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MAIB report says dinghy that collapsed with 47 onboard in December 2022 was in worse condition than similar vesselsAn investigation into the sinking of a migrant boat in the Channel that claimed at least eight lives in December 2022 has found that the dinghy was wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped" for its hazardous journey and even more poorly constructed than other similar vessels making the crossing.Of those who died, at least four bodies were never recovered and three of the four that were recovered have not yet been formally identified. The body that was identified has been returned to his family. Continue reading...

Over three-quarters of English applicants gain enough points for their favoured coursePrivate schools which could close as a result of the government's plans to impose 20% VAT are already facing big budget shortfalls", Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.She told Sky News:Private schools are businesses that can make choices about how they manage their budgets, the level of fees that they charge, and ultimately, it's about how attractive they are to families in terms of the numbers of students that are sent there.We have seen private schools in recent years whack up their fees year on year, way beyond inflation, and that has priced out lots of people.Overall, 425,680 applicants (all ages, all domiciles) have been accepted into university or college - an increase on 414,940 (+3%) in 2023.In total, 376,470 students (all ages, all domiciles) have been accepted at their first (UCAS firm') choice, a 4% increase on last year. This represents 82% of those holding an offer who received their decision this morning up from 79% in 2023.The overall number of accepted international students stands at 51,170, in line with 51,210 in 2023. However, accepted applicants from China are slightly down compared to last year - 10,950 (-6%).The top three subjects with the largest increase in total placed applicants are engineering and technology (+11% on last year), architecture, building and planning (+9%) and law (+9%).Acceptances for UK students (all ages) to nursing have risen slightly compared to 2023, with 18,450 applicants securing a place (up 1%). This still represents a decline from the peak seen during the pandemic.I'm particularly thrilled to see free school meals students securing a place at university or college in record numbers. I know how important it is to everyone working in education that every student, no matter their background, has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Widening access and participation is not just about numbers; it's about opening up doors and transforming the lives of students through higher education so they can pursue their passions and career aspirations.Ucas is here to help all applicants take their next step, including students who received different results than expected, or those who are looking to change their mind. Continue reading...

Protests reflect anger at 31-year-old's killing, as well as a failure to address the daily struggles faced by many womenAt the stroke of midnight, thousands of women holding flaming torches and blowing conch shells began to march through dark streets across the state of West Bengal.The processions in the early hours of the morning on Thursday 15 August, India's Independence Day, were part of several days of protest against the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor inside a hospital in the state capital, Kolkata, last week. Continue reading...

Kyiv says it has also launched a major drone attack on four Russian airbases and shot down an enemy jetUkraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his country's forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory after their surprise offensive, as Kyiv said it had launched a major" drone attack on four Russian airbases.Zelenskiy said Ukraine's troops had advanced several kilometres in the largest attack on Russia since the second world war. In his nightly address on Wednesday he said Kyiv was achieving its strategic goal in the operation and reiterated his appeal to western partners to allow long-range strikes on targets inside Russia. The bolder the partners' decisions, the less Putin can do," he said. Continue reading...

Kyiv's push into Russia has psychological and political advantages, but it knows Putin cannot let it lie

Four firms including Northern and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 alleged fare dodgersTens of thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare dodging brought by train companies are to be quashed after a court ruling.Four companies including Northern Trains and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 passengers in England and Wales using the single justice procedure (SJP), which allowed fast-track magistrates hearings on fare evasion cases to be held behind closed doors. Continue reading...

There are stark differences between north and south England, private and state schools and in Northern Ireland and Wales

Senior aides see challenges from enemies real and perceived as the ex-president struggles against HarrisDonald Trump has privately expressed faith in his campaign leadership and no personnel changes are currently expected, but senior advisers find themselves in the most vulnerable moment as they struggle to frame effective attacks against Kamala Harris, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.The past month, starting with Joe Biden's withdrawal and his endorsement of Harris to succeed him, which propelled her to draw roughly even in key swing state polls, has easily been the most unstable moment for the Trump campaign since its formal launch in late 2022. Continue reading...

