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Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and WalesStarmer said what happened to the mothers, and their children, should never have happened. He said:What happened to them, and to tens of thousands of mothers, children, and families, should never have happened. It is a stain on our history.Mothers, many young, vulnerable, and without support were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. What a thing to do.I have to confess, as I said to them this morning, I found it hard to read the testimonies and to hear their stories.I find it particularly hard, as a dad. How much harder it must have been for them to go through that, to set out their testimonies and tell their stories over and over again. Continue reading...

Ukraine capital targeted as Russia faces fuel shortages following long-range strikes against its oil refineries

Damage recorded in 30 locations across in the city from overnight attacks, with most of them ordinary residential buildings'in DublinVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes not to wait too long for the results of an Irish government investigation into alumina exports to Russia thought to be feeding the Kremlin's war machine.Unfortunately there are companies in Europe that are owned or effectively controlled by Russia and its sanctioned oligarchs. They keep supplying the aggressor with essential materials even now." Continue reading...

Man once called godfather' of Calais migrant camps lives in Leicestershire and is said to be trying to claim asylumA convicted people smuggler who has reportedly been found living in Britain should be arrested and deported, the Conservatives have said.The man, once labelled the godfather" of the Calais migrant camps, was tracked down by the BBC to Leicestershire, where he reportedly changed his name from Twana Jamal and was working illegally while attempting to claim asylum. Continue reading...

Authorities say rainy season deadlier, with Ghana reporting 13 dead and floods also hitting Benin, Togo and NigeriaFloods in Cote d'Ivoire have killed 59 people since May, the communication minister told a cabinet meeting in Abidjan.There are fears the toll could further rise as rescue teams continue to search for victims during the rainy season, which runs from May until July, the minister, Amadou Coulibaly, added. Continue reading...

First phase of inquiry identified multiple failings to prevent murders of three girls, which government will urgently' addressDowning Street has accepted all recommendations for changes made by an inquiry that found the Southport killings could have been prevented and identified fundamental failings", the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said.Mahmood said the government would do whatever is needed to protect the public" as she accepted the recommendations in full from the first phase of the Southport inquiry. Continue reading...

City bosses say move would be economically disastrous, but union leaders urge likely new PM to ignore vested interests'Battle lines are being drawn between City bosses and trade unions over a possible tax raid on UK banks to help fund Andy Burnham's package for struggling households this winter.While bankers have warned the move would be economic suicide", union leaders have said Britain cannot afford to be held hostage" by City lobbyists, given growing pressures to find money for defence and cost of living support. Continue reading...

If we don't know the source, not only do humans remain at risk but wildlife can suffer needlessly via retaliationWhile virologists and public health departments were palpitating over the news of an Andes virus infectious disease outbreak on a cruise ship (13 cases, three deaths), in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the Bundibugyo virus, the root of the current Ebola outbreak (currently more than 1,250 cases and at least 362 deaths), was smouldering under the radar.Bundibugyo virus is a horrifying, highly fatal pathogen. Symptom onset is sudden and includes headaches, diarrhoea, malfunctioning kidneys and liver, and, less frequently, internal and external bleeding (hence the term haemorrhagic disease"). Grimly, contagiousness remains after death, meaning the family and loved ones of the deceased can be exposed when they wash and clothe the body in preparation for the funeral. Continue reading...

Researchers say Moscow acted with substantial impunity' in 144 incidents, including over RAF LakenheathThe Kremlin orchestrated a concerted surveillance campaign using drones launched from shadow fleet vessels over an 18-month period which targeted nuclear sites in the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, researchers have said.Analysis by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) of 144 incidents in more than a dozen countries beginning in late 2024 concluded Russian intelligence had operated with substantial impunity", leaving authorities across Europe flat-footed and confused. Continue reading...

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Greens senator says appointment of Michael Ebeid risks entrenching the very culture and leadership that need to change'

Success of statins and blood-pressure drugs hailed as researchers find some people with obesity were better off'Many adults living with obesity have indistinguishable" cholesterol and blood pressure levels compared with those who are a healthy weight, largely because of the use of statins, according to a study.In some cases, people with obesity were better off" than those of a healthy weight, researchers added. Continue reading...

