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South Korean president urges all-out' efforts to protect citizens after number of kidnappings in Cambodia soars in recent monthsSouth Korean president Lee Jae Myung has called for all-out" diplomatic efforts to protect citizens in Cambodia after a university student was lured there by a scam ring and allegedly tortured to death.At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee said protecting the lives and safety of citizens is the government's greatest responsibility" and called for all scam victims to be swiftly repatriated". Continue reading...

Voting to close at 6am on Wednesday as Australian magpie fails to make list of final contenders

Former Liberal senator launches claim in effort to obtain more than $1m in damages and legal costs

UN warns Gaza still needs lifesaving aid' as world leaders gather in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss 20-point proposalThere was a rare moment of joy among Israelis and Palestinians on Monday as Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza as part of a swap deal for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, on a day world leaders met in Egypt to try to ensure the current limited truce is extended into a durable peace.The prayers of millions have finally been answered," Donald Trump declared at the peace summit, with his counterparts lined up behind him. At long last, we have peace in the Middle East." Continue reading...

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Labour says Tory government at time failed to classify China as a threat, but plenty of evidence suggests the contraryThere is a baffling contradiction at the heart of the efforts of Dan Jarvis, the security minister, to explain why the prosecution of two Britons accused of spying for China collapsed last month. The problem, he insisted in front of MPs on Monday, was that it was not the policy of a Conservative government to classify China as a threat to national security".Except there is plenty of evidence to suggest that China was recognised as a threat by the previous governments in documents and public statements by ministers and officials. All this makes the failure of the government witness - Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser - to set this out in three separate witness statements given to the prosecution even more surprising. Continue reading...

In speech to Israeli Knesset hours after hostages released, US president spoke of historic dawn of new Middle East'Donald Trump has vowed to use the power of his presidency to ensure that Israel recognises it has achieved all that it can by force of arms", and begin an age of cooperation in the Middle East that may ultimately extend as far as peace with Iran.In a speech to the Israeli Knesset, made hours after the last remaining Israeli hostages were released from Gaza, Trump hailed the historic dawn of a new Middle East" and an end to the long and painful nightmare" of the Gaza war. Continue reading...

George Finch, 19, says he was called a racist' and fascist' during incident in Warwickshire on FridayThe Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has criticised disgraceful" rhetoric from the Labour and Green parties after the UK's youngest council leader was allegedly assaulted.George Finch, 19, the Reform leader of Warwickshire county council,said he was called a racist" and a fascist" before being allegedly assaulted on Friday. Continue reading...

Dan Jarvis accuses Tories of suggesting case was deliberately abandoned without a shred of evidence'The government made every effort" to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said, as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned without a shred of evidence".Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a robust defence of Jonathan Powell in the Commons after reports that Keir Starmer's national security adviser played a role in the collapse of the case. Continue reading...

US ambassador to Israel calls Bridget Phillipson delusional' for saying UK played key role, though others point to important input from British figuresAs world leaders arrived in Egypt on Monday to celebrate the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal and discuss the next steps, there was a curious note of disharmony between the US and the UK.Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, had appeared on the BBC on Sunday talking about the UK's key role" in shaping the agreement - only to be slapped down on X by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who called her delusional". Continue reading...

Minister calls Badenoch's claims about Chinese spy trial baseless smears'. This live blog is closedAt the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM's spokesperson said it was entirely false" to suggest the government influenced the collapse of the China spying case because of concerns Beijing could withdraw investment in the UK, Downing Street said.Asked about reports in the Sunday Times which suggested a decision was taken high up in government to abandon the case so as not to damage the economic relationship with China, the PM's spokesperson told reporters:It is entirely false. The CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] decision to drop the case was entirely a matter for the CPS. There was no role for any member of this government, no minister, or special adviser, to take any decision in relation to this case. That is entirely for the CPS. Continue reading...

Online marketplace paid just $18m in corporation tax, leading campaigners to call for government actionThe Chinese online marketplace Temu's EU operations more than doubled pre-tax profits last year to just below $120m (90m) despite employing just eight people, accounts show.They rose 171% in the 12 months to December 2024 compared with the $44.1m the year before, as shoppers snapped up its low-cost goods, which are widely promoted on social media. Continue reading...

Ferrer, who has been imprisoned repeatedly, says he opted for exile after facing torture' behind bars in CubaThe prominent Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer has been freed from prison and put on a plane to the US where he will live in exile with his family, the communist country's foreign ministry has said.Ferrer, who has been imprisoned repeatedly as the long-term leader of the island's pro-democracy movement, announced this month he had opted for exile after facing torture" and humiliation" behind bars. Continue reading...

Egregious' police surveillance was sanctioned by government department, mother of Stephen Lawrence tells inquiryThe mother of Stephen Lawrence has alleged at the undercover policing public inquiry that the Home Office was directly involved" in the egregious and unlawful" surveillance of her family's campaign for justice.Doreen Lawrence also questioned why a politician who had held the post of home secretary had keenly" sought her out and was at pains to reassure her" that the government department had nothing to do" with the surveillance. Continue reading...