Proportion of top grades is best outside pandemic but results in Wales and Northern Ireland fall compared with last year

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Close associate of Nathaniel Train tells Queensland coroner's court they forwarded emails to NSW police hours before deadly shootings

Petition amassing more than 45,000 signatures repeats falsehoods about breakdancer's selection for Paris 2024, says AOC

Transport minister says Rex customers now have certainty they will either fly or get their money back'

Consumer advocate says result from country's biggest energy retailer, as well as AGL's 189% profit rise, don't pass the pub test'

Councils warn misleading codes may lead drivers to fraudulent websites where personal data is stolenMotorists have been urged not to scan QR codes to pay for their parking after a spate of scams that take advantage of the move to mobile payments.The RAC said drivers should be very vigilant" and pay for their parking with cash, card or via official apps, rather than using a QR code that takes them to a website. Continue reading...

Trial in Orkney to test machine flying out of human controller's line of sight could pave way for home deliveriesAmazon has been given the green light to test-fly drones beyond a human controller's line of sight in the UK, paving the way for using the machines to deliver packages to homes.The online retailer is one of six organisations taking part in a trial led by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), with other projects including the inspection of offshore windfarms, air traffic control, policing and delivering emergency medical supplies. Continue reading...

Results largely driven by strong performance in mobile business and CEO says company is aware of cost-of-living pressures

Exclusive: Company's first European office is major shot in the arm for UK's aspirations to be global tech hubCybersecurity firm Wiz, which last month rejected a $23bn (18bn) takeover bid from Google's parent company, Alphabet, is to open a European headquarters in London - a move that is a major shot in the arm for the UK's aspiration to be a global tech hub.The new office, the company's first in Europe, will be run by co-founder and research and development head, Roy Reznik, who is relocating from Israel to the UK capital to underscore the company's business ambitions in the region. Continue reading...

Jade McCrossen-Nethercott receives apology from UK prosecution service for failings which led to case being closed and defendant acquittedA woman has been awarded 35,000 in compensation from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after her rape case was dropped over claims that she could have had an episode of a rare sleep condition called sexsomnia.Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, 32, contacted police in 2017, when she was 24, after waking up to discover she was half-naked, and with the sense that she had been raped while she slept. Continue reading...

WA senator is suing her former staffer over social media posts she believes damaged her reputation

Independent member for Warringah says Coalition is whipping up a sense of fear' of those fleeing conflict in Gaza

Opposition leader says Richard Shields should fall on his sword' after party fails to nominate key candidates

Latest data reported by the ABS dims chances of a near-term RBA interest rate cut

The event, which was due to go ahead without Jayson Gillham, has now been cancelled due to safety concerns', but may be rescheduled

The three-time Emmy winner has been celebrated for her vivid portrayals of strong, troubled women, including in 10 films directed by her first husband John CassavetesThe acclaimed American actor Gena Rowlands, a three-time Emmy winner and dual Oscar nominee, has died at the age of 94, her son, Nick Cassavetes, told Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday.Rowlands, acclaimed for her vivid portrayals of strong, troubled women, starred in dozens of films during a career that began on stage and television in the 1950s and included award-winning roles in A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria, directed by her first husband, the actor, writer and director John Cassavetes. Continue reading...

Victim, who remains in hospital, and her mother were visiting London when incident occurredThe 11-year-old girl who was stabbed eight times in Leicester Square this week is an Australian national, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Tradeconfirmed late Wednesday night.The girl was visiting London with her mother at the time of the attack. She was hospitalised and required plastic surgery for wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck, a court was told on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Victoria's gaming minister Melissa Horne joins growing push within the party to beef up a proposed partial ban on gambling advertising

Urgent need to recruit more mammographers to enable disease to be detected promptly, says professional bodyWomen are receiving late breast cancer diagnoses and experiencing treatment delays due to a shortage of specialist staff who can deliver breast cancer scans, according to leading radiographers.Specialist scans that are used to detect breast cancer are undertaken by radiographers, also known as mammographers, who specialise in breast imaging. Continue reading...