New study on fluazinam's neurotoxicity comes up with different findings from earlier report based on manufacturer's dataResearchers who re-ran a crucial fungicide study on neurotoxicity have come up with significantly different findings, and campaigners argue that the substance should now be withdrawn from the market.In 2005, a study conducted by Huntingdon Life Sciences on behalf of ISK, the manufacturer of fluazinam, on the development of neurotoxicity of fluazinam in pregnant rats concluded there were no statistically significant effects in relation to brain development in the rats' offspring. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Burnham-aligned thinktank calls for devolution of public services including social care, childcare and skillsMayors should be given power over a wide range of public services, including social care, childcare and skills, according to a paper written by one of the people helping shape Andy Burnham's devolution plans.JP Spencer, the head of devolution policy at the thinktank ThinkLabour, calls for mayors to take control over large parts of service provision in a paper that gives an indication of how the probable next prime minister could seek to shift power out of Whitehall. Continue reading...

Free choice of repertoire and an increased upper age limit part of the changes in a competition that will emphasise individuality and imaginationThe Leeds International Piano Competition is to be relaunched under the artistic direction of Sir Stephen Hough. The pianist is leading significant reforms to the triennial contest that first began in 1963. He will also chair an international jury that includes fellow pianists Piotr Anderszewski, Lucas Debargue, Yeol Eum Son, Kathryn Stott and Master of the King's Music, composer Errollyn Wallen.The 2027 competition will have its upper age limit increased to 35, and competitors will have complete free choice over the music they perform, be it Couperin or Copland, Boulez or Busoni. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Poll shows policies such as rent control and higher wealth taxes could fend off Reform UK in key seatsAndy Burnham is being urged to adopt an economic populist" approach to combating the cost of living crisis if he becomes prime minister, as a detailed opinion poll shows radical policies could help Labour to retain its majority at the next election.Senior figures advising the Makerfield MP have been circulating a seat-by-seat poll showing Labour's majority could be demolished at the next general election with the party on course to win fewer than 100 seats. Continue reading...

Concerns Catholic order's historical transfers of millions in assets were potentially inappropriate, NSW supreme court hears

Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroadA new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities.The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a shared" national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs and Tibetans, that Beijing is accused of persecuting. Continue reading...

Fifteen-year-old unable to be saved after being left outside Craigieburn Community hospital

Watchdog criticises lack of proactive, effective casework quality assurance' but says CCRC ultimately fit for purposeThe Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) must urgently improve its investigations to avoid a repeat of failings such as those in the Andrew Malkinson scandal, a watchdog has found.Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service, delivered the warning after carrying out an independent inspection of casework by the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice. Continue reading...

Body of 18-year-old man located after search involving Mountain Rescue, police and the fire serviceA student has drowned while on a Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) trip in Wales, police have said.Emergency services were called to the River Wye in Glasbury, Powys on Tuesday evening after it was reported an 18-year-old male had entered the water and could not be found. Continue reading...

Analysis reveals extent of impact on NHS of placating Donald Trump over price of British medicine exportsThe NHS will have to divert 45bn from essential services to pay for new medicines under the terms of the UK-US trade deal agreed last December, leading to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths of patients, analysis has found.Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients in England access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied. Continue reading...

Yorgen Fenech, heir to property empire, on trial for alleged involvement in murder of journalist, which he deniesOne of Malta's wealthiest businessmen plotted to kill the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, paying 150,000 (130,000) for three hitmen to carry out the murder, a jury has heard.Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, is on trial for the 2017 murder. Continue reading...

Trump and US officials opted to keep USMCA alive on short leash of annual reviews rather than longer term renewalDonald Trump has refused to renew the North American trade pact he once championed as his signature deal, opting instead to keep it alive on a short leash of annual reviews rather than committing to another 16 years.Wednesday was the deadline built into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for the three countries to jointly decide its fate, which is set to expire in 2036. Continue reading...

