Advocacy groups attack NSW authorities’ rejection of proposal to use former disability centres

Speakers to be installed across capital for daily pronouncements as government’s plan labelled ‘archaic and redundant’Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi is famous for its noise pollution, with the sound of vehicles driving, horns blasting, construction hammering, hawkers yelling and neighbours singing karaoke combining in a discordant cacophony. But if the city government has its way, there will soon be one more source clamouring for ear space: loudspeakers blaring out state proclamations.The use of loudspeakers harkens back to cold war-era information sharing and propaganda. They were officially retired by the city’s mayor in 2017, but started creeping back in a limited capacity during Covid-19. Continue reading...

Data shows just 43,000 EU citizens received visas for work, family, study or other purposes in 2021The number of EU citizens moving to the UK has plunged since Brexit closed the doors to low-paid workers, according to a report.The dramatic decline in migration from the EU has hit hospitality and support services hard. But the Migration Observatory (MO) at the University of Oxford and ReWage, a group of independent experts, have said that while Brexit “exacerbated” chronic labour shortages in Britain, it was not the only cause. Continue reading...

TUC calls on Department for Work and Pensions to make move to help workers access key benefitsMinisters should urgently classify Covid-19 as an occupational disease to prompt employers to reduce the risk of exposure and help workers access key benefits, the TUC has said.The UK is out of step with other major countries that have recognised Covid as a disease that people can get in the course of their work, especially in certain sectors, it says. Continue reading...

One year since the Taliban regained power, charities say urgent action needed to address economic crisisOne year on from the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a group of 32 Afghan and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are urging the international community not to abandon the country’s people, but instead address the root causes of the its economic crisis, stand up for human rights and increase humanitarian aid.Reflecting a concern that the deep ideological deadlock between the Taliban and the international community is consigning millions of Afghans to destitution, they call for a clear roadmap that will lead to the restoration of the basic functions of the Afghan central bank and the release of Afghanistan’s assets frozen abroad, mainly in the US. The NGOs call for the disbursement of badly needed Afghan banknotes that have been printed but are impounded in Poland. Continue reading...

Victim pronounced dead at scene after police called to reports of a fight in east LondonThree men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 60-year-old man died in east London.The Metropolitan police were called at just after midnight on Sunday to reports of a fight at the junction of Ford Road and Broad Street in Dagenham. Officers and the London ambulance service attended but the man was pronounced dead. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says people won’t pay ‘a penny more’ and that plan would reduce inflationKeir Starmer has put a beefed-up £8bn windfall tax on energy company profits at the heart of a new plan to stop people having to pay “a penny more” on fuel bills this winter.The Labour leader confirmed that under his plan the energy price cap would be frozen at the current level, meaning that an expected 80% rise in October – taking an average household bill to about £3,600 – would not go ahead. Continue reading...

Security sources say majority of dead are children after blaze breaks out at Coptic Abu Sifin church in GizaA fire sparked by an electrical fault at a packed church in a working-class district of Greater Cairo has killed at least 41 people and injured another 45, Egyptian officials have said.About 5,000 people had gathered at the Coptic Abu Sifin church in Imbaba, Giza, for Sunday morning services, when a fire broke out just before 9am local time (7am BST). Continue reading...

Analysis: slurs traded between Truss and Sunak camps look hard to live down, though voters may have bigger worriesIt is not unusual for elections to be described as “the dirtiest ever”, but the current Conservative leadership contest has been so fractious that for once the description may be true.On Sunday, when the Conservative MP Greg Hands claimed in a Times Radio interview that “a lot of restraint” had been shown by the two campaigns, the presenter, the former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, could not conceal her disbelief. It was more “blood and thunder and eye-gouging”, she responded. Continue reading...

Richard Sharp used Cayman Island company to invest in crypto firm founded by oligarch, documents revealThe BBC’s chair used an offshore Cayman Islands company to invest in a crypto business founded by a now sanction-hit Russian oligarch.Richard Sharp was an early investor in Atomyze, a Swiss blockchain business established by the oligarch Vladimir Potanin. Also known as the “Nickel King”, Potanin has played ice hockey with Vladimir Putin and was one of the oligarchs summoned to the Kremlin when Russia invaded Ukraine. Continue reading...

