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Northern Ireland's politicians and the Irish government hopeful of a post-Brexit reset and an end to Tory turmoil

State of emergency imposes curfew on young people and gives police powers to detain suspects for up to 90 daysA controversial state of emergency in Belize to crack down on a surge of gang-related murders and other violent crimes has led to the arrest of nearly a hundred people.The order, announced on Tuesday, gives police the power to search homes without a warrant and detain suspects for up to 90 days. Originally implemented for 30 days, the government announced on Friday that it was increasing its length to maximise its effectiveness. Continue reading...

Media reporting on the campaign is overwhelmingly dominated by men, say researchersGeneral election coverage has been dominated by male voices, according to researchers from Loughborough University.Academics from the university's Centre for Research in Communication and Culture have conducted news audits for every general election since 1992. They analyse TV coverage from BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky's evening news bulletins, plus print reporting by the UK's broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Continue reading...

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Festival opens its arms with more diversity but rock royalty gets the crowd bouncingThis is our favourite thing to do on earth, so thank you for letting us do it here," says Chris Martin as Coldplay headline Glastonbury for a record-breaking fifth time. No other band has such a direct line to the festival's inclusive, idealistic heart. Their speciality is the universal.Each year's line-up throws its arms a little wider around the world of music. On Friday afternoon, for example, you could see in quick succession Indonesian heavy metal, Indian disco, Sofia Kourtesis' dreamy, therapeutic dance music and Headie One's furious drill. Continue reading...

Reform canvassers tap into fertile territory with populist policies and leader's blend of bluster and charismaThe historic pier at Clacton-on-Sea promotes water slides, arcades and variety shows, but it is the town's political drama that will be entertaining a nation on Thursday night, with Nigel Farage hoping to secure his first seat in Westminster.As visitors descended on the town's wide golden sands in bright sunshine on Saturday, young and old campaigners filed out of the offices of the Reform party, near an amusement arcade sign stating welcome to the smile factory", to distribute leaflets. Continue reading...

Party spokesperson says WA senator placed herself outside the privilege' of participation in caucus after defiant TV interview

Bus was carrying 33 people when it came off Bruce Highway north of Gumlu on Sunday morning after crashing into four-wheel drive towing a caravan

Party hopes to limit damage by warning of supermajority' while thoughts also turn to aftermath of defeatFor some Tory candidates, despair is the appropriate mindset in the final days of the election campaign. Others are angry. Many remain disbelieving of polls that point to a Labour landslide. Ahead of polling day, there are already those worried about a swift leadership election lurching the party further to the right. A certain gallows humour has also kicked in. You know what they say," said one candidate. It's always darkest before it's completely pitch black."As Tory candidates complete a torrid campaign that began with Rishi Sunak's rain-soaked announcement of a July election, the full range of emotions is on display among them. For most candidates who spoke to the Observer last week, Sunak's decision to leave D-Day commemorations early came up as the main frustration, even eclipsing the election date betting scandal. Continue reading...

Thinktank says decisive action must be taken to counter inequality in health, housing, poverty and the north-south income divideThe next government must take decisive action to reduce inequality or risk unprecedented far-right gains, a thinktank has warned.A report from the Fairness Foundation says that Britain will become more unfair and unequal over the next five years, with growing inequality in health, housing, poverty and the north-south income divide. Continue reading...

From his London HQ, Pat McFadden talks about his party's nothing-left-to-chance preparations, Nigel Farage showing his true colours, and fending off Tory nonsense'A testament to the kind of campaign being run by Labour is that an apparently straightforward answer from its election chief the other day caused an outbreak of incredulity from colleagues.How are you?" a BBC Today programme presenter had asked Pat McFadden at the start of a big interview. I'm great, I'm great!" he replied. As concerned text messages pinged into his phone, he wryly admitted this uncharacteristic display of ebullience had been an appalling lapse". Continue reading...

Tees Valley project is hoping to help 10,000 children whose ability to learn is suffering as a result of bed povertyAt Rift House primary school in Hartlepool classrooms now have spaces in which children can sleep. We see little ones coming in worn out," said Dave Turner, the school's headteacher. Sometimes they are sharing a bed with siblings. Sometimes they share with different families."The cash-strapped school gives all its children free breakfasts, PE kits and stationery, but beds were a stretch too far. However, that is about to change thanks to a charitable project led by another local head, which launched last week and aims to deliver 10,000 new beds to children in the Tees Valley in the next three years. Turner's school already has a list of families they want the project to help. Continue reading...

