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Palestinian authorities confirm death of two men and say six more were wounded during clash in NablusIsraeli forces have killed two Palestinian fighters in a pre-dawn clash in the occupied West Bank and attacked a fishing boat off the Gaza Strip coast that was accused of smuggling in Hamas supplies from Egypt.The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militant group claimed the two Palestinians killed on Sunday at a house in Nablus as its members. The Palestinian health ministry said six others were wounded. Continue reading...

Hollywood actor will play Donna Freedman one more time as Australian soap comes to an endThe Oscar-nominated actor Margot Robbie will join a handful of international stars returning to Ramsay Street for the final episode of the long-running Australian soap Neighbours.The 32-year-old, who starred in The Suicide Squad and is playing Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming film, will return to her role as Donna Freedman in the Australian soap. Continue reading...

Cabinet Office minister says rail project ‘waiting to breach waves and rip arm off’ Liz Truss or Rishi SunakThe Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse has described the HS2 rail project as a “killer whale” that could “rip the arm” off the next prime minister.In an intervention that will alarm supporters of the multibillion-pound rail upgrade, Malthouse said it could “derail” the premiership of Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss. Continue reading...

Holidaymakers hoping to cross Channel on Sunday told to expect delays of at least two hoursHolidaymakers hoping to travel to France have been told to expect a third day of disruption as the Eurotunnel was hit by long queues of traffic trying to reach Dover.Passengers hoping to cross the Channel on Sunday were told to expect delays of at least two hours due to miles of tailbacks to get to the ferry terminals. Continue reading...

London force takes unusual step of writing to schools urging families to look out for signs of extremismThe Metropolitan police force has taken the unprecedented step of writing to parents of school-age children, urging them to look out for signs of radicalisation because it fears the six-week summer holiday could lead to a rise in extremism.Det Supt Jane Corrigan, of the Met’s counter-terrorism command and lead officer in the anti-terrorist Prevent programme, sent a letter to primary and secondary schools in London – the first time such a step has been taken – to distribute to parents last week. In it she expresses concern that children would be spending more time online during the summer holidays, and that this would create the risk they could come into contact with those attempting to radicalise young people. Continue reading...

Family of Alaa Abd El Fattah say it feels as if foreign secretary has ‘abandoned’ him since she started leadership campaignThe family of the British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah have accused the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, of ignoring his case in favour of her bid to lead the Conservative party, as he reached his 114th day of a hunger strike inside Egypt’s Wadi El Natrun desert prison.Abd El Fattah, a figurehead of Egypt’s 2011 uprisings, has spent most of the last decade behind bars and last December was sentenced to a further five years in prison on charges of terrorism and “spreading false news” after sharing a social media post. He gained British citizenship while incarcerated last year, but British officials have since been stonewalled by the Egyptian side when attempting to visit him in prison. Continue reading...

Many eateries turned their ovens off last week to save their chefs from the heatRestaurants and gastro pubs are planning to offer more “heatwave menus” in the future amid concerns that soaring temperatures will make it impractical and potentially unsafe for chefs to cook hot food in summer.Last week, commercial ovens and grills across the UK were switched off and menus offering hot pies, burgers and steaks were ditched in favour of summer salads, open sandwiches and cold soup. “We swapped hot cooked fish for chilled octopus mussels and olives, and cold poached skate salad,” said Nick Gibson, owner of the Drapers Arms in Islington, north London, which tore up its usual bill of fare to offer an entirely cold menu during the heatwave. Continue reading...

The woman’s case is among thousands that have been affected by a record-breaking backlog of hearings likely to increase amid barrister strikesA rape victim who will have been waiting five years by the time her case comes to court has said navigating the justice process has had a worse impact on her mental health than the crime itself, leaving her feeling “suicidal”.The woman, known as Debbie, recently had her case listed but it was pulled the day before she was due to appear in court. She now faces a further eight-month wait. Continue reading...

Daughter of Labour cabinet minister who faked his own death in Miami in 1974 fears spying charges will feature in ITV showWhen John Stonehouse, a stylish cabinet minister in Harold Wilson’s Labour government, piled up his clothes on a beach in Miami in 1974 and disappeared, he left many unsolved questions behind him.Even today, almost 50 years after he was discovered to have faked his own death to try to start a new life in Australia, the facts of his story remain in question. Was he mentally ill? Was he a traitor? Did he act alone? Continue reading...

