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Independent Schools Council says its focus is on children and it is concerned about impact on specialist schoolsThe Independent Schools Council (ISC) has said it will launch legal action against the government's decision to impose VAT on independent school fees.The council, which represents more than 1,400 private schools in the UK and abroad, reached its decision after a board meeting held on Thursday. Continue reading...

Greek Cypriot Costa Koushiappis to be removed from UK even though his application is pending with Home OfficeAn EU citizen caught up in a Home Office backlog of applications for post-Brexit residency status is to be deported by Border Force officials in Scotland.Costa Koushiappis, 39, who is Greek Cypriot, has been told to show up at Edinburgh airport at 7am on Friday to be forcibly put on a flight to Amsterdam just weeks after he received an email from the Home Office to say it could take a further 24 months to process his application for status. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves made funding the NHS a priority but people working in other areas said they were disappointedRachel Reeves's first budget emphasised raising taxes to help the NHS, as the health service tries to cope with huge waiting lists and an ageing population. Funding the NHS was a top priority but people in other sectors - from universities to social care - feel the budget was a missed opportunity to tackle impending crises or introduce desperately needed reforms in their areas. Continue reading...

Peter Lynch, 61, had been convicted of rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in RotherhamA 61-year-old man who was found dead in prison is believed to have killed himself, an inquest heard.Peter Lynch was jailed after being convicted of rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manvers, Rotherham.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Pro-choice campaigners welcome CPS guidance that silent prayer' is among the activities prohibited within the 150-metre buffer areaAnti-abortion activists have been taking up positions just outside new buffer zones around reproductive health clinics on the first day of a law coming into effect.The safe access zones - which were initially approved by MPs in May last year - prohibit actions including the handing-out of anti-abortion leaflets within a 150-metre radius around centres in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Markets conclude higher level of public spending could lead to higher inflation, making cuts in Bank of England rate less likely

Unless the chancellor's capital spending increases stimulate private investment, expect more tax rises aheadChoosing to hold a bumper tax-raising budget the day before Halloween was always going to create presentational problems for Rachel Reeves. If you announce plans to borrow more and increase the size of the state you can expect the headline writers to have fun at your expense. The Daily Telegraph's Nightmare on Downing Street" summed up the mood.Reeves is not naive and knew what was coming. But while the chancellor would have preferred more positive headlines, a budget is judged not on its day 1 reception but over months and years. Continue reading...

Stephen Cockroft says he had been quite sure' novichok victim had suffered catastrophic' brain damageA hospital consultant who treated Sergei and Yulia Skripal after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok was gobsmacked" when Yulia woke and began trying to get out of bed four days after the attack.Dr Stephen Cockroft said he tried to reassure Yulia, who was crying and terrified", that she was safe and also asked her if anyone had attacked her and her father or sprayed anything over them. Continue reading...

PM says budget just first step' after watchdog said measures would make no difference to growth over five yearsRachel Reeves is now being interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain.She is being interviewed by Ed Balls, the former Labour shadow chancellor who is now a TV presenter. He asks her to confirm that workers will end up losing out because of the employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) increase. Continue reading...

EU and US demand investigation as opposition and pro-European president cry foulOfficials in Georgia said a partial recount confirmed the ruling party had won its disputed election, while a global research and data firm called the official results reported by the electoral commission statistically impossible".The pro-western opposition on Thursday repeated its earlier assertions that the parliamentary vote had been stolen" by the ruling Georgian Dream party and it refused to recognise the results, plunging the Caucasus country into uncertainty. Continue reading...

Campaigners disappointed after plan scrapped, amid evidence juries are influenced by rape mythsThe Scottish government has scrapped a pilot of jury-less trials for rape cases, which aimed to tackle endemic low conviction rates for sexual assault prosecution, after a backlash from the highest levels of the legal profession.Campaigners against sexual violence expressed disappointment that the proposal, which would have made Scotland the first part of the UK to use specialist courts and judge-only trials for serious sexual assaults, had been dropped. Continue reading...

Court order blocks Vancouver physician Ellen Wiebe from euthanizing Alberta resident due to lack of physical ailmentA British Columbia judge has issued a rare, last-minute injunction barring a woman from accessing euthanasia after physicians in her home province refused to approve the request.The injunction, granted to the woman's common law partner, blocks the Vancouver physician Ellen Wiebe, or any other medical professional, from causing the death" of an Alberta woman within the next 30 days. Continue reading...

People warned to stay inside because of high risk of storm surges, flooding and landslides as typhoon crosses islandThe biggest typhoon to hit Taiwan in decades has crossed over the island, leaving behind a path of destruction but minimal reported deaths or injuries.Typhoon Kong-rey was the largest in size to make landfall in Taiwan since 1996, and also struck later in the typhoon season, which typically stretches from May to October, than any other typhoon since record-keeping began in the 1950s. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Jo Tarnawsky's lawyer says she remains in the same limbo' as three weeks ago and calls the situation untenable'

Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane remain the strongest capital city property markets, with prices up 20.58%, 14.91% and 12.51% over the past year

Australia's future is closely tied to the future occupant of the White House. What impacts could a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump presidency have?

