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Peak welfare body and Greens recommend raise in income support payments but Albanese government rules out benefits increase in next month’s budget

Party says commonwealth regulation of cultivation, licensing and sale of cannabis would override state and territory laws

Soaring energy prices after invasion of Ukraine have added almost £10 to cost of charging family-sized car, says RACThe price of charging an electric car using a public rapid charger has jumped by almost £10 since May because of soaring energy costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The increased price of wholesale gas and electricity has pushed up the price to charge an average family-size car by 42% to above £32, according to analysis by the RAC. That was £9.60 more than in May, and £13.59 more than a year earlier. Continue reading...

The woman in her 20s received critical head injuries and was taken to hospital

Two men are still in a critical condition after the incident, in connection with which a second man has been detainedA man has been arrested at Heathrow while attempting to flee the country after four men were hit by a car in west London, leaving two critically injured.The pedestrians were hit by a car in Kingsley Road in Hounslow just before 2.43am on Sunday. The men, all in their early 20s, were taken to hospital, where two remain in a critical condition. Two others have been treated for non-life-changing injuries. Continue reading...

Police say two males, aged 15 and 16, also charged with possession of bladed article after death of Khayri McLeanTwo teenagers have been charged with murder after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death outside a school in Huddersfield.The boys, aged 15 and 16, have been charged with murder and possession of a bladed article after Khayri McLean was killed on Wednesday afternoon. Khayri died in hospital after an attack near the entrance to North Huddersfield Trust school (NHTS) in Woodhouse Hill, to the north east of the town. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour to argue investing in NHS, schools and childcare is only way to build foundations of a strong economyKeir Starmer is seeking to draw new battle lines with Liz Truss by vowing to reinstate the top rate of income tax and ploughing the ensuing billions into the NHS and other public services.The Guardian understands that Labour will set out in more detail on Monday how it would use the money raised from reversing the abolition of the 45p rate outlined by the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, in Friday’s mini-budget. Continue reading...

Public services and spectre of austerity will feature in speech as Rachel Reeves sets out dividing lines with ToriesOne of the curiosities of the sudden re-emergence of stark ideological dividing lines in the Liz Truss era has been the fact that her central policy aim – trying to grow the economy – is not something that Labour would disagree with.Similarly, for all the reactions of outrage and, at times, genuine surprise at Kwasi Kwarteng’s unofficial budget on Friday, the government’s focus on cutting taxes does not, in the most basic terms, differ that much from Labour’s previous criticism of tax increases under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Continue reading...

Delegates were split at last year’s conference, but leader’s supporters now hold almost all the levers of powerBefore Keir Starmer’s tribute to the Queen and the singing of the national anthem, most senior MPs and staffers had anticipated some disruption. But there was not one heckle. “If you want proof the Labour party has changed, that tribute to the Queen was it,” one senior aide said.But confirmation truly came four hours later at the result of the priorities ballot, which Labour members use to select which topics to debate. Continue reading...

Francis said migrants and refugees should be able to ‘live in peace and with dignity’ at open-air mass in MateraPope Francis has urged Italians to help migrants as voting proceeded in a general election widely expected to bring an anti-immigration rightwing coalition into power.Speaking at the end of an open-air mass in the southern Italian city of Matera, the pope recalled that Sunday coincided with the Catholic church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated,” he told the assembled faithful. Continue reading...

Exclusive: state government was aware of problems at forensic lab, which included bullying complaints and ‘vendettas’ against managers

‘History is calling’, according to ad from Uluru Dialogue group, which says it’s the start of a ‘journey of nation-building’

Matteo Salvini has described Giorgia Meloni as a ‘pain in the ass’, while Silvio Berlusconi is rumoured to be unsupportiveGiorgia Meloni has spent three decades fighting her way to the top of Italian politics. But despite her political prowess, the 45-year-old from Rome, whose strong will and determination has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, has limited government experience.If Meloni is confirmed as prime minister over the next few weeks, she will be in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, dealing with mammoth challenges from the energy crisis and high inflation to a possible recession and a winter wave of Covid-19. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Senior Conservatives warn ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement with Mark Fullbrook spells ‘electoral doom’Mark Fullbrook is understood to have been promised by Liz Truss that his company would run the Tories’ next general election campaign if he joined her No 10 operation as chief of staff.Sources claimed the “quid pro quo” arrangement, which could be highly lucrative for his lobbying company, Fullbrook Associates, was a precondition of the strategist taking the job. Continue reading...

