Phillips had spent nearly four years hiding in the wilderness with his three children before he was killed in an exchange of fire with police on Monday
Fugitive father Tom Phillips was receiving outside help during his years on the run before he was killed in a police shoot-out this week, New Zealand police said on Wednesday as they released images that show a newly discovered campsite.
Phillips had spent nearly four years hiding in the wilderness with his three children. He was killed in an exchange of fire with police after reports of a burglary in the remote town of Piopio, in the central North Island, on Monday.
Donald Tusk says operation launched after ‘repeated violations of Polish airspace’
Poland has shot down drones over its territory after repeated violations of its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine, prime minister Donald Tusk has said, marking the first time in the Ukraine war that Warsaw has engaged Russian assets in its airspace.
“An operation is underway related to the repeated violation of Polish airspace,” Tusk wrote on X early on Wednesday. “The military has used weaponry against the objects.” He said he was in “constant contact” with President Karol Nawrocki and the operational commander.
Agency governor is legally challenging Trump after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed mortgage fraud allegations
A federal judge has ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Donald Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her.
Cook is legally challenging the US president after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, amid an extraordinary campaign by his administration to strengthen its control over the US central bank.
Administration says it would support an expert review of signature to determine whether it was Trump who signed it
White House officials on Tuesday doubled down on their assertion that a sexually suggestive letter carrying what appeared to be Donald Trump’s signature that was included in a birthday book for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had not been signed by the president.
The letter, and its drawing of a naked woman’s torso around an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein, was part of a batch of documents released by the House oversight committee in response to a subpoena after its existence was first reported in July by the Wall Street Journal.
Warplanes scrambled after warning from Ukraine; Poland to seal border over Russian and Belarus’s ‘very aggressive’ Zapad war games. What we know on day 1,295
Russian drones have been shot down after entering Nato-member Poland’s airspace. Poland’s armed forces operation command said: “During today’s attack by the Russian Federation carrying out strikes on targets located in the territory of Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drone-type objects … We emphasise that the military operation is ongoing, and we urge people to stay at home. The most threatened areas are the Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lubelskie voivodeships [provinces].”
Ukraine had earlier warned about the drones, prompting Poland to scramble its own and Nato warplanes, place air defences and radar on high alert, and temporarily close some airports. A Polish defence minister, Cezary Tomczyk, said “an operation to neutralise objects that have violated and exceeded the border of the Republic of Poland is under way”.
It came after the Polish prime minister announced Poland will close its border with Belarus on Thursday as a result of the “very aggressive” Zapad military exercises being conducted by Belarus and Russia. Donald Tusk said it was also a response to a growing number of provocations from Russia and Belarus. Separately, Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, warned that “we do not trust Vladimir Putin’s good intentions”. Nawrocki continued: “While waiting, of course, for a long-term peace, permanent peace, which is necessary to our regions, we believe that Vladimir Putin is ready to also invade other countries.”
The US Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal challenged Congress and Donald Trump to adopt a bipartisan bill imposing “scorching” secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil like China, India and Brazil. The long-proposed bill is co-sponsored by Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator. “I believe the president should be supportive,” Blumenthal told NPR on Tuesday. “The time has come for action. The president’s been mocked and played by Putin, and I think the president ought to be furious that Putin has stalled and stonewalled in this way. And about this bill, there are 85 co-sponsors, evenly divided – Democrat and Republican – which I think shows the level of support in the Congress for these kinds of sanctions.”
Trump said on Sunday he was ready to impose further sanctions targeting Russia, but appears now to be stipulating that the EU must do so at the same time. The EU has already enacted 18 rounds of sanctions and is preparing a 19th round, which it has said should include more secondary sanctions targeting countries helping Moscow. A US official told Agence France-Presse that on Tuesday Trump raised with European representatives the possibility of tariffs of between 50% and 100% on Russian oil customers.
Officials also discussed the issue of immobilised Russian government money as the EU sanctions envoy, David O’Sullivan, led a delegation to Washington. Trump dialled in for discussions on Tuesday alongside Ukraine’s prime minister, a US official said. Also involved in talks were Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and officials from the US trade representative’s office and state department.
A Russian strike killed 24 elderly people collecting their pensions on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. “A brutally savage Russian airstrike with an aerial bomb on the rural settlement of Yarova in the Donetsk region,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed.” Prosecutors announced a war crime investigation. The Ukrainian military said the Russians had dropped a glide bomb – a heavy bomb fitted with wings so it can fly rather than falling straight down. There was no immediate comment from Moscow or the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s air defences were responding to a Russian drone attack on Kyiv early on Wednesday, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital posted online.
