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Police issue statement a day after cab driver told officers he thought a bullet had shattered his vehicle's windowThe Metropolitan police believe a mechanical failure, rather than a gunshot, shattered the window of a taxi carrying the Private Eye editor, Ian Hislop.On Tuesday morning police were called after a black-cab driver told detectives he had come to a standstill in traffic in Soho, central London, just after 10am. He heard what he believed was a bullet hitting and shattering his window. Continue reading...

One exercise in History of Australia, a student workbook and teaching manual, asks pupils to discuss how Aboriginal people were blessed' by the British coming

Premier promises to create energy price guarantee' if his party retains government at state election

Annual growth is at multi-year lows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, suggesting the stretch of rent rises may have peaked, Domain says

Caroline Sharpen says there's no precedent in the world' for a concert hall having to deal with 23,000-seat stadium just 170 metres from its stage

Adam Bandt to announce $54bn policy for at least six clinics in every electorate paid for by Robin Hood' tax reform

Community Security Trust says the number of antisemitic incidents has tripledBritish Jews are adjusting to a new reality" of heightened fear and high levels of antisemitism as the war in the Middle East escalates, campaigners have said.The warning comes as a data shows more than 5,500 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the year between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2024. Continue reading...

Seventy also reported injured as schools, offices and financial markets shut and people are urged to stay at homeOne person has been killed, two are missing and 70 injured in bad weather from a typhoon approaching Taiwan, which grounded flights and closed all schools, offices and financial markets for Wednesday and Thursday.Typhoon Krathon reached super typhoon status in recent days but movement stalled overnight and its intensity has weakened as it moves slowly towards Taiwan's south-west. Authorities warned the threat of strong winds and storm surges remained for coastal and low-lying communities on the densely-populated west coast, and the mountainous areas remained at high risk of landslides and torrential rain. Continue reading...

Book claiming to tell story of abusive relationship was denounced by their children as fabricatedAmazon confirmed on Tuesday the removal of a memoir from its site that purports to tell the story of an abusive relationship between the late actor and model Kim Porter and her longtime partner, the hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy" Combs.Porter and Combs's children denounced the book - titled Kim's Lost Words: A journey for justice, from the other side ... - as a complete fabrication after it became a bestseller on Amazon in September. Continue reading...

Ex-finance chief says very few senior roles held by women, after he is asked about alleged culture of misogyny'A former Post Office finance chief has said the company's chief executive, Nick Read, prefers to work with teams of younger, deferential males", with very few senior roles held by female colleagues.Alisdair Cameron, who officially left the company in June after a year of sick leave, provided his view on the culture at the Post Office in response to the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal. Continue reading...

Challenger bank apologises after City regulator says lack of checks left system wide open to criminals and those subject to sanctions'

Bill to formalise state net zero target for 2050 left off list of legislative goals ahead of March election

Kody Adams, already facing charges, allegedly told Oklahoma police he had merely been borrowing' vehicleAn Oklahoma man who could not find a ride to a criminal court hearing on accusations that he had stolen a car worsened his legal peril by stealing an ambulance service's truck and driving himself to the courthouse, authorities allege.The bizarre case centers on Kody Adams, who was recently at a gasoline station in the community of Stillwater asking passersby whether they would drive him to Pawnee - about 30 minutes away - so that he could attend a court hearing there, as the Oklahoma highway patrol tells it. Continue reading...

Wausau mayor says he worried box could be tossed in river, as boxes remain fixture of debate over state administrationA Wisconsin mayor removed a ballot drop box from outside city hall and relocated it indoors last week - a performance that underscores the tensions and misinformation that surround election administration and the topic of ballot drop boxes in the state.Doug Diny, who donned a workperson's hat and gloves to move the drop box, claimed he did so because he was worried the box, which had not yet been fully installed and did not have any ballots in it, could have been tossed in the river. The city has since re-installed the dropbox outside the Wausau municipal building. Continue reading...

