If yet another sign was needed to highlight Welsh rugby's fall from grace, Jac Morgan's omission from the British and Irish Lions team for Saturday's first Test against Australia rubs salt into an already hurtful wound.

The Wales captain and Ospreys open-side flanker could not have done much more to press his case with strong performances so far on tour.

But amid arguably the most competitive area coach Andy Farrell has at his disposal, Morgan's loss represents a deeper blow to Wales' rugby psyche and heritage.

He began the tour as one of only two Welshmen on the trip and, with scrum-half Tomos Williams an early injury victim, Morgan will now watch from the stands in Brisbane.

Tom Curry has been handed the Lions seven shirt, with two more Englishmen - Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl - providing potential breakaway cover on the bench.

In all, in the Lions' matchday 23 there are 11 from Ireland, nine from England, three from Scotland, and none from Wales for a squad against Australia, New Zealand or South Africa for the first time since 1896 - an extraordinary and damning statistic.

Syria leader vows to protect Druze after sectarian violence prompts Israeli strikes

More than 350 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

Syrian state media reported that the military was withdrawing from Suweida under a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders. But it is not clear whether that will hold.

In his first televised statement since Israel's air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also warned that Syrians were not afraid of war.

Syria's interim president has said it is his "priority" to protect the country's Druze citizens, after Israel vowed to destroy government forces it accused of attacking members of the religious minority in Suweida province.

However, the fighting escalated and government forces were accused by residents and activists of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

The government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

Who are the Druze and why is Israel attacking Syria?

The Druze religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs. In addition to Syria, there are sizeable communities of Druze in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

Syrian Druze and other minorities have remained suspicious of Sharaa since he took power because of his jihadist past. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN.

Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence, including one in May between Druze militias, security forces and allied Islamist fighters that also prompted to Israel intervene militarily.

In his speech early on Thursday, Sharaa stressed that the Druze were "a fundamental part of the fabric of this nation", and that he rejected any attempt for them to be dragged into the hands of what he called "an external party".

The president said government forces deployed to Suweida had "succeeded in restoring stability and expelling outlawed factions despite the Israeli interventions", which he said caused a "significant complication of the situation" and "a large-scale escalation".

"We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction," he said.

Responsibility for security in Suweida would now be handed to religious elders and some local factions "based on the supreme national interest", he added.

Sharaa ended the speech by promising that the government was "keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people".

On Wednesday, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the country's own Druze citizens on that Israeli forces were "acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime".

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck the Syrian military's headquarters in Damascus and a military site near the presidential palace, as well as armoured vehicles on their way to Suweida, and firing posts and weapons storage facilities in southern Syria.

"We are acting decisively to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, and to prevent the harming of Druze civilians," the military's chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to the Golan Heights.

"We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold," he warned.

The general also said there was "no room for disorder near the border fence", after hundreds of Druze crossed the heavily fortified frontier with Syria on Wednesday.

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said it was speaking to all of the parties involved and had "agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end".

"This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do," he added, without giving any details.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says more than 350 people have been killed since Sunday.

They include 79 Druze fighters and 55 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and defence ministry forces, according to the group.

At least 189 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been killed in the clashes, it says.

It was not immediately possible to verify the SOHR's casualty figures, but Syrian security sources also said Wednesday that the death toll was close to 300.

UK jobs market weakens as unemployment rate rises

Just now Share Save Mitchell Labiak Business reporter, BBC News Share Save

Getty Images

The UK jobs market has weakened as wage growth slows and the unemployment rate rises, official statistics show. The annual rate of pay growth in the three months between March and May slowed to 5%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.7%, its highest in four years, though the ONS has said the figure needs to be treated with caution due to problems with how the data is collected. Economists say a weaker labour market makes it more likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates in an attempt to boost the economy at its meeting next month.

Earlier this week, in an interview with the Times, the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey indicated there could be larger cuts to interest rates if the jobs market showed signs of slowing down. Most economists are predicting a cut - though some say it would be unwise to encourage spending while inflation is still rising. Meanwhile, the ONS said the number of vacancies fell again to 727,000 for the April to June period, marking three continuous years of falling job openings.

It added that survey data suggested that some firms may not be recruiting new workers or replacing ones who have left. The number of job vacancies is now at its lowest in 10 years, excluding the plunge seen during the pandemic when lockdowns stopped firms from hiring. Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said the "slowing pay growth opens the door for an interest rate cut in August". "The impact of April's tax and administrative changes has led to a marked slowdown in hiring activity among firms," she added. "With domestic activity remaining sluggish, the MPC will likely want to provide support via looser policy to prevent a more significant deterioration in the labour market."

'We're managing by the skin of our teeth'

Andrew Teebay Peter Kinsella says he is more cautious about hiring staff for his restaurant

Trump's Epstein strategy could pit him against loyal supporters

11 hours ago Share Save Anthony Zurcher • @awzurcher North America correspondent Share Save

Watch: Trump calls out "stupid Republicans" in Jeffrey Epstein files saga

As Donald Trump continues to be dogged by questions about his administration's handling of possible files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he is relying on a tried and true strategy. The problem for the president, however, is that his plan of attack may inadvertently pit him against some of his most loyal supporters. In a lengthy Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, Trump began in a familiar way – by blaming the Epstein controversy on "radical left Democrats". This episode, he said, is just the latest in a long line of "hoaxes" fabricated by his political opponents to bring him down. "These Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at," he wrote. "They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates." In the past, Trump has used this kind of us-against-them rhetoric to rally his supporters to his side – casting himself as the embattled champion of the outsiders and disaffected who faces off against the privileged and the wealthy. The potential flaw in the president's strategy this time became apparent halfway through his post, however, as he turned to blame his own party and his own supporters for falling for what he said was a leftist scheme. "My PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker," he wrote. "They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will."

