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Married monographers have collated sometimes absurd word choices through which journalists avoid repetitionWhat would you do with cod digits"? Can you identify a monochrome mammal"? And what on earth is an unfortunate ungulate"? They are all attempts by journalists - either elegant or absurd, depending on your outlook - to avoid repeating a noun already featured in an article. In the cases above, they are genuine journalistic attempts to describe fish fingers, a panda and a sheep stuck in a car.Spotting examples of eye-catching second mentions" became a hobby for couple Juliet and Matthew Maguire. They began collecting examples after Juliet encountered them during her journalism training. Their interest grew into a social media account, which became a lively exchange of the distinctive descriptors. Continue reading...

Ken Paxton, who is running for US Senate, is urging schools to say the Lord's Prayer as a Republican law goes into effectKen Paxton, the Texas attorney general running for US Senate, has long believed in school prayer. Now, he's prescribing precisely what type of prayer he wants the state's 6 million public school students to recite.In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up," Paxton said in a statement on Tuesday, encouraging students to say the Lord's Prayer, as taught by Jesus Christ". Continue reading...

People in small village of Jakovo celebrate after re-claiming Guinness world record with line of almost 9,000 baked strudelsA Croatian village has made it into the record books with a line of nearly 9,000 strudels stretching more than three kilometres.Two tonnes of flour and three tonnes of apples were used for the world's longest line of strudels - baked pastry desserts - in the small village of Jakovo, organisers said. Continue reading...

The Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing account of a Palestinian child's death in Gaza, won the runner-up Silver LionUS indie director Jim Jarmusch unexpectedly won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice film festival on Saturday with Father Mother Sister Brother, a three-part meditation on the uneasy tie between parents and their adult children.Although his gentle comedy received largely positive reviews, it had not been a favourite for the top prize, with many critics instead tipping the Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing true-life account of the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during the Gaza war. In the end, the film directed by Tunisia's Kaouther Ben Hania took the runner-up Silver Lion. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Climate advocates reject CEO's claim he is not qualified' to comment on risks of gas firm's plan to extend production to 2070

Inaugural Tour de 4 is tailored to individuals' physical abilities and aims to challenge assumptions about stage 4 cancerMel Erwin is pragmatic about what it took to get her on a bike. I have one and a half lungs. I'm on a treatment drug. I don't identify as sporty. I wouldn't have done it without a goal."This Sunday the 57-year-old will roar up the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow in a camp as Christmas" sparkly cape alongside her partner, Sarah, and 3,000 other participants. Continue reading...

Painting was spotted online by Dutch journalists when the daughter of a former Nazi official put her house up for sale in Mar del PlataThere was nothing very remarkable about the middle-aged couple who lived in the low, stone-clad villa on calle Padre Cardiel, a quiet residential street in the leafy Parque Luro district of Argentina's best-known seaside town, Mar del Plata.Patricia Kadgien, 58, was born in Buenos Aires, five hours to the north. Her social media described her as a yoga teacher and practitioner of biodecoding, an obscure alternative therapy that claims to cure illness by resolving past traumas. Continue reading...

One person treated at scene after emergency services called to nine-storey building shortly after 3amFirefighters are tackling a blaze in London's White City after a fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday at the former BBC HQ.London fire brigade (LFB) said about 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines had been called to the nine-storey building on Wood Lane shortly after 3am. Continue reading...

Steve Jones was hundreds of miles away in Maidstone arranging family funeral at time of alleged offenceA non-smoker was convicted at a magistrates court after Manchester city council accused him of dropping a cigarette butt in the city centre - even though he was hundreds of miles away, arranging a family funeral at the time.Steve Jones, a 53-year-old teacher, lives 200 miles away in Teddington, Greater London, has only been to Manchester three times, and doesn't smoke. Continue reading...

Rosemary Duckett, 80, and her husband, Anthony, 88, say situation is bureaucracy gone mad'A couple who the prime minister thanked for housing Ukrainian refugees have been told by their local council they may have to evict their current guest due to planning rules which the couple describe as bureaucracy gone mad".Rosemary Duckett, 80, a retired magistrate and former chair of her local YMCA, and her husband, Anthony, 88, have been providing accommodation in a room above their garage to Ukrainian refugees since 2022. Continue reading...

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, known as the Iron Lady of the Pacific', likely to be replaced by leader of opposition Fast partySamoa's first female leader, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, has failed to win a majority in the Pacific nation's elections this week, capping months of political infighting.Official results published by the electoral commission on Friday showed the opposition Fast party won 30 out of the 50 contested seats in parliament. Continue reading...

