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Chancellor promises biggest investment in social and affordable homes in a generation to hit 1.5m targetRachel Reeves will raise government spending on affordable housing by nearly double on Wednesday, providing a major boost to the housebuilding sector and bringing the government's housing targets a step closer.The chancellor will announce nearly 40bn worth of grants to be spent over 10 years for local authorities, private developers and housing associations - a major increase on the previous programme. Continue reading...

Police say 19 attacks launched on targets in Cali and nearby areas, hitting police posts, municipal buildings and civiliansColombia has been rocked by a string of coordinated bomb and gun attacks that killed at least seven people and wounded at least 50 across the country's south-west, deepening a security crisis roiling the Andean country.Police said attackers launched 19 attacks on targets in Cali - the country's third largest city - and several nearby towns, hitting police posts, municipal buildings and civilian targets. Continue reading...

Northern Irish riot police deployed to quell feral' violence that erupted after vigil for girl allegedly sexually assaultedFireworks and other objects have been thrown at police during a second night of disorder in Ballymena.Riot police were deployed around the Clonavon Terrace area on Tuesday evening as hundreds of people gathered in the County Antrim town. Continue reading...

Campaign pushes to change law that could lead to survivors living in UK being disqualified from means-tested benefitsSurvivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes are being retraumatised" by the prospect of losing benefits in the UK if they accept compensation from the Irish state, Westminster has been told.The warning comes amid a campaign backed by representatives of almost every political party in the UK and figures including Steve Coogan, who starred in Philomena, a film about the mother and baby homes scandal. Continue reading...

Nottingham university hospitals is subject of maternity care investigation involving nearly 2,500 casesA missing data file containing the details of hundreds of maternity cases was most likely deleted intentionally or maliciously", a police investigation has concluded.Nottinghamshire police began an investigation in February into the temporary loss of the computer file at Nottingham university hospitals (NUH) NHS trust. Continue reading...

Tribunal rules Spartans lawmakers deceived' voters after convicted ex-leader of Golden Dawn found to hold influence over partyA landmark court decision has dealt a blow to the far-right movement in Greece after MPs with the neo-fascist Spartans party were deprived of seats in parliament.Citing electoral fraud, a specially assembled electoral tribunal stripped three of the group's lawmakers, including its leader, of their status in a move that, for the first time since the collapse of military rule, leaves Athens' 300-seat parliament operating with just 297 MPs. Continue reading...

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face travel bans and asset freezes as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway also impose measuresThe UK has been joined by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in placing sanctions on two Israeli government ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, largely for inciting violence against Palestinians in their campaign to gain control of new settlements in the West Bank.Ben-Gvir, the security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, and Smotrich, the finance minister, will face travel bans and have any assets in the five countries frozen. It was stressed that they were being sanctioned in their personal capacity, placing no restrictions on the ministries they lead. Netanyahu has promised to retaliate. Continue reading...

Far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will have assets frozen and travel bans imposed by UK and other countries

BSix in Hackney gives pupils a second chance academically but new owner wants to focus on vocational coursesTeachers and students are fighting to preserve A-levels at a college that works with disadvantaged young people who have failed their GCSEs, some of whom have gone on to complete Oxbridge degrees.The sixth form college in Hackney, known as BSix, has offered one of the lowest entry requirements in the UK for pupils who want to pursue A-level courses. The entry requirement is just one GCSE pass grade. Help and support is given for exam retakes, allowing those who pass to take A-levels. Continue reading...

Electoral Commission figures show Fiona Cottrell has given 750,000 in contributions to party over past yearThe biggest donor to Reform UK has been revealed as the mother of the unpaid party aide and convicted fraudster George Cottrell.Fiona Cottrell, an aristocrat and former girlfriend of King Charles in the 1970s, donated 250,000 in March, taking her total contributions up to 750,000 over the past year. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can read our report here: 10 people killed in school shooting in AustriaThe Austrian interior ministry has confirmed that several people have been killed in the attack on the school in Graz in the south of the country, without specifing the exact number, AP reported.Austria's Kronen Zeitung noted that the incident took place close to the tenth anniversary of the 2015 Graz attack which many Graz residents still remember today" in which three people died, and 36 were injured. Continue reading...