Palace has said TV channels can only retain an hour of footage from events during the mourning periodBritish television channels are in a battle with the monarchy over who controls the historic record of Queen Elizabeth II’s commemorations, after Buckingham Palace insisted broadcasters could only retain an hour of footage for future use.The BBC, ITV and Sky News have been given until Monday to produce a 60-minute compilation of clips they would like to keep from ceremonial events held across the 10 days of mourning for the Queen. The royal household will then consider whether to veto any proposed inclusions. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan taking ‘unprecedented’ action to ease financial pressure for lowest-paid transport workersWorkers who clean the underground and other public transport in London are to be given free travel, Sadiq Khan has announced.The mayor of London has asked Transport for London to extend free travel on the capital’s public transport for the lowest-paid contract workers, as well as for catering and security staff. The move will benefit about 5,000 workers who were not previously eligible for free travel. Continue reading...

Sustained wind speeds of 125mph recorded in what is expected to be strongest storm to hit country this yearSuper Typhoon Noru has slammed into the Philippines, battering the heavily populated main island of Luzon with strong winds and heavy rain that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes.The storm was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 125mph (195km/h) after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the state weather forecaster said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: a provision of the new Charities Act could have a significant impact on restitution cases for years to comeMuseums and galleries in England and Wales will be given unprecedented powers to dispose of objects in their collections if there is a compelling moral obligation to do so, under a new law.Alexander Herman, an expert in art law, said the museum sector did not appear to have realised that a provision of the Charities Act 2022, expected to come into force this autumn, could have “a significant impact for years to come” on restitution cases. Continue reading...

Thousands sign petition for This Morning hosts to be fired after claims they jumped queue at Westminster HallITV has denied accusations that a woman in a wheelchair was moved aside to make way for presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield as they entered Westminster Hall to see the Queen lying in state.In an article by the Mail on Sunday, Mia Froggatt posted on Twitter that her disabled mother had been moved out of the way for Schofield and Willoughby to “make it in time for the 10am slot”. Continue reading...

Government watchdog said it could not investigate allegations made outside of parliament

Members of ethnic group, which has largely opposed Russian rule since 2014, say they are being disproportionately targeted

Revelation about Mark Fullbrook follows last week’s repeal of rules to stop people paying themselves through companies to minimise taxMark Fullbrook, Liz Truss’s new chief of staff, is being paid for through his lobbying company in a move that may help him minimise tax.In a highly unusual move, the prime minister’s most senior adviser is receiving his salary through Fullbrook Strategies. Continue reading...

MotherRED gives grants and support to 50 women, who commit to family-friendly policies, to stand for public officeWhen Miatta Fahnbulleh told her children her bid to become the Labour candidate for Camberwell and Peckham might mean she would sometimes miss their bedtime, her eldest said it would be really tough – for her.She acknowledges it will be hard, but no harder than getting mothers’ voices heard in parliament. “The barriers to entry for mothers are massive,” she says. “So yes, it will be tough, but if we don’t get more mothers in parliament that will never change.” Continue reading...

Experts say scheme’s rules urgently need significant changes to prioritise worker protection

