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Coalition was previously fiercely critical of Labor's misinformation legislation, having campaigned to bin the bill'

Young men are forced to take part in conscript lottery, but the rich often avoid serving in armyEvery April in Thailand young men take part in a lottery to determine whether they will be forced to do military service. Pull out a red card and you are drafted for up to two years. A black card means you are exempt.When it was Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal's turn to draw a card this month, he refused, making a rare protest as a conscientious objector. If prosecuted, it is believed he could become the first person in Thailand to be imprisoned for avoiding the draft through civil disobedience. The offence carries a maximum sentence of three years. Continue reading...

Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock say they would split official duties and make joint decisions if elected to the seat of Higgins

Defence minister says possibility of a collision between the two helicopters is being analysedOne person was dead and seven missing after two Japanese military helicopters crashed after possibly colliding while out to sea, officials said.A spokesperson for Japan's self-defence force said the crash took place late on Saturday and one person was recovered and later confirmed dead. Continue reading...

Columbia and Barnard chapters of nationwide group issue statement claiming flagrant disregard of shared governance'The Columbia and Barnard chapters of the American Association of University Professors have issued a joint statement condemning Columbia president Minouche Shafik's crackdowns on student-led pro-Palestinian protests.In the statement released on Friday, the chapters said: We are shocked at her failure to mount any defense of the free inquiry central to the educational mission of a university in a democratic society and at her willingness to appease legislators seeking to interfere in university affairs." Continue reading...

Labour leader accuses Conservatives of having denigrated some of our proudest national institutions' and stoking divisionsThe Conservatives have lost any right" to call themselves a patriotic party, Sir Keir Starmer has said.Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the Labour leader said the Tories have denigrated some of our proudest national institutions" and he accused the party of stoking divisions that weaken our nation" if it means it strengthens their grip on power". Continue reading...

Turkish president says recent events between Iran and Israel should not allow Israel to gain ground' in GazaTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel's war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.Erdoan has failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the region, with the Hamas-run Palestinian territory bracing for a new Israeli offensive and a reported Israeli attack on Iran. Continue reading...

Despite having Australia's highest rates of domestic violence, particularly against Indigenous women, the NT only receives about 1% of federal funding, senators hear

Statement comes after Met police apologised for calling antisemitism campaigner openly Jewish'Being Jewish should never be seen as provocative", the government has said after a row over the policing of a pro-Palestine march.In a video released by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), the charity's chief executive, Gideon Falter, who was wearing a kippah skull cap, was told by a Met officer at a pro-Palestine march last Saturday: You are quite openly Jewish, this is a pro-Palestinian march. I'm not accusing you of anything but I'm worried about the reaction to your presence." Continue reading...

Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossingFighting raged at Myanmar's eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility. Continue reading...

Queens Park Ladies under-12s finished top of division three of the Bournemouth Youth Football League with 18 wins, four draws and no defeatsA girls' football team has won a boys' league after going unbeaten all season, earning them the invincibles" title.Queens Park Ladies under-12s finished top of division three of the Bournemouth Youth Football League with 18 wins, four draws and no defeats. Continue reading...

Alarm grows over possible pension cuts as research suggests Jeremy Hunt tax cut announcement was blunder'Labour is to wage a new campaign to win over Tory-supporting pensioners in an attempt to neutralise one of the government's last remaining electoral strengths, amid evidence the Conservatives are now performing as badly among the age group as they did under Liz Truss's leadership.With less than a fortnight to go until local elections in England, which some Tories fear could trigger an attempt to topple Rishi Sunak, the Observer understands that Keir Starmer's top officials are reorienting their campaign after detecting alarm among pensioners over the impact a Conservative tax-cutting pledge could have on pensions and the NHS. Continue reading...

Biden administration to rethink counter-terrorism strategy after breakdown of pact allowing US forces on soil to fight jihadistsThe US will withdraw more than 1,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration to rethink its counter-terrorism strategy and amounts to a strategic victory for Russia.The decision comes a month after the west African country's ruling military junta revoked a security pact with Washington that had allowed American forces on its soil to help fight jihadist terrorism. Continue reading...

Prize for best national participation goes to Archie Moore, who becomes first Australian artist to win itThe artist Archie Moore has won the prestigious Golden Lion for best national participation at the 2024 Venice Biennale - the first time an Australian artwork has won the prize.With this year's theme of Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere," Moore won the award for his artwork, kith and kin, at the Australia Pavilion. The work, which has involved the artist mapping a sprawling genealogy in chalk, concerns 65,000 years of Indigenous Australian history and nonlinear concepts of time and place. Below the vast family tree covering the dark walls and ceiling stands a white table covered in records of First Nations deaths, including those in police and prison custody. Continue reading...

