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Premier Ben Carroll adopts Coalition's stance on Jack's Law, which gives police and PSOs power to randomly search people for knives with metal detectorsThe Victorian premie has made another policy backflip, announcing a re-elected Labor government would give police and protective services officers the power to stop and search people for knives using handheld metal detectors - despite experts warning of a lack of evidence the measure reduces violent crime.Ben Carroll on Wednesday announced he would match a commitment made by the Coalition opposition last year to introduce Queensland's Jack's Law, named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in Surfers Paradise in 2019. Continue reading...

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Dozens of Bank of England directors and founding subscribers invested in trafficking of enslaved AfricansThe Bank of England and the British financial system were for centuries deeply involved in the enslavement and transatlantic trafficking of millions of African people, according to new research on Britain's slavery history.Research by historians compiling the Register of British Slave Traders has found that the scale of the financial system's involvement in enslavement is greater than previously known or acknowledged. The Bank of England, the central bank owned by the government since nationalisation by Clement Attlee's Labour administration in 1946, had dozens of financiers involved in its foundation who were also significant investors in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. Continue reading...

Register of British Slave Traders shows clergymen financed company that trafficked enslaved Africans on hundreds of voyagesNearly 250 years after the abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano made the Christian case for reparative justice, the archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, visited the Ghanaian shore where he was enslaved as a boy.After witnessing the dungeons beneath the chapel at Cape Coast Castle, once run by the Royal African Company (RAC), Mullally recommitted the Church of England to its journey of repentance" for its role in slavery. Continue reading...

Rotherham has 46 online vacancies for every 1,000 young people but there are 288 in Cotswold district council areaYoung people in Rotherham face a local jobs market with the fewest suitable opportunities in Britain, according to a report that warns stark regional divisions are fuelling a crisis in youth work.As ministers push to combat rising youth unemployment, the analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) showed young people faced a tougher challenge in some parts of the country to find work than in others. Continue reading...

Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin AmericaNature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness.Organised crime groups or professional killers were implicated in more than a third of the 124 killings of defenders in 2025 as narco-trafficking activities overlapped with intrusions into indigenous territories and environmental crime, such as illegal logging and wildcat gold mining. Continue reading...

Accident occurred as news crews in Los Angeles were covering a bus crash that had killed at least two people hours earlierA news helicopter crash in a Los Angeles neighborhood has killed at least three people, after it came to the ground and burst into flames near the site of a bus crash that occurred hours earlier.The helicopter crashed near a one-storey commercial building in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, as news crews were covering the bus crash that left at least two people dead and six others injured, according the Los Angeles Fire Department. Continue reading...

Study challenges belief that temple's curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean linesA mathematician has uncovered what may be one of the longest-running myths in history after studying optical illusions and the Parthenon, the famed Greek temple that overlooks Athens.Scholars have marvelled at the building on the Acropolis hill for more than 2,000 years and heaped praise on its architects for their clever use of geometry. Its subtle curves are said to correct optical illusions that would have otherwise ruined the Parthenon's clean lines. Continue reading...

The Iran-aligned militant group rejected the suggestion it had targeted Mecca, while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned the attackSaudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, according to a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition which is fighting the Iran-aligned group in Yemen.The security of Islam's two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a red line", coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said early on Wednesday, adding that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures against the Houthis. Continue reading...

Supporters from around Australia back the Black Wreath, a volunteer-run centre far off the beaten touring trackAlice Springs has a population of 34,000 and exactly one dedicated live music space: a heavy metal venue called the Black Wreath. It has hosted hundreds of bands from around the country over the past decade - despite being 1,500km from the nearest city.For musicians in central Australia, the Black Wreath is a one-of-a-kind resource. So when its operators were informed last year of the owners' plans to sell, they negotiated a stay of execution and began devising a fundraiser that could save the desert venue. A month-long crowdfunding campaign, which called for donations that would let the team behind the Black Wreath buy the venue and place it in a trust, hit its $1m target on Friday. Continue reading...

