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Labour announces end of high-stakes judgments, to be replaced by report cards that grade schools in four categoriesSingle-word Ofsted judgments for state schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to be replaced by report cards aimed at improving standards and helping parents to better understand schools' strengths and weaknesses.The four headline ratings currently awarded by the inspections watchdog in England - outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate - will go as part of radical changes announced on Monday by the government. Continue reading...

The 2024 winter was the second hottest on record since weather data collection began in 1910

Tim Costello says I never thought I would see in my lifetime John Howard to the left of Anthony Albanese on an issue'

Ardent coin collectors and fans of the little blue dog scrambled for release of dollarbucks' on Monday morning

Shadow minister will launch leadership campaign with call to think afresh and move on from landslide election defeatKemi Badenoch will say the Conservatives must do more than criticise Labour in order to win the next general election, as she launches her campaign to lead the party.Potential dividing lines with her leadership rivals already appear to be forming, after Robert Jenrick said on Sunday he would oppose Labour's declaration of war on the middle classes". Continue reading...

Ipsos poll found 40% of Britons thought there was not enough time to raise all concerns in 10-minute slotTwo-fifths of patients leave their GP appointment without discussing everything that is worrying them about their health, a survey has revealed.The finding has prompted claims that older people often feel family doctors want them out the door as soon as possible" rather than listening to all their concerns. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands take to streets as anger rises at Netanyahu government after deaths of six hostagesTens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night and a general strike was called amid an eruption of public outrage over the government's handling of the war in Gaza after the deaths of six hostages being held deep underground by Hamas.The discovery of the hostages' bodies in Gaza over the weekend threatened to bring deep divisions over the war to breaking point. An estimated 100,000 protested in Tel Aviv, while others demonstrated in Jerusalem as pressure on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to reach a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining hostages home reached a new peak. Continue reading...

Mass protests follow call for general strike by head of Israeli labour union after six hostages held by Hamas were recovered overnight

Karolina Zurawska also charged with attempted murder following incident involving 67-year-old man on same dayA woman has been charged with murder after the death of a six-year-old boy in Swansea.Karolina Zurawska, 41, will appear before the city's magistrates court on Monday in connection with the death of Alexander Zurawski, who was found dead at a property in Cwm Du Close, Gendros, on Thursday.The standfirst of this article was amended on 1 September 2024 to remove an erroneous reference to the death of the 67-year-old man. Continue reading...

Two men and one woman accused of carrying out robberies at night and using gas to make residents groggyThe string of robberies, spanning years and all following a similar pattern, had left Spanish police perplexed.Late at night as residents slept, the thieves - dressed in black and with their faces covered - would gain entry to some of Ibiza's most exclusive homes, often making off with thousands of euros in stolen goods. The victims frequently reported the same groggy feeling when they woke up, leading police to suspect that the perpetrators were using some sort of gas to induce drowsiness. Continue reading...

Families queue at vaccination centres on first day of complex campaign to inoculate children against emerging threatA complex, large-scale vaccination campaign to inoculate children against the newly emerged threat of polio in the Gaza Strip has begun successfully despite ongoing fighting in the territory, according to UN officials and local health authorities.Infectious conditions such as dysentery, pneumonia and severe skin diseases are affecting more than 150,000 people in Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, amid a dire humanitarian crisis and unsanitary conditions caused by Israel's campaign to annihilate Hamas in the wake of 7 October. Continue reading...

Pontiff's itinerary, including visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, reflects importance of Asia to Catholic churchPope Francis is to embark on the longest, farthest and perhaps most challenging trip of his pontificate as he begins a 12-day Asia-Pacific tour that is expected to highlight environmental threats, emphasise interfaith dialogue and reinforce the importance of Asia for the Catholic church.The 87-year-old will set off on Monday on a tour taking in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, a trip that will clock up more than 20,000 miles by air. Continue reading...

Angus Lapsley, whose mislaid papers were found at a bus stop, will join review team led by George RobertsonA civil servant who mislaid classified Ministry of Defence papers that were later found at a bus stop in Kent has been selected to advise on the government's defence policy review.Angus Lapsley, Nato's assistant secretary general for defence policy and planning, will join a team headed by George Robertson, a former Nato secretary general and former defence secretary, along with the former Donald Trump adviser Fiona Hill and Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who ran the UK military joint forces command. Continue reading...