Watch: Trump says Pam Bondi should release 'credible' Epstein files

During remarks later in the Oval Office, Trump continued to blame his own side, saying that "some stupid Republicans, some foolish Republicans, have fallen into the net". The president is drawing battle lines on the Epstein issue that divides his own side. It also risks cutting through the foundations on which his political strength is built. Trump's success has been powered by two central messages to his supporters – that he's an outsider who fights against a corrupt establishment and that he tells it like it is. At a time when many voters say they are tired of polished politicians with shifting views, Trump's base sees him as authentic – unvarnished and controversial, yes, but honest. Trump, never one to shy away from wild conspiracy theories or those who embrace them, now finds himself arguing that there is no "credible" evidence implicating the rich and powerful in the Epstein case and that those believing otherwise are suckers or fools. His shifting comments – that the Epstein files should be released, that there are no files, that any possible files are hoaxes – also make him seem less like a straight-shooter and more like a man with something to hide. He's left with the problem of trying to prove a negative. And for the moment, some of his supporters aren't buying it.

In an interview with Politico, conservative firebrand Laura Loomer warned that if Trump did not change course, the Epstein story could "consume" his presidency. Her advice to appoint an independent investigator to handle the case is one Trump would be loath to follow, given how he has railed against past special counsels. But the success of his strategy to blame political opponents may only work if Democrats take the bait. Dan Pfeiffier, who worked as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, recently wrote they can avoid this trap by amplifying divisions in Trump's "Make America Great Again" ranks. "If the issue becomes too associated with a Democratic effort to hurt Trump, it will polarise the issue along party lines and push the dissatisfied Maga voters back into Trump's camp," he wrote in his most recent newsletter. For the moment, calls for the government to share more information about Epstein is a rare source of consensus among the American public. A YouGov poll indicated that 79% of Americans want the government to release "all documents it has". That included 75% of Republican respondents and 85% of Democrats. An internal Democratic poll obtained by Politico found 58% of respondents believed Trump "maybe was or definitely was" involved in a cover-up. If the polls are decidedly tilted against Trump, Republican officeholders – the men and women who owe their professional livelihoods to staying in the president's good graces – mostly continue to stick by his side. Congressional Republicans are backing the president's legislative agenda despite their narrow majorities in key votes this week. And while some have called for more transparency, conservatives in the House of Representatives have repeatedly squelched Democratic attempts to mandate the release of all remaining Epstein files. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who oversaw those efforts, walked back earlier comments calling for more Epstein files to be disclosed, saying that he was misquoted and that he only wanted the public to see "credible" information – the same language Trump has used. For the moment, the Epstein story is a frustrating distraction for a president used to bending the news cycle, and national attention, to his will. With Republicans in control of Washington, the controversy will only consume his presidency if Trump's own allies allow it to. If the grumbling and disaffection in Trump's faithful persist, however, it could exact a high toll on the Republican party in next year's midterm congressional elections, when voter enthusiasm typically determines which party prevails. And if Democrats wrest control of one or both chambers of Congress - and gain their accompanying investigatory powers - the Epstein files, and Trump's connection to them, could go from a political sideshow to centre-ring spectacle.

Deadly fire rips through shopping centre in Iraq

"A tragedy and a calamity has befallen us," regional governor Mohammed al-Miyahi said, adding that legal action would be brought against the shopping centre's owner.

Medical officials quoted by news agency AFP said said 55 people died in the fire, with rescuers still looking for missing people.

The blaze at the mall, which had reportedly opened five days ago, broke out on Wednesday night and has since been brought under control.

A fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Iraqi city of Kut has left dozens dead and injured, state media has reported.

Videos on INA's news channel show flames ripping through several floors of a multi-storey building as firefighters try to douse them.

Other clips circulating on social media appear to show a small number of people on the roof during the fire, as well as the burned out insides of the centre.

A number of people were rescued from the building by firefighters, al-Miyahi told local media.

Ambulances were still taking casualties to hospitals in the city, which is about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, at 04:00 local time.

Firefighters are continuing to search for missing victims.

Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, told AFP he lost five family members in the blaze.

"A disaster has befallen us," he said. "We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.

"An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted and we couldn't escape it."

A medical source told the agency: "We have more than 50 martyrs, and many unidentified bodies".

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, with preliminary findings expected within two days, al-Miyahi said.

"The tragedy is a major shock," he said, adding that a "serious review of all safety measures" would take place.

The shopping had opened just five days ago, AFP reported.

It has been named as the Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the centre of Kut by local media.

Fire engulfs main stage of Tomorrowland festival days before opening

Fire engulfs main stage of Tomorrowland music festival

A fire has destroyed the main stage at Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, just two days before the event was set to open.

"Our beloved main stage has been severely damaged," festival organisers said on Wednesday evening.

The statement said nobody was injured during the blaze, the cause of which remains unclear.

The electronic dance music festival is due to start on Friday in the town of Boom, south of Antwerp, with 400,000 people expected to attend over two weekends.

The British and Irish Lions will field an all-Scottish fly-half and centre trio for the first time in history when they take on Australia in the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday.

Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones start for Andy Farrell's team, with Ireland and England making up the rest of the starting line-up and squad.

The Welsh hope, Jac Morgan, has failed to make the 23. This is the first time the Lions have named a squad against Australia, New Zealand or South Africa without a Welshman since 1896.

Ireland have eight starters and another three on the bench. England have four starters, with five more among the replacements.

Tom Curry has won a fiercely contested battle for the number seven jersey, getting the nod ahead of Morgan and Josh van der Flier.