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Opposition say ruling party undermining democracy by using police to harass candidates into not contesting in electionsWhen the people of Gujarat cast their votes last week in India's six-week-long election, there was one constituency in the state that stood silent. There were no polling stations or impatient queues of people, and no one with the tell-tale inky finger. In Surat, no voting was necessary - the outcome was already decided.Mukesh Dalal, from the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), won the seat by default after every other candidate was either disqualified or dropped out of the race. It was the first time in 73 years that Surat's candidate was appointed, not elected. Continue reading...

Deputy vice-chancellor says Victorian university wants to ensure safety, security and amenity of all campus users' but protesters say request is Orwellian'

Oscar-winning actor enters row about pre-performance advisories, suggesting they kill the surprise of seeing drama in your own wayDon't go to the theatre, Dame Judi Dench has told sensitive" fans, in her response to pre-performance trigger warnings.The warnings, which inform audiences about potentially distressing content, including abuse, violence and loud noises, have become a point of contention in the industry in the last few years. Continue reading...

Domestic abuser among those freed from jail as part of plan to relieve overcrowding, watchdog revealsHigh-risk offenders including a domestic abuser who posed a risk to children have been freed from jail under the government's early release scheme, a watchdog has revealed.

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Ruling could have significant consequences for election administration in battleground state ahead of 2024 voteThe Wisconsin supreme court appeared prepared on Monday to overturn a ruling banning the use of ballot drop boxes", the secured containers for absentee ballots that came under attack in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.A ruling in the case could have significant consequences for election administration in the battleground state ahead of the 2024 election. Continue reading...

Labour and Conservatives say long overdue' measures improve standards of behaviour and safeguarding'MPs who have been arrested for serious violent or sexual offences face bans from the parliamentary estate under rules approved by just one vote.The House of Commons voted by 170 to 169 on Monday night to toughen up a proposal put forward by the government, which would have only applied to MPs who have been formally charged. Continue reading...

Former fixer tells hush-money trial Trump was really angry' after account of alleged sexual liaison with adult film star emergedDonald Trump told his one-time fixer Michael Cohen to bury Stormy Daniels's account of an alleged sexual liaison weeks before the election, demanding that he just take care of it", according to trial testimony in Manhattan court on Monday.This was a disaster, a fucking disaster," Cohen, after he took the stand, recalled Trump saying. Women will hate me." Continue reading...

Rapper's scathing song Not Like Us, from his headline-grabbing rap beef with Drake, becomes his fourth Billboard chart-topperKendrick Lamar has won the culture-consuming rap beef with Drake, at least as far as Billboard hits are concerned, as his diss track Not Like Us debuted at No 1 on the US Hot 100.The scathing track, which alleges that the Canadian hit-maker is a certified pedophile", is Lamar's fourth No 1 song, after a feature on Future and Metro Boomin's Like That earlier this year, 2017's Humble and his verse on Taylor Swift's 2015 track Bad Blood. Continue reading...

Harrison Mann, who resigned from Defense Intelligence Agency in November, said he kept quiet about motives out of fearA former US military intelligence official released a letter on Monday that explained to his colleagues at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) that his November resignation was in fact due to moral injury" stemming from US support for Israel's war in Gaza and the harm caused to Palestinians.Harrison Mann, an army major, would be the first known DIA official to quit over US support to Israel. A US airman fatally set himself on fire in February outside Israel's embassy in Washington and other military personnel have protested. Continue reading...

The actor will play the lead in a stage adaptation of his Oscar-nominated journalism drama from 2005George Clooney is set to make his Broadway debut in a stage adaptation of his 2005 journalism drama Good Night, and Good Luck.The actor's sophomore feature as director will be transformed into a play set to premiere in spring 2025. Clooney, who played Fred W Friendly in the original, will now take on the role of Edward R Murrow. Continue reading...