Worst mass shooting in country's recent history leaves 10 dead, including 21-year-old man who police say shot himself after killing nine othersAustria will hold three days of national mourning after a 21-year-old man shot dead eight pupils and an adult at his old high school and injured a dozen more before turning his weapon on himself.Visibly moved at a media conference, the chancellor, Christian Stocker, announced a minute's silence for 10am on Wednesday to start the period of mourning for the victims of Austria's deadliest postwar mass shooting. Continue reading...

Taxes now account for $28 of the average $40 price for a packet, following a triple-fold excise hike in ten years from 46c to $1.40 per cigarette

Ukraine president criticises lack of response from allies as Moscow launches one of its largest attacks of war on Kyiv

Israeli military says port, which receives aid shipments, was being used by Houthi rebels to transfer weapons

Other measures to include tightening restrictions on shadow fleet', banks and Nord Stream investment

In email exchange, leader of clan that Israel acknowledges arming blames Hamas for war and for looting of aid trucksOn 7 October 2023, Yasser abu Shabab was languishing in a Hamas-run jail in Gaza on charges of drug trafficking. With the outbreak of the conflict, the Palestinian from Rafah managed to leave prison, though the circumstances of his release remain unclear to this day.For a while, Abu Shabab vanished from sight. That changed last week when Israeli defence officials acknowledged they had begun arming a clan that calls itself the Anti-Terror Service. It consists of about 100 armed men who operate in eastern Rafah under the command of Abu Shabab, whose nickname is the Israeli agent" and who is described as a traitor" on social media in the territory. Continue reading...

Patterson also tells triple-murder trial she's puzzled' clinic she says she had an appointment with for a gastric bypass offers no such surgery

Bill Lunn, ex-employee of Shreveport's KTBS, alleges rival network KTAL's report was character assassination'A Louisiana news anchor who resigned shortly before a competitor reported that he had been busted for compromising texts by vigilantes targeting men seeking to prey on underage girls" is pursuing a defamation lawsuit after police determined he had actually arranged to meet someone he believed was a young adult woman - then was violently robbed.Bill Lunn's lawsuit asserts that he and his employers at Shreveport's KTBS news station were in direct competition with their counterparts at KTAL when the latter outlet published a June 2024 report that unduly ended his career in broadcast journalism" and provided a rare example of actionable ... character assassination". Continue reading...

5bn rescue plan would set deeply troubling precedent', say bondholders who face losing all of their money

Brazilian tribal leader among other guests at event with theme of repair, along with Ruth Jones and Nicola SturgeonThe Edinburgh book festival is to champion the positive power of hope later this summer with events involving Hanif Kureishi, the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish and an exiled Brazilian tribal leader.The core theme for this year's festival will be the expansive" concept of repair, and offering solutions and optimism at a time of crisis and conflict, said Jenny Niven, the event's director.The Edinburgh international book festival runs from 9 to 24 August. Tickets go on sale on 21 June. Continue reading...

Energy secretary says chancellor did not make mistake in initial decision to remove benefit from most pensionersRachel Reeves deserves credit" for her U-turn on winter fuel allowance, Ed Miliband has said while denying that it was wrong to make the initial cut.The Treasury announced on Monday that it would restore the allowance to all pensioners with an income of 35,000 or less a year, amid public outrage over cut that was the first act of the Labour government. Reeves had previously removed the benefit from all but the poorest pensioners - those on pension credit. Continue reading...