Hundreds watched England in first round of knockout stages at Prospect Building in Bristol

Proposed development of protected shorelines and wildlife zones violates EU environmental policy, says MEPMEPs have warned Albania that EU accession talks are at risk if the government does not change course" over plans for a luxury resort backed by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.Tineke Strik, the Dutch MEP heading a European parliament fact-finding mission to the Balkan nation, said Albania's leadership was playing with fire" by pursuing the 1.4bn (1.2bn) real-estate venture that would, she said, wreak havoc on virgin coastline. Continue reading...

Avi Loeb's White House panel has asked the Pentagon for videos and files on unexplained aerial sightingsA controversial Harvard University cosmologist who has suggested alien lifeforms could be sailing into the solar system disguised as meteors is leading the Trump administration's secretive new scientific advisory panel on security risks posed by UFOs.Avi Loeb and his hand-picked committee have already begun looking into the origins of mysterious flying craft, now known as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and last month asked the Pentagon for dozens of videos, images and documents of reported encounters and incidents, the Associated Press reports. Continue reading...

Labour leader-in-waiting wants to close loophole preventing deportation of sex offenderAndy Burnham will explore all possible options", if he becomes prime minister, to close a legal loophole that prevented the deportation of a vile" Rochdale grooming gang leader.In his first significant intervention as Labour leader-in-waiting, Burnham said nothing would be off the table" in the case of Shabir Ahmed, 73, who is expected to be released from prison on Thursday. Continue reading...

Minister and MPs have raised concerns that his poisoned chalice' plan will take cash from much-needed road projects

Country is first to join since Australia in 2015 as event director says it continues to welcome the world'Canada will join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced.Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member. Continue reading...

The 79-year-old actor told media I don't feel like it's the end of my life. There's work to do. Your life continues'Lethal Weapon actor Danny Glover has revealed he has been living with Alzheimer's for several years.Glover, 79, announced the news during an interview on The Today Show, during which he explained that he had been diagnosed not long" after receiving an honorary Oscar in 2022. I could live with it, in a sense. I'm sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing," he said, adding that his movements, speech and memory have slowed. However, the support of his family, who he said have got my back", was getting him through. Continue reading...

Culture secretary launches first review of how money is spent in more than two decadesFunding from the national lottery is too heavily concentrated in the south, the culture secretary has said, as she launched the first review in more than 20 years into how billons raised by ticket sales is spent.In comments that chime with Andy Burnham's pledge to devolve more power from London if he becomes prime minister, Nandy said the model governing how lottery money is spent was showing its age". Continue reading...

The climate crisis and worsening disparity could be responsible for more than 100,000 deaths a year in Europe, which should set off alarm bells for policymakers Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereCall it a tale of two heatwave experiences.As brutally hot conditions brought much of western Europe to its knees, an American writer living in Paris asserted that, for many, the heat was not nearly as apocalyptic" as most media were suggesting. He said he had yet to buy a fan, instead relying on closed shutters, misting sessions and open windows in the evening to keep his ground-level flat cool. Continue reading...

Unions pleased with rise above forecast inflation but concerned nearly a third of it will come from school budgets

Dr Bill Kirkup said section of Valerie Amos's report criticising normal birth ideology' was removed before publicationThe author of a major inquiry into maternity care altered its final report to remove criticism of normal birth ideology", one of her expert advisers claims.Dr Bill Kirkup said Valerie Amos had listened to the wrong voices" before a section outlining the potential risks of encouraging women to have a vaginal birth disappeared" from the final version of her government-commissioned report. Continue reading...

Rowan Williams and Mark Kermode join campaign against proposed cuts for arts and social sciencesLeading writers, broadcasters, academics and theologians have thrown their weight behind a campaign to save 150 jobs at the University of Exeter, amid growing outrage at a sector-wide hollowing out of the humanities.In excess of 21,000 people - and counting - have signed a petition railing against the proposed redundancies at Exeter, which are expected to disproportionately fall on the humanities, arts and social sciences for which the highly ranked Russell Group university is famed. Continue reading...

