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Trump's talk of land swaps' as a simple transaction belies grim reality of what it would mean for people in ZaporizhzhiaThe city of Zaporizhzhia, an industrial hub in south-east Ukraine, is as good a place as any to grasp the stakes of freezing Russia's invasion of Ukraine along its current frontlines, or of implementing a land swap for peace" deal as envisioned by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.Since Russian troops began rolling into Ukraine in February 2022, Zaporizhzhia, with its broad avenues and Stalin-era apartment blocks, has been a 30-minute drive from the frontline. It has been under near-constant attack from missiles and drones. On Sunday, a Russian guided air bomb hit a bus station, wounding 24 people - just another day of suffering in a city that has known many of them. Continue reading...

Daniel Billings' lawyer tells Parkes local court negotiations continuing, with defence and prosecution teams to meet later in August

Since its launch in January, Prabowo Subianto's signature policy has been marred by mass food poisoning cases affecting over 1,000 peopleMore than 360 people fell ill in the Indonesian town of Sragen in Central Java after consuming school lunches, according to officials, in the largest food poisoning case to hit president Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme to date.Since its launch in January, the free school meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases across the archipelago, affecting over 1,000 people. Continue reading...

Frontman Dave Mustaine says he is writing the thrash metal band's final album and they will embark on a farewell tour in 2026Call it a symphony for dissolution. American thrash metal giants Megadeth have announced they are retiring and that their forthcoming album will be their last. They will also embark on a farewell tour in 2026.There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Megadeth founder and frontman Dave Mustaine shared in a statement on Thursday. Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Racial Justice Centre to file Australian Human Rights Commission complaint against Merivale restaurant Jimmy's Falafel

Sixteen-year-old from Huddersfield held on suspicion of murder and rapeA teenager has been arrested on suspicion of rape and murder after the death of a 13-year-old girl in West Yorkshire, police have said.Officers were called to a flat on Sheepridge Road in Huddersfield on Monday night to reports that a girl was unresponsive. West Yorkshire police said the victim died in hospital and her death was being treated as unexplained" after a postmortem examination. Continue reading...

Exclusive: $1m grant comes after reports of rising Islamophobia and a huge turnout for the Sydney Harbour Bridge march

Exclusive: Krish Kandiah invites Tory shadow minister to help him de-escalate fear and anger' after BBC controversyThe theologian who accused Robert Jenrick of xenophobia on the BBC has invited the shadow justice minister to work with him to ease tensions over migration rather than ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment".Dr Krish Kandiah's comments on Radio 4's Thought for the Day, raising concerns about Jenrick's remarks about the safety of his daughters because of small boat arrivals, caused a row after a complaint from the shadow justice secretary, with the item being retrospectively edited by the BBC. Continue reading...

The fee, which critics had branded a fat tax', would have seen a cemetery charge an extra 20% for a 6ft-wide plot compared to the standard 5ftA council has decided against introducing a premium on wider burial plots in Wolverhampton following condemnation that it was a fat tax".Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall had planned to charge an extra 20% to families whose loved ones need a 6ft-wide plot, as opposed to a standard 5ft grave. Wolverhampton council previously said the higher charge was in response to an increase in obesity levels in the Midlands city, where a third of people are obese, compared with the national average of just over a quarter. Continue reading...

Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he believes E1 plan will bury the idea of a Palestinian state'Israel appears set to give formal planning approval to a highly controversial settlement project for more than 3,400 new homes - which has been frozen for decades - which critics say would split the occupied West Bank in half.Strongly opposed by the international community, the so-called E1 plan would extend the existing Jewish settlement of Ma'ale Adumim towards Jerusalem, further cutting occupied east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and further separating the north and south of the territory. Continue reading...

The US president had put pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to make drugs cheaper for AmericansThe price of the weight loss jab Mounjaro will rise by up to 170% in the UK, its US manufacturer has said, as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on drugmakers to increase their prices for Europeans so that they can make them more affordable for Americans.Eli Lilly has said it will increase the price of the drug from September, with a month's supply of the highest dose rising from 122 to 330. Continue reading...

Some of first group of small boat arrivals to be detained say they are terrified of being sent back to their home countriesAsylum seekers locked in detention centres as part of Labour's one in, one out" deal have said they had not heard of the scheme before arriving in the UK on small boats and were terrified of being returned to their home countries.The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has said the plan to send one small boat arrival back to France in exchange for accepting another to live in the UK would deter the thousands from crossing the Channel. Continue reading...

