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Atsuko Sato announces death of her shiba inu Kabosu, whose 2010 photo led her to be described as the Mona Lisa of the internet'The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the 18bn Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk has died, her owner said.She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her," Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog on Friday, thanking the fans of her shiba inu called Kabosu - the face of the Doge' meme. Continue reading...

Six villages in PNG's Enga province were covered on Friday morning, with response teams sent to the areaA landslide in a remote region in northern Papua New Guinea killed up to 100 people, local people estimated as emergency teams rushed to the area.Six villages in Mulitaka, in Enga province's Porgera-Paiela district, were covered by the landslide early on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Frontrunner to be European Commission president was questioned over alliances with Meloni and others in face-off with rival candidatesSandro Gozi, representing Renew Europe Now, has walked on stage.Walter Baier, representing the Party of the European Left, has entered the stage. Continue reading...

Taiwan's military says its forces are on alert as China carries out mock strikes with jets carrying live missilesDozens of Chinese fighter jets carrying live missiles have carried out mock strikes against Taiwanese targets, China's military has said, on the first day of surprise military drills announced as punishment" after Taiwan inaugurated its new president.On Thursday morning the People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced the immediate beginning of two days of drills, code-named Joint Sword-2024A, surrounding Taiwan and its islands near the Chinese border. Continue reading...

UK defence secretary said on Wednesday that Moscow was receiving help with combat equipment for use in Ukraine

Tribunal reinstated Emmanuel Saki's visa in March and he was later charged with murder of 22-year-old Brisbane man

Campaign will be a test for two new first ministers and could put fresh pressure on Stormont power sharingThis general election will be fought in quite different ways across the UK's four nations - the Scottish National party dominates in Scotland and Labour in Wales. Yet those contests will be defined by Labour's resurgence just as in England. In Northern Ireland, increasingly isolated unionist parties are pitted against republican Sinn Fein. Continue reading...

Lynn's lawyer says accused - who has pleaded not guilty to murder - committed terrible acts' to evade police

Architectural gem has twice been badly damaged by fire and rebuild has suffered a string of setbacksThe responsibility for restoring Glasgow's Mackintosh building should be taken out the hands of the city's art school and placed with an independent body, according to leading architects, politicians and heritage experts who have expressed dismay at the lack of progress.Thursday marks 10 years since the building - which houses Glasgow School of Art - was first badly damaged by a fire, which destroyed the Mack's library, one of the world's finest examples of art nouveau design. Continue reading...

People urged to check they are fully immunised after NSW and Victorian health authorities alert to three separate cases of virus in May

Daddy Changed the World will tell the story of the man whose murder sparked anti-police brutality protests across the US in 2020George Floyd, the 46-year-old man whose murder by a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide anti-police brutality protests in 2020, will be getting the biopic treatment.The family-authorized film, titled Daddy Changed the World, will depict the life of the man who became a national symbol of racial injustice, Deadline reported on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Painting by Hannah Uzor is a portrait of strength and dignity', says the magazineA new portrait of the Princess of Wales has been unveiled on Tatler's July cover, with the artist behind it saying the painting was influenced by Catherine's video about her cancer diagnosis.The painting, by the British-Zambian artist Hannah Uzor, depicts Kate at the first state banquet of King Charles III's reign during the South Africa state visit in 2022. Continue reading...

Deputy manager of Tiny Toes nursery sentenced over manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan

UN says 1m people face catastrophic levels of hunger as food aid piles up on Egyptian side of borderThe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is set to worsen once again as deliveries of aid and fuel to the Palestinian territory slow to a trickle in the wake of Israel's two-week-old ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.The UN has suspended food distribution in Rafah owing to a lack of supplies and insecurity, the world body said late on Tuesday, and delivery operations from the new US-funded floating pier have also been halted after desperate people seized most of the shipment offloaded on to trucks on Saturday, an incident in which one person was killed. Continue reading...

Experts conclude hundreds more died on Channel Island, a British crown dependency, than previously thoughtMore than 1,000 slave labourers may have died on British soil at the hands of the Nazis in the second world war, hundreds more deaths than were officially recorded in historical archives, a review has found.Labourers on the island of Alderney were subject to atrocious living and working conditions, which included starvation, long working hours, completing dangerous construction works, beatings, maiming, torture, being housed in inadequate accommodation and, in some cases, executions", the review said. Continue reading...