All eyes are on the Middle East where there have been emotional scenes in Israel as hostages were released, while tens of thousands of Palestinians are able to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. As global leaders, including Donald Trump and Keir Starmer, meet for a peace summit, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the UK's role in securing the ceasefire and in the next phases of the peace plan. Plus, what has Tony Blair's contribution been to the ceasefire, and what part could he play in future?--

Many customers say they cannot access services including the internet or make mobile phone callsTens of thousands of Vodafone customers were reporting that they could not access services including the internet and making mobile phone calls on Monday.Consumers started reporting problems on the website of the outage monitor Downdetector from about 3pm on Monday. Continue reading...

French president says opposition has not risen to the moment' after reappointment of Sebastien Lecornu as PMThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has accused rival political parties of fuelling instability in France, as he brushed aside calls by the opposition for him to resign amid France's worst political crisis in decades.Many of those who have fuelled division and speculation have not risen to the moment," Macron said of French opposition parties, as he arrived in Egypt on Monday to attend a summit on Gaza. He said rival political forces" were solely responsible for this chaos" after they instigated the destabilisation" of the prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu. Continue reading...

Overflowing rivers swept through entire villages, triggered landslides and swept away roads and bridgesThe death toll from flooding in central and eastern Mexico has risen sharply to at least 64, with another 65 still missing, authorities said on Monday.The flooding, caused by intense rainfall, was focused mostly in the Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla states, said Laura Velazquez, the head of Mexico's civil defense authorities. Continue reading...

President, attending Gaza summit in Egypt, reiterates he will not step down as opponents lodge no-confidence motions in the governmentNational Assembly president Yael Braun-Pivet has welcomed the appointment of Sebastien Lecornu's new government, calling for calm and constructive debate as parliament prepares to convene.Our institutions are strong and now ready to work in the interests of the French people," Braun-Pivet said on social media. Posturing and political manoeuvring must give way to constructive discussion before the National Assembly. Let the parliamentary debate begin!" Continue reading...

Major changes announced by Jim Chalmers include indexing superannuation balances to inflation and addition of a new threshold taxing balances between $3m and $10m

Richard Tice says party will concentrate on cutting civil service and scrapping net zero once in government

Leonard Farruku was unwell and should not have been moved to barge where he took his own life, say sistersThe family of an asylum seeker who died on the Bibby Stockholm believe he would still be alive today had he been properly assessed and treated before being placed on the barge.Leonard Farruku, 27, died in the bathroom of his shared cabin onboard the barge on 12 December 2023. He had been moved there weeks earlier, after the then Conservative government began using the Bibby Stockholm to house asylum seekers.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Charlie Taylor hits out at risk of real-terms spending cuts in prisons in England and Wales derailing work to break cycle of reoffendingCuts to education in prisons are derailing offenders' work and training and ultimately endangering the public, the prisons watchdog has warned.Repeat offenders cause mayhem" in their communities because of the failure of prisons to provide education, training and work that could help to break the cycle of offending, the chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said. Continue reading...

City Builders pastor's daughter tells Victorian parliamentary inquiry into cults of grave concerns' about church

Musician invites 52 UK visual artists to create works based on song lyric to raise money for children affected by warKate Bush is harnessing the power of her global hit Running Up That Hill in collaboration with leading names in British art to raise money for children caught up in global conflicts.The singer-songwriter invited 52 visual artists to respond to her lyric If I only could, I'd make a deal with God" from her 1985 anthem. One of her best-loved songs and hailed as one of the greatest songs of all time" by Rolling Stone, it became a hit all over again in 2022 when it featured in the fourth season of the US TV series Stranger Things. Continue reading...

Government's FoI changes unlikely to pass Senate as Coalition, Greens and key crossbenchers voice outrage

Banking group raises total provision to almost 2bn on likelihood of more historical cases' becoming eligible for payouts

Group handed over to Red Cross as Israeli ministers approve list of more than 1,700 Palestinians for release

Jim Chalmers says revised superannuation tax reforms still raise a substantial' amount of money, but it will be much less than before

Voluntary organisations forced to introduce extensive security measures to protect staff and propertyCharities have warned of growing racial abuse, intimidation and threats of violence towards their staff and beneficiaries amid increasingly toxic rhetoric around immigration and race by politicians and extremist activists.Voluntary organisations say they are being forced to introduce extensive security measures to protect staff and property - a trend described by one charity head as in danger of becoming the new normal" - after being targeted. Continue reading...

