Watch live as the original Hermès Birkin bag, designed for singer Jane Birkin, is auctioned at Sotheby's Paris "Fashion Icons" sale during Haute Couture Week on Thursday, 10 July.

Now one of the most coveted designer items of recent decades, the Birkin's origins stem from a flight from Paris to London.

While travelling, the British actor, who was sitting next to the French luxury fashion house's executive chairman Jean-Louis Dumas, complained that she couldn't find a bag suitable for her needs as a young mother.

Dumas sketched a rectangular holdall with a burnished flap and saddle stitching with a dedicated space for her baby’s bottles.

He then had an example made for her, and Birkin agreed when Hermès asked whether the brand could commercialise the bag in her name.

The auction house said that the all-black leather prototype of the "legendary handbag" was handcrafted for Birkin.

The commercialised version is now one of the world's most exclusive bags, with an extravagant price tag and years-long waiting list.

It is expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of euros at the sale.

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President Donald Trump asked the President of Liberia, where English is the official language, where he learned to speak it “so beautifully” during a lunch with African leaders at the White House on Wednesday.

President Joseph Boakai laughed at the question but didn’t say that English is the official language of his country, which was founded by formerly enslaved and freeborn African Americans.

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A June heatwave may have caused the deaths of 263 people in London, according to a new study by scientists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

The researchers analysed excess deaths between 23 June and 2 July, concluding that climate change made the capital nearly 4°C hotter than it would have been.

Around two-thirds of the deaths were directly linked to this rise, effectively tripling the toll. With a third heatwave now on the way, experts are warning that the UK’s homes, schools, and hospitals remain dangerously unprepared for this new climate reality.

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The search for missing people entered its seventh day on Thursday after catastrophic flash floods swept through Central Texas last week.

At least 120 people, including 36 children, have been killed following torrential downpours that began Thursday after the Guadalupe River burst from its banks on Friday, rising by 20 feet in roughly 95 minutes. A further 173 remained missing, with officials fearing the death toll could soar.

Twenty-seven young girls and staff members were killed at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp situated on the bank of the Guadalupe River.

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Watch as Donald Trump asks the President of Liberia, where English is the official language, where he learned to speak the language.

During a meeting with the leaders of several African nations at the White House on Wednesday (9 July), the US president complimented Joseph Boakai on his English after he praised Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policy.

“Well, thank you,” Trump said. “And such good English, that’s beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

“Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia? Well, that’s very interesting. It’s beautiful English,” he added. “I have people at this table who can't speak nearly as well.”

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German backpacker Carolina Wilga has been reported missing after she was last seen on CCTV at a Perth service station. Authorities are appealing for public assistance as concerns grow for her safety.

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Moo Deng, the pygmy hippopotamus who became a viral sensation thanks to her rosy cheeks and chaotic charm, turned one on 10 July, with the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand hosting a four-day festival to mark the occasion.

The celebrations began on Asalha Puja, a Thai public holiday, and will run until 13 July at the zoo’s hippo enclosure in Chonburi province, about two hours from Bangkok. Moo Deng was given a massive tropical fruit platter as throngs of adoring fans turned up for her four-day party.

Highlights include a birthday cake funded by a skincare beautician for 100,000 baht (approx £2,100), mascot parades, and a photo exhibition titled Moo Deng in Every Moment, chronicling her journey from a 5kg newborn to a 93kg toddler, reported the Nation.

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