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Meeting of Conor Burns and Maroš Šefčovič a promising sign as taoiseach says dispute is ‘testing and fraying’ Anglo-Irish relationsHopes that Brexit talks between the EU and the UK could restart after nine months of paralysis were raised over the weekend after Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns held talks with the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič.He spoke as the Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, said the deepening row over the Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland was “testing and fraying” Anglo-Irish relations, but that the arrival of a new prime minister offered a chance for a fresh approach to break the impasse. Continue reading...

Brexit campaign group fronted by Nigel Farage leaves thousands in unpaid fines for data law breachesThe Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has gone into liquidation with its controversial co-founder Arron Banks appearing to write off a loan worth more than £7m.Documents submitted to Companies House also reveal that the anti-EU lobbying group, which was fronted by Nigel Farage during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, has failed to pay tens of thousands in fines owed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaches of data law. Continue reading...

Government guidance on rodents angers conservationists who say animals are a help not a hindrance to agricultureFarmers in England will be allowed to shoot beavers if they threaten their crops, the government has revealed.Conservationists have opposed the move, saying the animals are an “ally to farmers”, helping conserve water in times of drought, and are an endangered species that should be treasured. The rodents became extinct in the UK 400 years ago after they were hunted for their pelts, but in recent years they have been reintroduced to England and Scotland. Continue reading...

Shadow health secretary says Conservative plans to cap NHS recruitment are shortsightedLabour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has accused the Conservatives of planning to lose the next general election.Streeting said he was confident Labour would win when the country next goes to the polls. Continue reading...

Comments come after Gazprom extends shutdown of gas supply through Nord Stream 1 to Germany

Hundreds of mourners pay tribute in Russian capital to former Soviet leader credited with helping to end cold warRussians paid their final respects to the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in a ceremony held in Moscow without much fanfare and with President Vladimir Putin notably absent.Several thousand mourners queued up to quietly file past Gorbachev’s open casket as it was flanked by honour guards under the Russian flag in the historic Hall of Columns. Continue reading...

Chronic underfunding of the Send system in England blamed for failure to offer children adequate supportThe number of complaints from parents about special needs education has risen by three-quarters in the past four years – with more than one complaint a day filed last year, according to figures from the local government ombudsman.The increase reflects the crisis in the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system, with rising demand, chronic underfunding, lengthy delays and enduring gaps in provision. Continue reading...

Robert Hendy-Freegard faces possible attempted murder charges after injuring two French police officersA British conman who had been on the run for more than a week after injuring two French police officers has been arrested in Belgium.Robert Hendy-Freegard, a convicted fraudster who was the subject of a Netflix documentary, is facing possible attempted murder charges. He is expected to appear before a Belgian judge on Saturday before his extradition to France. Continue reading...

Frontrunner to become next PM reportedly considering review of protections including 48-hour working weekTrade unions have called for Liz Truss to “come clean” on her plans for workers’ rights should she become prime minister, after it was reported that she plans a post-Brexit restructuring of employment laws.The foreign secretary, who is widely seen as the frontrunner in the contest to become the next PM, is considering a review of protections for workers, the Times reported.

The company is operating a reduced service, with one train an hour running between London and ManchesterThe mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has told Avanti West Coast it is in the “last chance saloon” after the resignation of its managing director amid long-running disruption and reductions to its schedule.On Friday, it was announced that Phil Whittingham would leave his role from 15 September to “pursue other executive leadership opportunities”. Continue reading...

Supermodel joins list of celebrities delving into lucrative wellness business with products that ‘help find inner peace’Once nicknamed “the tank” for her ability to guzzle champagne, the original 90s It model Kate Moss has swapped partying for dawn meditation and night-time tisanes.On Thursday, Moss has launched her own wellness brand, Cosmoss, featuring six products including vegan skincare and mood-boosting teas, ranging from £20 for a canister of Dawn Tea to £120 for a Sacred Mist fragrance. “A story of reconnection from soul to surface. There is a magic to Cosmoss and I can’t wait for you all to uncover it, just as I did,” reads a statement in a press release. Continue reading...

