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Jane Hume is against opening preselection for former treasurer while Karen Andrews argues he would be absolute asset'

Queensland's capital is second only to Sydney with a median house value of $937,479, as lack of supply bitesFor the first time in 25 years, Brisbane is Australia's second-most expensive city for housing.The Queensland capital edged out Canberra in May, the latest CoreLogic report shows, with a median house value of $937,479. Sydney continues to have the priciest homes in the country. Continue reading...

Former political staffer listed no legal firm as acting for him in his notice of appeal lodged on Friday

Study also finds people from ethnic minorities with atrial fibrillation more than twice as likely to die than white patientsMinority ethnic patients with heart failure are more than a third more likely to die than their white counterparts, according to research.The study, by researchers at the University of Birmingham and supported by the British Heart Foundation, looked at data from more than 16,700 people from 12 existing clinical trials for heart failure patients. Continue reading...

Conservatives would change law so trans people could be excluded from single-sex spaces, if party wins electionKemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives will change the Equality Act to rewrite the definition of sex and allow organisations to bar transgender women from single-sex spaces, including hospital wards and sports events.The party will make clear that the protected characteristic of sex means biological sex, enabling those who wish to bar male-bodied people from organisations or activities to do so. Continue reading...

With PM as underdog hoping to use TV debates for comeback, Labour leader is also preparing for election to turn personalWhen the history of Keir Starmer's resurrection of the Labour party comes to be written, one of the most important turning points will be the decision to start playing the man, not the ball, when it came to Boris Johnson and Partygate.Rishi Sunak's key weak spot in the leader debates this election is his career as a hedge fund partner at the time of the financial crisis. Labour believes the prime minister's account of his past will be a fundamental test, given he has built his reputation on his economic competence. Continue reading...

Leader says he is committed to triple lock for UK's nuclear deterrent and will raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDPKeir Starmer will declare Labour is the party of national security" as he seeks to switch the focus of the general election campaign to issues of defence.The Labour leader will reaffirm his commitment to a triple lock" for the UK's nuclear deterrent, and his aim to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product as soon as resources allow". Continue reading...

Keir Starmer aims to turn spotlight on Sunak's career before politics in lead up to first general election TV debateRishi Sunak must face questions about the fortune he earned at a hedge fund which engineered a deal at the heart of the financial crash, Labour has said, as it prepares to launch its first major attack on the prime minister ahead of the election debates.The party aims to turn the spotlight on Sunak's time before politics in the days before the first TV debate between the two leaders, after a week dominated by rows over Diane Abbott's candidacy. On Sunday, she confirmed she would stand as Labour's candidate. Continue reading...

Increase sharper than in any age group and likely linked to obesity levels, junk food and inactivity, say expertsThe number of people under 50 being diagnosed with cancer in the UK has risen 24% in two decades, a sharper increase than any other age group, according to figures experts say are likely linked to soaring obesity levels, cheap junk food and inactivity.Early onset incidence rates grew from 132.9 per 100,000 people in 1995 to 164.6 in 2019, analysis of data shows. About 35,000 under-50s are now developing cancer every year, almost 100 young women and men a day, the research reveals. Continue reading...

Historian tells Hay festival audience that Britain needs to liberate itself and have independence day from its own history'The historian David Olusoga has said the UK is the one country left in the British empire as he likened it to being the last oblivious person at a party.Asked at Hay festival on Sunday whether the British empire had ended, the broadcaster said: There's one country left in the British empire that needs to liberate itself and have its independence day from its own history, and that's Britain." Continue reading...

Two-thirds of Ingria near Turin are competing for positions including a mother and son in rival campsThe last time Igor De Santis ran for mayor in Ingria, a tiny village surrounded by forests and mountains near Turin, he won an easy landslide victory. But he faces a tough challenge in his bid for a fourth mandate, after his mother joined a rival camp.Ingria, one of the smallest villages in Italy, is home to 46 inhabitants. A further 26 people, registered to vote from abroad, make up the electorate. Continue reading...

Unite move comes after Tata, which owns Port Talbot and Llanwern plants, threatened to cut redundancy payUnion leaders are preparing to ramp up industrial action at two south Wales steelworks, in a further escalation of a row over almost 3,000 job losses that threatens to become a big general election issue.Unite said such moves at the Port Talbot and Llanwern works are planned after the sites' Indian owner, Tata Steel, threatened to cut redundancy pay as a response to members voting for an overtime ban. Continue reading...

