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Concern continues after local elections and George Galloway win that party's position on Israel-Gaza war still eroding supportLabour is directing activists to campaign in seats with substantial Muslim populations, over fears that some voters have been alienated by the party's stance on Gaza.Its campaigning efforts are mostly being concentrated on Conservative and SNP seats in an attempt to secure a potentially record-breaking majority. However, there are 13 Labour-held seats where Muslims make up at least a fifth of the electorate which the party is telling its activists to target. Continue reading...

Increased reliance on private provision is pushing children hundreds of miles away from friends and familyThe number of places in council-run children's homes in England has fallen by a third since 2012 - at the same time as places in privately run profit-making children's homes have soared, according to an Observer analysis of government data.The dramatic fall in council-run children's homes, and local authorities' increasing reliance on privately run provision, have helped drive a rise in children being housed hundreds of miles from their families, with private provision clustering in cheaper parts of the country. Continue reading...

The news anchor, who will present the programme with Laura Kuenssberg, has spoken on Desert Island Discs about the insults and threats he has experienced as a broadcasterClive Myrie has detailed the racism he has experienced during his broadcasting career, as he prepares to present the BBC's general election night programme.Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, broadcast on Sunday, the 59-year-old listed some of the insults and threats he has endured, including being sent faeces and pictures of gorillas in the post. Continue reading...

Comments come after opposition leader claims higher grocery prices are result of Labor not taking into account gas and nuclear'

His former Socialist party reacted coolly to move, with one senior figure saying they were devastated'France's former Socialist president Francois Hollande on Saturday said he would run for parliament again, the latest political twist following his successor Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to call snap legislative elections.Macron's dissolving of parliament after the French far right's victory in European parliamentary elections has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics. Continue reading...

Coalition blunders have left countries locked in permanent contest' over Pacific, minister says

Fun-loving' former competitive surfer was well-known on NSW's northern beaches

But the government is being urged to move more quickly in outlining policy after failure of voice referendum

Mayor Eric Adams sent letters rescinding key and asking for it to be sent back to City Hall, which received it on 10 JuneSean Combs has returned his key to New York City after a request from mayor Eric Adams in response to the release of a video showing the music mogul nicknamed Diddy" attacking R&B singer Cassie, officials said Saturday.The mayor's office said Combs returned the key after Adams sent letters to the embattled musician's offices in New York and California on 4 June rescinding the key and asking for it to be sent back to City Hall. The city received the key on 10 June. Continue reading...

Jacinta Allan reveals Geelong will be set highest target for new homes, with City of Melbourne and Melton second and third

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey foreshadows more money for social and affordable housing while lamenting drop in state's GST share

Trump's demand that 2020 leaker be punished with death raises questions about retribution if he is re-electedFormer White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin has disclosed that Donald Trump repeatedly mused out loud about executing people at several meetings while she worked for him during his presidency.Griffin's claim, which she made in a podcast recording with Mediaite released on Friday, is likely to add to concerns that a return for Trump to the Oval Office could be characterized primarily by political retribution. Continue reading...

Poll reveals historically low support for the big two, with smaller parties up by five pointsLabour and the Tories are on course for their lowest combined vote share since the second world war, as the latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows a shift away from the main parties.With all the parties having now unveiled their election manifestos, Labour has maintained a dominant 17-point lead over the Tories with less than three weeks to go until polling day. However, Reform and the Lib Dems are up two points each. Continue reading...

Israel's conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are destined to grind on indefinitelyIn 2019, Aviv Kochavi, then the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) chief of staff, delivered a bullish speech. The IDF, he proclaimed, is all about victory".Assessing that the primary threats to Israel's security were from nonstate actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Kochavi would the following year usher in a new operational doctrine titled decisive victory". Continue reading...

The Italian prime minister also stated the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed at the summitIsrael is falling into a trap laid by Hamas in its war in Gaza, Giorgia Meloni said at a press conference closing the G7 summit in Bari that affirmed her role as a leading figure in Europe. The Italian prime minister also stated that the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed by the G7 leaders.And she underlined her status by declaring that she will start talks on Monday about the allocation of top jobs in the EU on the basis that Europe has to accept the verdict of the people reflected in the results of last week's European parliamentelections. Continue reading...

Investigation ongoing as state attorney general Letitia James says: In New York, we stand for love and acceptance, not hate and bigotry.'Rainbow flags lining the Stonewall National Monument in New York City to celebrate Pride month were taken down and destroyed this week, police said, marking the second year in a row that the flags have been vandalized during the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community throughout June.Authorities received a report early on Friday about the missing flags at the monument in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood. Continue reading...

Home secretary demands urgent explanation' over heavy-handed' attempt to capture wandering animalThe home secretary has asked Surrey police to provide a full, urgent explanation" after footage showed officers using a car to ram an escaped cow.James Cleverly made the comments after footage posted online showed officers ramming the cow twice with their police car, while an onlooker is heard shouting: What are you doing that for?" Continue reading...

Joint statement of support for international criminal court issued following revelations of Israeli interferenceThe international criminal court must be allowed to carry out its work without intimidation", a group of 93 states has said in a significant public intervention intended to reinforce support for the judicial body.In a joint statement issued late on Friday, the large group of ICC member states vowed to defend the institution and preserve its integrity from any political interference and pressure against the court, its officials and those cooperating with it". Continue reading...

Deaths will likely fuel calls for ceasefire and heighten Israeli public anger over military exemptions for ultra-OrthodoxEight Israeli soldiers have been killed in a blast that engulfed their armoured vehicle in southern Gaza, in the biggest loss of life for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a single incident since January.The deaths came amid continuing fighting around Rafah in which at least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes. Continue reading...

Money will go towards repairing country's energy infrastructure as well as providing humanitarian assistanceUS vice-president, Kamala Harris, has pledged more than $1.5bn in aid for Ukraine's energy sector and its humanitarian situation amid its ongoing war with Russia.Harris made the announcement at a peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She is expected to address the summit later. Continue reading...

This lvie blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage hereThree people were killed and five others injured by Russian shelling in Ulakly village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, local governor Vadym Filashkin wrote on Telegram on Saturday.He said the village was hit by cluster munitions, adding that administrative buildings, a private house, a shop and eight cars were damaged. Continue reading...

FOI reveals non EU migrants could be caught in Windrush style scandal' at end of 2024 as Home Office struggles to contact themMore than 4 million non-EU migrants living in Britain will need to switch to digital eVisas" by the end of this year or risk being unable to prove their legal rights, according to figures seen by the Observer.Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) - given to all foreign nationals with permission to live in the UK for at least six months - demonstrate proof of an individual's right to study, access public services and claim benefits. But they are being replaced under the Home Office's digitisation programme. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK election coverage hereDavid Cameron has said that being prime minister was a good apprenticeship" for serving as foreign secretary, in an interview with the Times.Speaking about his decision to take the role, Cameron said he had told his family he was going to really go for this job and give it everything I had". In just over six months, Cameron said he had visited 35 countries as foreign secretary.I really like having the focus. That juggling act, as prime minister, is incredibly difficult. You have to do so many different things and different topics. I loved the challenge of it, but it does mean you're always frustrated."When I look at Starmer I think he's sitting there with his fingers crossed to please, please, please let them pass judgment on Lettucegate, three prime ministers and all the rest of it.I think we can win this election. Even when I was ahead in the polls in 2010, or somewhere behind in the polls in 2015, I used to say can win' rather than will' because it's up to the public, it's up to the country." Continue reading...

Marine Le Pen's party is breaking record high scores across vast areas of the country, polls show, with an increase in its influence inevitableIt is 8pm on Sunday 7 July. Polling stations have just closed after the second round of snap French parliamentary elections - the country's most momentous ballot in living memory - and the first estimations flash up on the nation's TV screens.President Emmanuel Macron has lost his gamble. The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen has more than trebled its tally of deputies in the assemblee nationale to just over 290: an absolute majority. France's next government will be far right. Continue reading...

Hi-tech imaging reveals the artist tinkered with Herri met de Bles's painting to improve the composition of figuresOne benefit of being among history's greatest artists is that if you don't much like a painting done by someone else, you can just improve it. The Dutch master Sir Peter Paul Rubens certainly knew how to paint people; Rubenesque is still used to describe a curvaceous, ample body. So when he noticed the inferior quality of the religious figures depicted on an otherwise accomplished landscape hanging on his wall, it turns out he simply picked up his paint palette.A newly rediscovered Herri met de Bles painting, titled The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist in an Extensive Landscape with Travellers, set a puzzle for art historians because the style of the landscape background did not match the group of people. Hi-tech imaging of the canvas carried out by a London auction house has since completed the jigsaw", revealing the way Rubens had tinkered with a painting now thought to have belonged to his own collection. Continue reading...

Labour leader rejects desperate' claim from Tory party that he has secret property tax plans

Abject failure' of family reunion scheme to provide legal route is leaving children at risk of trafficking or even deathChildren are being trapped in war zones as a result of impossible" bureaucratic requirements imposed on one of the few legal routes for asylum seekers, a charity has found.The government has championed family reunion processes as a means for refugees to safely reunite with loved ones in Britain, but according to a new report by Ramfel, a charity that supports vulnerable migrants, the scheme is not fit for purpose" and applicants have been abandoned, leaving them at risk of trafficking or even death. Continue reading...

