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Industrial action by Aslef members threatened to halt all London Underground servicesA planned strike by tube drivers that threatened to halt all London Underground services on Thursday has been called off, their union announced.Talks between Aslef officials and Transport for London management on Tuesday led to a significantly improved offer", according to the union. Continue reading...

Among extremists, election results matter less than chaos and destruction - they hope civil war kicks off' either way

George Weston, chief executive of ABF, adds that Reeves's budget is positive for hard-pressed shoppersBritain's high street retailers will carry the weight of tax rises" announced in the budget, but it will benefit the least affluent" consumers, according to the chief executive of the cut-price fashion chain's parent company.George Weston, the chief executive of Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns Primark as well as food and sugar brands, said the business was preparing for a big rise in costs, after Rachel Reeves's tax-raising measures, including an increase in employers' national insurance contributions from next April. Continue reading...

Singer, who has recently endorsed Kamala Harris, releases first music video since 2021 for Cowboy Carter song Bodyguard and calls on Americans to voteBeyonce has starred in her first music video since 2021, cosplaying as Pamela Anderson and calling on Americans to vote.The video, entitled Beywatch, is soundtracked by Bodyguard, a track from her country-leaning album Cowboy Carter which was released in March. It carries - rather belatedly - the caption Happy Beylloween, but is also timed for release as Americans go to the polls. Continue reading...

Court told that Urfan Sharif had tried to call an ambulance for his daughter, but his wife told him to leave it'The father of Sara Sharif denied killing his daughter as he claimed the 10-year-old's stepmother was the true villain of the piece", a court was told.

Exclusive: UK rebuild of Beijing embassy held up as Angela Rayner faces fraught decision on Royal Mint Court site

Sudiksha Ahuja found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and her nursing registration cancelled

Nine radio star says he speaks to political organisations, Scouts, charities and preschools but draws the line at political promotion

Two drill rigs, installed on barges, have started work on the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn and at Brisbane Water near Gosford

Joe Biden congratulates company and union for reaching a deal, after direct mediation by the White House

Research and undercover interviews reveal reality of extreme heat exacerbated by abusive working conditionsMigrant workers across the Gulf are risking their lives by being forced to work up to 14 hours a day in deadly temperatures, according to human rights researchers.Equidem, a human rights organisation, interviewed more than 250 migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE between 2021 and May 2024 for a new report on the conditions they were facing including their exposure to extreme heat and long working hours. Continue reading...

Simon Harris expected to dissolve parliament on Thursday or Friday, with election day likely to be at end of NovemberThe Irish prime minister, Simon Harris, has said he plans to call a general election this week, paving the way for a polling date likely to be at the end of November.Harris is expected to dissolve the Dail, or Irish parliament, either on Thursday before a meeting of European leaders in Budapest, or on Friday when he returns. Continue reading...

New film of Juan Rulfo's revered novel, considered founding text of magic realism, is first film adaptation in half a centuryI came to Comala because I was told that my father lived here, a certain Pedro Paramo."Many Mexicans know the first sentence of Juan Rulfo's revered novel, Pedro Paramo, by heart. This week they will hear it on Netflix, with the release of the first film adaptation in almost 50 years of the text that inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write One Hundred Years of Solitude. Continue reading...

Australia's communications regulator has come under fire for failing to investigate sexist, racist [and] misogynistic' content aired on KIIS FMAustralia's communications regulator has come under fire for failing to investigate revolting" material aired on the Kyle & Jackie O show, including sexist, racist, [and] misogynistic" content.In a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night, the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young challenged the chair of Australia's communications and media regulator, Nerida O'Loughlin, to read out a sample of comments made on KIIS FM's flagship breakfast show in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Election watchers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere will be tuning in - and some have a particular interest in the resultFrom Brazil to Ireland and Germany to the Caribbean, this year's knife-edge - and more than usually momentous - US presidential vote will be watched at a multitude of election-night events, some with a particular interest in the outcome.In St Ann Parish, Jamaica - and most particularly in Browns Town, where Harris's father Donald was born and the Democratic candidate spent many happy childhood holidays - her supporters plan watch parties, drink-ups and other social gatherings. Continue reading...