At least five pupils at a village school in the West Bank have been killed in the last year by settlers and soldiers. Emma Graham-Harrison reports on how the school found itself on the frontline, while a teacher explains what life is like for staff and students.Waheed Abu Naim is an English teacher at the Al Mughayyir boys' school in a village in the West Bank. He loves his job, he says. I am happy to be a teacher. Although we don't get lots of money, because my students, especially in the morning, wait for me when I enter the school to shake hands, to smile at me while going inside their classes. So it's a happy life."But the last year has been anything but happy for Waheed. His village is now surrounded by settlers, while the military has blocked off every road except one, which has a checkpoint on it. Teachers who live in neighbouring villages cannot always come to work. But worse are the attacks on the village by settlers. Continue reading...

Police say personal items thought to belong to Whear recovered from waterlogged vehicle

As minister says process needs to be streamlined', Greens and Lock the Gate say the legislation is corrupt' and tears up environmental protections

More than a million people have left work to look after loved ones in the past two years, Carers UK saysAbout 1,500 Britons a day are quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers, as they try to balance their vulnerable relatives' growing care needs with declining access to state-funded social care services.Research estimates that more than a million people have left the workplace to look after ageing, ill and disabled loved ones in the past two years, highlighting the social challenges caused by UK's rapidly changing demographic profile. Continue reading...

PC Mason O'Connor dismissed following Panorama film showing misogyny and racism at London police stationA 13th serving Metropolitan police officer has been dismissed in relation to an undercover BBC investigation into misogyny and racism at Charing Cross police station.PC Mason O'Connor was found to have committed discreditable conduct and breached professional behaviour standards, linked to a comment he made towards a female colleague, according to the Met. Continue reading...

Nearly half of minority ethnic respondents in a poll say they have faced prejudice over the past yearMany Britons feel inequality is worsening and that discrimination has become more common, according to a thinktank study.The report by British Future has found that people across ethnic groups believe racial equality is worsening in Britain. One in six people are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Continue reading...

Who are the Democrats running in the midterms, and where do they stand? Our political reporters will be hosting a series of conversations on the critical issues ahead of November. First up: the state of the Democrats, the party's moderate and leftwing candidates and key races to watch. Drop your questions and join us live at 12pm (EDT) on 16 September

Three openers and live band for Sheeran's tour depart after removal of Macklemore over free Palestine' commentsAll four supporting acts for upcoming dates of Ed Sheeran's Loop tour have withdrawn in solidarity with fellow opening act Macklemore, as backlash grows to his removal from the tour over onstage comments in support of Palestine.Finneas, the singer who was scheduled to open for Sheeran on six South American dates in November, withdrew from the tour on Tuesday afternoon, hours after Sheeran posted his own lengthy statement to Instagram explaining pressure from venue owners to remove Macklemore for pro-Palestine comments made during two shows at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. Continue reading...

Analysis of 29 studies highlights potentially heightened danger from small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxideAir pollution is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to research.Environmental pollution is known to be associated with poorer mental health but its role in suicide risk is less well understood. Scientists at Queen's University Belfast examined whether air, noise, light, and water pollution could influence the risk of death by suicide and suicidal behaviours. Continue reading...

English singer outlines his position after US stadium owners refuse to let rapper perform after political speech

Under new workers' rights, employers will have to properly consider' proposed shift changes and explain decisionsCompany bosses will have to sit down with workers who request flexible working and justify their reasons for any refusals under new rights announced by Louise Haigh on Tuesday.The first secretary of state told the TUC conference that employers would have to properly consider" requests for flexibility and offer a face-to-face meeting under new rights for workers. Continue reading...

