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The Reform UK leader is under pressure after senior aides appeared to plot how to bypass electoral laws on foreign donationsSagal Abdi-Wali arrived in Camden as a child refugee from Somalia. She has worked for more than a decade as a volunteer and trustee for local charities and is a governor of two schools in the borough, according to Labour.She was first elected as a councillor in 2022 and became the leader of the council in May, when she said: Camden has been my home for 35 years. It is the place that gave my family sanctuary, that welcomed us, and that has shaped so much of who I am, what I stand for and what inspired my commitment to public service and to working for the community that welcomed us." Continue reading...

Arrival marks the pair's first visit to Ukraine and comes day after substantive plans' were discussed in MoscowThe US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have arrived in Kyiv for a second day of talks on how to end the war in Ukraine.Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met Kushner and Witkoff in Sophia Square, in front of Kyiv's historic Saint Sophia Cathedral. Zelenskyy greeted Witkoff with a hug, saying: It's good to see you, Steve." Continue reading...

Robert Jenrick says party has followed legal protocol at all times' as Met police consider launching investigation

Polling stations open in Saxony-Anhalt with anti-immigration party AfD predicted to gain 41% vote sharePolls have opened in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the populist, far-right, anti-immigration Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) is predicted to emerge on top in an election that could have a groundbreaking effect on Germany's political landscape.About 1.7 million people are eligible to vote. Polling booths opened at 8am local time and will close at 6pm, when exit polls are expected to deliver an initial indication of whether the AfD has secured enough votes for an absolute majority, enabling it to govern the state. Continue reading...

Business secretary says masked anti-immigration protest was not something we would want' on British streetsA cabinet minister has condemned the blocking of Dover roads by dozens of masked and black-clad people on Saturday.Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said that although peaceful protest was an essential part of British life", this differed from dressing up in costumes like this and disrupting people's lives". Continue reading...

Reform UK's home affairs spokesperson has faced criticism within party after post about Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugeeLabour has accused Reform's Zia Yusuf of straightforward racism" after he suggested the party's frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection was not British.Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee from Somalia and the leader of Camden council, has been tipped as an early favourite to contest the London seat for Labour after the former prime minister's resignation. Continue reading...

Donald Trump's business ally and son-in-law now heading from Moscow to Kyiv to meet ZelenskyySteve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are heading to Kyiv for the first time in their roles as Donald Trump's peace envoys to Ukraine, after talks on Saturday in Moscow.The White House said Witkoff and Kushner had discussed substantive plans for next steps" towards ending the war between Ukraine and Russia during their meeting on Saturday in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. Continue reading...

Police say they believe argument took place before three people critically injured in Gippsland town of Tyers on Saturday

Report documents use of commercial licensing for free or donation-based exercise classes in parks and on beachesAt 6am on the beach at Westgate-on-Sea in Kent, Angela Brier-Stephenson used to meet a small group of about 10 people for yoga.The class lasted 45 minutes and participants paid what they could. Continue reading...

Passenger recalls seeing cabin lights flicker and a lot of screaming' after suspected engine issue

Country loses 200 tennis courts in three years, but they still outnumber padel facilities by a factor of 11 to oneEngland has lost almost 200 tennis courts in three years as padel facilities have grown nearly sixfold.Guardian analysis of Sport England data found that the country has lost 183 tennis courts since 2023 - the first such decline since at least 2000. The data includes local authority and community-owned courts, privately run health facilities, schools and sports clubs. Continue reading...

Most gambling websites nudge users towards accepting tracking data and harvest it before consent is given, study showsOnline bookmakers and casinos have been accused of widespread non-compliance of information privacy requirements, including data surveillance" of customers, according to a study.Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) licensed British gambling websites appear to be flouting the general data protection regulation (GDPR), the strict rules governing how organisations can collect, store and process personal data, according to the research. Continue reading...

Queensland capital hits 34.4C as firefighters battle fast-moving bushfire in Lockyer Valley west of Ipswich

Exclusive: Tan Dhesi says Argentinian threats make it more crucial than ever that PM increase defence spendingJavier Milei's threats to the Falkland Islands make it even more important that Andy Burnham increase defence spending immediately, according to the Labour chair of the defence committee.Tan Dhesi said the comments by the Argentinian president this week show why the government should raise military spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. But he said Burnham's plans remain mired in confusion after the prime minister appeared to reassure him that the 2030 target would be hit, only for Downing Street to later retreat. Continue reading...