Members of the European parliament in Strasbourg have accidentally passed a motion criticising the EU for a failed “militaristic strategy” in Ukraine. The amendment from an MEP from Germany’s radical left was nodded through by party floor chiefs who later admitted making a mistake – delighting populist groupings like Italy’s Putin-friendly Five Star Movement.
National Gallery, London The tradition of neo-impressionism begun by Georges Seurat was radical, even revolutionary, but this po-faced showcase is sadly lacking its joyful dazzle
Georges Seurat had kaleidoscope eyes. He saw in limitless colours, that swarm and bubble on his canvases in galaxies of tiny dots. Choosing random, barren subjects – an empty harbour, a rock – he found endless wonder in the most banal reality. In his 1888 painting Port-en-Bessin, a Sunday, myriad blues and whites create a hazy sky and mirroring water while a railing in the foreground explodes into purple, brown and orange as if it had a lurid spotty disease. Seurat only lived to the age of 31, but he inspired an entire art movement, the neo-impressionists, who copied his “pointillist” method.
Yet in a coarse-grained approach to this fine-grained art style, the National Gallery struggles to tell a different story. The neo-impressionists didn’t just paint dots, they dreamed of revolution. And by the way we shouldn’t call them by the evocative nickname “pointillist” because they didn’t like it.
More than 1,000 patients to take part in trial to see if the approach leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses
Doctors have launched a clinical trial of a £100 blood test for Alzheimer’s disease in the hope of transforming diagnosis of the devastating condition in the NHS.
More than 1,000 patients with suspected dementia are being recruited from memory clinics across the UK to see whether the test leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses and better care for those found to have the disease.
Cheap ultra-processed food behind rise in overweight children, with one in 10 now obese globally, says Unicef
More children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time, according to a UN report that warns ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets.
There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases.
Typically full of brio and swagger, the White House is scrambling because Trump is behaving so out of character
It took Trump chronicler Maggie Haberman to cut to the chase: if Trump didn’t sign the birthday card or other documents released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, the reporter asked in a quiet yet insistent tone, what’s the working theory as to why he’s in there?
“The president has one of the most famous signatures in the world,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, replied on Tuesday. “The president did not write that letter. He did not sign those documents.”
Head coach lauds players’ intensity against Serbia
‘It’s a perfect result and perfect moment’
Thomas Tuchel praised “teamwork in its purest form” after England kickstarted the head coach’s reign by taking control of their World Cup qualifying group with a dominant 5-0 thrashing of Serbia.
Goals from Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guéhi and Marcus Rashford stunned the crowd at the Rajko Mitic Stadium and lifted England seven points clear at the top of Group K. Tuchel, whose side have won their first five qualifiers, was delighted with the best performance of his tenure and hailed his players for how they combined to humiliate the hosts in Belgrade.
A lower court earlier ruled president exceeded his authority when enacting tariffs under law meant for emergencies
The US supreme court agreed on Tuesday to decide the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, setting up a major test of one of the Republican president’s boldest assertions of executive power that has been central to his economic and trade agenda.
The justices took up the justice department’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of his tariffs under a federal law meant for emergencies. The court acted swiftly after the administration last week asked it to review the case, which involves trillions of dollars in customs duties over the next decade.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, who entered Iraq to do research for Princeton, had gone missing in Iraq in early 2023
Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released after being kidnapped by Kata’ib Hezbollah and spending more than two years in captivity, Donald Trump said in a post on social media.
“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” the US president wrote in a TruthSocial post on Tuesday.
Jalen Carter was fined $57,222 by the NFL but avoided another suspension after spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott seconds into the league’s season opener Thursday night.
The Pro Bowl defensive tackle was ejected from Philadelphia’s 24-20 victory over Dallas before playing a snap. He is expected to be on the field when the Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday. The Eagles could impose their own discipline such as benching Carter for the first series of the Chiefs game.
The NFL is calling Carter’s discipline a one-game suspension with time served because he didn’t play against the Cowboys. It’s a distinction that sets a precedent that spitting on an opponent will result in a one-game suspension.
Same formation for us – and it looks like the same formation for our opponents. It looks like a classic 5-4-1 defensively. I was hoping for a little more risk but they left Mitrovic and Jovic out and they have more defensively minded players. Okay; we will try to find solutions.
[On Elliot Anderson] He impressed me a lot; he played with a very natural rhythm and self-confidence. He understood very quickly what we wanted, so why not keep him in the team?
Most of you will remember Serbia’s coach, Dragan Stojkovic, as a player. For those who don’t, here’s a sensual little treat from Italia 90.