With winter power cuts a possibility amid energy crisis, some Britons remember them as ‘very ordinary’When Judy Young first saw the government’s response to concerns over power supplies could be potential blackouts this winter, her first thought was: “Thank God I haven’t got young children any more.”On Tuesday, it was reported that under the government’s latest “reasonable worst case scenario” plan, Britain could experience several days of blackouts in January if the country is short of power. Continue reading...

The $48bn figure from world’s biggest oil firm is thought to be one of largest quarterly profits in historySaudi Arabia’s largely state-owned energy firm has highlighted the colossal profits made by gas and oil-rich nations during the energy crisis by revealing profits in the three months to the end of June up 90% to $48bn (£40bn).Saudi Aramco recorded what is believed to be one of the largest quarterly profits in history to easily beat the near $26bn it made a year earlier. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Renewed fears ceilings at affected hospitals could suddenly collapse, injuring staff and patientsThirty-four hospital buildings in England have roofs made of concrete that is so unstable they could fall down at any time, ministers have admitted.The revelation has prompted renewed fears that ceilings at the hospitals affected might suddenly collapse, injuring staff and patients, and calls for urgent action to tackle the problem. Continue reading...

Shipworms and crustaceans called gribbles have infiltrated the wood of the vessel off Rhode Island

Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin integrated care system says it is experiencing significant demand for all its servicesThe NHS in Shropshire has declared a critical incident over “continued and unprecedented” pressure on its services.Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin integrated care system (ICS) said it was experiencing significant levels of demand for all health and care services across the county. Continue reading...

University admissions will be ‘hardest in living memory’ after government asked regulators to set grade boundaries

Government pledges ‘judicial and political steps’ to enable talks to resume with nation’s last guerrillas broken off three years agoColombia’s new government and members of the nation’s last guerrilla group have taken steps towards restarting peace talks that were suspended three years ago in Cuba.Newly elected President Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla group, has promised to establish “total peace” in Colombia and sent a high-level delegation to Cuba this week to meet with National Liberation Army (ELN) representatives there. Continue reading...

Boonwurrung elder fights plans to transfer land from the satirist’s estate to the Bunurong Land Council

Man opens fire at random in city of Cetinje, reportedly after a family disputeTwelve people including the gunman have been killed in a mass shooting in Montenegro, after a man opened fire at random in the city of Cetinje, reportedly after a family dispute.State television said the 34-year-old gunman had also wounded six people, including a police officer, during the shooting in the Medovina neighbourhood. Continue reading...

The writer had no idea his novel would unleash such anger and become a litmus test of freedom of expression

Author was attacked by a man storming the stage as he was preparing to give a lecture in western New York

Analysis: noncommittal positions of leadership hopefuls on tackling climate crisis may be short-sightedIt’s the driest, hottest summer in 50 years, yet the Conservative leadership candidates appear to be fiddling while Britain burns.Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have barely been asked anything about their plans for tackling the climate emergency in all their debates and hustings so far – and nor have they made it a leading campaign issue themselves. Continue reading...

The critically acclaimed writer rose to fame in 1981 and later received death threats for The Satanic Verses

Divulging details about Ukraine’s defence plans is ‘frankly irresponsible’, Zelenskiy saysKazakhstan is expected to sell some of its crude oil through Azerbaijan’s biggest oil pipeline from September to bypass a route Russia threatened to shut.

Author, who has previously faced death threats, was stabbed as he was about to deliver a lecture in western New York

The 53-year-od US actor, who starred in films including Donnie Brasco, Catfight and the remake of Psycho, did not regain consciousness after a car crash on 5 August

Labour leader hits back at criticism saying his party has been ‘leading’ on the issueKeir Starmer has teased Labour’s package to tackle the cost of living crisis, saying his party would end energy prepayment premiums which he claims would offer 4m households relief on bills.The announcement, which came in what is reportedly his first tweet this month, follows criticism of Labour’s inaction on the cost of living crisis.Every organisation has its culture, but it’s not fixed, it can be changed.

Tower-obsessed Charlie Barratt recorded the welcome speech visitors hear as they ascend the liftSome little boys are obsessed with Lego. Others can’t get enough of dinosaurs. But it is Blackpool Tower that has captured one six-year-old’s imagination.Now Charlie Barratt has achieved his dream by becoming the voice of the attraction’s lift after news of his superfandom spread. Continue reading...

