Downing Centre court hears that the alleged victim was usually outgoing but his demeanour changed at a meeting with Jones at his apartment Listen to the podcast Alan Jones on TrialA politician who worked with an alleged victim of Alan Jones has told a Sydney court the man looked uncharacteristically sunken and diminished" when meeting with the broadcaster at his Circular Quay apartment.The former MP, who Guardian Australia has chosen not to name because it may lead to the identification of the alleged victim, known as complainant C, said the man was usually outgoing and engaged but his demeanour changed once he sat down at a table with his former boss. Continue reading...
The new model will serve as the first big test for John Ternus, who took the role last weekAll eyes are on Apple's annual fall announcement of new products this afternoon, where the company is expected to unveil the most significant change to the iPhone since the smartphone's introduction in 2007.Unlike previous iterations, the new iPhone is expected to fold, opening and closing like a passport to double its screen size. Continue reading...
by Rowena Mason and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris on (#788W6)
Agreement between Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella to return migrants to France faces backlash, with critics saying it goes against France's interests and sovereignty'Reform UK has insisted its deal with France's far-right National Rally to return migrants back across the channel was fully approved by the party and signed off by its president, Jordan Bardella, amid a furious backlash in France.The agreement unveiled on Friday between Nigel Farage and Bardella, who is the 30-year-old protege of presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, appeared to directly contradict Le Pen's long-held policy of refusing to accept the return of those who arrive in the UK in small boats from France. Continue reading...
Green leader says ministers must stop hiding the truth' about threat to UK security from climate and nature crisisZack Polanski will challenge Andy Burnham's government to publish an unredacted version of an explosive report by the UK's spy chiefs that found the collapse of overseas ecosystems would have catastrophic consequences for the UK's national security.The Green party leader in England will demand that the prime minister come clean about the scale and impact of the climate and nature crisis and call on the government to publish in full the report that warns the UK faces devastating security consequences. Continue reading...
Facilities likely to employ 10,400 workers, compared with 40,000 in industry estimates, thinktank saysDatacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy, according to new research.Environmental thinktank Verdant predicts that all the datacentres currently planned are likely to directly employ 10,400 workers - compared with the more than 40,000 cited in projections by the industry lobby group TechUK. Continue reading...
Jeremy Greenwood tells inquiry he does not remember a plan to release a false mistress photo' relating to David ElliottA factional figure has denied he requested to be fitted with a wire before a meeting with fellow Liberals and said he can't recall a plan to have YouTuber FriendlyJordies run a negative documentary on a New South Wales minister, an inquiry has heard.Jeremy Greenwood told the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday that a request to be wire[d] ... for sound" before a meeting with fellow Liberals was a just a silly comment". Continue reading...
The president's substantial holiday gifts to four White House aides were made public via financial disclosures released by the administrationDonald Trump gave sizable holiday gifts to four White House aides, according to new financial disclosures released by the administration, including $45,000 to executive assistant Natalie Harp.Communications adviser Margo Martin and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris also received $45,000, while director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta received a $20,000 gift. Continue reading...
by Kat Lay, Global health correspondent on (#788TT)
Key regions of the brain linked to movement, learning and emotions were affected and may lead to cognitive problemsBabies born to mothers with anaemia have smaller brains, particularly in key regions linked to movement, learning and the regulation of emotion, according to a study.Researchers said the differences, first detected at the age of one, could lead to cognitive problems when children started school. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#7889M)
More than 1,000 flights cancelled with disruption continuing on Wednesday and airlines calling for overhaul after third incident in just over three years
Roni Carlson, in wake of mistrial, says holdout juror could not be persuaded while colleague calls him very arrogant'A lone juror in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of the murder of her three children, would not agree to acquit Clancy despite expressing reasonable doubt about whether she was guilty, the jury's foreperson said in an interview airing Monday.Speaking to NBC 10 Boston just days after Clancy's trial ended in a mistrial, Roni Carlson, the foreperson, confirmed there was one holdout juror who would not be persuaded to acquit Clancy due to insanity.In the US, call the national maternal health hotline on 1-833-852-6262. In the UK, the Pandas foundation offers support via WhatsApp on 07903 508334. In Australia, the national maternal and perinatal mental health hotline is 1300 726 306. Continue reading...