Hamas-run ministry of health updates breakdown of civilian casualties but UN has not yet been able to verify data

Mystery of Mary Alice Pultz finally resolved when remains of Maryland woman dug up four decades ago identifiedHuman remains dug up four decades ago on a Florida beach have finally been identified as those of a Maryland woman who went missing in 1968, supposedly disappearing with her then-boyfriend.The mystery of Mary Alice Pultz was finally resolved last week when a Florida sheriff's office said that it had identified the remains found in a shallow grave on Crescent Beach, 50 miles south of Jacksonville, in April 1985. Continue reading...

Device in development fires electromagnetic pulse that tricks ebikes and scooters into shutting offPolice officers in Britain could be armed with Ghostbusters-style devices that fire electromagnetic rays to shut down the engines of ebikes being used in a crime.Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), said the weapon was in development and could be months away from being available, though it is expected to be longer than that. Continue reading...

Michael Emery allegedly asked teammates Anyone want a go?' hours after non-league side won at WembleyA footballer raped a sleeping woman twice in one night and sent naked photos of her to his teammates asking: Anyone want a go?", a court has heard.Michael Emery, 33, a reserve goalkeeper for Warrington Rylands FC, invited the woman to stay in his hotel room after his team won a non-league cup final at Wembley on 22 May 2021. Continue reading...

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates had pledged to continue work together through trial period after filing for divorce in 2021Melinda French Gates said on Monday she would step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world's biggest private charitable foundations, which she co-founded with her former spouse more than 20 years ago.Her last day of work at the foundation will be 7 June, according to her post on Instagram. Continue reading...

Proposal, condemned by homelessness charities as dehumanising, had provoked threats of revolt among MPsMinisters will drop plans to criminalise rough sleepers for being deemed a nuisance or having an excessive smell after Conservative MPs threatened a revolt over the proposals.The plans, originally announced by the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, had been condemned by homeless charities as dehumanising. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says Belfast judgment will not affect his plans and the Good Friday agreement should not be used to obstruct Westminster policySunak starts with global security threats.The dangers that threaten our country are real.There's an increasing number of authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China working together to undermine us and our values.People are abusing our liberal democratic values of freedom of speech, the right to protest, to intimidate, threaten and assault others, to sing antisemitic chants on our streets and our university campuses, and to weaponize the evils of antisemitism or anti-Muslim hatred, in a divisive ideological attempt to set Britain against Britain.And from gender activists hijacking children's sex education, to cancel culture, vocal and aggressive fringe groups are trying to impose their views on the rest of us. Continue reading...

IDF launches most intensive fighting in weeks as Oxfam warns Palestinians face deadly epidemicIsraeli troops have continued their offensives across Gaza, deploying tank fire, artillery bombardment and airstrikes against Hamas militants in the most intensive round of fighting for weeks.In the far south of the devastated territory on Monday, witnesses reported helicopter strikes and street battles in Rafah as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) consolidated their hold on neighbourhoods east of the strategic Salah al-Din road, which bisects the city. Continue reading...

As the draft law described by the US as Kremlin-inspired' nears final vote, opposition and youth groups said they would keep defending civil libertiesAs the foreign influence" bill was being nodded through the Georgian parliament's legal committee at 9am on Monday morning, a wet and tired Zviad Tsetskhladze, 18, and Luka Natsvlishvili, 17, were among thousands of others left with little other option than to simply shout chants at a grim wall of riot police.An overnight vigil designed to block the governing party's MPs from accessing the parliamentary estate had failed. Meanwhile, the opposition leader in the parliament, Tina Bokuchava, 40, had barely made it past the entrance of the imposing stone building. Her colleagues on the committee only got as far as the corridor outside. Continue reading...

