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Contender says it is about being brave and not being scared that the Guardian is going to mock us'Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has told MPs that magistrates are getting powers to sentence offenders for longer - to reduce the number of prisoners being held on remand and to cut the backlog in crown courtsIn a statement to MPs, she said that, although this would increase the prison population slightly, by reducing the number of offenders being held on remand it would free up spaces in reception prisons where overcrowding is particularly serious.Unless we address our remand population, we could still see a collapse of the system, not because of a lack of cells, but because we do not have those cells in the places that we need them. It is therefore crucial that we bear down on the remand population.This government inherited a record crown court backlog. Waits for trials have grown so long that some cases are not heard for years.The impact on victims of crime is profound. For some justice delayed is, as the old saying goes, justice denied as victims choose to withdraw from the justice process altogether rather than face the pain of a protracted legal battle.I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal. Continue reading...

Jenrick pledges to end the drama', while Badenoch calls his plan to exit ECHR a distraction from bigger worries'

Goal seems to be for people to lose confidence in the system', says head of industry body after devices found in Birmingham and LeipzigIf Russia is proved to be behind an incendiary device plot that caused fires at two parcels warehouses in July, it will be evidence that Moscow is aiming to disrupt western confidence, an expert has said.The dangerous packages, which caught light at DHL sites in Birmingham and Leipzig, are not thought to have been sophisticated but in both cases appear to have evaded security checks. German authorities warned this week that a plane could have been downed if the devices, which were both sent by air, had ignited in flight. Continue reading...

Firms such as Klarna to be required to do affordability checks, but campaigners question delay in new rulesShoppers who use buy now, pay later" loans are to get new safeguards against unaffordable borrowing and credit card-style protection for their purchases, under rules outlined by the UK government.However, campaigners have questioned why the BNPL changes will not take effect until 2026, warning that consumers need to be wary" in the meantime. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak's wife may have to pay as much as 3m to the Treasury after Indian software company's latest results

Kamala Harris put distance between herself and the president, using Fox News to give her spikiest interview yet. Adam Gabbatt reports Continue reading...

Reform UK leader received support for his American activities after becoming an MP but has not declared the services as a benefitNigel Farage has used a team of three US advisers to help him with perception management" and public relations in America, as well as with settling a $3,500 hotel bill this summer, new documents show.The official filings, made in the US, reveal that the leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton has been assisted at least 15 times by CapitalHQ, a firm led by Alexandra Preate, who is a former press spokesperson for the controversial former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon. Continue reading...

Reports that Rachel Reeves likely to increase taxes have spooked customers, say investment firms

Scottish multimillionaire said the former first minister had devoted his life to Scotland'

Parliamentary analysis shows benefit of change, party says, and calls Anthony Albanese biggest blocker' to change

Exclusive: Party drops plan for formal recognition laid out last year by David Lammy, who will visit Beijing on Friday

Fears among landlords and second home owners that tax would rise in budget said to be unfounded

Education secretary says she won't accept further freebies and recognises her privilege to receive free tickets UK politics live - latest updatesBridget Phillipson has said she does not know of any cabinet minister who turned down free Taylor Swift tickets amid a row about freebies and the pop star's security arrangements.The education secretary said she would not accept more free tickets after the controversy, which has dogged Labour's first few months in government. Continue reading...

Kim Leadbeater writes to Justin Welby after he described a change in the law as dangerous and a slippery slope'

Remarkably frank independent report paints Nine's broadcast division as a workplace in which sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power is systemic

Winning design has seven gardens weaving around the gallery on the shores of Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin, doubling its showcase space

Officer, who can only be referred to as AB under 40-year court order, allegedly crashed police car in Sydney tunnel after getting drunk at work function

Two people have died and multiple people are injured after a bus and multiple cars collided on Thursday

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Contentious proposed bill would exclude professional news content, but News Corp worried that it would be considered a media service

Man, 54, charged with sexually assaulting two women, aged 41 and 55, in Sydney's inner west

Nine board commits to implementing all recommendations for a reset of culture'

Some government MPs called for a rethink amid concerns about the Copacabana purchase ahead of an election expected to be fought over housing

Group of wealthy investors argue it would have no impact on investment in the UK and would raise vital funds for public servicesRachel Reeves has been urged by a group of millionaire business owners to raise 14bn from an increase in capital gains tax at this month's budget, arguing it would have no impact on investment in Britain.Ahead of the chancellor's set-piece event on 30 October, the group of wealthy investors said increasing the tax rate on asset disposals would help to raise vital funds for public services and would not lead to slower economic growth. Continue reading...

