Trump administration imposes sanctions on independent investigator in latest action against critics of Israel’s war

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it was issuing sanctions against an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza.

The state department’s decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, comes after a recent US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post failed.

Judge finds Republican-crafted law likely unconstitutional for encroaching on federal government’s authority

The US supreme court maintained on Wednesday a judicial block on a Republican-crafted Florida law that makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants in the United States to enter the state.

The justices denied a request by state officials to lift an order by Florida-based US district judge Kathleen Williams that barred them from carrying out arrests and prosecutions under the law while a legal challenge plays out in lower courts. Williams ruled that Florida’s law conflicted with the federal government’s authority over immigration policy.

• 4th T20i: India 127-4, beat England, 126-7, by six wickets

• India’s triumph is first T20 series win in England

India made history at Old Trafford on Wednesday night by winning the fourth T20 international by six wickets, sealing their first T20 series win in England.

England sit above India in the ICC’s official T20 team rankings but the manner of this defeat suggests the rankings have not quite caught up with reality.

Given that they were playing next door to a branch of Ikea it could be tempting to say Wales collapsed in the manner of badly assembled flat pack furniture. But that would be very wrong.

An admittedly emphatic scoreline that leaves France top of Group D and well on course for the quarter-finals does not tell the whole story of a much improved Welsh performance on a night when Jess Fishlock scored a historic goal.

Caricom bloc summit committed to prioritising needs of country in grip of heavily armed gangs

Leaders in the Caribbean have pledged to join forces to tackle crime and violence as they reaffirmed their support for Haiti, which the UN says continues to be “paralysed”by gangs.

Taking the reins as chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a bloc of 15 countries, Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s prime minister, said security in the region would be a “matter of great priority” under his chairmanship.

Politician spent 52 days in jail after being charged with insurrection but was released four months ago

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol returned to jail on Thursday after a court approved a warrant sought by prosecutors investigating his attempt to impose martial law last year.

The Seoul central district court’s decision bolstered the special counsel investigation into allegations that Yoon’s move in December represented obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

• Serb through to last four after 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win

• Djokovic will face No 1 seed Jannik Sinner in semi-finals

The siren call of a record 25th grand slam title grows ever louder for Novak Djokovic. But he was given a fright by the lively young Italian Flavio Cobolli, as well as a nasty slip in the final game of a pulsating match, before coming through 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

It was not always convincing, but Djokovic found a way, just like he usually does. Incredibly he still has not lost here against anyone other than Carlos Alcaraz since 2017.

Raynor Winn describes enduring ‘hardest days’ and publishes clinic letters saying her husband, Moth, has been treated for CBD/S for many years

Raynor Winn, the author of The Salt Path, has described enduring some of the “hardest days” of her life as she defended her memoir against allegations that parts of it were fabricated.

The bestselling 2018 book, which was adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, tells how she and her husband, Moth, walked the 630-mile trek along the south-west coast path after losing their home.

Starmer’s hopes of announcing illegal migration curbs during Macron visit caught on cost and legal worries

Anglo-French talks over a migration deal were deadlocked on Wednesday night, with negotiators haggling over how much Britain will pay towards the cost of policing small boat crossings.

Keir Starmer had hoped to announce a returns deal – under which Britain would send back some asylum seekers once they had crossed the Channel – as the close of a three-day state visit by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Lauren James was the star of an impressive England show in which Jess Carter’s move to centre-back worked perfectly

Hannah Hampton Distribution was excellent, particularly her superb pass that led to England’s opening goal. 7

Mayor urges people to exercise utmost caution as weather service says situation around Mediterranean is critical

More than 15,000 residents of Marseille confined to their homes have been allowed out after a wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second city was brought under control, but officials have warned the country faces an exceptionally high-risk summer.

Fanned by gale-force winds and kindled by parched vegetation, several fires have burned swathes of southern France in recent days, including Tuesday’s just north of the port city. The weather service has said the weeks ahead could be critical.