GB News to challenge decision and watchdog will not enforce sanction until proceedings are concluded

Levy that reduced usage by more than three-quarters in four years fell victim to rightwing culture wars, say criticsA tax that has reduced plastic bag consumption in Sweden by more than three-quarters in four years is being abolished on Friday, despite warnings that the move could lead to usage rising back towards previous levels.Since the introduction of the 3 kroner (0.21) tax in May 2020, plastic bag usage in the country has slumped. In 2019, before the levy was introduced, people in Sweden used an average of 74 plastic bags (15-50 micrometres thick) per person each year each. In 2023 that number had dropped to 17. Continue reading...

Trends in online chatter mirror patterns observed in the lead-up to 2020 elections and January 6 Capitol attackThere could be a potential surge in political violence following the upcoming US election, and pro-Trump rightwing vigilante poll watchers" might surveil ballot drop boxes as Americans cast their votes, experts warned this week.A new report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) highlighted alarming trends in online chatter, mirroring patterns observed in the lead-up to the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol insurrection.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Owner of Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot brands pushes back against rules that force sale of more electric vehicles

Rare intervention comes as Resolution Foundation says UK will remain stagnation nation' despite push to invest

Test of apparent ICBM theoretically capable of striking US mainland comes amid warnings over North Korean troops in UkraineNorth Korea has test launched a long-range missile theoretically capable of striking the US mainland in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing warnings over its troops' participation in the war in Ukraine.US officials said they believed Thursday's launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan's defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested by North Korea. Continue reading...

Law firm AS&H Clifford Chance failed to include alleged abuse of migrant workers in assessment for Fifa 2034 bid, say rights groupsA report by the Saudi arm of a global law firm on Saudi Arabia's 2034 Fifa World Cup bid has whitewashed" the Gulf kingdom's record of exploiting and suppressing the rights of migrant workers, rights groups have claimed.AS&H Clifford Chance was commissioned to independently assess the human rights implications of the bid, but the report contains no substantive discussion of extensive and relevant abuses in Saudi Arabia", according to a statement released by 11 organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Continue reading...

Online system incorrectly approved 79 divorces after submissions were sent a day before law allowsDozens of divorce applications were wrongly approved due to a computer error, the high court has heard.A hearing in London on Wednesday was told that 79 divorces were incorrectly approved after the applications were submitted a day before the law allows. An online system failed to detect that the submissions came a year after marriage, when the law only permits divorces from a year and a day. Continue reading...

Beloved son and brother' mourned, as three children injured in Auburn South primary school car crash remain in hospital with one discharged

Upper house president Terry Stephens says of highest concern' is suggestion Howe attempted to improperly influence the free performance' of MLCs' duties

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In today's newsletter: They spent weeks bracing the country for tough decisions', but in Labour's first budget in 14 years, the chancellor adopted a slightly more optimistic tone Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It was Labour's first budget in 14 years; it was the first budget ever to be delivered by a female chancellor; and, as a share of GDP, it takes taxes to their highest level since comparable records began. As heavily trailed as Rachel Reeves's appearance at the dispatch box yesterday was, it was still a monumental political moment, and one that is likely to set the course of the country for many years to come.After weeks of paving the way for a rough budget by blaming her Conservative predecessors for the economic legacy she inherited, Reeves largely struck a more optimistic tone in her delivery. And, by some measures, she has successfully charted a course that will increase growth and balance the books without increasing the burden on those endlessly-discussed working people" as heavily as had been expected.UK news | Keir Starmer has warned Tory leadership contenders Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch against undermining the police investigation into the Southport attack. Jenrick said information about the attack was concealed", while Badenoch said that the government and police have questions to answer".Spain | At least 95 people were dead after torrential rains in southern and eastern Spain on Tuesday brought flash floods that raged through towns and cut off roads and railway lines.UK news | The Blur drummer, Dave Rowntree, has attacked the UK law on assisted dying as psychopathic" as he spoke out for the first time about the choice of his terminally ill ex-wife to take her own life at Dignitas in Switzerland.India | The Canadian government has publicly alleged that India's home affairs minister, Amit Shah - closest political ally of the prime minister, Narendra Modi - was behind a recent series of plots to murder and intimidate Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.US election | Donald Trump dressed as a sanitation worker and appeared in the cab of a garbage truck in Wisconsin as he sought to capitalise on a gaffe by Joe Biden. Biden appeared to call Trump supporters garbage" but later said he was referring to a comedian's hateful rhetoric" about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally. Continue reading...