The castle was lifted into the air by a mini tornado' and blown across the school oval, court hears

New Tory leader sets out her full shadow cabinet

Music and film stars celebrate late entertainment icon, with Smith calling him the true definition of a mentor, a father and a friend' How hit-making legend Quincy Jones created superstars and changed pop history

Promise to invest 11bn in upgrade to network may solve competition concerns, says CMA

The Reserve Bank governor's comments show she's in no hurry to bring relief to borrowers

Lawyer for police argues business should be allowed to continue as Rising Tide threatens to halt exports for 30 hours

RBA's decision to leave cash rate unchanged comes as underlying inflation remains above bank's target range

With no clear swing-state advantage for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, the US is poised for a long - and tense - wait for resultsElection day has arrived in America, with tens of millions of voters set to head to the polls on Tuesday in one of the closest and most consequential contests in modern US history.The Democrat Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, appear locked in a knife-edge contest with hardly any daylight between the pair in national opinion polls that have barely budged in weeks. Continue reading...

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Reports of vomit streaming down windows as more than 100 University of Canterbury students fall ill, with cause of stomach bug being investigatedA mass outbreak of suspected food poisoning has caused carnage" across two university halls in New Zealand, with reports of early morning queues for toilets, vomit dripping down building windows and students abandoning exams to dash to the loo.More than 100 students reported being struck down with vomiting and diarrhoea at two University of Canterbury student residences on Sunday night, the university confirmed on Tuesday. Continue reading...

A father and his four boys were trying to cross The Entrance channel when a strong current took the eldest child

Russia the most active threat' as false tales of election fraud pose risk of violence, say ODNI, FBI and cybersecurity agency

Beth Rivkah Ladies College students allegedly subjected to racially motivated offensive behaviour' in Caulfield North

There was strong support for legal abortion among respondents surveyed about the US election, but almost 60% agreed with key elements of former president's platform

Large majorities in seven countries condemn 7 October attacks - but most common view is Israel's response in Gaza is also unjustifiedFull-scale war in the Middle East involving Israel and Iran is now likely, most western Europeans responding in a poll believe, with many criticising Israel's conduct thus far and saying that if such a war did occur, the US and Europe should not provide it with military aid.A YouGov Eurotrack survey in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the UK found that strong majorities in all seven countries, ranging from 65% in France to 82% in Spain, felt the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 were not justified. Continue reading...

In shift that would mean recognising existence of Israel, assembly calls for formation of an independent Palestinian state'Reformists in Iran have ignited a debate about whether Tehran should be willing to shift from its deeply held opposition to a two-state solution in the Palestinian territories, which would require it to recognise the existence of an Israeli state.Death to Zionism" has been a staple of Iranian revolutionary thinking since 1979, and was the position effectively of the Palestine Liberation Organisation until the Oslo accords in the 1990s. Continue reading...

Polls showing downward trend in kissing indicates a move away from real physical sexual activity' that could affect country's birthrate, experts sayJust one in five of boys at senior high school in Japan have had their first kiss, according to the Japanese Association for Sex Education - the lowest figure since the organisation conducted its first survey of sexual behaviour among young people in 1974.In its latest poll, which covers the 2023 academic year, the association found that girls in the same age group were similarly cautious, with 27.5% saying they had experienced their first kiss, compared with 22.8% among boys - down 13.6 percentage points and 11.1 points since 2017. Continue reading...

Magistrate calls legal representation change regrettable' as the 29-year-old faces two counts related to deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

Police raid Collins Creek property where 46-year-old Jarrad Antonovich died after taking Amazonian medicines' in 2021

The 47-year-old was found dead after police were called to the Garbutt unit to conduct a welfare check

Counsel assisting warns fairness is deserved by all' after inquest hears foster mother may have disposed of three-year-old's body following accidental death in 2014

Director of news Justin Stevens apologises for editing errors' in the video clips

It follows party criticism of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price for condemning later term abortions, though opposition leader did not name names

Total number of machines in state increased from 87,094 in March last year to 87,644 in October

Pyongyang's envoy to the United Nations says buildup is to counter threat from hostile nuclear weapons states'North Korea's UN envoy has said Pyongyang will accelerate a buildup of its nuclear weapons programme just days after it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time this year at a moment of rising tensions with the west.Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the UN, said during a security council meeting on Monday that Pyongyang would accelerate the programme to counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapons states". Continue reading...

