Storm moving over open waters towards Bermuda, bringing torrential rain and winds of 75mphStorm Ernesto has strengthened into a hurricane as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left nearly half of all clients in the US territory without power.The storm was located about 175 miles (280km) north-west of San Juan, Puerto Rico and was moving over open waters towards Bermuda. It had maximum sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) and was moving north-west at 16mph. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick says money would be better spent preventing crimeMinisters should scrap Conservative plans to build new mega-jails and pour 4bn into the prevention of crime and rehabilitation instead, the former chief inspector of prisons has said.Nick Hardwick, who is also a former head of the Parole Board, said a huge expansion of the prison system would not solve the problem, especially when average custodial sentences are rising. Continue reading...

Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan's wife and mother-in-law also killed in strike that hit home where they were shelteringFour-day-day old twins have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza while their father went to register their birth, he has said, as Israel continued its bombardment of the territory.Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan said his wife, Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by caesarean section four days earlier and announced the twins' arrival on Facebook, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading...

Sarah Hanson-Young urges people not to believe the claim that free-to-air TV needs gambling ad revenue to survive

Party unable to nominate in all of the local government areas that were put forward by the state executive'

Jacinta Allan doesn't rule out intervention after city council voted to ban rental e-scooters at Tuesday meeting

Hearing follows Justice Salvatore Vasta order to pay part of $309,000 in damages to Mr Stradford" who was sentenced to jail and then swiftly releasedCommon law principles relating to judicial immunity should not be weakened because of a rare and extreme case" in which a man suffered a gross miscarriage of justice, the High Court has been told.Opening a hearing in Adelaide on Wednesday, solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue KC told the court that the principles had always been recognised as serving an important role in preserving the independence of the judiciary. Continue reading...

Yingying Xu, 46, arrested and charged after Emmanuel College student Sophie Wang's body discovered at home in Emerald Lakes area of Carrara

Woman wins visiting rights to see daughter, but not son, in first recognition that child can have two legal mothersA woman fighting a landmark LGBT custody battle in China said she still has faith for the future" after winning the right to make monthly visits to her daughter.Last month, Didi, who is 42 and lives in Shanghai, travelled to Beijing to visit her seven-year-old daughter, who lives in the capital with Didi's estranged wife and their other child. It was the first time Didi and her daughter had seen each other in four years. Continue reading...

Ethan James Green says photos featuring semi-naked John Boyega and Padma Lakshmi are about collaboration'The photographer behind the next Pirelli calendar has vowed to make it sexy again after #MeToo forced everyone to take a pause" and the company began capturing a fully-clothed cast.John Boyega is among the celebrities posing for the 2025 edition, named Refresh and Reveal, with the musclebound British actor flexing and crouching on a Florida Keys beach - while an assistant splashes him with water for full effect. Continue reading...

From a diagnosis lottery to a spiralling bill we look at the UK's battle with the diseaseThe number of people living with dementia in England is at an all-time high, with close to half a million diagnosed cases as of June 2024.Dementia - Britain's biggest killer - is an umbrella term for many conditions and affects more than 55 million people worldwide. In England, about 7,000 people are diagnosed every month. Continue reading...

Earlier testing and specialist care could improve survival rates, says study across 24 hospitalsA quarter of women with the most deadly form of ovarian cancer could receive an earlier diagnosis if they were tested and fast-tracked for specialist care, research suggests.The analysis involved researchers looking at data from the Refining Ovarian Cancer Test accuracy Scores (ROCkeTS) study, which involved 24 hospitals across the UK. Continue reading...

John Wordsworth drowned when East India Company ship sank off Dorset in 1805 and its story is important, says Historic EnglandThe government has granted protection to the wreck of a ship that was captained by the brother of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth.The Earl of Abergavenny, part of the East India Company fleet, sank in stormy weather about 1.5 miles off the Dorset coast of Weymouth in February 1805. Continue reading...

Study shows fewer students in England combining humanities such as history or music with sciences or mathsA-level students in England have increasingly dropped humanities and arts subjects in favour of a narrower range of science-based subjects after being nudged by the last government's changes to A-levels made a decade ago.The changes, backed by the former education secretary Michael Gove, split A-level courses away from AS-level exams, and a new report by the British Academy and the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) says it has resulted in declining numbers of students combining humanities such as English or music with sciences or maths. Continue reading...

Up to 400 people received parcels that could contain the contaminated lolly as police open a criminal investigationA charity working with homeless people in Auckland, New Zealand unknowingly distributed sweets filled with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels, after the items were donated by a member of the public.

Kishida's three-year term has been marked by scandal, rising living costs and record defence spendingJapan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he will not run for the presidency of his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] next month - a decision that will see the appointment of a new leader of the world's fourth-biggest economy.Kishida, who has been battling low approval ratings and a damaging funding scandal, said he would step down as LDP leader in September, telling reporters on Wednesday that the party needed an open contest to promote debate". Continue reading...

