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President Lasso imposes 60-day order and authorizes armed forces to retake control of country's violence-plagued prisonsEcuador's president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a 60-day state of emergency throughout the country's prisons and authorized the armed forces to retake control of jails, following violence in the country's most notorious prison that left 18 dead and a string of protests in which inmates took nearly 100 guards hostage.The measure - the second state of emergency that Lasso has ordered in less than 24 hours - will be in effect for 60 days and orders the immediate mobilization of the military and police in an effort to regain control of the prisons. Continue reading...

Counsel for one of eight men accused of sexually exploiting two girls says town's history should not count against themJurors trying eight men from Rochdale accused of sexually exploiting two girls have been warned not to be prejudiced by the fact the Greater Manchester town has become synonymous with grooming".They were told to rid yourself of preconceptions" and not be tempted to convict simply to redress past wrongs" for the failures of the authorities in other well-publicised Rochdale cases, such as those portrayed in the BBC drama Three Girls. Continue reading...

Report finds army, navy, police and intelligence agencies knew, minute by minute, where the student teachers wereMexican security forces at local, state and federal level knew about the 2014 abduction of 43 student teachers and were complicit in their disappearances, a report prepared by an independent investigatory panel has concluded.The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) - a panel appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights who were tasked with investigating the case - said in the report on one of Mexico's most notorious human rights scandals that the army, navy, police and intelligence agencies knew, minute by minute, where the student teachers were. Continue reading...

Research by Bank of England economist reveals huge scale of parental support in housing marketThe massive scale of parental support for young people seeking to buy their first property has been revealed in a UK study showing one in four new homebuyers under 25 rely on the bank of mum and dad".A blogpost by a Bank of England economist found that even before the sharp increase in house prices during the Covid-19 pandemic, the children of better-off parents were able to become owner occupiers four years earlier than those without parental support. Continue reading...

Dozens also injured as army shells three neighbourhoods in city close to capital, KhartoumAt least 18 people have been killed in the Sudanese city of Omdurman as the war between the national army chief and his former deputy continues.Dozens of people were also injured when the army shelled three neighbourhoods in the city, which lies next to the capital, Khartoum, residents said. Continue reading...

Russia says it repelled drone attack on patrol boat in Black Sea; Ukraine claims small advance in the Bakhmut area

Exclusive: Move follows outcry from small firms, charities and others about hidden commission fees

Regulator acts after firm paid millions by NHS for healthcare gave patients wrong chemotherapy doseBritain's health regulator has partly suspended the manufacturing licence of Sciensus, a private company paid millions by the NHS to provide vital medicines, after the death of a cancer patient who was given the wrong dose of chemotherapy.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had taken immediate" action under regulation 28 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 law where it appears to the MHRA that in the interests of safety the licence should be suspended". Continue reading...

Cafes refuse to sell Pheu Thai party candidate's favourite beverage amid fears of plot to ice-out coalition partnersFor some in Thailand, the thought of a chocolate-mint ice drink suddenly leaves a bad taste.Several cafes have suspended their sales. One shop described it as a betray-your-friend" drink in a graphic posted on their Facebook page. Another said it was a drink to kick your friend into the boat", a phrase that means to push a friend away. Continue reading...

Exhibition opening in the autumn will celebrate sport's journey from fringes to OlympicsFrom its origins in the California hills to its ubiquity on urban streets around the globe, the history of skateboarding spans seven decades over which it has evolved from fringe sport to Olympics event.Where once surfers nailed roller skates to makeshift wooden boards to practise their moves on concrete when there were no waves, the ongoing commercialisation of the sport has led to a booming industry. Continue reading...

Charities urge government to ban no-fault evictions and accelerate housebuildingThe number of households in temporary accommodation in England is at its highest since records began as charities call on out of touch" government to ban no-fault evictions and accelerate social housebuilding.Government figures released on Tuesday show 104,510 households were in temporary accommodation by the end of March this year, the highest figure since records began in 1998. The rise has been sharp, with 9,520 more households being placed in temporary accommodation since last year, a 10% jump. Continue reading...

Killing of Saridewi Djamani is one of two this week as activists say most on death row are marginalised peopleSingapore is due to execute a woman for the first time in almost 20 years on Friday, one of two killings planned for this week.Singaporean national Saridewi Djamani was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in 2018, after she was found guilty of possession of about 30g of heroin for the purposes of trafficking, according to the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), which tracks death row cases. Continue reading...

