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Home secretary describes Tory policy that Labour has axed as the biggest waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen'The Conservative government spent 700m of taxpayers' money on the failed Rwanda deportation scheme, which has proved to be a costly con", the home secretary has said.Yvette Cooper described the policy, which was introduced two-and-a-half years ago and sought to send UK asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, as the biggest waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen". Continue reading...

Vice-president is clear favorite for Democratic nomination, but she will have to win over critics inside the party and out

Education secretary acknowledged crisis in sector with many institutions facing severe financial difficultiesUniversities in England facing severe financial difficulties should not expect a government bailout, the education secretary has said, despite warnings from the sector of thousands of job losses, course closures and even bankruptcies.With 40% of institutions projected to run budget deficits this year, Bridget Phillipson acknowledged the crisis. She said she was determined to develop a brighter future for universities" and put them on a sustainable footing in the long term". Continue reading...

Family found a tiny Mississippi Kite alone and worried that it was getting cold, so they swaddled it in a warm tortillaA Texas family got wrapped up in an unforeseen animal rescue mission and saved a baby bird by cocooning it in a tortilla, earning them praise for their quick, compassionate actions.In a viral 13 July Facebook post, the Wild West Wildlife rehabilitation center in Amarillo, Texas, recounted how its employees first learned of the saga upon receiving a call from the Adlongs, the family at the center of the story. Continue reading...

Risk of repeat of 2022 when mountains of refuse bags littered the streets during Edinburgh fringeScotland faces a wave of bin strikes this summer after unions rejected a new pay offer, with the Edinburgh fringe at risk of a repeat of 2022 when mountains of refuse bags littered the streets.The GMB and Unite unions said on Monday that their members had voted against a revised pay deal, which Scotland's local authorities had described as strong, fair and credible". Continue reading...

The Guardian's Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the US presidential race and whether the honeymoon period that Keir Starmer is enjoying will last. Plus, are the Tories really going to wait until next April to elect a new leader? Continue reading...

Spokesperson cites fiscal inheritance' after apparent softening of position by Starmer and PhillipsonKeir Starmer was asked about his relationship with US vice-president Kamala Harris.Obviously in the first instance, it's for the Democratic Party to decide who they want to put forward. It is then for the American people to decide who they want as their president. Continue reading...

The 49th edition features a string of world premieres for many films hoping to be included in the year's Oscar raceMajor new films from the directors Mike Leigh and Angelina Jolie and actors such as Jennifer Lopez, Hugh Grant and Pamela Anderson are toplining this year's Toronto film festival.The annual festival brings together a host of world premieres at a key stage in the race toward the Oscars. Continue reading...

Russian-American editor Alsu Kurmasheva convicted for spreading false information' about armed forcesA Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to six-and-a-half years in prison after a rushed, secret trial.Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor, was arrested last year during a family visit to the city of Kazan in south-west Russia for failing to register as a foreign agent" and for spreading false information" about the country's armed forces, under crippling censorship laws enacted after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Continue reading...

Underlying causes of youth crime are not being addressed, which is what ultimately would keep the community safer', Anne Hollonds says

Kyiv indicates it will keep reaching out to Republicans and Democrats, as Zelenskiy pays tribute to BidenUkraine will continue to reach out to Republicans and Democrats and avoid being sucked into US internal politics, and a bruising probable contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, officials in Kyiv indicated on Monday.Its president, Volodymyr Zelenksiy, paid a warm tribute to the departing Joe Biden on Sunday, thanking him for his unwavering support". He praised the US president's bold steps" taken in response to challenging times" and Russia's 2022 invasion. Continue reading...

Queen, his biggest show to date, opens in Liverpool and features new commissions of the city's drag performersAs a child, Magnus Hastings loved stealing his sister's clothes and wearing his mother's heels and feather boas, before he got shamed out of being a drag child".Now, decades later, the award-winning photographer is celebrating the artistry of drag and the collective spirit of pride in his biggest exhibition to date at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. Continue reading...

Shane Roller, Shannen Morgan and their daughters Lillie and Rubie died in collision between two vehiclesA couple who died in a crash with two children in West Yorkshire on Sunday that also killed two other adults have been named by police as Shane Roller and Shannen Morgan.The collision between two vehicles, which also left an 11-year-old girl orphaned, happened on the A61 Barnsley Road between Staincross in Barnsley and Newmillerdam, Wakefield, on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading...