Victoria's largest reward ever offered for arrest as alpine hunt for alleged killer of two police enters 12th day

Homeland security had tried to end temporary protected status granted by the Biden administrationA federal judge on Friday ruled against the Trump administration from ending temporary legal protections that have granted more than 1 million people from Haiti and Venezuela the right to live and work in the United States.The ruling by US district judge Edward Chen of San Francisco for the plaintiffs means that 600,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protections expired in April or whose protections were about to expire on 10 September have status to stay and work in the United States. Continue reading...

Directive will make Department of War secondary title and is way to get around need for congressional approvalDonald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a callback to the department's original name used from 1789 to 1947.The directive will make Department of War the secondary title, and is a way to get around the need for congressional approval to formally rename a federal agency, an administration official said. Continue reading...

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, was shot in Washington DC, and suspects, both 17, are being charged as adultsTwo teenagers were arrested Friday on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern who was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in Washington DC - a crime that Donald Trump cited in deploying national guard troops in the US capital during the presidential administration's law enforcement intervention there.Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of 30 June near Washington's Mount Vernon Square. Both suspects in his killing - Kelvin Thomas Jr and Jailen Lucas - are 17 years old, but are being charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to US attorney Jeanine Pirro. Continue reading...

Bajun Mavalwalla, an advocate for Afghans who supported US military in Afghanistan, faces up to six years in prisonVeterans who helped the US's Afghan allies find refuge in the US say they are outraged that a fellow veteran and advocate now faces federal conspiracy charges for his role in a protest against the Trump administration's immigration policies.Some call the arrest of former US army sergeant Bajun Mavalwalla II shameful" and un-American". Mavalwalla is part of a community of American military veterans who, in the wake of Kabul's fall to the Taliban in 2021, worked to rescue Afghans who supported the US military operations in their home country. Continue reading...

Independent tribunal told government did little to hold Israel to account and aimed to shield itself from scrutinyBritain is not just complicit in Israel's breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza but a participant that has repeatedly ignored its legal obligation to prevent a genocide, witnesses have told the independent Gaza tribunal.The two-day tribunal in London, which is independent of government and parliament, is seeking to amass evidence of Britain's failure to distance itself from what the tribunal organisers regard as Israeli war crimes amounting to genocide.RAF pilots flying from the UK Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus systematically shared intelligence in real time with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but not with the international criminal court.No 10 failed to provide the support requested by lawyers acting for James Henderson, the British World Central Kitchen aid worker killed by the IDF on 1 April 2024, leaving them reliant on an IDF internal investigation, with a coroners' inquiry still as long as two years away.Britain provided no support to the chief prosecutor at the international criminal court, Karim Khan, after the US government imposed sanctions that led a British bank to close his account, so emboldening those who seek to dismantle international accountability".The UK trade department continued to allow the import of products from Israel-occupied territories after the international court of justice in July 2024 ruled in an advisory opinion that the occupation was unlawful. Continue reading...

Man, 40, arrested over death of Sheryl Wilkins in August and rearrested over death of Carmenza Trujillo in MarchA man has been arrested on suspicion of committing two murders more than five months apart - with the second allegedly committed while he was being investigated over the first, police have said.Scotland Yard detectives said Carmenza Trujillo was found dead in south London on 17 March. The man was arrested a little more than a fortnight later, but then released while officers investigated. Police said Sheryl Wilkins died in north London on 24 August. The same man, aged 40, was arrested over both deaths on Thursday. Continue reading...

Shabana Mahmood to take over at Home Office as Angela Rayner's departure hastens sweeping reshuffle

Deputy leader election campaign will distract from Starmer's reset and winner may well come from left of partyAt 9.30am on Monday morning, as MPs made their way back to Westminster, Keir Starmer gathered the entire staff of No 10 in the Pillared Room of Downing Street to tell them they were about to enter the next, delivery, stage of government.We go into phase two in good spirits, confident and with conviction," he told them, as some of those gathered shuffled awkwardly. His remarks, after all, followed a difficult summer during which Labour vacated the pitch to Reform UK and ahead of what is likely to be an even more turbulent autumn. Continue reading...

Palace says duchess, who was married to late queen's cousin, passed away peacefully surrounded by family'The Duchess of Kent, the first Catholic convert in the royal family for centuries, who was known for presenting numerous Wimbledon trophies and consoling runners-up, has died aged 92.The duchess was married to the late queen's cousin the Duke of Kent but for decades led a separate life from him. Continue reading...