Analysts suggest proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen fighting hidden conflict could be targets for Israel as it considers retaliation against TehranIran-linked militias in Iraq have launched about 40 attacks involving missiles, drones or rockets on Israel in the past two and a half weeks, the latest escalation in a largely clandestine proxy battle fought across a swath of the Middle East.The attacks began in October last year when the war in Gaza started, but data compiled by the Washington Institute, a US-based thinktank, shows a sharp increase in their pace after Israel killed the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on 27 September. Continue reading...

Leaders can only spend limited political capital on Euro initiatives while weighed down by domestic troublesIt has become a wry joke in Brussels that the most stable country in the EU is Italy, once infamous for its succession of short-lived governments.France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz have been humbled by punishing electoral defeats. Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, presides over a minority government in a country riven by division after a controversial amnesty bill. In Poland, Donald Tusk enjoys a much stronger position, but grapples with an unwieldy coalition and an opposition-allied president. Continue reading...

A number of individuals accused of posing as users on apps such as Grindr to lure men to meetings where they were allegedly assaulted

Elizabeth Lee gave one-fingered salute to reporter after leaders' debate with chief minister Andrew Barr

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the conflict here and all our coverage from the region here.Aid has arrived in northern Gaza for the first time in two weeks, according to an update by Cogat, the Israeli body that oversees the Palestinian territories and coordinates with aid groups.In a social media post shared on Wednesday morning, Cogat said that 145 humanitarian aid trucks, containing food, hygiene products, baby formula, and shelter equipment, had entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings.A convoy of 28 trucks entered Gaza directly through Gate 96. The rotation coordination of humanitarian personnel has been successfully completed. 12 bakeries are operational in Gaza, 4 bakeries in northern Gaza, and 8 bakeries southern Gaza." Continue reading...

Jurgen Maier's vision for company includes the potential to borrow its own money in order to rival multinationalsBritain's new national energy company will eventually become a major power generator, running its own windfarms, tidal power and carbon capture schemes and potentially borrowing its own money, according to its new chair.Jurgen Maier, the chair of Great British Energy (GBE), told the Guardian in an interview that his vision for the company far outstrips its current scope and would put it on a par with multinational firms such as Denmark's Orsted or Sweden's Vattenfall. Continue reading...

Refugee Council says nearly 120,000 people await case processing with 63,000 set to be granted asylum by Labour governmentNearly 63,000 people who were waiting for their cases to be processed at the time of the general election are expected to be granted asylum by the Labour government, an analysis has found.The Refugee Council said the government's decision to scrap the plan to deport people to Rwanda and accelerate claims meant the asylum backlog was forecast to be 118,063 at the start of 2025 - 59,000 cases lower than if the government had continued with the policy. Continue reading...

Accusation against former Philippines president increases pressure on successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr to allow access to international criminal courtA Philippines former police colonel has testified that Rodrigo Duterte's office offered police up to $17,000 to kill suspects as part of his war on drugs", sparking calls for the evidence to be referred to the international criminal court.Royina Garma, a former police colonel who had close ties to Duterte, gave the most damning evidence yet against the former president, when she told a parliamentary committee last week he had called her in May 2016, asking her to find a police officer capable of implementing a nationwide war on drugs". Continue reading...

British musician found dead outside a hotel in Buenos Aires, according to local policeLiam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, has died aged 31 after falling from a third floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, police have confirmed.The singer died on Wednesday at 5pm local time. Continue reading...

Canada prime minister testifies at public inquiry amid worsening diplomatic row over murder of Sikh separatist

Rachel Reeves aims to find 40bn in budget but several ministers have written to Keir Starmer about spending cutsCabinet ministers have pushed back against planned cuts to their departments in the upcoming budget, with several writing to Keir Starmer to contest them.Several are understood to have shared their concerns at the likelihood of deep cuts to unprotected departments such as housing and transport. Continue reading...

Mayor among 16 people killed when airstrike hit municipal building in Nabatieh in south of country

Ten-year-old found dead at home in Woking in August 2023 had constellation' of grazes, burns, puncture wounds and bruisesSara Sharif suffered at least 71 injuries shortly before she was killed, a court has heard.The 10-year-old schoolgirl's constellation" of injuries included grazes, burns, puncture wounds and bruises, some of which were the result of repetitive blunt trauma" and blunt impact or solid pressure, or both". Continue reading...

