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Roommate charged with murder in deaths of University of South Florida doctoral students

Hisham Abugharbieh was arrested after standoff with police and charged with killing Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy

The man who was detained after two Bangladeshi doctoral students went missing from the University of South Florida (USF) has been booked with two counts of murder.

Hisham Abugharbieh faces two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, the Hillsborough county sheriff’s office announced on Saturday.

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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

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High school senior identified as person killed in shooting at Lousiana mall

Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest according to the local coroner’s statement

A high school senior has been identified as the person killed in a mass shooting that also wounded five others when two groups exchanged gunfire inside the food court at a mall in Louisiana’s capital city on Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a statement issued Friday by the local coroner’s office.

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© Photograph: Office of the Louisiana Attorney General

© Photograph: Office of the Louisiana Attorney General

© Photograph: Office of the Louisiana Attorney General

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Pentagon says navy secretary is leaving, marking another top leader’s departure

Exit of John Phelan, navy’s top civilian official, comes a week after Pete Hegseth fired army’s top officer

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the navy’s top civilian official, John Phelan, the secretary of the navy, is leaving his job.

In a statement posted to social media, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately”.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

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Israeli strike kills journalist after ongoing attacks blocked rescuers, Lebanon says

Amal Khalil had been buried in rubble after an Israeli strike that also injured another journalist, Zeinab Faraj

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed a journalist on Wednesday after rescuers were blocked from accessing the building where she was buried under rubble because of further Israeli fire, according to several witnesses.

Amal Khalil was covering developments near the town of al-Tayri with the photographer Zeinab Faraj when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them.

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© Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

© Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

© Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

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‘The witches are back’: first look at Practical Magic 2 as Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return for spooky sequel

The Kissing Booth’s Joey King and Game Of Thrones’ Maisie Williams star alongside the original cast members as the next generation of the cursed Owens family

The midnight margaritas are officially back on the menu. Within 24 hours of its debut, the first official teaser for Practical Magic 2 has surged into the Google Trends top 10, attracting millions of views and signalling an enthusiastic appetite for the return of the Owens family and all things witchy.

Academy Award winners Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman will return as sisters Sally and Gillian, with Kidman sharing a video of her and her fellow star on set last year, captioned: “The witches are back”.

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© Photograph: Warner Bros./Allstar

© Photograph: Warner Bros./Allstar

© Photograph: Warner Bros./Allstar

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Trump announces reforms to accelerate access to psychedelic drug treatments

President signed executive order directing FDA to expedite review of psychedelic drugs including ibogaine

Donald Trump on Saturday announced reforms intended to speed up access to medical research and treatment based on psychedelic drugs.

The president signed an executive order directing the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of drugs such as ibogaine, which US military veteran groups have said can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

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Six great reads: Iran’s social media memes, an abandoned department store and a 1,200-year-old record of cherry blossoms

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days

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© Illustration: Twitter/X

© Illustration: Twitter/X

© Illustration: Twitter/X

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Fuel prices fall despite Geelong refinery blaze as Albanese says facility production has slipped by 40%

Prime minister says Corio refinery fire will not push Australia into stage 3 restrictions, despite reduced production of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel

Anthony Albanese says petrol production has fallen 40% at one of Australia’s two remaining oil refineries but the damage caused by fire at the Geelong facility will not lead to fuel restrictions.

Petrol prices have fallen below $2.10 a litre and diesel below $3 a litre in most cities, as a price spike predicted to follow the refinery shutdown failed to materialise on Friday.

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© Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

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Ukraine war briefing: €90bn EU loan for Ukraine to be released in second quarter

EU economy commissioner says Iran war is feeding Russia’s war machine; Trump condemns massive strikes on Ukraine. What we know on day 1,513

The EU expects to start releasing a new €90bn loan to Ukraine in the second quarter, the bloc’s economy chief told AFP on Thursday. The EU’s economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, was speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings, which brought finance ministers, central bankers and other leaders to Washington. “Our support for Ukraine, also continued pressure and sanctions against aggressor Russia was very much part of the agenda,” Dombrovskis said. He warned that Moscow was “emerging as a winner from this war in Iran, because it provides windfall profits to feed Russia’s war machine”.

Russia hammered civilian areas across Ukraine with drones and missiles on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 100 others in the worst aerial attack in weeks, Ukrainian authorities said. Nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles were used, as Ukrainian officials said vital stocks of advanced interceptors were running low.

Donald Trump on Thursday condemned a massive Russian drone and missile attack across Ukraine that ripped through apartment buildings in the capital, Kyiv. Asked by reporters at the White House for his reaction to the barrage, Trump said: “I think it’s terrible.”

It is not in the interest of the US that Russia is the winner of the Iran war, the German vice chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, said on Thursday in Washington. “It’s not in our interest and it cannot be in the interest of the United States,” he said in a joint statement with the finance ministers of Ukraine and Norway on the sidelines of the IMF spring meetings. Klingbeil said the Russian economy was growing thanks to the Middle East conflict and the country was profitting from the energy situation. As the conflict in the Middle East dominated the gathering of finance officials at the IMF in Washington, the ministers of Norway, Germany and Ukraine spoke about not forgetting to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia. “All the meetings here are about the question of what’s happening with the war in Iran, and I think it’s really important we show solidarity with our friends in Ukraine,” Klingbeil said.

The heads of the EU and Nato on Thursday discussed efforts to bolster Europe’s arms production, as Donald Trump threw doubt on Washington’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance. “We need to invest more, to produce more and to do both faster,” the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, posted online after meeting Nato’s chief, Mark Rutte. European nations are scrambling to bolster their militaries in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine and pressure from Trump.

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© Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

© Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

© Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

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US launches fifth strike on alleged Pacific drug boat in a week, killing three

Wednesday’s strike brings the total of those killed in US military strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 177

Three people were killed in a US strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fifth such deadly attack in as many days, military officials have announced.

US southern command said it conducted “a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the eastern Pacific, without naming the alleged group, in an X post.

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© Photograph: U.S. Southern Command X account

© Photograph: U.S. Southern Command X account

© Photograph: U.S. Southern Command X account

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About 250 missing after boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsizes in Andaman Sea

Trawler set off from Bangladesh and reportedly capsized due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding

About 250 people are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, according to the UN’s refugee and migration agencies.

The agencies said the trawler carrying more than 250 men, women and children reportedly sank due to harsh weather and overcrowding. It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia.

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© Photograph: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP

© Photograph: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP

© Photograph: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP

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