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Thousands of pagers detonated across the country and in Syria, killing 12 people and wounding almost 3,000

German woman was travelling on UK-flagged catamaran when incident happened, says Spain's rescue serviceA court in Spain has opened an investigation into the death of a German woman who died after being attacked by a shark while sailing 270 nautical miles (500km) off the Canary Islands on Tuesday.According to the country's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, the 30-year-old woman was travelling on the British-flagged catamaran Dalliance Chichester about 110 miles west of the Western Saharan city of Dakhla when the attack happened just before 4pm local time. Continue reading...

Emergency crews battle to reinforce defences around Wrocaw in Poland amid devastating rainfallSoldiers, emergency workers and volunteers battled through the night to reinforce defences around Wrocaw, Poland's third biggest city, as the EU said flooding in central Europe happening simultaneously alongside wildfires in Portugal showed climate breakdown in action.More than five times the average rainfall for the whole of September has fallen in five days on swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, triggering devastating flooding that has killed 22 people in four countries. Continue reading...

Ten years after Scotland voted against independence, first minister urges supporters to look to the futureJohn Swinney has urged independence supporters not to live in the past as he celebrated the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum as a moment of reawakening" for the yes movement.Speaking to a crowd of campaigners in Edinburgh 10 years to the day since Scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain part of the UK, the SNP leader said: We have had a long, dark decade - a decade of austerity, of Brexit, of a cost of living crisis and a global pandemic." Continue reading...

Bar Standards Board case against Charlotte Proudman over criticism of judge will proceed to full hearingA tribunal has rejected a barrister's request for it to throw out disciplinary proceedings brought against her for saying a judge had shown a boys' club attitude", but it ruled that she can argue that the regulator discriminated against her because she is a woman.At a private hearing this month, lawyers for Charlotte Proudman argued that the Bar Standards Board (BSB) held her to different standards than male barristers and so the case against her should be struck out. Continue reading...

Trafalgar Square piece by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles is made of masks depicting faces of transgender and non-binary peopleA towering cuboid made of more than 300 masks depicting the faces of transgender and non-binary people, this year's fourth plinth artwork, has been described as a piece designed to unite the trans community around the world".The Mexican artist Teresa Margolles was flanked by members of her country's trans community as Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) was unwrapped in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Federal court releases tranche of documents from Victorian MP's defamation case against state Liberal leader John Pesutto

Author claims that 'progressive Black scholars in particular have been targeted' after University of Washington rejects complaint over her 2004 doctoral thesisA plagiarism complaint filed last month against Robin DiAngelo, the author of a number of books on racism including White Fragility, has now been dismissed.The complaint - which cited 20 instances of alleged research misconduct in DiAngelo's 2004 doctoral thesis - was lodged with the University of Washington, where the author completed her PhD and is now an affiliate associate professor of education. Continue reading...

Australia weighs how to vote in UN general assembly resolution following international court of justice's advice

Former special counsel issues warning in preface to book about 2016 investigation and Trump-Moscow linksThe US is still not prepared for inevitable Russian attacks on its elections, the former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in 2016 and links between Donald Trump and Moscow, warns in a new book.It is ... evident that Americans have not learned the lessons of Russia's attack on our democracy in 2016," Mueller writes in a preface to Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia and the Mueller Investigation by Aaron Zebley, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein, prosecutors who worked for Mueller from 2017 to 2019. Continue reading...

Food container firm affected by challenging macroeconomic environment'Tupperware, the lossmaking 78-year-old American plastic food container brand, has filed for bankruptcy and is on the hunt for new owners as it attempts to lure younger customers.The company, which was founded by the chemist Earl Tupper in 1946 and became known for its patented burping" seal, has started US chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as bosses said that its finances had been severely impacted" by the economic environment. Continue reading...

Labor tables report in parliament hours after senators reveal it had been uploaded to royal commission website

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Fair Work Commission has delayed new proposed agreements to check employers have not been coerced into them

Judge raises questions about Maurice Hawell's prospects of rehabilitation after he, brother Marius Hawell and Andrew David were all found guilty of the sexual assaults in July

The 31-year-old allegedly used the encrypted Ghost' platform to talk about machine guns, bombs and flags with terrorist insignia, the AFP said

Communications minister Michelle Rowland welcomes Meta's announcement but suggests it doesn't strongly enforce its present age limit on Instagram

Eric Kilburn, 16, says those who put others down over differences are usually the most unhappy people out there'Eric Kilburn Jr's mother knew his feet were exceptionally big when, in his teens, she began needing to spend thousands of dollars to have his shoes specially made. But it turned out they were bigger than anyone else's in the world who was his age - and so were his hands.Sixteen-year-old Eric fits his 13.5in (34cm) feet in American size 23 shoes (UK size 22) - more than double the average of adult men, which is about 9 in the US. His hands, at 9.13in, easily surpass the 7.14in average for his age. Continue reading...

Shadow defence minister calls on Australian prime minister to raise matter with Chinese president, saying it is not the actions of a friend'

ActionAid says parasitic behaviour' is fuelling the climate crisis and represents corporate capture' of public financeMore than $650bn (494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown.The subsidies entrench high greenhouse gas emissions and are fuelling the destruction of the natural world, according to a report from the charity ActionAid. Continue reading...

