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Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen, and top executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed was identified by US spy agencies as an intelligence asset for China.

Ministry of Justice figures show recalls rose 27% in year to June despite emergency measures to ease overcrowdingMore people were recalled to jails in England and Wales in the first half of this year than were released, despite government efforts to reduce the prison population, according to figures released on Thursday.Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows that 12,338 people were recalled to custody between the beginning of April and the end of June, while 12,278 people were released. It continues a trend set between January and March, when 13,193 people were returned to prison and 12,977 released. Continue reading...

Canadian rock star Bryan Adams brutally mocked President Donald Trump in a new song he released just before the midterm elections, according to a new report. The Guardian reported that Adams wrote a new song titled "Lake Ontario," which takes a shot at Trump for his efforts to "rename" one of Canada's most famous bodies of water. The move further escalated the feud between the two countries and resulted in the U.S. and Canada placing additional tariffs on goods coming from either side. The lyrics make it clear that Trump's renaming efforts were an attempt to "deflect from the president’s other political problems, including the war in Iran and renewed scrutiny of the Jeffrey Epstein files," according to the report. "But things weren’t going his way in Iran/ So like a baby tossing the toys from the pram/ But it feels like another distraction/ while the Epstein files were getting traction," the lyrics read in part. Adams explained that the song came from a project he called a "love letter" to Canada. “After finishing the first song, I moved on to that one, and then moved on to another one, and then started thinking maybe I should just carry on with my theme,” Adams told The Guardian.

President speaks in Rock Hill, South Carolina; Alaska governor orders inquiry into Mary Peltola campaign amid Republican outcryAlaska governor orders investigation into Peltola’s Senate campaignSign up for the Breaking News US emailWith 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%. Continue reading...

Prime minister wrote to ministers saying he did not want them to ‘advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process’Selling nicotine-free vapes to children under the age of 18 has become illegal from today, the government has said.Children were already banned from buying vapes containing nicotine. But, under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, shops across the UK will now be banned from selling nicotine-free vapes, and nicotine pouches, to children.Vaping can be a way to help established adult smokers who are already addicted to nicotine from tobacco to swap to a less dangerous product. Vaping is considered safer than smoking, but that is a low bar. Vapes should therefore never be used by children or non-smokers.Some children have already come to harm from bad reactions to vapes. The long-term health harms of vaping in today’s children will only become clear over time. They are however unlikely to be good; inhaling multiple, often heated, chemicals into the lungs may well do irreversible harm. Continue reading...

Prime minister claims Arab Israeli parties used foreign backing to steal elections, in which his coalition lost its majorityBenjamin Netanyahu has been accused of using smear tactics to cling to power, after he claimed that Arab Israeli parties had used foreign backing to “steal” Tuesday’s election, in which the prime minister’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority.Netanyahu and his allies called on the internal security service, Shin Bet, to investigate alleged vote buying and other irregularities in Palestinian communities in Israel, supposedly funded by foreign money. Continue reading...

Court documents reveal staff considered ways to ‘get academic community to disavow’ influential US author Meta staff discussed deploying a “whisper strategy” to undermine the influential US academic whose work has inspired a global social media crackdown, according to court documents.Employees at the parent group of Facebook and Instagram sought to discredit Jonathan Haidt, the social psychologist and author of The Anxious Generation, a book that helped tip the debate about online safety towards more stringent measures such as the under-16 ban in Australia. Continue reading...

Photos shared across social media platforms show that authorities have begun removing or concealing Mbappe's promotional hoardings.