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Energy secretary backs voluntary price comparison scheme in meeting with supermarket bosses rather than new lawThe energy secretary, Grant Shapps, appears to have rowed back on plans for a law to force supermarkets to make fuel prices more transparent, instead backing a voluntary price comparison scheme in a meeting with supermarket bosses.Shapps on Monday endorsed the non-mandatory scheme, which had been suggested by the competition regulator, after a summit with retailers that he had promised would involve him holding rip-off retailers" to account. Continue reading...

The World Food Programme's Haiti response is only 16% funded with more than half of the country's population regularly hungryThe World Food Programme (WFP) will be unable to feed 100,000 Haitians this month as the UN agency has insufficient funding to meet burgeoning humanitarian needs in the embattled Caribbean nation.Haitians grappling with dire malnutrition will have to endure the absence of vital food and financial support amid the worst hunger crisis the country has ever witnessed, the WFP announced on Monday. Continue reading...

Bethany Cox appears at Teesside magistrates court charged with procuring her own miscarriage shortly after first Covid lockdownA 22-year-old woman has appeared in court accused of procuring poison" to abort her child shortly after the first Covid lockdown.Bethany Cox, from Eaglescliffe in Stockton-on-Tees, appeared before Teesside magistrates court on Monday charged with child destruction" and procuring her own miscarriage by poison/use of instrument". Continue reading...

Celtic authorities to work together on areas such as holiday homes crisis, offshore wind and language conservationThey are separated by choppy waters - and different political ideologies.But the leaders of Wales and Cornwall have come together to sign an agreement vowing to work together on shared issues, ranging from the crisis of holiday homes to the prospect of cooperating on offshore wind power projects in the Celtic Sea. Continue reading...

Six metre wide abyss in Prestwich believed to be caused by a collapsed sewerAn enormous sinkhole has opened up in a street in Greater Manchester, swallowing several wheelie bins and becoming an instant local attraction.A sewer running under Heywood Road in Prestwich collapsed on Monday after heavy rain, creating a crater at least six metres (20ft) wide. Residents closed access to their own road using wheelie bins, some of which ended up falling victim to the hungry abyss. Continue reading...

Former equalities minister hopes rights will become uncontentious in interview for 10th anniversary of equal marriageDebates within the Conservative party on LGBTQ+ issues have become toxic", a Tory MP has said in an interview marking the 10th anniversary of equal marriage becoming legal in the UK.Speaking to PoliticsHome, the former equalities minister Mike Freer said he hoped that in the future issues regarding LGBTQ+ rights would no longer be seen as a debate. Continue reading...

Singer gives evidence in trial of actor accused of committing sexual offences against four men between 2001 and 2013Elton John has told a court that Kevin Spacey attended a charity ball at his home and stayed overnight after arriving by private jet.The singer also quipped that he was always in a mad rush" when leaving West End theatres, saying: It could be the queen and I wouldn't notice her." Continue reading...

No more talks planned, says official, despite Turkish leader expressing hope of progress at UN meeting

Driscoll raises funds needed to pay for campaign after leaving Labour and announcing plans to run against former partyIn his interview for broadcasters this morning Rishi Sunak also paid tribute to Ben Wallace, following the defence secretary's announcement that he expects to leave cabinet at the next reshuffle and to stand down as an MP at the next election.Asked if he was sorry to see Wallace go, Sunak replied:Of course I am ... Ben's been a great defence secretary. I've enjoyed working with him and he's got a track record he can be very proud of.[Wallace has] been in politics and public service for a very long time, and, as he said, he wants to be able to spend more time with his family, and as a dad myself I completely understand and sympathise with that.Sunak said the policy partly intended to reinforce the message that you don't have to go to university to succeed in life". He explained:For many people university is the right answer and it does brilliantly, but actually there are a range of people who are being let down by the current system.They're being taken advantage of with low-quality courses that don't lead to a job that it makes it worth it, leaves them financially worse-off. That's what we're clamping down on today - but, at the same time, making sure that young people have a range of fantastic alternative opportunities, whether that be apprentices or higher technical qualifications, for example.Sunak brushed aside concerns that the policy would cut revenue for some universities. When this point was put to him, he said what mattered was the overall financial sustainability" of the university system. He said the policy would make higher education better value for taxpayers. He explained:I think it's important that the system is also fair for taxpayers, because ultimately as taxpayers that fund the system - and we've got a situation at the moment where around half of people who go to university don't end up paying back the cost of that degree - that costs the taxpayer money.So, we need to make sure the system is not just fair for students and they're getting the right outcome, but it's also fair for taxpayers.He stressed that it would be for the Office for Students, not the government, to decide what might count as rip off courses". He said:What the regulator will do is look at a range of different outcomes for courses. So, what kind of jobs are students going on to, do they complete the course, how much do they earn in later life?On the basis of all of that, they'll be able to figure out well, hang on, that course actually isn't delivering value for money. It's letting people down and we should not put students on it because we're letting them down'. Continue reading...

