Melania Trump's speech propels Epstein crisis back to forefront

She has now placed herself squarely into the Epstein story and at odds with the administration, which wants to end the investigation.

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Middle East crisis live: Iran peace talks under way as Trump claims US has begun clearing mines in strait of Hormuz

US and Iranian media report peace talks have begun in Islamabad, while Netanyahu says Israel remains committed to fighting Iran

• US and Iran hold talks in Islamabad as Pakistan seeks to broker peace deal

• US officials claim Iran unable to find mines it laid in strait of Hormuz

The UK will host a strait of Hormuz meeting next week, bringing together multiple countries aiming to restore free movement of ships through the strait, which has been blockaded by Iran since the beginning of the war and inflicted heavy damage on the global economy.

A British official told AP that the meeting will oppose the idea of tolls being charged for passage through the waterway, as proposed by Iran as part of ceasefire negotiations.

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Taiwan opposition leader meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

Cheng Li-wun is the Kuomintang's first sitting leader to visit China in a decade.

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BBC at the site of Israeli air strikes in Beirut

At least 182 people were killed and 890 others wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

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X Factor star Chico Slimani found guilty of drink-driving by London court

Singer, 55, said he had broken his sobriety after three ‘devastating’ bereavements and has not drunk alcohol since

Chico Slimani, a memorable X Factor contestant, was found guilty of drink-driving on Thursday, telling the court his arrest came hours after he broke his sobriety.

The singer, 55, whose real name is Yousseph Slimani, reached the quarter-final of the TV talent show in 2005 and later released a No 1 single, It’s Chico Time.

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Man charged with US firebomb plot is linked to group whose leaders back violence against Palestinians

Revealed: JDL 613 Brotherhood has platformed a convicted terrorist and its video recordings display an obsessive antipathy to New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani

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A man who has been charged with plotting to firebomb a pro-Palestine activist’s home is tied to a group whose leaders support violence against Palestinians and have platformed a convicted terrorist who fundraises for a violent settler movement in the occupied West Bank.

Video recordings by the group, called JDL 613 Brotherhood, also reveal its leaders possess an obsessive antipathy to New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani. They feature the organization’s founder, Yisrael Yaacob Ben Avraham, describing Mamdani as a “Muslim terrorist”, a “cancer”, and his election a “harbinger” of “a creeping Islamic takeover of America”.

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Trapped miner rescued from flooded Mexican tunnel after 14 days

The 42-year-old gold miner was standing in waist-high water when rescuers found him in a flooded tunnel.

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Best-selling The Housemaid author Freida McFadden reveals true identity

One of the biggest mysteries in publishing is solved, as The Housemaid writer reveals her real name.

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Gambia appoints British barrister to prosecute gruesome Jammeh-era crimes

Ex-President Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule was known for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

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California sheriff who seized ballots ordered to halt election investigation

Attorney general says court ruling against Chad Bianco ‘reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue sheriff’

The California supreme court on Wednesday ordered a county sheriff and gubernatorial candidate who seized more than half a million 2025 election ballots to pause his investigation into election fraud allegations while the judges review the legal challenge against it.

The order came after the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, last month asked the court to step in, arguing the sheriff has no authority over election materials. A voting rights group is also challenging the ballot seizure.

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