Penny Wong condemns ‘insulting’ decision to clear IDF over Gaza strikes that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom

Foreign minister says Australia is ‘outraged’ after Israeli government decided not to pursue criminal proceedings over 2024 triple drone strike on humanitarian convoy

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Australia’s foreign affairs minister has expressed “outrage” and will call in the Israeli ambassador over the IDF decision overnight not to open a criminal investigation into Gaza strikes that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.

In a statement released on Thursday, Penny Wong called the timing of the decision, on World Humanitarian Day, “especially insulting”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/20/australia-idf-reaction-gaza-strike-zomi-frankcom-penny-wong-statement-ntwnfb

Prince Harry and Meghan ‘moving back to Britain this month’

Reports say Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to relocate from US, with children to start British school in September

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US, it was reported.

The couple and their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to relocate later this month to a non-royal residence.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/19/prince-harry-and-meghan-moving-back-to-britain-this-month

Taxpayers to fund clear-up of illegal dumps in West Yorkshire, Surrey and Kent

Andy Burnham promises drive to tackle toxic waste, raise fines and use AI-powered drones to detect illegal activity

Illegal dumps in West Yorkshire, Surrey and Kent will be cleared up using taxpayer money, Andy Burnham has announced, as the prime minister promises a new drive to tackle toxic waste.

Ministers have identified dumps in Bradford, Runnymede and the Isle of Sheppey, which collectively contain about 22,000 tonnes of illegal waste, to be cleared in the next phase of the government’s national clear-up effort.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/19/taxpayers-to-fund-clear-up-of-dumps-in-west-yorkshire-surrey-and-kent

Mike Lindell offers to fund recount in Minnesota Republican primary for governor

MyPillow founder and Trump ally lost primary to Lisa Demuth by 11 points, but still refuses to concede defeat

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The pillow salesman, Trump supporter and election denier Mike Lindell has offered to personally fund a recount and audit of every paper ballot cast in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary, which he lost last week.

Lindell’s announcement on Wednesday escalates his bid to challenge the results of last week’s vote, after finishing a distant second to the Minnesota house speaker, Lisa Demuth.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/19/mike-lindell-recount-minnesota-primary

Second major fire at south London recycling centre in under three months

Fifteen fire engines tackling blaze at Landmann Way in Deptford involving 50 tonnes of household waste

Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters are tackling a blaze in a south-east London recycling plant for the second time this summer.

London fire brigade said the blaze on Landmann Way in Deptford involves about 50 tonnes of household waste stored at a recycling facility.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/18/second-major-fire-at-south-london-recycling-centre-in-under-three-months

Burnham launches ‘national drive’ to get rough sleepers off streets by Christmas

Prime minister urges local leaders to act as homelessness campaigners welcome move but say more needs to be done

• I won’t abandon anyone to sleep rough on our streets. That’s my £442m promise

Andy Burnham has urged local leaders to offer all rough sleepers in England a route off the streets by Christmas, as he pledges another £100m to end street homelessness.

Arguing in the Guardian that rough sleeping has become so common it now “feels like part of the scenery”, Burnham promised he would mount a Covid-style campaign to get everyone off the streets this winter.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/18/burnham-national-drive-rough-sleepers-christmas

Harvard to pay $53m over theft and sale of human remains from medical school

Cedric Lodge, 58, sentenced in December to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts in national scheme

Harvard University has agreed to pay a $53m settlement to resolve civil lawsuits stemming from the illegal theft and sale of human remains that had been donated to its medical school for scientific research.

A former Harvard medical school morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, 58, was sentenced in December last year to eight years in prison after he had pleaded guilty in May to stealing and selling human body parts in a nationwide scheme. Prosecutors said this had involved the theft and sale of organs, skin, brains and dissected heads from cadavers donated to Harvard from 2018 through at least March 2020.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/aug/18/harvard-human-remains-lawsuit