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Greens welcome announcement as Jim Chalmers says half-baked' idea could make competition problem worse not better

Rapper was booked for misdemeanour battery over altercation with security guard, but will not be charged after completing community serviceKiller Mike will not face charges over an alleged assault at the Grammys in February, officials announced on Monday.The US rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, was arrested and booked with misdemeanour battery after an altercation with a security guard at the ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Woman tells court about shocking' conversation she had with missing teenager, after pair got stranded at a train station in New South Wales

London-based fintech company has been waiting more than three years for its UK licence to be approved

In the Lincolnshire constituency of Grantham, a statue of the Iron Lady reflects a sense of loyalty that is now waveringThere were hints of a sunny afternoon in Grantham on Monday when the skies kept clouding over, producing on-off moments of drizzle. But if the weather was undecided, that was nothing compared to the voters, with less than two days left until the general election.We watched the debates but we still don't know," said John Lyon, a retired bricklayer going to the bank with his wife, Jane, a retired chef. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: 12% of the electorate are believed to be unsure how to vote, and they might change the demographic of voters. Could the polls be wrong? Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. The UK general election is on Thursday, yet about one in eight people have still not decided who they are going to vote for. The polls heavily suggest Labour are on course for a historic victory, but the scale of the Conservatives' defeat - from heavy to catastrophic - may be decided by the large group of as-yet undecided voters.Labour are projected to win 428 seats, giving the party a stonking majority of 102. The Tories are expected to fall to just 127 seats, and some polls question whether they will even reach three figures. The Liberal Democrats could climb from 11 at the 2019 election to 50. Reform UK, while projected to win as much as a 16% share of the vote, are unlikely to win more than two seats, but will cost Conservatives seats (to Labour and other parties) across the country.General election 2024 | Recriminations have begun to fly around the Conservatives as a senior figure called the last few weeks the worst campaign in my lifetime" and criticised the party for failing to tackle the threat from Reform.Donald Trump | While Republicans applauded the supreme court's decision to grant Donald Trump immunity for official acts undertaken as president, Democratic leaders expressed outrage over a ruling that legal experts warn could undermine the foundations of US democracy.France | French left and centrist parties are scrambling to cobble together a united front after Marine Le Pen's resounding victory in the first round of snap parliamentary elections on Sunday brought her far-right, anti-immigration party a step closer to power.Science | A brain-controlled bionic leg has allowed people with amputations to walk more quickly and navigate stairs and obstacles more easily in a groundbreaking trial.Theatre | Sir Ian McKellen is withdrawing from the national tour of Player Kings after he fell off a West End stage last month. The veteran actor said he was taking medical advice with the greatest reluctance" to protect my full recovery". Continue reading...

Large financial backers are returning to the party after abandoning it during the Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn erasLabour HQ was shocked and delighted to discover the party had raised 4m during the first two weeks of the election campaign, while the beleaguered Tories managed just 290,000.But according to a Labour donor who used to raise funds for the party, the adage when power shifts, so too does the money" rings true. Continue reading...

Contest condemned by animal rights groups sees children and adults hunt cats, which threaten native wildlifeA controversial competition that allows children to hunt feral cats in rural New Zealand for cash prizes has produced its biggest haul yet, with roughly 340 animals killed - about 100 more than last year's event.The annual North Canterbury fundraising event, which wrapped up this weekend, is open to children and adult participants and targets deer, pigs, ducks, possums and rabbits. Continue reading...

Nationals MP Wes Fang launches fresh tirade against Mark Speakman after opposition leader questioned his Wagga Wagga credentials

Rishi Sunak accused of failing to tackle threat from Reform while candidates complain of lack of support from CCHQRecriminations have begun to fly around the Conservatives as a senior figure called the last few weeks the worst campaign in my lifetime" and criticised the party for failing to tackle the threat from Reform.Rishi Sunak started the week with warnings against handing Labour a supermajority" and a blank cheque" and claimed a vote for Reform would hand more power to Keir Starmer. Continue reading...

Christopher Bell sentenced over manslaughter of George Tereva after drinking alcohol and driving excavator

Regulator gives industry groups six months to come up with draft code, expected to include rules about age verification

Foreign visa holders account for more than 35% at Australia's prestigious Group of Eight institutions

Much-lauded Praiseworthy joins works by Gregory Day, Andre Dao, Sanya Rushdi, Jen Craig and Hossein Asgari competing for Australia's highest literary honour

Toll of dead and injured at anti-government rallies where police opened fire is almost double earlier figure disclosedAt least 39 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in anti-government demonstrations in Kenya, the national rights watchdog has said, as activists geared up for a new round of protests this week.The toll announced by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) is almost double the figure previously disclosed by the authorities for those killed while contesting a set of unpopular tax increases that have now been withdrawn. Continue reading...