New York Times says Trump authorized mission to plant listening device; team killed fishers who had come across themUS Navy Seals shot and killed a number of North Korean civilians during a botched covert mission to plant a listening device in the nuclear-armed country during high-stakes diplomatic negotiations in 2019, the New York Times reported on Friday.Citing unidentified sources, including current and former military officials with knowledge of the still-classified details, the newspaper said Donald Trump approved the operation during his first administration, as he was involved in historic talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Continue reading...

Rayner's departure is deeply damaging to prime minister who had initially stood by her

Full text of Angela Rayner's letter to the prime minister, Keir Starmer's reply, and the response by the PM's independent ethics adviser

Portuguese investigators find no evidence of sabotage, with mechanical or maintenance issues among possible causes

The northerner whose emotional openness was an electoral asset eventually had to follow the advice she had given to Conservative rivals and quitWhen Nadhim Zahawi's fate was hanging in the balance after a scandal over unpaid taxes, Angela Rayner was one of the first to pile on the political pressure.Nadhim Zahawi's story about his tax affairs doesn't add up," she said at the time. After months of denials, the truth emerges. His position is untenable. Rishi Sunak must dismiss him from his cabinet." Continue reading...

Prolonged halt at Merseyside and West Midlands factories is tacit admission that quick resolution is unlikely

Increase of 0.3% in August marks third consecutive monthly rise, exceeding market expectations

Aid agencies plead for funds as rough terrain hinders relief effort and 98% of buildings in one province are damagedThe death toll from a major earthquake in Afghanistan this week has jumped to more than 2,200, just as another magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit the southeastern region of the country on Thursday night.On Thursday, Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat confirmed that the death toll from Sunday's earthquake had risen to 2,205 - up from previous estimates of 1,400 - making it one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the country in decades. Continue reading...

Marianne Mair' Smyth was found guilty of swindling four people out of more than $155,000 in Northern IrelandA US podcaster and author who helped Northern Ireland authorities secure a fraud conviction on Thursday against a woman derisively known as the Queen of the Con" says he hopes the case prompts the public to realize these people are literally everywhere".Johnathan Walton said it thrills me to no end" that Marianne Mair" Smyth - who was initially convicted of scamming nearly $100,000 from him in Los Angeles by posing as the heiress to a $30m fortune - was found guilty by a Downpatrick crown court jury of swindling more than 115,000 ($155,000) from four people while working as a mortgage adviser. Continue reading...

Report from prime minister's standards adviser, Laurie Magnus, is due todayThe conveyancing firm that Angela Rayner used to complete her purchase of an 800,000 flat on the south coast has said it did not offer her tax advice and completed her stamp duty return based only on information she provided.Joanna Verrico, the head of a small, family-run firm in Kent, said on Thursday it had not provided any advice to the deputy prime minister on how much stamp duty to pay. Continue reading...

Donatella Versace says the world lost a giant today' while Victoria Beckham called him a visionary designer whose legacy will live on forever'

Buses and trains likely to be overcrowded as union members take action in row over pay and 32-hour weekStrikes by tube staff are due to start on Friday, in a series of walkouts that are expected to close the London Underground entirely for four days from Monday.Londoners have been urged to check before travel next week, with virtually no tube services expected to run and other transport in the capital likely to be affected by crowding and congestion. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Reform leader's use of television star-style arrangement is a practice criticised across the political spectrumNigel Farage is using a private company to reduce his tax bill on his GB News media appearances and other outside employment in a television star-style arrangement that has in recent years become frowned on by major broadcasters.The Reform UK leader diverts money from his prime-time TV show into his company, which means that he paid only 25% corporation tax on profits, instead of 40% income tax, and could offset some expenses. Continue reading...

Peace deal cannot be negotiated away' by British political figures who want to quit ECHR, says Irish deputy PMNorthern Ireland's peace deal cannot be negotiated away" by British political figures who want to see the UK quit the European Convention of Human Rights if elected, the Irish tanaiste has warned.The ECHR is an integral part of the 1998 Belfast Good Friday agreement and withdrawal would remove those foundations of peace, according to Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister. Continue reading...