Monarch will pay tribute to military personnel and reflect on horrors experienced in Asia-Pacific regionKing Charles will mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day on Friday with a message paying tribute to the service and sacrifice of military personnel in the second world war who fought and died in the Pacific and far east, saying they will never be forgotten.In an address, Charles will reflect on the horrors experienced by prisoners of war and civilians of occupied lands in the region whose suffering reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life". Continue reading...

Critics say Vectus Global's presence - including snipers - will undermine Haiti's police and UN security forceHundreds of combatants from the US, Europe and El Salvador will reportedly be deployed to Haiti in the coming weeks to battle the country's gangs as part of a mission led by the controversial Blackwater founder and Donald Trump backer Erik Prince.According to Reuters, Prince's new security firm, Vectus Global - which has been operating in the violence-ravaged Caribbean country since March - is preparing to intensify its activities there to help authorities win key roads and territories back from heavily armed criminal groups. Continue reading...

NFU welcomes fresh evidence from tax researchers that planned changes may not target wealthiest landownersThe National Farmers' Union (NFU) has called for a meeting with Rachel Reeves to discuss changes to Labour's inheritance tax reforms, after fresh evidence from tax experts that the planned changes may not achieve their stated goal of removing the incentive for rich people to shelter their wealth from tax by buying up farmland.The chancellor's plan, which comes into force next April, largely protects family farms whilst limiting claims by the wealthiest estates", according to a new report by researchers at the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), which has proposed amendments to the inheritance tax changes. Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis announced move as judge to decide whether to close Alligator Alcatraz' facility in EvergladesFlorida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said on Thursday that the state will open a second immigration jail, as a federal judge weighs whether to close the controversial existing facility in the Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz".DeSantis painted the forthcoming detention center at the shuttered Baker correctional institution in Sanderson as supplementary to the remote tented camp. He also said the facility would hold up to 1,300 undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation. Continue reading...

Gratzloasen - low-cost, urban parklets' built by volunteers - are on the rise in Vienna as sceptics are being won over by the splash of welcome greenery and boost to community spiritsIn a quiet corner of Vienna's well-to-do 18th district, Jana is explaining how her assembly of wooden decking and planters is bringing a bit of greenery to the area. There's not a single tree on this whole street - it's just parking spaces on both sides."This is a gratzloase, or neighbourhood oasis - a miniature park tucked into the side of the road. With the blessing of the city hall, more than 100 of them have sprung up across Vienna. The scheme has been growing since 2015, and its proponents say it's struck a rare balance for urban projects: cheap, community-driven and appreciated by local people. Continue reading...

US officials did not say who had the 16th-century page that was missing from Mexico's archives for decadesNearly five centuries after Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes signed it and decades after someone swiped it from national archives, a priceless manuscript page has been returned by the FBI to Mexico.The document contains a detailed accounting of the logistics related to Cortes's journey to what eventually became New Spain - a territory that stretched from Central America to modern-day Washington state. Continue reading...

US president indicates in interview that any deal would not be made without Zelenskyy ahead of Friday's meeting in Alaskain BerlinGerman chancellor Friedrich Merz's stab at heading up Ukraine diplomacy has received measured praise at home, with a perception that Donald Trump's declarations after Wednesday's video conference sounded slightly less alarming to European ears than before. Continue reading...

As gap between strongest and weakest performing areas in England grows, experts say more needs to be done about structural inequalitiesOne of the messages the education secretary was keen to get across during her media round on A-level results was the government's commitment to tackling the yawning inequalities" in educational attainment in England.Bridget Phillipson, a Sunderland MP who grew up in the north-east, is all too well aware of educational disadvantage and how some regions are worse affected than others. In the run-up to results day, she has made a point of drawing attention to poor exam outcomes for students from white working-class backgrounds. Continue reading...

Inquest told Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, received little, if any, therapeutic care' at privately run Huntercombe hospitalShe was loving, sporty and bright. At the start of Ruth Szymankiewicz's inquest her parents, Kate and Mark, a GP and a surgeon, described her passion for life, for adventure, for justice.Ruth was always thinking about making the world a better place," they said in a pen portrait of the teenager. She had big ideas."In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and 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, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.orgFor help with eating disorders, in the UK Beat can be contacted on 0808-801-0677. In the US, help is available at nationaleatingdisorders.org or by calling ANAD's eating disorders hotline at 800-375-7767. In Australia, the Butterfly Foundation is at 1800 33 4673. Other international helplines can be found at Eating Disorder Hope Continue reading...

