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Housebuilder welcomes shake-up of planning rules as it reports half-year profits fell by nearly 60% to 99.7m

Former BBC News presenter admitted three counts at Westminster magistrates courtThe former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.Edwards, 62, admitted the offences, which took place between December 2020 and April 2022, when he appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Dinush Kurera has pleaded not guilty to murder and assaulting his son after wife's 2022 death in Melbourne home

While Hamas's capacity to retaliate is diminished, response could come from axis of militias backed by Iran

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Met Office says some areas could get a month's rainfall in a few hours bringing risk of floodingThunderstorms are due to hit Britain on Wednesday and Thursday, but warm weather is likely to continue for the rest of the week.Some areas could receive as much as a month's rainfall in a few hours on Thursday, which could cause flooding, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Outgoing CEO Noel Quinn will have paid $34.4bn to investors during final 18 months in postHSBC is giving a further $4.8bn to shareholders, providing a final parting gift from the outgoing chief executive, Noel Quinn, after a rise in second-quarter profit.The London-headquartered bank said it would buy back another $3bn (2.3bn) worth of shares from investors, who will receive $1.8bn in fresh dividends. Continue reading...

Rise in gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV rates partially due to reduced use of condoms across range of demographics, pathologists say

Foreign minister's alarming' phrasing echoes sovereignty recognised only by Israel and the US under the Trump administration, Palestine advocates say

Survivor Victor Lewis and victim Alan Dare's widow Kerry demand changes and accountability in testimony to Queensland inquest

Japan's agriculture ministry blames shortage on tourists' vast demand for rice and low crop yields last yearJapan's rice stockpile has fallen to the lowest level this century, with a tourism boom part of the cause, government officials say.Private-sector inventories of rice fell to 1.56m tons in June, down 20% from a year earlier and the lowest since 1999, when comparable data was first gathered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It attributed the decrease to the high temperatures that hit crops in 2023 as well as demand from inbound visitors. Last year Japan recorded its hottest September since records began 125 years ago. Continue reading...

Farm north of London to be returned to something like pasture once enjoyed by Anglo-Saxon kingIt was once woodland where Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king, rode in pursuit of deer. Over recent decades, the hillside with a panoramic view of London has become arable fields, pony paddocks and a Christmas tree plantation.But now Harold's Park, a 200-hectare (500 acre) farm just north of the M25 on the edge of the capital, is to be rewilded and returned to something like the tangled wood pasture once enjoyed by King Harold. Continue reading...

Employees reportedly told the airline will no longer operate flights between capital cities

Detention of reporters for covering sensitive news is having a chilling' effect on free media in Somalia, say rights groupsThe arrest of a journalist for reporting on drug use in the Somali military is the latest incident in an apparent clampdown on critical reporting in the country, which is having a chilling" effect on Somalia's media, rights campaigners said.AliNur Salaad was detained last week and accused of immorality, false reporting and insulting the armed forces", after publishing a now-deleted video suggesting that soldiers were vulnerable to attacks by al-Shabaab militants because of widespread use of the traditional narcotic khat. Continue reading...

Member countries from the Global South were intimidated in an attempt to dissuade them from attending summit, says executive directorChina's attempts to stop foreign parliamentarians from attending a summit in Taiwan were massively overstepping" acts of bullying, the organiser has said at the end of the gathering that saw the group - designed to counter China - expand.The Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) held its fourth annual summit in Taipei this week, attended by about 50 parliamentarians from 23 countries. Continue reading...

When detectives asked Anne Geeves, who has pleaded not guilty to her murder, if she had caused harm to missing teenage mother, she swore on the baby's grave' she'd done nothing wrong

Australia's consumer price index rose in the June quarter in line with economists' forecasts

Police say crash happened at about 3.30pm on farmland near Killucan, County WestmeathTwo men have died after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into a building near the Irish village of Killucan.Irish police said the crash happened at approximately 3.30pm on Tuesday on farmland to the east of the village. Continue reading...

Narinder Kaur claimed refunds on goods stolen in 1,000 raids on high street stores across England and WalesA woman who made more than half a million pounds by travelling throughout England and Wales shoplifting and then claiming refunds on the stolen goods has been jailed for 10 years.Narinder Kaur, 54, made more than 1,000 raids on high street stores over a four-year period. When police searched her home in a Wiltshire village they found 150,000 in cash, as well as stolen goods she had not yet returned. Continue reading...

Animal lovers fear legislation will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in overcrowded sheltersTurkish legislators have approved a law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from the country's streets that animal lovers fear will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.Some critics also say the law will be used to target the opposition, which made huge gains in the latest local elections. The legislation includes penalties for mayors who fail to carry out its provisions and the main opposition party has promised not to implement it. Continue reading...

