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Exclusive: MP also allegedly used her ministerial car for gym trips and ordered advisers to run personal errandsKemi Badenoch asked officials to pay for a holiday flight with taxpayers' money to the US while in government but was rebuffed by her former department's top civil servant, the Guardian understands.Officials at the department for business and trade (DBT) ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February last year, sources claimed, although the former cabinet minister covered the cost herself. Continue reading...

Chief constable expects protests from group reportedly linked to English Defence League to last into next weekPolice are braced for further violence from far-right agitators in Southport in the days ahead as the seaside town struggles to come to terms with a knife attack that killed three children and left several others in a critical condition.A mob of up to 300 attacked officers with bricks, destroyed garden walls, set cars and bins alight and attacked a mosque and shop on Tuesday night while many residents of the Merseyside town were attempting to digest the horror that had unfolded at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class for children on Monday. Continue reading...

The Villages has not voted for a Democratic candidate since 2000 and favored Trump in 2016Hundreds of supporters of presidential candidate Kamala Harris turned out this weekend to rally for Harris's campaign at the Villages retirement community in central Florida - a traditionally conservative stronghold.In videos posted online, hundreds of golf carts, decorated with Harris for President" posters and American flags, can be seen flooding a parking lot in the retirement community and driving around the area. Continue reading...

Moussa Dadis Camara convicted of crimes against humanity after ordering 2009 crackdown on unarmed protestersA court in Guinea has found the former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and seven other military commanders guilty of crimes against humanity in a long-awaited verdict relating to a notorious massacre and mass rape that took place in 2009.In a ruling delivered in the capital, Conakry, the initial charges including murder, rape and kidnapping were recategorised as crimes against humanity. Afterward, Camara and his former police chief Moussa Tiegboro Camara were given 20-year prison sentences for ordering a crackdown on thousands of unarmed protesters who were aggrieved that he had decided to stand in the presidential election the following year. Continue reading...

Israel has launched series of targeted strikes after vowing to kill all operatives who planned last year's assaultThe airstrikes on the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran early on Wednesday morning, and on the Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut late on Tuesday were the latest in a series of targeted assassinations across the region.Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for both attacks, has vowed to kill all Hamas leaders responsible for the 7 October 2023 attack and go after senior commanders from Iran and its militant allies. Continue reading...

Polling for the Republic campaign group says only 11% of voters want MPs to pledge allegiance to the monarchA reader asks:I was wondering if you ever got a response from the DHSC yesterday as to why the previous government claimed settling the junior doctors' dispute would cost 1.7billion?The real challenge we've got at the moment is the 2012 changes to right to buy [the discount was increased] meant that we can't replace the stock, because the taxpayers are funding us creating social homes and then we're not able to replace them once they are sold off at a highly discounted rate.We think right to buy is something people should have, if you've raised your family in your home, you've been in it a long time, then this should be a way for you to buy it. But we don't think the current situation is tenable when we want to build more social housing. Continue reading...

Group of special rapporteurs release report detailing long history of brutal and racist police misconductA group of United Nations experts is calling on the US federal, state and local authorities to take immediate and comprehensive" action to resolve a long-standing scandal where people are languishing behind bars after being allegedly tortured by Chicago police to extract false confessions.The group of UN special rapporteurs, who specialize in addressing the scourges of contemporary racism and torture, has released a report detailing a long history of brutal and racist police misconduct. Continue reading...

Pair's conviction could pave way for inclusion in any future prisoner exchange between Russia and westTwo Russian deep-cover spies arrested in Slovenia have admitted their guilt, in a swift court case that potentially paves the way for them to be included in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the west.The pair, whose real names are thought to be Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, were arrested in late 2022, and are believed to be illegals" - deep-cover Russian spies trained to impersonate foreigners, who spend years living abroad in their cover identities. They posed as Ludwig Gisch and Maria Mayer, an Argentinian couple, and spoke to their two children in Spanish. She ran an online art gallery and he had an IT business, but all the while they secretly worked for Russian intelligence. Continue reading...