Rights groups say Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled in July amid protests, should be brought to justice on a number of chargesThe deposed Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is facing calls for his arrest after returning home from self-imposed exile under the protection of the government that took charge when he fled.Rajapaksa fled the island country under military escort in July when a huge crowd stormed his official residence after months of angry demonstrations against his government. Continue reading...

Plan costing £60m is intended to help passengers during cost of living crisis and will come into effect in JanuaryBus journeys in England will be capped at £2 for three months amid concerns about the cost of living crisis.The Department for Transport said the £60m plan could save passengers more than £3 for a single ticket. Continue reading...

Hundreds of mourners pay tribute in Russian capital to former Soviet leader credited with helping to end cold warHundreds of mourners are lining up in central Moscow to bid farewell to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union often credited with bringing an end to the cold war.The farewell ceremony, which is being held in the Hall of Pillars in Moscow’s House of the Unions, will be followed by a closed funeral in the Novodevichy cemetery. Continue reading...

Alan Joyce says multi-employer bargaining could create problems; western NSW braces for flooding. This blog is now closed

NHS launches autumn drive with jabs offered first to care home staff and residents, and housebound peopleMillions of care home residents, staff and housebound people in England will be invited for their autumn coronavirus vaccine booster from Monday.Health teams will visit care homes and private homes to vaccinate about 1.6 million residents, staff and housebound people in the latest phase of the vaccine programme, NHS England has said. Continue reading...

‘Diva’ has good, neutral and bad connotations – but as singers from Maria Callas to Beyoncé have shown, it is a trait of sheer excellenceIt was on the second episode of Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetype, in which she interviewed her girl crush or queen or whatevs, Mariah Carey, that the moment happened: Markle used the word “diva” of Carey, and Mariah replied that Meghan had her own diva moments. The two women moved past the awkwardness such that a regular listener might not even have logged it, had not Meghan extensively editorialised afterwards: “It stopped me in my tracks, when she called me a diva,” Markle said, with great urgency, you can almost hear her leaning forwards. “I started to sweat a little bit. I started squirming in my chair in this quiet revolt. Why would you say that? My mind was spinning with what nonsense had she read or clicked on that made her think that about me.” OK, so clearly Mariah Carey thinks of the word as positive or neutral, while Meghan Markle thinks it is pejorative.The word does indeed have three meanings, good, neutral, evil, like in Dungeons and Dragons. That evolution is natural: “diva” is only used of women, and heavily skewed towards women of colour, to denote, per the editor Marna Nightingale: “Both stubborn and exacting professionally, sometimes dramatic about it, but, and this is important, they’re doing it because they know their stuff and they almost always turn out to be right.” It is rarely used of someone who isn’t creative and charismatic, so it contains an element of awe. This is good diva. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Despite ‘Global Britain’ rhetoric, Brexit opportunities minister refused to sign off budget to revive pandemic-hit industryJacob Rees-Mogg is blocking a major government-backed tourism campaign – despite being a vocal advocate of “Global Britain”.The planned advertising blitz is aimed at bringing back tourists from key international markets including India, China, Australia, Japan and Canada to boost visitor numbers in the wake of the pandemic. Continue reading...

Prices have fallen and a weekend in the Greek capital costs £207, compared with £218 in runner-up LisbonAthens has been ranked the cheapest location for a city break on the continent, ahead of traditional budget-friendly eastern European destinations.Analysis of a dozen typical tourist costs for UK visitors in 20 popular cities by Post Office Travel Money found prices in the Greek capital have fallen by 15% since 2021. Continue reading...

Emergency services ‘simply did not have sufficient ambulance call-takers’, with one caller waiting more than 76 minutes, review finds

Artist Roger Hiorns pitching alongside Rachel Whiteread, Piet Oudolf and Olafur Eliasson in scheme to celebrate Cumbrian coastA century ago, Marcel Duchamp submitted a porcelain urinal to a New York exhibition and revolutionised art. If a urinal can be art, then why not a post-industrial slag heap?The artist Roger Hiorns is channelling the spirit of Duchamp in his proposal for a landmark piece of public art in west Cumbria, on the Lake District coast of north-west England. Continue reading...

