An explosion at a training facility on Friday morning claimed the lives of three Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officers. According to sheriff Robert Luna, this was the department’s biggest life loss since 1857. The issue is being looked into.
The government claims that it wants to modernize the UK democracy by lowering the voting age.
The electoral system in the United Kingdom is set to undergo a historic change.
The government has proposed a lower voting age, which will be 18 instead of 16. The move is said to modernize and advance British democracy.
However, some claim that this is more than just democratic reform.
What’s the real reason for this choice, then? Is it about political expediency or democrat renewal? Has lowering the voting age been successful elsewhere?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Afzal Khan, a UK Labour member, is a member of Parliament.
Analyst for European affairs, Yannis Koutsomitis
Three members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were killed in an explosion at one of its southern California training facilities, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Friday at the Biscailuz Training Facility in East Los Angeles, the explosion occurred shortly after 7:30 am local time (14:30 GMT).
There were three Department member fatalities, historically. The department posted a statement on social media stating that sheriff’s homicide detectives are on the scene.
The explosion was referred to as a “critical workplace incident” by the organization. Although the sheriff’s department reassured locals that the explosion had no immediate impact on the neighborhood, it had closed some roads.
Sheriff Robert Luna declined to name the three victims and held a press conference in the middle of the day close to the blast site. However, he did claim that one had served in the military for 19 years, another 22 for, and a third 33 for.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department has lost the most lives, according to the department’s director, sadly, since 1857. They had proudly served our community for 74 years, according to Luna, the third sworn member.
The three victims were reportedly members of a special enforcement agency that was in charge of bringing in explosives and arson, according to the sheriff.
Prior to the incident, US Attorney General Pam Bondi stated on social media that members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were stationed to investigate what occurred.
On social media, Bondi wrote, “I just spoke to]US Attorney Bill Essayli] about what appears to be a horrific incident that left at least three people dead. Please pray for the victims’ families, sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff Luna stated at his press conference that the explosion was unavoidable because the investigation was still in its infancy.
We are still unsure as to what caused the explosion, Luna said. This community is safe from harm. This is a singular incident.
Luna added that prioritizing releasing additional information to the public is notifying the victims’ families.
He claimed to have already met two of the three families. Those conversations, as you can imagine, were incredibly difficult.
The Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad also gave thanks for assisting in the bombing site’s security, according to the sheriff.
After this explosion occurred, they immediately intervened to make sure the devices were safe, he said. They were just rendered safe within the final moments, just before we left, so it was still a busy scene, just so you all know. It was undoubtedly very active, and it wasn’t stable.
He explained that investigators can only visit the site once there is no longer a risk of explosions.
He continued, “There is a lot more that we don’t know than what we do know.”
Luna, however, made adamantly upholding the special enforcement agency’s professionalism and hailed its staff as “the best of the best.”
The employees of our arsenal-explosives detail have years of training, Luna said.
At the 2025 Jumping European Championships in Spain, Great Britain took home a silver medal in the team competition.
Since finishing third in 2019, GB has the first time appearing on the podium at the annual event, which takes place every two years.
After Thursday’s first round, Ben Maher, Matthew Sampson, Donald Whitaker, and Scott Brash took the top spot, with Germany and Belgium holding the other podium spots.
However, Belgium only managed one fault in round two while GB and Germany both picked up four more.
Belgium, which won gold, came in third with an overall score of 5.61, followed by Germany, who came in third with 8.19, and Britain, who came in second with a score of 7.96. Ireland placed third overall, with 12.39 coming in fourth.
Belgium has won the championship in Rotterdam twice in the past, and this is their second consecutive victory.
International public opinion continues to turn against Israel for its war on Gaza, with more governments slowly beginning to reflect those voices and increase their own condemnation of the country.
In the last few weeks, Israeli government ministers have been sanctioned by several Western countries, with the United Kingdom, France and Canada issuing a joint statement condemning the “intolerable” level of “human suffering” in Gaza.
Earlier this week, a number of countries from the Global South, “The Hague Group”, collectively agreed on a number of measures that they say will “restrain Israel’s assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
Across the world, and in increasing numbers, the public, politicians and, following an Israeli strike on a Catholic church in Gaza, religious leaders are speaking out against Israel’s killings in Gaza.
So, are world powers getting any closer to putting enough pressure on Israel for it to stop?
Here’s what we know.
According to its website, the Hague Group is a global bloc of states committed to “coordinated legal and diplomatic measures” in defence of international law and solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Made up of eight nations; South Africa, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia and Senegal, the group has set itself the mission of upholding international law, and safeguarding the principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations, principally “the responsibility of all nations to uphold the inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, that it enshrines for all peoples”.
Earlier this week, the Hague Group hosted a meeting of some 30 nations, including China, Spain and Qatar, in the Colombian capital of Bogota. Also attending the meeting was UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who characterised the meeting as “the most significant political development in the past 20 months”.
Albanese was recently sanctioned by the United States for her criticism of its ally, Israel.
At the end of the two-day meeting, 12 of the countries in attendance agreed to six measures to limit Israel’s actions in Gaza. Included in those measures were blocks on supplying arms to Israel, a ban on ships transporting weapons and a review of public contracts for any possible links to companies benefiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
More and more.