Humanitarian sector says UK will lack credibility at world summits owing to devastating' impact of budget cutsUK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warn on Wednesday.The budget dedicated to providing aid overseas will be just 0.36% of gross national income (GNI) in 2024 largely owing to huge sums in the budget being diverted to hosting asylum-seekers in the UK, the aid organisations say. Continue reading...

Sir Gary Cooper says micromanagers' risk driving away talent, damaging wellbeing and harming productivityEmployers who force staff to return to the office five days a week have been called the dinosaurs of our age" by one of the world's leading experts who coined the term presenteeism".Sir Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Manchester's Alliance Manchester Business School, said employers imposing strict requirements on staff to be in the office risked driving away talented workers, damaging the wellbeing of employees and undermining their financial performance. Continue reading...

Prime minister has come under fire recently for clothing, accommodation and glasses provided by Waheed AlliKeir Starmer has declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leaders in recent times, with his total now topping 100,000 after recent support for his lifestyle from Labour donor Waheed Alli.The prime minister has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mostly to football matches but also 4,000 of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and 698 of Coldplay tickets in Manchester. Continue reading...

Marieha Hussain, who depicted Sunak and Braverman as coconuts, says only people who do not understand the term find it offensiveA teacher who was acquitted of a racially aggravated public order offence after she carried a placard depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts said she has no regrets and would continue to use the term in future rallies.In her first interview since she was found not guilty at Westminster magistrates court last Friday, Marieha Hussain, 37, said there was a lack of cultural understanding and awareness of the term coconut" and how it is used by diverse communities. Continue reading...

Research released by Starling Bank finds 28% of people have been targeted at least once in the past yearConsumers have been warned that their social media videos could be exploited by scammers to clone their voices with AI and then trick their family and friends out of cash.Scammers look for videos that have been uploaded online and need only a few seconds of audio to replicate how the target talks. They then call or send voicemails to friends and family, asking them to send money urgently. Continue reading...

Policy devised under Conservatives will be reviewed after warnings of chaos for producers and suppliersGovernment plans to force food manufacturers to put not for EU" labels on all meat and dairy products sold across Britain next month have been indefinitely postponed after warnings that the scheme could cause chaos" for producers and suppliers.The government will instead review the policy, which was devised under the Conservative administration. Legislation to implement the changes has yet to be brought in. Continue reading...

Russian forces are gathering on Pokrovsk, a logistics base and transport hub, after months of slow, brutal advanceThe Russian soldiers sent to storm Ukrainian positions arrived at a graveyard. Around them was the ruined village of Mykhailivka. From above, Ukrainian spy drones watched. One soldier vanished under a tree. Another jogged towards a shell-walloped cottage. Back at a control observation centre, Maj Oleksandr Fanagey muttered a few words.Seconds later, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone hit a moving Russian. A live video stream showed that he survived but his left leg was injured. The soldier bottom-shuffled towards a patch of grass and tried to pull a bandage from a green backpack. He will die for sure," Fanagey predicted. The enemy doesn't bother evacuating its wounded." Continue reading...

AFP alleges hundreds of criminals - including motorcycle gang members and Italian, Middle Eastern and Korean organised crime members - used Ghost

Centre for Women's Justice gathered testimony from more than 200 women alleging attacks by police officer partnersMale police officers accused of domestic abuse were promoted into positions tackling rape and violence against women, rather than being punished, according to a new report.The report from the Centre for Women's Justice is based on the testimony of more than 200 women who allege attacks by their police officer partners. It concludes that, despite promises from police chiefs of change, little progress has been made and failings are systemic". Continue reading...

Thinktank says funding from oil and gas firms is attempt to divert attention from their role in fuelling the climate crisis'Fossil fuel companies pumped at least $5.6bn (4.2bn) of sponsorship money into motorsports, football, golf and even snow sports in an effort to buy social licence to operate", according to a new report.Almost no major spectator sport remains untouched by oil and gas money, according to research carried out by the New Weather Institute (NWI), a climate thinktank, which traced more than 200 sponsorship deals between sports teams and the industry. Continue reading...

Reece Richards, who was in Netflix's Sex Education, says he was thrown to the ground by officers pursuing a vehicleThe Metropolitan police has said it is investigating an incident in which an actor claimed he was pepper-sprayed by officers during an unlawful arrest".Reece Richards, who appeared in the Netflix series Sex Education, said he was thrown to the ground during a police chase in Fulham, south-west London, on 4 September. Continue reading...

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Princess of Wales was listed in the Court Circular after a meeting about early years development of childrenThe Princess of Wales has been listed in the official record of royal events for the first time since her cancer treatment ended.Catherine was featured in the Court Circular after holding a meeting at Windsor Castle about an issue that aides in the past have described as her life's work - the early years development of children. Continue reading...