As Biden fights three fires at once, Trump sees chance to associate his rival for US presidency with chaos100" was spelled out in giant numbers on the White House north lawn on Tuesday. It was a birthday tribute to the former US president Jimmy Carter, who served only one term after being buffeted by external events such as high inflation and a hostage crisis in Iran.The current occupant of the White House, Joe Biden, must know the feeling as he fights three fires at once. Iran has launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, six US states are still reeling from Hurricane Helene, and ports from Maine to Texas shut down as about 45,000 dockworkers went on strike. Continue reading...

Woman alleged the man gave her a drink in a martini glass and her next memory was waking up in the accused's bed

Israeli officials reportedly considering significant retaliation' to Iranian attack within days

Cold and wet spring reduces demand for camping kit and clothing, while shipping rerouting delays deliveries

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Gareth Thomas admits compensation date for those caught up in Horizon IT scandal difficult to achievePost office operators affected by the Horizon IT scandal will not all receive payouts by the March 2025 deadline called for by the campaigner Sir Alan Bates, the postal minister has admitted.Gareth Thomas said it would be difficult to achieve the deadline but promised that there would be substantial progress" toward clearing the compensation claim backlog by next summer. Continue reading...

Abuse directed at Armstrong came after Media Watch segment critical of the Indigenous presenter

Defence secretary says UK military played part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East'

Barrister-turned-informer began giving evidence to supreme court on Wednesday in trial against Victoria police

NSW police earlier said they hoped woman could assist with inquiries into the display of prohibited symbols at public order incident'

Campaigners argue court action to block Sydney protests oppressive' but PM says event on anniversary of 7 October attacks on Israel would be incredibly provocative'

Iran sends more than 180 ballistic missiles in dramatic escalation of conflictIsrael has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel in a dramatic intensification of a conflict that appeared to be escalating out of control.Iran made a big mistake tonight - and it will pay for it," Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies ... They will understand." Continue reading...

The death of a young chartered accountant has highlighted a work culture of overworked employees and bullying bossesFor the average Indian, the working week is now longer than ever - totalling almost 47 hours.According to recent labour data, India now has one of the most overworked labour forces in the world, enduring longer hours than in China, Singapore and even Japan, a country renowned for its relentless work culture. On average, Indians work 13 hours longer every week than an employee in Germany. Continue reading...

PM derides opposition leader for a macho stance' on issues, who in turn labelled Labor leader's stance on Middle East crisis as weak

Racist chants rang out, and homes, businesses and hotels housing asylum seekers were attacked - for a week this summer English towns and cities seemed on the brink of chaos. Josh Halliday reports on what we know so far about the people at the centre of the violenceFrom Aldershot to Southport, riots broke out in English towns and cities this summer. Mosques, homes, shops and cars were attacked. A library was looted. Drivers were stopped and interrogated about their ethnicity, police officers were attacked. In a matter of days, however, many rioters found themselves in court and the violence stopped abruptly.Josh Halliday was in court to hear what many of the rioters, including children, said about why they had caused such havoc. He explains to Helen Pidd how the Guardian's data team tracked the court filings of 500 rioters to glean information that helped build a picture of the people who terrified communities. Continue reading...

New Zealand asks Australia to waive diplomatic immunity for man arrested but released without charge after Wallabies rugby loss

The French Pacific territory has been hit by violent unrest between communities loyal to Paris and pro-independence Indigenous KanaksFrance's new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has announced that a provincial election scheduled for December in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has been postponed for a year.During his inaugural address to parliament on Tuesday, Barnier also said a controversial bill proposed by President Emmanuel Macron to amend the constitution to change voting lists in the territory would not be forwarded to a joint meeting of parliament for ratification. The territory's Indigenous Kanak people fear changes to the voting registry would favour recent arrivals to the Pacific archipelago. Continue reading...