Ed Davey's party surprised by lack of Tories' attention on them as they target Labour supporters to lend their voteA frantic tactical voting effort is being waged this weekend by the Lib Dems, with party officials believing that an online targeting drive could unlock up to 25 seats in the final days of campaigning.The number of seats being targeted by Ed Davey's party has expanded over the campaign, as a combination of the Tories losing ground to Reform UK and a stunt-filled Lib Dem campaign have opened up more constituencies. Some of the most optimistic polls even have the Lib Dems becoming the official opposition, should a Tory meltdown materialise - an issue that some senior Conservatives complain has not been scrutinised enough. Continue reading...

Patricia Wiltshire reveals how her forensic knowledge helped secure the conviction of Ian Huntley for the 2002 murdersBotanist Patricia Wiltshire has revealed how her knowledge of stinging nettles helped police solve the Soham murders in 2002 - a case which concluded in the conviction and a life sentence for their school caretaker Ian Huntley.Wiltshire, who is a palynologist - a pollen expert - was speaking to Lauren Laverne on Sunday's episode of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. She discussed her early life in a Welsh mining village, her lifelong love of nature, and the secrets that plants can reveal. Continue reading...

Pyongyang calls large-scale Freedom Edge' drills involving fighter jets and nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier provocative'North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the US held this month, state media has said, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into the Asian version of Nato".On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military drills called Freedom Edge" involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks. Continue reading...

Opponents say abortive raid on palace by angry ex-army chief was a stunt to bolster supportIt was the armoured vehicles circling the Plaza Murillo - the normally tranquil central square in historic downtown La Paz - that initially set Bolivians on edge on Wednesday afternoon. By the time a phalanx of troops had marched on the presidential palace, the sense of collective confusion and shock was at fever pitch.By 2.30pm, a small tank was repeatedly ramming the gates of the neoclassical building known as Palacio Quemado until troops forced their way in and, in an extraordinary scene, the coup leader - disgruntled former army chief Juan Jose Zuniga - faced off against the president, Luis Arce. Continue reading...

Those who got 100 or 150 tickets - already sold out - can judge King Charles's design choices at Aberdeen estate where late queen diedThe royal family is opening the doors of Balmoral Castle to the public from Monday and giving extensive tours for the first time in more than 170 years.Visitors will be able to take a guided tour of a number of rooms in the Aberdeenshire castle, such as the entrance hall, red corridor, main and family dining rooms, page's lobby, library and drawing room. Continue reading...

Business community decries act of arson' as one-seventh of trade posts within British consulates in the US are scrappedAmerica was meant to be Britain's route to the sunlit uplands of Brexit. Then, after hopes of a free trade deal evaporated, successive Conservative governments have set their sights lower, by trying to forge closer ties with individual US states.Now the civil servants responsible for delivering those state-level deals have been let go, in what a furious British businessman described as an act of arson". Continue reading...

School and tertiary students receive concessions, but their fares are still more than three times those offered to seniors in some states

Industry group says rise of vocal technology could upend many creative fields, including audiobooks - the canary in the coalmine for voice actors

Storm is forecast to glance off Barbados on Sunday before heading through Caribbean and toward the YucatanTropical Storm Beryl is forecast to become the first hurricane of the season before skirting the southern tip of Barbados in the south-eastern Caribbean on Sunday.Beryl currently holds maximum sustained winds of 60mph (95km/h) and is traveling west at 21mph (34km/h), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center. Continue reading...

Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper waterMore than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling the largest single mass stranding event" in the organization's 25-year history.A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut - or Great Island at the Herring River - which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations. Continue reading...

The Reform leader complained of a dishonest Question Time audience', while his party also reported Channel 4 to the Electoral CommissionThe Conservative party deputy chair Angela Richardson called the sewage crisis a political football" and claimed opposition parties and activists had put Tory MPs in physical danger by campaigning on the issue.Richardson, who is standing for re-election in Guildford, where the River Wey was recently found to have 10 times the safe limit of E coli, also suggested the only reason people were talking about the problem was because the Conservatives let everyone know it was happening". Continue reading...

Writing in the Observer, the Labour leader vows to restore the bond of trust with politics if his party wins Thursday's general electionKeir Starmer pledges to relight the fire" of optimism and hope among the British people - and rekindle their faith in politicians as public servants - if they come out in sufficient numbers and vote for a Labour government in Thursday's general election.Writing exclusively for the Observer with just days to go until polling day, the Labour leader says that after 14 years of the Tories serving themselves", restoring the bond of respect between people and politics" will be the precondition for a Labour government's success. Continue reading...

