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Ukrainian president thanks EU leaders for their support and calls for further pressure on RussiaJust days before the Trump-Putin summit, Ukraine's authoritative DeepState war map showed that Russian forces had advanced by at least 10 km (six miles) north in two prongs in recent days, part of their drive to take full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region, Reuters reported.The advance is one of the most dramatic in the last year, it stated.We're waiting for the US to follow through on the on the commitments they've made, the clear political commitments they've made, and, and that's where we are right now as soon as we have any updates, we'd be happy to provide them." Continue reading...

Gambling group delivers better-than-expected half-year results, helping it to brace for looming tax rises

Jessico Bowman on X falsely claimed in 2024 that the January 6 riot was a Democrat plot' and made several sexually graphic posts about Kamala HarrisA newly appointed official at the US Department of Labor hired by the Trump administration has a recent history of racist, sexually graphic, and conspiratorial posts on social media.Jessico Bowman announced last week that she was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs at the labor department. According to the bureau's website, its job is to lead the US Department of Labor's efforts to ensure that workers around the world are treated fairly and are able to share in the benefits of the global economy". Continue reading...

Fake heiress denies responsibility as social media users accuse her of mistreating the three bunniesAfter years of prison and conniving her way into luxury, Anna Sorokin has New York talking about her again.This time, it is not posing as a German heiress or being jailed for four years, instead the convicted fraudster has been left disturbed" and horrified" after three rabbits used in her photoshoot were found dumped in a nearby park. Continue reading...

Trump forwarded a false narrative around DC crime stats to justify the move. Plus, funeral held in Gaza for five journalists killed by Israeli attackGood morning.Donald Trump has ordered the national guard to Washington DC and seized control of the city's police force, describing a lawless" city in ways that are sharply at odds with official crime statistics.What do the crime figures tell us? That Trump is spreading a false narrative about DC crime - just as he did with LA. Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low. In January, the Metropolitan police department and US attorney's office released a report indicating that total violent crime in DC in 2024 was down 35% from the prior year, marking the lowest rate in over 30 years.How are Democrats responding? Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House, described Trump as a wannabe king" and said: We stand with the residents of the District of Columbia and reject this unjustified power grab as illegitimate."How deadly has the war been for journalists? Before Sunday's airstrike, the Committee to Protect Journalists recorded at least 186 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since it began gathering data in 1992. The CPJ accuses Israel of directly targeting and killing 20 journalists and media workers. Any deliberate attack on a civilian could constitute a war crime, experts say. Israel, which has refused to let international media into Gaza, denies the accusation. Continue reading...

Sebastian Robinson, who was left a paraplegic by a February 2022 crash that killed Chris Willow' Wilson, gave evidence on Tuesday

Visitor to museum and two eminent historians say wording of information board on Nuremberg race laws is incorrectThe Imperial War Museum has declined to change an information board in its Holocaust Galleries that two eminent historians say is incorrect.The information board refers to the Nuremberg race laws passed by the Nazi regime in Germany in 1935, which included a definition of who was Jewish. The laws said anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents was a Jew and anyone with one or two Jewish grandparents was Mischlinge, or mixed race. Continue reading...

RBA also warns of persistently' lower productivity growth than previously expected as it reveals interest rate decision

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Liz Allen alleged she was bullied into near suicide' at the institution

At least 25 people in the area have paid $500 out of pocket to have the blood test for Pfas, an advocate says

Statement on Ukrainian sovereignty endorsed by all European Union leaders except for Hungary's Viktor Orban

The PM's escalating criticism of Israel comes as the French president overnight welcomed Australia's plan to recognise Palestinian statehood

Former Labor leader complains about a whinge-athon', attracting a rebuke for repeated interjections by a senior tribunal member

Seven children reach shore as dozens of people intercepted on risky route, which authorities say is now used more oftenAbout 100 people, including several children, risked their lives by trying to swim from Morocco into Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta early on Saturday morning, as the territory's authorities warned that its overwhelmed reception system was close to collapse.Recent weeks have seen a rise in the number of people trying to reach Ceuta, with more than 50 children swimming across from Morocco on 26 July alone. Continue reading...