Andrew Mitchell says funding to lowest-income countries will nearly double but not return to earlier levelsThe UK's bilateral overseas aid budget will start to increase in 2024-25 after taking a terrible hit" over the previous three years, Andrew Mitchell, the minister for development and Africa, has said.The overall aid budget, covering multilateral and bilateral aid, is to rise from 7.4bn this financial year to 8.3bn next year, he said. It was 6.9bn in 2022-23. Continue reading...

Knesset races to pass bill eliminating reasonableness' standard before summer recessIsraelis are bracing for a turbulent week of protests and potential strike action as the country's governing coalition races to pass a key component of its wide-ranging judicial overhaul before the parliamentary summer recess.The Knesset's constitution, justice and law committee on Monday discussed sending a bill eliminating the reasonableness" standard that allows the supreme court to overrule government decisions back to the plenum for its second reading. Continue reading...

Justine Greening says proposal to cut numbers on low-value' courses would affect less privileged studentsA Conservative former education secretary has criticised Rishi Sunak's plans to limit access to university degrees in England, accusing him of anti-levelling up in action" if he presses ahead with the policy.Justine Greening, who ran the Department for Education from 2016 to 2018, said the proposal would disproportionately affect more disadvantaged people from the poorest communities. Continue reading...

Furniture retailer says cost-cutting has helped offset impact on its profitsThe sofa retailer DFS has warned the market has been significantly worse than expected" as demand for big-ticket items has been hit by the cost of living crisis.It said the tough economic climate, in which mortgage rates have hit their highest level since 2008, pushed sales volumes 15% to 20% lower across the market. Continue reading...

Pramila Jayapal apologises after saying we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state' at Netroots Nation eventThe chair of the US Congressional Progressive Caucus apologised for calling Israel a racist state".I offer my apologies to those who I have hurt with my words," Pramila Jayapal of Washington state said in a statement on Sunday. Continue reading...

Bridge is only direct link to mainland Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014

Campaigners react on policy that has been criticised as one of the biggest drivers of child povertyLabour MPs and anti-poverty campaigners have attacked Keir Starmer's commitment to keep the Conservatives' controversial two-child benefit limit.Starmer told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that Labour was not changing that policy", which has been widely criticised as unfair, cruel, ineffective on its own terms, and one of the biggest drivers of child poverty. Continue reading...

Spain, Italy, Greece and parts of Balkans to be worst affected, with some areas braced for possible 48CIn contrast to the rather cool, unsettled and unseasonably windy weather in the UK, large parts of southern Europe are in the grip of intense and dangerous heatwave conditions.Temperatures reached the mid to high 30s celsius last week, in what was named by the Italian Meteorological Society as the Cerberus heatwave. A temperature of 44.8C (112.6F) was observed in Almeria, Spain, on Wednesday. By Saturday, temperatures were peaking at 41C in Greece, 44C in Turkey and 39C in southern Germany. Continue reading...

Anne Wafula Strike tells ministers that lack of facilities leading to serious injustice' for disabled athletes and sports fansDisabled athletes and sports fans are urging ministers to ensure that UK sporting venues have fully accessible toilets so they can enjoy sport in the same way as everybody else. At the moment fewer than 10% of venues have these facilities.The Paralympic athlete and campaigner Anne Wafula Strike has written to the sports minister, Lucy Frazer, and the disability minister, Tom Pursglove, saying that current facilities are leading to serious injustice" and are preventing disabled fans and athletes from enjoying sport. Continue reading...

