.
US president says goods from Vietnam will face 20% tariff, a lower rate than 46% levy he announced in April
The United States and Vietnam struck a trade agreement that sets 20% tariffs on many of the south-east Asian country’s exports following last-minute negotiations, Donald Trump and Vietnamese state media said on Wednesday.
The rate is lower than an initial 46% levy Trump announced in April on goods from Vietnam, which was due to take effect next week.
Switzerland were denied a fairytale start to their home Euros as a header from Ada Hegerberg and an own goal gave an unconvincing Norway three points.
Nadine Riesen’s first-half opener had fans spiralling, hope and ecstasy pouring from every corner of the ground, but their profligacy would prove costly as a moment of magic from Hegerberg and then Caroline Graham Hansen to force Norway’s second turned the game on its head.
England started the second Test just as they had the first, by winning the toss and putting India in to bat. The plan was to make inroads before the last, vague vestige of green was burned from the surface and it so nearly came good during an opening spell from Chris Woakes that brought the wicket of KL Rahul but also two marginal umpire decisions that both favoured that batting side. “On a day like this, it is frustrating,” Woakes said. “It was a good day but it felt like a day that could have been so different.”
Twice batters were saved on umpire’s call when England reviewed on-field decisions of not out – first in the seventh over, with India 14 without loss, when Yashasvi Jaiswal was reprieved, and then in the 11th, when they were 21 for one, with Karun Nair the beneficiary. On both occasions DRS technology showed the ball going on to hit the stumps, but not by enough for the TV umpire to reverse the decisions taken by the Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoula. Jaiswal went on to score another 75 runs and Nair another 26 before the India captain, Shubman Gill, scored an unbeaten 114 to take his team to 310 for five at stumps.
Defending champion is essentially a magic-eye puzzle you can read any way you want but has the inconsistency all but one of his rivals would dream of
There were negatives, of course. Shall we focus on the negatives? Shall we dwell on the frailties a little? The uncharacteristic errors, the double faults, an occasional scruffiness at the net, the frequent slumps in intensity? Shall we marvel at the fact that the lowest-ranked player in the tournament earned more break points (11) than one of the greatest players of his generation (10)? Shall we warn, in a tone of affected sternness, that the defending champion will have to raise his game on this evidence?
Of course we shall, because this is Carlos Alcaraz, and because there is an entire cottage industry built around maintaining the idea that Alcaraz is in a state of crisis at all times, a state of crisis so acute that it is necessary to feign round-the-clock concern for him. We just want to see all that rich talent fulfilled. That’s all it is. Sincerely and genuinely. And definitely not a weirdly prurient interest in his holidays to Ibiza, or whether him and Emma Raducanu are, you know. Just the talent. Thinking of the talent here.
Former team principal will be present at Tour de France
John Allert says 61-year-old ‘a not-so-secret weapon’
Dave Brailsford has returned to a leading role at Ineos Grenadiers on the eve of the 2025 Tour de France, calling the shots on team selection and performance objectives, barely a month after he stepped back from his role at Manchester United.
“Dave’s definitely coming to the Tour,” John Allert, the team CEO, said. “He’s like a kid in a sweet shop, talking about climbs and getting back to the mountains. That’s the battlefield that he knows and loves.”
Dutch driver’s camp believed to have made first move
Sky Italy say deal ‘close’ with Mercedes yet to make call
Max Verstappen’s future with Red Bull is under scrutiny with reports that talks about a move to Mercedes have intensified in the buildup to this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Speculation over Verstappen jumping ship had dominated the Austrian Grand Prix, where the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, confirmed they were considering a move to tempt the four-time champion to join the team.
The Honduran, real name Gustavo Castillo, calls the Latin Grammy nod for his Garifuna song ‘a dream come true’
When the Honduran musician Gustavo Castillo, stage name Tavo Man, was nominated for a Latin Grammy, it was seen as a triumph for Garifuna people around the world. It was the first time a Garifuna song was recognised in the prestigious awards, and was considered a milestone in the fight to preserve and popularise the culture.
Having his Garifuna song, Hun Hara, which celebrated the values of kindness and gratitude, recognised by the Grammys was important in telling the story of his ancestors, said Castillo, 31. The Garifuna, descendants of enslaved Africans and Indigenous Kalinagos, are indigenous to the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), but their diaspora has spread across the Americas.
Andy Farrell says he has his “fingers crossed” for Elliot Daly after the utility back suffered a potentially tour-ending injury in the victory over the Queensland Reds. Daly was taken to a Brisbane hospital on Wednesday for scans on a suspected broken arm, but the head coach said the British & Irish Lions do not have a full-back crisis with the first Test against Australia just over a fortnight away.
