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Case opened after Observer investigation found that vulnerable people were allegedly subjected to psychological drills at Narconon UK that left them broken' and traumatised'A Scientology-linked addiction charity accused of subjecting vulnerable people to psychological drills that left them broken" and traumatised" is being investigated by Britain's charities watchdog.The Charity Commission said it had opened a regulatory compliance case into Narconon UK, which claims to help people become drug-free for good" and had been promoted on the NHS website, to examine concerns about its governance, administration and management". Continue reading...

Traffic also building along diversion route through Surrey towns as five-mile stretch of UK's busiest motorway closesTraffic is building on the M25 in Surrey due to the unprecedented closure of a section of Britain's busiest motorway.Two miles of congestion were seen in Surrey on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Dentists say there is a black hole' in funding for dental treatment in England, with further 4% increase to come next monthPatients are paying for stealth cuts" in England's dental budget, with NHS charges for treatment increasing by around 45% in the past decade while government spending has been cut in real terms, a new analysis reveals.Increases of 4% on NHS dental fees will be implemented next month, with patients now footing the bill for about a quarter of the 3bn dental budget. Continue reading...

Unnamed militant group drove vehicle laden with explosives into post and detonated suicide bombsMilitants have attacked a military post in Pakistan near Afghanistan using a vehicle laden with explosives, killing five security force members, Pakistan's military said.The incident in north-west Pakistan was carried out by six attackers, the military's media wing said in a statement, without naming the militant group responsible for the attack. Continue reading...

The first black leader of a European nation has made history more than once during a rocky political career to date Gething to become Welsh first ministerVaughan Gething describes himself as a Welshman born in Zambia" , with his father, a vet from the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, having met his mother, a Zambian chicken farmer, while he was working in southern Africa.His parents experienced racism when the family moved to Britain and Gething joined the Labour party at the age of 17 after being inspired by articles about Nelson Mandela he read in on his newspaper round. Continue reading...

Research finds that in 85 Tory-held seats the number of people with negative budgets is higher than the Tory majorityRishi Sunak has been warned that scores of his most vulnerable seats risk being lost over an increasingly neglected cost of living crisis raging in marginal constituencies across the UK.The seats held by Iain Duncan Smith and justice secretary Alex Chalk are among 85 Tory constituencies with a critical number of voters whose monthly outgoings are now higher than their income. Continue reading...

FAA investigating loss of panel before Boeing 737-800 landed safely in OregonThe US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 lost an external panel before landing safely in Oregon.United flight 433 landed at Medford airport at about 1.45pm on Friday carrying 139 passengers and six crew after departing from San Francisco, the FAA and airline said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: King's Fund issues challenge as poll finds two-thirds of people want firms to be forced to cut sugar, salt and fatBritain's political parties have been urged to show courage by forcing food producers to make their products healthier, as new polling shows two-thirds of voters back the move.Compelling food manufacturers to strip out large amounts of fat, salt and sugar would help denormalise" the routine consumption of unhealthy food, Sarah Woolnough, the chief executive of the King's Fund, told the Guardian. Continue reading...

A man in his 50s and another in his 30s have been taken to hospital after being hit by an SUV at a Sydney shopping centre

Mother of murder victim Brianna Ghey and mother of her killer meet and decide to campaign together on dangers of mobile phonesIn an anonymous office on a business park in Warrington, two mothers met last week for the first time. Esther Ghey and Emma Sutton sat down together for what one restorative justice expert called the most extraordinarily unusual" meeting he had heard of in 30 years.Ghey's 16-year-old daughter, Brianna, was murdered in a Warrington park last year by two teenagers, one of whom she thought was her friend. That friend was Scarlett Jenkinson, Sutton's daughter, the driving force" behind planning and executing the exceptionally brutal" stabbing. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Number of such dogs that have been dumped rose from eight in 2020 to 582 in 2023, RSPCA saysThey may be lauded in the show ring, adored by celebrities, and feature in myriad adverts, but the number of French bulldogs being abandoned has risen sharply in recent years, data suggests.According to the RSPCA, the number of such dogs in England and Wales that have been dumped rose from eight in 2020 to 582 in 2023 - an increase of more than 7,000% in three years. Continue reading...