Annual LBGTQ+ celebration takes place with march between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square

Reform also complains to Electoral Commission and Essex police about Channel 4 undercover investigation of party

Scottish secretary Alister Jack under consideration for post-election dissolution honoursA Conservative cabinet minister who admitted placing three bets on the date of the general election is in line for a peerage as part of Rishi Sunak's final honours list, the Observer has been told.Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary who stood down as an MP when the election was called, had been considered for inclusion in a dissolution honours list compiled in recent weeks, according to sources familiar with the process. The list is set to be published soon after Thursday's vote. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage hereRussia has taken control of village of Shumy in the Donetsk region, Russian-state media reports.Citing the country's ministry of defence, Russian state-owned news agency Ria reported on Saturday that the army had seized control of the settlement, which is near the city of Toretsk.This is why we constantly remind all of our partners: only a sufficient amount of high-quality of air defense systems, only a sufficient amount of determination from the world at large can stop Russian terror," he said. Continue reading...

Party summit expected to draw 80,000 demonstrators as German police are stretched by Euro 2024Clashes between hooded demonstrators and police marked the start of a party congress of Germany's far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), weeks after it scored record EU election results despite multiple scandals.About 1,000 police were deployed in the western city of Essen as about 600 delegates began a two-day meeting, with authorities expecting up to 80,000 people to join demonstrations. Continue reading...

Showery spells expected at beginning of week with a changeable picture' due to jet streamWimbledon starts next week, ushering in the return of a quintessentially British event. Sadly, it will be joined by another - rain.The tennis tournament will begin on Monday. Forecasters are predicting showery spells for parts of the opening week - though the competition is expected to have a sunny start. Continue reading...

Volunteers with experience in rough terrain will go over areas previously covered by police in search for 19-year-oldVolunteers with experience navigating tough terrain are in Tenerife to help the Spanish police in the search for a missing British teenager.Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was last heard from on 17 June when he called a friend to say he had no water and only 1% battery left on his phone. Continue reading...

Assuming the polls are right, the Labour leader must cram in Nato and European summits while appointing ministers and laying out his plans for parliamentIf all goes according to plan and the polls are not wildly out, Keir Starmer will be walking up Downing Street on Friday morning as the country's new prime minister. Continue reading...

Centrists are fighting for their survival in Sunday's poll, amid fears the president's snap election has unleashed chaosEmmanuel Macron's centrist grouping was fighting for survival this weekend before the first round of France's high-stakes snap election, which could see the far-right National Rally (RN) become the biggest force in parliament.Macron, who warned last week that France risked civil war" if Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration RN, or the leftwing New Popular Front coalition, came to power, said at the European summit in Brussels that uninhibited racism and antisemitism" had been unleashed in France. Continue reading...

The Guardian used public records and open source materials to identify Daniel Linden of the Shirion CollectiveA prime mover behind the Shirion Collective, a conspiracy-minded, pro-Israel disinformation network seeking to shape public opinion about the Gaza conflict in the US, Australia and the UK, is a tech entrepreneur named Daniel Linden living in Florida who co-wrote a guidebook for OnlyFans users, the Guardian can reveal.Shirion has harassed pro-Palestinian activists, including many Jews, offered bounties for the identity of pro-Palestinian protesters, spread conspiracy narratives centered on figures like George Soros, and boasted of an AI-surveillance platform but offered few concrete details of how the technology functions. Continue reading...

Met police began investigating on Friday after being made aware of video allegedly filmed at HMP WandsworthA woman has been arrested after the emergence of a social media video apparently showing a prison officer having sex with an inmate in a cell.The Metropolitan police said it began investigating on Friday after being made aware of a video allegedly filmed inside HMP Wandsworth", adding that a woman had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office the same day and remained in police custody. Continue reading...

Customers will be able to send off M&S clothes for services like zip replacements and knitwear mendingMarks & Spencer is to launch a clothing repair service.The retailer will offer alterations and repairs to customers from August amid increased demand for sustainable fashion and reuse. Continue reading...