Rise in fatalities comes amid news reports that the average age of Burning Man attendees is increasingThree men over 50 died at Burning Man this year, tripling the average number of deaths in connection with the annual festival that brings tens of thousands of people to build a temporary utopian community in the brutal conditions of the Nevada desert.The increase in fatalities comes as news reports have highlighted that the average age of Burning Man attendees is increasing, with fewer participants in their 20s, and more in their 40s and 50s. Continue reading...
Officials say sighting a sign species - driven to extinction in state before reintroduction in 2011 - expanding its rangeA gray wolf has recently been seen in California's Mendocino national forest for the first time since the species returned to the state 15 years ago, state wildlife officials confirmed.Officials in Lake county, which is about two hours north of San Francisco, said last week the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) had received reports of sightings in the forest in late August. The agency verified the presence of a wolf in the far north end of the county, county supervisor Brad Rasmussen said in a statement on social media. Continue reading...
A total of six people apprehended as clean-up of rubbish stacked 10 metres high cost about 6mTwo men have been arrested after fly-tippers dumped a mountain of illegal waste", stacked 10 metres high, in Oxfordshire.Hundreds of tonnes of rubbish appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington in November last year. The waste tip was so large that removing it could cost more than the local council's annual budget, the area's MP said. Continue reading...
Guy Campanile addresses ouster in Facebook post and says we were told to leave because we insisted on doing our jobs'The former managing editor at 60 Minutes, who was fired in May with several other top correspondents, has spoken out about the ouster, saying he and his colleagues, were dismissed because they would not compromise our principles or reputations by jamming unverifiable notions or White House talking points into our reporting".Guy Campanile, who worked at CBS News for 34 years, said in a private Facebook post obtained by the Guardian on Tuesday that he had held off on commenting about his dismissal right away, having decided it was wise to remain quiet when emotions are raw". Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd, Ben Quinn, Rajeev Syal on (#788J0)
Whitehall officials ask why laws meant to clamp down on mask wearing at demonstrations were not usedPolice have been told by the government they expect better intelligence gathering after masked far-right groups took to the streets at the weekend, the Guardian has learned, as the Kent force admitted mishandling warnings of potential trouble.Police in Kent on Saturday and then Portsmouth, Hampshire, on Sunday said they were taken by surprise when hundreds massed to oppose what they say is illegal immigration via small boats. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy says government will introduce legislation after talks end without breakthroughApple and Google will be forced to block explicit images on children's smartphones by law in the UK after talks failed to produce a breakthrough, the government has said.The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s. Continue reading...
Sewage plume reached seven bathing waters and significantly affected water quality in June 2023United Utilities has been fined nearly 1m after illegally discharging raw sewage into the Lancashire coastline and polluting seaside holiday locations including Blackpool.The water company pleaded guilty to five environmental permit offences relating to a pollution incident along the Fylde coast in June 2023, and was ordered by Preston magistrates court on Tuesday to pay 964,225 in fines and costs. Continue reading...
Tickets set to cost 408 at return for Somerset festival after a fallow year, a jump from 378.50 in 2025After a fallow year in 2026, Glastonbury festival fans can start to get excited - and nervous - about tickets for 2027's event going on sale.The price breaks 400 for the first time, at 408 including a 5 booking fee, a rise from the 2025 cost of 378.50. The usual scramble to acquire them - with all the attendant frantic spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups - will begin at 9am on Sunday 4 October. Continue reading...
High yields threaten to wipe out at least half of the 24bn headroom John Healey was expecting to have for his budgetThe UK government was forced to pay the highest interest rate for a 30-year bond since 1998 on Tuesday, underlining the fiscal challenges facing the chancellor, John Healey.Echoing the global bond market sell-off that has driven up yields, or interest rates, on government borrowing across the main markets, the Treasury paid 5.82% to borrow 4bn. Continue reading...