Starmer's belief in international law and the rise of Labour Friends of Israel offer clues to potential stance on Palestinian statehood

The coronavirus pandemic had a huge effect on the justice system, but what else can the data show us?Justice delayed is justice denied" goes the old legal maxim - one that has captured the state of the court system in England and Wales in recent years.The backlogs caused by the coronavirus pandemic are only one of the ways in which the justice and policing system has changed over the last 14 years - from cuts to legal aid and policing, to a more positive story on crime levels, much has changed since 2010. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Beijing is supporting efforts by Moscow to warn leaders off attending Swiss meetingVolodomyr Zelenskiy has accused China of discouraging other countries from attending a peace summit in Switzerland later this month that is aimed at bringing peace to war-ravaged Ukraine.Speaking at Asia's biggest security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore, the Ukrainian president sought to rally support among Asia-Pacific nations, urging them to attend the Swiss meeting. Continue reading...

Guided walks around Holmes Chapel take in the bakery where the singer used to work and a viaduct featured in a One Direction documentaryIn recent years, the ticket office at Holmes Chapel station in Cheshire has become something of a shrine to the village's most famous former resident.A lifesize cardboard cutout of the music megastar Harry Styles stands at one side of the small building, while at the other, fans crowd round to sign a guestbook filled with messages to the star. Continue reading...

One Liberal MP said it would be a terrible look' to ask 31-year-old Amelia Hamer, who has been preselected for the seat, to step aside

Ed Davey's party is seeking to win over disillusioned Conservative voters in the Surrey Heath seat of outgoing minister Michael GoveShortly after Rishi Sunak got drenched in a downpour in Downing Street to call a surprise general election, a missive was sent out to party supporters in a key Surrey constituency to rally support.Campaigners were urged to safeguard the future" of the leafy Surrey Heath seat in the commuter belt and be fully dedicated to making sure Michael Gove is re-elected". Continue reading...

About 20-50 balloons an hour incoming, warns Seoul's military, urging public to report but don't touchNorth Korea has sent about 600 more rubbish-filled balloons containing everything from cigarette butts to plastic across the border, Seoul's military said on Sunday, adding that security personnel were collecting them as they landed.North Korea has resumed launching waste balloons towards South Korea" since around 8pm on Saturday, Seoul's joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said. Continue reading...

A Midlands school outlines its flexible approach to running its daily club and reacts to Labour's 365m free breakfast policyIt is just gone 7.30am at The Priory primary school in Wednesbury, near Walsall, and already a dozen or so children - known as the early birds" - have been dropped off so their parents can get to work. Some are jumping through hula hoops and others are just chatting at breakfast tables covered with smart red gingham cloths. The welcoming smell of toast fills the hall as more arrive.This corner of the West Midlands is one of the most deprived parts of England, where poverty is rife. If teachers and staff here were not on hand to provide their charges with a good breakfast, they know many would arrive with empty stomachs, and then be unable to focus in class. Continue reading...

Campaigners say the appointments system need to be overhauled amid criticism about alleged Conservative cronyismBritain's system of public appointments needs to be overhauled by an incoming government over alleged Tory cronyism that has seen dozens of former MPs, party supporters and donors given key public roles, campaigners have urged. The public appointments system was reformed in the 1990s, but ministers still retain significant powers during the selection process. Experts say the current system in effect allows a party to colonise" key parts of the state.It was announced last month that former Tory minister Rob Wilson will be the new chair of the Consumer Council for Water, which represents water and sewerage customers across England and Wales. Continue reading...

Former England captain will become ambassador for foundation that was embroiled in controversy when Charles was Prince of WalesKing Charles has turned to brand Beckham to help him rebuild the reputation of his main charitable foundation after a cash-for-honoursscandal.Former England footballer David Beckham is to become an ambassador for the King's Foundation, formerly the Prince's Foundation, to help promote its work. Beckham met the monarch at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire last month, where he was given a personal tour. The 49-year-old said he was looking forward to exploring a newly discovered shared interest with the monarch in rural skills, nature and the British countryside. They had also swapped beekeeping tips, saidBeckham. Continue reading...

