Chemical tank overheated in May and forced evacuation of 50,000 nearby residents due to danger of explosion

The FBI is searching a southern California aerospace facility where an overheated chemical tank forced 50,000 residents to evacuate last month, after federal authorities served a search warrant there on Wednesday.

Signed by a federal judge last week, the warrant approved the seizure of records related to the “storage, use or disposal” of methyl methacrylate, the chemical stored inside the tank that authorities feared could explode.

Fashion and sportswear group, which owns 26% of the German luxury brand, is now seeking full control

Mike Ashley’s retail group, Frasers, has launched a near-€2bn takeover offer for the German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss.

The fashion and sportswear group, which owns 26% of Hugo Boss, said it is offering to pay about €1.98bn (£1.73bn) for the remainder of the business to take full control.

• Artan deemed a threat to national security by US officials

• ‘I promise you that I will attend the next one’

The World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the US arrived on Wednesday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, where he was received by a crowd of supporters and officials.

Omar Artan was due to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making Fifa’s final list for the tournament. He is one of Africa’s top referees and was named the continent’s best male referee in 2025.

Emily C Marks finds method proposed to kill Jeffery Lee violates ban on cruel and unusual punishment

A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing a man with nitrogen gas after declaring the method violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Alabama became the first state in the nation to use the execution method in January 2024, but has faced repeated legal challenges to its use.

Emily C Marks, a US district judge, permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas. Lee was scheduled to be executed Thursday at an Alabama prison.