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Jury continues to deliberate further charges against Chris Brain, who led Nine O'Clock Service movement in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995A former vicar who led an evangelical movement between 1986 and 1995 has been found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women.Chris Brain, 68, appeared at Inner London crown court accused of sexual offences against 13 women who were members of the Nine O'Clock Service (NOS), an influential Sheffield-based Christian worship group that was likened to a cult. Continue reading...

Chancellor and prime minister are latest in a long line of politicians who have tried to squeeze more out of UK propertyRachel Reeves is in favour of radical tax reform - or at least she was in 2018. We need a radical overhaul of the tax system because our current system of wealth taxation isn't working," she argued in her pamphlet The Everyday Economy.Seven years later, in her second year as chancellor, Reeves appears to be returning to some of the themes in that pamphlet, especially as it relates to the UK's convoluted and unpopular system of taxing property. Continue reading...

Dr Stephen Parnis says public comments based on my views and conscience' in resignation email that has prompted letter writing campaign in his support

Experts say stamp duties and income taxes have a much higher burden than more efficient policies, such as GST

Review after review has made recommendations to government that have never been implemented. It's time to take childcare safety out of the too-hard basket and commit to real reform

Louisa Compton accuses Netflix of being TV tourists' and benefitting from talent developed over many years'A senior Channel 4 figure has accused Netflix of acting like TV tourists" with the internationally acclaimed show Adolescence.Louisa Compton, the head of news and current affairs at the broadcaster, said Channel 4 was the proud parents" of the runaway hit. She said rather than nurture British TV talent, Netflix had benefited from talent developed over many years by Channel 4 and other public service broadcasters. Continue reading...

Prosecution makes closing arguments in media mogul's national security trial, which has lasted more than 140 daysProsecutors in Jimmy Lai's marathon national security trial have wrapped up their closing arguments in Hong Kong, telling the court that the elderly media mogul and activist had unwavering intent" to solicit foreign sanctions.Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to commit foreign collusion under the Beijing-designed national security law, and another charge under the colonial-era sedition laws of conspiring to publish seditious materials. Prosecutors say Lai used his media outlet and foreign political connections to lobby for governments to impose sanctions and other punitive measures against Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. Continue reading...

Concern among passengers as index reading that dictates regulated ticket prices comes in higher than forecast

Leadership spill comes day after Dean Winter bid to form government via no-confidence motion in parliament fell flat

Victoria's deputy information commissioner finds university did not give adequate notice or justification for how location data would be used

Final of 70th edition of competition to be held on 16 May at the Wiener Stadthalle, Austria's largest indoor arenaVienna has been chosen to host the Eurovision song contest 2026, the world's biggest live televised music event, Austria's public broadcaster announced, with the final set for 16 May.Austria's JJ won this year's competition, held in Basel in Switzerland, with his song Wasted Love, which blends techno beats with operatic vocals - making his home country the 2026 host. Continue reading...

State to accept all 22 recommendations as federal government releases names of 30 childcare centres subject to compliance action

Former Liberal staffer's lawyer begins three-day appeal hearing by apologising to justices for her client's failure to appoint an experienced barrister

Visit to Delhi by Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, has seen both countries agree to resume trade ties and work towards resolving border disputeIndia's prime minister and China's foreign minister have hailed steady" progress in their countries' fractious relationship, agreeing to resume trade and other ties, as well as work towards resolving the long-running Himalayan border dispute, amid a global geopolitical shake-up instigated by Donald Trump's tariff regime.According to statements from China's foreign ministry, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights - reiterating a pledge made in January - as well as issuing visas to journalists and facilitating business and cultural exchanges. Continue reading...

Under the new laws in Malaysia's Terengganu state, first-time offenders could be imprisoned for up to two years and finedThe Malaysian state of Terengganu has threatened to jail men who skip Friday prayers without a valid reason for up to two years.Under sharia law in the Malaysian province, first-time offenders could be imprisoned for up to two years, and fined 3,000 ringgit (527), or both, according to new rules that came into effect this week. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in parkA family say their lives have been ruined after a video of a black man and his brother playing in the park with his white granddaughters was shared by Tommy Robinson and weaponised by the far right.Olajuwon Ayeni, a musician from Redcar, North Yorkshire, has been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile in the week since the family video was stolen from the TikTok account of his wife, Natalie, who he married five years ago, and shared by extremists online. Continue reading...

