‘This is not serious leadership’: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC in Miami as Iran talks fail

• President has long been a fan of mixed martial arts

• Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr also at event

Donald Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio attended a UFC event in Miami night on Saturday night as peace talks with Iran failed on the other side of the world.

Trump entered the Kaseya Center shortly after 9pm alongside several members of his family and UFC chief Dana White, who has been a supporter of the president since his first term. Seated nearby was Rubio as well as the US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, the rapper Vanilla Ice and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/MJxLiDr

Move to expel Democrat Eric Swalwell from Congress gains steam

Pressure mounts on Californian, who denies rape claims, and on Texan Tony Gonzales, who had affair with staffer who died by suicide

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

A growing number of Congress members from both parties have called for Eric Swalwell, a Democratic US representative and candidate for California governor, to resign his seat this weekend, following reported allegations of inappropriate behavior, sexual assault and rape.

Swalwell has denied the allegations, but he may not get the chance to quit before his colleagues expel him. Polarized Congress members appear to be eyeing an opportunity to rid themselves of both Swalwell and disgraced Republican US representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/Bn9fzEl

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.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/NR7sEb3

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.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/eUvYKkA

Taiwan opposition leader meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

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

from BBC News https://ift.tt/KxY5evs

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.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/tz8pGux

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.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/4LqWgCk

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

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

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”.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/ltEKGRg

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.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/aLMjkPW

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.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/d4PORE8