US Senate confirms Kash Patel as next FBI director Hugo Lowell The US Senate has confirmed Kash Patel as the next FBI director, handing oversight of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency to an official who has declined to explicitly say whether he would use his position to pursue Donald Trump’s political opponents. Patel was…

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will lay off roughly 7,000 workers in Washington and around the country beginning on Thursday, a person familiar with the plans told the Associated Press. The layoffs affect probationary employees with roughly one year or less of service at the agency and largely include workers in compliance departments, according…

The number of norovirus patients in hospital in England has reached an all-time high, figures have revealed, with experts saying a return to pre-pandemic behaviours could be fuelling the situation. Norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, is highly contagious. While most people get better at home in a couple of days, it can…

European countries are extracting renewable energy from Morocco and Egypt to “greenwash” their own economies, while leaving north Africans reliant on dirty imported fuels and paying the environmental costs, a Greenpeace report says. Both Morocco and Egypt are aiming to leverage their strategic locations south of the Mediterranean, and their solar and wind power potential,…

Thousands of public service jobs in Victoria are to be slashed after a review ordered by the state’s new treasurer, who has warned “difficult decisions” need to be made to bring the budget under control. Jaclyn Symes and the premier, Jacinta Allan, on Thursday announced an independent review into the Victorian public service (VPS), to…

Two men charged with allegedly starting a fire at a Sydney synagogue have been charged in connection with a separate alleged antisemitic attack at the former home of prominent Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin. A Dover Heights home once owned by Ryvchin – the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry – was splashed…

The NHS in England is facing a “ticking timebomb” when it comes to retaining young staff, nursing leaders have warned, after new analysis showed its generation Z workers are becoming more stressed and unhappy over time. A new report by the Nuffield Trust shows soaring dissatisfaction rates among staff in the health service’s youngest cohort,…

It was when British archaeologist Dr Piers Litherland saw that the ceiling of the burial chamber was painted blue with yellow stars that he realised he had just discovered the first tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh to be found in more than a century. Litherland had been exploring the Valley of the Kings in Egypt…

The United States is unprepared for the burdens placed on its air travel system when the country hosts the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to a report released on Wednesday. The US Travel Association, a non-profit that represents the travel industry, commissioned a report written by former government officials and industry…

Two 500-plus pound black bears have laid claim to homes evacuated during the destructive Eaton fire in southern California. Last month, when Samy Arbid returned to his Altadena home, he found “Barry” – a 525lb black bear – living under the house. This week, another Californian reported a different unexpected visitor living in his house’s…