European leaders will head to Prague on 6 October to forge European Political CommunityThe EU will offer an olive branch to the new British prime minister with an invitation to a summit to discuss a new organisation uniting the democracies of the European continent.Britain’s next prime minister, widely expected to be Liz Truss, will be invited to join fellow leaders across Europe at a summit in Prague on 6 October to forge a European Political Community, a body dedicated to advancing security across the continent. Continue reading...

Evidence suggests hospital not appropriately staffed on night of Aishwarya Aswath’s death, deputy state coroner says

Boost to Taiwanese air defences forms biggest part of deal amid heightened tensions after Beijing’s enhanced military drills around islandThe Biden administration has announced a $1.1bn arms sale to Taiwan as US-China tensions escalate over its status.The sale included $355m for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85m for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the state department said. Continue reading...

Alex Turnbull launched legal action over $8m he claimed to be owed by Russel Pillemer, his father’s longtime friend and business partner

Decades-long research of the southern right whale reveals normal calving times every three years has increased to four to five years

Company is already in court fighting allegations it failed to properly consult Tiwi Islanders over another part of the Barossa project

Russia’s Gazprom extends shutdown of Nord Stream pipeline 1; nuclear inspectors to remain at Zaporizhzhia plant; G7 puts price cap on Russian oil

Tens of thousands take to the streets to condemn political violence and show support for vice-president a day after shock attackTens of thousands have taken to the streets across Argentina to protest against political violence and show support for vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the day after she survived what appeared to be a failed assassination attempt.Political leaders around the world and Pope Francis condemned the attack, as marchers flooded cities across the country in solidarity with a political leader who, like Juan and Evita Perón, dominates Argentina’s political landscape. Continue reading...

IAEA head Rafael Grossi says his team will stay at Russian-held site in Ukraine to assess safety and damage

Rajapaksa touched down in Colombo seven weeks after he fled the extraordinary protests triggered by an economic meltdown that many lay at his feetSri Lanka’s former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in July after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country’s economic crisis, has returned to the country after seven weeks.Rajapaksa flew into Colombo’s Bandaranaike international airport early on Saturday from Bangkok via Singapore. After being welcomed by lawmakers in his party, Rajapaksa left the airport in a motorcade heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Continue reading...

Energy war with west has exploded after weeks of tensionThe energy war between Russia and the westhas suddenly exploded, threatening an all-out power struggle in which the west seeks to cap the price of Russian oil and the Kremlin cuts off the supply of gas to Europe.The unpredictable dispute, in which both sides deploy unconventional weapons of economic warfare, shows the extent to which Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine has been extended into new terrain. President Vladimir Putin is testing Europe’s real willingness to see the lights go out in defence of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Continue reading...

Writer of the 2001 bestseller Nickel and Dimed died on 1 September, her son announcedBarbara Ehrenreich, the author of more than 20 books on social justice themes ranging from women’s rights to inequality and the inequities of the American healthcare system, has died at the age of 81.The news that Ehrenreich had died on 1 September was released by her son, Ben Ehrenreich, on Friday. He accompanied the announcement with a comment redolent of his mother’s spirit: “She was never much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another, and by fighting like hell.” Continue reading...

State-owned Gazprom announces NordStream 1 pipeline to stay out of action citing turbine engine damage after EU announces upper limit on oil pricesRussian news agency Tass is carrying a quote from Alexander Volga, head of the Russian-imposed occupation administration of Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) is located.It reports he said on Russian television that eight people from the IAEA mission remain at the ZNPP, alongside four more people, who he described as service personnel who accompany them through their activities.The IAEA mission must state that the presence of the military, the presence of weapons at the station, is a real threat to nuclear safety. This is obvious.This mission is unique because there are no analogues in the history of the IAEA at all. Missions took place at objects that were controlled by states. But there was no such mission format as it is now. Continue reading...