Israel's far-right finance minister claims Netanyahu and Trump have agreed to the plan although there has been no confirmation from either leaderThe health ministry in Gaza has just issued a statement, saying four more people have died from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.This brings the total to 239 since the start of the war, including 106 children, according to the health ministry. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says leaders discussed how to make peace truly durable if US succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings'Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has vowed to tackle the yawning inequalities" in educational attainment.Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, she said:Alongside the post-16 white paper that we'll be publishing later on this year, I will also bring a big focus through our schools white paper on how we tackle these thorny generational challenges where white working-class kids across our country don't get the start that they deserve.Now the school system is an important part of how we respond to that, but I would say alongside it so much of this develops and opens up in the early years.

Suit filed in Louisiana says agency didn't give parents choice as to whether children should be deported with themA lawsuit filed in Louisiana on behalf of two mothers and their four minor children, including one with cancer, claims the two families were unlawfully denied due process and deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to Honduras in April 2025.The lawsuit, which names attorney general Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and various Ice officials as defendants, alleges Ice violated its own policies, and multiple federal laws, when officers secretly detained the families, denied access to counsel and swiftly deported them to Honduras, ignoring legal filings. Continue reading...

Jury finds failings of worker before Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, took own life amount to gross negligence manslaughter

Ruling upheld that there was insufficient evidence of copyright infringement on song that is YouTube's most viewed videoSouth Korea's supreme court has rejected a US composer's allegation that the producers of the catchy children's song Baby Shark plagiarised his work, ending a six-year-long legal battle.The court upheld two lower court verdicts in favour of Pinkfong, the South Korean company behind the tune with the famous doo doo doo doo doo doo" refrain. Continue reading...

Council says measure at Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall is in response to increase in obesity levels in cityResidents of Wolverhampton have criticised what is being called a fat tax" on burial plots after a city cemetery imposed a premium on wider graves.Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall will charge an extra 20% to families whose loved ones need a 6ft-wide plot, as opposed to a standard 5ft grave. Continue reading...

The shadow treasurer will liken the gathering to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and urge government to reject a number of reform proposals

Lifesaving goods for starved people in Gaza blocked by vague rules on anti-Israeli activity, say humanitarian bodies

Perhaps not coincidentally, the timing of tariff discussions was closely followed by the transfer of wanted criminalsMexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that the transfer of 26 alleged cartel members to the United States was part of any kind of deal with Washington and was instead about her country's own security priorities.This week's expulsion marked the second time Mexico had sent top criminals to the US this year: in February, Mexican authorities handed over 29 cartel members, including druglord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was responsible for the murder of a DEA agent in 1985. The latest transfers took place after US authorities vowed that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases. Continue reading...

Former Fox and Friends host's ultra-conservative Christian nationalism causing frustration' within ranks, say expertsWhile secretary of defense Pete Hegseth's links to an extremist church and crusader tattoos caused a stir during his confirmation hearings, the former Fox & Friends host is now openly bringing his ultra-conservative brand of christianity to the Pentagon.Veterans tell the Guardian that Hegseth's religiosity - rubbing off in new recruitment ads and official US Department of Defense social media activities - is dividing the ranks and doing untold damage to the future of the US military. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese says Australians loved his wit and insight' while actor Rachel Griffiths remembers a servant to creativity'

Professional body says firefighters pushed to brink' by climate crisis-fuelled blazes, as wildfire in North Yorkshire continues to burnUK firefighters have warned that 2025 is on track to beat the national record for wildfires, with frontline staff pushed to their limits".On Wednesday, a major incident was declared in the North York Moors national park, with 20 fire engines deployed to tackle at least 5 sq km of moorland which has been burning since Monday. Continue reading...

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah among those to boycott Bendigo writers festival, arguing she cannot appear as a Palestinian' due to speaker code

Exclusive: Michael Weston King, grandfather of Bebe King, warns government against kowtowing to the likes of Farage'The family of Bebe King, one of the three girls killed in the Southport attack last year, have urged ministers to reconsider their support for disclosing the ethnicity of serious crime suspects, saying this information is completely irrelevant" and that the propensity to commit crime happens in any ethnicity, nationality or race".Bebe was six when she was murdered by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a Welsh-born black Briton from a Christian family who had lived in the local area for a number of years. Continue reading...