Three people, two women and one man, have been arrested in connection with murder of 23-month-old Tavia Michella Ximenes Da Costa in Co TyroneDetectives in Northern Ireland have launched a murder investigation after the death of a young child in County Tyrone.Officers have named the 23-month-old victim as Tavia Michella Ximenes Da Costa. Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Israel to allow in more aid, as UN ambassador says US will be watching' its actions on the ground

Cumbria police say five people killed in crash involving koda and Toyota on motorwayA car involved in a motorway crash in which five people, including two children, died had been travelling on the wrong side of the road at the time, it has emerged.Cumbria police said officers were called to a report of a Skoda travelling south on the northbound carriageway of the M6 near Tebay Services at 4.04pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

People were collecting fuel from tanker that had crashed when it blew up, according to local policeMore than 140 people have died in an explosion while rushing to scoop up fuel from a crashed tanker in north-west Nigeria, in one of the country's worst such incidents in recent times.Local authorities said the vehicle crashed late on Tuesday night after the driver lost control on the Kano-Hadejia expressway near the town of Majiya in Jigawa state. It then exploded while onlookers were scooping spilt fuel with cups and buckets. Continue reading...

Mikhail Pichugin, 46, fought the cold and drank rainwater after engine of inflatable boat failed in Sea of OkhotskA Russian man rescued after 67 days adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk has described how he survived by battling shivering cold and drinking rainwater.Mikhail Pichugin, 46, had set off to watch whales with his 49-year-old brother and 15-year-old nephew. But the boat's engine shut down on their way back on 9 August. Continue reading...

Elon Musk is donating huge amounts to Donald Trump's re-election campaign. What might he want in return? Adam Gabbatt reports from New York City Continue reading...

Exclusive: Police investigate whether spies placed incendiary package that caught alight in BirminghamCounter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian spies planted an incendiary device on a plane to Britain which later caught fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, the Guardian can reveal.Nobody was reported injured in the fire on 22 July at a warehouse in the suburb of Minworth that handles parcels for delivery, and the blaze was dealt with by the local fire brigade and staff. Continue reading...

Two infants and two women were among group of 31 people trying to reach Italy from Turkish coastFour people, including two toddlers, died after falling overboard from an overcrowded speedboat in which they were travelling off the island of Kos, the Greek coastguard has said.After scouring the seas throughout the night, officials confirmed the fatalities on Wednesday, saying the two infants and two women" who had died had been among a group of 31 people trying to reach Italy from the Turkish coast. Continue reading...

Indigenous leaders say David Crisafulli's use of term is a racialised dog whistle', whether he knows it or notThe Queensland Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, has been accused of racialised dog whistling" for his repeated use of a phrase common in anti-crime social media groups, where it is used as a derogatory reference to Aboriginal children.First Nations academics and other experts says Crisafulli's repeated use of the phrase generation of untouchables" - whether known to him or not - has coded racist undertones".Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...

Explosion and fire in residential Benwell and Elswick area destroyed house with six people also taken to hospitalA seven-year-old boy has died after what was described as a devastating explosion" destroyed houses in a residential street.Northumbria police confirmed that a child had died and six people were taken to hospital after a large fire in Newcastle in the early hours of Wednesday. Continue reading...

Drivers and other staff to stop work as Aslef union says management will not negotiate properlyWorkers on the London Underground, including tube drivers, plan to stage a series of strikes in November amid a dispute over pay.Members of the Aslef union, whose 2,000 members include tube drivers and instructors as well as those in management and engineering, will take action on different days during the first half of November. Continue reading...

The Slow Horses star will perform the monologue Krapp's Last Tape at York Theatre Royal in the springAfter decades away from the theatre, Gary Oldman is to return to the Yorkshire playhouse where he once starred as a pantomime cat. The Oscar winner, who is currently back on TV screens in Slow Horses, will perform Samuel Beckett's monologue Krapp's Last Tape at York Theatre Royal next spring.It is a long-awaited return to the stage for the star, who started his acting career performing in York and with Glasgow's Citizens theatre before moving on to London's Royal Court and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Continue reading...

Deputy premier says Gary Williamson, who is running in the seat of Redlands, should be disendorsed immediately'