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Stewart Wingate says 2.2bn plan will add to south-east's air capacity more quickly than Heathrow expansionThe boss of Gatwick said he hopes and expects" the government will back the airport's plans for a second runway, adding that its proposals would bring extra air capacity to the south-east more quickly than a third runway at Heathrow.Stewart Wingate, the airport's chief executive since 2009, said the 2.2bn plan to create a fully functioning second runway by the end of the decade had strong economic credentials and could chime" with the government's growth agenda. Continue reading...

Former Tory party chairman Jake Berry says former prime minister must have taken leave of his senses' when he called electionThe former home secretary James Cleverly has defended his record as he reacted to the latest Home Office figures which showed the outgoing Conservative government granted 286,382 work visas in the year to June 2024, 11% down on the previous year (see more details in post at 10.41)Home Office data also showed the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats fell by almost a third in Rishi Sunak's last year as prime minister.When I said I was going to cut migration, I meant it. Visas down, small boat arrivals down, cut the backlog & cut the asylum grant rate. It's not about words, it's about delivery. Continue reading...

Movement launched protest after party rejected requests for Palestinian American to speak on the main stageA sit-in that began Wednesday evening in protest of the Democratic convention's denial of a Palestinian American speaker on the main stage continued on Thursday.Uncommitted, a national movement that began in Michigan, won 30 delegates to the convention and has tried to use the party process to pressure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to broker an end to the war in Gaza. The sit-in has been taking place outside the United Center, where Harris will speak this evening, is the latest attempt to get the Democratic party to allow greater prominence for the anti-war movement at this week's convention in Chicago. Organizers were expected to remain in place until or unless the party changes course. Continue reading...

Pommel horse guy' becomes first confirmed cast member for reality show's 33rd season premiering 17 SeptemberThe US Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik will appear on the new Dancing with the Stars season, ABC's Good Morning America hosts announced on Thursday.I want to bring some of that gymnastics - maybe a backflip or handstand. I want to have fun with it," Nedoroscik told GMA hosts Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Gio Benitez. Continue reading...

Teresa Woorman takes moment in limelight in her stride after cameras cut to her during Oprah Winfrey speechWhen the cameras panned over from Oprah Winfrey calling out childless cat ladies" at the Democratic national convention, they landed on an unsuspecting woman who nodded along to Winfrey's words and prompted plenty of reactions online - and a response from the woman herself.During Winfrey's speech on Wednesday, the cameras awkwardly cut to the audience member Teresa Woorman, a delegate from district 16 in Maryland. Continue reading...

Felipe David says he acted without thinking' when he saw the boy had gotten into trouble at Alicante apartmentA Brazilian migrant living in Spain has been hailed as a hero after he risked his own life to rescue a young child who was dangling precariously off a second-floor balcony in the coastal city of Alicante.Felipe David Souza, a 29-year-old painter, was preparing to head home on Wednesday when he heard screams outside the apartment where he was working. He glanced out and saw that a crowd of people had gathered on the street below. Continue reading...

Teaching events being relocated while urgent repairs carried out on 1970s structures with degraded concreteThe University of Leicester is dealing with a major incident" over crumbling buildings on campus that will be closed for years and require a major relocation of classes while they undergo repairs.Two large buildings on the university's main campus, where students attend hundreds of lectures and seminars each academic year, will be closed owing to concrete degradation and the corrosion of steel reinforcements that support the structures. Continue reading...

Tech tycoon, 59, was among six people missing since early hours of Monday morning when Bayesian yacht capsizedThe British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, according to officials.Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time on Monday off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado. Continue reading...

Three adults and one minor arrested over suspected acts of terrorism against Palestinians, Israeli security services say. This live blog is closedThe crew of a Greek-flagged oil tanker that was attacked in the Red Sea on Wednesday abandoned the vessel and were rescued by the EU's Red Sea naval mission Aspides", an official in the mission told Reuters on Thursday.The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea region since November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Continue reading...