Campaigners say placing staff from Shell and BAE Systems in ministries creates potential for improper influenceDavid Lammy is facing possible legal action over a plan to invite staff from the oil firm Shell and the defence firm BAE Systems to work inside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.A pre-action letter seen by the Guardian warns the foreign secretary that the scheme leaves the government open to allegations of a conflict of interest and creates the potential for improper influence".An alleged lack of transparency as to how the proposed scheme will operate.The potential for improper influence by representatives of Shell and BAE Systems on UK government practices, including in relation to foreign policy.The potential for conflicts of interest. Continue reading...

Jumilla's ban on gatherings in public sports centres breaches right to religious freedom, says MadridSpain's central government has ordered officials in a Spanish town to scrap a ban on religious gatherings in public sports centres, describing it as a discriminatory" measure that breaches the right to religious freedom as it will mainly impact Muslims.There can be no half-measures when it comes to intolerance," Angel Victor Torres, the minister for territorial policy, wrote on social media on Monday. Rightwing opposition parties, he added, cannot decide who has freedom of worship and who does not". Continue reading...

Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become more common and more serious' as the planet warmsThe climate crisis is driving a sharp rise in dengue fever cases across the Pacific islands, experts say, as infections hit their highest level in a decade and several countries declare emergencies.Pacific Island countries and territories have reported 16,502 confirmed cases and 17 deaths since the start of 2025, according to the Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System (PSSS), which collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies. Infections across the region are at the highest level since 2016, the WHO said. Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are among the worst affected. Continue reading...

Footage shows Chinese coast guard vessel with its entire bow caved in after colliding with Chinese warship near contested Scarborough ShoalA Chinese warship collided with a vessel from its own coast guard while chasing a Philippine patrol boat in the South China Sea on Monday, Manila said, releasing dramatic video footage of the confrontation.The incident occurred near the contested Scarborough Shoal as the Philippine Coast Guard escorted vessels distributing aid to fishers in the area, said coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela in a statement. Continue reading...

NHS figures show rise in violence against nurses to 4,054 incidents last year, with long waits for care often a factorAttacks on A&E nurses have almost doubled over the last six years, with incidents often involving patients frustrated at waiting so long for care.Nurses have been punched, spat at, pinned up against a wall, had a gun pointed at them and been threatened with having acid thrown at them, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Continue reading...

Members of press and influencers covering devastation are being silenced despite protection under international law

President claims US capital overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals ... and homeless people'

Georgia man who blamed Covid vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal shot and killed a police officerThe man who attacked the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday fired more than 180 shots into the campus and broke about 150 windows, with bullets piercing blast-resistant" windows and spattering glass shards into numerous rooms, according to information circulated internally at the agency.It may take weeks or even months to replace windows and clean up the damage, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel said. Continue reading...

On the streets of Washington, people were concerned by the president's plans - but others said it would improve safetyAs Donald Trump convened reporters at the White House on Monday morning to announce his plans for sending the national guard on to Washington DC streets and taking over the police department, protesters gathered a block away to denounce what they saw as his plans to put the federal district under his thumb.Nothing Trump is doing right now is about our safety," Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC, a group advocating for the city's autonomy, told the 200 or so people gathered on a block of 16th Street Northwest that had once been called Black Lives Matter Plaza, before the city government ordered the name stripped shortly after Trump's inauguration this year. Continue reading...

More than 470 Canadian fires classified as out of control' as scientists say climate change exacerbating the burningWith hundreds of wildfires burning out of control, Canada's 2025 fire season is already the second-worst on record, as scientists report climate change is prolonging and exacerbating the burning, leading to more destruction, evacuations and smoke-filled skies.More than 470 fires across the country are currently classified as out of control", according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Continue reading...

Huda Ammori says No 10's allegations go against its own intelligence assessments, as pressure grows over mass arrestsThe co-founder of Palestine Action has accused ministers of making false and defamatory allegations about the banned group, and of contradicting their own intelligence assessments in an attempt to justify recent mass arrests.The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act - half of whom were 60 or older - on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action. Continue reading...

CJP says the period since 7 October 2023 has been the most deadly for journalists since it began gathering data in 1992Journalists have been prominent among casualties since the war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's incursion into Israel in October 2023.Some were working for well-known international media, others were employed by local news organisations. Several were high-profile veterans, but many were newcomers to the profession. Continue reading...