Methods include firing squad, lethal injection and electric chair, while as many as eight inmates may be out of appealsThe South Carolina supreme court ruled on Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal.All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling, opening the door to restart executions in a state that has not put a prisoner to death since 2011. But two of the justices said they felt the firing squad was not a legal way to kill a prisoner and one of them felt the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment. Continue reading...

Forensic analysts examined skeleton of baby found under floorboards of house being renovated in Bishop AucklandA skeleton of a human baby found under the floorboards of a house undergoing a renovation appears to have been there undisturbed for a number of years", police have said.The skeleton was found in an upstairs room at an address in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, at about 11.15am on Monday. Continue reading...

Former cast member will return to play the presumptive Democratic candidate for show's upcoming 50th seasonMaya Rudolph will return to Saturday Night Live to play Kamala Harris during the forthcoming season of the longrunning comedy program.According to Deadline, the former cast member has cleared her schedule to ensure availability for upcoming episodes with the 50th season of the show premiering on 28 September. Pre-production on Rudolph's Apple comedy series Loot has reportedly been put on pause. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner suggests that Yvette Cooper will be looking at' whether English Defence League should be proscribed as terror group after riots in Southport

Death came hours after Israel said it killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, fuelling fears of regional conflict

Customers, suppliers, landlords and Microsoft are owed 213m, say administrators of collapsed retailerCarpetright collapsed with debts of almost 345m, more than half of which are owed to customers, suppliers, landlords and other unsecured creditors who are unlikely to be repaid.Administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers, who were called in to the retailer this month, said unsecured creditors, including the technology group Microsoft and the carpet suppliers Condor and Betap, were owed 213m and that no more than 600,000 of that was likely to be repaid. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Memos show massive jump in contributions and volunteers for Kamala Harris campaign, in addition to $200m haulThe launch of Kamala Harris's campaign has injected newfound energy into her party with less than 100 days to go in the election cycle and raised Democrats' hopes of winning battleground states that once seemed irretrievably lost to Donald Trump, according to a set of memos exclusively shared with the Guardian.The memos show that Democratic parties in battleground states saw a dramatic surge in contributions and volunteer sign-ups in the past week, in addition to the Harris campaign's record-breaking fundraising haul of $200m. Continue reading...

Troubled planemaker hopes to turn its fortunes around after huge losses due to 737 Max 9 aircraft line fiascosBoeing on Wednesday named aerospace industry veteran Robert Kelly" Ortberg as its new president and CEO, tasking the former Rockwell Collins executive in turning around the struggling planemaker after it reported a $1.4bn loss.Ortberg, 64, led aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins before it became part of aerospace and defence giant RTX. He will assume his duties on 8 August, Boeing said. Continue reading...

Mainly male audience members had to step out of preview performance of The Years after graphic sceneAn award-winning play premiering in London had to be stopped for 10 minutes during a preview performance on Monday after several mainly male audience members called for medical assistance after a graphic abortion scene.The Years, directed by Eline Arbo, is about one woman's personal and political story, set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing postwar Europe - from advances in reproductive rights to setbacks such as sexism in the workplace. Continue reading...

Tourists face fines of 25-500 if they fail to comply with measures, which also ban the use of loudspeakersVenice will limit the size of tourist parties to 25 people from Thursday in the latest attempt to reduce the impact of crowds on the lagoon city.Local authorities will also ban the use of loudspeakers by tourist guides in measures aimed at protecting the peace of residents" and ensuring pedestrians can move around more freely. Continue reading...