Building society staff surprised to receive card believed to date back to 1903 and addressed to Lydia DavisIn the age of next-day deliveries and speedy shipping from all corners of the world, the days of waiting around for a letter or package were thought to be over. In Swansea however, staff at a building society were taken aback after receiving a postcard that was delivered 121 years late.The card, printed with a view of a stag standing in front of snowy mountains, is believed to date back to 1903 but was only recently received by staff at Swansea Building Society in Cradock Street. Continue reading...

Tech tycoon's 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for, reports say. This live blog is closed

Birmingham was planning 300m in cuts but there are concerns the council's financial crisis was overstatedPoliticians in Birmingham have called for council cuts, thought to be the biggest in local authority history, to be halted or scaled back due to concerns the council's financial crisis may have been overstated.Birmingham city council is planning to make 300m in savings and sell assets worth 750m before April 2026 after it issued a section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy, in September last year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pledge comes after mayor met parents of Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad, who were killed in Wimbledon crashSadiq Khan will ask senior leaders in the Metropolitan police to consider expediting investigations into collisions where children have died after meeting the parents of the two girls who were killed in the Wimbledon school crash.The mayor of London's pledge comes after he met the families of Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau. The two eight-year-olds died last year after a Land Rover ploughed into the Study Prep school in Wimbledon, south-west London. Continue reading...

A quarter of all incidents, such as destruction of dams, pipelines and treatment plants, seen in Gaza Strip and West BankIsraeli attacks on Palestinian water supplies in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip accounted for a quarter of all water-related violence in 2023, as armed conflicts over dwindling resources surged globally, according to new research.Almost 350 water conflicts were documented worldwide in 2023, a 50% rise on 2022, which was also a record year, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based non partisan thinktank tracking water violence. The violence included attacks on dams, pipelines, wells, treatment plants and workers, as well as public unrest and disputes over access to water, and the use of water as a weapon of war. Continue reading...

Comments come after wave of false claims online about suspect in killing of 11-year-old boyA Spanish judge has called for an end to social media anonymity in the wake of a wave of online disinformation after the killing of an 11-year-old boy.Miguel Angel Aguilar, a judge from the court that handles hate crimes and discrimination, wants to oblige platforms to reveal users' true identity in cases of suspected hate crime so the law can impose digital restraining orders. Continue reading...

Jenny Paterson says council are not very interested in us' so she and her neighbour tackled holes themselvesAs a resident of Caithness, the most northerly part of the British mainland, Jenny Paterson has access to unspoilt wilderness, dramatic seascapes and spectacular sightings of the aurora borealis.Yet at a more mundane level, the scourge of potholes respects no boundaries, and so the 75-year-old decided to fill in the accident-inducing eyesores outside her home by herself, with the help of a neighbour and some gardening equipment. Continue reading...

Patio cleaner in Staffordshire will pay 'significant damages and legal costs' to group behind easyJet brandA pressure washing company will have to change its name from EasyJetwash and pay damages after a trademark dispute with the group behind the easyJet brand.EasyGroup said the jetwash company's founder, Jozsef Spekker, had agreed to pay significant damages and legal costs without having to go to a full trial in court". Continue reading...

Gap on top grades between private and comprehensive schools rises from 28.2 percentage points to 29 percentage points

Unite union makes claim as it calls on CMA to block tie-up that would bring 27m customers under one provider

Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, described by colleagues as cherished friend' as police appeal for witnessesA 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a parcel delivery driver was killed in Leeds.Detectives are appealing for witnesses to the death of Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, who was described by his colleagues as a dedicated and cherished" friend. Continue reading...