Aiden Aslin recounts how he was beaten, stabbed and asked whether he wanted quick or ‘beautiful’ deathA British man captured by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine has revealed how he was beaten up, stabbed and asked whether he wanted a “quick” or “beautiful” death.Aiden Aslin, who has now returned to the UK, told the Sun on Sunday that he was kept in solitary confinement for five months and “treated worse than a dog”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Andy George ‘baffled’ by Mark Rowley’s refusal to meet when confidence among BAME officers at rock-bottomThe new Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is at loggerheads with the National Black Police Association after refusing to meet its president and suggesting he will ban officers from “taking the knee”.A request by the group’s head, Andy George, for an urgent meeting with Rowley, who returned to lead Scotland Yard a fortnight ago, was said to have been rejected in an email on Wednesday morning.The Met was “gaslighting”black and ethnic minority communities and the police officers who served them on the issue of stop and search. “Report after report we have: ‘We are going to get things right and move on but our officers do a great job.’ But that does not lead to improvement,” said George. “It kind of almost gaslights the communities that are coming out with the problems. It gaslights the frontline officers as well, if I am to be honest. They are saying: ‘You are telling me I need to do more stop and search and I am going to do that to prevent serious violence and knife crime issues and then I am the one facing an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation for doing exactly what you have told me.’”In recent years, there had been four-fold surge – from 15 to more than 60 – in the number of officers being supported by the Met Black Police Association over grievances or during disciplinary processes. George said: “We are supporting officers with grievances that just aren’t being dealt with. Even when there are two or three people complaining about the same person, that discrimination is still being justified. They are still protecting the reputation of the Met over learning and improving.”The career structures within the Met appeared to “operate like an organised crime gang”. George said: “You will not get promoted unless you take the party line. We have bosses and leaders that end up developing and sponsoring people that they like and [are] loyal to them, and they will pull them through.” Continue reading...

Coalition led by Giorgia Meloni would be country’s most radical government since MussoliniItalians are voting in an election that is forecast to deliver the country’s most radical rightwing government since the end of the second world war, and a prime minister ready to become a model for nationalist parties across Europe.A coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, is expected by polls ahead of the vote to secure a comfortable victory in both houses of parliament while taking between 44 and 47% of the vote. Continue reading...

Government likely to lift cap on agricultural and broadband workers, and alter shortage occupations list

Scheme includes tax breaks and gives Britons and other non-EU citizens chance to stay up to five yearsSpain plans to issue “digital nomad” visas giving Britons and other non-EU citizens the chance to work in the sun and enjoy a lower cost of living with tax breaks thrown in for good measure.The visas will be offered to people who work remotely for enterprises outside Spain and who derive a maximum of 20% of their income from Spanish firms. Continue reading...

Reports chancellor is considering further changes to taxation after mini-budget ‘for the rich’The government is considering a series of further tax cuts that could hand thousands of pounds to high earners, shortly after it announced the biggest giveaway in 50 years.Plans under consideration could include bringing back a tax-free allowance for workers paid more than £100,000 a year, and lifting the amount pensioners can save before taxes kick in, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Continue reading...

Seizures of cocaine and contraband cigarettes behind last month’s vote of no confidence, says Dritan AbazovićMontenegro’s outgoing prime minister, Dritan Abazović, has said he is being ousted by the political influence of organised crime after he took on cocaine and cigarette smugglers.Abazović was overwhelmingly defeated in a vote of no confidence on 20 August. However, he said the real reason for his defeat was that he broke with decades of Montenegrin government indulgence of criminal gangs by overseeing huge seizures of cocaine and contraband cigarettes. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer opens party conference with tribute to the Queen and singing of God Save the King

Garvey and Glover will launch a new podcast plus a live weekday afternoon showThe broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover are leaving the BBC to host a new programme and podcast for Times Radio.Garvey has hosted shows for the BBC for almost 30 years and, together with Glover, has presented the popular Fortunately podcast for the BBC since 2017. Continue reading...

Labour leader’s promise to keep basic rate cut at odds with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham

Giorgia Meloni, who leads Brothers of Italy, looks likely to become the first woman to head a governmentItalians were braced for seismic change on Saturday, on the eve of an election forecasted to hand Italy the most rightwing government since the second world war.Giorgia Meloni, the head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, is widely tipped to become the country’s first woman to head a government. Continue reading...

Inspired by a book by Princess Diana’s brother, the actor is researching flight of Charles II from Oliver Cromwell’s troopsSteve Coogan, fresh from the story of the discovery of Richard III’s bones in The Lost King, is now to tackle the life of King Charles, with the help of Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, and his longtime writing collaborator, screenwriter Jeff Pope. The monarch in question is not, however, our current king, but one of his predecessors, Charles II.“Rather than a sequel to The Lost King, I suppose you could call it a prequel to where we are now, with King Charles III,” the actor told the Observer. Continue reading...