The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,' the US military's Central Command saidPaul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Friday's events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.You can take a look at it here: Continue reading...

Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasionThe death toll from Israel's war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah.The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has dimmed, and global attention has shifted to the dangerous exchange of missile and drone strikes between Iran and Israel. Continue reading...

The IDF is embroiled in simultaneous conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran and in the West Bank - but hadn't reckoned on the social and political divisions this would causeYoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister, described the conflict Israel was engaged in as a multi-front war" earlier this month.Israeli forces were fighting Hamas inside Gaza and engaged in daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon. A low-level conflict, mainly consisting of airstrikes, was continuing with Iranian-backed forces in Syria. Israel had also been targeted - albeit ineffectively - by drones fired by the Houthis in Yemen. Continue reading...

Infighting, suspensions and bizarre allegations have dogged efforts to restore order as the party prepares for May's byelectionsLess than two weeks before local elections that some senior Tories fear could unleash another party meltdown and an attempted putsch against Rishi Sunak's leadership, Downing Street had hoped that Friday's prime ministerial speech on the weighty issue of welfare reform might finally begin to restore the party's reputation for competent governance.It was a potent sign of Sunak's struggles in keeping his party on track that, soon after his speech had concluded, some of his MPs found themselves discussing whether or not one of their colleagues had deliberately intoxicated a friend's dog. How can somebody possibly get a dog pissed?" wondered one. Bizarre." Continue reading...

Ken Skates says local communities will decide which limits are rescinded after 500,000 people sign petition against themWales's transport minister has said the government will correct" its guidance on the introduction of 20mph speed limits in built-up areas.The announcement comes after half a million people signed a petition against the measure. Continue reading...

Manager of Lower Red Lion in St Albans says people around the world have sent supportive messagesThe landlord of a pub that went viral over its sign advertising the venue as dog-friendly, child-free" has stood by its policy and said he has received messages of support from the local community and internationally.David Worcester, who runs the Lower Red Lion in St Albans, Hertfordshire, said the sign had been outside the pub for years - but only garnered strong reaction online after a user tweeted a picture of the chalkboard with the comment found my new local". Continue reading...

Possible move in autumn statement come as experts sound alarm about dire state of UK public servicesJeremy Hunt is reportedly considering stamp duty and national insurance cuts before the next general election.The chancellor has previously hinted there could be another fiscal event" before voters go to the polls in an attempt to boost the Conservatives' tax-cutting credentials. Continue reading...

Mitcham residents say the Burn Bullock had been disgracefully neglected' prior to the blazeA heritage-listed pub has been damaged in a blaze that began on Friday night.Three floors of the Grade II-listed Burn Bullock in Mitcham, south-west London were damaged in the fire, which also destroyed the building's roof, the London fire brigade said. Twelve fire engines and about 80 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire. Continue reading...

Attorney general weighing up whether to refer sentences of Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter to appeal courtThe attorney general is considering whether to refer the sentences of two men convicted of murdering a footballer on a nightclub dancefloor to the court of appeal for reconsideration.Remy Gordon, 23, and Kami Carpenter, 22, were jailed for life with a minimum of 26 and 25 years respectively for fatally stabbing the former Birmingham City academy player Cody Fisher on Boxing Day 2022. Continue reading...

Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley. A polarized and very public controversy has followedDuring a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his house's backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of minutes, but has led to a fierce debate about the limits of free speech, drew death threats to those involved, and created a media firestorm," as the dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, has put it.Some short and chaotic viral videos illustrate part of what happened. One of them shows the woman, Malak Afaneh, as she gives a Ramadan greeting; she is accompanied by a small group of other student protesters. As Afaneh begins reading a speech about the Israel-Gaza war, Chemerinsky and his wife, the law professor Catherine Fisk, quickly cut Afaneh off. Continue reading...

The pseudoscientific term, made notorious by George Floyd's murder in the US, will no longer be used by the police watchdogThe police watchdog for England and Wales has removed a controversial medical term from its incident forms after claims it plays into racist stereotypes and detracts attention from police brutality.Until now, police forces referring a death or serious incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have been given the option to tick excited delirium" in a list of relevant factors. The term has historically been used to describe people who are agitated or acting bizarrely, usually because of mental illness, drug use or both. Symptoms are said to include insensitivity to pain, aggression, increased strength and elevated heart rate. Continue reading...