Taraneh Rahimi was told prison guards would rape her sister, Romina, if she did not sign a confessionThe twins were 19 and still in high school when they were taken from their beds in the dead of night by masked men later identified as being sent by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.After four months of desperately seeking news from hospitals and state institutions, their mother, Marzieh Nourmohammadi, finally learned their fate. Taraneh and Romina Rahimi had been seized over their decision to join millions on the streets of Iranian cities during the January protests against the regime. The twins were unrecognisable by the time of their mother's prison visit in May. Continue reading...

Sources indicate some members states will not enforce EES biometric controls after 6 September deadline

Police received information nearly immediately after the killing. It took Las Vegas police 27 years to make an arrestFor years, US law enforcement officials blamed their failure to solve hip-hop star Tupac Shakur's murder on the lack of cooperation from key witnesses, and on gang members' snitches get stitches" culture.But testimony in a much-delayed murder trial, which concluded this week, almost 30 years after Shakur's death, highlighted just how much law enforcement officials knew about the shooting, and how early. Continue reading...

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Anika Wells expected to release legislation creating a digital duty of care in parliament this week, but Coalition argues it is attempt to censor the internet'

Serhii Beskrestnov says deadlock on frontline and increasing use of deep strikes is placing civilians and infrastructure at greater riskRussia and Ukraine are locked in an escalating war of long-range strikes with a growing risk to civilians in which neither side can entirely prevail, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's defence technology adviser.Serhii Beskrestnov, widely known by his call sign, Flash, said he was worried about the prospects for Kyiv this winter, and suggested elderly people should be evacuated in case Russian bombing were to knock out the capital's energy supply. Continue reading...

Blaze causes electricity supply failure and disruption of services to airport and ReadingHundreds of passengers were evacuated from a train, and services to Heathrow airport were cancelled, after a fire near tracks in the London Paddington area caused major disruptions to London's rail network.The fire caused an electricity supply failure which left all lines between Paddington and the airport blocked, National Rail said on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Officials accuse National Liberation Army of launching strike followed by clash inside military compoundAn attack involving explosives dropped from drones followed by a clash inside a military compound in north-eastern Colombia has killed at least three soldiers and wounded four, Colombia's army said on Saturday.Local authorities blamed the attack - which took place late on Friday - on the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN). Continue reading...

Duty falls by precedent to William to attend service of late monarch, alongside Princess Royal, who is godmother to new king Haakon VIIIThe Prince of Wales is to represent his father at the funeral of King Harald V of Norway next week, Buckingham Palace has announced.William, the heir to the throne, will be joined by his aunt the Princess Royal, who is attending in a private and personal capacity as godmother of the new king, Haakon VIII. Continue reading...

Sector has avoided issue because of stigma fears, expert warns ahead of closure of Nottingham attacks inquiryMental health organisations have failed to acknowledge" the risk of violence from a minority of people with severe mental illnesses, the chief executive of Mind has said ahead of the closure of the inquiry into the Nottingham attacks.Dr Sarah Hughes, who has led mental health charity Mind for four years and has worked in the sector for almost four decades, said charities had shied away from addressing the risk of violence due to the fact it had increased the stigma and harassment around people with mental health conditions. Continue reading...

Microbats and wombats among the most common species found in buildings, with some discovered in letter boxes or air conditioning systems

Port authorities say access roads free flowing' again after large group forces road closures in both directionsDozens of people dressed in black and wearing balaclavas blocked the road at the port of Dover in Kent, forcing closures in both directions on Saturday morning.Kent police said they were were in attendance and engaging with the protest, which the Port of Dover described as a public order incident". No arrests were made during the incident. Responsibility for the demonstration appears to have been claimed by an anti-immigration group with links to the far right. Continue reading...

Sarah Khalifa, 39, charged with forming organised criminal gang to manufacture and traffick drugsAn Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drug case, official media reported on Saturday.The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. Continue reading...