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Workplace relations minister opens door to considering industrial relations changes as he announces gutting of building watchdog

Custodians fighting to stop construction of a WA fertiliser plant say environment department gave just three days to respond to a 180-page document

Supermarket ‘meal deals’ aimed at low-income families fall below schools food standards, says expertStruggling families are being encouraged by the government to feed their children on discounted supermarket cafe menus comprising ultra-processed junk food over the summer holidays, experts have claimed.The government’s Help for Households campaign last week urged families hit by the cost of the living crisis to take advantage of new or existing supermarket meal deals, including a “kids eat for £1” offer in Asda and “kids eat free” with an adult paying customer in Morrisons. Continue reading...

Amid staffing crisis and warnings that system is ‘deeply flawed’ companies caring for elderly and disabled enjoyed financial successThe UK’s biggest care home chains saw their profit margins jump by 18% on average during the pandemic, new research shows, while the highest paid director’s salary surged to £2.3m.Amid a social care staffing crisis, and warnings from medical leaders that the system is “deeply flawed” and in need of urgent reform, analysis seen by the Observer lays bare the financial successes of major providers caring for elderly and disabled people. Continue reading...

Five other people, including two firefighters, taken to hospital from blaze in south-western suburb of Hinchinbrook

Ukrainian president says attack shows Moscow can’t be trusted to implement deal to unblock exports agreed less than a day beforeUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of “barbarism” after missiles hit the southern port of Odesa, threatening a deal signed just a day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.Barely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Kyiv to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports, Russia targeted Odesa – through which shipments would take place – with cruise missile strikes. Continue reading...

Providers call for urgent support as 3,400 staff infected in 1,013 facilities and fears two-thirds of homes could soon have outbreaks

Rare disclosure comes as China struggles to increase elderly immunisation rates amid online rumours of side-effects

Pavlou says the emailed threat was intended to frame him after he staged a peaceful protest carrying a Uyghur flag outside the embassy

Russian missiles hit Odesa hours after deal to allow resumption of grain exports; US accuses Russia of deepening global food crisis

Institute for Public Policy Research study also shows proportion of working-class Labour MPs has halved since 1980sOnly about 1% of the current crop of Tory MPs entered parliament from a working-class job, according to new research that suggests a growing “representation gap” in parliament.Just 7% of all MPs can be considered “working class”, compared with 34% of all UK working-age adults. While 13% of Labour MPs joined parliament from a working-class occupation, the proportion has halved since the 1980s. Continue reading...

Lord Speaker raises concerns about public loss of confidence in parliament due to huge quantity of new and planned peersBoris Johnson’s plans for a major list of peerages has come under criticism, with the Lord Speaker saying it could erode “public confidence in our parliamentary system”.The House of Lords Appointment Commission (Holac), the body responsible for vetting peerages, is holding up the outgoing prime minister’s plans, Whitehall sources told the Sunday Times, who also reported that such moves could be restricted in future. Continue reading...

Tory leadership candidate’s pledge follows favourite Liz Truss’s claim she would extend Rwanda schemeRishi Sunak, who is battling with Liz Truss to win the backing of the Conservative grassroots in his attempt to replace Boris Johnson, has announced plans for an annual cap on the number of refugees the UK accepts.The former chancellor, who trails Truss by 24%, according to a YouGov poll of Conservative members earlier this week, will on Sunday promise to tackle illegal migration and regain control of the UK’s borders if he becomes the next Conservative leader and prime minister. Continue reading...

Health leaders call for streamlining of complex registration process as overseas-trained doctors look elsewhere for work

Department’s incoming brief to Penny Wong warns of consular and passport issues as well as citizens detained in Syria

Australian Unemployed Workers Union survey reveals challenges for those seeking work, from lack of information to unreasonable demands

Champion prize at the British Podcast Awards given to series co-hosted by bowel cancer campaigner who died in JuneDame Deborah James’ podcast You, Me and the Big C, has been honoured at the British Podcast Awards winning the champion prize.James, who hosted the podcast alongside Rachael Bland and Lauren Mahon, died last month aged 40 after receiving end of life care for bowel cancer at home. Bland died in September 2018 aged 40, nearly two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Continue reading...