Dozens of police officers injured in violent protests following vigil for victims of Monday's knife attack

Daniel Wiffen won gold in 800m freestyle 24 hours after Mona McSharry's bronze in 100m breaststroke

Housebuilder welcomes shake-up of planning rules as it reports half-year profits fell by nearly 60% to 99.7m

Former BBC News presenter admitted three counts at Westminster magistrates courtThe former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.Edwards, 62, admitted the offences, which took place between December 2020 and April 2022, when he appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Dinush Kurera has pleaded not guilty to murder and assaulting his son after wife's 2022 death in Melbourne home

While Hamas's capacity to retaliate is diminished, response could come from axis of militias backed by Iran

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Met Office says some areas could get a month's rainfall in a few hours bringing risk of floodingThunderstorms are due to hit Britain on Wednesday and Thursday, but warm weather is likely to continue for the rest of the week.Some areas could receive as much as a month's rainfall in a few hours on Thursday, which could cause flooding, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Outgoing CEO Noel Quinn will have paid $34.4bn to investors during final 18 months in postHSBC is giving a further $4.8bn to shareholders, providing a final parting gift from the outgoing chief executive, Noel Quinn, after a rise in second-quarter profit.The London-headquartered bank said it would buy back another $3bn (2.3bn) worth of shares from investors, who will receive $1.8bn in fresh dividends. Continue reading...

Rise in gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV rates partially due to reduced use of condoms across range of demographics, pathologists say

Foreign minister's alarming' phrasing echoes sovereignty recognised only by Israel and the US under the Trump administration, Palestine advocates say

Survivor Victor Lewis and victim Alan Dare's widow Kerry demand changes and accountability in testimony to Queensland inquest

Japan's agriculture ministry blames shortage on tourists' vast demand for rice and low crop yields last yearJapan's rice stockpile has fallen to the lowest level this century, with a tourism boom part of the cause, government officials say.Private-sector inventories of rice fell to 1.56m tons in June, down 20% from a year earlier and the lowest since 1999, when comparable data was first gathered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It attributed the decrease to the high temperatures that hit crops in 2023 as well as demand from inbound visitors. Last year Japan recorded its hottest September since records began 125 years ago. Continue reading...

Farm north of London to be returned to something like pasture once enjoyed by Anglo-Saxon kingIt was once woodland where Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king, rode in pursuit of deer. Over recent decades, the hillside with a panoramic view of London has become arable fields, pony paddocks and a Christmas tree plantation.But now Harold's Park, a 200-hectare (500 acre) farm just north of the M25 on the edge of the capital, is to be rewilded and returned to something like the tangled wood pasture once enjoyed by King Harold. Continue reading...

Employees reportedly told the airline will no longer operate flights between capital cities

Detention of reporters for covering sensitive news is having a chilling' effect on free media in Somalia, say rights groupsThe arrest of a journalist for reporting on drug use in the Somali military is the latest incident in an apparent clampdown on critical reporting in the country, which is having a chilling" effect on Somalia's media, rights campaigners said.AliNur Salaad was detained last week and accused of immorality, false reporting and insulting the armed forces", after publishing a now-deleted video suggesting that soldiers were vulnerable to attacks by al-Shabaab militants because of widespread use of the traditional narcotic khat. Continue reading...

Member countries from the Global South were intimidated in an attempt to dissuade them from attending summit, says executive directorChina's attempts to stop foreign parliamentarians from attending a summit in Taiwan were massively overstepping" acts of bullying, the organiser has said at the end of the gathering that saw the group - designed to counter China - expand.The Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) held its fourth annual summit in Taipei this week, attended by about 50 parliamentarians from 23 countries. Continue reading...

When detectives asked Anne Geeves, who has pleaded not guilty to her murder, if she had caused harm to missing teenage mother, she swore on the baby's grave' she'd done nothing wrong

Australia's consumer price index rose in the June quarter in line with economists' forecasts

Police say crash happened at about 3.30pm on farmland near Killucan, County WestmeathTwo men have died after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into a building near the Irish village of Killucan.Irish police said the crash happened at approximately 3.30pm on Tuesday on farmland to the east of the village. Continue reading...