Legal experts say a carve-out' clause in the law relating to extraditions could let the attorney general decline to enforce arrest warrants issued under international law

Actor, who played campaigner Alan Bates in TV drama, calls Horizon scandal a Hitchcockian nightmare' at Hay festivalThe post office operators prosecuted in the Post Office Horizon scandal have extraordinary dignity" after living 20 years in a Hitchcockian nightmare", according to actor Toby Jones.Jones played Alan Bates, a former post office operator and leading campaigner for justice for staff wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls caused by faulty software, in the ITV drama that put the scandal back in the spotlight. Continue reading...

Twelve-year-old among eight now bailed after attack on teenage girl reported in Newark on 25 MayFour more boys including a 12-year-old have been arrested on suspicion of the rape of a teenage girl in Newark.Nottinghamshire police received a report that a teenage girl had been attacked on Yorke Drive playing fields, Nottinghamshire, between 5.30pm and 7pm on 25 May. Continue reading...

Former Australian prime minister issues warning that young men's thinking on the issue is going backwardFormer Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has said global progress on gender equality is really glacial and slow" as she warned that it is going backwards among young people.Gillard cited recent polling by King's College London's Global Institute for Women's Leadership, which showed that 51% of respondents believe that men are doing too much to support gender equality, while 46% think that men are now discriminated against. Continue reading...

New poll gives Labour its biggest lead since Liz Truss meltdown as Tory towns' gain most from new fundsThe Tory general election campaign hit more trouble on Saturday as Rishi Sunak faced accusations of using levelling up funds to win votes and Labour opened its biggest poll lead since the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss.As Sunak tried to fire up his party's campaign before the first crucial TV debate with Keir Starmer on Tuesday, it emerged that more than half of the 30 towns each promised 20m of regeneration funding on Saturday were in constituencies won by Tory MPs at the last election. Continue reading...

Former Tory minister admits at festival that he felt a fraud due to need to give the impression he was in three places at onceFormer Conservative MP Rory Stewart found being a politician very yucky" and felt like a fraud, he told an audience at Hay festival on Saturday.Asked whether he would consider going back into politics, he said that he found being a politician personally very, very unpleasant" and didn't like it", adding: I feel like a fraud all the time, in a whole series of ways." Continue reading...

Lack of care and support leaves patients stranded on units when they are clinically ready to be dischargedThe number of patients stuck in NHS mental health units in England despite being clinically ready to leave has reached its highest level in at least eight years.Delayed discharges" of patients from hospitals in NHS mental health trusts reached 49,677 days in March, according to an analysis - a higher figure than in any month since at least January 2016, when NHS Digital started publishing the data. Continue reading...

Israeli PM says his country's conditions for ending conflict have not changed after US president presented ceasefire plan

Forces outside the capital drawn on for Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid match and a Tommy Robinson march and counter-protestMore than 2,000 officers have been deployed across London, including more than 400 from outside the capital, to police the Champions League final, a protest by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration.The final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid takes place at Wembley on Saturday evening. And, earlier, a protest organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as Tommy Robinson, set off from the Victoria area on Saturday, ending in Parliament Square where speeches took place. Continue reading...

After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivalsThe African National Congress's (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week's general election.The ANC's dramatic decline - the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 - will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereAt least 36,379 Palestinian people have been killed and 82,407 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.An estimated 95 Palestinians were killed and 350 injured in the past 24 hours alone, the ministry said.Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter. Continue reading...

Human rights charities condemn home secretary's comments about MDP Wethersfield and say the site is acutely harmful'Human rights campaigners have criticised the home secretary for suggesting that asylum seekers at a controversial mass accommodation site are lying about being suicidal in the hope of being moved off the former military base.ITV News on Friday night reported on a severe mental health crisis" at Wethersfield in Essex, with many incidents of suicide and self-harm including five to 10 suicide attempts and 10 of self-harm in January this year alone - the highest level since the site opened. Continue reading...

