British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson ⁠said he was ⁠detained at Heathrow ⁠Airport on Saturday and had his phone seized, after a week when he posted heavily online about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland. Robinson, whose real ‌name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said on social media he was held on Saturday evening for around three hours under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act. “My phone has been seized by the police,” he wrote. “Please help ⁠kick off my legal fund...

A plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers planning to spend a sunny afternoon skydiving crashed on Sunday in Missouri, killing all aboard, authorities said. Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the crash site, helping the Butler Police Department & Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The crash happened near Butler Memorial Airport. The small town of Butler has a population of around 4,300 people and is roughly 105km (65 miles) south of Kansas City. Missouri Highway...

US ⁠Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on Sunday, his spokesman said, but there was no immediate information about why he was there or his prognosis. McConnell, 84, was the longest-serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role while finishing his final term, which ends in January. “Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,” spokesman David Popp said in a statement without elaboration. It was not immediately...

At least six people died in Brazil on Sunday after two helicopters collided in western Rio de Janeiro, firefighters said. The helicopters crashed into the car park of an electric car showroom, igniting a fire that engulfed at least 20 cars. A statement from firefighters said initial reports pointed to a mid-air collision, adding “six fatalities have been confirmed, all were crew members of the aircraft involved in the accident”. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said there were “foreign...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each held phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, as Trump marked his 80th birthday and the war in Ukraine remained a flashpoint ahead of this week’s G7 summit. Putin’s call with Trump lasted just under an hour, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters. On Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasised the need to end hostilities and stated his readiness to influence European...

Protesters in Geneva clashed with police, set a car on fire and smashed the windows of a bank on Sunday to show their discontent with the G7 group of major advanced economies on the eve of a summit in nearby France to be attended by the group’s leaders including US President Donald Trump. Environmentalists and feminists joined foes of imperialism, defenders of independent media, supporters of Palestinian rights and others in a lakeside park in Geneva for a march across the Swiss city. A boat...

US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged no further attacks by anyone after Israel’s military said it launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, potentially complicating efforts to finalise a deal to end the US-Iran war. As smoke rose over the Lebanese capital, Lebanese Civil Defense said it retrieved three bodies and six wounded people from the rubble. Iran threatened a military response, with the foreign ministry saying it holds the US directly responsible for Israel’s ceasefire...

In a packed auditorium steps from the Vatican, Roberto Vannacci – the former Italian army general known to supporters as ‘Il Generale’ – is rallying followers of his fledgling party, casting himself as an outsider while reshaping Italy’s right and challenging Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of US President Donald Trump. Vannacci’s fast-rising “Futuro Nazionale” party is injecting new uncertainty into the conservative bloc that has underpinned Meloni’s government, exposing tensions...

The Swiss appeared to have voted down a divisive anti-immigration proposal to cap the country’s population, early projections showed on Sunday. Shortly after polls closed at noon, initial projections from the GfS.bern institute indicated around 55 per cent opposition to the initiative, which had sparked warnings of “chaos” and devastating impacts for the Swiss economy and European Union relations. “We are very relieved and happy. This is an important result for our country and for our relations...

British armed forces intercepted a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel on Sunday, for the first time leading an operation to disrupt the oil revenue ‌that helps fund Russia’s war in Ukraine. The vessel Smyrtos, sailing under the Cameroon flag, was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and National Crime Agency (NCA) officials in the early hours on Sunday, with support from Chinook helicopters and other aircraft, a frigate and a minehunter. “This successful operation...

Two big issues are bubbling up over Hong Kong’s army of foreign domestic helpers. The whole community will have to sit down and decide how to address them. The first is the availability of places for helpers to congregate safely and freely on their days off without putting too much stress on public facilities, other residents and tourists. The second is figuring out how to provide an acceptable working environment inside the home during hot summer months. Two underlying trends are adding to the...

In April, a family from the United Arab Emirates – four adults, three children and a nanny – spent about 300,000 yuan (US$44,228) on a seven-day educational and business tour to China. The trip was nearly cancelled as the Iran war repeatedly disrupted their flights and travel plans, but they eventually arrived in Shanghai. “Their willingness to make the trip was unwavering,” said Lilian Liu at Middle East-focused tour operator UFOX Travel, who hosted the family. Such clients barely existed a few...

Western allies believe Iran has most likely added new-build Russian weapons to its inventory and reconstituted large swathes of its missile arsenal during the eight-week ceasefire, giving the Islamic Republic the firepower to strike back at nearly full strength if hostilities resume. Tehran has about three-quarters of the munitions it had before the war and can easily build it up further, according to intelligence assessments. That includes unspecified Russian missiles that probably came off the...

Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday in a typically forceful style on Sunday, as the oldest US president ever to take office holds a bloody cage match on the White House lawn. The unprecedented “UFC Freedom 250” event will see 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship stars beat each other to a pulp in a giant arena called The Claw. Costing US$60 million, it is linked to this year’s festivities for the 250th anniversary of US independence, but it also happens to fall on the day that Trump enters...

The Tren de Aragua leader killed in a US-Venezuelan raid was a high school dropout who lived in comfort behind bars as he transformed a prison gang into one of the most powerful and extensive criminal organisations in Latin America. Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Nino Guerrero, or “child warrior”, died at the age of 42 in a raid announced on Friday by US President Donald Trump and later confirmed by Venezuela. Founded in Venezuela in 2014, Tren de Aragua has been designated a...

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he planned to appoint James McDonald as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the federal prosecutor whose office handles many of the most high-profile cases involving Wall Street. McDonald would replace Jay Clayton, whom Trump nominated as US director of national intelligence less than two weeks after a congressional backlash against his interim appointee, housing official Bill Pulte. Trump had tapped Pulte after Tulsi Gabbard, the...