Organisers say they are just being patriotic but some suspect far right is behind dangerous' lamp-post movementThis is NOT racist never has been never will be," reads the fundraising page of a group calling itself the Wythall Flaggers, which by Tuesday afternoon had raised more than 2,000, mostly in small donations of 5 and 10. We have members of the community of all ethnicities and religions stopping by and praising what we are doing so please don't call this racist."The money, according to the page's organiser, will be used for coating the local community in England flags as this is home and we should be patriotic and proud ... We need help to cover every street in Wythall with our beautiful St George's cross." Continue reading...

Nick Croydon, the CEO of QBD Books, has faced criticism for his thriller The Turing ProtocolA novel written by a prominent book industry figure in which persecuted gay man Alan Turing has sex with a woman and fathers a child has been criticised online for its portrayal of the codebreaker.The Turing Protocol was released in July and was written by Nick Croydon, the CEO of QBD Books, the largest Australian-owned bookshop chain, where the book is being heavily promoted. Continue reading...

Noel says his long-estranged brother is smashing it' during the band's stadium shows and that he's proud' of himNoel Gallagher has opened up about his feelings towards his long-estranged brother Liam during Oasis' sold-out global reunion tour for the first time, saying: He's been amazing ... it's great being back in the band with Liam."Oasis announced they would be reuniting in August 2024, 15 years after their split in 2009 when Noel quit the band after a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, saying he simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer". Continue reading...

Review warns e-cigarettes could act as gateway to smoking and are also linked to higher asthma and other health risksYoung people who vape are three times as likely to start smoking, develop asthma and have poor mental health as those who do not, according to a study that lays bare the health impacts of e-cigarettes.Vaping among young people is consistently linked to later smoking, according to the largest umbrella review of all the evidence on youth vaping, which warns that e-cigarettes could act as a gateway. Continue reading...

US president suggests he may be willing to provide air power to help enforce potential peace deal with PutinDonald Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to enforce a potential peace deal with Vladimir Putin, tempering a promise to provide Kyiv with security guarantees that European allies had called a significant breakthrough towards halting the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.Asked during a phone interview with Fox News whether he could assure listeners - including many members of his Maga base who support an isolationist America-first foreign policy - that the US would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine, Trump said: You have my assurance, and I'm president." Continue reading...

Officials say UK not prepared to deploy troops to frontline with Russia as head of armed forces prepares to meet US counterparts in WashingtonThe head of the British armed forces will tell his American counterpartsthe UK was prepared to send troops to defend Ukraine's skies and seas but not to the frontline with Russia, as planning intensifies for a postwar settlement.Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, will on Wednesday attend meetings at the Pentagon designed to finalise what 30 different countries are willing to commit to Ukraine's national security. Continue reading...

Creditors of US territory's were protected during municipal default, says Assured Guaranty's chief executiveThe largest creditor to struggling water company Thames Water has said it is confident that it will not lose money, joking that the UK was comparable to Puerto Rico, which paid lenders to its water company despite a crippling debt crisis.Dominic Frederico, the chief executive of US insurer Assured Guaranty, suggested that the UK government would not impose losses on creditors. The company - which has an exposure of $2.4bn (1.8bn) to Thames Water's bonds - was well protected in terms of the legal structure" from losing money, he told investors on a call on 8 August. Continue reading...

District council in Essex had cited disruption and safety concerns, as well as alleged breach of planning lawAsylum seekers are to be removed from a hotel that has attracted repeated violent far-right demonstrations after a high court judge granted a temporary injunction blocking them from being housed there.Mr Justice Eyre granted the injunction against the owners of the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex, after hearing the local council's complaints that they had breached planning law by changing the site's use. Continue reading...

US president handed Ukrainian leader symbolic keys to the White House in return during meeting in WashingtonVolodymyr Zelenskyy gave Donald Trump a golf club during his visit to Washington this week that had belonged to a serviceman fighting Russia's invasion, Kyiv said on Tuesday.Trump, an avid golfer who owns several courses, accepted the gift and presented Zelenskyy with symbolic keys to the White House in return, the Ukrainian leader's office said. Continue reading...

