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The film-maker has been accused of acting inappropriately on the set of his self-funded sci-fi epic MegalopolisVideos have emerged of director Francis Ford Coppola trying to kiss female extras on the set of his new film Megalopolis.Variety obtained footage of the film-maker taken by a crew member during a nightclub scene on set last year. The Guardian had originally reported that the 85-year-old was seen as old school" in his behaviour around women while shooting, pulling women to sit on his lap and kissing extras to get them in the mood". Continue reading...

Judith Monarrez says she never stopped looking for her chihuahua after he escaped from the backyard in 2015Judith Monarrez crumpled onto her kitchen floor and wept when the news arrived in an email: Gizmo, her pet dog missing for nine years, had been found alive.Monarrez was 28 and living with her parents in 2015 when Gizmo, then two years old, slipped past a faulty gate in the backyard of their home in Las Vegas. Continue reading...

Hundreds of staff at the fashion chain reportedly told they will lose their jobsTed Baker could disappear from British high streets as the struggling fashion chain plans to shut all its stores within weeks.The business behind the fashion brand's UK shops, No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), entered administration in March. Continue reading...

Draconian' expulsions including of two local councillors follow original candidate's withdrawal at behest of local partyThe Green party has been accused of acting in a draconian and authoritarian way after a number of members were expelled for allegedly trying to support tactical voting to defeat Jeremy Hunt at the general election.At least three members, two of them councillors, have been summarily banned from the party until 2029. One of those expelled said it seemed to go directly against the Green values of internal party democracy and tolerance. Continue reading...

Disgraced actor said he is millions of dollars in debt from legal bills for sexual misconduct allegationsKevin Spacey's $5.6m waterfront condominium in Baltimore has been sold at auction amid the disgraced actor's financial struggles following a slew of sexual misconduct allegations.Last summer, a London jury acquitted Spacey on sexual assault charges stemming from allegations by four men dating back 20 years. That was his second court victory since he saw off a $40m lawsuit in 2022 in New York brought by actor Anthony Rapp, best known for the series Star Trek: Discovery. Continue reading...

There will never be mining' at Northern Territory site, Albanese says as area becomes part of Kakadu national park

Unnamed official says comments should not be interpreted by Hamas that there is a gap between the US and its allyA spokeswoman for No 10 added - regarding Labour dropping the Tories' plan to challenge the ICC - that the Government believes very strongly in the separation of powers and the rule of law domestically and internationally.I think you would note that the courts have already received a number of submissions on either side, so they are well seized of the arguments to make their independent determinations," she said. Continue reading...

Martha Louise is not allowed to use her title commercially after renouncing her royal duties two years agoA letter has claimed that the Norwegian princess Martha Louise was more deeply involved with a gin launched to mark her forthcoming wedding than previous stated, amid growing questions over the use of her name on the bottle.The royal, who will marry the American businessman Durek Verrett in a four-day fjord-side wedding in Geiranger, Norway, next month, is not permitted to use her princess title in commercial contexts. Continue reading...

Calls follow Guardian undercover investigation as chancellor poised to reveal 20bn hole in UK financesRachel Reeves is facing calls to crack down on the super-rich using offshore pension schemes to avoid multimillion pound inheritance and capital gains tax bills, following a Guardian investigation.On Thursday, undercover filming revealed how ultra-wealthy individuals are being advised how to use a loophole in pensions investments to shelter their wealth from Labour's clampdown on large-scale tax dodging. Continue reading...

Disruption will continue all weekend and long diversions are in place as passengers are offered refundsEurostar passengers travelling from London to Paris on Friday were asked to postpone trips if possible as the rail operator cancelled one in four trains over the weekend after arson attacks caused widespread disruption to France's high-speed rail network hours before the start of the Olympics.Most cross-Channel services were leaving St Pancras International station on time but journeys were expected to be prolonged by at least an hour in France. Continue reading...