Those who attended the Esoteric festival in Donald on 8-12 March warned about Shigella bacteria

Sentences of nearly seven years handed down over 2019 action that was pivotal moment in uprising against Chinese ruleA Hong Kong court has sentenced 12 people to jail terms of up to seven years over the storming of the city's legislature in 2019 at the height of pro-democracy protests that challenged the Beijing-backed government.It was the most violent episode in the initial stage of the huge protests that upended the city that year, with Beijing later imposing a sweeping national security law to snuff out dissent. Continue reading...

Foot traffic near Melbourne's town hall recorded at highest since 2015, as Eras tour concert coincides with busiest day of 2024

Reports set to cover issues relating to 149 detainees freed from detention after high court ruling

Announcement comes as motoring body says EV blazes are rare, and after four unrelated lithium battery fires recorded in a single day

Mary Kelly Foy, the MP for Durham, is recuperating from surgery and is expected to make a full recoveryA Labour MP has urged women to attend breast cancer screenings as she revealed her own diagnosis.Mary Kelly Foy, the City of Durham MP, said she was recuperating from surgery and was expected to make a full recovery thanks to an early diagnosis. Continue reading...

Alex Chalk urges local council where racing festival takes place to stop granting licences to such venuesThe presence of pop-up strip clubs at Cheltenham is making women feel threatened and intimidated" at one of Britain's biggest race festivals, the justice secretary has said.Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, challenged the local council to stop granting licences to so-called sexual entertainment venues (SEVs). Continue reading...

Latest round of negotiations end without breakthrough and next round will not take place until after India's election campaignThe UK and India have formally closed their 14th round of trade negotiations without reaching a deal and will put the discussions on ice until later this year.The UK government ended the latest round of talks on Friday night after two weeks of intensive negotiations with Indian officials failed to bear fruit. Continue reading...

Union for health workers also calls on Tory donor to stand down from contracts, claiming his racist' comments breach guidelinesUnions representing GPs and health workers have called on Conservative donor Frank Hester to stand down from running NHS contracts, claiming his racist and misogynistic comments" breach its fit and proper person' test.Hester's company TPP runs the electronic patient records of almost half the medical practices in the UK, but his remarks about Diane Abbott have prompted calls for him to step aside amid a growing political row. Continue reading...

Testimony contained in documents released by supreme court details alleged plot to overturn result of 2022 Brazilian electionBrazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro presented top military officials with a plan to carry out a coup d'etat after his defeat in the October 2022 election, two former commanders have told the police, according to newly released judicial documents.In testimonies made public on Friday, former army commander Marco Antonio Freire Gomes and former air force commander Carlos Baptista Junior said Bolsonaro held several meetings in December 2022 in which he presented a document that would have served as the basis to overturn the results of the election, which he lost to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Continue reading...

Stephen Shrimpton, 40, and student Jessica Baker, 15, died when the coach he was driving crashed in September last yearThe driver of a school bus that crashed on a Merseyside motorway last year died of natural causes, a coroner's office has said.Stephen Shrimpton, 40, died when the coach he was driving crashed on the northbound M53 in Wirral on 29 September. One of the passengers, Jessica Baker, 15, was killed in the crash. Continue reading...

At least six people killed as overnight storms flatten towns in parts of eastern Indiana and western OhioA cluster of more than 10 tornadoes that swept through five states has killed at least three people and injured more than 100, with others still missing early on Friday and first responders searching through rubble, after severe storms left neighborhoods splintered and brought down power lines.Parts of eastern Indiana and western Ohio were hit especially hard in the deadly weather overnight, and the extent of the destruction and the toll on residents was still not clear as first light illuminated flattened towns on Friday. Continue reading...

President also condemns US surge in Islamophobia in comments that could portend broader shift in sentiment towards Gaza warJoe Biden on Friday said Senator Chuck Schumer made a good speech" that reflected many Americans' concerns when he publicly broke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over his handling of the war in Gaza.While the US president announced no changes in his administration's policy towards Israel, his views on the speech Schumer made Thursday from the floor of the US Senate, where the New York Democrat is the majority leader, could portend a broader shift in sentiment. Continue reading...

