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Mark Rowley says historically policing has got a lot wrong' in black communities but we get a lot more right today'The head of the Metropolitan police has said it is shameful" that black boys in London are more likely to be dead by 18 than white boys.Sir Mark Rowley spoke on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips where he said racial disparity among suspects and victims of crime in the capital was a difficult" issue for the force. Continue reading...

Graduate recruiter says much use of AI goes undetected as specialist says half of candidates are now using it

Windrush Untold Stories exhibition received global support after portraits were slashed and daubed with paintPortraits celebrating the Windrush generation in the heart of Brixton have been restored after a vandalism attack led to a global outpouring of support.The Windrush Untold Stories exhibition, displayed in Windrush Square, features 20 portraits and recollections of people who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean in the postwar era. Continue reading...

Country's economic woes remain main determinant to work opportunities but technological change is also creeping inAsk ChatGPT whether artificial intelligence is contributing to Britain's cooling jobs market and the chatbot acknowledges its own role - but adds a caveat: Yes, AI is contributing to job losses in the UK, but its impact is nuanced and varies by industry, skill level, and job function."There are concerns that AI could be one culprit behind the slowdown, as the ascendant technology destroys workers' jobs.Rising employment costs and higher taxes.Monetary tightening and high interest rates.Broader economic slowdown.Weaker hiring demand.The labour market adjusting to a new normal". Continue reading...

Deputy premier likens investigation to 1980s Fitzgerald inquiry, accusing Labor of orchestrating protection racket' for union

Exclusive: Party talks up sums that can be saved by cutting DEI jobs, but there are only a handful of such roles across the 10 councils it runsCouncils run by Reform UK have an average of fewer than 0.5 diversity and equality roles each, it has emerged, calling into question the party's stated aim to save significant sums of money by cutting such jobs.According to freedom of information requests, across the 10 Reform-run English councils there was a combined 4.56 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs connected to equality and diversity, not including roles required by law such as those for inclusion in education, including for pupils with disabilities. Continue reading...

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Anthony Albanese says he doesn't support unilateral action in Taiwan amid reports Washington seeking guarantees about how Canberra would respond in event of Indo-Pacific conflict

Emmanuel Macron hails new chapter' for New Caledonia as politicians agree on statehood after 10 days of talksFrance has announced a historic" accord with New Caledonia in which the overseas territory, rocked by deadly separatist violence last year, would remain French but be declared a new state.A State of New Caledonia within the Republic: it's a bet on trust," the French president, Emmanuel Macron, posted on X on Saturday, hailing a historic" agreement. Continue reading...

Women in melee' in Mount Druitt were not known to each other and it was sheer fluke' they met, police say

We need our auntie back, we need her freedom,' says cousin of Maha Almassri, who was moved to Villawood detention centre after pre-dawn raid

Scheme aims to stop cables trailing across pavements and encourage drivers to switch to electric vehiclesLocal councils in England will be encouraged to install pavement gullies that link houses to the kerbside so that electric cars owners can charge their cars from home if they do not have a driveway.The new government scheme hopes to stop cables trailing across pavements, as EV owners in built up areas where off-street parking is scarce, try to charge their cars. The Department for Transport has said it will put 25m towards cross-pavement" charging - essentially a narrow cable channel with a cover on top. Continue reading...

A fresh cycle of interest rate cuts have propelled house prices in capital cities to peak levels - locking new buyers out of the market

The former life member says his support of those voicing trans-critical' views is a matter of free speech - but others say it's a question of what values the party supports

One thing's for certain, it will take more than an abundance of rhetoric to get things done

Dozens' held after campaigners gathered in Parliament Square on Saturday, with demonstrations across the UK prompting police actionMore than 70 people have been arrested across the UK in several demonstrations where references to Palestine Action were allegedly made, a week after the group was banned as a terrorist organisation.Protesters gathered for the second week in a row in central London after police reiterated that showing support for the group was a criminal offence, resulting in the Metropolitan police making 42 arrests. Continue reading...

Bloc had already backtracked from tough talk to seeking a bare bones deal - but US president has turned tables againSecond-guessing Donald Trump is a fool's errand.But Saturday's shock threat to impose tariffs of 30% on the EU is a blow to the bloc's confidence, which had already secretly capitulated during negotiations with diplomats revealing they had to sacrifice trade for the wider prize of security and defence of the continent. Continue reading...

Ambulances were reportedly stopped from reaching Sayfollah Musallet after attack in which another Palestinian man was shot deadA 20-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by Israeli settlers while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank, his family have said.Sayfollah Saif" Musallet was reportedly beaten by Israeli settlers while he was on his family's farm in an area near Ramallah. A group then prevented ambulances from reaching Musallet for three hours, according to the family, who said he died of his injuries before reaching hospital. Continue reading...