Records show Donald and Ivanka Trump made donations to vice-president's California attorney general re-election bidDonald Trump has moved swiftly to turn his attack machine on to the vice-president in the wake of Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race, dusting off his derisive nickname for her: Laffin' Kamala Harris".But as the Republican nominee refocuses his campaign to target Harris, there is one awkward truth that Trump will have to face. What about that check for $5,000 dated 26 September 2011, bearing Trump's distinctive signature, and made payable to one Attorney General Kamala D Harris"? Continue reading...

As many Democrats echo Biden's endorsement of Harris, others say she should not be nominated by default

Europe's largest airline says passengers are waiting until later in the season to book tickets

Rescue deal with Tapi Carpets and Floors will still result in about 1,000 job losses

Property company will use some of proceeds with LVMH-backed investor L Catterton to pay down debtThe property firm Hammerson has sold its stake in the group that controls Bicester Village, the cut-price designer goods shopping centre in Oxfordshire, to the luxury market investor L Catterton in a 1.5bn deal.Hammerson said it would raise 600m in cash proceeds from the sale of its near-40% stake in Value Retail, which also owns nine luxury shopping destinations near Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Munich. The property company plans to use the cash to pay down debt, invest in its other centres and return 140m to shareholders. Continue reading...

US president's contacts list is unmatched since George HW Bush's, but his VP has been slowly building her portfolio

Ex-politician reportedly in talks with potential backers including the Reuben family

Media group controlled by Vincent Bollore to break up, with advertising company Havas to list in Amsterdam

Dani says his 26,000 salary is not high enough to sponsor his wife so she can join him in BritainA police officer working in Manchester says he has been forced to quit his job after Rishi Sunak raised the salary threshold to sponsor his Italian wife to live in the UK in the post-Brexit immigration scheme.Campaigners have warned that his tale of Brexit anguish is being repeated up and down the country in low-paid public sectors where many EU citizens work. Continue reading...

Gregory Aymond blames three predecessors as memo says he socialized or lived with 48 allegedly abusive clergymenThe Roman Catholic archbishop of New Orleans has said the allegations at the heart of a child-sex trafficking investigation being conducted by state police against his archdiocese are a sin", evil" and a crime - but he has insisted he was oblivious to them when they unfolded during a bygone era earlier in his career.Gregory Aymond's comments, in an interview published on Sunday by New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper, were his first about an investigation which erupted into public view in April as Louisiana state troopers served the archdiocese's headquarters with a search warrant that accused the institution of potentially having run a child-sex trafficking ring responsible for widespread sexual abuse of minors dating back decades". Continue reading...

Strong winds and heavy rain trigger 230 weather-related events across the country, while Tropical Storm Gaemi nears TaiwanSlovenia was hit by heavy rain and strong winds on Friday as a series of storms brought an abrupt end to a prolonged hot and dry spell.More than 230 weather-related events including flooding and landslides have been reported across the country. The worst-hit regions were in the Gorenjska municipality of Preddvor, and in Koroka in the north, which experienced similarly devastating floods last August. Continue reading...

Robert Geeves, who is accused of teenage mother's murder, waited 14 days to report her missing, court hears

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Court hears Gregory Geason, who denies assaulting the woman, searched how to get domestic violence charges dropped' in days after argument

Coroner says those who find themselves in same situation as 17-year-old Rohan Cosgriff must know situation will not define them'

African countries hailed for achievements, but UNAids says cases on the rise in other areas of the worldThe majority of new HIV infections last year occurred in countries outside sub-Saharan Africa for the first time.African countries have made swift progress in tackling the virus, with the number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa 56% lower than in 2010, a new report from UNAids said. Globally, infections have fallen by 39% over the same period. Continue reading...

Pro-democracy campaign group finds exports of goods to Russia, vital to its war efforts, roughly doubled in a yearHong Kong has become a global trade hub for the world's most brutal regimes", according to a report examining the city's role in facilitating the flow of goods to countries under sanctions by the west, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.A report published on Monday by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, a campaign group, found that between 2021 and 2022, exports of semiconductors from Hong Kong to Russia roughly doubled to $400m (310m), second only to shipments from mainland China. Semiconductors are vital to Russia's war effort as they are a component in weaponry such as drones and cruise missiles. Continue reading...

