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Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby's body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

Justice Natalie Adams says she is troubled by expert evidence about rape allegations in slain woman's police statement

Secretive state begins repairs on ageing facilities after being revealed as worst country for leaks of potent greenhouse gasTurkmenistan has started plugging the mega-leaks of methane that spew from its ageing oil and gas facilities, the latest UN data shows, in a move hailed as a breakthrough.Methane, also called natural or fossil gas, is a potent greenhouse gas. It traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide and causes 25% of global heating today. Stopping leaks can be quick and cheap and, because methane breaks down in the atmosphere far quicker than CO2, this has a rapid impact, with some experts calling it the climate emergency brake". Continue reading...

As families await news after the catastrophe, community members appeal for compassion in the face of hateful rhetoric

The long-running drama reaches Hitler's rise to power in its final season as its creators reflect on the unsettling parallels between Weimar Germany and the present dayIt's the global hit TV series that pulled audiences straight into the chaotic hedonism of 1920s Germany, dramatising the brilliance and brittleness of a newly built democratic system with unprecedented ambition.But in the 13 years that the German makers of Babylon Berlin have worked on the show, modern democracies from the US to Hungary to South Korea have come under pressure in ways the creators say they could never have imagined when they started. Continue reading...

Perrottet disagrees when counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC claims brother of former NSW premier is not truthful and constructing evidence'

An estimated 237 people have been rescued but 18 are missing after accident off the coast of northern Cyprus

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen secures 57% of the vote after preferences as Barnaby Joyce says politics has changed'

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Son of former ABC chair will contest seat of Cessnock in March state election and says my wife's Japanese' so he doesn't believe party is racist

New rules are aimed at protecting people in debt in England and Wales and stopping homeowners being ripped offA clampdown on rogue bailiffs" has been launched by Andy Burnham amid concerns that vulnerable people are being overcharged and face aggressive behaviour.In the latest in a series of everyday fixes" to ease the cost of living and make Britain fairer", the prime minister said he was strengthening the rules that apply to bailiffs in England and Wales to better protect people in debt. Continue reading...

Prime minister intervenes amid anger at news Tony Burke was planning to cut intake of 20,000 arrivals by a third

Lawyers claim Eman el-Shazly, from Birmingham, was detained in effort to silence her sister, a critic of Sisi regimeThe UK Foreign Office has been asked to intervene to secure the release of a British-Egyptian woman who it is claimed has been arrested in Cairo because of her sister's political activism.Eman el-Shazly, a 45-year-old based in Birmingham, was arrested on 16 August while visiting Egypt. Her lawyers say she has been detained in an attempt to silence her sister Mona, a relentless and harsh critic of the Egyptian government on her UK-based YouTube channel. Continue reading...

The once world-leading producer of crude oil has plunged into an energy crisis as Kyiv targets its refineriesA sanctioned shadow fleet tanker carries oil from Nato member Turkey to a Russian Baltic port. A deal is signed for Russian oil to be processed in Kazakhstan. Fuel cargoes arrive from India via Egypt. The Kremlin pressures allies to sell it badly needed fuel.The data points may be diverse, but they point to a single inescapable conclusion. Continue reading...

Former building commissioner David Chandler told inquiry of clashes with loud and overbearing' developer Jean Nassif

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Rules will require hedge funds, insurers and pension firms to report all non-financial wrongdoingThe City's largest hedge funds, insurers and pension funds are racing to prepare for sweeping rules that will stop nearly 40,000 companies from hiding bullying and harassment cases from the financial watchdog.From the start of next month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will expand a crackdown on bad behaviour in the banking industry to a wider group of City investment firms and brokers. Continue reading...

Households in Great Britain will pay equivalent of 1,723 a year, prompting calls for more support

Gunmen attacked worshippers in Dekara village on Friday taking women, children and older peopleAn armed group has posted a video showing what residents said were about 600 women, children and older people abducted in an attack on a mosque in Nigeria's north-central Niger State last week.The video, posted on Facebook and WhatsApp, showed large groups of people seated in a forested area surrounded by armed men. Several children could be heard crying in the background. Continue reading...

