Multiple people killed after construction crane falls, derails train in Thailand














Crane was working on a high-speed rail project when it collapsed and hit the passing train, causing it to derail and briefly catch fire
At least 22 people in Thailand have been killed and scores injured after a crane collapsed onto a passenger train, derailing it on Wednesday, officials said.
Footage from the scene verified by Agence France-Presse showed the crane’s broken structure resting on giant concrete pillars, with smoke rising from the wreckage of the train below.
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© Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock









Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja is a small community of about 135 families – and the only one remaining in this part of the Jordan valley
Five decades in the south Jordan valley were ending in a day, and Mahmoud Eshaq struggled to hold back his tears. The 55-year-old had not cried since he was a boy, but as he dismantled the family home and prepared to flee the village where his whole life had played out, he was overwhelmed by grief.
While Eshaq’s children loaded mattresses, a fridge, sacks of flour and suitcases of clothes into a truck, masked soldiers escorted a teenage Israeli shepherd down the main village road, where he posed for photos on his donkey, flashing a V sign.
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© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian
South East Water blames bad weather as pubs are forced to close, toilets overflow and people go without showers
As the residents of Tunbridge Wells trudged down their sodden high street in the pouring rain, the idea that they had run out of water – for the second time in just a few weeks – seemed farcical.
At the end of November the local water treatment centre, which had been flagged as at risk by the regulator in 2024, was forced to shut down, leaving 24,000 households without water for two weeks. The Drinking Water Inspectorate later said this outage was foreseen and was due to a lack of maintenance at the site.
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© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Exclusive: Refugee status granted despite attempt by former home secretary James Cleverly to block 26-year-old’s claim
A Palestinian citizen of Israel has been granted asylum in the UK on the basis of a “well-founded fear of persecution” despite a former home secretary’s attempt to block the claim.
Hasan (not his real name) is believed to be the first Palestinian with an Israeli passport to be given refugee status in the UK. But the decision came only after two about-turns by the Home Office and a protracted legal battle.
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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
An economic recovery could still change the parties’ fortunes. But the days when only two parties were licensed to supply Britain with prime ministers are gone
Unpopular politicians take consolation in the thought that opinion polls are sometimes wrong and often describe the wrong thing. They capture the moment but don’t predict the future. A midterm poll measures how much voters like the government. A general election asks whether the opposition is trusted to take over. It isn’t the same question.
Labour’s hopes for recovery rest on that distinction. The plan is that economic growth and governing competence will boost general wellbeing in the coming years. That will dial up the risks associated with other parties, especially for Reform UK. Voters who lack enthusiasm for the prime minister may be persuaded to stick with him if the alternative is Nigel Farage.
Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist
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© Composite: Tim Graham/Getty Image/Martin Godwin/The Guardian/Andy Rain/EPA/Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Composite: Tim Graham/Getty Image/Martin Godwin/The Guardian/Andy Rain/EPA/Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Composite: Tim Graham/Getty Image/Martin Godwin/The Guardian/Andy Rain/EPA/Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu/Getty Images
An incredible smoked haddock paste for toast, crackers or crudités, and a moreish and indulgent multi-mushroom-topped pastry
Two key elements at the heart of Portuguese eating culture are couvert and pastry. A couvert, comprising bread, butter, pickled or garlic carrots, cheese and fish paté (often sardine), comes as standard at every Portuguese restaurant and family dinner table alike, as it does at our restaurant Luso, where our fish paste is an ode to this way of dining. The mushroom tart, meanwhile, celebrates the Portuguese love of pastry and is a take on a traditional savoury tart. While such tarts are unlikely to feature solely mushrooms (they’re much more likely to be mixed vegetable tarts), we like to focus on the incredible varietals of this single ingredient.
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© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Tamara Vos. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Lucy Ellwood.

© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Tamara Vos. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Lucy Ellwood.

© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Tamara Vos. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Lucy Ellwood.











Erfan Soltani, 26, is reportedly facing imminent execution, as rights groups fear for more than 18,000 people detained in the crackdown
Hundreds of gunshot eye injuries found in one Iranian hospital
Iran protests: what we know so far about the anti-government demonstrations
Donald Trump has threatened to “take very strong action” if Iranian authorities begin executing anti-government protesters this week, as the reported death toll from the crisis surged past 2,500.
“If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action,” Trump told CBS News in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night, hours before the US president was due to be briefed on the scale of casualties inside Iran.
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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP