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The ban, enforced from Sunday, is designed to reduce youth vaping and tackle environmental damageVapers have been warned not to stockpile soon-to-be-banned disposables before Sunday's outright ban as they pose a significant fire risk".The Local Government Association (LGA) said users were stocking up on single-use e-cigarettes while they could, as shops would face fines for selling them after the ban takes effect. Continue reading...

Polls show close-run contest after first round in which one rural municipality was decided by a single voterPoles will cast their votes on Sunday in the closest presidential runoff since the fall of communism, in an election that pits two different visions of the nation against each other.

Examples from six countries include segregated housing for Roma and holding centres for asylum seekersHundreds of millions in European Union funds have been used in projects that violate the rights of marginalised communities, a report alleges, citing initiatives such as segregated housing for Roma, residential institutions for children with disabilities and holding centres for asylum seekers.The report, based on information compiled by eight NGOs from across Europe, looks at 63 projects in six countries. Together these projects are believed to have received more than 1bn in funding from the European Union, laying bare a seemingly low understanding" of fundamental rights across the bloc, according to one of the authors of the EU-funded report. Continue reading...

Don Farrell says US president's latest tariffs announcement an act of economic self-harm' and he will continue to advocate for their removal

This liveblog is now closed.The Republican nominee for governor of Virginia has recently tried to distance herself from her longstanding, hardline anti-abortion record, declining recently to state whether she would support any restrictions on abortion access if she is elected to lead the state this fall. But her record reveals a candidate staunchly opposed to the procedure.Winsome Earle-Sears, now the state's lieutenant governor, supported a 15-week abortion ban and has previously said she wants to make abortion illegal in almost all cases. In audio obtained by the Guardian, Earle-Sears also suggested an equivalence between consenting to sex and consenting to pregnancy. Continue reading...

Attack follows announcement of indirect talks between Damascus and Israel aimed at reducing tensions between the longterm antagonistsIsraeli airstrikes have struck western Syria, the Israeli military and Syrian state media have said, and reportedly one civilian has been killed in the first such attack on the country in nearly a month.Earlier this month Damascus had announced indirect talks with Israel to calm tensions, and the US called for a non-aggression agreement" between the two countries, which are technically at war. Continue reading...

Weiner makes comment as he campaigns for New York City council seat years after sexting scandalAnthony Weiner says politicians such as him and Donald Trump can survive scandals while qualified candidates including Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton lose elections because women get judged much more harshly than men do".I do believe that," Weiner said Friday on ABC's The View amid his run for a New York City council seat years after he crashed out of Congress in the wake of a sexting scandal that some argue aided Trump in clinching his first presidency in 2016. Continue reading...

The actor, who won two Emmy awards, was best known for being one of longest-serving cast members on the hit seriesLoretta Swit, who won two Emmy awards for playing Major Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean war on the pioneering hit TV series M*A*S*H, has died. She was 87.Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died on Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Continue reading...

Republicans have shown the president great deference, but when it comes to tariffs, he has put them in their placeWhen it comes to cutting taxes or paying for mass deportations, Donald Trump is happy to work with Congress. But if the issue is his prized and disruptive tariff policy, the president has made clear that he has no time for their legislative wrangling.Trump underscored his sentiment towards Congress after a US trade court this week briefly put a stop to his controversial policy of placing levies on a wide range of countries, before a different court reversed that decision while legal proceedings continue. Continue reading...

Ruling reverses hold on Trump administration's ending humanitarian parole of Venezuelan migrants and others

Organizer points to president's anti-diversity push as companies join Adidas and Clorox in withdrawing supportIn another blow to one of the largest celebrations of LGTBQ+ people in North America, Pride Toronto has unexpectedly lost two more major corporate sponsors, just weeks before the festival in a setback the festival's organizer says is direct result of Donald Trump's campaign to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the US.Google and Home Depot both announced their plans to abandon the festival in the form of one-line emails, said Kojo Modeste, the executive director of the Canadian event. Continue reading...

Ex-president gave speech to commemorate fallen service members and said he had no regrets' after election loss

Mission to deliver help is one of most obstructed aid operations in recent history', humanitarian agency saysGaza is the hungriest place on Earth", according to the UN, which has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the territory was the only defined area - a country or defined territory within a country - where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred per cent of the population at risk of famine," he said on Friday. Continue reading...

Move comes as Trump administration also moved to stop student visa interviews at all US embassies worldwide

Pen Green, a model for Labour's Sure Start, could face closure if Reform-led North Northamptonshire council fails to actA world-renowned children's centre that provided the model for Sure Start is on the brink of collapse, with its future in the hands of the newly elected Reform UK leadership of its local council.The Pen Green Centre, which pioneered wrap-around care and learning for preschool children in one of the most deprived areas of the UK, was the blueprint for Labour's totemic early years Sure Start programme in the late 1990s. Continue reading...

French president espouses shared principles and cooperation on security and trade to counteract superpowersEuropean and Asian countries should form a positive new alliance" based on shared principles, security, defence and trade, away from the battling superpowers of the US and China, Emmanuel Macron has said.Addressing the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the French president said the division between the US and China was the biggest threat in the world right now, but he also warned of the threat from Russia and North Korea. He said it was crucial that allied nations act together to maintain credibility against aggressors. Continue reading...

Official register reveals presents included 300,000 car from king of Bahrain, as well as trees and a model shipKing Charles received coronation gifts ranging from a luxury Rolls-Royce to a feather crown and two hand-woven coconut leaf hats, according to an official register.The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II, thought to be worth at least 300,000, was given by the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. As an official gift to Charles as head of state, the car will become part of the royal mews to be used on official occasions and not for private use, sources indicated. The Bahraini king also gave Charles a decorative clock. Continue reading...

International students and employees are afraid to speak out' as White House escalates push to control enrollmentLabor unions representing undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and academic workers at Harvard University criticized the Trump administration's efforts to prevent Harvard from enrolling foreign students, calling it one of the single largest concentrated deportation threats against a unionized workforce in our nation's history".A judge on 29 May extended an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking Harvard's ability to host international students, which would affect 5,000 current students and 2,000 graduates in a post-graduation work programme. Some 4,000 student workers represented by unions at Harvard who would be impacted. Continue reading...

Doge head at times took dissociative daily, along with ecstasy and psychedelic mushroom use, according to NYT

Author says she won't revisit the beloved character because it would seem inappropriate' to discuss her sex lifeJacqueline Wilson has said she would feel very wary" about writing an adult novel about Tracy Beaker because it would seem inappropriate that we would learn about her sex life".Last year the beloved children's author published her first novel for adults since the 1970s. Think Again was a sequel to her Girls series for teenagers, which was published between 1998 and 2002, and revisited its protagonist Ellie, who in the new book is turning 40. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sources reveal closely guarded membership numbers as average age hits 68 in Victoria

As John Pesutto scrambles to raise funds to pay $2.3m owed to Moira Deeming, the saga threatens to engulf the entire party', including its new leader

Badenoch and Farage seize on Richard Hermer's clumsy' remark in speech made in defence of international lawThe attorney general has apologised for a clumsy" remark that compared Conservative and Reform calls to disregard international treaties and quit the European convention of human rights (ECHR) with the early days of Nazi Germany.In a speech on Thursday, Richard Hermer defended the government's commitment to abide by international law and likened those who wanted to ignore it to German jurists in the 1930s, such as Carl Schmitt. Continue reading...

Laila Soueif continues protest against detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah in CairoThe mother of the imprisoned British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been admitted to hospital after spending more than 240 days on hunger strike.Laila Soueif's family said she had been admitted to St Thomas' hospital in London on Thursday night with dangerously low blood sugar levels, but continues to refuse medical intervention that would provide her with calories. Continue reading...