Claire Lomas had been filming a series for Apple TV in Amman, Jordan when she lost control of the aircraftThe death of a disability campaigner after a microlight crash while filming a TV programme for Apple was an accident, a coroner has concluded.An inquest heard on Thursday that Claire Lomas, 44, died of severe traumatic injuries on 22 August 2024, five weeks after a light aircraft that she had been piloting while filming a promotional video for Apple's Vision Pro headset veered off the runway" and crashed into a rock in Amman, Jordan, on 15 July. Continue reading...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US: a decision that was subject to intense media scrutiny. The couple and their two children are expected to relocate later in August to a non-royal residence.Nosheen Iqbal speaks to senior national editor Aaron Sharp - watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Pre-tax profits rose at high street opticians to 429.7m in the year to February while sales rose 7% to 4.3bnSpecsavers has paid 12m to its parent company controlled by its founders Doug and Dame Mary Perkins after the high street optician's profits increased by more than a quarter.The group operates nearly 3,000 optometry, audiology and ophthalmology businesses globally in at least eight countries, including more than 1,200 in the UK, through hundreds of independent partners. Continue reading...

The country risks the collapse of the entire book ecosystem' following destruction of warehouses in July and August, say Ukrainian publishersThe Ukrainian Book Institute has called on the international publishing community to support Ukrainian publishers after Russian attacks in July and early August destroyed about 10m books and a significant share of the country's book production capacity.The institute said the attacks on publishing, printing and warehouse infrastructure had left some companies at risk of financial collapse. A major attack on 1 August hit warehouses belonging to the RNK-Ranok publishing group in Kharkiv, destroying approximately 8m books, following July attacks in Kyiv which led to the loss of more than 1.5m books. In all, the recent attacks have led to the destruction of approximately 30% of the volume of books produced annually in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Device was near country's Neptun Deep gas platform in the Black SeaRomania's military has destroyed a marine drone spotted just a few hundred meters" from the Neptun Deep platform, a major offshore gas project in the Black Sea.The drone, spotted just a few hundreds of meters" from the gas extraction works at the Neptun Deep platform located some 80 miles east of the city of Constana, was destroyed by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet. Continue reading...

Dulwich Picture Gallery show to feature British artist's work hung next to paintings by Dutch and Flemish greatsThe contemporary UK artist David Shrigley will apply his trademark arch humour and distinctive artistic practice in dialogue" with old masters of Dutch and Flemish painting in a major new solo exhibition in London.The celebrated visual artist will explore the 17th-century paintings with his own new works responding to" and hung alongside original masterpieces by artists including Jan Steen, Adriaen Brouwer, David Teniers the Younger, Adriaen van Ostade, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Rembrandt van Rijn. Continue reading...

Club's board meets on Tuesday night to decide penalties after league boss calls reports deeply concerning'The Sydney Swans AFL club will sanction players for serious breach" of standards over an incident that led to a report of sexual assault.Victorian police on Tuesday confirmed the sexual crimes squad was investigating a reported sexual assault at Melbourne's Pullman Hotel early on Monday morning. No arrests have been made and no charges have been laid. Continue reading...

Consumers also turn to supermarket deals to save money, helping slow grocery price inflation

Iran war prompts cost of living squeeze for workers as ONS reports unemployment rate stays at 4.9%

Robert Smith, Olly Alexander and Paris Paloma also among signatories to letter saying exploitation of Rosebank and Jackdaw fields defies climate reality

In one court in Kent, most cases relate to term-time holidays, but non-attendance is a complex issue and post-pandemic rates remain highAs the long school summer break approached its mid-point recently, Margate beach was crowded with families enjoying the brief reprieve between the year's fourth and fifth heatwaves. For most, thoughts of the classroom were probably not at the forefront of their minds.But for the seven mothers and two fathers who were summoned at 10am to a stuffy room in the town's magistrates court, set just behind the beachfront strip of arcades, the subject was unavoidable. They were among hundreds of parents due in courts across England this month for failing to ensure their children had regularly attended school over the course of the last academic year. Continue reading...

Greens say Labor's reform set to rip life-changing supports away from disabled people instead of raising additional revenue through taxing gas exports'Cross-benchers have slammed the Albanese government's proposed overhaul of the NDIS as going too far, too fast" as the changes to curb the growth of the $52bn program appear set to pass the parliament as early as next week.The Greens and independent ACT senator, David Pocock, delivered scathing assessments of the bill they warn will enable blunt and indiscriminate cuts to individual budgets supporting more than 770,000 Australians with disabilities in a final Senate inquiry report released on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

A former UK government scientific adviser warned amid the shattering' heat that worse is still to comeMet Office has just offered an update on temperatures across the UK, with several stations already reporting temperatures above 30C - and it's not even 11am.It's 30.4C in Wych Cross, 30.3C in Charlwood, 30.2C at Kenly Airfield. Continue reading...