UK government considers appeal after judge says act undermines post-Brexit human rights protections guaranteed in the region

Kyiv replaces commander overseeing north-eastern Kharkiv frontline in effort to turn the tide as fighting continues

Kharkiv region's governor says Russia is attempting to stretch front line; Ukrainian commander responsible for north-eastern frontline replaced

Josep Borrell reiterates concern about situation in Georgia, where pro-western protesters have continued to face a violent crackdown

Campus protesters say issue of police training center and its connections to Israel has been on their minds for monthsThe student-led protests at Emory University in Atlanta have distinguished themselves from others occurring across the US in at least one way: protesters are seeking transparency about and divestment from Israel but also from a $109m police training center known as Cop City".A broad-based movement against the training center, now in its fourth year, has drawn national and global headlines, particularly after police shot and killed one environmental protester at a campsite in a public park last year - the first such incident of its kind in US history. Continue reading...

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Exclusive: The Who's Roger Daltrey questions sellers' morals, and former hall president says he is ashamed by their conductThe Royal Albert Hall is embroiled in a scandal after its wealthy members were accused of using their dedicated ticket allocation to profit from celebrity charity performances for young cancer patients.Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of the Who, who performed this spring for the Teenage Cancer Trust, questioned the morals of those involved, while the charity lamented that members' tickets had been sold for private gain". Continue reading...

Minister, who had treatment for condition five years ago, says melanoma was found during routine scan in January

Small plane circled NSW airport for four hours burning fuel as authorities braced for emergency after landing gear failed

Unrest came as demonstrator who was attacked near his home says government is trying to intimidate critics

Alfred Al' Blaschke, who first broke the Guinness World Record for at 103 in 2020, reached an altitude of 9,000ft in NovemberAfter retaking - at age 106 - the Guinness World Records (GWR) mark for oldest person to tandem skydive out of an airplane, Alfred Al" Blaschke hailed his feat as living evidence that everyone is more capable than they think".If you think you can't, you're just underestimating yourself," the resident of Georgetown, Texas, remarked. [You] just need to make the decision to try." Continue reading...

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Birth trauma inquiry finds postcode lottery for quality of service with poor care frequently tolerated as normal'A health minister has apologised to women affected by birth trauma after a parliamentary inquiry that heard harrowing" testimonies from more than 1,300 women about giving birth found a postcode lottery" for maternity care.The birth trauma inquiry, led by the Conservative MP Theo Clarke and Labour MP Rosie Duffield, will call for an overhaul of the UK's maternity and postnatal care. Continue reading...

Alleged murderer Justin Stein claims nine-year-old schoolgirl was shot dead by her mother, Kallista Mutten, not by him, jury told

The Fawlty Towers actor has often played the monarch in the past and has now recorded audio for a new production at the festivalAt the age of 91, Prunella Scales has reprised one of her favourite roles. The actor, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia 10 years ago, has recorded the part of Queen Victoria for a production at the Edinburgh fringe this summer.She played the character more than 400 times in An Evening With Queen Victoria, a play written for her by Katrina Hendrey in 1979. She returned to the show on and off in performances around the world until 2007 and brought it to an end only because she was finding it hard to remember the lines. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Unauthorised maritime arrivals' land near WA town after two other boat arrivals in last week

Creative UK and Universities UK urge government to reject plans to abolish or restrict graduate visa routeUniversities are reporting a steep drop in international students applying to come to the UK, amid warnings that further restrictions on student visas would torpedo a vital flow of talent for Britain's creative industries.University and industry leaders fear that the graduate visa entitlement, which allows international graduates to work in the UK for up to three years, could be axed or curtailed, depending on the findings of a report by the migration advisory committee (MAC) due to be delivered to the government on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Petition by 49 employees could lead to Holy See being taken to court for undermining dignity and health'Forty-nine employees at the Vatican Museums have started an unprecedented legal dispute over job conditions and workplace safety, which could lead to the Holy See being taken to court.The staff, mostly custodians who have worked at the museums for years, claim they are treated as commodities" by Pope Francis's administration, according to a report in Corriere della Sera. Continue reading...

