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Marine Le Pen's party has pledged to boost spending power, slash immigration and restore law and orderThe far-right National Rally (RN) has strengthened in final polls, including one suggesting it could be on course for a historic parliamentary majority, as candidates fought for votes on the last day of campaigning before the first-round ballot in France's most momentous election for decades.Two days before Sunday's ballot, two polls on Friday showed Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration, France-first party pulling steadily further ahead in a race it has led since President Emmanuel Macron called the shock ballot almost three weeks ago after the defeat of his centrists in the European parliamentary election. Continue reading...

Unrwa director says stench in Gaza is enough to make you kind of immediately nauseous'. This live blog is closedA ship's captain reported that five missiles had landed close to his vessel in the Red Sea, 150 nautical miles (172 miles) northwest of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitor said on Friday.After posting earlier that it had received the report and that authorities were investigating (9.32am BST), the UKMTO said the ship had reported no damage and was heading northward. It gave no information on the ship or its cargo, reports Reuters. Continue reading...

Damon Tingay punched the body of one man twice and performed sex acts on two male bodies, court heardA Grimsby man who went on a rampage in a hospital mortuary, violently and sexually attacking bodies, was told by a judge there was a very, very dark side" tohim as he was sentenced to six years in prison.Damon Tingay, 30, broke into Diana, Princess of Wales hospital in Grimsby in the early hours of 17 March and was caught on CCTV opening a number of fridges and interfering with the bodies. Continue reading...

Demonstrators from popular destinations such as Granada and Seville to join protest amid anger at lack of housingThousands of people from across southern Spain are expected to take to the streets of Malaga on Saturday in the latest in a series of protests against mass tourism.Demonstrators from the popular Andalusian destinations of Granada, Seville and Cadiz will join others in the Mediterranean city following recent protests in the Canary and Balearic islands, with another scheduled for a week later in Barcelona. Continue reading...

Essex police say they are urgently assessing' racist and homophobic remarks made by party's volunteers

Headlines echoed Democrats' anxiety that Biden is too cognitively weak and physically frail for another termUS voters woke up to post-debate reviews of the first Biden-Trump debate with headlines that echoed Democrats' anxiety that the incumbent president is too cognitively weak and physically frail to sustain another five months of political campaigning or another term in office.Those anxieties, multiple outlets reported, were being reflected in pressure from Democratic donors and former Democratic officials who are now openly talking about replacing Biden with an alternative presidential candidate at the party's convention in Chicago in August. Continue reading...

Dominique Boutonnat to step down from French industry champion CNC, and will serve sentence at homeDominique Boutonnat, the head of France's powerful National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), was on Friday given a three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended, after being convicted of sexually assaulting his godson in 2020.In a statement released immediately after the ruling, Boutonnat announced he would step down as head of the CNC, a government agency whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Boom Radio listeners share in election fatigue but demographic arguably has less to lose than younger votersSometimes only a song can sum up the national mood. When a soggy Rishi Sunak fired the starting gun on the general election in May, D:Ream's Things Can Only Get Better blared across Downing Street. Five long weeks later and voters are cueing up rather more mordant tracks to capture their political fatigue.Listeners to Boom Radio, asked to pick a classic song to sum up their feelings about the campaign, have selected Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (Is this the real life?/Is this just fantasy? / Caught in a landslide / No escape from reality") and Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower (There must be some way out of here / Said the joker to the thief"). Continue reading...

Court filing details how the King of Pop was in financial straits as he was preparing to embark on his This Is It tourMichael Jackson had accumulated more than half a billion dollars of debt when he died in 2009, new court documents reveal.A 21 June court filing by the executors of his estate provided some of the most complete details yet about the strained finances with which the 13-time Grammy winner was grappling at the time of his death. Continue reading...

Owner of plants in south Wales wants to cease operations at blast furnaces in response to strike actionLabour politicians have been urged to step in to help avert a costly mistake" by Tata Steel, which has told staff it could close operations at its steel plant in Port Talbot just days after the general election.The Indian owner of the vast south Wales steelworks said on Thursday that it plans to cease operations at two blast furnaces on the site by 7 July - three days after the general election - in response to planned strike action by Unite members starting on 8 July. The company had planned to shut one furnace by the end of June and a second by September. Continue reading...