US president gives details on Alaska meeting and expresses frustration with Zelenskyy's insistence on referendum on any peace dealDonald Trump has confirmed that he and Vladimir Putin will discuss land swapping" when they meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war. But the US president expressed frustration with Volodymyr Zelenskyy for putting conditions on such a potential agreement.During a news conference at the White House on Monday, Trump said he was frustrated with Zelenskyy's insistence that Ukraine would need to hold a national referendum on any peace deal that stipulated recognising Russian control over territory that it has occupied during the war. Continue reading...

Judge cites attacks on children among grounds for ruling but animal protection groups say decision is inhumaneIndia's supreme court has ordered the immediate removal of thousands of stray dogs from the Delhi capital region, citing canine attacks and the country's alarming rabies toll.The sweeping move has set up a clash between public safety advocates and those who see the animals as beloved fixtures of their neighbourhoods. Continue reading...

Some higher-earning couples with smaller deposits could borrow extra 130,000 as a result of overnight changesSome couples applying for a Santander mortgage will see the maximum they can borrow increase by 130,000 overnight after the bank loosened its lending rules.Santander is the latest in a line of lenders to allow some borrowers to access bigger mortgages after intervention by the City regulator and new guidelines from the Bank of England designed to help more people on to the housing ladder. Continue reading...

UN condemns killing of Anas al-Sharif and colleagues, calling it a grave breach of international humanitarian law'Anas al-Sharif among five journalists killed in Israeli airstrikeReporters Without Borders has condemned the acknowledged murder by the Israeli army" of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif in Gaza, who the armed forces admitted they had targeted, along with several of his colleagues.The press freedom campaign group told news agency AFP it strongly and angrily condemns the acknowledged murder by the Israeli army" of al-Sharif and other journalists. Continue reading...

Rightwing presidential hopeful, who had been in hospital in Bogota since shooting, has died aged 39Miguel Uribe, the Colombian senator and presidential hopeful who was shot in the head at a campaign event in June, has died, his wife has confirmed.Uribe, an opposition candidate with the rightwing Centro Democratico party, was shot twice in the head and once in the leg during a campaign stop two months ago while vying for his party's nomination for the 2026 elections. Continue reading...

Pilot reportedly removed all his clothes and walked into reception area of Cape Verde hotel after drinking sessionAn easyJet flight captain has been suspended pending an investigation after claims that he wandered naked around a luxury hotel at the end of an all-night drinking session.The pilot, who has not been named, was seen without any clothes in the reception of a five-star hotel on the Atlantic resort island of Cape Verde early last Tuesday. Continue reading...

Abortion pill provision rates were also more than three times higher in states that ban abortion compared with those that do notAn abortion provider shipped almost 120,000 packs of abortion pills to US residents between July 2023 and August 2024 - nearly 100,000 of whom lived in states that outlaw the procedure or have laws on the books that ban the mailing of abortion pills, according to a new study published in the prestigious medical journal Jama on Monday.To the shock of experts, the number of abortions performed in the US has risen in the three years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade and paved the way for more than a dozen states to ban virtually all abortions. Much of that rise has been driven by the use of abortion pills, or medication abortion, and providers' ability to supply the pills through telehealth. Continue reading...

More than double the monthly average rain fell in the first 11 days, marking the wettest start to the month since 1998

German chancellor Friedrich Merz to host talks between Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK, joined by Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte, says Merz's officeOn France, AP noted that the red alert has been issued only eight times since it was created in 2004 after a deadly summer the year before.It is reserved for extreme, prolonged heat with major health risks and the potential to disrupt daily life. Continue reading...

Anyone showing support for Palestine Action will feel full force of the law', says justice minister as government defends decision to proscribe protest groupRichard Adams is the Guardian's education editorStudents in England are expected to receive A-level grades that are closer to normal for the first time since the Covid pandemic triggered school closures and exam cancellations.If the student, for instance, needed three As [and] gets AAB, as long as the B is not in something that's absolutely crucial for the course, I think there's a very strong possibility the student would find they'd be getting a place. Continue reading...