Applicant's case argues 2023 sermons were calculated to denigrate all Jewish people' but defence says speeches were intended for small, private audience

Discussions with US president on sidelines of G7 summit in Canada not yet locked in

Patient's own embryo instead of partner's was incorrectly transferred', fertility company tells ASX, months after revealing separate Queensland clinic error

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder following a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow liveProsecutor Nanette Rogers SC says Erin Patterson's son gave evidence that she did not tell him she was sick on the day of the lunch.I don't know if I did or I didn't," Patterson says.The first thing he said to me was something like: I've got a sore tummy.How could I? It's vomit. Unless you can see a bean or a piece of corn. Continue reading...

The PM says he has expressed his concern to the US government over the incident that occurred during protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles Full report: Pentagon deploys 700 US marines to LA amid immigration protests

Cross-Channel rail operator, which is trying to fend off rivals for its London depot space, regards early 2030s as feasibleEurostar has vowed to run direct trains from the UK to Germany and Switzerland, as it attempts to fend off potential competitors eyeing its London depot space.The cross-Channel rail operator's chief executive, Gwendoline Cazenave, said she had no doubt the direct services would run in the early 2030s despite the failure of previous ventures to connect London and Frankfurt. Continue reading...

Increasingly, members want the federal intervention to end, with a return to the status quo or a streamlined committee of NSW figures put in charge

Police in Northern Ireland say a number of missiles had been thrown towards officers and damage to properties had been reportedPublic disorder broke out in Ballymena in Northern Ireland, with police saying a number of missiles had been thrown towards officers after crowds gathered near the site of an alleged sexual assault in the town.The unrest follows a protest in the area, about 30 minutes's drive from the capital city of Belfast, earlier on Monday evening, the police statement said, adding damage had been reported to a number of properties. Continue reading...

Crew of activists making symbolic attempt to deliver aid expected to be held in port until deportation hearingsA boat seized by Israel's military as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza was towed into an Israeli port after sunset on Monday, with the crew of activists including Greta Thunberg expected to be held there in advance of deportation hearings.The Madleen was attempting to bring a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza, which faces a looming famine after more than 11 weeks of total siege and ongoing severe restrictions on food entering the territory. Continue reading...

Jane' resumes testimony and she repeatedly told Sean Diddy' Combs she didn't want to have sex with other menThe federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean Diddy" Combs entered its fifth week on Monday as a former girlfriend of Combs resumed her testimony, telling jurors that she repeatedly told the music mogul that she didn't want to have sex with other men.The woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane", dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest in September 2024.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

MP says screenings are vital for early detection and encourages women to stay up to date with health checks

Revelation from Gustavo Petro follows shooting of Miguel Uribe Turbay by alleged 15-year-old hitman in BogotaThe security detail for the Colombian presidential candidate who was shot at a campaign rally at the weekend was severely reduced on the day of the attack, the country's president has said.Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by an alleged 15-year-old hitman while campaigning in Bogota on Saturday. He has reportedly shown little response to medical interventions and, according to his wife, needs a miracle" to survive. Continue reading...

Gallup poll found 61% of women identify as pro-choice, while only 41% of men do so, in three years after fall of RoeThree years after the fall of Roe v Wade and months after an election that heavily focused on the fight over abortion rights, men and women have never diverged more on their support for access to the procedure, according to new polling from Gallup released Monday.Sixty-one percent of women now identify as pro-choice", but only 41% of men say the same, Gallup found. The same percentage of women identified as pro-choice" in 2022, just after the decision to overturn Roe was leaked, but at the time, 48% of men also did so. Prior to Roe's collapse, men and women were never more than 10 points apart from one another on the issue, according to decades of Gallup polling. Continue reading...

David Huerta, serving as a community observer during an Ice raid, was detained over allegations of interfering

Rhianan Rudd died of self-inflicted act' after facing charges but coroner says failures in her case were not systemic'A vulnerable teenage girl who died five months after terrorism charges against her were dropped was highly affected" by her arrest but failures in her case were not systemic", a coroner has concluded.Rhianan Rudd died at a children's home aged 16 in May 2022, as the result of a self-inflicted act, said the chief coroner of England and Wales, Alexia Durran.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...