French transport minister hits back at Liz Truss’s suggestion that France needed to fix the ‘avoidable and unacceptable’ situationAuthorities in Kent have declared a “major incident” due to traffic jams in and around Dover, with officials saying the disruption could be worse than on Friday.

Anger over lack of cash for Dover upgrade as Tory candidates vie to blame France for delaysLong summer queues at the border risk becoming the “new normal” after Brexit, holidaymakers have been warned, as a fierce diplomatic row erupted with France over the lengthy tailbacks affecting Dover.Both Tory leadership candidates rushed to blame a shortage of French border staff for delays that saw some travellers waiting for hours. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak said the French “need to stop blaming Brexit and start getting the staff required to match demand”. Foreign secretary Liz Truss said she was in touch with her French counterparts, blaming a “lack of resources at the border”. Continue reading...

Sarah Becker’s judicial review win relating to financial help for grandchildren she raises will affect other councilsA woman who is a kinship carer for her two grandchildren has won a judicial review against Plymouth council, after a judge quashed the model used by the council to calculate the money it pays to bring them up on the grounds that it was irrational.Plymouth council will now have to recalculate and back pay the allowances not only to Sarah Becker, 56, but to all special guardians in the local authority area who took in young relatives when they were already responsible for their own dependent children. Continue reading...

Airstrikes raise doubts about viability of agreement as Russia also launches series of attacks across Ukraine

Travellers told to allow three to four hours to pass through security and French border checks at port

Dog Masters 2022 in Poole, Dorset features owners appearing as the Queen and Scooby Doo among othersPups and their owners have taken to the sea in the UK’s annual Dog Surfing Championships.Familiar faces such as the Queen and Scooby Doo made a splash alongside their canines as some competitors chose to dress up for the Dog Masters 2022 event. Continue reading...

The highly influential paper, first published in 2006, has helped guide billions of dollars in US federal research into the diseaseCritical elements of one of the most cited pieces of Alzheimer’s disease research in the last two decades may have been purposely manipulated, according to a report in Science.Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia globally, according to the World Health Organization. The highly influential paper, which was published in Nature in 2006, has helped guide billions of dollars in US federal government research into Alzheimer’s, according to Science. Continue reading...

Painters, playwrights and photographers have defied the threat of arrest in southern Ukrainian city to share their experiencesUnder the threat of imprisonment, interrogation and the constant pressure of searches by Russian soldiers, six artists secretly met in a basement studio in the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson.In the months after their homes were taken over by Putin’s forces, the artists formed a residency during which they created dozens of works, including drawings, paintings, video, photography, diary entries and stage plays. Continue reading...

After 119 years, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail has printed its last issue. A dedicated reader bids this singular British institution a fond farewellIt’s been the slowest of deaths, but yesterday the “Saturday final” edition of a singular British institution will be just that. While in the last 20 years beloved pink ’uns and green ’uns (and the occasional blue ’un and buff ’un) have disappeared from towns and cities across the country, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail, 119 years old, held out as the last remaining dedicated matchday newspaper. It was first closed down in 2012 but quickly resurrected at the impassioned demand of fans of Pompey, the island city’s club. This time, the obituary is to be believed.With it goes a century of a particular collective memory: that Saturday evening ritual of heading up to the local newsagent at 5.30 or 5.45 to await the mundane miracle of a stack of fat papers slung from the back of a van reporting from all across the city what had ended only an hour before, ink still smudgeable on banner headlines. Continue reading...

Wiegman has transformed the fortunes of the women’s football team and got them to the Euro semi-finals – with no fear of making tough calls along the wayFor any of the 7.6 million BBC One viewers who tuned in to watch England’s dramatic extra-time defeat of Spain in the quarter-finals of the Euros on Wednesday night, the sight of an animated blond Dutch woman on the touchline will not have gone unnoticed.Sarina Wiegman, England’s manager, is fast becoming a talking point. Less for her antics – although watching her being lifted aloft in a bear-hug from centre-back Millie Bright after the full-time whistle was a treat – and more for the 11-month transformation of the Lionesses from disjointed and confidence-drained to contenders on the biggest of stages. Continue reading...