Independent schools in England had warned plan to charge VAT on fees was putting parents off and had shut schoolsThe number of children attending private schools in England has risen, new figures show, despite claims that families are being priced out by Labour's plan to add VAT to school fees.The Independent Schools Council (ISC) said last month that pupil numbers had fallen - a sign, they said, that schools were already starting to see the impact of VAT looming on the horizon". Continue reading...

Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd were calling for hand counts in 2022 as election denialism swept Cochise county, a records request showsRepublican elected officials in a small Arizona county talked with state lawmakers and activists about hand-counting ballots there in 2022 and urged their counterparts in other counties to push for hand counts as well, newly released public records show.The records from Cochise county, a Republican stronghold along the US-Mexico border, only came to light after a lawsuit from a watchdog group, American Oversight, and took well over a year to be released. The original records request from American Oversight was filed in November 2022. Continue reading...

South Wales police investigating after BBC published text messages allegedly from Laura Anne Jones about petrol claimsTexts reportedly sent from the phone of a Conservative Senedd member, appearing to ask a member of staff to inflate her expenses claims, have been seen by BBC Wales.South Wales police had received information from the Senedd Commissioner for Standards, which remains under investigation, the force said. Continue reading...

Platforms send targeted messages to customers, reducing cancellations and encouraging them to returnBooking a table at your favourite restaurant no longer involves simply contacting the establishment and giving your details. Now it often involves the restaurant contacting you too - sometimes several times over.Online booking platforms used by hundreds of restaurants in the UK now send out reservation confirmations, reminders, requests for feedback, future deals and news. Some send certain customers a personalised booking link" after their visit, to encourage them to come back. I hope you had a great time on your last visit ... and that you'll come back to see us again soon," reads one example, sent on behalf of Som Saa, a Thai restaurant in east London, via booking platform SevenRooms. Continue reading...

Catherine takes part in trooping the colour for king's birthday but has said she is not out of woods yet'The Princess of Wales watched the spectacle of the trooping the colour ceremony from the windows of a major general's office, along with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, in her first public appearance since revealing her cancer diagnosis.Catherine, who wore white with navy details, was seen earlier smiling and talking to her children, who were dressed in navy and white, in their carriage before they arrived at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The Princess of Wales, who is the regiment's colonel, also wore an Irish Guards regimental brooch. They were cheered by crowds in the Mall as they left Buckingham Palace. Continue reading...

Seat of Labour's Stella Creasy among those challenged by activists running as independents in the general electionAnti-abortion campaigners are running as independent candidates in the general election against prominent MPs seeking re-election who supported decriminalisation.The seats of Labour's Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy and Conservative Caroline Nokes are all being targeted by anti-abortion activists. The three proposed or supported recent amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill which would have stopped prosecutions for anyone ending a pregnancy in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Parents encouraged to help Bum Deal track where facilities are available in push for change in lawDads and male caregivers are being given a bum deal in toilets throughout the UK, according to a campaign that is pushing for a change in the law.The Bum Deal campaign, launched by the UK feminist organisation Love & Power and backed by Oxfam, the British Toilet Association (BTA) and parents, hopes to inspire a grassroots movement that will make baby changing facilities available to all parents and caregivers. Continue reading...

Former pop star is credited with encouraging Nigel Farage to stand for MP and has helped raised millions for TrumpAs Nigel Farage swaggered into a Chelsea townhouse on Wednesday night for the biggest Donald Trump fundraiser this side of the Atlantic, he was ebullient about the night ahead. It's a Holly party - you can guarantee it's going to be enormous fun," he told reporters.The Holly in question, the former actor and pop star Holly Valance, has rapidly risen to become radical-right royalty. Continue reading...

Sheffield demonstration comes 40 years after notorious police action against striking minersCampaigners are to gather at Sheffield City Hall for a rally to mark 40 years since the notorious battle" of Orgreave during the 1984-85 miners' strike, and call for the full truth about the scandal to be addressed.On 18 June 1984, an estimated 8,000 miners who had travelled to picket the plant at Orgreave, South Yorkshire that made coke for the steel industry, were met by massed ranks of 6,000 police officers. With force unprecedented in mainland Britain, mounted police charged their horses at speed into the crowd, and officers using batons and short shields beat many miners over the head. Continue reading...

Scottish-style right to roam deal should train owners and protect livestock and wildlife, say campaignersDogs and their owners must be brought to heel with the return of dog licences, registration for breeders and a ban on toxic flea treatments, campaigners have said.The activists from the Right to Roam campaign want a deal for dogs to protect farmers' livestock and vulnerable wildlife from being menaced by Britain's rising dog population and out-of-control dog behaviour.Do not allow your dog to approach animals or people uninvitedDon't linger if wildlife is disturbed by your presenceWhere possible avoid animals - release your dog if threatened by cattleAlways keep your dog in sight and under control - if in doubt use a lead.Don't take your dog into fields of vegetables and fruit unless there is a clear path.Finish the jobbie - bag it and bin it. Take it home when bins aren't available. Continue reading...

President's move viewed as Russian roulette' after far-right support reached record high in European electionsFrance's prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stared ahead with his arms folded while another minister covered his face with his hands as Emmanuel Macron gathered top government figures at the Elysee last Sunday to make the shock announcement that he would dissolve parliament and call a snap legislative election in the wake of a win at the polls by Marine Le Pen's party. The mood, said Attal, was grave".One senior centrist figure said this week they had not slept properly since the announcement of a campaign that will be the shortest in modern French history at barely three weeks. Some party supporters said their world had been turned upside down. We're going to get out there and do our best," said a government minister. Continue reading...

More than 100 leaders at two-day conference to discuss Kyiv's proposals to end war - but Russia and China absentMore than 100 leaders, including the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, and the presidents or heads of the EU, South American, Middle East and Asian countries, will gather in Switzerland on Saturday for one of the most ambitious attempts yet to forge a peace plan for Ukraine.The summit comes as G7 leaders gathering in Italy clinch a new deal for a 50bn loan for Ukraine, securitised through use of the windfall profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by the EU and other western nations after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

2016 Euros was last tournament where people could travel freely, making it hard to judge how current fans will behaveGerman police have spoken of concerns about an intelligence gap in the level of aggression of the latest generation of England football fan, as supporters gather in Germany for the first post-Covid Euros.England's Sunday evening tie against Serbia in their first game of Euro 2024 has been designated as high risk" due to a heightened threat of violence between two groups of supporters with a history of thuggery. Continue reading...

The strike on Tutor from Yemeni militants left the vessel unable to manoeuvre, while one crew member remains missingThe crew of a Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemen's Houthi militants has been evacuated and the abandoned ship is drifting in the Red Sea, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).One crew member from Tutor, the Liberia-flagged coal carrier, remains missing, officials in the Philippines said, after an attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Wednesday caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room, leaving the vessel unable to manoeuvre. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Last-minute decision comes as Civil Aviation Safety Authority says it is engaging' with airline on concerns rostering is leaving pilots fatigued

EPA refuses to name untreated sites but says all schools and hospitals have been cleaned as it continues criminal investigation into contamination

With one-third of drowning victims in Australia born outside the country, advocates say more funding is needed to reach diverse communities

Others honoured from cultural world include the writer Monica Ali, choreographer Wayne McGregor and children's laureate Joseph CoelhoTracey Emin, the confessional visual artist, and the stage and screen actor Imelda Staunton are among leading figures from the world of culture to be honoured in the king's birthday honours, both becoming dames.Emin, who has survived aggressive bladder cancer and opened her own art school as well as embarking on a new body of work since her diagnosis four years ago, said it was a brilliant surprise". Continue reading...

Clodagh Dunlop recognised for work with stroke survivors as others who have overcome adversity also receive MBEsUnsung heroes who have overcome great adversity to contribute to their communities and raise awareness of important issues make up the majority of those on the king's birthday honours list.They include the Police Service of Northern Ireland detective Clodagh Dunlop, 45, who had a brainstem stroke 10 years ago that left her paralysed with locked-in syndrome and only able to communicate by blinking one eye. She receives an MBE for her work with stroke survivors. Continue reading...

Ex-post office operator recognised for exposing Horizon IT scandal, while Tracey Emin becomes a dame and Gordon Brown a companion of honourThe Post Office campaigner Alan Bates has been knighted in the king's birthday honours in recognition of his role in exposing the Horizon IT scandal, one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.The former post office operator and founder of the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance said he was accepting the honour on behalf of the group" of branch operators and the horrendous things that had happened to them." Continue reading...

Zionist group claims antisemitism as McGill students advertise revolutionary' summer program at protest campA pro-Palestinian student encampment at a prominent Canadian university has announced a revolutionary youth summer program" with posts featuring photos of masked, armed guerrillas reading communist literature, drawing criticism from a Canadian Zionist organization decrying what it said was metastasizing antisemitism.The student group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill called for students to sign up for revolutionary" trainings to be held on the university campus this month. Since April SPHR McGill has been occupying part of the Montreal campus to protest against Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he intends to continue in parliament for next five years regardless of overall result on 4 JulyRishi Sunak has committed to staying on as an MP for the full five-year term if the Conservative party loses the general election.Speaking to journalists in Puglia, Italy, where he is attending the G7 summit, the prime minister said he intended to serve a full parliamentary term regardless of the overall result on 4 July. Continue reading...