Festival organiser Emily Eavis says other changes include Shangri-La area going full trees and green space'Glastonbury festival is known for its huge crowds, but last year overcrowding at smaller stages led to areas being closed off to prevent crowd crushes and one act was even forced to halt their set.In an attempt to avoid a repeat of last year's safety concerns, the festival has sold a few thousand less tickets" for this month's event, the organiser Emily Eavis has said. Continue reading...

Peter Brooks, 61, doused petrol on floor of Graeme Perks's Nottinghamshire home before stabbing him in abdomenA plastic surgeon who attempted to murder a colleague he hated" has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.Jonathan Peter Brooks, 61, known as Peter, who specialised in treating burn scars, broke into the Nottinghamshire home of Graeme Perks in the middle of the night on 14 January 2021 wearing camouflage gear and doused the floor with petrol with the intention of setting it alight. Continue reading...

Change means about 7.5m pensioners in England and Wales who lost out on payment will have it restored

Shocking statistics' prompt calls for government funding to replace broken and obsolete medical devices

A 44-year-old woman was left shocked, horrified and upset' after procedure, with surgeon blaming manufacturing fault

Passengers including Greta Thunberg to see atrocities committed against women, the elderly and children' says Israel Katz

Man apprehended after freeing himself from restraints and sprinting across runway at Terminal 2An inquiry is under way into how an immigration detainee who was being deported from the UK managed to free himself from restraints and started to run, close to the takeoff paths of planes at Heathrow airport.The man who was captured on film sprinting across the runway at Terminal 2 on Sunday evening was about to be deported to India but managed to break free from the guards holding on to his waist restraint belt while escorting him to the plane. Continue reading...

French education ministry follows Britain and Netherlands in incorporating Netflix hit into school curriculumsFrance has followed the UK and the Netherlands in allowing the Netflix drama Adolescence to be used in secondary schools as part of efforts to teach teenagers about toxic masculinity and online harms.The French education ministry will offer schools five classes based on excerpts from the critically acclaimed mini-series, which has provoked a global debate about the impact on young boys of misogynistic content online and on social media. Continue reading...

Ontario's chief medical officer of health says infections could have been prevented through routine vaccinationSix babies with unvaccinated mothers have been born with congenital measles in the Canadian province of Ontario since the start of the largest outbreak of the disease in the western hemisphere late last year.Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Kieran Moore said the infants, who were infected with measles in the womb, have all recovered. He said the infections could have been prevented through routine vaccination. Continue reading...

Disciplinary hearing shows tribunal judge said Janet Parker appeared to have been subjected to witch-hunt' after argument over adoption leaveA church accountant successfully sued a Catholic diocese after she was subjected to religious discrimination, it has emerged.Janet Parker, 55, fell out with her boss after she asked for leave to care for her newly adopted daughter in 2020. Continue reading...

CEO to leave global advertising group after three decades, with shares at their lowest level in about five years

Ministers tight-lipped over discovery of 233 guns and 40,000 rounds of ammunition that could arm a small army'Jamaicans are seeking answers after officials revealed a massive illegal firearms seizure described by experts as the largest in the country's history, with enough guns and ammunition to arm a small army".More than a week after the police and customs said they had intercepted 233 illegal rifles and handguns and more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition, the government has remained tight-lipped about the details of the find, arguing that revealing more information would hamper a sensitive cross-border investigation into their origin and the identity of those involved. Continue reading...

Rightwinger accused of conspiring against democracy says appearance before supreme court will be worth watching'Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, will finally find himself in the dock this week, accused of masterminding an armed far-right conspiracy to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election.The 70-year-old paratrooper turned populist, who governed from 2019 until 2023, is scheduled to be interrogated by the supreme court as it seeks to untangle what federal police claim was a sprawling three-year plot to vandalize one of the world's largest democracies. Continue reading...