Nathaniel James McGuire faces maximum sentence of life in prison after guilty plea over September 2024 bombingA California man has pleaded guilty to charges that he detonated a bomb at a Santa Maria courthouse in 2024 in retaliation for law enforcement officers seizing his firearms earlier that year.In September 2024, Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, of Santa Barbara county threw a backpack containing an explosive device into the courthouse before exiting the building to retrieve two long guns and 10 molotov cocktails from his car. Continue reading...

Scandal explodes as country's election campaign peaks, with polls suggesting dead heat between candidatesBrazil's supreme court has been thrust into what experts consider the greatest crisis since the return of democracy in the 1980s, as two rival judges lock horns on the eve of the presidential election with unpredictable consequences for Latin America's largest democracy.The politically charged dispute exploded into public view on Tuesday as judges traded insults and accusations during a heated supreme court hearing that was livestreamed into millions of Brazilian homes. Continue reading...

Prime minister speaks of strengthening Canada's economic and political ties to Europe at Canada Investment SummitMark Carney said Canada will pursue a unique security and economic alliance" with Europe as he positions his country as a base to build in the new global economic order".Speaking to investors, company executives and government ministers at the inaugural Canada Investment Summit on Tuesday, the prime minister pitched Canada as a safe harbour" and lucrative home for foreign capital as his government looks to reduce its reliance on trade with the United States. Continue reading...

Decision not to pause proceedings means 18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse's convictionJust two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the atrocious" wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has a deep-seated ... cultural reluctance" to accept it will on occasion make mistakes" and that entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted". Continue reading...

Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a yearThe government's one in, one out" deal is costing about 56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers. Continue reading...

Karl Rove, a respected GOP consultant, further said he would vote for bigot' Bo French's Democratic opponent after postA senior Republican has called a party colleague running for office in Texas a bigot" over a racist social media post attacking college football fans - and said he is so outraged by the comments that he will vote for the candidate's Democratic rival.Karl Rove, who was former president George W Bush's longtime political adviser and is a respected Republican consultant in Texas, told a private event in Austin on Sunday that he could not support Bo French's candidacy for a seat on the state's railroad commission, the Texas Tribune reported. Continue reading...

Dan Thomas, elected in May, says he does not wish to be a distraction' on same day Reform MS defects to Plaid CymruThe leader of Reform UK in Wales is standing down after he was arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour.Dan Thomas, a former Tory councillor, had only been announced as Reform UK's Welsh leader by Nigel Farage in February. Continue reading...

Jayden Williams of Stockbridge alleged to have made inappropriate texts to teen and using city funds improperly

Robert Garcia expresses concern over any possible foreign entanglement' between White House and Umar KremlevRobert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, is investigating potential ties between the White House and a Russian oligarch who paid for a portion of Donald Trump Jr's wedding.In a letter sent to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, on Monday, Garcia expressed concern about any possible foreign entanglement" between the president's son and the oligarch, Umar Kremlev. Garcia asked Wiles to provide documents, records and communications between the White House and Trump Jr about Kremlev, among other requests. Continue reading...

Court hears that two officers did not deal properly with allegation Jaysley Beck made against a superiorTwo army officers let down" a teenage soldier who went on to kill herself when they did not deal properly with a sexual assault allegation she made against a superior, a court martial has heard.Jaysley Beck, 19, told Col Samantha Shepherd that she had been touched on the leg by a warrant officer during a social event at an adventure training exercise, the court was told. Continue reading...

Reiner is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, Rob and Michele Singer Reiner in their home in December 2025Nick Reiner will not face the death penalty if convicted of the killings of his parents Rob and Michele Singer Reiner, the Los Angeles county district attorney's office announced.Nathan Hochman, the Los Angeles DA, said on Tuesday that his office will not pursue the death penalty in the case. He told reporters gathered outside a Los Angeles courthouse ahead of a pre-trial hearing that the prosecutors had considered the wishes of Reiner family members and mitigating factors in making their decision. Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen says incidents part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe'A Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea and an Italian Nato fighter jet shot down a drone carrying an explosive device over Lithuania in what the EU described as reckless and dangerous" Russian behaviour.Poland also scrambled fighter jets due to the activity of Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory", the day after Polish security forces retrieved a suspected Russian drone adrift in its waters. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper says this must be a turning point for the NHS' and tells the Commons she is profoundly sorry' for mistakes highlighted in Thirlwall report