With the first round of France's snap election on Sunday, the president's allies are desperate to shore up supportStanding in a courtyard framed by the white walls of one of Marseille's Armenian churches, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, France's secretary of state tasked with citizenship, took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully as she addressed a voter who had admitted she was considering switching allegiances to the far right.Agresti-Roubache, born to a family with Algerian roots, led with the heart, describing how concerns over the snap parliamentary election results had left her elderly mother in tears" daily. When the tactic proved futile, she changed tack. When you don't have power, you can say whatever people want to hear," said Agresti-Roubache. Continue reading...

Daily text messages and phone calls check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1As questions swirl about the spread of bird flu among livestock and people, one US state - Michigan - has taken the lead on monitoring and studying the outbreak.Other states have seemed wary of tracking cases among animals and people, but Michigan has taken a proactive approach, with daily text messages and phone calls to check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1. They also have offered free tests if symptoms develop. Continue reading...

Royal returns home after have suffered concussion and minor injuries believed to have been caused by a horsePrincess Anne has been discharged from hospital five days after being admitted with minor head injuries and concussion believed to have been caused by a horse.The Princess Royal, 73, left Southmead hospital in Bristol early on Friday morning. There is no indication yet when she will have recovered enough to resume public engagements. Continue reading...

Fifty left homeless in remote hamlet of mainly shepherds, as beatings and demolitions in occupied territory increaseIsraeli soldiers have destroyed 11 homes and other structures in an isolated community in the occupied West Bank, leaving 50 people homeless, amid a reported uptick in house demolitions and spiralling violence in the Palestinian territory.Contractors with bulldozers accompanied by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops arrived in Umm al-Kheir, a village mostly home to shepherds, on Wednesday morning and demolished six houses, tent residences, an electricity generator, solar cells and water tanks, according to residents and Israeli activists who documented the proceedings. Agricultural land and fences were also damaged and trees uprooted. Continue reading...

Party says it would allow threshold for stamp duty to fall back to 300,000 after it was raised temporarily in 2022

Royal told to attempt to retrieve messages, which judge says may be relevant to his legal battle with NGNThe Duke of Sussex has been ordered to explain why messages with his ghostwriter were destroyed after the publication of his memoir Spare when they could be relevant to his legal battle with the publishers of the Sun.Prince Harry was also told to attempt to retrieve the messages from the messaging service Signal, and his lawyers ordered to search through his other texts, WhatsApp messages and emails from 2005 to January 2023, when his bestselling autobiography was published, for relevant documents. Continue reading...

South Yorkshire police appeal for information after Laurence Ward, 57, arrested and charged over her deathPolice investigating a murder in Rotherham have named the victim as Joanne Ward and asked for anyone who knew her to contact them.South Yorkshire police said they were called to an address in the town at 5.53pm on Friday 21 June. Continue reading...

A 42-year-old man has been denied bail after being charged with the murder in Russell Lea

Between the state legalising VAD in November 2023 and February 2024, 517 patients made requests to access it, official report shows

Alexander Csergo will stand trial next year after pleading not guilty to one charge of reckless foreign interference

Exclusive: Saatchi Tell Sid'-style marketing blitz was planned before Rishi Sunak called general electionA Tell Sid"-style ad campaign featuring Sir Trevor McDonald was filmed to promote the government's now shelved plan to sell state-owned NatWest shares to the public, the Guardian can reveal.The nationwide campaign - which included TV ads featuring the veteran newsreader and presenter popping up around the UK asking the public Are you in?" - is understood to have been backed by a large-scale media budget in excess of 10m. Continue reading...

Video footage shows Lynn, who was found not guilty of murdering Russell Hill at trial, telling police the deaths were accidental

More than half of international medical graduates questioned say NHS induction inadequateMany doctors from overseas are left feeling lost, anxious and not ready to care for patients after joining the NHS because they are not properly looked after, research has found.Many international medical graduates (IMGs) feel the NHS does not help them prepare for life as a doctor in the UK and the practicalities of moving to a new country, according to a survey.38% said they had too little time to shadow other doctors to gain valuable insights.45% were not trained on cultural differences between the NHS and their country of origin and what is acceptable in the UK compared with in their home nation.48% said their induction did not involve being given enough knowledge or training before starting to work clinically.51% did not receive help or advice with practical issues after moving to the UK such as finding a place to live, opening a bank account, registering with a GP or paying council tax.41% said they were left feeling alone and isolated.38% questioned their decision to work in the NHS. Continue reading...