Devastating' report says there are serious concerns' about London force's management of dangerous offendersThe UK's biggest police force is providing an inadequate or failing service in seven of eight key crime-fighting areas, and there are serious concerns" about its management of dangerous offenders, according to an official inspection.The report on the Metropolitan police was described as devastating" by one Whitehall source and comes after the Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, who took office almost two years ago, vowed sweeping reforms. Continue reading...

Dja Dja Wurrung, Yorta Yorta woman is Australia's first Indigenous breakfast TV host

Wales secretary says Tories should have prepared for workforce cuts resulting from switch to electric arc furnaceUncertainty over the future of Tata Steel in south Wales is already causing job losses in the broader industry, the Welsh secretary has warned, as the government scrambles to reduce the toll of redundancies in Port Talbot.Speaking on Wednesday ahead of announcing the first 13.5m tranche of funding to support laid-off workers, the secretary of state for Wales, Jo Stevens, criticised the former Conservative government for what she said was a failure to prepare for the possibility of thousands of jobs losses at Port Talbot. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Mark Dreyfus cites strong support from states and territories to update human tissue laws last reviewed almost 50 years ago

The longer the incursion lasts, the harder it is for Russia's president to brush it off as a hiccup in a successful warAs Ukraine's assault on Russia's Kursk region continues, Moscow's repeated insistence that everything is under control is wearing thin.Images broadcast on Ukrainian TV on Wednesday, showing a reporter speaking from the town of Sudzha, with no obvious signs of fighting in the background, seemed to quash Russian claims on Tuesday that the uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted", and that the Russian army had regained the initiative. Continue reading...

Rising cost of living and climate crisis have played spoilers to the celebration, which has sold out every year since 2011For more than a decade, tickets to Burning Man have sold out almost immediately - sometimes in a matter of minutes.But this year, less than two weeks before the festival kicks off, tickets are still available - raising questions about the future of the annual desert revelry in the face of the climate crisis and economic instability.This article was amended on 14 August 2024. It previously stated that Burning Man has been held in Nevada's Black Rock desert since 1986. The festival actually first began on a San Francisco beach in 1986. Continue reading...

Two attacks in Clarendon killed eight and injured nine as government looks to focus on gang violenceJamaica's prime minister has issued a 14-day state of emergency in the country's southern Clarendon parish amid fears of further violence after two shootings on Sunday left eight dead and nine wounded.Seven people were killed when gunmen fired indiscriminately at a birthday party in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon; the eighth victim was killed in a second shooting. Continue reading...

Newspaper and campaign group allege Palestinians are sent ahead of troops into buildings or tunnels that need clearingIsraeli soldiers are using Palestinian civilians as human shields in Gaza to enter and clear tunnels and buildings they suspect may have been booby-trapped, a leading Israeli NGO and newspaper have reported.The practice was so widespread across different units fighting in Gaza that it could in effect be considered a protocol", said Nadav Weiman, the executive director of Breaking the Silence, a group founded by Israeli combat veterans to document military abuses. Continue reading...

Islamist group says it won't negotiate just to negotiate', raising fears of Iranian attacks on Israel if no deal is agreedHamas appears unlikely to participate in a new round of talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday, further eroding hopes of an agreement that might stave off expected retaliatory strikes by Iran against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.Most observers already had low expectations of the ceasefire talks, with Israel hardening its position in recent weeks and fears that Hamas, now led by its most hardline faction, would offer few concessions. Continue reading...

Keyboard warrior' Julie Sweeney sentenced to 15 months on busy day for rioting cases in England's courtsA 53-year-old woman who lived a quiet, sheltered" life has been jailed for 15 months for posting a comment on Facebook which said: Blow the mosque up with the adults in it."Julie Sweeney, of Church Lawton, Cheshire, pleaded guilty at Chester crown court to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm. Continue reading...

Civil Service Commission was not told that Ian Corfield had given the party more than 20,000 over 10 yearsA Labour donor was approved for a senior Treasury role without the civil service watchdog being informed of his donation history, it has emerged.Ian Corfield has donated more than 20,000 to Labour politicians in the last 10 years, including 5,000 to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, last summer, according to Electoral Commission data. Continue reading...