Sometimes we will get things wrong and get a bit of a kicking for it,' party leader tells gathering in BirminghamNo real mention by Anderson of the problems that overshadowed events yesterday. He ended his opening speech saying: "Yesterday was great. Today is going to be absolutely brilliant."Laila Cunningham is speaking next. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader maintains innocence in overseas funding controversy on last day of party conference

Officials said US aircraft carrier and destroyer avoided attacks before three Iranian tankers were struck by the USThe US military said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after US navy warships came under missile attack, further escalating tensions in the region and warning it would if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet".According to the military, a US aircraft carrier and destroyer avoided multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks" while patrolling the region. No US personnel were injured. Continue reading...

Ryan Bridge, arrested this year on suspicion of religiously and racially aggravated harassment, says party invited himThe leader of a flag campaign group who was arrested on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment was given access to Reform UK's annual conference.Ryan Bridge, whose Raise the Colours group has put up hundreds of union and St George flags across England, told the Guardian he was invited to the conference. Continue reading...

MPs applaud PM's ambition and optimism but John Healey has yet to show he can match leader's radical perspectiveUntil now, Andy Burnham has been a lucky prime minister. In office for just over six weeks, no major domestic crisis derailed his plans over the summer, Reform has been on the back foot, and he arrived back at Westminster with his personal approval ratings soaring and optimism undampened.But underneath the sense of relief that many Labour MPs are feeling that their high-stakes gamble of ousting Keir Starmer appears - for now - to have paid off, there is an unease that Burnham's premiership is yet to make contact with economic reality. Continue reading...

Houthi rebel offensive against government forces on west coast leads to some of deadliest clashes in yearsClashes between Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement have killed more than 60 people, including civilians, as the Houthis pushed forward with a military offensive on Yemen's western coast.Twenty-six government troops and 31 Houthi fighters were killed during several hours of fighting in the country's south-west on Saturday, medical and military sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). A missile strike also killed six civilians and injured seven others travelling by bus in the city of Taiz. Continue reading...

After bringing injured queen Phoebee home in July, Gilly McArthur expected her soon to die, but she's bumbling onFifty-two days ago, Phoebee was lying by the side of a road in the blistering sun with a broken wing. Today, she's clambering up the arm of Gilly McArthur, around the nape of her neck and disappearing into her hair.I couldn't leave her by the roadside," McArthur says. So I bought her home and made her a bed of flowers. I thought she'd be dead in a day or so." Continue reading...

Healthy middle-aged people deemed to be at higher risk of developing condition among those eligible to participatePeople without memory loss will be offered an experimental Alzheimer's drug that could stop the development of the condition before dementia symptoms emerge.Healthy middle-aged people deemed to have a higher risk of developing the condition will be eligible to participate in the trial, which is being run by an NHS trust as part of an international clinical trial aiming to prevent dementia. Continue reading...

Chinese man at Trishuli hydropower project and Nepali woman in Nuwakot found 10 days into rescue operationEmergency responders rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in two separate operations on Saturday, as authorities continued to search for thousands of people missing 10 days after massive floods hit Nepal.The Nepali military said a joint team comprising personnel from its army and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 225-metre (740ft) tunnel in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Pictures showed him being evacuated by helicopter after being carried out of the tunnel. Continue reading...

The US defense secretary faces internal dissent and discord at the Pentagon, accused of focusing on culture war issues and his own political ambitions as the Iran war drags onIn a different Washington, under a different president, a return to the well-worn playbook of all-out sanctions to counter Iran might have been the signal for a publicity-hungry US secretary of defense to adopt a lower profile.But these are no ordinary times. And Pete Hegseth is no ordinary defense secretary. Continue reading...

Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior describes 2022 meeting in new book as ex-leader's son vies with Lula for presidencyThe far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro was in his final days as Brazil's president when, six weeks after losing the election and still refusing to recognise the result, he summoned the heads of the armed forces to a meeting.The defence minister, Gen Paulo Sergio Nogueira de Oliveira, took out a document from a plastic folder and handed copies to the commanders of the navy, army and air force. Continue reading...

Anwar, who lives in Glasgow, says Home Office refused visa application despite Maryam having cancerA man living in the UK has said he believes his sister-in-law who died from cancer in Gaza would still be alive today if the Home Office had agreed to bring her and her family to Britain.Anwar, who lives in Glasgow, fled Gaza in 2020 and was granted refugee status in the UK in 2021. After the destruction of large areas of Gaza by Israeli forces following the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, he applied to bring his brother Hassan, Hassan's wife, Maryam, their two young children and other family members to the UK in October 2025. He said the Home Office rejected their application. Continue reading...