The star of the Fast and Furious franchise has made a seven-figure donation to a Sag-Aftra Foundation Relief Fund, for actors who will face financial ruin' due to the strike in HollywoodDwayne Johnson, star of Black Adam and the Fast and Furious franchise, has made a major, historic" financial contribution to the Sag-Aftra Foundation Relief Fund, which provides emergency assistance to union members during strike action.According to a report in Variety, Johnson's seven-figure donation" arrived in response to a letter sent by the foundation's president Courtney B Vance to 2,700 of the highest-earning actors in the film industry. Continue reading...

Salvatore Mancuso, who is imprisoned in US, is responsible for more than 300 killings and is accused of about 75,000 crimesSalvatore Mancuso is one of the most notorious figures in Colombia's six decades of conflict, responsible for some of the most heinous of crimes during the darkest chapters in the country's history.As a senior commander of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) - the country's largest rightwing death squad - he ordered forced disappearances, sexual violence and massacres of civilians. Continue reading...

Osborne's regressive benefit policy is despised even by some of its Tory architects. But Starmer is in no mood to make spending promises

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Set around a culture war in a nursing home, Chandran's third novel has won Australia's biggest literary prize - and yet, she says, she was almost too afraid to write it

Family members of East Timorese in UK denied right to visit, as Home Office says too many hoping to work illegallyThe Home Office has been accused of implementing discriminatory policies towards visitors from Timor-Leste, many of whom have the right to travel to the UK but who have been blocked from entering the country in large numbers.Regulations were changed last week to require East Timorese visitors to apply for visas before travelling to the UK, after decades of visa-free travel. The Foreign Office said this was in response to a sustained and significant" rise in the number of people travelling from the tiny south-east Asian island with the intention of working here illegally. Continue reading...

Palestinian media described the killing as an ambush following an attempted attack on Israeli forces nearbyThe Israeli military has said it shot and killed three alleged Palestinian gunmen in the northern occupied West Bank, the latest bloodshed in one of the most violent stretches of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in years.Israeli security forces said they opened fire on Tuesday at Palestinian militants who had shot at them from a car in the West Bank city of Nablus, the territory's commercial capital and a major focus of the Israeli military's recently stepped-up raids. In the hilly neighbourhood of al-Tur shortly after the shooting, Israeli forces inspected a shattered black Skoda surrounded by spent bullet casings. Continue reading...

Author Jess Hill tells inquiry into consent laws almost half of children aged nine to 16 are being regularly exposed to porn, with damaging effect

Requiring new homes to have step-free access and corridors wide enough for a wheelchair will save money in long run, experts say

Anthony Albanese says opposition leader has responsibility to explain what occurred on his watch'

Union members reject 5% pay award and call for talks to reopen after other public sector workers were offered moreThousands of radiographers in England are to strike on Tuesday amid a row with the government over pay, recruitment and retention.Members of the Society of Radiographers (SoR) have voted to reject the 5% pay award offered by ministers and called for talks to reopen after other public sector workers, including junior doctors, were offered more. Continue reading...

Police say finding is common when dealing with cases of this type' a month after actor's body was recovered in California mountainsJulian Sands' cause of death has been deemed undetermined due to the condition of his body, six months after the British actor went missing while hiking in California.The determination was made nearly a month after Sands' body was recovered from the Mount Baldy area, and six months after the A Room With a View actor was reported missing by his family after he went hiking. Continue reading...

Passing of key part of Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to reduce power of courts is met with calls for strike action and street protests by thousandsDoctors across Israel are set to strike on Tuesday in protest against the passing of a key part of Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, after thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Monday night.The Israeli Medical Association, which says it represents about 95% of doctors, said it would hold a 24-hour protest, with exemptions for medical care in Jerusalem and emergency care across the country. It held a brief strike last week as a warning, arguing the judicial overhaul would devastate the healthcare system". The doctors are set to be joined in strike action on Tuesday by 73% of interns, according to the Intern Doctors Organization. Health minister Moshe Arbel is reportedly seeking an injunction to prevent the doctors' strike going ahead. Continue reading...

Police allege Rafferty Rolfe, 25, was pursuing his girlfriend, who had been picked up by a good Samaritan' before crash at Federal in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland

Antonio Guterres calls on Moscow to return to deal allowing safe export of Ukrainian grain; US citizen working for AFP hurt in Bakhmut attack

Requirement for animal medicines to be batch-tested in EU could see products discontinued, BVA warnsNorthern Ireland could lose half of its veterinary medicines in a new Brexit row threatening to prolong the political stalemate in the region, it has emerged.The British Veterinary Association told the Lords committee on Northern Ireland in written evidence that it was extremely concerned" about the issue even though the Windsor framework sealed between Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, in March was sold as a solution to the protracted saga regarding Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Crossbencher asks Lords to imagine bots with higher productivity and lower running costs' as example of risk to UK jobs marketThe House of Lords could be replaced by bots with deeper knowledge, higher productivity and lower running costs", said a peer during a debate on the development of advanced artificial intelligence.Addressing the upper chamber, Richard Denison hypothesised that AI services may soon be able to deliver his speeches in his own style and voice, with no hesitation, repetition or deviation". Continue reading...