Parliamentary bill will also ban the advertising of vapes and restrict their flavours, packaging and marketingSmoking is set to be banned outside schools and hospitals as part of a crackdown on one of the UK's biggest killers and its most common cause of cancer.But the government has dropped plans to outlaw smoking outside pubs and restaurants, prompting health campaigners to complain about vested interests" covertly influencing policy. Continue reading...

Breakdown in peace negotiations may have been caused by leaked and falsified documents involving close aide to Israeli PMIsraeli media reports that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet today with opposition leader Yair Lapid for a security briefing.The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry has issued a statement condemning the reported burning of cars by Israeli settlers in Al-Bireh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The ministry affirms that the Jewish terrorist elements who stormed Al-Bireh would not have committed this heinous crime had they not felt protected, supported and immune from the political level in the occupying state, especially the ministers of the extreme Israeli right who openly incite against Palestinian citizens, their land and their property in full view. Continue reading...

Since 2010 government travellers have been banned from accepting frequent flyer points for work-related travel. But ban did not extend to status credits

Case follows numerous attacks on the voting process and threats of violence, even as officials say voting is safeA man in Illinois punched an election judge at a polling location and was arrested on Sunday, two days before the climax of the US presidential race, according to authorities.The man, identified as 24-year-old Daniel Schmidt, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a victim over 60, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, and five misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct. Continue reading...

The push to vote early has amounted to an unprecedented wave, with more than 80 million having voted early so farThe US election is under way across the country, and so far more than 80 million people have voted early, according to the University of Florida's election lab.In numerous states, the push to vote before election day, whether by mail or in-person, has amounted to an unprecedented wave of early voting. Continue reading...

Future Coalition Pac accused of sending the two groups very different messages about Harris's position on GazaA political action committees (Pac) linked to Elon Musk are accused of targeting Jewish and Arab American voters in swing states with dramatically different messages about Kamala Harris's position on Gaza, a strategy by Trump allies aimed at peeling off Democratic support for the vice-president.Texts, mailers, social media ads and billboards targeting heavily Arab American areas in metro Detroit paint Harris as a staunch ally of Israel who will continue supplying arms to the country. Meanwhile, residents in metro Detroit or areas of Pennsylvania with higher Jewish populations have been receiving messaging that underscores her alleged support for the Palestinian cause.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Murray Sinclair praised by prime minister for pioneering country's Indigenous reconciliation effortsMurray Sinclair, the Anishinaabe judge, senator and university chancellor, who reshaped Canada's legal system and forced the public to confront the brutal realities of the Indigenous residential school system, has died at the age of 73.Sinclair - whose spirit name was Mizhana Gheezhik, meaning The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky" - was a champion of Indigenous rights and reconciliation efforts, dedicating his life to reversing the stark inequties many Indigenous communities face as the result of colonial policy. Continue reading...

Rumors across various social media sites are magnified through translation and dissemination to other platformsAfter Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate, TikTok and Instagram saw the emergence of a particularly vicious kind of misinformation - that Harris stole someone's husband, specifically Willie Brown, a former mayor of San Francisco.This is false. But these rumors were soon translated into Chinese and posted on X, with the language becoming even more inflammatory", according to the Chinese factchecking group PiYaoBa. One Chinese influencer, whose tweet garnered more than 60,000 views, translated stole a woman's husband" as mistress". Continue reading...

Ministers to announce increase in annual fees, which have been capped at 9,250 since 2017

Top platforms had placed Republican ahead but Democrat is catching up and even leads on one appBetting markets have narrowed significantly on the eve of Tuesday's presidential election, eroding Donald Trump's lead over Kamala Harris as Americans cast their vote.The former president and his allies have touted the betting market forecasts as more accurate than traditional polling in recent weeks, as the top platforms put him way ahead of Harris. Continue reading...