Paul Doyle appears in court charged with multiple offences after 70 people injured as vehicle drove into crowdA former Royal Marine has been remanded in custody accused of driving into and injuring fans at Liverpool football club's Premier League victory parade.Paul Doyle, 53, looked shaken and tired as he appeared at Liverpool magistrates court on Friday charged with offences including wounding and causing grievous bodily harm to six people, including an 11-year-old. Continue reading...

Joshua Schulman's pay includes 380,000 in moving costs as ailing brand plans to cut a fifth of its global workforce

Former Sinn Fein leader sued broadcaster over allegation in documentary that he sanctioned murder of MI5 informantGerry Adams has won a defamation action against the BBC over a documentary that carried a claim that he sanctioned the murder of an MI5 informant in 2006.A jury at Dublin's high court on Friday found that the BBC had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable way and awarded the former Sinn Fein leader 100,000 (84,000) in damages Continue reading...

This year's tiny harvest casts doubt on the spirit's recent resurgence, once a bright spot in the island's economyIt's a crisis that would have sent a shiver down Ernest Hemingway's drinking arm. Cuba's communist government is struggling to process enough sugar to make the rum for his beloved mojitos and daiquiris.As summer rains bring the Caribbean island's 2025 harvest to an end, a recent analysis by Reuters suggests that Cuba's state-run monopoly, Azcuba, is likely to produce just 165,000 metric tonnes of sugar this year. That compares with harvests of 8m in the late 1980s. Continue reading...

Spectacle of royal visit evoked a model of national identity at odds with efforts to confront Canada's own violent history of colonizationKing Charles's speech to Canada's parliament this week was framed as a subtle rebuke to Donald Trump's threats of annexation and an assertion of the country's sovereignty.But for many Indigenous people, the elaborate spectacle of the royal visit - with its protocol, regalia, thrones and mounties in pith helmets - evoked a model of national identity at odds with ongoing efforts to confront Canada's own violent history of colonization and dispossession. Continue reading...

Comedian and actor pleads not guilty to five sexual offence charges at Southwark crown courtRussell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.During a brief hearing at Southwark crown court in London on Friday, the comedian and actor pleaded not guilty to the five sexual offence charges. Continue reading...

Agreement reached after protracted negotiations will bring an end to industrial action, NSW government says

Research strengthens case for families to have right to second opinion under Martha's rule being piloted by NHS EnglandParental intuition is more likely to predict critical illness among children than vital signs used to monitor health, according to a study that strengthens the case for families to have a right to a second opinion under Martha's rule being piloted in the NHS.Experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said parents should be treated as part of a child's care team in hospital after data on almost 190,000 emergency hospital visits involving children. Continue reading...

High pressure across much of Europe comes amid worst drought in decades, while Canada braces for hot spellRecord-breaking heat has been sweeping southern and central Spain, Portugal and southern parts of France this week, with some areas soaring to the mid- to high 30s celsius.On Wednesday, Amareleja in Portugal climbed to 39.5C (103.1F) - the joint-highest May temperature recorded. El Granado in Spain, hit 39.1C, while Canet-en-Roussillon in France peaked at 32.3C. Continue reading...

Watchdog says fines reflect potentially serious risk to the public' because of missed callout targetsThe energy watchdog for Great Britain has fined three companies 8m for failing to respond to some gas leak emergencies quickly enough, potentially putting the public at serious risk".Ofgem said the three firms - Cadent Gas, Scotland Gas Networks (SGN Scotland) and Southern Gas Networks (SGN Southern) - had agreed to pay the fine after missing callout targets that require them to attend suspected gas leaks within one to two hours in 97% of cases. Continue reading...