Queensland judge finds 18-year-old guilty of burglary and assault occasioning bodily harm in 2022 home invasion

Once-in-a-generation summit set to commence in Griffith on 1 November amid concern over transparency and questions over commitment to meaningful change

Deng Chol Majek, 18, is charged with fatally stabbing Rhiannon Whyte at Bescot Stadium railway stationThe sister of Rhiannon Skye Whyte, who was fatally stabbed while waiting on the platform of a Walsall train station, a two-minute walk from her workplace, has called the impact of losing her catastrophic".Whyte, 27, was seriously injured at Bescot Stadium railway station on 20 October while on the phone to her best friend, after finishing a shift at a nearby Radisson hotel. Continue reading...

Opposition leader, who says Anthony Albanese is obfuscating' in his answers on Qantas upgrades, says he never personally asked mining magnate

Man sentenced to more than five years in prison after bashing stranger unconscious during attempted theft of e-scooter

Clients of now closed Fresh Cosmetic Clinic warned to get tested after possible exposure to blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV

Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam, who was ordered to leave podium after refusing to translate speech, attacks racist' mindsetA Greenlandic MP has accused Copenhagen of cognitive dissonance" after she was ordered to leave the podium in parliament for refusing to translate her speech calling out human rights abuses against the former Danish colony.In the speech delivered earlier this month, Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam paid tribute to victims of the so-called Spiral contraceptive scandal in which Greenlandic women and girls say they were fitted with an intrauterine device (IUD) by Danish doctors without their knowledge or consent. Continue reading...

Dave Rowntree speaks out about his ex-wife's choice to take her life at Dignitas in SwitzerlandThe Blur drummer, Dave Rowntree, has attacked the UK law on assisted dying as psychopathic" as he spoke out for the first time about the choice of his terminally ill ex-wife to take her own life at Dignitas in Switzerland.Rowntree said that the choice facing dying people who are facing extreme suffering was brutal" and the criminalisation of assisted dying made him bloody angry" as he called for a change in the law to allow adults with months to live to be allowed help to take their own lives. Continue reading...

Children's commissioner says child, whose charges were later dropped, had significant' trauma and was sexually exploited

Jo Wright, 64, tells AGM she is subject to an unfair rostering system at supermarket giant and not remunerated properly for her experience

Regulator alleges in court case one person living with a disability was sold a phone, a contract, an internet plan and accessories despite not wanting most of it

Historian also questions complete silence' around First Nations sovereignty in new design

Prime minister's office says it took six days to respond clearly because they had to check decades of communications between Albanese and airline

Choice finds basket of nine items cost $99.38 on average at four remote community stores in Western Australia and the Northern Territory

Vanessa LeMaistre says Grammy-nominated producer raped her in 2016 and that she became pregnant from attackA Los Angeles woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that Metro Boomin, a Grammy-nominated producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, raped her in 2016 and she became pregnant from the attack.The producer's attorney calls the accusations false and said the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles superior court is a pure shakedown". Continue reading...

WHO food scientist says relying on voluntary measures to reduce salt in the country's food supply is not enough

Xu is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his familyConcerns are growing about the health of Xu Zhiyong, China's most prominent imprisoned human rights lawyer, who is thought to have been on hunger strike for nearly a month.Xu, a scholar and leading figure in China's embattled civil rights movement, started his hunger strike on 4 October, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an NGO. He is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his family and intensive surveillance by other prisoners, according to reports released through his relatives. Continue reading...

Lianne Gordon, 42, was hit in the head at her home as she tried to shield her two children from a gang feudA teenager has been found guilty of murdering a mother who was shot in the head through her front door as she tried to shield her two children from a gang feud.Lianne Gordon, 42, had only just returned from a holiday in Jamaica when she was attacked in her home in Hackney, east London on 5 December 2023, the Old Bailey was told. Continue reading...

Lloyd Austin says deployment near Ukraine border is a dangerous and destabilising developmentNorth Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who described the deployment as a dangerous and destabilising development.Austin was speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with the South Korean defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang's deployment of as many as 11,000 troops to Russia. The US and South Korea said some of the North Korean troops are heading to Kursk, on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin's forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion. Continue reading...

Country ordered to compensate victims of programme that affected more than 300,000 women in 1990sA UN committee has urged Peru to compensate women who were forcibly sterilised in the 1990s, ruling that the state policy could constitute a crime against humanity".Forced sterilisation was part of a programme implemented by Peru's then president Alberto Fujimori during the final four years before he left office in 2000 after a decade in power. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Middle East, read our full coverage here.Under the laws - which will not be implemented for several months - Unrwa could not operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly". Continue reading...

The government knows cynical voters will need to see tangible change in public services and to feel better offAt the final political cabinet before Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week, ministers were presented with internal party research on what the public was expecting.In the months since the general election, they had been fed a regular diet of gloomy warnings about the state of the economic inheritance and, more recently, high levels of pre-budget news coverage, so it was firmly on their horizon. Continue reading...