Three-time Oscar winner to star in his son Ronan's directorial debut, Anemone, which he also co-wroteThree-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis is ending his retirement from acting to star in his son's directorial debut.The 67-year-old British actor quit acting after starring in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2017 film Phantom Thread, and has largely stayed out of public life since. Continue reading...

Researchers say interventions could address key factors, such as smoking, but structural changes' also neededFour key factors have been identified that together account for more than one-third of the inequalities in infant deaths between the most and least deprived areas of England.Researchers say targeted interventions to address these factors - teenage pregnancy, maternal depression, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy - could go a significant way to reduce inequalities, although higher-level structural changes to address socioeconomic inequality will also be necessary. Continue reading...

Joint review by chief of Ofsted and prisons chief inspector discovers children kept in cells to avoid conflictChildren in youth offender institutions (YOIs) are being denied access to education, with too many being kept in their cells as staff struggle to keep warring youngsters apart, a damning new report has found.It documents a worrying decline in the quality and quantity of education provided to 15 to 18-year-olds in YOIs over the last decade despite a sharp drop in the number of children being held in custody. Continue reading...

Port of London authority to reopen scheme with waiting list, after surge in popularity of exploring riverbank for treasureWhether fuelled by social media or prompted by the Covid lockdowns, the years between 2019 and 2022 saw a huge surge in interest in mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames in London.The practice of exploring the riverbank for archaeology is permitted only with a permit from the Port of London authority (PLA), which owns much of the shoreline. But so dramatic was the growth in demand for permits - from 200 applications in 2018-19 to more than 5,000 three years later - that the port suspended the scheme in 2022 to protect the integrity and archaeology of the foreshore". Continue reading...

Prosecutor general investigating drone footage apparently showing summary executions of surrendering soldiersAuthorities in Ukraine have launched an investigation into what they said was the apparent summary execution by Russian troops of 16 Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered on the eastern frontline.This is the largest reported case of the execution of Ukrainian PoWs on the frontline and yet another indication that the killing and torture of prisoners of war are not isolated incidents," Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said on X. This is a deliberate policy of the Russian military and political leadership." Continue reading...

Tory leadership contender claims at party conference that a minority leak official secrets and undermine ministersKemi Badenoch has said she believes up to 10% of civil servants are so bad they should be in prison, claiming they leak official secrets and agitate" against ministers.At a fringe event at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, the leadership contender said she did not want to criticise all civil servants but said there were a few who were obstructive. There's about 5-10% of them who are very, very bad. You know, should-be-in-prison bad," Badenoch said. Continue reading...

Ancram held role in early 2000s and also served as shadow foreign secretary before entering Lords in 2010Tributes have been paid to the stable voice" of former deputy leader of the Conservative party Michael Ancram, who has died aged 79.Ancram, known formally as the 13th Marquess of Lothian, held the role under Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard for five years in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

House of Commons defeats oppositional Conservative party's bid to topple Canadian prime minister's reignJustin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, has survived a second parliamentary confidence motion in less than a week after opposition parties vowed to keep his minority Liberal government alive for now.Legislators in the House of Commons voted 207-121 to defeat a bid by the official opposition Conservative party to topple Trudeau, who faces increasing voter fatigue after almost nine years in power. Continue reading...

Two men reportedly opened fire and stabbed people on train and in nearby street before being shot deadSix people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting and knife attack on the Israeli seaside city of Jaffa that occurred minutes before Iran launched a huge missile attack on Israel. Five of the wounded were described as being in a serious condition.CCTV footage showed two men, reportedly armed with an assault rifle and a knife, dressed in black emerging from a train near the light-rail stop along Jerusalem Boulevard where they opened fire on passersby as well as on a second nearby street. Continue reading...