Former member Susannah Storey tells inquiry that Horizon IT problem was sprung on non-executive directorsA senior civil servant said non-executive directors at the Post Office felt blindsided" by the way the company rushed out a 2013 report by forensic accountants which was highly critical of the state-owned body.Susannah Storey, who is now permanent secretary at the department for culture, media and sport, sat on the Post Office board between 2012 and 2014 as a non-executive director and the first shareholder representative of the UK government. Continue reading...

Remarks by Ohio senator emerge as Trump attempts to soften VP pick's childless cat ladies' commentJD Vance reportedly admitted to Republican donors this weekend that Kamala Harris was a threat and a sucker punch", the latest in a string of recent and past remarks that have been seen to undermine the campaign and that led Donald Trump to try to soften his vice-presidential pick's description of Democrats as childless cat ladies".The leaked remarks about Harris were themselves quickly followed on Tuesday by the publication of a previously unseen video of Vance telling an interviewer that not having kids in your life" makes people more sociopathic" and makes the US a little bit less mentally stable". Continue reading...

Model says she never learned about 1972 events and would never knowingly' be part of work linked to horrific tragedy'US model Bella Hadid has said she is shocked", upset" and disappointed" at the Adidas campaign in which she was featured that evoked memories of the terrorist attack that killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.Hadid - who is half-Palestinian - was initially featured in the German sportswear's advertisement campaign for its SL72 running shoe, which paid homage to the Munich games after its release earlier in July. At those Olympics, the Palestinian militant group known as Black September murdered 11 Israeli competitors as well as one German police officer. Continue reading...

Roughly 7% of reproductive-aged women have attempted to induce own abortion, up from 5% before fall of RoeRoughly 7% of women of reproductive age in the US have attempted to induce their own abortions outside the formal healthcare system, a new study has found, up from 5% before Roe v Wade fell in 2022.The study, published on Tuesday in the Jama medical journal, determined how many people reported ever self-managing" their own abortion in 2021 and again in 2023 - a timeline that allowed researchers to examine how Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, the supreme court case that overturned Roe, has affected self-managed abortions. People of color and LGBTQ+ people were more likely to report having ever attempted to end their own pregnancies. Continue reading...

Bakery chain says price of meal deals will stay the same but increased costs have put it under pressureGreggs has increased the amount it charges for some of its items, including an extra 5p on sausage rolls and their vegan equivalent, despite the bakery chain having said earlier this year it had no plans to increase prices.Roisin Currie, chief executive of the Newcastle-based group, said it had increased prices on a small number of products, including cheese sandwiches, in recent weeks as it continued to come under pressure from a growing wage bill. Continue reading...

About 900 operators with overturned convictions offered fixed settlement of 600,000 or can proceed to full claim

Preparations, emergency warnings and recovery grants found lacking following long-running investigation into 2022 disaster

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Police spy who formed relationships with two female activists used tactic permitted by Met', judge toldTwo women who were deceived into sexual relations by the same undercover police officer have called his behaviour degrading and morally bankrupt", a public inquiry has heard.The officer, Trevor Morris, deceived the two women while he spent four years undercover infiltrating leftwing and anti-racist activists. Continue reading...

Olympic rower says men with children also expect their careers will last longer than women who are parentsThe Olympic rower Helen Glover has said fathers on Team GB receive less scrutiny for being parents than female peers and have expectations that their careers will last longer.As the world's No 1 female rower and a two-time Olympic champion, Glover, who has three children, has long been an advocate for working mothers and since announcing her return from retirement a year ago to compete in Paris has been outspoken about the difficulties of juggling parenthood as an elite athlete. Continue reading...

NGN accused of claiming Gordon Brown had seen Rebekah Brooks's emails to justify deleting millions of messages amid phone-hacking investigationDocuments linked to a former News International executive can be searched over claims Rupert Murdoch's media company falsely implicated Gordon Brown and Tom Watson in a fake security threat" to justify" the deletion of millions of emails, the high court heard.News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and defunct News of the World, faces accusations it created a false narrative" that the Labour peer Lord Watson conspired with the ex-prime minister to obtain stolen data as part of an attempt to conceal wrongdoing and subvert" police investigations into the phone-hacking scandal. Continue reading...