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Complex built during second world war is to include military equipment, interactive exhibitions and a barDuring his time in military intelligence, Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, regularly worked with Winston Churchill's spy organisation based 30 metres below ground in a labyrinth of tunnels in central London.The Kingsway Exchange tunnels complex, stretching out across 8,000 sq metres beneath High Holborn, near Chancery Lane underground station, hosted the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and is said to have inspired Q Branch in Fleming's novels. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lawyer for 24-year-old's family asks NT police to appoint independent body from another state or territory to undertake investigation' after Alice Springs death

Reform leader aims to make London a crypto powerhouse' and has previously hailed an economic insurgency'As Liz Truss prepared to make a U-turn on her mini-budget in October 2022, Nigel Farage discussed the economic instability on his GB News show. But he was not broadcasting from the channel's studios in Paddington. Instead, Farage was speaking from a bitcoin conference in Amsterdam.With inflation forecast to perhaps get up to 20%, with increasing distrust of fiat currencies, people are looking for alternatives ... Are you ready for bitcoin?" he said in his opening remarks. Continue reading...

Last week Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump's health chief and a longtime vaccine sceptic, presented a report on children's health by the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) commission. The study singled out the negative impact of vaccines, ultra-processed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise and over-medicalisation".

Close-run race between pro-EU and nationalist candidates pits liberal vision against a radical-right, EU-critical stancePoland's presidential election runoff could have far-reaching implications for its place in Europe - either cementing the country's hard-won seat at the EU's top table, or heralding a return to altogether trickier times.The mayor of Warsaw, Rafa Trzaskowski, faces off against the historian Karol Nawrocki on Sunday in a neck-and-neck race, pitting a liberal vision of Poland at the heart of European policymaking against a nationalist, radical-right, EU-critical stance. Continue reading...

Final Senate result confirms pathway for Labor to pass legislation with either Coalition or Greens support alone, or majority of diverse crossbench

Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy groupsFour people jailed in the landmark national security trial of the Hong Kong 47", the pro-democracy figures accused of conspiracy to commit subversion, were freed on Friday after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month.Among those freed was longtime political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. Continue reading...

Chinese-speaking community in Australia posts about experiences as MP Jason Yat-Sen Li says racism doesn't need to be proven in court to be real in people's lives'

Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has raised the alarm over how patients in the agency's clinical trials are facing setbacks in treatmentA 43-year-old woman and mother of two with advanced cancer says she is experiencing life-or-death delays in treatment because of the Trump administration's cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has spoken publicly, raising the alarm about a setback in care for herself and others who are part of clinical trials run by the agency. Her story has made it into congressional hearings and spurred a spat between a Democratic senator and the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Behind the scenes, she and others are advocating to get her treatment started sooner. Continue reading...

Consumer group Which? says owners are put off complaining and system for doing so is not fit for purposeBritain's pet owners often face an uphill struggle when they are unhappy with their vet because the industry's complaints system is not fit for purpose, according to a leading consumer body.The findings from Which? that the complaints process is often stacked against pet owners" come as the UK competition watchdog is investigating the veterinary sector amid concerns that above-inflation price hikes and other issues mean consumers are not getting a fair deal. Continue reading...

Pyramids and monuments suggest Los Abuelos was a significant ceremonial site, archaeologists sayArchaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments that point to its significance as an important ceremonial site.The Mayan civilization arose around 2000BC, reaching its height between 400 and 900AD in what is present-day southern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Continue reading...

Caroline Darian tells Hay festival that pornography websites are part of the system' of misogyny and violenceThere is no way" that Gisele Pelicot would have been raped more than 200 times without the existence of pornography websites, her daughter has said.Speaking at the Hay festival in Powys on Thursday, Caroline Darian said there were so many social problems like online porn" that can lead to instances of abuse. Continue reading...

Chris Minns' promise of a Plan B' blueprint to address the city's housing crisis will, by his own admission, risk making Nimbys irate'

Appeal judges grant stay as officials blame activist judges' for dealing major blow against signature policy

Andrew Bailey says Brexit was not wrong' but welcomes the UK's efforts to reset relations with the blocAndrew Bailey has urged the UK government to deepen ties with the EU, as he warned a breakdown in global trade would make it harder for the Bank of England to control inflation.In a speech in Dublin on Thursday, the Bank's governor said a stronger relationship between London and Brussels could minimise negative effects" of Brexit on trade. Continue reading...