International

Defense in sexual abuse trial of property magnates Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander urges jurors to reject ‘monstrous story’Three brothers, two of them real estate agents who catered to the jet-set crowd, used a playbook over a 12-year stretch that sometimes involved drugging women and girls before raping them, a prosecutor told a New York jury on Tuesday in an opening statement.Assistant US attorney Madison Smyser said the brothers used […]

Both the health and education departments have proposed cuts to funding for physical educationA row between government departments has broken out after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) proposed cutting all its funding for physical education in schools, the Guardian understands.The DHSC is now intending to restore the funding despite insisting privately for weeks that it would end its contribution, until the Guardian contacted the department. Ministers are […]

First of two 1,600-tonne boring machines drilling the 4.5 miles from Old Oak Common station switched on in LondonMinisters have pledged that a redeveloped Euston HS2 station will be big enough to “serve the nation” as tunnelling began for the last miles of high-speed railway into central London.Excavating the 4.5-mile tunnels from Old Oak Common in west London is expected to take between 12 and 18 months – although details […]

Critics say government concealing true cost of deal ‘despite being forced to admit financial burden will grow year on year’Ministers are under growing pressure to end the “secrecy” around the UK’s deal with the US over the cost of medicines, which critics claim is “a Trump shakedown of the NHS”.MPs from Labour and several opposition parties want the government to publish its impact assessment of the agreement it reached last […]

Claudia Sheinbaum denied move was response to pressure from the US, after Trump said ‘zero’ oil would go to CubaMexico has cancelled a shipment of oil to Cuba, the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, appeared to confirm on Tuesday, but she insisted the decision was “sovereign” and not the response to pressure from the US.Fuel shortages are causing increasingly severe blackouts in Cuba, and Mexico has been the island’s biggest oil […]

Regional politics at the fore after Bangladesh ousted from the T20 World Cup in India.Source: www.aljazeera.comRead full article

Composer says values of Trump-dominated Kennedy Center ‘are in direct conflict’ with symphony’s messageCelebrated US composer Philip Glass has withdrawn the world premiere of his latest symphony at Washington DC’s John F Kennedy Center in protest of Donald Trump’s presidency.In a statement on Tuesday, the 88-year-old composer said: “After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No 15 ‘Lincoln’ from the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing […]

The Greater Manchester mayor’s aborted return has reopened quiet speculation about the party’s future leadershipThe political world abhors a vacuum of intrigue and gossip. The scuppering of Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster has therefore brought renewed attention to other potential successors to Keir Starmer. That is in turn likely to involve renewed scrutiny of Angela Rayner.Starmer’s former number two and housing secretary has been quietly loyal since she resigned as […]