Force admits use of undercover officers was indefensible' and had corrosive effect' on public trust, inquiry hearsThe Metropolitan police has issued a series of wide-ranging apologies to campaigners for the indefensible" use of undercover officers to spy on them, a public inquiry has heard.The Met admitted to serious failings and wrongdoing" by some of the undercover officers, conceding there was a general failure" by senior managers to supervise them properly. Continue reading...

Jimmy Lippert Thyden Gonzalez alleges country engaged in plan to steal babies from perceived enemies in 70s and 80sA Chilean-American man raised in the United States has filed a criminal complaint against the Chilean state, alleging that it engaged in a systematic plan to steal thousands of babies from perceived enemies of the state in the 1970s and 1980s.The case filed by Jimmy Lippert Thyden Gonzalez, 43, aims to advance the task of Chilean prosecutors and human rights groups working on accountability for crimes committed under Gen Augusto Pinochet. Continue reading...

Sexual violence experts concerned about health risks and lack of consent after survey shows almost 60% of respondents under 35 had been choked at least once

Exclusive: Veteran actors fast-tracked into venerable London club in wake of men-only rule being jettisoned after 193 yearsThe Garrick Club has named Judi Dench and Sian Phillips as distinguished members, making them the first women to be allowed to join the club in its 193-year history.The actors were given fast-tracked membership during the club's annual general meeting on Monday evening. Until now, no woman had been allowed into the Garrick unless invited in and accompanied around the building by a man. Continue reading...

Laws in Florida and Texas were designed to restrict big tech's power over alleged bias towards conservative speech

Chuck Schumer calls ruling a sad day for our democracy' that will undermine supreme court's credibilityWhile Republicans applauded the supreme court's decision to grant Donald Trump immunity for official acts undertaken as president, Democratic leaders expressed outrage over a ruling that legal experts warn could undermine the foundations of US democracy.The court's six conservative justices ruled that presidents have absolute immunity" for official acts but no immunity from unofficial acts. The distinction could hamper the federal case against Trump over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and makes it even less likely that the case will go to trial before election day in November. Continue reading...

Hongchi Xiao denies manslaughter by gross negligence of Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, in Wiltshire in 2016An alternative healer failed to get help for a woman with diabetes who lay dying after taking part in his slapping therapy" workshop at a British country house, a jury has been told.Hongchi Xiao, a champion of paida lajin therapy, in which patients are slapped or slap themselves to expel poisonous waste", should have sought urgent medical assistance after Danielle Carr-Gomm stopped taking insulin and fell seriously ill, the court heard. Continue reading...

Steelworks owner says withdrawal of threat of industrial action means it can continue to operate one furnace safelyThe owner of the Port Talbot steelworks, Tata Steel, has cancelled plans to begin shutting down both of the plant's blast furnaces this week after Unite called off a strike, but cutbacks expected to cost 2,800 jobs will still go ahead later this year.Members of the union were scheduled to begin industrial action on 8 July, days after Indian-owned Tata began a wind-down process that will ultimately end more than 70 years of making steel from scratch at the plant. Continue reading...

Al-Shifa's Mohammed Abu Salmiya alleges Israel tortured him across seven months of detention without chargeThe head of the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital has accused Israel of torturing him and other detainees, following his release after seven months in Israeli prisons and detention facilities.Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, was among dozens of Palestinians freed and returned to Gaza on Monday, according to Israeli authorities. Continue reading...

Annalena Baerbrock says Germany cannot be unmoved by the performance in France of a party which sees Europe as the problem, not the the solution'

Trump ally to begin serving four-month sentence for contempt of CongressSteve Bannon turned himself in to prison on Monday after the supreme court rejected his last-minute appeal to avoid prison time for defying multiple subpoenas surrounding the House's January 6 insurrection investigation.He live-streamed his drive to FCI Danbury, the minimum-security prison in Connecticut where he will serve his four-month sentence, on his War Room podcast and show on Rumble. Continue reading...

After the optimism of 2017, some are now frustrated at having to vote for a Labour party they feel betrayed them

Roofs blown off by 150mph winds and thousands hunkered down as hurricane reaches Caribbean island of CarriacouHurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Caribbean island of Carriacou after becoming the earliest storm of its strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.Carriacou is one of the islands of Grenada, where officials said winds increased up to 150mph (240km/h), blowing off roofs and causing other damage. Continue reading...