The PM is talking up her underdog credentials ahead of this week's European elections. But many in an impoverished Rome neighbourhood are scepticalSitting in the dark, cramped dining room of her home in Tor Bella Monaca, a densely populated council estate on the outskirts of Rome, Giovanna has just returned from one of several cleaning jobs the 70-year-old does to keep her family afloat. Her husband works on construction sites intermittently. The couple, whose youngest son, Cristian, 26, lives at home, might be depicted as borgatara, a slur in Roman dialect that, loosely translated, means a poor person living on the socially deprived fringes of the Italian capital.Referring to her own upbringing in Garbatella, a traditionally working-class district within easy reach of Rome's famed monuments, the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said earlier this month she was a proud borgatara". Continue reading...

Nasen Saadi also charged with attempted murder of another woman on beach in Bournemouth in MayA 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Amie Gray and the attempted murder of another woman on a beach in Bournemouth.Nasen Saadi, from Croydon, spoke only to confirm his name and address during the short hearing at Poole magistrates court on Saturday. Continue reading...

Leon Murray, 35, stabbed Keisha Christodoulou, 32, 17 times the day after she had ended their relationshipA man who stabbed his partner 17 times after she said she wanted to end their relationship has been found guilty of murder.Leon Murray, 35, of no fixed address, murdered Keisha Christodoulou, 32, on 1 November 2022 a day after she said their relationship was over. Continue reading...

Student Henry Hassell, 16, confronts PM over policy which Labour says is unfunded and desperate'

Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, godfather to the princes' sons, is society wedding of the year'. Yet why will Harry not attend?When Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, marries at Chester Cathedral next week the 33-year-old will relinquish the status bestowed on him by society bibles of Britain's richest, most eligible bachelor".It is not just his 10bn inherited wealth and pole position in the Sunday Times list of 40 richest people under 40in the UK that means his marriage to Olivia Henson, 31, is being billed as the society wedding of the year. Continue reading...

After a troubling report on NHS care, the number of pregnant women seeking more control over their birth plans is growingA growing number of patients are paying up to 8,000 to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many face in the NHS. The UK's only private maternity hospital, the Portland, has reported treating more women. It comes after a report from MPs this month found women in labour have been mocked, ignored and left with permanent damage by midwives and doctors.Here, three women tell their story. Continue reading...

After week of campaign missteps, reset' is attempt to firm up base and beat back Reform UK, say observersRishi Sunak is heading to north-east England for a rare foray into the red wall" after a campaign that has so far focused on shoring up the Conservatives' older, more affluent southern base.The prime minister has spent much of the first week of the general election campaign speaking to voters in the south of England who are considering Reform UK, targeting them with a range of policy announcements including the return of national service and tax breaks for pensioners. Continue reading...

Growing number are opting for private maternity services as inquiry finds poor childbirth care is commonPeople are paying thousands of pounds to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many patients face in the NHS, with women left feeling fobbed off and ignored.

Technology figures including Afterpay founders rise up AFR rich list rankings, reflecting changing nature' of Australian economy

Rishi Sunak says the money, paid over 10 years, would help regenerate areas such as Mansfield, Rotherham and HartlepoolThe Conservatives have promised to give another 30 towns in the UK 20m each in levelling up funding over the next decade if they win the election.Rishi Sunak said the 30 would be added to the government's long-term plan for towns, which is intended to pay for the regeneration of underfunded areas. Continue reading...

Nasen Saadi, 20, also charged with attempted murder of another woman following incident on beach, Dorset police sayA 20-year-old man has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the stabbing of Amie Gray and another woman on a beach in Bournemouth, police have said.Nasen Saadi, from Croydon in south London, was arrested by Dorset police on Wednesday and will appear at Poole magistrates court on Saturday. Continue reading...

US president outlines deal that would offer permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal for hostage release and rebuilding effortJoe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a new peace deal he said Israel has put on the table, offering a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of all hostages and the long-term reconstruction of the shattered coastal strip.It's time for this war to end ... for the day after to begin," Biden said, outlining the framework of a three-phase agreement, which he said had been put on the table by the Israeli government. Continue reading...

US president says it is reckless' and irresponsible' for Republicans to malign integrity of America's justice system

Collapse in support means ANC may not reach 50% vote share needed to rule alone. Which parties are contenders for coalition?South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after a collapse in support for the ruling African National Congress party in Wednesday's election meant it probably will not reach the 50% vote share needed for it to rule on its own. Here is a guide to the three main contenders for coalition partners: Continue reading...