• Updates from Old Trafford; play starts 6.30pm BST

• Mail James | Sign up for the Spin

3rd over: England 21-1 (Dunkley 16, Capsey 0) Alice Capsey arrives at number three. She’s due a score too. A truly dangerous player if she gets in.

Here come the boundaries! Dunkley carves past point for four and then snaps the bottom hand on a drive down the ground for SIX. Comfortably clearing the ropes. Shree Charani has been in the wickets this series… and she gets another!

Fabián Ruiz scored twice as the champions of Europe made the final by swatting aside Real Madrid with ease

At last … here come the players! One by one. PSG first, in their new blue shirts with red-lattice stripe that [squints] “pays tribute to Paris’s architectural heritage.” Then out come Real Madrid in white shirts that [narrows eyes again, adjusts pince-nez] “mark the Bernabéu’s latest refurbishment with a design featuring subtle shapes, textures and colours borrowed from its long and storied history … a performance-focused construction for quick-fire football with heat-applied club crest for unparalleled inspiration.” Soccer!

Kick-off has been delayed until 3.10pm local time, 8.10pm UK time. That’s because both teams got caught in traffic on their way to the stadium from their Manhattan hotels, and rocked up 20 minutes later than expected. Real have had no luck whatsoever on their travels: their flight to NYC was delayed for three hours last night due to storms.

Amid cleanup efforts, residents and news outlets question the government’s pre-flooding alarm and warning systems

• Among the Texas flood victims: campers, staff, grandparents and teachers

The number of people who have died from the flooding in Texas continues to rise, with at least 119 dead throughout the state, officials said on Wednesday morning.

Search crews continue to look for people, as residents and news organizations question the government’s alarm and warning systems.

From shambolic to sublime, England, the reigning European champions, brushed off fears of a group-stage exit with a thrilling and clinical 4-0 defeat of the Netherlands which puts ­progression firmly in their hands.

Woken by a somewhat humbling 2-1 loss to France on Saturday, a more recognisable England arrived at the 2025 Euros, two goals from Lauren James and one apiece from Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone ensuring a win against Wales on Sunday will be enough to book a place in the ­knockout stage while France and the Netherlands battle it out for the other Group D spot.

Extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and forced labour among accusations upheld by court in judgment

Russia has committed flagrant and unprecedented abuses of human rights since it invaded Ukraine in 2014, including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and forced labour, the European court of human rights has found.

The court’s grand chamber unanimously held that between 11 May 2014 and 16 September 2022, when Russia ceased to be a party to the European convention on human rights it had committed “manifestly unlawful conduct … on a massive scale”.

Indiscriminate military attacks.

Summary executions of civilians and Ukrainian military personnel.

Torture, including the use of rape as a weapon of war.

Unlawful and arbitrary detention of civilians.

Unjustified displacement and transfer of civilians.

Intimidation, harassment and persecution of all religious groups other than adherents of the historically Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox church.

Intimidation and violence against journalists and new laws prohibiting and penalising the dissemination of information in support of Ukraine.

Forcible dispersal by the Russian military of peaceful protests in occupied towns and cities.

Destruction, looting and expropriation of property.

Suppression of the Ukrainian language in schools and indoctrination of Ukrainian schoolchildren.

Transfer to Russia, and in many cases, the adoption there of Ukrainian children.

Boy, 13, arrested after Rancho fire raced through dry brush in Laguna Beach and forced evacuation of about 100 homes

A 13-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of setting off fireworks that sparked a wildfire this week in coastal southern California, forcing the evacuations of about 100 canyon homes, authorities said.

Crews with air support protected residences from the Rancho fire as flames raced through dry brush on Monday afternoon in Laguna Beach. It was held to 4 acres (1.6 hectares) with no damage to structures.

• Ghana attacker will sign six-year deal subject to medical

• West Ham want at least six signings and must raise funds

Tottenham have reached an agreement to sign Mohammed Kudus from West Ham for £54.5m.

Kudus is due to undergo a medical on Thursday and will sign a six-year deal. The Ghana attacker will become the first player to leave West Ham for Spurs since Scott Parker in 2011.