Chief executive Jeff Howard flags decline in advertising revenues and increase in debt for embattled media conglomerate

Telcos say majority of customers are now on compatible phones as government remains concerned about triple zero calls and medical devices

Climate change, living costs and China ties in focus as president Taneti Maamau seeks to extend his tenure in the Pacific countryPolls opened in the Pacific country of Kiribati on Wednesday, after an election campaign dominated by the cost of living, rising sea levels and questions about the benefit of deeper ties with China.A nation of 115,000 residents, Kiribati is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to Hawaii and controls more than 3.5 million sq km (1.4m sq miles) of Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...

CBA's result beat analyst expectations as CEO says economy remains resilient despite cost-of-living pressures

Travel company finds loophole with personalised competition that allows Paul Spiers to win 3,000 voucherA popular street cleaner who was unable to go on a crowdfunded holiday due to his waste firm employer's rules on accepting gifts will get to go on the trip after all thanks to a loophole.When more than 200 residents of Beckenham, south-east London, raised almost 3,000 to send road sweeper Paul Spiers on a summer break to Portugal, it seemed like an example of neighbourly generosity. Continue reading...

Insecure employment, climate crisis and social media are driving dangerous' decline, research findsIntergenerational inequality, unregulated social media, wage theft, insecure employment and the climate crisis are driving a dangerous" and alarming" global surge in mental ill health among youth, a consortium of health experts has warned.There is an urgent need to address these driving factors and improve mental health treatments to stymie rates of premature death, disability and lost potential, all of which have escalated over the past two decades, the research from The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health found. Continue reading...

Democratic Republic of the Congo hard-hit by virus, with death toll on continent above 1,450 since 2022

Court told staff did not follow full procedure for serving non-dairy products in case of 13-year-old Hannah JacobsA 13-year-old girl with a severe dairy allergy may have been served hot chocolate made with cow's milk after a possible miscommunication" of the order, an inquest heard on Tuesday.Hannah Jacobs, who had been allergic to dairy products along with fish and eggs since she was a toddler, died within hours of taking one sip of the drink, east London coroner's court was told. Continue reading...

The England goalkeeper says decision is example of how she and the Lionesses break barriers and push boundaries'England goalkeeper Mary Earps has become the first professional female footballer to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds London.Members of the public voted for the 31-year-old to be added to the attraction after the Lionesses' success in reaching the final of the 2023 World Cup and winning the 2022 European Championships. Continue reading...

Court to sentence Kwoyelo for 44 offences committed during militia's 20-year rebellion and reign of terrorA former commander in the feared Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been convicted of crimes against humanity after the first such war crimes trial in Uganda.Thomas Kwoyelo, who faced 78 counts related to crimes committed during the LRA's bloody two-decade rebellion, had been waiting for years behind bars for a verdict in the landmark case. Continue reading...

Tomoya Obokata's report finds power imbalances and discriminatory practice exploits workers from global southCanada's reliance on temporary foreign workers is breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery", a UN special rapporteur has warned, amid growing calls to overhaul the controversial program.The damning report from the UN investigator Tomoya Obokata found that deep power imbalances and discriminatory practice in Canada cuts costs for companies but exploits against workers from the global south. Continue reading...

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Wes Streeting says victims might still be alive' if health service had recognised Valdo Calocane's risk to othersThe health secretary said three innocent people might still be alive" if the NHS had done its job" in treating Valdo Calocane in the years running up to the Nottingham attacks.Wes Streeting said the deaths of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates were preventable if the NHS had been there when it should have been". Continue reading...

Democrats hope listing measure to establish right to abortion on ballot will boost turnout in battleground stateArizona voters will decide this November whether to add abortion rights into their state constitution, a prospect that could turbocharge voter turnout in a critical battleground state in the 2024 election.Late Monday, the Arizona secretary of state's office announced that it had validated an estimated 577,971 signatures in support of a ballot measure, the Arizona For Abortion Access Act, to establish a constitutional right to abortion in the state. Continue reading...

Arezoo Badri said to be in coma in Tehran after police attempted to pull her overA woman is reported to have been left paralysed after being shot by Iranian police who were attempting to stop her car over alleged violations of Iran's draconian hijab laws.According to human rights groups and sources inside Iran, Arezoo Badri was driving home in the northern city of Noor on 22 July when the police attempted to pull her over after her car was identified as being on an impoundment list. Continue reading...

Tom Tugendhat accused the Reform leader of amplifying false information' about the Southport attackNigel Farage was irresponsible and dangerous" to suggest the police were withholding the truth about the Southport attack, Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has said.The Conservative hopeful, a former security minister, said Farage had been amplifying false information" by spreading a theory first suggested by influencers like Andrew Tate, and then failed wholly to condemn the riots. Continue reading...

Tehran blames the country for killing of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Iranian capitalIran has rejected western calls not to retaliate against Israel for the killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, late last month.Such demands lack political logic, are entirely contrary to the principles and rules of international law, and represent an excessive request," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said in a statement. Continue reading...

Steve Rotheram, whose region covers Southport, said misinformation on platform had contributed to riotsPoliticians and the public should consider quitting Elon Musk's X platform en masse, the Labour mayor of the Liverpool city region has said after riots spread in his area.Steve Rotheram, who has more than 75,000 followers on X, and whose region covers Southport where three girls were stabbed to death two weeks ago, said misinformation on the platform had contributed to the far-right-led riots. Continue reading...