Raisin takes 15,000 prize with a brilliantly rendered glimpse into life in the edge-lands'

The TV patriarch, who also played the older Kunta Kinte on the mini-series Roots, died on 21 August, according to a statement from his sonJohn Amos, who starred as the stoic father on Good Times and played the older Kunta Kinte on Alex Haley's seminal mini-series Roots, has died at the age of 84.His son, Kelly Christopher Amos, announced that Amos died on 21 August of natural causes in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Family of Laura Winham, who was mentally unwell and lived in social housing, raised concerns two months before her remains were foundThe family of a vulnerable woman whose dead body lay in her social housing flat unnoticed for more than three years had raised concerns about her welfare two months before she was discovered, an inquest has heard.Laura Winham's remains were found by her brother in her flat in Woking, Surrey, in May 2021, after the family asked police to break in. They previously said she had been abandoned and left to die" by social and mental health services. Continue reading...

Review of 1921 massacre comes months after Oklahoma supreme court dismissed lawsuit brought by two survivorsLate Monday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it plans to launch the first-ever federal investigation into the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, in which hundreds of Black Tulsans were killed, thousands were displaced and forced into internment camps overseen by the national guard, and Greenwood, the thriving district once known as Black Wall Street", was decimated, looted and burned by a racist mob.The review, launched by the civil rights division's Cold Case Unit, comes after a major setback for survivors and descendants of the massacre. In June, Oklahoma's supreme court dismissed a lawsuit brought by two survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Fletcher, 110. In July, the women once again called for Joe Biden and the justice department to intervene. Continue reading...

This live blog is closedPopular Conservatism, or PopCon, has released the results of a survey of party members suggesting more than half of them favour a merger with Reform UK. Some 30% of the respondents said they tended to support the idea, and 23% were strongly in favour. The survey covered 470 members.Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon's head of communications and a former Brexit party MEP, said:Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July. It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.The answer I was often given by people in government at the time was that lockdowns were very popular.They were getting 60, 70, 80% popularity ratings in the opinion polls. But you mustn't believe those opinion polls, they're basically nonsense. Continue reading...

Ambulance technician says policy of only donning protective equipment at scene cost vital minutesDying patients experienced vital delays in being treated by paramedics because of the time it took ambulance crews to put on protective personal equipment, the Covid inquiry has been told.An ambulance technician, Mark Tilley, came close to tears on Tuesday as he described how the experience still played on his mind". Continue reading...

Iceman' files for defamation after allegations he subjected former partner and children to physical and verbal abuseA biopic of the Dutch extreme athlete and wellness guru Wim Hof has been put on hold after allegations of domestic violence against the man who calls himself the Iceman" emerged in the Dutch media over the weekend.A report published in de Volkskrant newspaper on Saturday claimed the 65-year-old had subjected his former partner, their son and her two children from a previous marriage to physical and verbal abuse over a period of 13 years. Continue reading...

The singer is at the centre of a lawsuit accusing her of fraud and breach of contract over the collapse of an arena tourLauryn Hill is being sued by her Fugees co-member Pras Michel for fraud and breach of contract.Michel, who co-founded the Fugees, claims that the singer's arrogance" and narcissistic tendencies" helped to sabotage their cancelled comeback tour. Continue reading...

Jack Chambers' comment comes weeks after government lost case in ECJ arguing tech company should keep moneyThe Irish finance minister has hailed the 14bn tax windfall from Apple as transformational" just weeks after the government lost a case in the European court of justice arguing the tech company should keep its money.Unveiling the country's budget on Tuesday, finance minister Jack Chambers said the money would be used on infrastructure and not to splurge on giveaways before the general election that is expected in November. Continue reading...

Henry Staunton tells inquiry of risk if staff involved in prosecutions are not fired before new IT system is rolled outThe former chair of the Post Office has warned of another Horizon-style scandal if so-called untouchable" investigators and executives involved in the prosecution of sub-postmasters are not fired before the organisation rolls out its new IT system.Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the then business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, in January, said there there were still millions of pounds in dispute between what sub-postmasters and the Post Office have recorded. Continue reading...