Police said the children, all under four and thought to be boys, were related to the man at house in Staines-upon-ThamesFloral tributes have been laid after a man and three young children were found dead in a house in Surrey.Police discovered their bodies in a property in Bremer Road, Staines-upon-Thames, at about 1.15pm on Saturday. Neighbours said they believed a young Polish family with twins lived at the house, and that the three children were all boys. Continue reading...

Discovery of six bodies may trigger renewed protests as anger grows over prime minister's handling of the crisis

Sam Farrow, from Wigan, swam 45.2-mile length of lake in 22h 48m and says she is in complete shock'A British endurance swimmer is believed to have broken a world record for the fastest swim across Lake Geneva.Sam Farrow, 31, from Wigan, swam the length of the lake from the Chateau de Chillon to the Bains des Paquis - a distance of 45.2 miles (72.8km) - in 22 hours and 48 minutes. Continue reading...

Fans who queued online for tickets to see Gallagher brothers' shows found price had almost trebledArtists have been urged to take a stand against extortionate" dynamic pricing for concerts after Oasis tickets were hiked up to more than double their original price.Fans of the Manchester band expressed their shock and anger after queueing online for hours only to find that the price of the 135 standing tickets had risen to 355. Continue reading...

Body of Hvaldimir taken to harbour for expert examination after being discovered in Risavika BayA beluga whale nicknamed Hvaldimir, first spotted in Norway not far from Russian waters while wearing a harness that prompted rumours he might be a spy for Moscow, has been found dead.The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported that the whale's body was found floating in the Risavika Bay in southern Norway on Saturday by a father and son who were fishing. Continue reading...

Documents show officers instead prioritised environmental and pro-Palestinian protests as potential hazardsIn the months leading up to this summer's riots, police leaders believed that the threat of violence from far-right protests was likely to be minimal", official papers reveal.Documents from December 2023 show that police instead prioritised the pro-Palestinian movement, environmental protests, football matches and animal rights activism as potentially threatening public order. Continue reading...

Aircraft said to have circled a village twice on Sunday morning before coming down near ChesterfieldA pilot has died after a light aircraft crashed into an industrial estate in Derbyshire.Emergency services were called to reports that an aircraft had come down in Chesterfield on Sunday morning. Continue reading...

Helen Scarsbrook says company, which is appealing against the ruling, hasn't recognised value of female shop floor staffDuring an average shift on the shop floor at Next, Helen Scarsbrook has to remain polite and keep smiling while she makes split-second judgments about which customers need help and which need to be tactfully discouraged from shoplifting and ushered out of the store.She and her mostly female colleagues are on their feet for long stretches and regularly do heavy lifting as new stock arrives at the back of the shop. She is confident that her work in one of Next's 466 UK stores is just as challenging, or more so, as the jobs performed by Next's mostly male warehouse workers, who have always received higher rates of pay. Continue reading...

IDF says Hamas killed captives shortly before bodies found, as families' group accuses Netanyahu of abandoning' abducteesIsrael has confirmed the deaths of six more hostages taken in the 7 October attack by Hamas, saying they were killed by their captors shortly before their bodies were found on Saturday in a tunnel complex under Gaza.According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them," a military spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, told reporters in an early-morning briefing. Continue reading...

Tinuke Craig says current black British theatre talent was developed when schemes to improve access were commonThe lack of investment in arts schemes aimed at working-class children will create a cultural landscape that is whiter and posher, according to one of the UK's leading black British theatre directors.Tinuke Craig, who has worked on productions including the Donmar Warehouse's Trouble in Butetown, said the current crop of black British theatre talent was developed in the 1990s when free schemes aimed at improving access to the arts for working-class communities were common. Continue reading...

The opposition is yet to announce a policy that would create more housing supply, while the Greens put Airbnb in their sights

The south-east of the country is taking a battering and there is more to come as a very strong cold front' moves through on Sunday

Former UK prime minister praises Labour leader's handling of riots and advises him not to put off the hard decisions'

The PM's grim rose-garden message hasn't impressed voters and some MPs fear tough decisions' show a lack of empathy - and no promise they'll pay offIn March 2022, less than a year after she was appointed shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves talked movingly about families living in poverty in her Leeds West constituency. You look at the kids and you just think, I know you are poor," she said in an interview with the Observer at the time. You can see it in the school coats, especially in winter, and in the school shoes. Kids not wearing the proper school uniform, sort of abit of mix-and-match and it is really sad."It was the weekend before the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak was due to deliver his Spring statement to the House of Commons. The Labour opposition was calling for urgent measures from Sunak to ease the cost-of-living crisis. He really does need to show more empathy," said Reeves, adding that he should announce a big increase in benefits for those on low incomes, including pensioners. Continue reading...