Kiruna Kyrka's slow journey is part of effort to stop town being swallowed by Europe's biggest underground mineAfter eight years of planning, a cost of more than 500m kronor (39m) and an early morning blessing, a church in northern Sweden began a slow-motion 5km journey on Tuesday to make way for the expansion of Europe's biggest underground mine.The 672-tonne Kiruna Kyrka, a Swedish Lutheran church inaugurated in 1912, is to be slowly rolled to its new home over two days, at a pace of half-a-kilometre an hour. Continue reading...

Transport secretary urges Stellantis to offer more help after tens of thousands are left unable to use their carThe transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has expressed serious concerns" about Citroen's handling of a safety recall that has left thousands of Britons unable to drive their cars.In June the car company's owner, Stellantis, issued an immediate and rare stop drive" order for certain models because of a potentially fatal airbag safety fault. Continue reading...

Campaigners urge government to recognise authentic childhood experience' provided by summer camps, in upcoming youth strategyIn a large country school in the rolling Shropshire hills, a group of young boys sporting hand-drawn moustaches are proudly selling wares at a pine-cone shop they created that morning.Another group of children have taken a picnic and gone on an adventure into the woods, while others have gone to the swimming pool or to play ballgames on the front lawn. Continue reading...

Organisers of the award for LGBTQ+ writers have paused the prize this year, after controversy over the longlisting of John Boyne meant it was overshadowed by hurt and anger'A prize celebrating LGBTQ+ literature has cancelled its awards this year, after a row over the longlisting of an author who has described himself as a Terf" - the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.From a total longlist of 24, 16 authors and two judges withdrew from this year's prize, and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a statement protesting against the inclusion of John Boyne, the author best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Continue reading...

Qatar says no breakthrough has yet been made but Hamas has given positive response'The UN's human rights office on Tuesday condemned a far-right Israeli minister for taunting a Palestinian prisoner in his cell and sharing the footage online, Reuters reports.National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir published a video on Friday last week showing him confronting Marwan Barghouti, the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour ministers choosing to weaken green protections inherited from the bloc, analysis reveals

As western leaders meet, questions remain about the steps they could take to prevent any future Russian aggression

Israel under pressure to accept ceasefire proposal that is said to be almost identical to earlier US-backed plan

Grave owners at north London cemetery, where many well-known figures are buried, fear ploy' by its managementHighgate cemetery has axed plans to build a controversial maintenance and toilet block as part of an 18m revamp of the graveyard, after grave owners warned they would exhume the remains of their loved ones if the building went ahead.Grave owners at the north London cemetery cautiously welcomed the removal of what they called a bunker" from a planning application that sparked dozens of objections, including from Jeremy Corbyn, the actors Jonathan Pryce and Bertie Carvel, and the widows of the actor Tim Pigott-Smith and the sociologist Stuart Hall. Continue reading...

Broadcaster says family wants to wait a bit longer', after film about singer's final years pulled from Monday's listingsThe BBC has revealed it delayed an hour-long documentary about Ozzy Osbourne at the last minute at the request of his family.The film about the musician's final years was suddenly pulled from listings on Monday, with the corporation making no comment about the decision. Its scheduled screening was less than a month after Osbourne's death. It was also less than three weeks after his wife, Sharon, and their children appeared before crowds in his home city of Birmingham. Continue reading...

Workers in their 20s and 30s that may annoy by socialising found not to be breaking workplace equality rulesOlder employees who are disturbed by younger, more boisterous colleagues in the workplace are not victims of age harassment, an employment tribunal has ruled.Employees in their 20s and 30s may annoy more mature co-workers by chatting, socialising and looking at their phones but they are not breaking workplace equality rules, the tribunal said. Continue reading...

Report part of a project used in lobbying effort to dismiss UN concerns that industrial emissions were damaging 50,000-year-old ancient rock art

Woman who was attacked on flight from Qatar to London was denied payout because plane was not registered in UKA woman who was sexually assaulted while sleeping on a flight to London is challenging UK government rules that disqualify her from a compensation scheme because the plane was not registered in Britain.She was attacked on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha, Qatar, to Gatwick in September last year. Continue reading...