Text messages from Sebastian Robinson's phone were read out in Darwin's supreme court, detailing regular exchanges about the alleged supply of cocaine

Of more than 1.1m entries, 28.2% gained A or A* and 9.4% gained A*, though regional variations remain

Documents filed included references to nonexistent case citations and inaccurate quotes from a parliamentary speech, judge says

All the day's news as it unfolded

Hamas account claims quotes attributed to co-founder Hassan Yousef unlikely to be true given he's been in jail since October 2023

Human Rights Watch also finds that Iran abused survivors of June attack, which killed 80 peopleIsraeli airstrikes on Tehran's Evin prison in June killed scores of detainees, visitors and staff in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called an apparent war crime". Iranian authorities have since subjected survivors to abuse, enforced disappearances and inhumane detention conditions, the rights group said on Wednesday.HRW's investigation, based on satellite imagery, videos and witness accounts, found the 23 June Israeli airstrikes destroyed visitation halls, prison wards, the central kitchen, the medical clinic and administrative offices. No evident military targets were identified in the facility, which held more than 1,500 prisoners at the time, many of whom had been jailed for peaceful activism. Continue reading...

Head of NSW police child sex abuse squad also advises parents to report concerns directly to police - not their childcare centre

In today's newsletter: Doctors are sounding the alarm over a surge in cancers and irreversible skin damage linked to bleaching creams, as colourism continues to shape beauty ideals from Africa to AsiaGood morning. The slogan black is beautiful" rang out from civil rights marches in the US and UK during the 1960s and echoed through liberation struggles across the global south. It became a rallying cry against racist beauty standards that had long cast Black skin, facial features and hair as undesirable.These movements urged pride in what had been denigrated for centuries, and their message was not limited to people of African or Caribbean heritage. Calls to embrace natural beauty resonated across Asia and much of the global south, directly challenging the colonial belief that lighter skin conferred greater worth.Ukraine | Donald Trump told European leaders on Wednesday he would be seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine at his summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday and gave reassurances that he would not make any territorial concessions without Kyiv's full involvement.UK news | David Lammy has referred himself to the environment watchdog after going fishing with JD Vance without the required licence during the US vice-president's trip to the UK.Immigration | At least 20 people have died after a boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, a United Nations agency and local media reported on Wednesday.UK politics | Keir Starmer is to formally revive Northern Powerhouse Rail this autumn with an announcement expected before the Labour conference.Palestine | The United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied territories has warned that moves to recognise a Palestinian state should not distract member states from stopping mass death and starvation in Gaza. Continue reading...

The international cinema expert was beloved for his film reviews, particularly on television with Margaret Pomeranz

Monthly report from surveyors' body sees firmly negative trend' that is expected to push up rental pricesThe flow of new rental properties coming on to the market has fallen at the fastest rate since the first Covid lockdown five years ago, according to research by Britain's property surveyors.Although the demand for properties is steady, there are fewer new rentals from landlords coming available, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) found. Continue reading...

Despite huge numbers of casualties, Russian leader believes he is slowly winning war - so he can afford to string talks outFor Ukraine, the break in the frontline is unfortunately timed. Lightly armed Russian saboteur groups - three on one count - cut though Ukrainian positions in the Donbas countryside east of the key junction at Dobropillia. Though one group has been eliminated, as of Tuesday two were thought to remain at large - and although their numbers are small for now, perhaps 20 to 30, the breach is significant.At the beginning of the year it was safe to visit Dobropillia, which had become a bustling market centre busy with soldiers and locals, nearly 15 miles north of the frontline in Pokrovsk. But since then the town, where once busy supply roads from Pokrovsk to Kramatorsk split, has come under sustained attack with glide bombs, while FPV (first person view) drones strike targets on the move. Continue reading...

National Army Museum's Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain's coloniesThe forgotten story of African and Indian troops who fought in south Asia against Japanese forces during the second world war and who have largely been omitted from the official history is to be brought to life in a London exhibition.The National Army Museum's Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies show includes rare items from Indian and African soldiers who toiled in some of the harshest conditions seen anywhere during the conflict. Continue reading...

Not just boiled or steamed desserts in danger, charity finds, households also rarely make fruit pies and crumblesAt the end of the 17th century a French travel writer who crossed the Channel was clearly impressed by the sweet, comforting treats offered to him, declaring with relish: Ah! What an excellent thing is an English pudding!"More than three centuries on, English Heritage has sounded the alarm that the good old British pudding is facing extinction. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Parliamentary Budget Office analysis shows any loss of revenue from betting would be offset by lower government spending

Environmental groups had lodged a reconsideration request over a 2012 decision to allow for the expansion of salmon farming