Figures show how rail punctuality has been in decline since last Labour PM, with Sunak's tenure a recent lowAs commuters return en masse after summer holidays next week, the political omens - and the data - afford some hope that a new Labour government may change rail for the better. Say what you like about Gordon Brown, but at least he made the trains run on time.Analysis of official statistics throughout the tenure of the last seven prime ministers show that punctuality was highest, on average, under the last Labour PM in power. Continue reading...

Commonwealth Games Scotland says it could host sporting event for a fraction of the Victorian government's $6bn estimation

The energy minister has been taking every opportunity to undermine the Coalition's plan' on nuclear energy. This blog is now closed

With voters rejecting mainstream politics, many expect a disastrous results outcome for Olaf Scholz's coalitionVoters in two eastern German states are about to go to the polls in elections that could see the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party score its first wins at the regional level and a separate new populist force on the left establish a firm foothold.The results in Saxony and Thuringia, due on Sunday evening, are expected to be disastrous for the three ruling parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left-led coalition government in Berlin, one year before Germany holds its next general election. Continue reading...

Linda Reynolds has argued that social media posts by former staffer contained mistruths that damaged her reputation - which Brittany Higgins denies

Out of control' fire destroyed a van and damaged a car and lorry, at open-air yard in Canning Town, LondonA controlled explosion on a film set near the O2 arena in London sparked a fire that destroyed a van, as well as damaging a car and lorry.London fire brigade said firefighters were called to an open-air yard in Dock Road, Silvertown, shortly before 8pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

High demand crashes ticket-selling websites amid scramble to secure place on 17-date tourThere was frustration and disappointment for many Oasis fans earlier as they struggled for hours to buy the million-or-so tickets available for the Manchester band's 17-date reunion tour.Tickets went on sale at 9am and were expected to be snapped up in minutes, but instead many waited in online queues for hours, only to be kicked off booking websites. Continue reading...

Matthew's* father had no idea his son was even gambling, let alone deep in debt, until he got a terrifying phone call

Peter Doig says crazy prices' on the secondary market must be reined in to protect young artistsPeter Doig became the most expensive living painter in Europe in 2007, when White Canoe, his atmospheric painting of a a moonlit lagoon, sold for 5.7m.The Scot then saw his auction record broken in 2017 and in 2021 respectively, when Rosedale, his depiction of a house in a snow storm, and Swamped, another enigmatic painting of a canoe, sold for the eye-watering prices of 21m and nearly 30m respectively. Continue reading...

Vice-president accuses Republican rival of political stunt' as Democrats call for inquiry into apparent altercationKamala Harris - the Democratic nominee for November's White House race - has accused Donald Trump of disrespecting sacred ground" on his recent visit to Arlington national cemetery, as the controversy over an apparent altercation between workers of his campaign and cemetery staff continued to build.The vice-president on Saturday accused the former president and Republican nominee of staging a political stunt" after the US army accused the Trump campaign of turning a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to mark the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan into a photo opportunity. The army also accused two campaign workers representing Trump - who said he was invited to the ceremony by the family of one of the honored soldiers - of pushing aside an official who told them it was forbidden to take pictures at the graves of military members who had recently died. Continue reading...

The Children's Society urges schools and government to ensure undue financial strain' is not placed on familiesParents are routinely paying more than double the price for branded school uniforms compared with similar items offered by supermarkets and high-street stores, an analysis by the Observer reveals.Despite government guidance to reduce costs, the analysis shows that parents who are required by state schools to buy clothing featuring official school logos are still paying significantly more than for unbranded blazers, jumpers, ties and sports kit. Continue reading...

Unconventional marriage of Princess Martha Louise and Durek Vellet celebrated with three-day schedule of events and a documentary to followShe is the clairvoyant daughter of one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs; he is a self-styled sixth-generation shaman from California. The wedding of Princess Martha Louise of Norway to Durek Verrett on Saturday on Saturday afternoon wasn't your conventional royal affair, but that didn't stop spectators lining the overcast streets of Geiranger in the hope of catching a glimpse of the bride.The eldest daughter of Crown Prince Harald and Queen Sonja, 52-year-old Martha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. She married Verrett, 49, in a traditional church of Norway ceremony attended by royals and celebrities at the four-star Hotel Union in a small village beneath the Geiranger fjord. Continue reading...