System missed 14,000 emergency calls after technical faults caused nearly 11 hours of disruption last summer

Publication's longest-serving editor calls time amid unrest at Nine Entertainment over job cuts and and latest pay offer

Police allege Kiesha Thompson, 23, was deliberately struck and killed by a silver Toyota Prado after she had dropped her daughter off with carers

Many south-eastern areas had their coldest morning of the year, weather bureau says, while Brisbane's 6.3C low was 3.6C colder than Victoria's capital

IWF warns of more AI-made child sexual abuse videos as tools behind them get more widespread and easier to useAdvances in artificial intelligence are being used by paedophiles to produce AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse that could increase in volume as the technology improves, according to a safety watchdog.The majority of such cases seen by the Internet Watch Foundation involve manipulation of existing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or adult pornography, with a child's face transplanted on to the footage. A handful of examples involve entirely AI-made videos lasting about 20 seconds, the IWF said. Continue reading...

Inspector says monitoring after short sentences could be stopped and youth services could take on some casesMinisters should consider reducing the caseload of the probation service by up to 40,000 offenders if they are to ease the overcrowding crisis in prisons, a watchdog has told the Guardian.Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation in England and Wales, said the current model was not sustainable" and suggested ministers should free up capacity by no longer asking probation officers to monitor people released from prison after short custodial sentences for crimes such as shoplifting.He suspects that each of the probation service's 12 regions in England and Wales are already struggling to cope with the number of cases.Approximately two-thirds of the cases his staff inspect fall short of the standards that have been set to keep the public safe.97% of probation delivery units examined by the watchdog were falling below the standards set for good practice.He is drawing up an inspection programme for probation hostels - halfway houses for high-risk offenders - because at present there is no independent oversight of their work. Continue reading...

Victims tell Guardian about widespread practice in war-torn OmdurmanWomen struggling to survive in the war-torn Sudanese city of Omdurman say they are being forced to have sex with soldiers in exchange for food.More than two dozen women who have been unable to flee fighting in Omdurman said that sexual intercourse with men from the Sudanese army was the only way they could access food or goods that they could sell to raise money to feed their families. Continue reading...

Overground station platforms don't have barriers like newer metro lines where glass doors keep people and objects away from the edge'

Temporary deal agreed to prevent escalation of standoffs around the Sierra Madre, a Philippine ship grounded on the disputed Second Thomas ShoalThe Philippines says it has reached an understanding" with China on resupply missions to a beached Filipino naval ship that has been a key flashpoint between the two countries in the South China SeaThe Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the temporary arrangement" with the two sides agreeing to jointly manage maritime differences and de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea. Continue reading...

Former defence minister is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts she says damaged her reputation

Premier Chris Minns says announcement an important milestone in our work to utilise nontraditional methods of delivering more homes sooner'

Ahmad Farhad's abduction sent ripples across Pakistan. After being released on bail, he insists on telling his storyIt was late at night in Islamabad and Ahmad Farhad was returning from a quick trip to the shops when someone walked up behind him. Don't be scared, don't scream and come with us," the figure, dressed in civilian clothes, whispered discreetly into his ear.Still clutching bread, eggs and jam intended for the next morning's breakfast, Farhad went to the car without a sound. With a sinking feeling the poet recognised the vehicle, with its blacked-out windows, as one known to be used by shadowy military agencies in Pakistan for abductions. Continue reading...

Case raises questions about complicity of western financial institutions in persecution of Chinese government criticsTwo exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists have been blocked from accessing their pensions, depriving them of tens of thousands of US dollars of their savings and raising questions about the complicity of western financial institutions in the persecution of Chinese government critics.Assets, including pension savings, belonging to Ted Hui, a former pro-democracy legislator who is now based in Australia, were frozen shortly after he fled from Hong Kong in December 2020. The assets are held by HSBC, a British bank. Continue reading...

Celsius Ballarat fined $10,000, with no conviction recorded, for failing to provide a safe work environment

NHS data also shows diagnosis rate misses target and remains below pre-pandemic levelsRecord numbers of people in England have received a dementia diagnosis in the past year, NHS figures show.The latest data shows a record 487,432 people had a diagnosis in June. However, the rate remains below pre-pandemic levels, with 65% of people estimated to have the condition diagnosed, below the NHS's 66.7% target, which was last met in 2019. Continue reading...

Collision between motorbike and car an absolutely tragic' incident, say police, as appeal for information issuedSix people, including two children, have died in a collision between a car and a motorbike in West Yorkshire.The collision happened on the A61 Barnsley Road between Staincross, Barnsley and Newmillerdam, Wakefield, police said. Continue reading...

Obama and party leaders highlight president's lifetime of service as some begin to back Kamala Harris

Former president and other Republicans say Biden is not fit to serve', with some saying he should resign immediately

After announcing decision not to seek re-election, Biden offers full support and endorsement' of vice-president

The president announced on Twitter he will not seek re-election, and he endorsed Kamala Harris in his place