Electric Light Orchestra frontman withdraws from BST Hyde Park festival owing to a systemic infection'Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) frontman Jeff Lynne has cancelled what had been billed as his final ever performance, owing to ill health.Lynne was due to appear at the BST Hyde Park festival series on Sunday night, closing what had been the band's farewell Over and Out" tour, 55 years since the band formed. Continue reading...

Resident doctors have voted to strike over pay but how much has their real-terms earnings changed since 2008?Resident doctors in England have voted to strike for five days from 25 July, reigniting one of the NHS's most bitter industrial disputes.At the heart of the row is pay: the British Medical Association (BMA) says resident (formerly known as junior) doctors have seen their real earnings fall by more than a quarter since 2008. The government says the union's demands are unaffordable, and they've already received generous rises in recent years. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedIsraeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Deputy PM accused of refusing to engage as union considers cutting ties with LabourAngela Rayner has been accused of handling the Birmingham bin workers' strike in a totally and utterly abhorrent" way by the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.Graham told BBC Radio 4 Today's programme: Angela Rayner refuses to get involved, and she is directly aiding and abetting the fire-and-rehire of these bin workers, it is totally and utterly abhorrent." Continue reading...

Militant group has become adept at exploiting successful attacks - and now needs all the leverage it can get for talksAs Hamas intensifies its insurgent campaign against Israeli forces in Gaza, it is focusing on a new aim: capturing an Israeli soldier.Last week, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sergeant was killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in an attempted abduction. Hamas militants also tried to take away the remains of 25-year-old Abraham Azulay but abandoned the effort when attacked by other Israeli forces. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Irish rap trio due to support Fontaines DC in August but it is understood they may be pulled over safety concerns'The Irish hip-hop band Kneecap may be dropped from the lineup at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, where they are due to support Fontaines DC in August.It is understood that talks are in progress between Manchester city council, which runs the park, and the concert's promoter about whether the band should be pulled from the lineup, apparently over safety concerns". Continue reading...

Labour is being pulled one way by a desire to cut debt and the other by slumping poll ratings. With growth nowhere to be seen, tax rises loomDuring the first televised debate in the run-up to last summer's general election, Keir Starmer used a phrase that received enthusiastic - and unanticipated - applause from the Salford audience.I don't pretend there's a magic wand that will fix everything overnight," he told them. Labour strategists were surprised by the clapping, and encouraged him to deploy the line again in future. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MPs say in letter Gaza is being ethnically cleansed as Israeli defence minister plans forcible transfer'Nearly 60 Labour MPs have demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel's defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to David Lammy on Thursday warning they believed Gaza was being ethnically cleansed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Young people deterred from politics, Rushanara Ali warns, as government plans stricter punishmentsMPs and political candidates are facing industrial" levels of intimidation and harassment, a minister has warned, as the government outlines plans for stricter punishments for those found guilty of abuse.Rushanara Ali, the minister for democracy, said her colleagues were suffering worse harassment than ever before and warned this was deterring many young people from becoming politically active. Continue reading...

Early investigation into accident in Ahmedabad in June also contains details of pilots discussing the switchesFuel to both engines of the Air India plane that crashed and killed 260 people last month appears to have been cut off seconds after the flight took off, a preliminary report has found.Air India flight AI171, bound for London, crashed into a densely populated residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground. It was India's deadliest air crash in almost three decades. Continue reading...

Finance department says advertising not paused during or after AI bot's MechaHitler' outburst, as antisemitism envoy praises Musk-owned platform for rooting out hate'

The 26-year-old's van had been found abandoned but police hail a great result' in finding her safe but ravaged by mosquitoes'

UN human rights office says 615 of the deaths were in vicinity of sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian FoundationAt least 798 people have been killed while seeking food at distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other humanitarian convoys since the end of May, the UN human rights office said on Friday.The GHF, proposed by Israel as an alternative to the UN aid system in Gaza, has been almost universally condemned by rights groups for its violation of principles of humanitarian impartiality and what they have said could be complicity in war crimes. Continue reading...

Deputy PM targeted for role in Birmingham bin strikes but sources say she resigned her membership months agoAngela Rayner has made clear she will not be pushed around" by the Unite trade union after it voted to suspend her membership and rethink its ties with the party.The deputy prime minister was targeted for censure by the union over her role in the Birmingham bin strike, although party sources said Rayner resigned her membership of Unite some months ago. Continue reading...

Blair, 72, led the London force from 2005-08 and was made a life peer two years laterSir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, has died aged 72.His death was confirmed on Friday by Christ Church college, University of Oxford, where Blair studied English and later became an honorary student. Continue reading...