Two-seat Cessna aircraft was being used for short flight experience when it crashed in Ongar on Tuesday, police sayTwo people have died after a light aircraft on a short flight experience" crashed in a field near Ongar in Essex, police have said.The two-seat Cessna plane crashed in a field off Mill Lane, Ongar, on Tuesday after taking off from North Weald airfield about seven miles west, Essex police said. The two people onboard have not been formally identified. Continue reading...

Ukrainian leader among guests in Dublin as Micheal Martin says we will stand unswervingly by your people'Pistorius talks about changes in the German military reserve system, with the Bundeswehr building up."He talks about reforms needed to allow to mobilise reservists better and more efficiently. Continue reading...

Consecrations by Society of Saint Pius X bring automatic excommunication for bishops - and crisis for Pope LeoA rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics has defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, which they declared a sacred duty" despite it causing their automatic excommunication.In a ritual-filled ceremony on Wednesday, streamed live from the Swiss village of Econe, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) went ahead with the consecrations of four bishops, one from Switzerland, one from France and two from the US. Continue reading...

Anger at authorities and government grows as local people, volunteers and rescue teams continue search for survivorsFour Venezuelan police officers have been arrested and are facing dismissal after being accused of looting cash from the rubble of a building that collapsed during last week's devastating twin earthquakes.Local people and national and international rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the aftermath of the back-to-back quakes, which have killed almost 2,000 people, injured more than 10,000, and left tens of thousands missing. Continue reading...

EU urged to make UK exempt from rules that risk becoming the most damaging consequence of Brexit yetThe EU's car industry has called for the UK to be fully included in new Made in Europe" rules that threaten to shut out British manufacturers from their biggest export market.The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (Acea) on Wednesday urged Brussels to give the UK, Turkey and Morocco justified, targeted exemptions" to the rules, which will require cars and parts to be made within the EU to qualify for subsidies or public procurement. Continue reading...

Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civiliansThe Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to capture El Fasher, Amnesty International has alleged.Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Group confirms it will stop opening new accounts under the name and move existing ones to LloydsLloyds Banking Group has announced it is axing the Halifax brand, meaning the 173-year-old former building society's name will disappear from UK high streets.The group will stop opening new accounts under the Halifax brand, and kickstart a process of shifting existing accounts to Lloyds branding over the coming days. Continue reading...

Supporters of the method say it's foolproof - but forensic experts say it can be excruciating' amid allegations it's been intentionally botchedThe tangled path of US capital punishment takes a new turn on Wednesday as Idaho becomes the first state to adopt the firing squad as its primary form of execution, embracing the brutal killing technique even as concerns grow that it can inflict excruciating pain and suffering.The state's department of corrections (IDOC) says it has met its deadline, set by the legislature, to have its death chamber at a maximum security prison south of Boise retrofitted and open for business by 1 July. It has spent more than $1m in the venture, including $24,000 on a rack of AR-style, .308-caliber, scoped rifles that will be wielded by volunteer marksmen. Continue reading...

Figure in John Hutton's west screen, considered a 20th-century masterpiece, cracked by ladder used in lighting rigDeep cracks have appeared in one of the huge angels etched into John Hutton's west screen of glass panels at Coventry Cathedral after a major music event.It has prompted concern that the increase in cathedrals hosting outside events, a big source of revenue, risks damaging some of the UK's most important religious architecture. Continue reading...

IOPC to consider if race was a factor in response to student, whom officers initially handcuffed and treated as a suspectTwo police officers in the case of Henry Nowak have been placed under investigation for gross misconduct by the police watchdog.Nowak, 18, died in December 2025 after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton. Digwa falsely told police he had been the victim of a racist attack, which led officers to handcuff Nowak and treat him as a suspect, despite him saying he had been stabbed and that he could not breathe. Continue reading...

Consumer advocacy group Choice blind tested 30 olive oils - and found many of the highest ranked came from Australia

Average price of typical home little changed at 277,484 in June, says Nationwide, while housebuilder shares fall

Airlines and airports say passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours for biometric checksAirlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period,saying some flights are leaving half full and passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours.In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, airlines and airports asked for an option to suspend checks under the system over fears the situation will get much worse during the busy summer season. Continue reading...