John Kerry arrives in Beijing as temperature hits 52.2C in Xinjiang - where authorities tell workers and students to stay at home

North African country, which agreed 1bn deal with EU to stem irregular migration, says it will take back only TunisiansTunisia has said it will not be a reception centre" for returns of sub-Saharan migrants from Italy or any other country in Europe despite a groundbreaking 1bn deal signed on Sunday.Authorities in the north African country are determined not to enter a contract similar to that which the UK has with Rwanda and will take back only Tunisians who have made irregular entry to the EU. Continue reading...

Some rail operators cut schedules as staff start a third week-long national overtime ban in EnglandThe train drivers' union Aslef has announced another week of summer industrial action as its members started a third week-long national overtime ban in England on Monday morning, spelling more disruption for passengers.Aslef said there would be a further overtime ban from Monday 31 July to Friday 5 August, in the long-running pay dispute, as unions revealed that almost three months had passed without talks with industry bosses - and six months without any contact with government. Continue reading...

NSW police say man found dead at Bowenfels home was wanted for serious offences dating back to 2021

Experts raise concerns that conservative backlash could stymie access to emergency contraception and spread disinformationThe headlines warned parents of an unspeakable horror on college campuses - something even more dangerous to their precious children than left-leaning curricula. Abortion vending machines are appearing on college campuses," one stated. Abortions pills available by vending machine at 39 US colleges," said another.Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life America, wrote that there was a recent obsession with putting Plan B vending machines on college and university campuses as some kind of miracle drug in a post-Roe America". Continue reading...

Coalition MP says videos about Thomas Mayo are meant to get you angry', but Mayo says attacks won't stop him campaigning

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Prime minster says he believes most Australians want something better' than the opposition's relentless negativity' to the Indigenous voice to parliament

Tim Shaddock, 51, and pet, Bella, were found floating in the Pacific Ocean after his catamaran was damaged in a storm

Greens senator repeatedly asks firm to reveal which department was implicated but question taken on notice

Homeowners' worries are affecting national mood, poll shows, as figures reveal small drop in pricesHomeowners' worries about falling house prices are affecting the national mood, according to a poll supported by a separate survey showing a small drop in asking prices.Consumer confidence fell by 1.7 points to 101.6 in June, according to the YouGov/Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) index, a reading that remains in positive territory. The biggest drag on the index was homeowners' pessimism. Confidence in property values dropped by 5.8 points for the month and 10.3 points for the coming 12 months. Continue reading...

Victim was reportedly running on Orchid Beach, on what used to be called Fraser Island, when four dingoes inflicted wounds

Students say they are being targeted with expulsion, physical assault and death threats after writing about sensitive subjectsYolanda Agne, 23, was just months away from graduating in journalism at a university in Maluku province, Indonesia, when she was banned from finishing her studies.In March last year, the student magazine Lintas - of which Agne was then editor-in-chief - published a damning piece on the prevalence of sexual harassment on her campus at Ambon Islamic State Institute. Among the alleged perpetrators were eight lecturers, with incidents dating over a six-year period. Continue reading...

Tactical voting and Tory apathy could be recipe for Liberal Democrat victory in Somerset seat this weekThe byelection campaign in Somerton and Frome is notable for several reasons, not least the fact that the Liberal Democrat challenger, Sarah Dyke, sometimes feels as if she gets treated like the de facto local MP already.I've been dealing with a lot of David Warburton's casework over the last year because people haven't known where to go," Dyke says of the Conservative incumbent, who resigned last month after a parliamentary investigation into allegations of harassment and drug use. Continue reading...

Kemi Badenoch says guidance will ensure parents know what is going on with their children' at schoolTeachers will be forced to tell parents that their child is questioning their gender even if the young person objects under new guidance for schools in England, the equalities minister has indicated.Kemi Badenoch said that the guidance, which is expected to be published this week, will ensure that parents know what is going on with their children" at school. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Belfast has worst data, with typical wait of five years to be seen, against Nice guidance of 13-week maximumChildren with suspected ADHD and autism are waiting as long as seven years for treatment on the NHS, as the health service struggles to manage a surge in demand during a crisis in child mental health.Experts said inhumane" waits are putting a generation of neurodiverse children at risk of mental illness as they are pushed to the back of a very long queue" for children and adolescent mental health services (Camhs). Continue reading...

Singer is just third artist in history to have four albums in top 10 concurrently, with Speak Now (Taylor's Version) becoming her 12th album to reach No. 1Taylor Swift has become the first woman, and only the third artist ever, to have four albums in the Top 10 of the US album chart simultaneously, while also beating a record set by Barbra Streisand to become the female artist with the most No 1 albums in history.The 33-year-old's latest album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), has debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 716,000 album-equivalent units - a figure that combines physical sales with digital sales and streaming figures. It is the largest week for any album in 2023 and the best since her previous album, Midnights, was released last October. Continue reading...