Attorneys for music mogul request home detention, travel restrictions and $50m bond in Manhattan court

Israel yet to make statement about detonations across Lebanon that killed a 10-year-old girl and left 400 in a reported critical condition

Elaine DePrince, 77, died of unrelated illness less than 24 hours after trailblazing ballerina's death aged 29The adoptive mother of ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who died suddenly at age 29 last week, died less than 24 hours later of an unrelated illness. Elaine DePrince died on 11 September during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery", according to a statement from family spokesperson Jess Volinski. She was 77.The last few days have been even more difficult than most people realize because the family has also been dealing with the death of Michaela's adoptive mother Elaine DePrince," Volinski wrote in a statement on Facebook. Continue reading...

Mother of Child D describes feeling she was losing mind' as she pushed for investigationsThe mother of a baby girl murdered by Lucy Letby has demanded an apology from the hospital for dozens" of failings that allowed her daughter to be preyed on" by the nurse.The Thirlwall inquiry was told on Tuesday that Child D, a premature newborn girl, was in a good condition before she was attacked three times by Letby overnight at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2015. Continue reading...

The data shows that 123,000 households, containing 302,000 children, are trapped in poor housing and extreme povertyCharities have called on the government to abolish the benefit cap after the latest official figures showed 123,000 households containing an estimated 302,000 children were subject to it, trapping them in poor housing and extreme poverty.Campaigners said increasing numbers of households were being made homeless and were suffering hardship as a result of the benefit cap, with single parents, female survivors of domestic abuse and children disproportionately affected. Continue reading...

Scottish government accepts scaled-down version of event after multimillion-pound' Australian offerThe Scottish government has agreed a rescue deal for a scaled-down version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be hosted by Glasgow, after Australian authorities offered a multimillion-pound commitment" to save the event.The Australian state of Victoria abruptly withdrew as host of the 2026 Games in July 2023, blaming escalating costs. Since then, speculation has grown about whether Glasgow could build on its successful hosting of the event in 2014, amid concerns from the Scottish and UK governments about financing the event. Continue reading...

Energy secretary vows to take on the blockers' opposed to wind turbines, solar farms and pylons

Border checks system was due to go live in November but some countries say they are not ready amid worries about lack of testingThe full implementation of an EU entry-exit system introducing fingerprinting and facial recognition checks at ports and airports is expected to be delayed again amid fears over congestion and long queues.Ylva Johansson, the EU's home affairs commissioner, said recently that the new entry-exit system (EES) would be introduced on 10 November with a contingency of delaying it one week to 17 November. Continue reading...

Guardian Media Group announces it is in negotiations with Tortoise Media over world's oldest Sunday newspaperThe Guardian's parent company has announced that it is in formal negotiations with Tortoise Media over the potential sale of the Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.Guardian Media Group (GMG) told staff it was in negotiations with the Observer after being approached with an offer that was significant enough to look at in more detail. Continue reading...

Victory by separatist Quebecois candidate in once-safe Liberal seat puts pressure on Canadian PM to quitCanada's ruling Liberal party has lost a once-safe seat in Montreal, a result that is likely to put more pressure on the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to quit.Elections Canada said that with 100% of the votes counted in the parliamentary constituency of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun, the separatist Bloc Quebecois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauve, had beaten the Liberal candidate, Laura Palestini, by a whisker: 28% to 27.2%. The New Democratic party (NDP) candidate received 26.1%. Continue reading...

Veteran MP says she expected more support from Labour after comments by Tory donor that she should be shot'Diane Abbott has accused Keir Starmer of treating her as a non-person" after comments by the Conservative donor Frank Hester who said that looking at the Hackney MP made you just want to hate all black women" and that she should be shot".Abbott said in a series of interviews that she expected more support from the party in the aftermath of the comments, which were revealed by the Guardian. She was suspended from the party at the time, and said Starmer did not reach out to her. Continue reading...

Union's administrator accepts all seven of Geoffrey Watson SC's recommendations, including looking into alleged links to motorcycle gangs

Baseless theories about suspect Ryan Wesley Routh and his alleged ties to US military spread online after his arrestAfter a man who appears to be obsessive about the war in Ukraine was arrested for allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on Sunday, rumors and conspiracy theories have spread online attempting to tie Democrats to the two assassination attempts on the former president this election.Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect charged with gun-related crimes on Monday, previously conducted media interviews about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters, particularly from Afghanistan, to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. Routh also apparently self-published an e-book on Ukraine in which he said that Iran was free to assassinate Trump as well as me", according to media reports. Continue reading...

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says government is pressing ahead with plans for new flexible working lawsThe business secretary has defended Labour's plans to introduce new flexible working laws, calling it bizarre" that Jacob Rees-Mogg had launched a war on people working from home".The comments by Jonathan Reynolds come as he and the communities secretary, Angela Rayner, attempt to thrash out the final details of the workers' rights legislation in time for the employment bill that is expected to be introduced in the first fortnight of October. Continue reading...

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Hip-hop mogul has faced multiple allegations by women accusing him of sexual assaultSean Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul who has faced a stream of allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault, was arrested late on Monday in New York after he was indicted by a federal grand jury.Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement posted on social media late Monday that we expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time." Continue reading...

Expelled Liberal MP cross-examined in high-stakes federal court case against Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto