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Karen Bass criticised for photos at helicopter crash scene
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has faced heavy criticism online after she visited the scene of a fatal news helicopter crash in Chatsworth, California, and shared photographs of herself with firefighters. Critics called the move a “poor taste” photo opportunity, with many drawing unflattering comparisons to her widely criticised absence during the 2025 Palisades wildfires,…
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Sunderland marks historic return to continental football after 52 years
Sunderland host Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in their first European fixture since 1973-74, marking a landmark return to continental football after an unexpected seventh-place Premier League finish secured them a place in this season’s expanded Europa League. The club’s only prior European foray came 52 years ago, when they lost 2-1 at home to Sporting…
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Johnson cancels House votes amid Hegseth impeachment and AI safeguards clash
House Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled votes scheduled for Thursday, sending lawmakers home early before the midterm election recess and avoiding a vote on an impeachment resolution against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The cancellation frustrates Democrats, who argue the vote would likely pass on a bipartisan basis and accuse Republicans of dodging the issue. The move…
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Whitehall spent £2.3m on influencer marketing since election
The Government has been accused of “paying for praise” after figures revealed that 11 Whitehall departments and public bodies have spent £2.3million of taxpayers’ money on influencer marketing since Labour took office. Campaigns have included model Daisy Lowe promoting heat pumps and reality TV star Gemma Collins discussing vocational education, prompting criticism from the Conservatives…
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German state premiers defend Merz amid replacement speculation
Eight German state premiers from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have publicly backed him amid mounting speculation that he could be replaced, both as chancellor and as party leader. The intervention comes as Merz, just 16 months into the job, faces dismal approval ratings and a resurgent far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which…
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Piddington asylum housing protest prompts 500 councils to plan referendums
The Oxfordshire village of Piddington has become a rallying point for a wider protest movement after residents voted symbolically for “independence” from the UK over Government plans to house male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. Piddington Parish Council chairman Tim McNally says up to 500 councillors from parishes and towns across Britain…
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Inflation up to 3.1% as Piddington votes to secede over asylum housing
Rate rises, pension boost and an Oxfordshire village’s protest secession dominate, alongside US-South Africa visa tensions, a teenager’s Bering Sea survival, Anthropic’s Australian datacentre deal, and rows around Ed Sheeran’s tour and Tony Christie’s dementia.
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Trump EPA’s arguments for letting power plants spew unlimited pollution ‘dead wrong’
The US Environmental Protection Agency has moved to scrap all limits on planet-heating pollution from coal and gas power plants, with administrator Lee Zeldin claiming the change will lower Americans’ electricity bills and pose little climate risk. Environmental lawyers and analysts say both justifications collapse under scrutiny, arguing the rollback instead entrenches costly, polluting fossil…
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Scotland imposes mandatory environmental assessments on new datacentres
The Scottish government has announced that any new datacentre project above 50MW will be required to submit an environmental impact assessment as part of the planning process, ahead of a Holyrood vote on a proposed moratorium on new hyperscale datacentres. The move comes amid a surge in planning applications driven by global investment in AI…
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AI datacentre boom will triple toxic electronic waste within 25 years
A report by the environmental group Basel Action Network (BAN) warns that the global rush to build datacentres for artificial intelligence will triple the world’s annual output of toxic electronic waste within 25 years, creating enough discarded equipment to fill shipping containers that could circle the globe six times. The report highlights that there is…