White House press secretary denies that president wrote Epstein a card that included the outline of a woman’s body for the sex trafficker’s 50th birthday
As Oliver notes, much of the book seems to be a collection of flattering and celebratory letters – often highly sexualised – from people who knew Epstein. They include photos of him embracing women in bikinis whose faces were redacted, and others showing scenes featuring wild animals having sex.
Bill Clinton, who had left the US presidency a couple years before the publication of the book, is listed in the “friends” section.
Peter Mandelson, the current UK ambassador to the United States, called Epstein his “best pal”. There are also photographs in the book which show Mandelson in shorts gazing from a balcony and in a white dressing gown laughing with Epstein.
One of the most striking images in the collection is a drawing of Epstein handing young girls balloons and a lollipop in 1983, alongside another drawing of him 20 years later, receiving a massage from topless women in 2003.
Jair Bolsonaro led a criminal organisation that sought to plunge Brazil back into dictatorship with a murderous power grab involving special forces assassins and a vast disinformation campaign, the supreme court judge presiding over the former president’s trial has claimed as he voted for Bolsonaro’s conviction.
Alexandre de Moraes was the first supreme court justice of five to announce his decision on Tuesday, as the trial of Bolsonaro and seven alleged co-conspirators – including four senior members of the military and the former head of Brazil’s answer to MI6 – entered its final stretch.
Toronto film festival: the Oscar winner is adrift in Alice Winocour’s uninvolving film about three thinly written women involved in a Paris fashion week show
The otherworldly beauty and consuming, tattoo-strewn look of Angelina Jolie hasn’t always allowed for a great deal of versatility as an actor, a difficult face to seamlessly slot into most stories. The star hasn’t seemed to be all that interested in acting for a while anyway (since 2012, she has physically appeared on screen just seven times) and has preferred to spend time behind the camera and focusing on both her family and her philanthropic pursuits. Her films as a director have been of both genuinely noble intention and minimal cinematic value (her last effort, Without Blood, premiered at last year’s Toronto film festival but still doesn’t have US distribution) and as she enters her 50s, it seems like she’s rediscovered her passion for acting again.
The catastrophic box office for her ill-advised entry into the Marvel universe – Chloé Zhao’s fantastically boring Eternals – has at least freed her from the hell of superhero sequels, and while last year’s Maria Callas biopic didn’t secure her the Oscar nomination it was clearly designed to, it gently pushed the star further out of the shadows, and she’s since been lining up projects with more speed than we’re used to seeing. It’s a shame she’s not picking better though – her latest effort, Couture, premiering here in Toronto and failing to work on any of the levels it is limply trying to, is a film about high fashion that’s as thin and disposable as something bought on the high street.
Game on Sunday to be played at Johan Cruyff Stadium
Club’s last match at old Camp Nou was in May 2023
Barcelona have announced that their opening home game of the season against Valencia will not be played at the Camp Nou – five days before it was due to take place.
The club had been given permission to play their first three fixtures away from home in order to complete the first phase of construction work at their stadium, and that was followed by the international break. But they were still unable to fulfil the requirements needed to get the permits in time, leaving a public deadline unmet for the third time having originally set an opening date of November 2024.
Israel has launched a strike on Hamas officials meeting in Qatar’s capital, Doha, reportedly including the group’s chief ceasefire negotiator, in an attack the White House said “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”.
Hamas said six people had been killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya. It said its top leadership, including the negotiations team, had survived.
Judge says sufficient evidence of intent wasn’t given against those who signed files claiming Trump won 2020 election
A judge in Michigan dismissed the felony charges against a slate of electors who falsely signed on to documents claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 election in the latest blow to efforts to hold the president and his allies accountable for attempting to overturn the results of the White House race he lost to Joe Biden.
Sixteen people were initially charged with eight felonies each related to forgery and conspiracy by the Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, in 2023, though one of them had his charges dropped after he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. The fake electors in Michigan will not go to trial.
Raids by rival hives aren’t rare after a dry, hot summer, but Christine McDonald was surprised to find her store besieged
A Canadian beekeeper has described fending off thousands of “robber bees” as they raided her shop in a brazen attempt to steal honey.
Christine McDonald, who owns Rushing River Apiaries in the British Columbia city of Terrace, said she entered her shop to find it overrun by the swarm.
A shift to prevention will only succeed if ministers take a bold approach to regulation and lift people out of poverty
Dramatic increases in life expectancy are one of the defining achievements of the modern era. From 56 years for men and 60 for women in the UK a century ago, this vital measure of the quantity of life rose to 79 and 83 respectively in 2022. The trend towards increased longevity is global, although not all countries have seen gains on the same scale, and the pandemic sent it into temporary reverse.
We probably don’t talk about this enough. It is remarkable that most of us can expect to live for so long and that deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis, and of women in childbirth, have been so drastically reduced.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Connexion