The party leader has often operated in Farage's shadow, but is building a profile looking to outflank Sunak on the rightFour months ago, a prominent Conservative MP described Richard Tice as a pound-shop Nigel Farage".That MP, Lee Anderson, would four months later defect to Tice's party, Reform UK, after being suspended from the Tories for suggesting the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, was controlled by Islamists. Continue reading...

Delays in government family reunion processes see stranded children crossing the Channel in small boats, charities' report saysChild refugees are using people smugglers to cross the Channel in small boats to reunite with parents and other close relatives because delays in government family reunion processes are leaving them stranded in danger, according to a report.Some children are waiting in conflict zones for applications for refugee family reunions to be processed by the Home Office, while others have fled to neighbouring countries. Many wait longer than the Home Office's target of 12 weeks to process these applications. The backlog of family reunion applications in July 2023 was 11,000. Continue reading...

Tice has loaned party 1.4m since taking over and has said party's lack of resources is making campaigning difficultReform UK's election efforts are being hampered by a lack of money and resources and the party has so far largely relied on 1.4m of loans from its leader, Richard Tice.The party is ultimately owned by Nigel Farage, but electoral and corporate filings show it has been mainly bankrolled by Tice, who has contributed about 80% of its declared funding in loans and donations since he took over in 2021. Continue reading...

Nearly 20 missing after monsoon rains trigger flash floods, sending torrents of volcanic material and mud down slopes of Mount Merapi volcanoHeavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 37 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said.Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Former teacher and rugby league player found guilty in 2022 of murdering his wife Lynette in 1982

Russian president says successor to Shoigu, who has been defence minister for years, will be Andrei Belousov, an economistVladimir Putin has removed his longtime ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister in the most significant reshuffle to the military command since Russian troops invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.In a surprise announcement, the Kremlin said Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister who specialises in economics, will replace Shoigu. Continue reading...

Antony Blinken highlighted the horrible loss of life of innocent civilians', in some of the strongest criticism of Israel from the US to dateThe US may block more weapons systems to Israel if it goes ahead with a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said.The US has already suspended the shipment of 3,500 2,000lb (907kg) and 500lb (227kg) high-payload bombs following concerns over the scale of civilian casualties in Israel's war in the territory. Continue reading...

Former pensions minister says data shows buyers increasingly forced to accept terms that stretch into state pension ageHomebuyers are increasingly being forced to gamble" with their retirement prospects to get on the housing ladder by taking on ultra-long mortgages lasting beyond the end of their working life, it has been claimed.More than a million mortgages that stretch beyond the borrower's state pension age have been arranged in the last three years, figures show. Continue reading...

Colossal' costs of disease include health and social care as well as societal costs such as legal fees and lost economic consumptionDementia could cost the UK almost 91bn a year by 2040, as the number of people affected rises inexorably, a study has found.The colossal" costs of the disease are likely to more than double from an already staggering" 42.5bn today to 90.6bn, according to research undertaken for the Alzheimer's Society. Continue reading...

Club confirms a Leeds United supporter received medical treatment after Championship playoff fixtureTwo men have been arrested after a man was injured outside Norwich City's stadium after the football club's playoff match against Leeds United. Norfolk police have appealed for witnesses after a man in his 60s reported being punched outside Carrow Road shortly after 2pm on Sunday.An object is also believed to have been thrown at the victim, who suffered a cut to his chin, police said. He was treated by paramedics and did not require further medical treatment. Continue reading...

Former Play School presenter joins Bafta fellowship; others to be recognised include Top Boy, which was named best drama series

Socialist party PSC looks like the clear winner in Sunday's vote, although it will fall some way short of achieving a majoritySeparatist parties are in danger of losing their decade-long hold of power in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, with the pro-union Socialist party poised to win the most votes in Sunday's election, according to a near-complete count of the ballots.The four pro-independence parties, led by the Together party of former regional president Carles Puigdemont, were set to get a total of 61 seats, short of the key figure of 68 seats needed for a majority in the chamber. Continue reading...