World News Hub

California’s ‘Los Gatos party mom’ sentenced to 35 years in prison

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Shannon O’Connor, 52, was convicted of charges including child endangerment and facilitating forcible sexual assaultA judge has sentenced a San Francisco Bay Area mother to 35 years in prison after her conviction for a slew of crimes resulting from hosting drunken sex parties for young teenagers.Widely known as the “Los Gatos party mom”, a nickname that references her hometown, 52-year-old Shannon...

Federal jury finds army veteran and two other ICE protesters guilty of conspiracy

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Case involving June 2025 protest is escalation in Trump officials’ attack on first amendment rights, say expertsA federal jury has found three protesters, including a US military veteran of the war in Afghanistan, guilty on felony conspiracy charges on Thursday for their part in a June 2025 protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Legal experts have said the Spokane, Washington...

Australia news live: Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions fall 2%; consumer watchdog sues Amazon over ‘hazardous’ pink toddler unicorn backpack

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Government data says rise of renewable energy displacing some coal and gas electricity. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWho’s leading the fight against Labor’s CGT reform – and what’s in it for them?People with direct personal financial stakes in Labor’s tax reforms are among the loudest voices opposing the changes. Continue reading...

Musical acts back out of performing at Trump-affiliated concert series

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Morris Day, Young MC and others balk at appearing at US’s 250th anniversary events organized by administrationAt least five of the nine featured musical acts set to play in a concert series organized by the Trump administration to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary have dropped out, just one day after the lineup was announced.The first to drop out, hours after Wednesday’s announcement, was ...

Australia news live: consumer watchdog sues Amazon over ‘hazardous’ pink toddler unicorn backpack; concert to celebrate John Farnham

The Guardian • 3 months ago

ACCC says backpacks for sale in online marketplace failed to comply with mandatory warnings for button batteries. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWho’s leading the fight against Labor’s CGT reform – and what’s in it for them?People with direct personal financial stakes in Labor’s tax reforms are among the loudest voices opposing the changes. Conti...

Global heating is making hajj ever more dangerous, report finds

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Rising heat in Saudi Arabia threatens millions of Muslim pilgrims – but cutting fossil fuels would keep it saferGlobal heating has “fundamentally altered” the climate of Mecca and is exposing millions of hajj pilgrims to extreme and dangerous heat even in months outside summer, new analysis has found.Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels means scorching temperatures of 40C (104F) are now regu...

Afghan president voiced concern over civilians killed by SAS troops, inquiry told

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Newly released evidence from inquiry into 80 deaths shows Afghan partner forces no longer willing to work alongside British by 2011Concerns about the number of Afghan civilians being killed by British special forces in the early part of the last decade prompted the country’s then president to make a “muscular” complaint to Nato commanders fighting the Taliban.Newly released evidence from a public ...

Middle East crisis live: JD Vance says US ‘not there yet’ on an Iran deal amid question over nuclear program

The Guardian • 3 months ago

US vice-president says he feels ‘pretty good’ about prospects of memorandum of understanding being negotiated with TehranHezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it said targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.The group said it launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers and tanks that crossed the Litani river into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah near ...

Co-founder of Students for Trump arrested on domestic violence charges

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Ryan Fournier, 30, was charged with simple assault and attempted threats to do bodily harmThe co-founder of the group Students for Trump was arrested Tuesday on domestic violence charges.Washington DC’s Metropolitan police department arrested Ryan Fournier, 30, and charged him with simple assault and attempted threats to do bodily harm, Defector first reported. Continue reading...

Australia news live: Rowland to ‘reset’ corruption commission after Brereton resigns; Asio warns politicians against classified chats in cars

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Attorney general says Nacc needs public support ‘in terms of perception and in practice’. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMinister says any potential changes to capital gains tax discount plans will be minimalTim Ayres, the minister of industry and innovation, was asked on RN about changes to the capital gains tax discount after the prime minister...

Dallas rescuers search for victims after gas explosion destroys building and ignites blaze

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Four people taken to hospital but mayor said search continues for other survivors or fatalitiesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Nearly 100 firefighters battled a large fire that erupted on Thursday at an apartment complex in Dallas, where debris from one collapsed building lay heaped on the ground while flames and black smoke billowed into the sky.News video showed dozens of firef...

White House pushes Congress to approve $250 bill with Trump’s image

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Treasury secretary says banknote would celebrate US’s 250th anniversary but Democrats vow to block moveThe White House is pushing Congress to approve a $250 bill bearing Donald Trump’s portrait, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said, which would require changing longstanding federal law that prohibits any living person from appearing on US currency.Speaking from the White House at a news confer...