Labour government says it will not pursue questions on court's jurisdiction over Netanyahu and Gallant

Blaze on Thursday night at warehouse in Elin Pelin near Sofia set off series of dramatic fireballsOne person was killed and another seriously injured when a blaze at a firework factory in Bulgaria set off a series of dramatic explosions on Thursday, local officials and medical staff said.The blasts began at about 6.30pm in the town of Elin Pelin near the capital, Sofia, sending mushroom clouds into the evening sky, some flecked with the reds and whites of exploding fireworks. Continue reading...

Former president's endorsement means US vice-president has won backing of all the party's high-profile figuresBarack Obama has endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president, meaning the vice-president has now won the backing of all the party's politically active high-profile figures for her White House bid.The former president had conspicuously withheld his endorsement in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the campaign, and was initially believed to favour an open nominating contest at next month's Democratic national convention in Chicago. Continue reading...

Union tells inquiry consumer watchdog should investigate and accuses Live Nation and competitor TEG of anti-competitive behaviour

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Delegates expect event to pass only what insiders consider the bare minimum' on recognition motions

More than 30 councils relied on reports during development approval process for 135 sites but EPA says no immediate risks to public health identified

NT government opts not to grant 10-year lease after considering wishes of Indigenous people and federal government advice

Victoria police charge 18-year-old woman and 17-year-old boy after MP's St Kilda office was defaced with slogans including Zionism is fascism'

In today's newsletter: As Paris gears up for the Games, the excitement is palpable, but concern about performance-enhancing drugs threatens the reputation of one of its sports Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.The Olympics is here! Get ready for some truly awe-inspiring displays of athleticism. But there is also a scandal hovering over the Games in Paris that threatens to move focus away from the athletes.Health | Wes Streeting has called England's healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), not fit for purpose" after an interim report found significant failings were hampering its ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices.Budget | Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a 20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for potential tax rises in the autumn budget.Israel-Gaza war | Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has pressed Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on the dire" humanitarian situation in Gaza in talks that she described as frank, adding I will not be silent."Assisted dying | Keir Starmer is under pressure to fulfil a promise to allow a parliamentary vote on legalising assisted dying, as a bill is to be introduced into the House of Lords on Friday.Police | A teenager who was kicked in the face by an armed police officer while lying prone on the ground is traumatised" and receiving hospital treatment after the barbaric" assault, his solicitor has said. Akhmed Yakoob said 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was a victim of police brutality" after footage showed an officer stamping on his head during an arrest at Manchester airport on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Health secretary's comments follow finding that Care Quality Commission struggling to identify performance issues in hospitals and care homesWes Streeting has called England's healthcare watchdog not fit for purpose" after an interim report found significant failings were hampering its ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices.The health and social care secretary promised to grip the crisis" at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) by taking immediate action to increase oversight of the body and giving patients more confidence in their care. Continue reading...

Study predicts overall economic cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke will rise by 61%The cost of England's four biggest killer diseases could rise to 86bn a year by 2050, prompting calls for a crackdown on alcohol, junk food and smoking.The ageing population means the annual cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke combined will go from the 51.9bn recorded in 2018 to 85.6bn in 2050 - a rise of 61%. Continue reading...

Akhmed Yakoob claims Muhammed Fahir, 19, is victim of police brutality after video shows arrest at airportA teenager who was kicked in the face by an armed police officer while lying prone on the ground is traumatised" and receiving hospital treatment after the barbaric" assault, his solicitor has said.Akhmed Yakoob said 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was a victim of police brutality" after footage showed an officer stamping on his head during an arrest at Manchester airport on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Ross Davidson, who was in band between 2017 and 2019 as Ross Wild, also guilty of sexual assault against two womenA sadistic and manipulative" former Spandau Ballet singer has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault.Ross Davidson, 36, was convicted of assaults against three women at Wood Green crown court on Thursday. The former singer, who fronted the band between 2017 and 2019 under the stage name Ross Wild, expressed no emotion when the verdict was read out. Continue reading...

Internal inquiry into decision to drive police car into escaped calf has received 250 video clips of incidentA police decision to ram an escaped cow with a patrol car is being investigated as a criminal and internal misconduct matter.Surrey police were heavily criticised after footage was posted online of a 10-month-old calf being rammed by a police car in the early hours of 15 June after reports of an animal on the loose in Staines-upon-Thames. Continue reading...