Former chancellor says employees' contributions should rise to help address a 6bn shortfall caused by recent U-turnsThe Unite union has voted to re-examine its relationship with the Labour party in the light of the government's failure to support its members in the Birmingham bin strike.It has also said it was suspending Angela Rayner's membership, given her role as minister in charge of the department that oversees local government. The union is in dispute with Birmingham city council over proposals to reorganise waste disposal services in the city, and Unite has repeatedly said the government should step in and force the Labour-led council to settle.Unite is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises. Continue reading...

Israeli PM manages to avoid breach with US president through high-profile assurances he is seeking end to war

Ex-PM among those saying they will take legal action over covert' plans to return sculptures to GreeceThe former British prime minister Liz Truss and a hard-right lobby group have been accused of stoking culture wars after putting their names to a letter claiming they would take legal action over alleged covert" plans to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece.The letter, addressed to Keir Starmer and the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, as well as trustees of the British Museum, was organised by a rightwing campaign group called Great British Pac, led by the Conservative activist Claire Bullivant and the former Reform deputy co-leader Ben Habib, who was ousted from the party by Nigel Farage. Continue reading...

Northumbria police say two men are in custody after death of woman in her 80s and another in her 90sTwo care home residents have died after a car police were chasing crashed into their building in Sunderland.Ten residents were taken to hospital after the stolen BMW collapsed a large part of a wall and part of the first storey of Highcliffe care home in Witherwack. Continue reading...

Donald Trump said overnight that group of US trading partners, including the bloc, would get a letter today or tomorrow'Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, condemned as a desecration of historical truth" new plaques near a Polish monument to the wartime Jedwabne massacre of Jews by their Polish neighbours, AFP reported.The plaques, crowdfunded and placed by the far-right on a private plot in vicinity of the official memorial just before of the 84th anniversary of the massacre, question the official findings and falsely claim that the crime was committed by a German pacification unit" instead of local Poles. Continue reading...

UK is confident deal will be approved but EU says it wants to know more about substance and form' of agreement

Burning of boat containing dark-skinned mannequins in lifejackets in Moygashel draws widespread condemnationPolice in Northern Ireland are investigating a loyalist bonfire that featured effigies of refugees sitting in a boat as a hate incident.Crowds in the County Tyrone village of Moygashel cheered on Thursday night when the towering pyre was lit and flames engulfed the vessel and a dozen dark-skinned, lifesize mannequins with lifejackets. Continue reading...

Country's navy announced seizure of uncrewed narco sub, first capture of such a vessel in Colombian watersThe bust was unusual - a narco submarine capable of carrying more than 1.5 tons of cocaine. There were no drugs onboard this time, but most notably, there were no traffickers.Last week, the Colombian navy announced that it had seized an autonomous semisubmersible", the first seizure of such a vessel in the country's waters. Continue reading...

Businesses and industry urged to stay alert after invasive species discovered at coalmine in Moranbah, about 150km inland from Mackay

Woodland Trust's 10 nominees from across the country highlight how trees inspire creative mindsA cedar tree climbed by the Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are among those shortlisted for tree of the year 2025.Voting opens on Friday for the Woodland Trust's annual competition, which aims to celebrate and raise awareness of rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the UK. Continue reading...

Independent MP who helped establish commission says lack of transparency over Centrelink robodebt probe risks hurting public confidence

Exclusive: Tom Dolphin says rise needed to redress real-terms earnings loss since 2008 and strikes could last yearsResident doctors' 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, reasonable and easily affordable for the NHS, the new leader of the medical profession has said.Strikes to ensure resident - formerly junior - doctors in England get the full 29% could drag on for years, according to Dr Tom Dolphin, the British Medical Association's new council chair. Continue reading...

Maha Almassri told she had failed a visa character check and taken to Bankstown police station, then Villawood detention centre, cousin says

Black people also less likely than white people to get social housing and can face overt racism' from private landlordsBlack people in England are almost four times as likely to face homelessness as white people and substantially less likely to get social housing, according to the first major study into homelessness and racism in more than two decades.A three-year research project by academics at Heriot-Watt University found that ethnicity affects a person's risk of homelessness, even when controlling for factors such as geography, poverty and home ownership rates. Continue reading...

Public accounts committee warns UK infrastructure risked becoming stony ground' for investors without major overhaulBad management of private finance contracts is leading to poor quality assets being handed back to the government, including schools and hospitals, according to parliament's spending watchdog.Its report into the use of private finance initiatives (PFI) for infrastructure comes at a time when the government has identified private investment in projects such as power plants and transport outside London as a key part of its growth agenda. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer has hailed his deal with France as something previous governments have been trying for years to achieve