Police found 800 cartridge cases at the scene, where gunmen had arrived in two pickup trucks and opened fireEight people have been killed and two others wounded when a group of gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire on a crowd outside a nightclub in a town in south-western Ecuador.Law enforcement arrived on the scene following an emergency call alerting them to a shooting, and found several people wounded and seven bodies", said Javier Chango, the police colonel, at a press conference on Sunday, adding that an eighth person died in the hospital. Continue reading...

More than 200 refugee groups, charities and unions sign letter calling for action after weeks of protests outside asylum hotelsMore than 200 refugee organisations, charities and trade unions have signed an open letter calling on Britain's political leaders to end pernicious and insidious currents" of racism and hatred that underpin a slew of anti-migrant protests.The letter, coordinated by the campaign coalition Together With Refugees, has been signed by organisations including Amnesty International UK, City of Sanctuary UK, Care for Calais, Doctors of the World, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Freedom from Torture, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, the Public and Commercial Services Union, Refugee Action and Safe Passage. Continue reading...

Judge finds John Young assaulted pupils as young as 10 while head of PE between 1966 and 1993A former teacher has been found guilty of 26 offences of sexual and physical assault against boys at one of Scotland's best-known private schools.A judge sitting at Edinburgh sheriff court ruled on Monday that John Young, known widely as Jake Young, deliberately and gratuitously assaulted boys as young as 10 while he was head of physical education at Edinburgh Academy. Continue reading...

A national database of lesson plans was one of the recommendations of the fourth interim report into how to lift Australia's flagging productivity

Three arrested and San Pedro cactus plants also found at rural properties that hosted lucrative astral journeys'Police in eastern Spain have arrested three people and seized 11 litres of ayahuasca, 117 San Pedro cactus plants and several bottles of toad poison after raiding two rural properties that were used to host lucrative spiritual retreats promising astral journeys".Officers from the Guardia Civil force began investigating the business in the Pedreguer municipality of Alicante province five months ago after receiving a complaint from a former customer. They discovered that the retreat, which advertised online and billed itself as an award-winning and internationally renowned spiritual centre, offered traditional curative medicine" breaks that were especially popular among European visitors. Continue reading...

Jock Purcell tells court Sebastian Robinson was hopeless with paperwork' and says Matt Wright - who has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice - was lenient' with record keeping

Opposition says recognition rewards Hamas for its terror and murder but prime minister asserts it is a step towards peace

Leicester-born producer was editor of BBC children's show for more than 20 years and introduced Blue Peter badgeBiddy Baxter, the pioneering television producer who transformed Blue Peter into a national institution, has died at 92, according to the BBC.As editor of the children's programme between 1965 and 1988, she introduced viewer engagement segments including the national appeals and the famous Blue Peter badge, encouraging children to send letters, pictures and programme ideas.

Motoring groups welcome plan to ban over-70s who fail eye tests but call for young drivers to face passenger restrictionsHow do you feel about mandatory eye tests for older drivers?Motoring groups have welcomed government plans to overhaul road safety laws that could result in over-70s being banned if they fail eyesight tests but have implored ministers to go further with measures they believe could protect younger drivers and their passengers.Ministers are considering cutting the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and introducing mandatory eye tests for older drivers, the Times reported on Monday. The proposals also reportedly include tougher penalties for uninsured driving and failing to wear a seatbelt - but not measures to stop inexperienced drivers being responsible for the safety of groups of their friends. Continue reading...

Nasser Mashni responds after Anthony Albanese said Australia will recognise Palestine at the UN general assembly in September. Follow today's news live

Africa Rice initiative aims to give farmers more control over their land in order to reduce flooding and increase yieldsSalmata Ouattara remembers 2023 as the turning point for her rice farm.June is usually the peak of the rainy season in Ivory Coast, but in the preceding years she and other farmers in M'Be on the outskirts of Bouake, the country's second biggest city, would wait weeks for rainfall. Then in September, they would watch helplessly as their farmlands were flooded. Some abandoned their farms, frustrated by fluctuating crop yields. Continue reading...

Smoke seen billowing into sky above Scottish capital from gorse fire at extinct volcano and beauty spotFirefighters have worked through the night tackling a gorse blaze on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.Smoke was seen billowing into the sky from the fire at the landmark hill, which is an extinct volcano and beauty spot to the south-east of the city centre. Continue reading...