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Case taken by academics against two colleagues and the university is considered a major test case for hate speech in Australia

Senator says her words at Melbourne pro-Gaza rally were a metaphor' and the reaction to them mock outrage' that distracts from Palestinian suffering

Chief commissioner says force needs to police differently' as restructure announced

Jim Chalmers announces backflip on policy to tax unrealised gains on super account balances of more than $3m

Simon Fox plays down talk of competition with Art Basel Paris, insisting both cities can thrive despite market slumpThe chief executive of Frieze London has dismissed the idea his fair is in a battle with Art Basel Paris, claiming the two events could create a Barbenheimer moment" for collectors this October - despite the art market being in a severe slump.Simon Fox told the Guardian that the fair, which opens on Wednesday, can benefit from having strong competition on its doorstep and replicate the mutual success of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office in 2023. Continue reading...

Australian Conservation Foundation and Friends of Australian Rock Art want Murray Watt's decision to approve extension of gas plant in northern WA overturned

Senior PA leader confirms readiness to work with former UK PM on post-ceasefire recoveryThe former UK prime minister Tony Blair appears to have won the endorsement of the Palestinian Authority to be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza, after an exploratory meeting in Jordan.Blair met Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. It was the first such meeting since Donald Trump announced Blair's role in his 20-point plan. Continue reading...

Company tells Senate inquiry ban will be extremely difficult to enforce', will have unintended consequences' and won't make children safer

This live blog is now closed, you can follow our coverage here.Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel is ready for the immediate" reception of all Gaza hostages.Israel is prepared and ready to immediately receive all of our hostages," he said in a statement after a meeting with the coordinator for the hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch. Continue reading...

Surprise finding by Hamptons shows age group comprises 50% of all new shareholders in firms set up this yearMillennials now account for half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales, signalling a generational shift in landlords, while rents have dipped, according to a report.It is a surprise finding, as many millennials - people born between 1981 and 1996 - have struggled to afford a housing purchase, which means they are less likely than older generations to own their home. Even so, some have clearly fared better, and millennials are leading the charge in buy-to-let investment, according to analysis of Companies House data by the estate agent Hamptons. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Acoba's functions split between two regulators and new Ethics and Integrity Commission to oversee othersThe much-criticised watchdog that scrutinises the jobs UK ministers can take after leaving office will be formally scrapped on Monday as part of a wider shake-up of the ethics structure in government.The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), described by critics as fundamentally toothless, has been closed, a Cabinet Office announcement said, with its functions taken over by two existing regulators. Continue reading...

Katie Mitchell had procedure at 15 after being diagnosed with Eisenmenger syndrome, a rare congenital diseaseAt the age of 15, medics feared Katie Mitchell was coming to the end of her life after suffering irreversible lung damage and heart failure from a rare congenital disease.But she defied the odds thanks to a heart and lung transplant, and at the age of 53 she has become the UK's longest-surviving recipient of such a procedure. Continue reading...

Bridget Phillipson says national security adviser was not involved in discussions before CPS abandoned its prosecutionThe government's national security adviser had no involvement in the prosecution being dropped against two British men accused of spying for China, a senior cabinet minister has said.Jonathan Powell had no connection to discussions about the substance or the evidence" of the case, Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday, adding that Keir Starmer had full confidence in him. Continue reading...

Green party in England and Wales has had near-50% rise in membership since Zack Polanski took over last monthThe Greens in England and Wales have more than 100,000 members for the first time, the party has announced, a near-50% rise since Zack Polanski took over as leader last month.It puts them on a potential course to overtake the Conservatives and comes little more than a week after the Greens announced they had moved past the Liberal Democrats in membership numbers, getting to 83,500. Continue reading...

Government says it is also preparing for release of 2,000 Palestinian detainees in crucial next phase of ceasefire deal

Representatives from Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Italy among those to attend conferenceThe UK is to host an international summit on the recovery of Gaza, Downing Street has said, as Keir Starmer prepared to attend a multi-nation event in Egypt intended to finalise a truce in the Palestinian territory.The prime minister will be among an estimated 20 national leaders, among them Donald Trump, who will gather in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, with Starmer saying the aim must be to ensure a lasting peace after two years of devastating loss of life. Continue reading...

Woman, 43, remains in custody after Meraj Ul Zahra and Abdul Momin Alfaateh found unresponsive with injuriesA girl and boy who were found dead in a home in Stafford have been named by Staffordshire police.Meraj Ul Zahra, two, and Abdul Momin Alfaateh, three, were found unresponsive with injuries inside the home on Sunday morning, police said. They died at the scene. Continue reading...

Using manual tools and their bare hands, people start the immense task of trying to find their loved ones' remainsGhali Khadr spent two days pleading with his parents to flee with him to southern Gaza, warning them that it was too dangerous to stay. His father, known for being stubborn, refused. Their argument was never finished - an Israeli airstrike hit his father's home, burying his parents beneath the rubble.On Sunday, two days after the ceasefire was announced, Khadr returned to search through the ruins of his parents' home. He spent the day sifting through shattered concrete and twisted metal for any sign of them. All he managed to find were some shards of their skulls and parts of their hands. Continue reading...