Children's commissioner says young Indigenous person kept in isolation for 12 hours longer than permitted under NT youth justice laws because they refused to move cell blocks

Sewell, who allegedly led an attack on the sacred Indigenous burial site in Melbourne known as Camp Sovereignty, was returned to custody following his court appearance

Push for NSW locomotive workshop to be returned to government hands and used to retrofit diesel trains and help meet 50% Australian-made quotas

Deputy defence minister Anna Tsivilyova said those coming back from the battlefield had become a driver' in pushing Russia's innovation in prostheticsA Kremlin official has said that the number of soldiers wounded fighting in Ukraine had helped to make Russia a world leader in the manufacture of prosthetic limbs.Deputy defence minister Anna Tsivilyova, reportedly a relative of President Vladimir Putin, told a conference in Vladivostok that those coming back from the battlefield had become a driver" in pushing Russia's innovation in prosthetics. Continue reading...

PM leaves open possibility of Australian troops joining European forces as peacekeepers

Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Spokesperson confirms surgery after video surfaces of Biden leaving church with a fresh scar on his foreheadJoe Biden recently underwent surgery to remove skin cancer lesions, a spokesperson said Thursday, the latest health challenge for the former president.His spokesperson Kelly Scully confirmed the surgery after Inside Edition published video of Biden leaving church in Delaware with a fresh scar on his forehead. Continue reading...

Later a general in the air force reserves, McNeil was one of four students who sat at a North Carolina Woolworth'sJoseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the US south, died Thursday, his family and university said. He was 83.McNeil, who later became a two-star general, was one of four freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro who sat down at the local whites only" counter on 1 February 1960. The four were refused service and declined to give up their seats even as the store manager and police urged them to move on. Continue reading...

Doctors say NHS rollout not fit for purpose with fewer than half of commissioning bodies prescribing MounjaroThousands of patients in England are unable to access weight loss jabs via their GP, figures reveal, as doctors warn that the NHS rollout is not fit for purpose".Family doctors got the green light to prescribe the drugs for the first time in June. About 220,000 people with greatest need" were set to receive Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide and made by Eli Lilly, on the NHS over the next three years. Continue reading...

It is inconceivable' that Hamas is using hospitals as command centres, Prof Nick Maynard tells independent Gaza tribunalAn Oxford University surgeon accused the British government of failing the people of Gaza by allowing F-35 jets with British parts to bomb the children on which he was operating, an independent Gaza tribunal heard at its opening session on Thursday.The two-day tribunal in London, which is independent of government and parliament, is seeking to amass evidence of Britain's failure to distance itself from what the tribunal organisers regard as Israeli war crimes amounting to genocide. Continue reading...

Justice agency appealed judge's decision to block firing of Rebecca Slaughter from Federal Trade Commission while case continuesDonald Trump's administration asked the US supreme court on Thursday to let him temporarily remove a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, as the legal fight over the Republican president's dismissal of her plays out.The justice department made the request after Washington-based US district judge Loren AliKhan blocked Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter from the consumer protection agency that enforces antitrust law prior to her term expiring. Continue reading...

Michael H Schill led the institution for three years, during which Trump administration slashed nearly $800mThe president of Northwestern University said Thursday that he was stepping down amid a turbulent period marked by clashes with Republican lawmakers and steep federal funding cuts under the Trump administration that forced widespread layoffs.Michael H Schill, who has led the institution for three years, has been under heavy scrutiny in conservative circles this year. The Trump administration slashed nearly $800m in research funding after sustained criticism from Republicans. Continue reading...

Court of appeal ruling means Yvette Cooper can try to block move by protest group to have its proscription overturnedThe Home Office has won a legal decision which means it can attempt to block a move by Palestine Action to have its ban under terror laws overturned.The latest legal twist in the battle between the government and the protest group - now proscribed as a terror organisation - saw the court of appeal rule that Yvette Cooper can challenge the decision to grant a judicial review of the organisation's proscription that was due to be heard in November. Continue reading...

Jackson Denio, 13, caught the 177lb monster fish off the coast of New England and could be awarded a world recordA young teenager on a deep-sea fishing trip this week in New England hauled in a 177lb (80kg) Atlantic halibut, a fish bigger and heavier than he is, and one that could be a world record.Jackson Denio, a 13-year-old from Hampton, New Hampshire, was fishing about 100 miles (160km) off the New England coast on Cashes Ledge, a spot known for its underwater peaks and biodiversity in the Gulf of Maine, on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Letitia James seeks to reverse appeals court's decision to wipe away president's penalty in financial fraud caseNew York's attorney general has requested the state's highest court reinstate Donald Trump's large civil fraud penalty, appealing a lower-court decision that slashed the potential half-billion dollar penalty to nothing.Attorney general Letitia James's office filed a notice of appeal with the state's court of appeals, seeking to reverse the mid-level appellate division's ruling last month that the penalty violated the US constitution's ban on excessive fines. Continue reading...