On Wednesday, Slovenia barred far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory after the wider European Union failed to agree on measures to address charges of widespread human rights abuses against Israel.
Slovenia’s ban on the two government ministers builds upon earlier sanctions imposed upon Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in June by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and Norway over their “incitement to violence”. The two men have been among the most vocal Israeli ministers in rejecting any compromise in negotiations with Palestinians, and pushing for the Jewish settlement of Gaza, as well as the increased building of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In May, the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement describing Israel’s escalation of its campaign against Gaza as “wholly disproportionate” and promising “concrete actions” against Israel if it did not halt its offensive.
Later that month, the UK followed through on its warning, announcing sanctions on a handful of settler organisations and announcing a “pause” in free trade negotiations with Israel.
Also in May, Turkiye announced that it would block all trade with Israel until the humanitarian situation in Gaza was resolved.
South Africa first launched a case for genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice in late December 2023, and has since been supported by other countries, including Colombia, Chile, Spain, Ireland, and Turkiye.
In January of 2024, the ICJ issued its provisional ruling, finding what it termed a “plausible” case for genocide and instructing Israel to undertake emergency measures, including the provision of the aid that its government has effectively blocked since March of this year.
Israel’s bombing on Thursday of the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, killing three people, drew a rare rebuke from Israel’s most stalwart ally, the United States.
Following what was reported to be an “angry” phone call from US President Trump after the bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement expressing its “deep regret” over the attack.
To date, Israel has killed more than 58,000 people in Gaza, the majority women and children.
Mass public protests against Israel’s war on Gaza have continued around the world throughout its duration.
And there are clear signs of growing anger over the brutality of the war and the toll it is taking on Palestinians in Gaza.
In Western Europe, a survey carried out by the polling company YouGov in June found that net favourability towards Israel had reached its lowest ebb since tracking began.
A similar poll produced by CNN this week found similar results among the American public, with only 23 percent of respondents agreeing Israel’s actions in Gaza were fully justified, down from 50 percent in October 2023.
Public anger has also found voice at high-profile public events, including music festivals such as Germany’s Fusion Festival, Poland’s Open’er Festival and the UK’s Glastonbury festival, where both artists and their supporters used their platforms to denounce the war on Gaza.
Protests against the war remain small but are growing, with organisations, such as Standing Together, bringing together Israeli and Palestinian activists to protest the war.
There has also been a growing number of reservists refusing to show up for duty. In April, the Israeli magazine +972 reported that more than 100,000 reservists had refused to show up for duty, with open letters from within the military protesting the war growing in number since.
Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition has been pursuing its war on Gaza despite its domestic and international unpopularity for some time.
The government’s most recent proposal, that all of Gaza’s population be confined into what it calls a “humanitarian city”, but has been likened to a concentration camp and has been taken by many of its critics as evidence that it no longer cares about either international law or global opinion.
Internationally, despite its recent criticism of Israel for its bombing of Gaza’s one Catholic church, US support for Israel remains resolute. For many in Israel, the continued support of the US, and President Donald Trump in particular, remains the one diplomatic absolute they can rely upon to weather whatever diplomatic storms their actions in Gaza may provoke.
In addition to that support, which includes diplomatic guarantees through the use of the US veto in the United Nations Security Council and military support via its extensive arsenal, is the US use of sanctions against Israel’s critics, such as the International Criminal Court, whose members were sanctioned in June after it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on war crimes charges.
In what could be their most expensive acquisition since the club’s purchase by co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021, Wrexham have signed Empoli defender Liberato Cacace.
The 24-year-old has a three-year contract with Wrexham and has a year left on his Empoli contract after being expelled from Serie A last year.
Sam Smith’s arrival at Wrexham in January broke the $1 million barrier for the first time in the previous season.
Cacace expressed his “absolutely delighted” at joining Wrexham.
He continued, “I want to be a part of what they are creating here by looking from the outside.” I was drawn in by the close-knit community they have here.
I had a fantastic phone conversation with the manager, and I immediately felt strongly about signing.
We are delighted to welcome Libby to Wrexham, according to boss Phil Parkinson, and look forward to integrating him into the squad when we return home.
Cacace, who has previously earned three promotions in a row, is Wrexham’s third summer signing.
As they begin their 43rd season in England’s second tier, Parkinson’s side has added Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward and former Plymouth Argyle forward Ryan Hardie.
Wrexham travel to New Zealand on Saturday (06:00 BST) to play Cacace’s first team, Wellington Phoenix, in a pre-season friendly.
Cacace, who was born in Wellington to an Italian-born mother and a mother of Italian descent in New Zealand, plays left-back primarily but can also play left-back.
Wrexham are now waiting for results of scans after an X-ray revealed no breaks, with the player expected to remain in a protective boot for the next two weeks before receiving further evaluation.
After he had surgery to remove his appendix, striker Jack Marriott’s return to the United States will be delayed until after he recovers from illness.
Smith, a fellow striker, has not yet featured on the tour because of an unnamed issue, though Andy Cannon (ACL) and Mo Faal (thigh) have both resumed training following sustained injuries on the trip that saw Wrexham beat Melbourne Victory.