Minister lays out details day after damning report found NHS and government culpable for scandal

Euro 2024 men's football tournament and Olympic Games could drive summer sales, says analyst

Proportion in Ireland rose from 27% in 2017 to 40% in 2022, as pandemic and cost of living crisis hit EU nations

Attorney general Yvette D'Ath says the proposed laws will minimise the number of times a victim-survivor has to give evidence, reducing re-traumatisation'

Exclusive: 96% of trusts surveyed say health worse in local area, with more than half of those saying decline significantAlmost every NHS trust across England surveyed has seen health worsen in their area as a result of poverty and the cost of living crisis, research has found.The survey, conducted between February and March 2024, spoke to leaders at 72 NHS trusts, accounting for a third of all trusts in England. The trusts surveyed included acute, mental health, ambulance and community. Continue reading...

Met Office says downpours could be intense' on Tuesday, with alerts also covering large parts of WalesThunderstorm warnings have been issued across south-west England and parts of Northern Ireland for Tuesday that could continue into the evening.The Met Office also said intense" downpours, with up to 2in (5cm) of rain, could be expected to fall over a few hours in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Plymouth, Somerset, Torbay and in western parts of Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Thousands of deaths could have been avoided, final report on infection of thousands with HIV or hepatitis C concludesThe scandal that claimed the lives of 3,000 people treated with contaminated blood was inflamed by a chilling" NHS and government cover-up, a scathing report has found on what Rishi Sunak has declared a day of shame".In the long-awaited conclusion to a five-year public inquiry, Brian Langstaff, who chaired the investigation, said on Monday the calamity could largely, though not entirely, have been avoided" - but successive governments and others in authority did not put patient safety first". Continue reading...

To many who were infected, or whose loved ones were, the report confirms what they already knewWe have been gaslit for generations," was the reaction of Andy Evans, chair of campaign group Tainted Blood, in response to the final report into the contaminated blood scandal.To many who were infected, or whose parents, children, partners or other loved ones were, the report merely confirms what they already knew. Continue reading...

Lai Ching-te uses inauguration speech to push for peace in the region and says future of Taiwan important to future of the worldLai Ching-te has been sworn in as Taiwan's new president, urging China to cease their political and military intimidation against Taiwan" and to keep the world free from the fear of more war.Lai was inaugurated on Monday morning at the Japanese colonial-era presidential office in central Taipei, taking over from Tsai Ing-wen, whose eight years in power saw a deterioration in relations with Beijing. Continue reading...

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Pent-up demand from would-be buyers pausing their plans last year has led to price rise despite mortgage rates remaining elevatedThe average British house price reached a record high of 375,131 in May, according to Rightmove. The average prices of properties coming to market rose 0.8%, or 2,807, month on month.Pent-up demand from would-be buyers who paused their plans last year is a key driver behind increased home mover activity despite mortgage rates remaining elevated for longer than anticipated, the property website's report said. Continue reading...

People in Kyiv and Kharkiv celebrate win in world heavyweight unification fight as symbolic achievement for the countryFrom the capital, Kyiv, to the heavily attacked region of Kharkiv, news of Oleksandr Usyk's win over Tyson Fury brought war-weary Ukrainians a rare and very welcome moment of victory and celebration.Usyk, who became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion this century after his victory in Riyadh in the early hours of Sunday, said his triumph did not belong to him alone. Continue reading...

Mick Whelan says unacceptable offer was briefed to the media 10 minutes after it was sent to himMick Whelan, the head of the Aslef train drivers' union, has never even opened an email setting out a proposed deal to end strike action 17 months ago because he realised the offer was so bad it would be rejected, he has said.In an interview with parliamentary magazine The House, Whelan said he had not met Mark Harper, the transport secretary, since December 2022, or Huw Merriman, the transport minister whose brief covers rail, since January 2023. Continue reading...

Website blames human error for the advert, now removed, for about 100 seats when practice is illegal in UKThe ticket trading website Viagogo has apologised for mistakenly" advertising tickets to an upcoming England football match, despite the fact that the resale of football tickets is illegal in the UK.Cris Miller, the managing director of Viagogo,has previously said the company does not resell football tickets. But Viagogo was advertising about 100 seats at Wembley for England's 7 June friendly against Iceland, a warm-up for this summer's Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Continue reading...