Club’s chairman says AFL investigation into allegations of misconduct at Hawthorn Football Club will provide ‘procedural fairness’Chris Fagan, senior coach of the Brisbane Lions, has been defended by the club as he takes a leave of absence to cooperate with an AFL investigation into allegations of serious mistreatment of First Nations former players at Hawthorn Football Club.The AFL chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, announced on Wednesday that an external independent panel would investigate “challenging, harrowing and disturbing” allegations detailed in a Hawks-commissioned review. Continue reading...

The trend can be seen everywhere – from the catwalk and films, to celebrities such as Zendaya and Kendall Jenner – and even IkeaThe preppy look, first popularised in the 50s, is back, with staples such as varsity jackets and loafers in vogue again this autumn.The trend can be seen on the catwalk – at shows from the likes of Celine and Coach – and on celebrities such as Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. Continue reading...

Proposal to fast-track submarines by having them produced by US ‘would not be acceptable’, Peter Malinauskas says

Taking in lodgers and sharing meals with family and friends are just some of the ways people can bear down on heating expensesWhen they finally moved in to their first home together last summer after four years of housesharing, Rosie Macdonald and her partner didn’t expect they’d be returning to living with another person so soon. But with rising living costs and concerns over energy prices, in April the couple organised for a housemate to move into their home in Leeds.“We were struggling to keep our heads above water before the increase in inflation,” says Macdonald, 27, a senior digital PR strategist at Love Energy Savings, a business utilities and price comparison retailer. “While we’re good with our finances, I worked out what the increases might be with each cap – my job means I have my ear to the ground in that sense – and calculated how much extra we might need.” Continue reading...

Troops to remove trees and restore transport links after Fiona caused severe damage including torn-off roofs and floodingCanadian troops are being sent to assist the recovery from the devastation of storm Fiona, which swept away houses, stripped off roofs and knocked out power across the country’s Atlantic provinces.After surging north from the Caribbean as a hurricane, Fiona came ashore before dawn on Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, heavy rains and huge waves. Continue reading...

Cargill was taken to court 20 years ago in Oklahoma over the same pollution issue it is now linked to in UKOne of the world’s biggest food giants with a supply chain linked to the ecological decline of the River Wye faced claims over similar pollution scandals in the US, the Observer can reveal.Campaigners warned two years ago that the clear waters of the Wye, one of Britain’s best-loved rivers, were being blighted by thick green algae blooms linked to poultry production. Continue reading...

Australia’s defence minister says Vladimir Putin’s threat ‘cannot be allowed to stand’

Launch of an unidentified missile is the latest in a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests by nuclear-armed Pyongyang this yearNorth Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday towards its eastern seas, extending a provocative streak in weapons testing as a US aircraft carrier visits South Korea for joint military exercises in response to the North’s growing nuclear threat.South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the missile launched from the western inland town of Taechon flew 600km (370 miles) cross-country on a maximum altitude of 60km (37 miles) before landing in waters off North Korea’s eastern coast. Continue reading...

Dutch cyclist retires early from Wollongong race following alleged night-time altercation with teenagers at hotel

More than 700 arrested in latest Russian protests against Putin’s military call-up as people who refuse to fight face jail sentences

Moscow isolated at United Nations assembly, with no major country siding with itChina and India have called for a negotiated end to the Ukraine war, stopping short of robust support for traditional ally Russia.After a week of pressure at the United Nations general assembly, Russia’s foreign minister took the general assembly rostrum to deliver a fiery rebuke to western nations for what he termed a “grotesque” campaign against Russians. Continue reading...

Tax cuts for the rich have not gone down well in Ladywood, the city constituency due to host the Conservatives’ annual gatheringOnly the most bullish Conservative party strategist would have dared forecast the centre of Britain’s second-biggest city turning Tory anytime soon.Yet as the real-life implications of the government’s mini-budget continued to crystallise on Saturday, anyone even contemplating a Conservative victory in central Birmingham should now be judged beyond delusional. Continue reading...

NSW and Victoria have dragged their heels and now risk the federal government taking over Australia’s most important river system

Australia Post offers a priority service for $225 but there are fears it will just push those already waiting further into a backlog