Exclusive: former guards tell of clashes on farm that is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatingsFormer security guards at a vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya have spoken for the first time describing violent clashes between guards and thieves at the plantation, which is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatings by its guards.Earlier this month Del Monte announced it would be outsourcing its security operations at the farm to G4S, sacking its 214 in-house guards. Continue reading...

Rallies take place in Idlib region, held by rebels against Bashar al-Assad, whose repression sparked civil war in 2011Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Syria's rebel-held north-west to mark 13 years since pro-democracy protests swept the country, chanting against President Bashar al-Assad and the region's jihadist rulers.The government's brutal suppression of the 2011 uprising triggered a civil war that has killed more than half a million people, drawn in foreign armies and jihadists, and divided the country. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can read our latest coverage on the Israel-Gaza war hereReuters has a breaking news line about the Gaza aid ship, the Open Arms, that set off from Cyprus on Tuesday. According to the news agency, witnesses have reported that the ship is close to Gaza's coast now.More details soon ... Continue reading...

Military powers agree to step up purchase of ammunition for Kyiv in effort to dampen mutual tensions over Russia stanceIn an ostentatious show of unity designed to ease the tensions between France and Germany over the threat posed by a resurgent Russia, leaders of Europe's three leading military powers agreed to step up the worldwide purchase of ammunition for Ukraine and improve their offer of long-range artillery.The hastily arranged meeting in Berlin between France, Germany and Poland did little to disguise the fact that Paris and Berlin now hold different perspectives on the twin spectres of Russian military advances in Ukraine and the US Congress's refusal to approve substantial further military aid for Kyiv. Continue reading...

More than 75 injured in Black Sea city during deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilian area in weeks

Industry minister says review of popular video app that is planning to expand in country has been ongoing since September 2023Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok's proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September 2023. Continue reading...

Hackney MP endorsed a post saying it was unlikely she would be allowed to rejoin Labour despite the support of senior figuresA reader asks:Is there anything other than convention which says elections must be on a Thursday?The reason for choosing Thursday, it is said, was as follows. On Fridays the voters were paid their wages and if they went for a drink in a public house they would be subject to pressure from the Conservative brewing interests, while on Sundays they would be subject to influence by Free Church ministers who were generally Liberal in persuasion. Therefore choose the day furthest from influence by either publicans or Free Church clergymen, namely Thursday. Although these influences are much less significant today, the trend towards Thursday becoming a universal polling day has continued, because Urban District Councils and Rural District Councils all polled on a Saturday until they were abolished under the 1972 Local Government Act. Their successor District Councils poll on a Thursday and the Parish Council polling day was changed from Saturday to Thursday at the same time.If it ends up being an autumn election as Sunak has indicated, how does that impact the conference season - do they still go ahead? - and does the summer recess have any affect on when a government can call an election? Continue reading...

Potential move by RedBird IMI follows UK government plan to ban foreign state ownership of newspapersThe United Arab Emirates-backed consortium RedBird IMI is considering a sale of its stake in the Telegraph, after its attempt to take over the media group was effectively scuppered by UK government plans to ban foreign state ownership of newspapers.It paid 600m last November to clear the debts of the group's owners, the Barclay family, but within days the transfer of control was put on hold amid an investigation into whether it raises public interest concerns. Continue reading...

Deal between Japanese carmakers involves components and software amid race to catch up with Chinese EV firmsHonda and Nissan have put aside the traditional approach" of fierce rivalry to join forces and work together on electric vehicle technology as Japan's carmakers try to catch up with Chinese competitors.The Japanese manufacturers will work together on technology for EVs, including components and software, after signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday. Continue reading...

Health Services Union secretary says new benchmark pay rate will make sector competitive with public health system

Apocalyptic cautionary tale' imagining violent conflict in US and released in tumultuous election year premieres at SXSWAfter months of online speculation, writer-director Alex Garland's button-pushing thriller Civil War has premiered at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.The film imagines what America would look like in the midst of full-scale civil war with broken supply lines, abandoned highways and a national military cleaved into opposing factions. Set to be released during a fractious election year, it shows a dystopian near future in which the US is riven by military conflict from within. Continue reading...