Party says pooling resources across regions would deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week for patientsHospitals would have to share waiting lists and pool resources under Labour's plans to reduce waiting times by delivering up to 40,000 extra NHS appointments a week.The party has announced that patients would be offered appointments at nearby hospitals, rather than necessarily at their local one, which would enable people to receive faster treatment. Hospital staff and resources would be pooled across a region and would run evening and weekend surgeries. Continue reading...

O'Reilly, who was also an international rugby player for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions, died in Dublin on SaturdayTony O'Reilly, one of Ireland's leading business figures, has died at the age of 88.O'Reilly, who had a career in the media as well as being an international rugby player for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions, died in St Vincent's hospital in Dublin on Saturday. Continue reading...

Former chancellor, who was one of those who urged Johnson to go, says Tories should have realised Twitter was not the country'Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he and his Conservative colleagues were wrong to force out Boris Johnson as prime minister in 2022.Johnson resigned after less than three years in No 10 after more than 50 resignations from government of MPs and staff and waves of backbenchers urging him to quit over the handling of the Chris Pincher affair and numerous other scandals. He resigned as an MP a year later. Continue reading...

The cultural sector falls short on other measures of diversity too, with 9o% of workers white, says new reportSix in 10 of all arts and culture workers in the UK now come from middle-class backgrounds, compared with just over 42% of the wider workforce, according to new research.And while 23% of the UK workforce is from a working-class background, working-class people are underrepresented in every area of arts and culture. They make up 8.4% of those working in film, TV, radio and photography, while in museums, archives and libraries, the proportion is only 5.2%. Continue reading...

Met Office says heavy rain and sudden flooding could occur in affected areas and cause transport disruptionThunderstorm warnings have been issued by the Met Office across England and Wales for Saturday afternoon and continuing into the evening.A yellow weather warning is in place between 1pm and 8pm, covering large parts of Wales and south-west England. Continue reading...

Ukraine's president says air defences must quadruple to halt Russian advance as morale falls among troopsThe Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he expects Russia to step up its offensive in the north-east and warned Kyiv has only a quarter of the air defences it needs to hold the front line.Russian forces, which had made only moderate advances in recent months, launched a surprise assault in Kharkiv region on 10 May that has resulted in their biggest territorial gains in a year-and-a-half. Continue reading...

Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday and is facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking

Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed Terence Carney, 70, and tried to kill another man in attacks described as terrorismA terrorist who murdered a pensioner in Hartlepool town centre as revenge" for the people of Gaza" has been jailed for 45 years.Ahmed Alid, 45, an asylum seeker from Morocco, stabbed 70-year-old Terence Carney, a complete stranger he encountered on the street, on 15 October. Continue reading...

Samantha Power says barely 100 trucks of aid a day enter Gaza, far less than 600 needed to address threat of famineHumanitarian assistance has begun to arrive in Gaza along a US-made pier, but the US aid chief said the new sea corridor could not be a substitute for land crossings, and warned that deliveries of food and fuel entering Gaza had slowed to dangerously low levels".The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, confirmed on Friday that truckloads of humanitarian aid, including food from the United Arab Emirates, sent by ship from Cyprus, had been unloaded on the Gaza coast and handed over to the control of the UN. Continue reading...

Four suspects arrested at the scene of attack in Bamiyan, with four more foreigners and three Afghans reported woundedThree Spanish tourists and an Afghan civilian have been killed in a shooting attack in Bamiyan province, central Afghanistan.The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, wrote on social messaging platform X that he was shocked by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan". Continue reading...

Bakery scent' added via microcapsules to postage stamp celebrating jewel of French culture'The French Post Office has released a scratch-and-sniff postage stamp to celebrate the baguette, once described by President Emmanuel Macron as 250 grams of magic and perfection".The stamp, which costs 1.96, depicts a baguette decorated with a red, white and blue ribbon. It has a print run of 594,000 copies. Continue reading...

In texts received in Spanish and translated to English, the girl tried to describe her location, though she did not know where she wasAuthorities rescued a 17-year old girl after she was trafficked to Ventura county, California, from Mexico two months ago and texted 911 for help.On Thursday, the Ventura county sheriff's office announced that on 9 May authorities rescued the girl after she sent messages to 911. The text message correspondence began with a call taker at a 911 communication center, according to the sheriff's office, which added that the messages were received in Spanish and translated into English. Continue reading...