Police confirm first case since dogs banned, after Esther Martin, 68, died of injuriesA man has been charged over the death of a woman who was fatally injured by two XL bully dogs, in the first case of its kind since the dogs were banned.Esther Martin, 68, died after being attacked on 3 February at a house in Jaywick, Essex. Continue reading...

Judge lifts threat for the time being' after ex-minister withholds names from inquiry into misconduct claimsJohnny Mercer no longer faces the threat of jail for refusing to cooperate with a public inquiry examining allegations of unlawful killings by the SAS in Afghanistan, after its presiding judge said he would back down for now.The former Conservative MP and minister had repeatedly refused to provide the names of two military sources in confidence to the inquiry judge, Charles Haddon-Cave, and had a final deadline of 4pm on Thursday to comply. Continue reading...

Coastguard reports 4km oil slick as strong winds hamper cleanup efforts after 25 die in the Philippines and Taiwan

Burney, a Wiradjuri woman and the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to federal House of Representatives, has a record of profound firsts', PM says

Lawyers criticise what they consider inconsistencies in the handling of individual foreign nationals' casesThe UK government scheme allowing EU citizens to remain post-Brexit is in danger of being upended, legal experts have warned, after a series of conflicting court rulings over social welfare payments to French and Slovenian citizens and the relative of a Spanish woman living in Britain.In May, one county court judge found against Islington council, which had rescinded a Slovenian software engineer's right to emergency housing after he lost work during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Tony Mack claims party leader cannot keep promises' and went back on pledge to pay back costs

Production at Woodsmith site near Whitby set back to 2030 as firm plans to pause work during overhaul

Carmakers announce disappointing results, and production in UK revealed to have droppedA collapse in profits at the carmakers Nissan and worse than expected results at Stellantis, the owner of Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, have deepened fears of a global downturn in the automotive industry.Shares in Stellantis, which is listed in Milan, plunged on Thursday after it published disappointing earnings, while its French rival Renault also tumbled on the back of the wider concerns despite reporting record profitability. Continue reading...

Former Met chief superintendent Dal Babu says footage of man being kicked in face by officer is totally appalling'Racism played a significant part" in a man being kicked in the face and stamped on by police during an arrest at Manchester airport, according to a former Metropolitan police chief superintendent.Dal Babu, who served for more than 30 years in the Met, described a video of the arrest as shocking and totally appalling". Continue reading...

Former minister becomes third MP to formally join race after James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat threw hats into the ring

Treasury expected not to place order with Royal Mint in coming yearsTreasury officials have for the first time ordered no new coins to be minted for general circulation, putting the future of the 1p and 2p pieces in doubt.The government has not placed an annual order with the Royal Mint and does not expect to order any new 1p and 2p coins in the coming years, the Evening Standard reported. Continue reading...

A tearful Adam Tomison told the court I wanted to do a good job' but agreed it was cruel and inhumane that children had been locked up for up to 23 hours a day