Details passed to Kent police after far-right activists heard in pub boasting about going to to Dover to attack Muslims'Police were told the night before far-right agitators blocked roads into Dover that those involved had converged on a village 18 miles away and planned to use it as a launchpad, it has emerged.People in Preston-next-Wingham told of how hundreds of men had started to arrive in the village of just over 920 residents on Friday afternoon and in effect took over" the village. Continue reading...
Moscow's foreign minister issues warning to Russophobic lobby in Budapest' after diplomats expelled for unacceptable' activitiesBut the tone coming from Moscow is very different, as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia was very confident that victory in its war against Ukraine is very near."Yes, we are confident, and we are sure that victory is very near," Peskov said in comments reported by Reuters. Continue reading...
More rapid use of blood products may have raised chance of 19-year-old making it to hospital, though chance was low, says counselThe death of a 19-year-old student who was killed in the Nottingham attacks in 2023 was potentially preventable", a public inquiry into the incident has heard.Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic, on 13 June 2023. Continue reading...
Attorney hopes Trump would consider a pardon' given the type of person she is' and what she has been through'Murder trial ends in dramatic deadlock - what comes nextThe lawyer of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three young children, has said he hopes Donald Trump will pardon his client after her trial recently ended with a deadlocked jury.Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, made the appeal on a televised interview on the ABC show Good Morning America on Tuesday. The plea comes to Trump after a judge on Friday declared a mistrial after the jury in the Clancy case could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she was guilty or not guilty.In the US, the national maternal mental health hotline is 1-833-852-6262. In the UK, the Pandas foundation offers support via Whatsapp on 07903 508334. In Australia, the national maternal and perinatal mental health hotline is 1300 726 306 Continue reading...
by Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Agence France-Pre on (#78822)
Thieves took four artworks but it is thought they dropped two in museum garden as they fledTwo thieves have broken into a museum dedicated to the French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France, stealing four artworks but leaving two behind as they fled.This morning, two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum and stole four works of art," said Bryan Masson, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer. Continue reading...
Alarm that Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania may fall next after party's Saxony-Anhalt election victoryThousands of Germans have staged protests against the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) after the party's watershed victory in a state election, warning it posed a danger in two more polls this month.Demonstrators at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate held a peaceful pro-democracy rally denouncing the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian AfD, which has called for mass deportations of asylum seekers and a rollback of state support for renewable energy and public broadcasting. Continue reading...
More than 140 clubs breached licences, with a third caught taking water illegally, analysis shows - but no fines issuedMore than 140 golf clubs in England have breached their water extraction licences in the past five years, according to data analysis by the Guardian.More than a third of these clubs were caught taking water illegally from the environment, either by taking more than permitted or by removing it outside the permitted period. Continue reading...
Sinking of inflatable dinghy in 2021 resulted in 31 people dead or missing, including a seven-year-old childFourteen men will go on trial in Paris on Tuesday over the deaths of at least 31 people in the worst mass drowning from a small-boat crossing in the Channel on record.The accused men, alleged to be linked to people-smuggling networks, face charges including manslaughter and facilitating illegal immigration as part of an organised criminal group. Continue reading...
Package of military equipment includes Patriot missiles, supplies of which have dwindled amid Russian attacksThe UK has committed 100m to boost Ukraine's air defences over winter by buying a package of US military equipment that will include a number of urgently needed Patriot missiles.The air defence interceptors plus large-calibre artillery rounds and other drones will be supplied to Ukraine through a contribution to a Nato scheme to buy American weapons. Continue reading...