Legislation outlaws medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person' and altering gender details in public recordsVladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia's embattled LGBTQ+ community.The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person", as well as banning changing a person's gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies. Continue reading...

South Korean armed forces condemned the two launches as a grave provocation'North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, adding to a recent streak of weapons testing that is apparently in protest against the US sending naval assets to South Korea.In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said early on Tuesday local time. It said both missiles travelled about 250 miles (400km) before landing in waters off the Korean peninsula's eastern coast. Continue reading...

Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection win has led to some Tories arguing green measures that drive up costs for people should be delayed or abandonedQ: Why should anyone believe you will build 300,000 homes a year when the government has not been doing that?Gove said he was someone who, when he made a promise, delivered on it. Continue reading...

Israel faces a constitutional crisis after parliament passed a key part of the government's changesIsrael's far-right and ultra-religious government has finally succeeded in passing an element of its wide-ranging changes to the judiciary.Legal action, a general strike and possible refusal from upwards of 10,000 military reservists to report for duty are now on the cards as Israel's largest ever domestic crisis enters a new chapter. Continue reading...

Roars and cries from demonstrators as bill passes 64-0 after opposition politicians leave plenum in protest

David Harmes, 27, remanded at Chester crown court after pleading guilty to offences against children as young as sixA man who posed online as a scout for child models has admitted 88 sex offences against victims as young as six.David Harmes, 27, had only just been released from prison for grooming children online when he began offending again. His latest offences involved 39 victims in the UK and six in the US between July 2019 and February 2020. Continue reading...

Kyriakos Mitsotakis warns parliament three difficult days lie ahead with blazes also raging on islands of Evia and Corfu

Almost 60% of people support players receiving equal pay in the Women's World Cup

Choudary is charged with three offences, including membership of proscribed organisationThe Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has appeared in court charged with three terror offences relating to the banned organisation al-Muhajiroun, which he is accused of leading.The 56-year-old, from Ilford in east London, is accused of directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation. Continue reading...

CFMEU to launch campaign to push Labor to adopt policy of 40% tax on excess profits to cover cost of building 750,000 homes

Drones damage buildings in Moscow city centre; Russia attacks Odesa again, destroying a grain depot and injuring four port employees

Anthony Browne says he will oppose housing secretary's proposals for new urban quarter

Independent reviewer says party has taken for ever' to focus on recommendations in his 2021 report

Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, daughter of wanted pro-democracy activist Elmer Yuen, taken for questioning, according to local mediaHong Kong national security police have reportedly detained the daughter, son, and daughter-in-law of a wanted activist, in the latest move targeting the families of pro-democracy figures in exile.Mimi Mi Wahng Yuen, the daughter of Elmer Yuen, her brother Derek, and his wife, the legislator Eunice Yung, were taken for questioning on Monday morning, according to local media. Sing Tao Daily reported Mimi had only arrived from Los Angeles on Monday morning. Continue reading...

PM recovering from pacemaker operation amid street protests over judicial overhaul plan and Biden call to scrap voteIsrael's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has arrived at parliament for a key vote related to his government's bitterly contested judicial overhaul, only hours after being discharged from hospital after an emergency heart procedure.Thousands of demonstrators who marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last week remained camped out outside the Knesset on Monday before two votes on the plenum floor, in which the reasonableness" clause allowing the supreme court to overrule government decisions is expected to be abolished. Continue reading...

Hiker dies as US national park exceeds 50C, while heatwave in southern Europe is expected to easeThe US, like Europe, has been experiencing extreme heat over the past week and temperatures are expected to remain well above normal in places over the coming days.Death Valley in California, the location of the disputed global record for maximum temperature, exceeded 50C (122F) on several days, which resulted in the death of at least one hiker. Continue reading...

Terry Bishop, 65, was one of three people killed in pile-up on Bruce Highway on Friday

Mining magnate's children and former business partners of her father making claims on Hancock Prospecting's share in massive Hope Downs mining project

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John Margerison was due to front parliamentary committee hearing into government contracts but his lawyer says he now lives overseas

News comes days after confirmation Campbell was suspended without pay from senior Aukus advisory position with Department of Defence