Exclusive: Lee Hanson also appears to be regularly campaigning for party during work hours, social media shows

Exclusive: Correspondence requests state MP Melissa Horne to lobby on NextDC's behalf - but contains alleged AI-created errors

The European Commission's president warned that recent actions in Denmark and Lithuania are not isolated incidents'

Ex-England footballer also admits to failing to provide a specimen as he appears at Basingstoke magistrates courtThe former England footballer Raheem Sterling has admitted dangerously driving a Lamborghini on the motorway.Sterling pleaded guilty at Basingstoke magistrates court on Tuesday to driving a Lamborghini Urus dangerously on the M25, the M3, the A327 before he crashed on 28 May. Continue reading...

Disbanding of department in Trinidad comes after arrest of a resident for posting about issues with local water supplyA police department in Texas that arrested a local resident for complaining on social media about their city's contaminated water supply has been ordered closed after failing to prove it provided any benefit to the community.State officials stepped in to investigate after Jennifer Combs spent a night in jail in May after a post appeared on her Facebook page suggesting people were hospitalized by bacteria in the water pipes of Trinidad, a municipality in Henderson county about 75 miles south-east of Dallas. Continue reading...

Analysts warn of an acceleration in high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth's orbitThe US has deployed weapons in space, the US military has confirmed, in an extraordinary public announcement that analysts warn will accelerate a high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth's orbit.US secretary of the air force, Troy Meink, announced that Washington had active on-orbit" weapons, meaning they had been deployed and were currently circling the globe. Continue reading...

More than 130 counsels and KCs sign letter to PM saying international law requires further measures to stop illegal settlementsMore than 130 legal experts, including 18 king's counsel (KCs), have written to Andy Burnham saying that sanctions on Israeli settlements fall far short" of Britain's obligations under the international court of justice's (ICJ's) finding that the occupation is unlawful.The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband last week announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and other measures. Signatories to the letter to the prime minister, including the leading lawyers Michael Mansfield KC and Imran Khan KC, and the former lord justice of appeal Alan Moses, say it is not enough. Continue reading...

Councillors say locals have been raising concerns about people secretly filming in change rooms, swimming pools and around schools

More than 1,200 people including Ben Fogle sign letter saying buying British will help preserve manufacturing firms

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Nassif declares I'm not corrupt', threatens to pull out of evidence and waves handwritten notes at counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer

Carmaker builds on relationship with British armed forces by seeking to cash in on Europe's rearmament drive

Economists urge John Healey to press Bank to change policy that is costing the exchequer billions of poundsEconomists have urged the chancellor, John Healey, to press the Bank of England to slow down its bond-selling programme that has already cost the exchequer billions of pounds.The Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) meets this week to not only decide the level of interest rates but also whether they should freeze or slow the sale of government bonds, known as gilts, bought as part of the rescue operation after the 2008 banking crash. Continue reading...

Figure likely to dictate rise in state pension triple lock, as workers face inflation squeeze fuelled by oil price rises

After a five-storey building collapsed in Delhi, focus is on how urban areas can adapt to growing populations. Plus, Ahmedabad's ace newspaper delivery driver goes viralRecently, I may have saved a woman's life on the road. Somehow, this was something I had expected to happen.On that day, I saw a truck leave a construction site with a tangled wire trailing behind. I frantically looked to see what the wire was attached to and spotted the scaffolding a few meters ahead. I shrieked and grabbed the hand of the woman walking in front of me just as the metal pipes came crashing down. We hugged for a brief second, and then walked our separate ways. Continue reading...

Witness tells court he sent Jones friendly messages after two alleged assaults because he had been generous to him