Draft legislation enforces digital duty of care including limiting children's exposure to misogynistic and eating disorder contentAustralia will allow social media account holders to opt out of the powerful algorithms pushing dangerous and divisive content into users' feeds, part of new laws designed to boost online safety.Users over 16 years of age will be given new tools to turn off algorithm-driven content, with platforms facing fines of more than A$100m for non-compliance. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on (#7882F)
Backers seek support for second attempt to get law through House of Lords after undemocratic' rejection last yearMPs on both sides of the assisted dying debate have voiced fears about turnout affecting the vote on Friday, when the bill returns to the Commons for its second attempt to become law.Those who back the change in the law in England and Wales have been emphasising the undemocratic" nature of the bill's rejection by the House of Lords after it was talked out by a handful of peers after passing the House of Commons. The bill fell despite multiple days of debate from peers because of the number of amendments tabled in the Lords. Continue reading...
OECD test sees results dip in almost all member nations and warns of digital distractions' eroding academic skillsEngland's teenagers are outperforming their peers in most countries in maths, reading and science, according to an international survey that warns of digital distractions" eroding academic skills around the world.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) programme for international student assessment (Pisa), which last year tested 760,000 15-year-olds in 91 countries and regions, found that results dipped in almost all of its members compared with previous years, with the exception of England and a handful of others. Continue reading...
India's statistical system once commanded respect, and its data on economic and social indicators was considered rigorous - that appears to have erodedThere isn't much that we Indians agree on these days. GDP numbers are no exception. Last week, India released glowing GDP numbers for the latest quarter - 7.8% growth - higher than the forecast 7%. It sparked a furore.Subhash Garg, a former finance secretary under Narendra Modi's government and now a critic, reframed what Modi called a herculean feat" as mere smoke and mirrors. According to Garg, the government revised last year's current-price GDP downwards to inflate this year's number - he believes the real growth is only 2.6%. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: The AfD's local election triumph has shocked Europe, and raised questions about how to counter the rising far rightGood morning. Across Germany - and Europe more widely - there has been a palpable sense of shock and disbelief after the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) swept to a historic state election victory in the early hours of Monday.It was, according to France's European affairs minister, Benjamin Haddad, a very grave moment for Europe". The resonance was stark in the UK too: as the results came in, hundreds of black-clad activists intent on blocking migrant arrivals were battling with police for a second night along England's south coast.UK news | Batons and synthetic pepper spray were used to repel hundreds of masked, black-clad vigilantes in Portsmouth on Sunday, it has emerged, as the policing minister said officers had been injured as they repelled organised aggression".Israel | Ed Miliband will announce what he has described as a broad reset of the UK's relations with Israel on Tuesday, promising the government will take a more active approach in supporting the Palestinian cause.US | The Trump administration has raised serious concerns" over Downing Street's plan to force digital platforms to hand more prominence to established broadcasters, warning the move risks facilitating censorship".Climate crisis | Nepal is demanding $20m in climate compensation for the recent devastating floods, as a senior minister called on the world's most polluting countries to wake up" and accept shared responsibility.UK politics | There is little appetite for cuts to disability benefits even among Conservative and Reform voters, and proposals to reduce spending could prove politically risky, according to an authoritative national survey. Continue reading...
Shinjuku ward targets accommodation in residential areas and near cultural sites as locals complain visitors disposing of rubbish improperly and being too noisyA neighbourhood in Tokyo popular with foreign tourists will ban visitors from using thousands of short-term rental accommodations after a slew of complaints about behaviour.In the latest sign that Japan's patience with mass tourism is wearing thin, Shinjuku ward - home to the notorious Kabukicho nightlife district and the world's busiest railway station - will prevent visitors from using private lodgings in residential areas and near schools and important cultural sites, Japanese media reported this week. Continue reading...
In partnership with DWP, firms such as John Lewis and M&S plan to offer 18- to 24-year-olds placements of two to four weeksUK retailers plan to create up to 100,000 short-term placements for young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) over the next three years to give them a first step on the ladder to paid work.In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), more than 40 retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Pets at Home, Asda and the John Lewis Partnership, will offer Neets aged 18-24 placements of two to four weeks to gain the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work". Continue reading...