If, as expected, the 32-year-old Daly is ruled out of the tour it will leave the Lions reliant on two specialist full-backs, Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan, who have yet to play on this tour. Kinghorn has only just arrived in Australia having helped Toulouse win the Top 14 title while Keenan was ruled out of the 52-12 win over the Reds through illness.
Research says Google’s carbon emissions went up by 65% between 2019-2024, not 51% as the tech giant had claimed
In 2021, Google set a lofty goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Yet in the years since then, the company has moved in the opposite direction as it invests in energy-intensive artificial intelligence. In its latest sustainability report, Google said its carbon emissions had increased 51% between 2019 and 2024.
New research aims to debunk even that enormous figure and provide context to Google’s sustainability reports, painting a bleaker picture. A report authored by non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship found that, between 2019 and 2024, Google’s carbon emissions actually went up by 65%. What’s more, between 2010, the first year there is publicly available data on Google’s emissions, and 2024, Google’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased 1,515%, Kairos found. The largest year-over-year jump in that window was also the most recent, 2023 to 2024, when Google saw a 26% increase in emissions just between 2023 and 2024, according to the report.
2 min: The corner’s only half cleared by Norway, and Maritz comes back at them down the right. Her low, hard cross nearly reaches Xhemaili, six yards out, but it’s hacked clear properly in the second instance. A fast start from the hosts.
1 min: Beney runs at Bratberg Lund down the right. She crosses. The ball pings up off Bratberg Lund’s foot and onto her hand, which isn’t that close to her body. Beney wants a penalty, and you’ve seen them given for far less, but the referee’s not interested. VAR won’t poke its neb in either. Just a corner.
Ex-criminal justice student Bryan Kohberger admits to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022
Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to murder on Wednesday in the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022 that stunned and terrified the campus and set off a nationwide search, which ended weeks later when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger, who was a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University, admitted to the slayings before entering a formal guilty plea in a deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid the death penalty. He was set to go to trial in August.
Researchers to follow fresh clues that suggest pioneering aviator may have crash-landed on remote Pacific island
A new mission to locate Amelia Earhart’s long-missing plane is being launched, researchers announced on Wednesday, following fresh clues that suggest she may have crash-landed on a remote island in the South Pacific.
A satellite image may show part of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E protruding from the sand on Nikumaroro, an isolated island in Kiribati about 1,000 miles from Fiji, according to Richard Pettigrew, head of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, a non-profit based in Oregon.
So confident is Donald Trump in the sweeping tax and spending legislation that Republicans are trying to push through Congress by the slimmest of margins that he refers to it as his “big, beautiful bill”.
The measure, which the House of Representatives could pass on Wednesday, is centered on making permanent tax cuts created during his first term, creating new exemptions for tips, overtime and car loan interest, and funding mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. To lower its price tag, Republicans have proposed the largest cuts ever to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and to the food assistance program known as Snap. They have also included provisions to phase out tax incentives meant to encourage the expansion of clean energy technologies that were created under Joe Biden.
Gill adds second century of series as tourists rack up runs
At the end of a sluggish first day in which just 85 overs were sent down, both sides could feel happier than the slightly short-changed punters.
India? They had been stuck in and responded with 310 for five courtesy of Shubman Gill’s second century of the series. England? Well, they never get too hung up by the runs column and, after last week’s win at Headingley, no one was claiming to be staggered at Ben Stokes bowling first.
Exclusive: Experts say use of heavy munition in Monday’s strike that killed dozens may constitute a war crime
The Israeli military used a 500lb (230kg) bomb – a powerful and indiscriminate weapon that generates a massive blast wave and scatters shrapnel over a wide area – when it attacked a target in a crowded beachfront cafe in Gaza on Monday, evidence seen by the Guardian has revealed.
Experts in international law said the use of such a munition despite the known presence of many unprotected civilians, including children, women and elderly people, was almost certainly unlawful and may constitute a war crime.
Intelligence official’s testimony about source who had tried to kill girlfriend with machete had been relied on in court
MI5’s chief has apologised after a court ruled that a senior spy gave “false evidence” that was relied on in three court cases about a neo-Nazi informant who had used his status to threaten his girlfriend and tried to kill her with a machete.
Although there was no “deliberate attempt” to mislead, the high court held that MI5’s subsequent explanations could not be relied on – and has asked a watchdog to examine if a contempt of court prosecution should be brought.
A poorly devised cuts policy was mis-sold as reform and MPs were dismissed when they pointed out the problem
A clash between the government and Labour MPs over disability benefits was foreseeable long before this week’s Commons rebellion. That doesn’t mean a crisis was inevitable. Compromise might have been reached before the 11th-hour climbdown that averted a defeat in parliament.