Narinder Kaur claimed refunds on goods stolen in 1,000 raids on high street stores across England and WalesA woman who made more than half a million pounds by travelling throughout England and Wales shoplifting and then claiming refunds on the stolen goods has been jailed for 10 years.Narinder Kaur, 54, made more than 1,000 raids on high street stores over a four-year period. When police searched her home in a Wiltshire village they found 150,000 in cash, as well as stolen goods she had not yet returned. Continue reading...

Animal lovers fear legislation will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in overcrowded sheltersTurkish legislators have approved a law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from the country's streets that animal lovers fear will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.Some critics also say the law will be used to target the opposition, which made huge gains in the latest local elections. The legislation includes penalties for mayors who fail to carry out its provisions and the main opposition party has promised not to implement it. Continue reading...

Former member Susannah Storey tells inquiry that Horizon IT problem was sprung on non-executive directorsA senior civil servant said non-executive directors at the Post Office felt blindsided" by the way the company rushed out a 2013 report by forensic accountants which was highly critical of the state-owned body.Susannah Storey, who is now permanent secretary at the department for culture, media and sport, sat on the Post Office board between 2012 and 2014 as a non-executive director and the first shareholder representative of the UK government. Continue reading...

Remarks by Ohio senator emerge as Trump attempts to soften VP pick's childless cat ladies' commentJD Vance reportedly admitted to Republican donors this weekend that Kamala Harris was a threat and a sucker punch", the latest in a string of recent and past remarks that have been seen to undermine the campaign and that led Donald Trump to try to soften his vice-presidential pick's description of Democrats as childless cat ladies".The leaked remarks about Harris were themselves quickly followed on Tuesday by the publication of a previously unseen video of Vance telling an interviewer that not having kids in your life" makes people more sociopathic" and makes the US a little bit less mentally stable". Continue reading...

Model says she never learned about 1972 events and would never knowingly' be part of work linked to horrific tragedy'US model Bella Hadid has said she is shocked", upset" and disappointed" at the Adidas campaign in which she was featured that evoked memories of the terrorist attack that killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.Hadid - who is half-Palestinian - was initially featured in the German sportswear's advertisement campaign for its SL72 running shoe, which paid homage to the Munich games after its release earlier in July. At those Olympics, the Palestinian militant group known as Black September murdered 11 Israeli competitors as well as one German police officer. Continue reading...

Roughly 7% of reproductive-aged women have attempted to induce own abortion, up from 5% before fall of RoeRoughly 7% of women of reproductive age in the US have attempted to induce their own abortions outside the formal healthcare system, a new study has found, up from 5% before Roe v Wade fell in 2022.The study, published on Tuesday in the Jama medical journal, determined how many people reported ever self-managing" their own abortion in 2021 and again in 2023 - a timeline that allowed researchers to examine how Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, the supreme court case that overturned Roe, has affected self-managed abortions. People of color and LGBTQ+ people were more likely to report having ever attempted to end their own pregnancies. Continue reading...

Bakery chain says price of meal deals will stay the same but increased costs have put it under pressureGreggs has increased the amount it charges for some of its items, including an extra 5p on sausage rolls and their vegan equivalent, despite the bakery chain having said earlier this year it had no plans to increase prices.Roisin Currie, chief executive of the Newcastle-based group, said it had increased prices on a small number of products, including cheese sandwiches, in recent weeks as it continued to come under pressure from a growing wage bill. Continue reading...

About 900 operators with overturned convictions offered fixed settlement of 600,000 or can proceed to full claim

Preparations, emergency warnings and recovery grants found lacking following long-running investigation into 2022 disaster

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Police spy who formed relationships with two female activists used tactic permitted by Met', judge toldTwo women who were deceived into sexual relations by the same undercover police officer have called his behaviour degrading and morally bankrupt", a public inquiry has heard.The officer, Trevor Morris, deceived the two women while he spent four years undercover infiltrating leftwing and anti-racist activists. Continue reading...