Episodes of The Bear, Stranger Things and Lena Dunham’s new show Too Much are stretching the limits of television and reducing our enjoyment in the process

The big debate over The Bear – apart from the one about whether it’s still any good or not, which is another matter entirely – regards its genre. Once the darling of the Emmys, The Bear initially called itself a comedy, despite not really having any jokes or levity or fun in it. And this was down to some bad maths about its duration. The Bear was a half-hour show, and sitcoms are half-hour shows, therefore The Bear must be a sitcom.

However, in its fourth season, The Bear was no longer a half-hour show. Of its 10 new episodes, none are less than 30 minutes long. True, one is 31 minutes and three more scrape in under 35 minutes. But one is 38 minutes long, two more stretch on for 40 or more, and one somehow manages to be one hour and 11 minutes long.

William Ruto accuses protesters of terrorism and violence two days after 31 people killed in anti-government demonstrations

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has ordered police to shoot protesters targeting businesses in the legs, in a sharp intensification of his rhetoric days after 31 people were killed in nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

“They shouldn’t kill them but they should shoot their legs so they break and they can go to hospital on their way to court,” Ruto said in the capital, Nairobi.

AI-trained robot carries out procedures on dead pig organs to remove gall bladders without any human help

Automated surgery could be trialled on humans within a decade, say researchers, after an AI-trained robot armed with tools to cut, clip and grab soft tissue successfully removed pig gall bladders without human help.

The robot surgeons were schooled on video footage of human medics conducting operations using organs taken from dead pigs. In an apparent research breakthrough, eight operations were conducted on pig organs with a 100% success rate by a team led by experts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the US.

I happened to be in Cardiff during the Oasis gigs. Before I knew it, my legs developed a mind of their own, my shoulders got involved and my jaw was chewing

By the time I got into Cardiff Central just before 8am on Friday, the early birds of the Oasis flock were already arriving. With a full 12 hours to go until showtime, this wasn’t a bad effort. Respect. I wasn’t there for the big reunion concert. I’d have liked to have been going, but I couldn’t face the hassle. If a ticket package had been available which transported me to my seat, à la Star Trek, just before the gig started, and then transported me straight to bed when the curtain came down, I would have paid handsomely for it. As it was, I enjoyed bystanding, breathing in the thick air of anticipation, like a kind of passive smoker, detached yet vaguely intoxicated by it all.

I was there to present my radio programme from BBC Wales, just across the way from the station. My studio afforded me a view of the crowds thickening outside. I wanted to scoff at all the blokes of my vintage wearing age-inappropriate bucket hats, and the rampant money-making at the heart of it all. But it was all too moving seeing these people getting reacquainted with their 20-years-ago selves. And as for the Gallagher brothers, hell, money has driven many families apart – so what if in this instance, it’s money that has brought them back together?

• Former Real manager will not spend any time in jail

• Ancelotti convicted of failing to pay tax on image rights

The Brazil coach and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has been given a one-year prison sentence and a fine of almost €400,000 (£345,000) after a Spanish court found him guilty of one count of tax fraud.

Ancelotti, who managed Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015 and between 2021 and 2025, appeared in court in Madrid in April to stand trial on charges of defrauding Spain’s tax office of more than €1m (£836,857) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

• Hugo Keenan likely Test replacement for Kinghorn

• Farrell: ‘We are doing well in certain aspects’

The British & Irish Lions are facing renewed injury uncertainty at full-back for the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday week. Having already lost Elliot Daly there are now doubts over Blair Kinghorn’s availability for the Test series after the Scotland player limped off in the first half of the Lions’ 36-24 victory against the Brumbies.

Kinghorn, widely expected to start at 15 against the Wallabies, lasted just 25 minutes before leaving the field and the Lions are now awaiting an update on the severity of the injury. “He got a bang on the knee,” the Lions head coach, Andy Farrell, said. “He carried on for quite a bit but there was no need to keep him going.”