The conflagration that burned a lot of Sir Keir Starmer’s authority was all the greater because trust had broken down. The twin causes were failure of political judgment in Downing Street and bad policy. The prime minister underestimated the potency of MPs’ objections to the withdrawal of personal independence payment (Pip) from disabled people, and overestimated the capacity of his whips to bully and cajole his party into accepting the changes.
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Entry-level tasks are being taken over by new technology. Businesses and government must not sacrifice the next generation on the altar of tech
As annual degree ceremonies take place on campuses across the country this month, new graduates will doubtless be turning their thoughts to enjoying some stress-free time off. Given the current state of the labour market, some may be forced to make that break a long one.
For university leavers, these are worrying times. A mounting pile of data suggests that accessing the kind of entry-level jobs that traditionally put degree holders on a path to professional success is becoming ever harder. One report published last month by the job-search site Indeed found that the market for young people fresh out of university is tougher than at any time since 2018. Compared with last year, the number of jobs advertised for recent graduates is down 33%.
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One of hip-hop’s most influential figures found guilty on two of the lesser counts, marking end of trial that captured global attention
After seven weeks in a Manhattan federal courtroom, the high-profile sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of hip-hop’s most influential figures, has come to a close.
On Wednesday, a jury of 12 New Yorkers found Combs guilty of the Mann Act transportation of former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and “Jane”, and not guilty of running a criminal enterprise and two counts of sex trafficking.
Twenty states say giving immigrants’ health data to DHS broke privacy laws and threatens access to emergency care
The Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials, a group of 20 states allege in a lawsuit.
Last month advisers to the secretary of the Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS), Robert F Kennedy Jr, ordered the release of a dataset that includes the private health information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington DC to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Finland: A poor Nations League and an injury troubled buildup has taken the shine off Marko Saloranta’s side after an impressive qualifying campaign, writes Ari Virtanen.
‘Many older couples find greater satisfaction than when they were younger,’ says the National Institute on Aging
There is a stereotype that sex is just a young person’s game. But the numbers don’t back that up.
“That is not what we’ve found in our studies,” says Dr Cynthia Graham, senior scientist at the Kinsey Institute and distinguished professor in gender studies at the University of Indiana.
Damning report by MPs comes after inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at Notre-Dame de Bétharram school
The French prime minister, François Bayrou, failed to act to prevent physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic school in south-west France when he served as education minister between 1993 and 1997, a parliamentary report has said.
The damning report issued by French lawmakers on Wednesday comes after a long parliamentary inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram boarding school near Pau in south-west France.
Ministry of Defence says Ben Key’s conduct fell far short of standards expected after investigation
The former head of the Royal Navy, Ben Key, has been fired and stripped of his commission after it was discovered that the married admiral had been having an affair with a female subordinate.
The Ministry of Defence said Key’s behaviour had been found to have fallen far short of the standards expected, after an investigation triggered when the woman’s husband made a complaint.
Joseph Haythorne from Ashford made comment on X as violence was breaking out at asylum hotel near Rotherham
An engineer who posted “burn any hotels with those scruffy bastards in it” online as violence erupted outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for 15 months.
Joseph Haythorne, 26, from Ashford in Surrey, posted the comment on X, formerly known as Twitter, at lunchtime on 4 August last year, just as violence was breaking out near Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Marwan al-Sultan, a renowned cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital, is the 70th healthcare worker to be killed by Israeli attacks in the past 50 days, says Palestinian medical organisation
An Israeli airstrike has killed one of Gaza’s most senior doctors in a “catastrophic” loss to the already decimated healthcare system. A number of family members were reported to have been killed alongside him.
Dr Marwan al-Sultan, a renowned and highly experienced cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital in the Gaza Strip, is the 70th healthcare worker to be killed by Israeli attacks in the last 50 days, according to Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical organisation.
Tesla said it delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter, down 13.5% from 443,956 units a year ago
Tesla posted another big drop in quarterly deliveries on Wednesday, putting it on course for its second straight annual sales decline as demand falters due to backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s political stance and an ageing vehicle lineup.
Tesla said it delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter, down 13.5% from 443,956 units a year ago. Analysts had expected it to report deliveries of about 394,378 vehicles, according to an average of 23 estimates from the financial research firm Visible Alpha, though projections went to as low as 360,080 units based on estimates from 10 analysts over the past month. Analysts use the number of vehicles delivered to customers as a metric of success to evaluate both automotive sales and production.
Connexion