Revealed: Wealthy being pitched offshore products said to shelter fortunes from inheritance tax and capital gains taxThe super-rich are being advised how to use a loophole in pensions investments to shelter their wealth from Labour's clampdown on large-scale tax dodging, the Guardian can reveal.Undercover filming by the Guardian suggests multimillionaire UK residents are being pitched offshore products said to legally protect their fortunes from inheritance tax (IHT) and capital gains tax (CGT). Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: As they try to find Rishi Sunak's successor, the Tories need to decide what they stand for Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It's been 27 years since the Conservatives last had to choose a leader after being kicked out of office. In 1997, the 36-year-old William Hague beat the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke in a race dominated by debates over Europe, and went on to lose the next election by a landslide.Last night, nominations for candidates to succeed Rishi Sunak opened, and the Tories entered a new debate about their future, with the first candidates to declare James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat. The issues at stake are very different this time - and the party starts in an even worse position in the House of Commons, having lost support to the left and the right. The debate leading up to the membership vote closing on 31 October is about who can be the most effective leader of the opposition - but also, at a moment of huge uncertainty, what kind of party the Conservatives should now be.US politics | Joe Biden has addressed Americans for the first time since his historic decision to withdraw from the presidential race, saying that best way to unite our nation" is to pass the torch to a new generation". Biden said he could not allow his personal ambition" to come in the way of saving our democracy". Read David Smith's analysis.Climate crisis | A surge in new oil and gas exploration in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world's wealthiest countries leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments, new data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals.Wales | Eluned Morgan has been confirmed as the new leader of Welsh Labour and is to become the first female first minister of Wales. Lady Morgan was the only candidate to put herself forward to replace Vaughan Gething.US news | Benjamin Netanyahu lauded US support for Israel's war in Gaza but offered few details on ceasefire negotiations as he addressed a raucous joint session of US Congress that was boycotted by dozens of Democratic lawmakers and protested against by thousands outside the US Capitol.Energy | Keir Starmer will promise to build enough offshore wind over the next five years to power 20m homes, by using taxpayer money to develop parts of the seabed owned by the royal family. The prime minister will announce details of the government's energy generation company, known as Great British Energy, during a visit to the north-west on Thursday.Since Brexit they have been an ideological mess, caught between Thatcherite economic liberalism and a desire to appeal to leave voters in the style of the European populist right. In the end they just pissed off everyone, and are no clearer on what their identity should be. Continue reading...

Fifty-three asylum seekers pushed back' into UN-patrolled buffer zone that bisects the southern European country

Keir Starmer has suspended seven of his MPs who rebelled against the whip to scrap the two-child benefit cap. So why won't Labour scrap the controversial limit, and what does this first test of Starmer's leadership tell us about the party's financial position? The Guardian's John Harris is joined by columnist Gaby Hinsliff and former Downing Street chief of staff and Conservative peer Gavin Barwell to discuss the issue. Plus, the Conservative leadership race begins Continue reading...

Rural group argues it's harmful for families to be getting up in the dark' while city dwellers enjoy more outdoor activities after work

Former Liberal staffer retains criminal solicitor Zali Burrows at the 11th hour after previously planning to represent himself in appeal

Former security minister says he would be willing to leave the European convention on human rights in pitch to party's rightTom Tugendhat has said he would be willing to leave the European convention on human rights as he joined the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as the next Conservative leader.The former security minister - who becomes the second Tory MP to announce their candidacy after the former home secretary, James Cleverly - appeared to be pitching to the right to win over party members. Continue reading...

Food Foundation survey finds 14% of households experienced food insecurity in June, with hunger more prevalent in larger familiesFamilies hit by the two-child benefit cap are much more likely to go hungry, skip meals or be unable to afford to eat healthily, according to new data which shows about one in four low-income families with three or more children are suffering food insecurity.The Food Foundation thinktank called on the government to scrap the two-child limit as part of a package of measures that it argued would cut child poverty and reduce hunger. Continue reading...

Police seal off US Capitol in major security operation, using pepper spray on protesters as Israeli prime minister speaks

Study finds 33.3% of squad went to private schools, up nine percentage points from 24% in 2016 teamThe proportion of privately educated athletes in the Team GB squad has increased to a third of all competitors, a study has found.Of the 318 athletes in the 2024 Team GB squad schooled in the UK, 106 or 33.3% were privately educated, up nine percentage points from 24% in the 2016 team that travelled to Rio de Janeiro in 2016, analysis by the Good Schools Guide revealed. Continue reading...

Boat full of people hoping to get to Europe overturns and at least 15 known to have died, UN migration agency saysAt least 15 people have died and more than 150 are missing after a boat full of people hoping to make it to Europe capsized off the coast of Mauritania, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).About 300 people had boarded the long, wooden, fishing vessel in The Gambia, roughly 850 miles (1,350km) to the south, spending seven days at sea before the boat overturned on Monday, the agency said in a statement. Continue reading...

Conductor, artistic director and founder steps down from MCO over deeply regrettable incident' last yearThe conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner has announced he will step down as leader and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras after an allegation he hit a singer.The conductor withdrew from engagements including a BBC Prom after the incident last August and said he was seeking specialist help. Continue reading...