Paper says its editorial board will cease endorsement process for New York electionsThe New York Times will no longer endorse political candidates outside presidential elections, the newspaper announced on Monday.US newspapers have a long history of endorsing candidates, but the New York Times is joining some other publishers in moving away from the tradition - including the Miami Herald and Alden Global Capital, which owns titles such as the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and the Denver Post. Continue reading...

Avon Products Inc, subsidiary of Natura, says it does not have liquidity to solve 386 talc-related lawsuits

Tom Tugendhat criticises Reform UK leader's attempt to amplify false information' and for his failure to condemn the riotsRory Carroll is the Guardian's Ireland correspondentA group of 120 police officers from Scotland is to receive orientation training in Belfast on Tuesday before a week-long deployment to bolster the over-stretched Police Service of Northern Ireland.Today's figures show the welcome news that payrolled employment and median monthly pay are at record highs. However, many households and businesses are still feeling the effects of harsh trading conditions and the global cost-of-living crisis.That's why we are prioritising action to tackle child poverty, grasp the opportunities of net zero and support growth within the restrictions of the devolution settlement. Continue reading...

The ex-president used the late convicted sex offender's plane after his own jet developed engine problemsDonald Trump used a plane that was once owned by Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, to fly to several presidential campaign events last weekend, it has been revealed.The former president flew on a Gulfstream G-550 jet whose previous ownership was subsequently traced to Epstein after Trump's own private plane - a Boeing 757 known colloquially as Trump Force One - encountered engine troubles. Continue reading...

UK housebuilder said it did not intend to make a firm offer for its smaller rival after months of negotiations

Iran has vowed severe response to assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in TehranIsrael's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 39,929 Palestinians and wounded 92,240 since 7 October the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday. A total of 32 Palestinians have been killed and 88 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.The Associated Press reports that Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, including four women and seven children, and orphaned another four children, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday.

Two women say hospitals violated emergency care laws by denying treatment for life-threatening conditionTwo Texas women who were denied abortion care for life-threatening ectopic pregnancies have filed complaints with the Biden administration calling for investigations into the hospitals for violating federal law.An ectopic pregnancy is a dangerous condition in which the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. It has no chance of developing into a healthy pregnancy. Continue reading...

Chancellor looks at handing income from tunnel tolls to investors in UK's largest infrastructure project

Following Vienna terror plot, Swift fans will not be able to gather outside and sing along as they have done previouslyTaylor Swift fans congregating en masse to sing along outside open-air venues has become almost as much of a part of the Eras tour as friendship bracelets and surprise acoustic songs.But amid tightened security after a suspected terror plot at a Swift concert in Vienna, Wembley Stadium has announced it will move any fans who gather outside the London venue this week. Continue reading...

Film-maker who directed films starring Li, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh and later worked as a Hollywood fight coordinator, died during the Covid pandemic two years agoCelebrated Hong Kong martial arts actor and director Corey Yuen died two years ago during the Covid pandemic, it has been reported.The Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed Yuen's death following a social media post by action star Jackie Chan naming Yuen (also known as Yuen Kwai) among a list of late disciples of China Drama Academy head Yu Jim-yuen, who died in 1997. Continue reading...

Collectors snap up 5, 10, 20 and 50 notes bearing king's head for 11 times monetary value, with one 10 note fetching 17,000A special auction of some of the first banknotes to roll off the presses bearing King Charles III's face have raised more than 900,000 for charity, more than 11 times their monetary value.Over the summer, Spink & Sons held four specialist auctions of the newly designed 5, 10, 20 and 50 notes, with the proceeds destined for 10 selected charities. Continue reading...

Spanish police make arrest after being notified that export licence had expired and work is found to be a copySpanish police have arrested a man whose alleged plan to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting in Italy for 1.3m was thwarted when the work caught the eye of French customs officers.Although the man had an export licence for the work, which was purported to be a Leonardo portrait of the Italian aristocrat and military commander Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, the licence had expired, prompting customs officers at the Modane border post to contact Spanish police. Continue reading...

Father of one of Nottingham attack victims says there is a need to step back and see what is safe for the public'The government has told the families of the Nottingham attack victims it will slow down mental health care reforms in the wake of a damning report on the treatment that Valdo Calocane received in the years before the killings.Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, one of three people killed in the attacks, said the health secretary had told the family that mental health reforms would be slowed down. Continue reading...

Nautilus Aviation says man, who died after chopper crashed into DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, was not authorised to fly' the company's helicopters

Airstrikes have killed children born from IVF, while shelling of fertility clinic's lab has shattered other families' dreamsIt took surgery and five years of IVF treatment for Amal to fall pregnant for the first and only time. That struggle against infertility lasted almost as long as her son Khaled's short life. He was just seven years old when on 17 October an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, one of the first of the war, hit the family home.Khaled was killed and Amal was plunged into a grief heightened by memories of her long battle to become a mother. Sometimes she struggles to keep going. Death, in all its finality, seems less daunting than the relentless pain of living without Khaled," she said. He was the most precious thing in my life." Continue reading...