Authorities in Cheongju pull a further four bodies out of tunnel as downpours trigger floods and landslides nationwide, with more rain forecastRescuers in South Korea have recovered four more bodies from a flooded tunnel where vehicles were trapped in muddy water, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 on Monday.Authorities in the central city of Cheongju said 13 people had been confirmed dead so far after becoming trapped in the 685-metre-long Osong underground tunnel, where up to 15 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood when a riverbank broke on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Shopkeepers complain the number of thefts from stores is soaring. Is the cost of living crisis to blame or organised gangs?It could be laundry tablets, lipstick or even baby milk. According to shopkeepers in the UK the number of thefts is rising. The British Retail Consortium said there were 8m instances of theft from shops last year, which cost businesses nearly 1bn. The Office for National Statistics reports a 22% rise.For shop assistants and managers it is a daily struggle, which can be costly and infuriating - but what's behind it? The Guardian's North of England editor, Helen Pidd, spoke to shopkeepers on one Manchester street to see how they were coping, and spent the day in a magistrates court to find out what happens when a shoplifter is caught. She explains how organised crime may be a factor behind the rise. Continue reading...

Fierce battles' in eastern Ukraine as fighting intensifies, Kyiv says; Russia seizes control of shares in Danone and Carlsberg subsidiariesFighting in eastern Ukraine has somewhat intensified" as Ukrainian and Russian forces clash in at least three areas, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said. Russian forces had been attacking in the direction of Kupiansk in Kharkiv for two successive days, she said: We are on the defensive," Maliar wrote. There are fierce battles." Maliar also said the two armies were pummelling one another around the ruined city of Bakhmut but that Ukrainian forces were gradually moving forward" along its southern flank.Russian president Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive had been a failure in an interview broadcast on television. All enemy attempts to break through our defences ... they have not succeeded since the offensive began. The enemy is not successful," Putin said.The president also said Russia had a sufficient stockpile" of cluster bombs and that Moscow reserved the right to use them if such munitions were used against Russian forces in Ukraine. He added that Russia had not yet used the weapons although Russia was accused of using cluster munitions in last year's deadly Kramatorsk railway station attack.The Russian state has taken control of French yoghurt maker Danone's Russian subsidiary along with beer company Carlsberg's stake in a local brewer, according to a decree signed by Putin. Danone said it was investigating the situation while Carlsberg said it had not been officially informed of the move.The UN-brokered deal under which Moscow allowed Ukraine to ship its grain across the Black Sea is due to expire late Monday. The Kremlin has threatened to pull out of the agreement and said at the weekend it still had concerns that obligations to remove obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilisers still remain unfulfilled".Two people were killed on Sunday when Russia launched a series of missile and shelling attacks on the city and region of Kharkiv, beginning in the early hours of the morning and continuing into the evening. Kharkiv governor Oleh Synyehubov said a young man was killed in the city's Osnovianskyi district and another civilian man was killed in a village in the Kupiansk area.Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian town of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border with Grad missiles on Sunday, killing a woman riding her bike, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the missiles had struck a market area, damaging a building and two cars.Only a few hundred" fighters from Russia's Wagner group have so far relocated to Belarus, a Ukrainian official said, leaving the eventual fate of the fighting force unclear. There are some groups of mercenaries on the territory of Belarus, but we are not talking about any massive or large-scale deployment ... we are talking about a few hundred," Andrii Demchenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine's border guards, told Ukrainian television.A Chinese naval flotilla set off on Sunday to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan in an exercise aimed at safeguarding the security of strategic waterways", according to China's defence ministry. Codenamed Northern/Interaction-2023", the drill marks enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and is taking place as Beijing continues to rebuff US calls to resume military communication.Former UK prime minister Tony Blair said it would be completely disastrous" if the US rowed back support for Ukraine in the event of Donald Trump being re-elected as US president. He also told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that said Ukraine had done an extraordinary" job in defending itself but when asked what the endgame looked like he said the path would be extremely difficult". Continue reading...