Arakan Army targeting Muslim minority as Myanmar's military are driven out of Rakhine, UN official saysThousands of Rohingya are being forced to flee from their homes in Myanmar and escape on dangerous boat journeys after being targeted by armed rebels, activists and officials say.Having seized control of much of Myanmar's Rakhine state from the military, the rebel Arakan Army has turned on the Rohingya minority in areas it controls, shelling villages, forcing them to leave their homes and reportedly rounding up groups of men. Continue reading...

State government apologises for data system breach as victim says it left her completely defeated, broken, scared and worried'

Freedom, the central song in the Kamala Harris campaign, appeared in a Trump campaign video but was contested by singer's label and publisherBeyonce has blocked Donald Trump from using her song Freedom, after the track - the central song for the Kamala Harris campaign - was used for a Trump campaign video on social media.Trump spokesman Steven Cheung posted the video showing Trump walking off a plane, backed by Freedom. Rolling Stone and Billboard reported that Beyonce's record label and publisher moved to block the use, and Cheung's video has now been deleted from social media. Continue reading...

Results show wide variations across England, while share of top grades in Wales and Northern Ireland drops

Staff urged to speak to authorities if they have experienced an unsafe workplace as Anton Forte resigns from hospitality association

Former prime minister adds $461,445 to his expenses, while Linda Reynolds incurs $166,700 in costs related to Brittany Higgins's rape allegation

Former defence minister claims trust was created with the intention of defeating or delaying' her former staffer's creditors, of which she is one

Class action claimed 35% of embryos destroyed after flawed testing could have resulted in viable pregnancy

Support for idea comes as Victorian government unveils plan to fast-track planning approvals in 10 hubs across city

Criminals are tricking young people into sending intimate images, then demanding money. Experts explain how to deal with these attacks

Federal police said the man was taken to hospital for assessment after he left the plane

Former deputy immigration secretary says James Paterson quoted him very, very selectively' from interview in The Australian

Southbank man, understood to be a food delivery rider, died at scene of crash on Plummer Street in Port Melbourne

Charity says rise hugely concerning' and calls for change in law in England and Northern Ireland in line with rest of UKConcerns raised to the NSPCC helpline about children being physically punished have more than tripled in a year, the charity has said.Helpline staff heard about children being hit, slapped and shaken, with 45% of the concerns raised requiring a referral to social services, the police or other agencies.The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. Continue reading...

Zoo staff brought Magic to Sphen's side to process the loss, and the penguin colony joined in his mournful call

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod says ex-president and wife made Trump alien to values most Americans share'

Officers called to house in Accrington on Tuesday after 53-year-old dog owner found deadPolice have launched an investigation after a man was killed by his own XL bully dog in Lancashire.Officers were called to reports of a canine attacking someone inside a house in Accrington shortly before 9.30pm on Tuesday, Lancashire police said. Continue reading...

Pentagon investment would make North America's first cobalt sulfate refinery as US looks to diversify supply chainThe US military has made its largest investment in Canada's mining sector in decades, spending millions amid a looming battle among nations to control the supply of cobalt.On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced a $20m grant to help build a cobalt refinery in the province of Ontario, saying the investment will create a more robust industrial base capable of meeting growing demand across both the defense and commercial sectors". Continue reading...

With hustle kingdoms' teaching young people the tricks of the trade, there has been a surge in blackmailing crimes

Exclusive: Agency says foreign gangs not safe from prosecution in UK and plans new recording label to track extent of the crime

English banker Jonathan Bloomer and American lawyer Chris Morvillo reportedly confirmed as among bodies recovered by Italian rescuersReuters, citing a source, reports that one of the two bodies found by divers is a heavily built man."Italian rescue divers have found two bodies inside the sunken luxury yacht, Reuters reported citing a source. Continue reading...

Identities not disclosed but UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter were among those onboard

Bodies of missing people recovered as witnesses and experts ponder fate of ship hit by localised storm off SicilyFishers in the Sicilian village of Porticello who witnessed the Bayesian superyacht sink rapidly in a violent storm on Monday say that the vessel was in the wrong place at the wrong time.But for Italian prosecutors investigating the incident, their focus will be on whether the captain and crew took all the necessary safety measures to prevent the tragedy. Continue reading...