Scale of deportations made public for first time amid criticism of hardline approach to UK citizensSweden has confirmed 458 British citizens have been deported or forcibly removed by police since Brexit.It is the first time the scale of the deportations of citizens who failed to secure residency in Sweden post-Brexit has been made public and comes amid mounting criticism of a cruel and hardline approach to Britons who had chosen to make the country their home before Brexit. Continue reading...

Irish boxer lauded for her tenacity and inspiration before her last fight in front of 80,000 people at Croke ParkWhen Katie Taylor steps into the ring on Saturday night to defend her titles and once again enthral Ireland, there will be a bittersweet tinge. After a singular career that pioneered women's boxing, the super-lightweight champion and Olympic gold medallist is bowing out. She is 40 and it is to be her final bout.The end of an era, isn't it?" said Trevor McMahon, her brother-in-law and founder of a gym where she trains. It'll be an amazing night but it'll also be a little bit sad. Everything she did, it might not ever be achieved again." Continue reading...

Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outletA federal judge has declined to stop the Pentagon from firing journalists who say they were illegally punished for speaking out about the need for the Stars and Stripes publication to maintain its editorial independence.The ruling by US district judge Trevor McFadden allows the Pentagon to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over the historically independent military news outlet. Continue reading...

Indira Talwani's ruling presents major setback for president as first states begin to send out mail ballots for midtermsA federal judge on Friday again blocked Donald Trump's executive order to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting, the latest in a legal back-and-forth playing out less than two months before election day.US district court judge Indira Talwani initially placed a temporary order blocking the president's mandate and has now extended that prohibition with a stronger preliminary injunction. The ruling comes hours after North Carolina became the first state to start sending out mail-in ballots for the 3 November midterm elections. Continue reading...

The Israeli army had helped plan the delivery of food aid on 1 April 2024, but things went wrong from the beginning and ended in seven deaths Exclusive: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrikeOn the evening of 1 April 2024, a team of aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) stood on Gaza's Mediterranean shore overseeing the unloading of a barge full of desperately needed food on a makeshift jetty made of sand and rubble.The Gaza war had been raging for six months and Israel's closure of land crossings had left the whole territory facing the threat of famine. WCK and local Palestinian contractors had constructed the jetty out of everything they could lay their hands on, including debris from the bombed house of one of the contractors, so that the pallets of humanitarian assistance could be delivered by boat from Cyprus. Continue reading...

Lawmakers condemn agency for obstructing the pursuit of juice' over death of nearly blind Nurul Amin Shah AlamDemocratic lawmakers are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security turn over records and fully cooperate with an investigation into the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind Rohingya refugee who died after US border agents left him outside a closed coffee shop on a freezing night in Buffalo earlier this year.At a press conference in Buffalo on Friday, standing just a few feet away from where Shah was found dead, Tim Kennedy of New York was joined by Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the House homeland security committee, Lou Correa of California, and Nellie Pou of New Jersey in calling on DHS to cooperate with the Erie county district attorney's investigation. Continue reading...

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Officials decline to confirm whether death was one of two announced last week as Lancaster county outbreak growsA six-week-old child in Pennsylvania died from measles, the Lancaster County coroner has determined, following two measles-related deaths in the county last week.The determination comes as Lancaster county faces a growing measles outbreak. Continue reading...

The president was moved to a separate aircraft during a July trip after officials learned of a possible Iranian threat, leaving questions about the plane's defenses unansweredDonald Trump intends to use the Boeing jet gifted by Qatar for his trip to Ireland next week, marking the first time the aircraft will leave the US since concerns were raised over whether it can adequately protect the president from attack.The decision, a senior administration official told the Washington Post, comes weeks after Trump suggested the plane would be grounded for about a month while it underwent unspecified security upgrades. Continue reading...

Defense lawyer had asked for time to request emergency stay after jury was split 11 to one

Splits emerge within party after resignation of officials reported to police for apparent plot to evade donations lawNigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he attempted to distance himself from two of his most senior officials reported to the police for apparently plotting to evade the law on foreign donations.As the scandal engulfed Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham, Farage was forced to suspend close aides Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr after an undercover investigation by reporters from a group called Verbatim. Continue reading...