Chris Hipkins says Beijing exerting influence is major driver' of increasing competition in the Indo-Pacific

Yes and no camps have been writing their competing essays, to be published by AEC on Tuesday

Leader says party in power will stick with Tory policy seen as driving low-income families into deeper povertyKeir Starmer has confirmed that a Labour government would keep the Conservatives' controversial two-child benefits cap, despite unease among his top team and leading academics over the policy, which has been blamed for pushing families into poverty.Starmer said on Sunday that he was not changing that policy", when asked if he would scrap it if Labour wins the next election. His shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, had condemned it as heinous" just last month. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Yvette Cooper to tell RUSI thinktank that economic security and national security go hand in handContractors linked to hostile foreign powers such as China will be targeted by a new security taskforce if Labour wins the next general election.In a joint initiative from the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the new body will aim to anticipate risks to Britain's national security. Continue reading...

Others asked if they are overthinking things' or told their issues could be hormonal, charity saysA fifth of young women who have sought help for their mental health say they were told they were being dramatic", research shows.The survey also found that 27% of those who had spoken up about a mental health crisis over the past five years were told their issues could be hormonal. Continue reading...

Fifteen-year-old boy charged with assault by police after alleged incident in Queensland in early hours of SundayA British backpacker has allegedly been stabbed by a teenager at an Australian beach resort after an early morning confrontation at a bus stop.The 25-year-old tourist sustained non-life threatening injuries after allegedly being stabbed in the back and wrist following what police called an unhelpful exchange" at Hastings Street in Noosa just before 4am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Federation offers women a quarter as much prize money in their tournament as the men's versionThe Matildas have issued a call to arms in the lead-up to the Women's World Cup, putting pressure on Fifa to put their money where their mouth is and ensure the tournament leaves a legacy.All 23 squad members speak in a video from the players' union, Professional Footballers Australia, reflecting on the rights for which past and present Matildas have fought. Continue reading...

Latest missile strike part of series of attacks that began at 2am on Sunday, with one dead and four wounded reportedRussia has continued its assault on Kharkiv, with loud explosions heard in the central district on Sunday evening, just hours after one person was killed and four wounded in an earlier attack.The governor, Oleh Synyehubov, urged people to take to shelters. Russia had began bombarding the north-eastern Ukrainian city at 2am on Sunday, firing four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. No one was injured as two were intercepted and the other two landed in a courtyard. Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen hails deal as an investment in shared prosperity and stabilityThe EU has signed off on a 1bn (860m) deal with Tunisia to help stem irregular migration, as the president of the north African country denounced those who offer migrants sympathy without respect" for their goal to have equity in life.Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, hailed the deal with Tunisia, including significant measures to stem deadly irregular migration across the mediterranean, as an investment in shared prosperity and stability. Continue reading...

Former PM said response to Huw Edwards allegations did not mean broadcaster was now a bad institution'Tony Blair has said the BBC should stand up for itself more" as it faces questions over its handling of complaints about Huw Edwards.The corporation faced a crisis last week after the Sun reported allegations that a then unnamed top newsreader paid a teenager for sexually explicit images. Despite police having said Edwards had no criminal case to answer, the BBC remains under scrutiny for its response to the allegations, which are the subject of an internal investigation. Continue reading...

Radio 2 presenter says he has received apology and man has also agreed to make donation to charityJeremy Vine has agreed a settlement with a Twitter user who falsely identified him as the BBC presenter at the centre of claims he paid a young person thousand of pounds for explicit photographs.Vine, who hosts an afternoon programme on BBC Radio 2, was one of several BBC presenters, including Gary Lineker, Rylan Clark and Nicky Campbell, who were moved to publicly deny claims on social media that they were the unnamed TV star. On Wednesday, it was revealed that the presenter was the News at Ten anchor Huw Edwards. Continue reading...

Henry Searle was cheered all the way to victory in boys' singles final by a 50-strong group of Midlanders in matching T-shirtsA secret weapon is handy for a crunch Wimbledon match, and for the young British tennis star Henry Searle it came in the form of a joyously rowdy group of Midlanders, who lived every shot with the 17-year-old and cheered him all the way to victory in the boys' singles final.The 50-strong Henry Searle Barmy Army", decked out in matching T-shirts that they got a courier to deliver to the pub they were sitting in the night before Sunday's final, cheered every point, rose to their feet at every winner and generally behaved like this was the top game of the day, not the small matter of the men's singles final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. Continue reading...