Valter Lavitola's lawyer says he had intended attack to boost security for investigative reporter Sigfrido RanucciAn Italian businessman has admitted to masterminding a bomb attack at the home of Sigfrido Ranucci, a prominent investigative journalist, claiming it was intended to boost his security protection.Valter Lavitola, who was friends with Ranucci, the host of Report, an investigative programme aired by the state broadcaster, Rai, made the confession to investigators after his arrest earlier this week in connection with the case, the businessman's lawyer, Sergio Cola, told the Italian media. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: With more sites closed and more lives upended, a look at the rhetoric and reality of where asylum seekers should be housedGood morning. This week, immigration minister Anna Turley announced, with minor fanfare, the government will stop using a further 13 hotels to house asylum seekers across the country.It brings the total shut this year to 44, in pursuit of Labour's manifesto pledge, now reiterated by Andy Burnham, to cease hotel use completely by the end of this parliament. Doing so would remove what have become highly visible symbols of an increasingly toxic debate about migration. Less than 160 to go, according to the Home Office.Solar eclipse | Wednesday's eclipse began in Russia's remote Arctic north, going on to trace an arc over much of western Europe. From the UK to northern Italy, tens of millions of people turned to the sky as the light of the setting sun was almost completely blocked out.UK news | Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid inhumane and impossible" conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with the bigger questions" of climate adaptation.US politics | Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary at the end of August, Donald Trump announced.Science | Astronomers claim to have discovered a new kind of cosmic object, a black hole star", which is the size of the entire solar system and glows with a brilliant red light.Middle East | Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. Continue reading...

Team manager has no idea' why they disappeared, after reports one of Commonwealth Games athletes said they intended to claim asylumYears of arduous preparation and training had come to fruition and the pressure was finally lifted. After competing for their country in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, athletes from Uganda were afforded a couple of days' sightseeing time before catching their plane home on Tuesday.But when the flight took off, there were four empty seats. Continue reading...

Veteran US health official invoked fifth amendment right amid hostile questioning from Republicans last week

Company posts $7.81bn in revenue, a jump of 92%, after share prices crashed following IPO debutFor the first time since SpaceX went public, the world is getting a first-hand look into the trillion-dollar corporation's financials. The Elon Musk-run business reported its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, saying that its revenue jumped 92% since June.SpaceX beat Wall Street expectations, reporting $7.81bn in revenue, versus analysts' predictions of $6.93bn. While expansive, the company is not profitable. The company reported a loss of $541m, down from a $1bn loss in the same quarter last year. Continue reading...

Montgomery died in a single-vehicle crash in Sydney just one day after completing his latest fundraising cycling trip with his teenage grandson

Prime minister says he has concerns' about one of most significant overhauls of Keir Starmer's government

This blog is now closed - our live coverage of the Middle East continues hereA liquefied natural gas tanker controlled by QatarEnergy exited the strait of Hormuz overnight - the first such vessel visible on ship-tracking data to leave the waterway since 11 July, data from analytics firms showed on Thursday.The Al Areesh tanker, which loaded a cargo at Qatar's Ras Laffan terminal around 4-6 July, sailed out of the strait overnight on 29 July, according to Kpler and LSEG data. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The legal protections once considered foundational in conflict are now routinely bypassed, with healthcare personnel treated as legitimate targets

London-based company to sell local loan portfolio to Blackstone but will continue private and institutional banking services

Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos found guilty of two counts of assault and not guilty of three of six counts of rapeA British musician and YouTube personality on trial for allegedly violently raping a fan in a Perth hotel has been acquitted of three sexual penetration charges.But the jury found the rapper Yung Filly guilty of two assault offences related to his September 2024 encounter with a 20-year-old woman after a show. Continue reading...

Both MPs have had the parliamentary whip restored following separate independent disciplinary processesMPs Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted into Labour and had the parliamentary whip restored, just under two weeks into Andy Burnham's premiership.The party confirmed that this followed separate independent disciplinary processes, although Labour said the leadership played no role in either decision. Continue reading...

Maria and Czeslaw Krupa, who arrived in 1947 and 1948 as dependents of displaced Polish service members, were told they did not have post-Brexit rights to return to UKTwo Polish citizens who have lived in the UK for nearly 80 years after their parents fled the second world war have spoken of their terrifying experience after being told they did not have post-Brexit rights to return to the UK.In May, while visiting Poland, they learned that although they had been welcomed as refugees after the war, they now needed special post-Brexit paperwork to return to their home in Bury. Continue reading...

LNP member Llew O'Brien says there is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage', leading Angus Taylor to state: I congratulate all Australians'

New Victorian premier also considering sensible changes' to laws that would enshrine right to work from home two days a week

Authorities say local transmission of H5 bird flu virus among South Australian birds signals shift in the situation'

Decision to host event on Fitzroy River at Rockhampton, 600km north of host city Brisbane, prompted significant backlash