Ukrainian designer Viktor Anisimov said outcome of crucial meeting with Trump was more important than fashionOn Monday evening, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, garnered compliments from Donald Trump and the White House press pool for his formal jacket and trousers.But for the ensemble's designer, Viktor Anisimov, the outcome of the meeting, not the verdict on the outfit, was of more concern. Continue reading...

Sales growth at German-owned discounter is more than double that of the wider market

Created in 1943, abstract wooden carving marked a breakthrough in genius' British artist's careerA rare wooden carving by the renowned abstract sculptor Barbara Hepworth, regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century, has been saved for the nation after a successful appeal to raise 3.8m.Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red, created in 1943, marked a breakthrough in Hepworth's career. One of only a handful of wooden carvings made by her during the 1940s, it is one of the first major such works she made using strings. Continue reading...

This blog is closed, please follow live coverage on our new liveblogA Russian drone attack on a five-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Monday killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others, Ukrainian authorities said.The attack, which took place just before dawn, reduced part of the building to rubble and sparked fires on at least three floors, the region's governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. Continue reading...

Court martial heard soldier was caught offering to share military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer of an unnamed foreign nationA military court has convicted a New Zealand soldier of attempted espionage for a foreign power - the first spying conviction in the country's history.The soldier was caught offering to pass military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer posing as an agent for the foreign nation, the court martial heard. Continue reading...

High critical report finds that instead of promised annual saving of 100m, fees have rocketed amid financial crisisDavid Cameron's bonfire of the quangos" decision to abolish England's council spending watchdog has left a broken system that is costing taxpayers more money than it was promised to save.In a highly critical report, academics at the University of Sheffield said the coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had promised savings of 100m a year by abolishing the Audit Commission. Continue reading...

Man airlifted to hospital after vehicle drops on to central reservation of motorway in KentA man has been hospitalised with serious injuries after a tractor tipped on to a motorway from a bridge following a crash.Kent police said they were called to reports of a single-vehicle collision on the A227 overbridge near Wrotham at 11.17am on Monday. A tractor became separated from its trailer before falling on to the central reservation between junctions 2 and 3 of the M20. Continue reading...

Jasveen Sangha, fifth and last defendant charged in Friends star's overdose to strike plea agreement with prosecutorsA woman known as the ketamine queen", charged with selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, agreed to plead guilty on Monday.Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the Friends star to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Having initially pleaded not guilty, her change of plea means she'll avoid a trial that had been planned for August. Continue reading...

Arbitrator orders 10,000 striking staff back to work after government intervenes - unconstitutionally union saysUnion leaders representing 10,000 striking flight attendants have said they would be willing to go to jail rather than comply with an order to return to work, as Canada's federal government seeks to end a bitter contract dispute that has halted hundreds of summer flights and stranded travellers around the world.Speaking to reporters on Monday, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said members would remain on the picket lines as part of a work stoppage that has halted Air Canada's national and international operations during its busiest season. Continue reading...

Javon Riley had key role' in Dalston drive-by that injured three men and left child with bullet in brainA man has been found guilty for his role in the shooting of a nine-year-old girl outside an east London restaurant in a long-running gang feud.The girl was hit in the head by one of six bullets fired by a man on a passing motorbike as she sat with her family in the Evin restaurant in Kingsland High Street, Hackney, on 29 May last year. Continue reading...

Miles Pickering says everyone was laughing at how silly' his arrest was and calls Palestine Action ban ridiculous'It was only after Miles Pickering arrived at Scotland Yard following his arrest that the police realised they had got things embarrassingly wrong.The T-shirt worn by the Brighton engineer did not express support for a proscribed terrorist group, instead the words on it read Plasticine Action" and inside the letter o" was an image of the stop-motion character Morph giving two thumbs up. Continue reading...

London mayor says he has confidence we will turn it round' as he addresses audience at Edinburgh fringeConservative MPs have expressed frustration at their party's piss-poor" messaging over hotels housing people seeking asylum.Leaked WhatsApp messages show members are concerned that the party's leadership is attacking Keir Starmer's government for policies introduced by the Conservatives. Continue reading...