Firefighters battled flames and smoke to extract Hollywood actor after her car crashed into building in Los Angeles last monthFirst responders could not reach Anne Heche to begin treating the actor as she was trapped, mortally injured, for 45 minutes after her car crashed into a house in Los Angeles last month, according to a report.Amid appalling flames and smoke from the crash, firefighters could not reach the car for 20 minutes and then couldn’t get it out of the building to extract her for at least another 20 minutes, NBC reported, citing fire department documents and radio communications. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson accused of trying to ‘intimidate and bully’ inquiry into claims he misled MPs

Gerry Brownlee says report on human rights violations in Xinjiang recognises China is ‘dealing with a terrorist problem’New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson said a UN report on the human rights abuses of Uyghurs includes recognition that China is “dealing with a terrorist problem essentially”, in remarks criticised by China analysts.“It’s good that it acknowledges that there has been a terrorism problem in the particular part of China that the report is on,” Gerry Brownlee, a lawmaker for the centre-right National party, told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Thursday in an interview about the UN findings. Continue reading...

External commissioners to take charge of finances amid ‘grave concerns’ local services could be at riskThe government has launched an urgent investigation into the finances of a Tory-run council amid “grave concerns” that local services are at risk from the authority’s exposure to more than a billion pounds in loans it took out to fund a series of commercial investments.The communities secretary, Greg Clark, said government-appointed commissioners would take full control of Thurrock’s finances because of fears over “the exceptional level of financial risk and debt incurred by the council”. Continue reading...

Hurricane is about 885 miles west of Azores in mid-Atlantic in what has so far been an unusually quiet season for stormsTropical storm Danielle has strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic Ocean season for such tempests, the US national hurricane center said on Friday.The hurricane, now about 885 miles west of the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, is packing maximum sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) and was forecast to meander over the open sea during the next couple of days, the Miami-based federal weather forecasting center noted. Continue reading...

Russian energy company had been due to resume gas delivery to Germany on Saturday morningRussian energy giant Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Friday evening, providing no timeframe for a reopening.The state-owned oil firm said supplies would remain halted through Saturday after a leak was detected. It said the pipeline would not restart until repairs were fully implemented. Continue reading...

Malte C, 25, died in hospital a week after being struck by assailant at parade in MünsterA 25-year-old transgender man has died of his injuries in hospital almost a week after he was assaulted while helping people at a Pride parade in western Germany, police have said.The man, who police have named only as Malte C in accordance with privacy conventions, intervened when the attacker aimed homophobic slurs at other participants during the Christopher Street Day parade in Münster, police said. Continue reading...

European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, says it is ‘legally and politically inconceivable’The EU has warned the incoming British prime minister, likely to be Liz Truss, that any unilateral action to scrap part of the Brexit deal is legally and politically of “great concern” across the continent.The warning by the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, comes just days before the new prime minister is expected to confirm they will press ahead with new laws to dismantle the arrangements for Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Unison, GMB and Unite suspend industrial action day after Nicola Sturgeon hosted talksA wave of strikes across waste services and schools in Scotland has been called off after a “credible” new pay offer.Hundreds of schools and nurseries were set to close over three days next week as support staff joined industrial action, along with a second wave of strikes by refuse workers that had already seen bins overflowing and piles of accumulated rubbish in Scotland’s major cities. Continue reading...

Charles Michel says bloc must address price caps and has been too late in putting ‘concrete proposals on the table’The EU must “make up for lost time” in finding urgent answers to an energy price spike that is a “catastrophe” for households and businesses, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said.Michel, who chairs EU leader summits, said the bloc needed to address the question of price caps, an idea backed by many EU member states. Continue reading...

Former Met chief given support by findings, but London mayor Sadiq Khan’s move against her remains popularAmid the claim and counter-claim, the huffing and puffing and the machinations detailed by Tom Winsor’s report on the ousting of Cressida Dick, one thing is clear: there definitely was a political hit job. The mystery is: who was the target?Winsor’s version has Dick, a hard-working Metropolitan police commissioner, taken out by an ambitious local politician, when the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, had no good reason to. Continue reading...

Union leaders say whoever enters No 10 next week must take issue seriously as two women make allegationsTrade union leaders have called for Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak to “reset the culture” at Westminster and properly tackle abusive behaviour, after two women alleged they had been assaulted by a minister now in the cabinet, and by a Downing Street aide.Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect, a trade union representing civil servants and parliamentary staff, said whoever took over from Boris Johnson as prime minister next week had a duty to take the issue seriously. Continue reading...