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador makes unusual public appeal after arrest of top leaders of Sinaloa cartelMexico's president has taken the unusual step of issuing a public appeal to drug cartels not to fight each other following last week's detention of the top Mexican drug lord Ismael El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at his daily press briefing that he trusted that drug traffickers knew they would only suffer if they stepped up the internal wars that already plague the Sinaloa cartel. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester Police has restricted another officer and referred itself to the IOPCEight officers have been suspended by Greater Manchester police (GMP) after a report of alleged racial discrimination.GMP announced they had also restricted another officer and referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Continue reading...

Infrastructure spending cuts raise waiting list concerns, while end to Stonehenge road project called joyous'The pause by Rachel Reeves on plans to build 40 new hospitals must be as short as possible" to deliver on pledges to drive down waiting lists, the NHS confederation has warned.There was also anxiety across the political spectrum, including among Labour MPs, about what the move would mean for crumbling hospitals affected by the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) crisis. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of members will now vote on offer that could bring long-running dispute to an end

Hospital and road projects also targeted as chancellor accuses Tories of covering up scale of fiscal shortfall

Former BBC presenter charged with three offences after Met police investigationThe former BBC presenter, Huw Edwards, has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.Edwards, who left the BBC in April, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday on charges relating to images shared on a WhatsApp chat. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister releases statement following visit to scene of strike in which 12 youngsters died

Dutch artist's 17th-century work said to have inspired tableau that has offended Christian and conservative criticsA controversial tableau in the Olympics opening ceremony denounced by Christian and conservative critics as an offensive parody of The Last Supper was in fact inspired by a 17th-century Dutch painting of the Greek Olympian gods, art historians have said.Does this painting remind you of something?" the Magnin Museum in the French city of Dijon asked (with a wink) on X, inviting people to come and admire" The Feast of the Gods, painted by the artist Jan van Bijlert between 1635 and 1640. Continue reading...

Anita Rose, 57, was found near the railway line at Brantham early on Wednesday morningDetectives investigating the murder of a woman who died after she was attacked while taking her dog for a walk are appealing for information from rail passengers who may have seen something.Anita Rose, 57, left her house to take her springer spaniel Bruce for a walk in Brantham at about 5am on Wednesday, Suffolk police said. Continue reading...

Former president told Christian supporters on Friday it'll be fixed' in four years if he wins 2024 electionDemocrats have expressed outrage after Donald Trump told a group of Christian supporters on Friday that if he wins the presidency in November, they would never need to vote again.Christians, get out and vote, just this time," the former president and current presidential nominee told the crowd at at Turning Point Action's Believers' Summit on Friday. You won't have to do it any more. Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians." Continue reading...

Russian defence ministry says troops continue to make gains in Donetsk province, as Ukrainian president visits frontline in KharkivVolodymyr Zelenskiy said he had arrived in the area of Vovchansk in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been trying to advance since May.Today, I had the honour to be there to congratulate our special forces warriors on their professional day and to present them with state awards," the Ukrainian president wrote on X. Continue reading...

Annual report also shows former chief executive was paid 652,569 for his final year, including a 34,345 bonus

Solicitor for young man kicked by officer claims media have focused on him instead of police misconductThe lawyer for the family at the centre of the Manchester airport brawl has said he is stepping aside as investigations into the incident gather pace.Akhmed Yakoob became the focus of criticism after claiming 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was the victim of an attempted assassination" that had left him fighting for his life". Continue reading...

Gerald Darmanin says activists may have been encouraged to carry out arson attacks that caused disruptionFrance's interior minister has suggested that far-left activists were behind the sabotage of the country's high-speed rail system on the eve of the Olympics opening ceremony.Four days after the attacks, Gerald Darmanin said the investigation into the arson attacks had identified a certain number of profiles who could have committed it". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Asked if he, Katy Gallagher and Murray Watt were uncomfortable about crossing the picket line, Bill Shorten said the AFR cancelled the conference'

Neil McCausland criticises business and tells inquiry Horizon IT system was clunky and creaky'

Temperatures expected to soar to 35C, making some competitions more challenging for athletesThe Paris Olympics had a soggy start but conditions improved over the weekend. Meteorologists now expect temperatures to soar early this week, prompting several warnings.The weather in the French capital has been forecast to climb to 35C (95F) on Tuesday, about 8C above average for the time of year, making some competitions more challenging for the athletes. Southern parts of France are likely to experience the hottest weather, reaching the high 30s celsius, nearly 10C above average. Continue reading...

Fifty potential cases in first three months of this year as rising costs lead to increase in parallel marketThe EU had a record number of potential olive oil fraud and mislabelling cases in the first quarter of this year as inflationary pressures fuelled an increase in the hidden market for the kitchen staple.The cost of olive oil has more than doubled since 2018 with production hit by extreme weather caused by the climate crisis and other factors. Continue reading...