Labour accused of dropping pledges after it abandons cap on costs and prepares to scrap care worker training fund Unless Labour wakes up on social care, tragedies will happenLabour has discarded its social care commitments and seems set to repeat the failure of previous governments to tackle the care crisis, the sector's leaders have warned.Announcements by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, that she would not cap costs for older people's care and Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, that he would scrap a fund giving training for 37,000 care workers, have alarmed the social care sector. Continue reading...

The first minister says after a private session that members blamed its election result on a host of scandalsThe Scottish National party can only move on from the successive scandals that resulted in heavy election losses by focusing on the issues that matter to the people of Scotland, the party leader, John Swinney, has said.The first minister acknowledged that SNP members had blamed the party's disastrous election result - plummeting from 48 seats to nine - on scandals such as the embezzlement charges against former chief executive and former health secretary Michael Matheson's 11,000 iPad expenses claim. Continue reading...

Easyfundraising has been accused by easyJet's founder of misleading the public by adopting a charity guise' to market a profitable companyThe website Easyfundraising calls itself the UK's biggest charity shopping site", raising millions of pounds for good causes across the country, from leading charities to friends' groups to support local schools.It says it has raised more than 50m for good causes since it was launched in 2005, describing itself on Facebook as a charity organisation". Continue reading...

Cher Maximen was with three-year-old daughter when stabbed and chef Mussie Imnetu had head injuriesA mother and a chef who worked under Gordon Ramsay have both died after they were attacked in separate incidents connected to the Notting Hill carnival.Cher Maximen, 32, was with her three-year-old daughter and other family and friends on Sunday when she was stabbed in the groin in broad daylight after she tried to intervene in a fight. Continue reading...

Official says strike hit a house and a high-rise building, killing five young menThe US has decided against a proposal to deploy American contractors to Ukraine to maintain Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter jets.A Wall Street Journal report carried by Euromaiden stated that the Biden administration elected not to send contractors due to safety concerns, after Ukraine lost the first F-16 fighter jet it received from Western allies earlier this month. Continue reading...

Video of Caitlin Upton from 2007 used by Vance to mock Kamala Harris drove the young woman to consider suicideA former Miss Teen USA contestant who drew widespread mockery because of a stuttering response to a question that she fielded at the 2007 competition has said it is a shame" - as well as condemned online bullying" - after JD Vance recirculated a video of her difficult moment to attack Kamala Harris.Meanwhile, the Republican nominee for vice-president in November's election has ruled out apologizing to Caitlin Upton, who has spoken openly about how she previously contemplated suicide at the height of the ordeal revived by Vance. Continue reading...

Weather warning in place until Sunday evening, with lightning and power cuts predicted in south-westThunderstorms and heavy rain could bring flooding to parts of the south-west of England over the weekend.The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning, which runs from 4am to 9pm on Sunday. Continue reading...

Between 3 and 5% of people who received tubal ligation surgeries later reported pregnancies, new study revealsA new study finds that getting pregnant after a woman gets her tubes tied" - the colloquial expression for permanent female surgical sterilization - may be surprisingly common.The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence, examined survey data of more than 4,000 women who reported tubal ligations, the formal term for a range of surgeries that clamp or remove fallopian tubes. Researchers found that 3-5% of these women reported pregnancy after surgery. Continue reading...

Officer in hospital after approaching Audi S3 in Hamilton to engage occupants'A police officer has been seriously injured after being hit by a car he had approached while on duty.The officer, 33, was on patrol when he approached an Audi S3 in Low Waters Road in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, at about 1pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Leader of headteachers' union warns of disruption to students' learning and urges government actionA headteachers' union is calling on the government to provide financial protection" for schools at risk of collapse, as well as funding for students to catch up on any lost learning.In 2023, schools were told to close any buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) that did not have existing safety measures in place. Continue reading...

Health groups challenge Keir Starmer to ban firms behind unhealthy products' from lobbying by giving giftsMPs are being urged to stop accepting freebies to sports and cultural events from tobacco, alcohol and junk food firms because their products cause so much illness and death.More than 100 health groups are urging Britain's lawmakers to reject offers of gifts and hospitality from unhealthy products industries" because they use an array of underhand tactics to disguise the harm they create in order to protect their sales. Continue reading...