Court watches footage of ex-footballer telling officer he hit then girlfriend Kate Greville on lip after ‘a tangle’The jury at the trial of Ryan Giggs has been shown police video of the moment he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his then girlfriend after admitting he had hit her on the lip in what he described as a “tangle” over a puppy and mobile phone.On the fifth day of the trial at Manchester crown court, the former footballer could be heard in the video saying Kate Greville had kicked him first in the head in a “struggle” in the couple’s home in Worsley on 1 November 2020. Continue reading...

Yellow warnings begin in Scotland and Northern Ireland, spreading to England and Wales on MondayYellow weather warnings of intense thunderstorms and the possibility of flooding have been issued by the UK Met Office for once the extreme heat subsides.The UK remains in the grip of extreme heat, with amber warnings in place until Sunday for much of England and Wales. Continue reading...

Four radio station employees among dead as alleged gang members rampaged through Ciudad JuárezA prison confrontation between members of two rival cartels spilled on to the streets of the border city Ciudad Juárez, where alleged gang members have killed nine more people, including four employees of a radio station.The violence began on Thursday, when Los Chapos, members of the infamous Sinaloa cartel formerly led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, clashed with the local group Los Mexicles, in a Juárez prison, the deputy security minister, Ricardo Mejía, said. Continue reading...

Deal reported to be biggest in show’s history, as brand’s sustainability claims called into questionThe Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has signed a deal to work with the fashion brand Oh Polly. The deal is said to be worth about £1m – thought to be the biggest in the show’s history.The Sun reported that Cülcüloğlu had chosen to work with Oh Polly because it “aligned to her own values of sustainability”, unlike fast fashion brands. However, when Good on You, the website that rates brands based on their ethical and sustainable values, rated Oh Polly in June 2021, it gives the brand a “we avoid” rating, the same as the previous Love Island sponsor, the fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing. Continue reading...

The removal of Slingshot Rat has sparked debate over the legality of taking cultural artefacts from occupied landA lost Banksy piece originally spray painted to protest against Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank has resurfaced in a Tel Aviv gallery, sparking debate over the role of public art and the legality of removing cultural artefacts from occupied land.Slingshot Rat, a stencil painting, appeared on a concrete block at an abandoned Israeli army position in Bethlehem next to a section of the wall in 2007, one of several works in the Palestinian town created in secret. Some time later, the painting was obscured and graffitied with the words, “RIP Banksy Rat”, and eventually cut out and removed by unknown persons. Continue reading...

Largest mass action over pay and conditions on Britain’s railways will bring some lines to a halt on SaturdayA 24-hour strike by train drivers across nine operating companies will leave large parts of Britain without services on Saturday, in the latest mass action over pay and working conditions on the railways.The Aslef union warned that striking drivers were “here for the long-haul”, on the eve of action that will stop most intercity trains on routes between London and the Midlands, northern England and Scotland, and affect trains in many other parts of Britain. Continue reading...

Analysis: Truss has shown a Johnson-like tendency to rush into new policies and be vague or inaccurate with factsIt is perhaps fair to say Tory MPs have mixed feelings about ousting Boris Johnson. The parliamentary party moved decisively against him, only to then spend weeks lamenting the departure of a man who won them an 80-seat majority. Now some fear they are about to replace him with Johnson Mark 2 – but one who shares only his negative characteristics.While Liz Truss has improved as a campaigner since the leadership race began, not even her diehard fans would put her on a par with Johnson, whose unlikely fusion of baffled bonhomie, deflection through humour and big-state populism helped bring victory in 2019. Continue reading...

888 and Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair, say they have taken hit from safer gambling initiativesThe owners of gambling companies including Paddy Power, Betfair and William Hill have reported a plunge in revenues after implementing safer gambling initiatives – but said that the cost of living crisis is not slowing down punters’ betting habits.London-listed Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair, said that its UK revenues fell by 4% year on year in the first six months. Continue reading...

Drug can help prevent infection in people who are immunocompromised but government says data is lackingThe UK will not buy the drug Evusheld, which can help prevent Covid infections in people with weakened immune systems, the government has said.The decision, revealed on Friday in an official statement to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, has been met with criticism from a host of charities who say it means many people who are immunocompromised will be left with no option but to avoid contact with loved ones for fear of catching Covid. Continue reading...

Government plans would lower costs for 300 businesses in steel, cement, paper, ceramics and glass industriesThe UK government is considering plans to subsidise bills for energy-intensive industries such as steel and cement as companies face sharply rising electricity prices.The government proposals, released on Friday, would also mean lower costs for firms in the paper, ceramics and glass sectors. Continue reading...

