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The US state of Alaska’s largest city and two other state locations reached record high temperatures on Independence Day. The National Weather Service says Anchorage on Thursday afternoon reached 90F (32.22C). Meteorologist Bob Clay says the previous record for Anchorage was 85F (29.44C) on June 14 1969. Kenai and King Salmon also reached new high temperatures of 89F (31.67C). https://twitter.com/AlaskaWx/status/1146984891386494976 Palmer matched its record high at 88F. Mr Clay said a high pressure ridge over much of south-central Alaska is...

Migrants on a rescue boat that docked in the Italian island of Lampedusa against an explicit ban have disembarked after the vessel was impounded. Humanitarian group Mediterranea Saving Humans said in a tweet that over 40 migrants on board were “finally allowed to disembark to receive assistance”. It confirmed that the vessel has been seized by police and its captain put under investigation for aiding illegal immigration. Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has barred all private rescue ships from entering...

Five people have been hospitalised after the opening bull run of this year’s San Fermin festival in Pamplona, including two Americans and a Spaniard who were gored by bulls. Officials in the northern Spanish city said a 46-year-old man from San Francisco, California, had been gored in the neck in the city’s bullring, at the end of the 850-metre course. He was undergoing surgery, the regional government reported. A 23-year-old man from Florence, Kentucky, and a 40-year-old Spanish man were...

The mother of murdered Helen McCourt said she is “elated” laws are to finally change so killers are denied parole if they refuse to reveal where they hid their victim’s body. Marie McCourt has begged murderer Ian Simms to tell her the whereabouts of her daughter’s remains ever since the insurance clerk vanished on her way home from work in 1988. But the pub landlord, who was convicted by a jury on overwhelming DNA evidence of the 22-year-old’s abduction and...

One of the UK’s most senior female Asian police officers has accused the Metropolitan Police of discrimination. Temporary Chief Superintendent Parm Sandhu has reportedly brought an employment tribunal claim against the force alleging she was denied promotion and work opportunities on the basis of her race and gender. Scotland Yard said a claim had been made and that it would be “inappropriate” to comment further. The move comes after Ms Sandhu faced an investigation into allegations that she breached rules...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby son will be christened with all the trappings of a royal baptism, as speculation grows about who the couple have chosen as godparents. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will christen Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in front of family and close friends of Harry and Meghan, in the private chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday. But the event has been criticised for being held without the press or public seeing any elements of the...

“The cages they are kept in are metal cells. They are kept cold, there is not enough food or water, and they are crowded. There are open toilets and the lights are kept on 24/7”

A far-right extremist who was engulfed in a ball of flames when he set fire to an historic synagogue on a day commemorating the Holocaust has been locked up in hospital indefinitely.

Tommy Robinson faces jail after being found in contempt of court by High Court judges for filming defendants in a criminal trial and broadcasting the footage on social media. Two senior judges found the former English Defence League (EDL) leader was in contempt when he filmed defendants accused of the sexual exploitation of young girls and live-streaming the footage, in breach of a reporting ban, outside Leeds Crown Court in May 2018. Robinson denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not...