Chain changes That's why mums go to Iceland' line to reflect fact other people also do grocery shoppingIceland has dropped the outdated That's why mums go to Iceland" slogan to reflect the fact that other people also do grocery shopping.The frozen foods retailer has tweaked its strapline to the more neutral That's why we go to Iceland" in an advertising push with the TV personality Josie Gibson as its new ambassador. Continue reading...

Green members demand meeting after Scottish government abandons pledge to cut emissions 75% by 2030Scottish Greens are to hold a vote to determine the future of the party's power-sharing agreement with the Scottish National party, after the government abandoned its pledge to cut carbon emissions 75% by 2030.Members will be able to vote on whether their party should continue to cooperate with the SNP after the announcement on Thursday that the Scottish government was scrapping its key climate pledge. Continue reading...

In her first statement since a judge dismissed Lehrmann's defamation action, Higgins also takes swipe at Seven's Spotlight program

Party hopes smaller content creators with loyal following online will attract voters missed through TV and radioLabour has appointed a dedicated employee to work with influencers and seed positive messages about Keir Starmer's party on TikTok and Instagram, as the UK's political parties prepare to target microinfluencers" during the general election campaign.During previous British elections, political parties often asked big-name celebrities to send a supportive tweet or attempted to win over YouTubers with millions of followers. But this election, the focus is shifting from a top-down approach towards winning over more authentic" influencers with smaller but loyal followings. Continue reading...

Younger women and men are discovering the former fashion faux pas is a great alternative to lugging heavy bagsYou might associate shopping trolleys with older people toiling to get home with their groceries.But now they are being embraced by shoppers of all ages thanks to a fashion makeover that chimes with the current vogue for nanna glamour". Continue reading...

St David's weekday services hope to draw in commuters and others with work or family pressuresThe prospect of sitting on a hard pew enduring a drawn-out service with, perhaps, a meandering sermon at its heart, puts off many would-be church-goers.But a Welsh church is determined to draw in worshippers who feel they don't have the time or endurance by staging punchy micro services". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former head of policy at illegal migration taskforce details inhumane conversations'A senior civil servant has said Cabinet Office officials making policy on small boats referred to bloody migrants" and were expected to leave their humanity at the door".Rowaa Ahmar withdrew a tribunal claim alleging unrelenting and systemic" racism in the department on Wednesday but said she stands by the substance of it. Continue reading...

More than 11,000 people told to leave their homes after Mount Ruang erupted at least three times since Friday afternoonMore than 2,100 people living near an erupting volcano on Indonesia's Sulawesi island were evacuated on Friday due to the dangers of ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami.Indonesia's volcanology centre recorded at least three eruptions since Friday afternoon, with the maximum height of the eruption column reaching 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Continue reading...

Full results are expected in coming days to determine whether Manasseh Sogavare's Our party can form the next governmentSolomon Islands' incumbent prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has retained his parliamentary seat, results showed on Saturday, but it will be days before vote counting determines whether his Our party can form the next government.Wednesday's national election was the first since Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022, drawing the Pacific island country closer to Beijing. The move concerned the US and Australia because of the potential impact on regional security. Continue reading...

Police attempted to stop the vehicle but a short time later it hit the bus on the Mitchell Highway

Company says it complied with directive over posts about stabbing of Sydney bishop but will challenge unlawful and dangerous approach' in court

Officials report casualties with some citing air strike on former anti-Isis unit known as Hashed al-Shaabi, which is now part of Iraq's regular militaryAn explosion has hit an Iraqi military base housing pro-Iranian paramilitaries, according to security sources.The explosion on Friday night was at the Calso base, where former pro-Iranian paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi - now integrated into the regular army - is stationed, an interior ministry source and a military official told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...

Man charged over alleged involvement in incidents outside Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley

Actor and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger dismantle 1950 Zimmerman house designed by architect Craig EllwoodChris Pratt has drawn ire from architecture aficionados after news broke that the actor and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, had razed a historic, mid-century modern home to make way for a sprawling 15,000-sq-ft mansion.Last year, the couple purchased the 1950 Zimmerman house, designed by the architect Craig Ellwood, in Los Angeles's Brentwood neighborhood for $12.5m. The residence, with landscaping by Garrett Eckbo - who has been described as the pioneer of modern landscaping - had previously been featured in Progressive Architecture magazine. Continue reading...

Protesters into seventh day of hunger strike in support of Palestinians and in effort to demand university divestmentA group of students at Yale University were on Friday into the seventh day of a hunger strike in support of Palestinians in Gaza and in a protest to pressure the university to divest from any weapons manufacturing companies potentially supplying the Israeli military.The group titles itself Yale Hunger Strikers for Palestine and one protester, the graduate student Miguel Monteiro, described losing weight and feeling dizzy, while attempting to put the group's efforts into a wider perspective. Continue reading...