PM’s response comes after would-be successor says ‘perhaps not surprisingly’ Johnson has not replied to him

E-bikes will cost £3.30 for 30 mins – double new rate for an ordinary Santander cycle hireTransport for London is to relaunch its cycle-hire scheme with the addition of e-bikes next month – but will increase charges for some users to meet rising costs.The long-established initiative, which was used a record 1.3m times last month, will be boosted by 500 electric bicycles from 12 September. Continue reading...

Channel 4 show returns this weekend, 20 years after it was axed, and its hosts say it has modernised for today’s audienceIt was chaotic, cheeky and in your face, making household names of presenters such as Chris Evans, Gaby Roslin, Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen. Now, two decades after it was axed, the show on which Paula Yates wrapped her legs around INXS’s Michael Hutchence, Sara Cox snogged Will Smith and Posh Spice revealed that David Beckham liked to secretly wear her knickers is back.Famed for brightening up the anaemic landscape of 90s breakfast television, The Big Breakfast returns to Channel 4 on Saturday fronted by the comedian Mo Gilligan and the presenter AJ Odudu. But while it retains some of its original, irreverent spirit, the show that once failed to have a single Black or Asian main presenter has been modernised for a 21st-century audience by being more inclusive and far less slapstick, its new hosts say.The Big Breakfast is on Channel 4 on Saturday, 10am-12.30pm. Continue reading...

Sempé co-created much-loved French children’s books that have sold more than 15m copies worldwideJean-Jacques Sempé, the celebrated French cartoonist who illustrated the children’s book series Le Petit Nicolas and produced more covers for the New Yorker magazine than any other artist, has died aged 89.Sempé’s acclaimed cartoons often showed small figures set in vast urban landscapes or contemplating the enormity of nature amid trees or gardens. Drawn in delicate, soft lines, they were sometimes accompanied by a one-line gag – a deliberately gentle form of social commentary from an artist who had escaped a violent and difficult childhood near Bordeaux, but who described himself as an eternal optimist. Continue reading...

Actor says rise of sex-scene advisers is ‘fantastic’ in wake of Sean Bean’s criticism that it reduces acting to ‘technical exercise’Emma Thompson has joined the actors pushing back against Sean Bean’s criticism of intimacy coordinators, describing the profession as a “fantastic introduction” that has made actors feel comfortable and safe.Bean, best known for his work on Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, said earlier this week that coordinators reduce “the natural way lovers behave” into a “technical exercise”. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says party would ensure nobody ‘pays over the odds’ for same gas and electricityLabour has said it would eliminate the “premium” that means people with energy prepayment meters, who are often on low incomes, are charged more than those on direct debits.About 4 million domestic customers use prepayment meters, and their price cap is about 2% higher than for direct debit customers, according to figures from Ofgem. Continue reading...

Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield all in running to host eventBirmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield have been named as potential hosts of the Eurovision song contest when it is held in the UK next year for the first time in 25 years.The seven candidate cities were announced by Scott Mills live on Zoë Ball’s Radio 2 breakfast show. Continue reading...

Former chancellor outlines support package for up to 16 million vulnerable peopleRishi Sunak has said he would find up to £10bn to help people facing rising energy bills, as a minister backing his Conservative leadership rival indicated that direct support for the hard-pressed would be announced “in a considered way”.Acknowledging he would have to increase government borrowing to tackle the crisis, the former chancellor sketched out what he envisaged would be a support package for up to 16 million vulnerable people. Continue reading...

While Seoul experienced torrential downpours, rainfall levels are down in China’s Yangtse River basinExtreme flooding in South Korea this week submerged streets, cars and buildings, as torrential downpours brought more than a month’s worth of rainfall in the space of a few days. Between Monday and Wednesday a cumulative total of 525mm – a little over 20 inches – was recorded in Seoul.At least nine people are confirmed to have died from the floods and many more are reported injured or missing. High rainfall rates and flooding during the monsoon season in South Korea is common, with average rainfall of up to 10mm a day and 250mm in the month of August. However, this week rainfall accumulations far exceeded these typical conditions. Continue reading...

Proposed plan will tackle workload, pay structures and attracting and retaining teachers, but does not address increased school funding

Advocates call for immediate action following incidents including suicide attempts among incarcerated juveniles

Fast-food giant denied staff their rest break entitlements, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association alleges