Conservative who has held Wells seat since 2015 says he has taken painful decision' not to stand at next election

Firefighters responded to blazes set off by an ebike, an EV charging station, a garden hedger and a loose battery in a garbage truck

Friday's decision to unpause' $6m in funding to UNRWA follows similar moves by Canada and Sweden

From Friday, non-compliant cars, vans and minibuses can be sent to country which is short of vehicles to transport casualtiesMotorists planning to scrap vehicles that do not meet ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) standards in London can instead donate them to Ukraine from Friday, as a scheme is launched after a protracted campaign to win the support of the mayor and central government.The proposal dates back over a year, but was initially rejected by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, on legal grounds, and only reversed after a vigorous and at times acrimonious lobbying effort which succeeded when it was approved by the transport department. Continue reading...

Public accounts committee report shows hardly any of 71 projects due to be completed this month are on trackRishi Sunak's levelling up agenda is beset by an absolutely astonishing" level of delay, and the government cannot give any compelling examples" of what it has delivered, parliament's spending watchdog has found.The public accounts committee (PAC) said barely any of the 71 shovel-ready" projects due to be completed this month were on track. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Charity seeks to minimise the impact' of the cuts on beneficiaries living with cancerMacmillan Cancer Support, one of Britain's biggest and best known charities, is planning to axe 150 jobs - one in 14 of its workforce - saying that it is getting harder to raise money to cover rising demand for its help due to increasing numbers of people living with cancer.The charity, whose services play a vital role in local NHS provision, spends 250m a year funding about 11,000 specialist cancer nurses and care workers and providing financial, practical and emotional support and advice to the public, including thousands of 200 grants to patients needing help with energy and travel costs. Continue reading...

Eighty plaques stolen from Garden of Little Angels at Altona Memorial Park in a bid to sell bronze for scrap metal, police say

Video recovered from passenger's phone revealed pilot was distracted during pre-takeoff checks and did not complete them

Researchers compared the symptoms and impairment of Covid and influenza patients a year after they tested positive

Seven people who allegedly suffered injuries after a door-sized panel blew off mid-air file suit against airline and manufacturerSeven passengers of the harrowing Alaska Airlines flight that had to make an emergency landing after a door-sized panel blew off the plane are suing the airline and the aircraft's manufacturer Boeing.One of the plaintiffs is Cuong Tran, a passenger who was seated in a window seat right behind the door plug that blew out mid-air, causing rapid depressurization in the cabin of the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet. He was saved by his seatbelt as air rushed out of the hole, tearing off a pair of socks and one shoe and sucking away his iPhone. Continue reading...

Douglas Hilton says he will staunchly defend' scientists as opposition leader repeats incorrect claim that CSIRO report does not accurately represent cost of renewables

DWP figures reveal thousands of people a month are assessed as unable to work because of mental health problemsThousands of people in the UK are being deemed incapable of any work every month due to mental health problems, figures have shown.According to official data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), at least 20,000 incapacity benefit claims are for mental health problems - making up more than two-thirds of the total. Continue reading...

James Bond star fined $500 and told to donate $1,000 to non-profit that supports park after stepping out of bounds in a thermal areaPierce Brosnan, whose fictitious movie character James Bond has been in hot water plenty of times, pleaded guilty Thursday to stepping off a trail in a thermal area during a November visit to Yellowstone national park.Brosnan, who called in to the court hearing, was fined $500 and ordered to make a $1,000 donation to Yellowstone Forever - a non-profit organization that supports the park - by 1 April, court records showed. Continue reading...

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Scottish Tory leader says all of Hester's donations should be reviewed after racist and misogynistic commentsRishi Sunak faces increasing pressure over donations from Frank Hester, whose comments about Diane Abbott have been condemned as racist and misogynistic, after it was reported he has given another 5m to the Conservatives.The additional money, not denied by the party or Downing Street, would take Hester's contributions to Tory party coffers in less than a year to 15m, almost as much as the Conservatives spent in the entire 2019 general election campaign. Continue reading...