Police officer had stopped Gideon Falter from walking near pro-Palestinian march while wearing kippah skull capThe Metropolitan police has apologised after an officer used the term openly Jewish" to an antisemitism campaigner who was threatened with arrest near a pro-Palestine march.Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was wearing a kippah skull cap when he was stopped from crossing the road near the demonstration in the Aldwych area of London last Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Labour also turns down European Commission's proposal, which would have allowed young Britons to live, study and work in EURishi Sunak has rejected an EU offer to strike a post-Brexit deal to allow young Britons to live, study or work in the bloc for up to four years.The prime minister declined the European Commission's surprise proposal of a youth mobility scheme for people aged between 18 and 30 on Friday, after Labour knocked back the suggestion on Thursday night, while noting that it would seek to improve the UK's working relationship with the EU within our red lines". Continue reading...

International moves target two high-profile individuals with connections to senior figures in far-right politicsThe latest US and EU sanctions against individuals implicated in pro-settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories represent a significant escalation in international moves against key far-right extremists in Israel.While previous sanctions announcements have focused on individual settlers implicated in violence - often little known outside Israel - the latest moves mark the targeting of two far more high-profile individuals with connections to senior figures in far-right politics in Israel, including national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Continue reading...

Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region's futureIran's missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel's riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in a moment that ultimately led to the first world war, these shots were heard around the world, even if few can agree conclusively on what they portend.By one de minimis account, Tehran was merely sending a performative warning shot with its attack last Saturday, almost taking its ballistic missiles out for a weekend test drive. The maximalist version is that this was a state-on-state assault designed to change the rules of the Middle East. By swarming Israel with so many projectiles, such an assessment goes, Iran was prepared to risk turning Israel into a mini-Dresden of 1945 and was only thwarted by Israeli strategic defences and, crucially, extraordinary cooperation between the US, Israel and Sunni Gulf allies. Continue reading...

Paolo Barone found guilty of voyeurism after taking photos of sleeping woman on train to St Albans in 2022A Thameslink train driver who took photos up a woman's skirt while she was asleep on a train has avoided jail, despite being found guilty of voyeurism.The driver, Paolo Barone, was on his way home from a shift in September 2022 when he saw that the woman, 51, had fallen asleep on a train travelling from London Blackfriars to St Albans in Hertfordshire. Continue reading...

Tit-for-tat attacks have breached taboo of direct strikes on each other's territory but Tehran has no immediate' plans to retaliate

Charities say high rates of people signed off work are caused by crumbling public services after years of underinvestmentRishi Sunak has been accused of making mental ill health another front in the culture wars", as critics warned his plan to curb benefits for some with anxiety and depression was an assault on disabled people.In a speech on welfare, the prime minister said he wanted to explore withdrawing a major cash benefit claimed by people living with mental health problems and replacing it with treatment.Shifting responsibility for issuing fit notes, formerly known as sicknotes, away from GPs to other work and health professionals" in order to encourage more people to return to work.Confirming plans to legislate in the next parliament" to close benefit claims for anyone who has been claiming for 12 months but is not complying with conditions on accepting available work.Asking more people on universal credit working part-time to look for more work by increasing the earnings threshold from 743 a month to 892 a month, so people paid below this amount have to seek extra hours.Confirming plans to tighten the work capability assessment to require more people with less severe conditions" to seek some form of employment. Continue reading...

Former Tory chair turned political biographer and publisher is behind books that have put former PM and Labour's deputy in the spotlightsIf this week's tetchy exchanges between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak at prime minister's questions proved one thing, it was the ability of the veteran businessman, donor and publisher Michael Ashcroft to set the political agenda.While Starmer revelled in the publication of 10 Years to Save the West, which was written by the former prime minister Liz Truss and published this week by Ashcroft's Biteback Publishing, Sunak wanted to focus on another Biteback book - Ashcroft's own Red Queen?, a biography of Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner. Continue reading...

Far-right group Lehava and several individuals accused of violence targeted in dual announcements

Gabriel Marinoaica, 20, dragged victim, who could not swim, out of her depth and attacked herA man who raped a 15-year-old girl who could not swim after taking her out of her depth in the sea off Bournemouth beach has been sentenced to six and a half years' detention.Gabriel Marinoaica, who was 18 at the time, grabbed the girl as she played a game of catch with her friends and dragged her off the crowded beach into a water. Continue reading...