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...

This live blog has now closed. You can find our latest story hereDame Cressida Dick “felt intimidated” into stepping down as commissioner of the Metropolitan police in February this year following an ultimatum from the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, according to a review by Sir Thomas Winsor which found due process was not followed.Winsor found Dick “felt intimidated” following an ultimatum from Khan.In this case, none of the statutory steps set out in section 48 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and summarised above were followed. The Mayor, through his Chief of Staff, gave the Commissioner an ultimatum on 10 February 2022: if the Commissioner did not attend a meeting and convince the Mayor that her plan of 4 February 2022 would be improved, he would make a statement to the media.That statement would make clear that he no longer had trust and confidence in the Commissioner, and that he intended to start the statutory process for her removal.Londoners will be able to see that this review is clearly biased and ignores the facts.On the former commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows following a litany of terrible scandals. What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside. Continue reading...

Intercity train operator provoked fury last month after slashing services between London and ManchesterOne of Britain’s major intercity train operators, Avanti West Coast, has parted company with its boss a month after the company admitted it was unable to run its timetabled services.Avanti announced that its managing director, Phil Whittingham, had decided to step down, with effect from 15 September, the date when the next in a series of strikes will further afflict its operations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM hopeful criticised over ‘back to basics’ plan and claims about Twitter rows and ‘wokeness’The police chief in charge of boosting crime fighting has criticised Liz Truss’s law and order plans as “unwise” and “meaningless”, accusing her of chasing “soundbite-friendly” but unrealistic targets.Chief constable Richard Lewis, the lead on performance for the National Police Chiefs Council, said he and law enforcement leaders wanted to work with the new government. Continue reading...

Lack of faith in the office of prime minister will be among the most difficult problems Truss will face

Fernández de Kirchner was greeting supporters when man approached her and raised handgun to her faceA man has been arrested after a handgun was aimed at point-blank range at Argentina’s vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in an apparent assassination attempt.Fernández de Kirchner survived only because the pistol – which was loaded with five bullets – did not fire, President Alberto Fernández said. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan says Winsor report ‘clearly biased and ignores the facts’ after it says due process not followedCressida Dick “felt intimidated” into stepping down as head of the Metropolitan police after an ultimatum from Sadiq Khan, according to a report the mayor of London has labelled “clearly biased”.Khan responded angrily to the findings, which said due process was not followed, claiming the review into the circumstances of Dick’s resignation “ignores the facts”. Continue reading...

Patricio Maturana fired a teargas canister that permanently blinded Fabiola Campillai as she walked to work during protestsA former Chilean police special forces captain has been found guilty of assault after permanently blinding a woman he shot in the face with a teargas canister during a wave of protests in 2019.The court in the capital Santiago found that Patricio Maturana had committed “unlawful coercion resulting in serious and very serious injuries” to Fabiola Campillai who was walking to a bus stop when she was struck. The public prosecutor has requested a 12-year prison sentence. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry spokesperson says matter is ‘closed’ after Jarosław Kaczyński says Poland will formally request damagesGermany has rejected a Polish parliamentary report claiming it owes its eastern neighbour €1.3tn for damages caused during the second world war, saying the question of wartime reparations is “closed”.“The federal government’s position is unchanged”, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Friday. “In the view of the government this matter is closed”. Continue reading...

Former Italian prime minister, plotting political comeback, targets youth after lowering of voting ageItaly’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has made his TikTok debut in an attempt to appeal to young people in the run-up to a national election this month after the country dropped the voting age.“Hi guys, here I am,” the 85-year-old said, kicking off his short video on the Chinese-owned social media site, which is more commonly used by teenagers and dominated by dancers and fashion clips. Continue reading...

Proposals involve scaling back the investment bank and reducing more than $1bn in costsCredit Suisse is considering 5,000 job cuts as part of a broader restructuring plan meant to solidify the bank’s pivot towards wealth management after a string of scandals at its investment bank.Speculation over the scale of the job cuts has swirled since Credit Suisse unexpectedly replaced its chief executive Thomas Gottstein in July, after a tumultuous two-year tenure beset by financial losses, controversies and high-profile lawsuits. Continue reading...

Broadcaster pays out income from selling rights to Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama episode with the princessThe BBC has given £1.4m to charities associated with Diana, Princess of Wales, as the broadcaster continues to spend millions of pounds atoning for Martin Bashir’s interview with the royal.The payout represents the total sum received by the BBC from selling the rights to the 1995 Panorama interview to other television channels around the world. Continue reading...

Sarah Everard’s killer spoke by video link, facing two alleged incidents of indecent exposure in KentWayne Couzens, the former Metropolitan police officer convicted of killing Sarah Everard, has appeared in court via video link to face two further charges of flashing offences.The alleged incidents of indecent exposure are said to have taken place in Dover, Kent, in June 2015 and Deal, Kent, in November 2020. Continue reading...

Popular Braemar Gathering in Scotland will be attended by Prince CharlesThe Queen will miss the Braemar Gathering in Scotland, the popular Highland Games event that the Prince of Wales is scheduled to attend on Saturday.It is understood the decision has been taken for the comfort of the head of state, who has been suffering from mobility problems since last year. Continue reading...

Vicky Bowman and Htein Lin were arrested last week accused of violating immigration lawsBritain’s former ambassador to Myanmar and her husband, a prominent artist, have been sentenced to one year in prison by the country’s military-controlled courts, reports say.Vicky Bowman, who was the ambassador in Myanmar from 2002 to 2006, and her husband, Htein Lin, a veteran democracy activist, were arrested last week in Yangon and accused of violating immigration laws. Continue reading...

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the policy change will cost around $55m, and the government will do further costs. This blog is now closed

About 100m of rain predicted to drench parts of the NSW mid-north coast, including Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie

Energy firm shortlists four internal candidates to take over as chief executive in 2023Shell’s long-serving chief executive, Ben van Beurden, is preparing to step down next year after almost a decade in the role, according to Reuters.The London-headquartered energy company has shortlisted four internal candidates to take his place after months of succession planning efforts that were accelerated once Sir Andrew Mackenzie became Shell’s chair in May 2021. Continue reading...

Strongest tropical storm of the year also forecast to hit China’s mainland this weekend after winds reach 160mphDestruction is imminent across southern Japan and South Korea as super typhoon Hinnamnor barrels northwards through the East China Sea this weekend.The typhoon is so far the strongest tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season and developed gradually this week out in the Pacific, edging towards the Philippines and Taiwan. By Thursday, maximum sustained winds had reached 160mph, leading to classification as a category 5 tropical cyclone, or a super typhoon. Continue reading...

Opponents say it is ‘surprising’ for Judith Kelly to claim that ‘on the whole, modern Australian society is not racist’, in speech on Indigenous domestic violence

Rightwing voters in Australia less concerned about climate than those in most other comparable nations, Pew survey finds

Robert Tsao, a microchip entrepreneur, pledges $32m to train and equip civil defence force to combat threat of Chinese attackA Taiwanese tycoon has announced his plan to train 3.3 million “civilian warriors” and marksmen to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, using one billion Taiwan dollars ($32m) of his own money.The announcement by Robert Tsao, a well-known Taiwanese businessman and founder of United Microelectronics Corp, a major microchip producer, comes amid increasing military activity between Taiwan and China. On Thursday Taiwan’s defence ministry announced its soldiers had shot down a Chinese drone over Taiwan’s Kinmen islands. Continue reading...