Pay-as-you-go simcard seller often filed late returns, had accounts queried by auditors and was embroiled in eight-year VAT battleLycamobile, a telecoms company that has given more than 2m to the Conservative party, has been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs, amid a long-running VAT dispute.The company, founded by businessman Allirajah Subaskaran in 2006, sells pay-as-you-go sim cards that are popular with low-paid workers wanting to make cheap phone calls to family overseas, as well as in the UK. Continue reading...

GMB accuses owner TDR Capital of mismanagement as sales at supermarket fall 6%The GMB union has called on the owner of Asda to take urgent action" to protect jobs amid signs the supermarket is in a fight for survival".On Tuesday data revealed sales at Asda fell 6% in the three months to 4 August, despite continuing grocery price inflation, taking the retailer's share of the UK take-home grocery market to 12.6% - the lowest level in at least 13 years. Continue reading...

Nearly 300 people aged 19 and under were killed by Bahian security forces in 2023, making it Brazil's highest rateActivists have raised the alarm over police violence in the Brazilian state of Bahia, as new figures revealed that more children and adolescents are killed by the region's security forces than anywhere else in the country.Two hundred and eighty-nine people aged 19 and under were killed by police in Bahia last year, up from 242 in 2022, according to a new report by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety. Continue reading...

People may have broken in and contaminated supply pipes at Cologne-Wahn airbase, the defence ministry saysThe German armed forces are investigating the suspected sabotage of one of their military bases amid suspicions that it was broken into and the water supply system contaminated.The defence ministry confirmed on Wednesday that state security was investigating the reported attack after suspicions of attempted or actual entry, as well as sabotage, at the Cologne-Wahn barracks, just outside Cologne. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage herePatrick Butler is the Guardian's social policy editor, and he has this story of social media getting the RSPB into hot water:The RSPB has been criticised by the English charities watchdog over social media posts in which it accused named government ministers of being liars" for watering down environmental protections. Continue reading...

The average mortgage holder is parting with more than a fifth of their pre-tax income, double what they were spending in the 90s

Exclusive: Paul Brereton delegated decision not to pursue investigation so as to avoid any possible perception of a conflict of interest'

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage herePalestinian newborn twins, their mother and grandmother were killed by an Israeli strike on their Gaza apartment as their father picked up their birth certificates.Mohammed Abu Al-Qumsan had just picked up the certificates when he found out the twins had been killed, along with his wife and her mother, by a strike on the building where they were sheltering, according to Reuters.My wife is gone, my two babies and my mother-in-law. I was told it's a tank shell on the apartment they were in, in a house we were displaced to.Today, it was registered in history that the occupation army targets newborn children who are barely four days old, twins along with their mother and grandmother. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine is not forgetting [the] eastern front for a second' as it advances into RussiaUkraine's military has said its forces in the Kursk region shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber.Kristen Michal, the Estonian prime minister, has said we must continue to show our steadfast support to Ukraine and further raise the cost of war for Russia." Continue reading...

In a radical rethink' after its crisis two years ago, the festival returns with world premieres, a new 50,000 prize and a focus on industry Peter Bradshaw's 12 best picks of the festivalThe trailblazing producer Lynda Myles knows a thing of two about film festivals. The first female director of the Edinburgh international film festival (EIFF) betweeen 1973 and 1980, Myles declares herself ecstatic" that the revived programme will take place this month.With so many other festivals to compete with, you have to have specificity," says Myles, who will present a new screening showcase at the EIFF, and it seems to me that being part of the world's biggest arts festival offers that. After a difficult few years it was time for a radical rethink." Continue reading...

All-cash offer dwarfs 2008 takeover of Wrigley by Mars but could face scrutiny from watchdogsMars, the chocolate to pet food group, has struck a $36bn (28bn) deal to buy Kellanova, the maker of Pringles and Pop-Tarts.The all-cash offer, announced on Wednesday, is the biggest ever acquisition for the privately owned Mars, dwarfing its $23bn takeover of the chewing gum maker Wrigley in 2008. Continue reading...