Sturgeon says she was ‘deceived, misled and betrayed’ by ex-husband Murrell

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Murrell has been remanded in custody after pleading guilty to embezzling more than £400,00 from SNPNicola Sturgeon said she was “deceived, betrayed and lied to” by her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.The former first minister told an audience in Ireland at her first public appearance since Murrell pleaded guilty that she was coming to ...

Middle East crisis live: Lebanon’s prime minister condemns latest attacks by Israel as ‘collective punishment’ of peaceful civilians

The Guardian • 3 months ago

“Nothing can justify the ongoing assaults on my regions of Tyre and Nabatieh… nor the continuous threats targeting our peaceful people there”, Nawaf Salam wrote on XHezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it said targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.The group said it launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers and tanks that crossed the Litani rive...

Australia news live: Asio warns politicians that internet-connected cars could be bugged; flood warnings after wild weather

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Spy agency says politicians and public servants ‘should be conscious of the things that they are discussing’ in internet-connected cars. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThere are flood warnings around after some wild weather and downpours in several states.This morning the NSW SES issued a warning for parts of the Upper Hunter, forecasting heavy r...

Guatemala requests US military cooperation against drug trafficking

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Central American country says its president spoke with Pete Hegseth to confirm terms of cooperationSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailGuatemala has requested US military cooperation spanning access to equipment, training and experts to assist Guatemalan operations against drug trafficking, the country’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, said on Thursday.The joint plans stopped short of US...

Australia news live: Asio warn politicians that EVs could be bugged; flood warnings after wild weather

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Spy agency says politicians and public servants ‘should be conscious of the things that they are discussing’ in internet-connected cars. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAsio has warned politicians and public servants not to discuss sensitive government information in internet-connected cars, due to the risk of electronic eavesdropping.The country’...

Trump’s DoJ sues four states for denying ICE agents undercover license plates

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington state sued as ICE seeks plates in Trump’s immigration crackdownThe Trump administration is suing to challenge the refusal of four US states to issue confidential license plates to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, saying the states have long provided them to other law enforcement agencies conducting undercover operations.The US Departm...

Clashes between armed groups in Colombia kill at least 52

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Rival groups are vying for territorial control of strategic cocaine production and trafficking regionAt least 52 guerrilla fighters have been killed in clashes between two rival armed groups vying for territorial control of a strategic cocaine production and trafficking region in south-east Colombia, a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) involved in the fighting has said.T...

Trump’s Memphis crime taskforce accused of using ‘immense force’ in intimidation campaign

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Exclusive: community observers claim agents have tailed cars, surveilled homes and even ‘falsely arrested’ someoneAn anti-crime taskforce ordered by Donald Trump onto the streets of Memphis has been accused of targeting community observers with widespread intimidation including “immense force”.Agents have been “retaliating against, intimidating, and harassing” observers attempting to monitor the f...

‘Hundreds of job applications’: young people on their struggle to find work

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Job seekers say the lack of opportunities has affected their mental health and left them fearing for the futureWhen Catherina finished her degree in digital film production in London, she thought her prospects of finding work were good, but she has found the jobs market tough. Continue reading...

Alarming surge in suicides among ICE detainees, investigation reveals

The Guardian • 3 months ago

AP review finds unprecedented number of suicide deaths as critics attack failures of Trump’s immigration crackdownBrayan Rayo Garzon was distraught. Detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he was on his fourth day of isolation in a Missouri jail as he battled the fevers and chills of Covid.His request for mental health treatment had been put off, records show, and staff had forbidde...

Dire strait? Trump’s bid to end Iran war before midterms risks Republican anger

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Trump administration in a bind as it faces mounting economic costs ahead of midterms from Iran warThe terms of a purported 60-day deal to negotiate peace in the Iran war have trapped the Trump administration between mounting economic costs ahead of midterm elections and anger from Republican hawks who accuse the US government of surrendering to Iran.The public rift between Trump and Senate Republi...

Labour poised for fresh welfare changes after scale of youth jobs crisis revealed

The Guardian • 3 months ago

Alan Milburn’s landmark report says unemployment among young costs UK £125bn a year and warns of ‘lost generation’ ‘A record of failure’: what’s in first part of Milburn report?Tell us: we would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job hunting experienceLabour is poised for a fresh attempt at changing the welfare system after a major government-backed report said youth unemployment...

Priest on trial for sexual assault in Texas had child with Louisiana congregant, prosecutors say

The Guardian • 3 months ago

DNA testing proved Anthony Odiong fathered child with woman to whom he had been providing spiritual guidance, authorities saySign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailTexas prosecutors on Thursday established that a Roman Catholic priest being tried there on charges that he illegally exploited his status as a priest to pursue sex with three spiritually vulnerable congregants had a child wit...