Polls suggest the divisive Tory's 14-year stint as MP for North East Somerset may be coming to a close - but his mother still backs himThere is little enthusiasm for Jacob Rees-Mogg among the crowd of parents gathering at the sun-dappled primary school close to his family's 17th-century manor house in the rolling hills of north-east Somerset.We have learned the hard way that politicians who we feel are just a little bit of a joke can be dangerous," says Nikki Joseph, 36, who is picking up her son. I'm not voting for Jacob Rees-Mogg. I don't know anyone who is voting for him ... in my age group. It is either Lib Dem or Labour." Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our coverage on the Middle East here Continue reading...

Spanish Guardia Civil says 70-year-old man discovered by rescue team near Aspe peak in western PyreneesA 70-year-old British hiker has been found dead in Pyrenees mountains four days after disappearing.The man, who was from London, went missing on Monday. He was discovered in the mountain range by a rescue team on Thursday at around 1pm, the Spanish Guardia Civil said. Continue reading...

Rwandan-backed rebels seize Kanyabayonga, says official, already home to thousands driven from their homes by conflictRwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized a strategic town in the Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile east, a local official said.Kanyabayonga has been in the hands of the M23 since Friday evening," the administrative official said, under condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Turnout estimated to be as low as 40%, a record low since the revolution and a rebuff for the regimeIran is heading to a runoff election in a week's time after the reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian secured a narrow lead over hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili but failed to secure more than 50% of the votes.Turnout may end up low as 40%, a record low for an Iranian presidential election since the revolution in 1979. Continue reading...

Police warn of potentially contaminated batch' after adults taken to hospital in County DurhamSeven people have been taken to hospital after taking the sleeping medication zopiclone, prompting concerns over a potentially contaminated batch".Cleveland police said it had received reports on Friday of the adults being taken to North Tees General hospital in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. Continue reading...

As Labour and Tories promise rail reform and court motorists, many experts think road pricing is inevitableBetter railways, safer roads, cleaner fuels: in another decade, they would be the kind of transport issues commanding a pragmatic consensus in British politics.But this election lands with transport wildly politicised, with clean air, speed limits and high-speed rail all dragged into the wider culture wars. Continue reading...

Experts warn health tourists' to do their research, saying savings can lead to higher costs for work to be redonePatients seeking medical treatments in Turkey and other countries should do their research and not be tempted by low prices, experts have warned.From Brazilian butt lifts to Hollywood smiles and even organ transplants, the range of procedures offered by overseas providers is staggering, with myriad companies now promoting packages covering flights, accommodation and post-operative hotel accommodation. Continue reading...

Students are exempt during their course but as soon as they finish their final year they are liable to payFinal-year university students have been urged to check that they do not owe council tax for the last few weeks of their rented accommodation.While students are exempt from the tax during the course, they are liable to pay as soon as they finish their final year. Continue reading...

President's decision to drop finance bill after deadly violence leaves protesters divided over how to achieve broader goalsKenya's youth-driven, leaderless protest movement finds itself at a crossroads this weekend, buoyed up by President William Ruto's surprise decision on Wednesday to abandon a finance bill containing planned tax rises even as it mourns those killed in deadly violence the day before.The movement that brought thousands of people out on to the streets in recent weeks, against the backdrop of a cost of a living crisis that has left many young people feeling hopeless, has little precedence in Kenya where protests are traditionally elite-led. Continue reading...

Juan Jose Zuniga Macias has been handed charges of terrorism and armed uprising, says prosecutor, as president again rejects claims of self-coup' to boost popularityA Bolivian former army chief accused of leading a failed coup attempt has been given six months preventive detention", a top prosecutor said on Friday, as the president again denied the attack was a self-coup" designed to boost his flagging popularity.General Juan Jose Zuniga Macias has been handed charges of terrorism and armed uprising, state prosecutor Cesar Siles said. Zuniga has said he was following an order from the president, Luis Arce, following Wednesday's fleeting insurrection in La Paz. In the moments before he was detained, the ex-army chief claimed: The president told me the situation was fucked and that he needed something to boost his popularity.". Continue reading...

Weather bureau says the cold front sweeping from SA to Tasmania will move up into alpine areas to bring much-needed snowfallsLarge parts of Australia will shiver through much of the coming week, with temperatures as much as 4C below average expected in some regions.The Bureau of Meteorology says ski fields could also expect some much-needed snowfalls in time for school holidays in some of the eastern states. Continue reading...

Mull, known for his droll and esoteric comedy, dies after valiant fight against a long illness', says daughterMartin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said Friday. He was 80 years old.Mull's daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after a valiant fight against a long illness". Continue reading...

The recall of Uncle Frog's Mushroom Gummies has sparked concerns that the product contains psychoactive cannabinoids