Campaigners are warning the chancellor that any delay will keep hundreds of thousands of children in povertyRachel Reeves is coming under renewed pressure to end the two-child benefit cap at next month's budget, after the Guardian revealed the chancellor is preparing to keep it in place.MPs and anti-poverty campaigners are warning that any delay in scrapping the cap will keep hundreds of thousands of children in poverty, with just weeks until Reeves unveils her first major fiscal package. Continue reading...

Rightwing leader to speak at benefit dinner for climate-change denying thinktank, as he sunsets' party's chief executive roleNigel Farage is scheduled to make a third visit to the US in little more than two months since he was elected MP, speaking at a dinner for a rightwing think tank where tables cost up to $50,000 each to reserve.The Reform UK leader is listed as the main speaker at a benefit event for the Heartland Institute, an Illinois-based organisation which is a denier of human-created climate change. Its president, James Taylor, who is also speaking, has called climate change a sham". Continue reading...

Extreme heat affecting nearly 23m people across US south-west and pushing Texas's electrical grid to the limitA heat dome covering the US's south-west region is affecting nearly 23 million Americans, bringing with it some of the highest temperatures of the summer and putting pressure on the electrical grid in Texas.The heat dome phenomenon occurs when strong, high pressure traps hot air over a region, preventing cool air from traveling in and causing temperatures to rise on the ground and stay high. Continue reading...

Number of homes struck in Golan Heights, with one person woundedHezbollah has launched more than 50 rockets and a swarm of drones towards northern Israel, hitting a number of homes in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and wounding one person.The strikes on Wednesday by the Lebanese militant group came the day after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, met mediators from Egypt and Qatar, even as Hamas and Israel poured cold water on any prospect of any imminent pause in the fighting in Gaza. Continue reading...

Sketch duo Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill's solo shows have both been nominated for the fringe's top prize, alongside acts including LA clown Natalie PalamidesFor the first time in its 43-year-history, male comedians are in the minority on the shortlist for the prestigious Edinburgh comedy award. The nominations for the prize, formerly known as the Perrier, also include two closely entwined pairs of comedians, with Catherine Bohart lining up against her former partner Sarah Keyworth, and Amy Gledhill pitted against the other half of her sketch double-act The Delightful Sausage (themselves twice previously nominated for the award), Chris Cantrill. Also featuring on the list are 2017's best newcomer Natalie Palamides with the extraordinary Weer, and a pair of Australians: the tomfoolish Josh Glanc and the queer cabaret powerhouse Reuben Kaye.The awards' producer and West End impresario Nica Burns hailed the range of comic styles represented, from clowning to character comedy to musical comedy and traditional standup". The favourite is probably LA clown Palamides (already a Netflix star with her unforgettable special Nate), with an outrageous romcom pastiche that casts either side of her body as two lovers in a messy 1990s romance. East Midlander Keyworth's show My Eyes Are Up Here, about their recent top surgery, already has a top prize in the bag from this year's Melbourne comedy festival; acts including Hannah Gadsby with Nanette have done that awards double-whammy before. A victory for the singer and comedian Kaye would be seen as a vindication for his campaign, staged on and offstage, to resist burgeoning queerphobia in Australia and beyond. Continue reading...

Fans can stay at the Casbah Coffee Club where the Quarrymen, the precursor band to the Beatles, had a residencyThey are probably the most famous band in the world, but without a dilapidated building in Liverpool, a lucky bet on a race horse and one woman's ambitious dream, the Beatles may never have existed.The Casbah Coffee Club, owned by the mother of the band's original drummer, Pete Best, is where it all began for the Fab Four. She purchased the building after winning a bet and gave the Quarrymen - the precursor band to the Beatles - a residency. Continue reading...