Lib Dem leader says public's dislike of Tories and tactical voting offer chance to change UK's political geography

The 6-3 supreme court ruling says Donald Trump has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers. The decision fell along party lines

This live blog is closedPalestinian news agency Wafa has spoken to a detainee released by Israel, who told the agency those from Gaza being held by Israeli forces suffer from tragic and unbearable conditions and circumstances.He said he had been detained on 16 November, had been held in a tent with 30 inmates, and that Israeli prisoners were subject to various types of torture, abuse, and assaults. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Use of tourist visas not fit for purpose, advocates say, as Gaza man describes how coming to Australia on one has left him with no rights'

Exclusive: Nuclear leapfrogs renewables as the perceived most expensive' form of electricity in the latest poll

Submission to Victoria's Indigenous truth-telling inquiry calls for university to cut ties over first governor's role in colonisation

Judge is concerned about lack of progress of treatment in mental health facility and urges transition away from highly restrictive conditions'

Almost 12,000 fewer inmates completed offender management courses than when David Cameron took office

Donald Tusk warns of politicians advocating for Putin while Marine Le Pen's allies celebrate RN's gains

Former champion has yet to confirm whether he will play after having surgery to remove spinal cyst

High mortgage interest rates and soaring bills hitting affordability despite wages rising above inflation

Belfast-based shipbuilder faces uncertainty over 200m government loan guarantee

US National Weather Service warns of dangerously hot conditions' with temperatures rising during the weekHeat will build over parts of California this week, potentially challenging current temperature records. The US National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings and heat advisories for the days between Tuesday and Saturday due to dangerously hot conditions" with temperatures likely to soar into the triple digits fahrenheit.Temperatures have already been building across the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys this past weekend, but will continue to rise through this week. One of the hottest cities will likely be Fresno, where maximum temperatures could exceed 110F (43C) across multiple days. Death Valley may also get close to 130F (54C) towards the end of the week; a temperature that has been reached only three times - in 1913, 2020 and 2021. Temperatures more widely will reach 100-110F (38-43C) between Tuesday and Saturday, although peak temperatures could reach 115F (46C), which would be 5-10C above the climatological average. In addition to the high daytime maximum temperatures, there won't be much relief overnight, with minimum temperatures dropping into the mid-60s F to low-80s F (around 18C-28C). Continue reading...

Inquest begins into death of Pippa White, with deputy state coroner examining whether she received appropriate care

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Spoof ads with tennis players appear near club in protest against sponsor's ties to fossil fuels and arms companiesHundreds of ads on commercial billboards, the tube and bus shelters near Wimbledon have been replaced with artwork taking aim at the tournament's sponsorship with Barclays over its ties to fossil fuels and companies supplying arms to Israel.Tournament organisers have come under pressure to drop the bank as a sponsor by climate groups and anti-war activists who accuse Barclays of using the event to cover up its role" in funding the climate crisis and to hide from accountability for its role in enabling Israel's war crimes". Continue reading...

WA senator says she will reflect on her future while accusing some members of trying to intimidate' her to quit Senate

Coroner says death at Port Phillip prison was preventable and the result of a series of missed opportunitiesFor 16 minutes, an Indigenous man was left unconscious in his prison cell before dying in what his mother describes as a system lacking care and compassion for human life.A series of missed opportunities culminated in the preventable death of 32-year-old Yorta Yorta and Gunaikurani man Joshua Kerr in August 2022, Victorian coroner David Ryan has found. Continue reading...

MSF says it is overwhelmed in country where 31.8 million people are suffering from hungerAn unprecedented number of children in northern Nigeria are suffering from acute malnutrition, aid workers in the country have said.Nigeria has the largest number of food insecure people globally" at 31.8 million, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization office in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri said. Continue reading...

Greens motion that Labor senator crossed floor to support was designed to put her in a difficult position, PM says after her appearance on ABC Insiders

RN and its allies have won 33% of national vote according to official results, as Marine Le Pen targets absolute majority

Claimants who were onboard BA149 claim airline and Thatcher's government knew of risk before they landed in 1990British Airways (BA) passengers and crew taken hostage in Kuwait and used as human shields during Saddam Hussein's invasion are suing the airline and the UK government.The claimants, who were subjected to torture, including mock executions, say they have evidence that BA and the government knew the invasion had taken place hours before the plane landed in Kuwait. They also claim that the flight was used to secretly transport a special ops team for immediate and covert deployment to the battlefield, regardless of the risk this posed to the civilians onboard". Continue reading...