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Trump administration says hostilities in Iran ‘terminated’ ahead of war powers deadline

US president faced a 60-day deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it

A US-Iran ceasefire that began in early April has “terminated” hostilities between the two sides for the purposes of an approaching congressional war powers deadline, a senior official of the Trump administration said on Thursday.

Donald Trump faced a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date was most likely to pass without altering the course of the war.

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

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Air France-KLM cuts capacity growth forecast amid expected $2.4bn fuel bill rise

Move comes as airline industry reacts to uncertainty over Iran war and increase in price of Brent crude

Air France-KLM has cut its capacity growth forecasts for this year as the Iran war drives up its fuel costs by billions of dollars.

The French-Dutch airline expects its fuel bill to increase by $2.4bn (£1.8bn) this year as a result of the surge in costs since the Middle East conflict began. In response, it has trimmed its expectations for capacity growth to between 2% and 4% this year, down from 3% to 5% previously.

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© Photograph: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

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US father and daughter admit selling fake Picasso and Banksy works, duping art world

Pair apologise in court after being accused of defrauding buyers including some of New York’s most prominent fine art auction houses

A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings of works by prominent artists such as Andy Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso.

Federal prosecutors said Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 of the fakes and ultimately defrauded buyers of at least $2m.

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© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

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Brown University shooting suspect driven by ‘accumulation of grievances’, FBI says

Claudio Neves Valente, who killed himself after deadly attack, began planning for violence in 2022, authorities say

The gunman behind a deadly shooting at Brown University in December appeared to have been aggrieved by personal failures and sought retribution against those he deemed responsible, federal authorities said on Wednesday.

More than four months after Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire on the Ivy League campus, killing two students and injuring nine others, officials with the FBI’s Boston division announced they had concluded a significant portion of their investigation into the shooter.

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© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

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Kim praises North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up to evade Ukraine capture

Leader mentions for first time lengths to which troops go to avoid falling into enemy hands while fighting for Russia

Kim Jong-un has praised North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up with grenades in order to avoid capture while fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia’s western Kursk region, confirming the existence of the extreme battlefield policy.

Mounting evidence, including from intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors, has indicated North Korean soldiers are explicitly told to resort to self-detonation or other forms of suicide to avoid falling into enemy hands.

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© Photograph: KCNA/EPA

© Photograph: KCNA/EPA

© Photograph: KCNA/EPA

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Austrian man pleads guilty to plotting attack on Taylor Swift concert in Vienna

Defendant, 21, in court with second man over alleged scheme to kill music fans outside Vienna stadium

A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty in an Austrian court over a jihadist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago, which led to shows by the US megastar in the country being scrapped.

The plan to kill onlookers massing outside the venue was thwarted at the 11th hour but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three scheduled performances in August 2024.

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© Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

© Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

© Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

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Mexican special forces arrest top commander of cartel and his alleged money launderer

Arrests of Audias Flores and César Alejandro ‘N’ lead to gunmen blocking roads, as US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa after earlier arrest

The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads in the western state of Nayarit.

Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero”, is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.

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© Photograph: Mexican Secretariat of National Defense/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mexican Secretariat of National Defense/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mexican Secretariat of National Defense/AFP/Getty Images

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Bomb blast on Colombia highway leaves 21 dead amid pre-election violence

Cocaine-trafficking rebels blamed for worst attack on civilians in decades, which also left 56 people injured

The death toll in a Colombian highway bombing blamed on cocaine-trafficking rebels has risen to 21, the government said on Monday, in the country’s worst attack on civilians in decades and just ahead of elections.

The attack on Saturday left 56 injured and buses and vans mangled on the Pan-American Highway, in the restive south-western Cauca department.

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© Photograph: Ernesto Guzman/EPA

© Photograph: Ernesto Guzman/EPA

© Photograph: Ernesto Guzman/EPA

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Michael moonwalks to $217m opening weekend, shattering box office records for a biopic

Michael Jackson biopic has shrugged off controversy, bad reviews and a troubled production to take $217m worldwide, including $97m in North America

Michael, the big-budget Michael Jackson biopic, has shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with a $97m opening in North American theaters, contributing to its enormous $217m (£160m, A$303m) worldwide box office and shattering the record for the biggest biopic opening of all time.

The film, a highly authorised portrayal of the “king of pop” that was co-produced by the Jackson estate and stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, took $120.4m internationally and $97m domestic – combining to surpass Oppenheimer’s $180.4m worldwide opening weekend in 2023 and Bohemian Rhapsody’s $124m in 2018.

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© Photograph: Glen Wilson/AP

© Photograph: Glen Wilson/AP

© Photograph: Glen Wilson/AP

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Lebanon health ministry says Israeli strikes kill 14 in deadliest day since ceasefire began

The Israeli government and Hezbollah have traded blame over breaches to the truce, which is set to run for several more weeks

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed 14 people on Sunday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force over a week ago.

The health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israel said one of its soldiers was also killed.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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Mississippi school kids stop school bus on highway after driver passes out

Students aged 12 to 15 steered bus to safety and called for help after driver lost consciousness from asthma attack

Middle school students in Mississippi acted quickly to halt their school bus from crashing after their driver passed out while on a highway, prompting the operator to declare: “They saved my life.”

The bus in question had just left the Hancock middle school in the Mississippi community of Kiln on Wednesday when the driver, Leah Taylor, suffered an asthma attack and lost consciousness.

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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

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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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