Investigation launched after airline reported a suspicious network popped up during a domestic flight in April

Jury finds Toby Loughnane murdered 36-year-old after a trial heard of months of violent assaults

Ryan Walters calls Bible necessary document to teach kids' and says Ten Commandments will also be required learningOklahoma's state superintendent has announced that all schools are required to teach the Bible and the Ten Commandments, a dramatic move that reignites the conversation about the separation of church and state.In a state board of education meeting on Thursday, state superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters announced a new memo that every school district will adhere to, which is that every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma in accordance with our academic standards and state law". Continue reading...

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni abstains on von der Leyen and votes against Kallas and CostaDaniel Freund, a German Green MEP, has sent a letter with 20,000 signatures to the European Council president calling for the upcoming Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU to be suspended.Together with 20.000 citizens, we, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, ask you to officially suspend the Hungarian Presidency of the Council, which is currently set to begin on July 1st, 2024," he wrote.It would be extremely harmful for the reputation of our Union, if the current Hungarian government would represent us Europeans in any capacity, just after the European elections. The EU has officially frozen funds under the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism due to the high levels of corruption in Hungary. Over the years, the Orban government has also undermined their elections, the Rule of Law, and media freedom in Hungary.On the European level, the Orban government has compared the European Union with a dictatorship. They published posters across the country with bombs bearing the EU flag, when sanctions against Russia were passed. At the time when imperialist dictator Putin is bombing Ukraine, an EU candidate country, Orban went out of his way to China just to be able to shake hands with him. Continue reading...

A close friend to Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Friedman also wrote several novels and ran for Texas governor in 2006American country singer-songwriter, author and aspirational politician Kinky Friedman, known as the Jewish cowboy", died on Wednesday at the age of 79, his estate announced.Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends," Friedman's official account posted on X on Thursday. Kinkster endured tremendous pain & unthinkable loss in recent years but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung." Continue reading...

At least six dead in crash at railway crossing near Nove Zamky, which involved Prague to Budapest serviceAt least six people have been killed and five others injured after a passenger train and bus collided at a railway crossing in southern Slovakia, rescuers have said.The crash occurred just after 5pm (3pm GMT) near the south-western town of Nove Zamky, the CTK news agency reported. The railway spokesperson, Vladimira Bahylova, told AFP the Eurocity train had been heading from Prague to Budapest. Continue reading...

Felix-Antoine Hamel ran in federal election to protest the country's lack of electoral reformsA Canadian man has made history by receiving zero votes in a contested federal election, after running as part of a protest over the lack of electoral reforms in the country.When I saw the result, I was like: Well, I am the true unity candidate. Everyone agrees not to vote for me,'" Felix-Antoine Hamel told CBC News. Continue reading...

Andrew Parker, who is canvassing in Clacton, also described Islam as a cult' and suggested asylum seekers should be shotA Reform UK activist in the constituency where Nigel Farage is standing has been secretly filmed making extremely racist comments about Rishi Sunak, as well as using Islamophobic and other offensive language.Farage said he was dismayed" by the views expressed by Andrew Parker, a Reform canvasser, who was filmed as part of an undercover investigation by Channel 4 News. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Shadow health secretary discusses plans for waiting lists and patient safety if Labour wins election

Inquiry into possible violations of provincial law after TC Energy executive claims company influenced governmentBritish Columbia's attorney general has called for an investigation into possible violations of provincial law after a Canadian oil and gas executive claimed the company improperly used political connections to dramatically'' weaken the province's environmental policies.In leaked audio recordings first published by the Narwhal and heard by the Guardian, the executive, Liam Iliffe, claimed that TC Energy, a Calgary-based pipeline company with operations spanning the continent, had ghostwritten ministerial briefing notes and planted employees next to the strawberries or the romaine lettuce" at a Costco supermarket to choreograph seemingly impromptu meetings with senior bureaucrats in order to push the company's agenda. Continue reading...

PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Minister says alleged putschists will be charged with crimes after apparent mutiny in volatile countryThe former heads of Bolivia's army and navy are among a dozen people so far arrested for their alleged roles in a seemingly bungled military coup designed to topple the South American country's leftwing president, Luis Arce.Speaking on Thursday morning, just over 12 hours after the fleeting insurrection in La Paz, Bolivia's minister of government, Eduardo Del Castillo, accused the former army chief Gen Juan Jose Zuniga Macias and the former head of the navy R Adm Juan Arnez Salvador of leading a group of putschists who had conspired to bring down a democratically elected government". Continue reading...