The new grain deal should help the Black Sea port’s economy – but existence has been hollowed out by the pressure of warBarely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Ukraine to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports, Russia targeted the country’s main port of Odesa – through which grain shipments would take place – with cruise missile strikes.The attack raised new doubts about the viability of the deal, which was intended to release about 20m tonnes of grain to ward off famine in parts of the developing world. Continue reading...

There are fears that the e-cigarette boom has the potential to create a generation of young people hooked on nicotine

Mayor says people moved from village of Vatera on Greek island as precautionary measureTourists and residents have been evacuated from a popular resort on the Greek island of Lesbos after a wildfire destroyed homes in the beachside village of Vatera.Firefighters deployed seven planes and a helicopter to tackle the blaze, with reinforcements expected to arrive from northern Greece. Continue reading...

Emergency services discover body in Jaywick following disappearance of 21-year-old on UK’s hottest ever dayThe body of a man has been found on the Essex coast two miles from where a 21-year-old went missing in the sea on Tuesday.Five people were pulled from the water near Clacton pier and taken to hospital on Britain’s hottest recorded day, but one man remained unaccounted for. The search was scaled down after more than 24 hours. Continue reading...

Under new rules, panels will rarely receive psychologists’ and probation officers’ recommendationsDominic Raab has been accused of a “catastrophic” decision that experts say profoundly undermines public safety by allowing prisoners to abscond and others to commit serious offences while on parole.In a strongly worded letter to the justice secretary, three unions castigate a “momentous and dangerous” move by Raab to ban psychologists, prison staff and probation officers from informing the Parole Board whether they believe prisoners should be released. Continue reading...

Sunny Beach and Marmaris are joint cheapest of 16 popular European resorts, according to a surveyBulgaria and Turkey are likely to be among the cheapest holiday destinations, according to a survey.Sunny Beach in Bulgaria and Marmaris in Turkey are the joint cheapest of 16 popular European resorts, according to Post Office Travel Money’s annual family holiday report. Continue reading...

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The Byron Bay event kicked off on Saturday after festival goers endured flooded campsites, long queues and the cancellation of the first day’s programming

Depp’s lawyers submit documents a day after Heard challenged outcome of multimillion-dollar caseJohnny Depp has filed a notice of appeal one day after his former partner Amber Heard filed her own against the outcome of a multimillion-dollar defamation case.Documents filed on Friday in Fairfax county, in the US state of Virginia, read: “Plaintiff and counterclaim-defendant John C Depp II, by counsel, hereby appeals to the court of appeals of Virginia from all adverse rulings and from the final judgment order of this circuit court entered on June 24, 2022.” Continue reading...

Analysis: Five months since Russia’s invasion started, Ukraine’s wealthiest have gone quiet – but for how long?Ukraine’s richest people, known in the country as oligarchs, are used to dominating political and economic life. But in the five months since Russia’s full-scale invasion started, they have gone quiet.Political analysts and experts attribute this loss of influence to the fact that oligarchs and their businesses – like all Ukrainian citizens – need protection in the form of the military and diplomacy, state functions they have no control over. Continue reading...

65.7% of remand prisoners in England and Wales who died by self-inflicted means were on suicide or self-harm watchTwo-thirds of prisoners who died by self-inflicted means while on remand in England and Wales in the past 10 years had been on suicide or self-harm watch at the time of their death, or at some point during their time in prison, the Guardian has learned.Between 2012 and 2021, 265 prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing took their own lives, 174 of whom had been placed on an ACCT, the support plan set up for prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm, according to an analysis of data from a freedom of information request. Continue reading...

Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil says former government’s pressuring of public servants to reveal boat arrival was ‘unprecedented’

Analysis: Some see him as a typical Tory, but community groups say his ascent to No 10 would be a British milestoneIf Rishi Sunak wins an uphill battle against Liz Truss in the weeks to come, he will join the small number of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) leaders of majority-white countries in the west. They include Barack Obama in the US, Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, who is partly of Goan descent, and Leo Varadkar, the former Irish prime minister whose father is Indian.When Sadiq Khan became the first Muslim leader of any western capital city, it made headlines around the world. The ascent of Sunak, the son of Hindu Indian emigrants, would be an equal “milestone moment” reflecting Britain’s diversity, community groups have said. Continue reading...