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Trump again calls for prosecution of Mary Peltola as turmoil grows over Alaska campaign investigation – as it happened

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With days until the midterm elections, a new poll from CNN places Democrats well in the lead in key Senate races in Texas and Michigan, while projecting tighter contests in Kansas and Maine.

In Texas, the poll found 49% of likely voters would back James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, over Republican Ken Paxton, who netted just 43%.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

Obama mocks Trump’s response to Cheesecake Factory jibe. ‘They mobilized a whole of government response to that joke!’ – as it happened

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For months, Mary Peltola’s campaign for Alaska’s Senate seat has denied any connection to a separate campaign launched by a man who, coincidentally, shares the exact same name as Peltola’s Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan.

New reporting from the New York Times undercuts that claim. The outlet reported, based on interviews, obtained text messages and legal filings, that the Peltola campaign had not only recruited Mr Sullivan (not the Republican), but had sought out a number of Dan Sullivans across the state for potential candidacy, as well as others who could peel votes away from Peltola’s main opponent.

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© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

Death toll rises to 68 with dozens injured after high-speed train collision in Spain – as it happened

Pedro Sánchez says the government will act with urgency to ‘clarify what has happened, why this tragedy occurred’

At least 30 people are believed to have died after two high-speed trains collided in the province of Toledo in Spain, with concerns the death toll could be much higher.

The number of people affected is expected to rise (10:46), local authorities said, with growing concerns about a “major tragedy” (11:03).

The affected trains are understood to be Iryo 7076 with 146 passengers plus one baby on board, and AVE 2080 with 397 passengers on board, making it 544 people in total on board of both train (11:00).

The incident comes less than a year after a similar crash in Adamuz, the province of Córdoba, which killed 46 and injured 152 in January this year (11:00).

Spain’s high-speed railway network ranks as the largest in Europe and the second biggest in the world after China, carrying 25 million passengers in 2024.

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the accident (11:05), with transport minister Óscar Puente working at the emergency control centre to “obtain all possible information about what happened” (11:16).

Updated at 10:50am UK to reflect the new death toll

“In the [emergency] control center since 9:40 trying to obtain all possible information about what happened.”

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© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

Death toll rises to 68 with dozens injured after high-speed train collision in Spain – as it happened

Pedro Sánchez says the government will act with urgency to ‘clarify what has happened, why this tragedy occurred’

At least 30 people are believed to have died after two high-speed trains collided in the province of Toledo in Spain, with concerns the death toll could be much higher.

The number of people affected is expected to rise (10:46), local authorities said, with growing concerns about a “major tragedy” (11:03).

The affected trains are understood to be Iryo 7076 with 146 passengers plus one baby on board, and AVE 2080 with 397 passengers on board, making it 544 people in total on board of both train (11:00).

The incident comes less than a year after a similar crash in Adamuz, the province of Córdoba, which killed 46 and injured 152 in January this year (11:00).

Spain’s high-speed railway network ranks as the largest in Europe and the second biggest in the world after China, carrying 25 million passengers in 2024.

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the accident (11:05), with transport minister Óscar Puente working at the emergency control centre to “obtain all possible information about what happened” (11:16).

Updated at 10:50am UK to reflect the new death toll

“In the [emergency] control center since 9:40 trying to obtain all possible information about what happened.”

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

© Photograph: Ismael Herrero/EPA

Netanyahu bloc loses majority as most ballots counted – as it happened

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One apparent loser from Tuesday’s election was far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was expected to better his party’s result of six seats from the 2022 elections.

But instead there was stunned silence at the watch party for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) in central Israel as results from the exit polls flashed across the screen, with most channels suggesting the party would remain on just six seats.

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© Photograph: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Trump tells Texas campaign rally crowd he’s rolling back environmental rules to curb methane pollution – as it happened

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Speaking to reporters on the tarmac before departing for a campaign event in Michigan, JD Vance responded to a question about President Trump’s remarks branding Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as a “jihadist.”

Vance, who has sparred with the progressive El-Sayed repeatedly on the campaign trail, took a somewhat softer tone. But he didn’t walk away from Trump’s remarks.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Major Israeli TV networks revise polling projections – as it happened

This blog had now closed – our live Israel election results coverage continues here

Across Israel, voting is now under way. Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires:

Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad have flown in for the elections, according to Aid Coalition, a US-based nonprofit focused on strengthening Israel’s democracy. Israeli law generally requires citizens to vote in person in the country, with narrow exceptions for diplomats and certain official emissaries abroad.

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© Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters

© Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters

© Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters

Melania Trump has helped broker ceasefire in Russian-occupied Ukrainian town, says White House – as it happened

Residents in Oleshky have been enduring a worsening humanitarian crisis due to the lack of food, electricity and other resources

The French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has just issued a statement on a shooting in a town west of Paris this morning where one person was killed and four others injured.

Police said a gunman had opened fire in Trappes, in the Yvelines, and neighbouring La Verriere. The gunman was later arrested in nearby Coignieres.

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© Photograph: 34th Separate Marine Brigade "Borysfen"/Reuters

© Photograph: 34th Separate Marine Brigade "Borysfen"/Reuters

© Photograph: 34th Separate Marine Brigade "Borysfen"/Reuters

French authorities announce partial curfews as PM blames ‘ultra-left’ for exploiting protests – as it happened

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French PM Lecornu says he has asked prefects to implement “a number of partial curfews” in certain “localised” urban areas to stop further disorder, which he attributes to “the extreme-left” and some criminal elements.

We will no doubt hear more on this from local authorities, as in the example of Marseille (10:32).

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© Photograph: Guillaume Saligot/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Guillaume Saligot/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Guillaume Saligot/AFP/Getty Images

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