Scores of highly qualified French citizens from Muslim backgrounds have left the country in recent yearsEven as she climbed up the corporate ladder in France, Ophelie Rizki's after-work routine remained unchanged. Each evening as she got into her car to drive home, she would make a beeline for her headscarf, feeling herself slowly becoming whole again as she covered her hair.She had never been explicitly told that she couldn't wear her hijab at work, nor had she asked. But as politicians in France continued to spar over headscarves, two decades after parliament voted to ban them in school, she worried about the impact that choosing to keep her hair covered would have on her career. You don't ask the question, you know it's not something you can do," she said. Continue reading...

Undercover officer says Gavin Plumb sent him photos of an abduction kit' and bottles of chloroformA security guard on trial for allegedly plotting to murder Holly Willoughby posed an imminent threat" to her safety, the US-based undercover officer who flagged his apparent intentions to UK police told a jury on Thursday.The officer appeared at Chelmsford crown court via video link using the alias David Nelson to give evidence in the trial of 37-year-old Gavin Plumb, who denies plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Willoughby. Continue reading...

Presenter forced to improvise after track cuts out because of computer system failurePlease don't stop the music," Rihanna once sang. On Thursday, producers at BBC Radio 2 scrambled to oblige after Vernon Kay was forced to use CDs to play music on the station after its digital system failed.The radio presenter, 50, was playing Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who towards the end of his show when the issue occurred. At about 11.30am, the track cut out and he came back on air laughing, and saying: this has never happened to me, where the computer system has just failed". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Anti-corruption charity calls for ban on parties accepting donations from companies with public contractsCompanies linked to Conservative donors have collectively received 8.4bn in public money since 2016, analysis shows, more than 150 times what the party has received in support.Government spending and political donation records reveal that key contributors have given 53.7m to the Tory party since January 2015, while controlling firms that have received billions in government and NHS contracts over eight years.Frank Hester, whose company The Phoenix Partnership has received 427.7m from the NHS and Department for Health since 2016 and who has donated 15.3m to the Conservatives since 2023. The businessman, mired in a row about comments condemned as racist and misogynistic, gave the Conservative party 5m in January.JCB Service, which donated almost 3.3m between May 2017 and September last year. Companies within the same corporate grouping have directly received 566,161 between April 2016 and April this year.Richard Harpin, who has donated 2.7m between May 2016 and March 2024, including a donation from a company he has significant control over: Growth Partner LLP. His firms Harmony Bridge Limited and Liberty House (Hull) Ltd received a combined 730,980 from Homes England between May 2019 and August 2021.Dr Selva Pankaj, who has donated 727,000 to the Conservatives since November 2015. His company FP(GB) LTD (formerly known as Fortress Properties) received 4,733,336 from Homes England between November 2020 and August 2023. Continue reading...

Yoav Gallant said Israel is preparing for war with Hezbollah but stressed that his government preferred a diplomatic solution

Death in England linked to ongoing outbreak, agency saysOne person in England has died linked to the ongoing E coli outbreak, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.The UKHSA said it had identified two people in England who died within 28 days of infection with shiga toxin-producing E coli (Stec). Continue reading...

Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners sayThe UK National Crime Agency's decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China's Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday's decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour. Continue reading...

Not everyone knows that he's standing as an independent,' said a source in the former Labour leader's campaign team

The promotion of European immigration was linked to the idea of whitening the Brazilian population', say historiansDominga Menezes was only 12 years old when she danced for a dictator.It was 25 July 1974, and Sao Leopoldo, a medium-sized city in Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, was celebrating both the anniversary of its founding and 150 years of German immigration to Brazil. Continue reading...

Airport operator says it will fight for more costly underground option despite expert report's findings

Labor MP for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said he and his staff were safe and unharmed after the very serious incident'

Retailer says AI-enabled phones and computers helped pre-tax profits rise by 10% despite UK sales slide

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Alexander Csergo waiting to hear if he will be granted bail after already spending 14 months in jail

Watercolour drawing for first book's cover becomes most expensive item from the series ever sold at auctionA watercolour drawing for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has fetched a record amount at auction.The artwork for the cover of the first book in the JK Rowling series fetched $1.9m (1.5m) at a sale by Sotheby's auction house in New York on Wednesday. Continue reading...