Young girl was among six people killed in gunfire in an area of Chiapas where shootings have become common and widespreadA mayoral candidate and five other people have been killed when gunmen opened fire at a campaign rally in the violence-racked southern Mexico state of Chiapas.State prosecutors said a young girl was among the six people killed in the gunfire late on Thursday, along with the mayoral candidate Lucero Lopez Maza. Two others were injured, they said. Continue reading...

Libertarian president Javier Milei has slashed public spending as he wrestles to tame hyperinflation, now at 289% annuallyCommuters in Buenos Aires have been hit by an overnight 360% increase in subway fares, in one of the most dramatic price hikes in a harsh budget austerity campaign launched by Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Milei.After weeks of hearings, a judge on Thursday lifted an order that had temporarily blocked the scheduled increase in subway fares. That cleared the way for the change to take effect on Friday morning as office workers across Buenos Aires streamed through the turnstiles of South America's oldest underground metro. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts call for higher taxes and tougher regulation as research shows cost to NHS, other public services and economyThe cost of alcohol abuse is laid bare in a new study that shows 27bn a year being spent in England on the health and social harms of drinking.The research that found the extra burden on the NHS, social services, the criminal justice system and the labour market cost at least 37% more than in 2003, when comparable research by the Cabinet Office estimated the costs at between 18.5bn and 20bn. Continue reading...

Chancellor also criticised for dodgy dossier' on Labour plans as he aims to make low tax a key election issueJeremy Hunt has been accused of exaggerating the Conservatives' economic record and presenting a dodgy dossier" on Labour's spending plans, as he moved to put low tax at the heart of his party's offer at the next election.The chancellor gave a speech in central London pitching the Conservatives as having helped the UK recover from economic troubles more quickly than expected. He also signalled a further cut to national insurance in the autumn, having already reduced the tax from 12p in the pound to 8p. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary sets out vision for a more strategic, less elitist approach to UK diplomacyThe shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, says his family history as descendants of enslaved people will inform his work in government, as he seeks to deepen the UK's relations with the global south and the Commonwealth.I will take the responsibility of being the first foreign secretary descended from the slave trade incredibly seriously," he said in a speech setting out how Labour would reform the foreign, commonwealth and development office (FCDO), a Whitehall department that has a reputation for institutional conservatism. Continue reading...

Chancellor seems to cherrypick data as he tries to outline how the Tories have got the country back on its feetJeremy Hunt called a press conference on Friday to outline why the electorate should trust the Conservatives with the economy, but some of his claims appear to have used cherrypicked facts and figures. He gave his speech just over a week after the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, accused the Conservatives of gaslighting" the UK over the state of the economy by presenting too rosy a picture of what is actually going on.Here are some of Hunt's statements on the economy, and some context for his claims. Continue reading...

PC Perry Lathwood handcuffed Jocelyn Agyemang last year over false suspicion of fare evasion in CroydonA Metropolitan police officer who manhandled a woman as she was arrested in front of her son on the false suspicion of fare evasion has been found guilty of assault.PC Perry Lathwood was found guilty of assault by beating after a one-day trial at City of London magistrates court last week. Continue reading...

Israel complains of obscene exploitation' of genocide convention and asks judges to throw out bid to halt Rafah offensiveIsrael on Friday attacked South Africa's case against it in the international court of justice as an obscene exploitation" of the genocide convention, claiming it aimed not to protect Palestinian civilians but to defend Hamas militants.Israel's representatives told the court their country was fighting a war of self-defence it did not want and did not start". They said Israel had made extraordinary" efforts to protect civilians, and had complied with orders from the court to let more aid into Gaza. Continue reading...

Attack on prime minister lifts lid on divided politics of one of the most polarised countries in Europe'On Friday morning, Father Toma stood solemnly in the small Catholic church nestled near a park along the banks of the Danube River in Bratislava.He had seen an increase in visitors since Wednesday's shock shooting of Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, which has prompted soul-searching among the country's deeply divided society. The priest, who did not wish to give his full name, planned to hold his weekly Sunday service to pray for peace in Slovakia, so that we find mutual respect and understanding". Continue reading...