Six-year-old Chinese girl ‘sets new women’s Rubik’s Cube world record’

Lian Yunzhi solves 3x3 puzzle on several occasions in average time of under 4.5 seconds, according to state media

A six-year-old Chinese girl has set a new women’s world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube in just over four seconds, state media reported.

“Speedcuber” Lian Yunzhi broke the women’s 3x3 average world record twice this month at two World Cube Association certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

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Cost of raising two children in Australia has risen 134% in two decades, study says

Parenting advocate Georgie Dent says rising childcare cost has pushed the overall burden to $36,500 a year and calls for more paid parental leave

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The cost for Australian families of raising two or more children has risen to at least $36,500 a year, according to new research, with the money needed to run a family increasing by 134% in two decades.

Data released by advocacy group The Parenthood on Wednesday shows household income has only grown by 102% in the same period, with childcare costs making up 33% of the total cost of having children today. In 2003, the figure was 27%, according to the analysis by firm Connell Griffin.

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Autopsy shows Hayden Panettiere died from a drug overdose

The death of the child star - who had fentanyl, Xanax, a muscle relaxant and antipsychotic medication in her system - was ruled an accident.

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ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders

Immigration agency’s move makes it harder for lawyers and family to find detainees, in line with stringent Trump policy

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, an unannounced move that has made it far more difficult for lawyers and relatives to find them, according to current and former officials familiar with the practice.

ICE removed those detainees from its online detainee locator system on 15 September, according to three current and former ICE officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change. Several lawyers contacted by the AP confirmed their clients vanished from the system this week, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association warned its members about the situation on Friday.

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California braces for record El Niño storms as governor declares emergency

Super El-Niño has already broken temperature records and is predicted to bring an extremely wet winter to the state

• ‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak

California is bracing for a record breaking El Niño that is expected to bring severe winter storms and flooding across the state, with the state’s governor declaring a state of emergency in anticipation of extreme weather in the months ahead.

The global climate phenomenon known as a “super El Niño” is already breaking temperature records and drawing predictions of an extremely wet winter in places such as California, where El Niño typically brings more severe winter storms and flooding risks. Several coastal California cities have recently faced high surf, flooding and coastal erosion linked to Hurricane Marie as well as El Niño. Experts have said the effects offered a glimpse at what the coming winter could look like.

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Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent as enforcement surges in Austin

The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez comes months after increased federal immigration enforcement across the Texas capital

The shooting of a man by a federal officer on Sunday in Texas ruptured an ostensibly quiet afternoon amid an immigration enforcement surge in Austin.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been very active in the Texas capital of late, although less showy than the militarized federal violence in Minneapolis this January, helping keep the operation effective but flying under the national radar. Then shots rang out.

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Andy Burnham faces a weakened Trump – but the president remains unpredictable

The PM hopes to be firmer with the US leader than his predecessor without provoking diplomatic warfare, as the Iran war weighs on the UK economy

No international relationship has more power to determine the success of Andy Burnham’s premiership. So you might imagine the stakes for the prime minister’s first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump on Tuesday would be high.

Yet Burnham may prove to be a lucky general. The balance of risk has shifted. Trump is unpopular at home, where inflation remains high, and is mired in an intractable conflict in Iran that has the potential to sink his midterm dreams.

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Sister of Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan arrested

Aleema Khanum is accused of mobilising her brother’s supporters ahead of country-wide protests.

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Millions without power as Cuba hit by latest major blackout

Widespread power outages have become increasingly common due to fuel shortages made worse by a US blockade.

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Warren Buffett steps down after six decades at Berkshire - 'Father Time always wins'

Since taking control in 1965, Buffett grew a struggling textile mill into a global conglomerate.

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