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Investor home borrowing surges nearly 18% in the September quarter compared with previous three months, prompting calls to urgently rein in overheated credit market'

Exclusive: Ivan Balhatchet, Northamptonshire's chief constable, could face up to two years in jail or a fine for repeated failure to obey rulingsA police chief constable has been found guilty of contempt of court with judges set to consider whether he should be punished by imprisonment or a fine.The court of appeal ruled on Tuesday that Northamptonshire police were in contempt and had been willfully disobedient" for repeatedly failing to obey rulings to hand over video to a woman who complained she had been wrongly arrested by three officers. Continue reading...

Kyle Sandilands said just lock that bitch up' on air during the high profile mushroom murder trial, which prompted the referralThe Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions will not charge Kyle and Jackie O and Mamamia with contempt for potentially prejudicial comments made during the trial of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson.In July, Patterson was found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth with a deadly beef wellington lunch laced with death cap mushrooms that she had served in 2023. Continue reading...

Inspector general will be inaugurated to oversee service after report on how top officers steered investigation of Jevon McSkimming, who went on to become deputy commissionerNew Zealand's government will take the unprecedented move of appointing an inspector general of police after a damning report found significant failings" in the way senior police officers handled serious sexual complaints against a former high-ranking officer.The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released a 135-page report on Tuesday detailing allegations made against the former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming and the police's response to them. Continue reading...

Desert settlement of Chinguetti faces rising sands, dwindling tourism and insecurity due to conflict in neighbouring MaliOn a recent afternoon, 67-year-old Saif Islam made his way into the courtyard of a library in Chinguetti, a tiny desert settlement nestled in the Sahara in Mauritania.Decked in a flowing boubou gown striped in two shades of blue, his steps unsteady but his presence still commanding, he sat on a handwoven mat stroking his grey beard, with his black croc sandals neatly placed to the side. Continue reading...

Women are banned from entering the sacred' dohyo. Sanae Takaichi is undecided on whether to attend a trophy presentation later this monthAnticipation is building among sumo fans in Japan as they wait to discover if the country's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, will defy centuries of tradition and step into the sumo ring to present a trophy later this month.With 11 days of the current 15-day tournament in Fukuoka, south-west Japan, remaining, government officials have left the sport's devotees guessing with vague comments over the likelihood of clash between Takaichi and the Japan sumo association. Continue reading...

Victoria police charge 61-year-old with seven counts of using a telecom communications device to menace, harass and offend'

List of those who were told in advance grows to include police, parliamentary security, lower house speaker and upper house president

Finance minister Katy Gallagher says the public service is building its own artificial intelligence program and spruiks productivity benefits

The tech giant has released a statement acknowledging the use of different border displays between Western Sahara and MoroccoThe dotted lines illustrating the border between Western Sahara and Morocco, indicating the former's disputed territory status, have never been visible to people using Google Maps in the latter.After media reports last week highlighted the discrepancy, tying it to the UN security council endorsing the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, the tech company released a statement acknowledging it has always displayed the border differently depending on the search region. Continue reading...

Transport Workers' Union says it will be seeking to ensure workers receive fair exit payments before 26 November closure

A series of statements, articles, photos and even a new national holiday indicate a shift in Beijing's stance over the island, analysts sayIn recent weeks China has released a series of statements, articles and photos, that analysts say signal an escalation in the ruling Chinese Communist Party's approach to Taiwan.Beijing claims Taiwan as a province and has vowed to annex it under what it terms reunification". China's military is not believed to be capable of a full invasion yet, but senior officials have recently started using sharper language. Continue reading...

Court rules 2023 cancellation of $2.75m 99-year lease was legal but Russia must be compensated

Leah Blyth, Andrew McLachlan and Tony Pasin were onboard a QantasLink flight from Adelaide when crew detected smoke in cabin

Taylor Swift's Eras tour among the big events driving spending, as British artists perform well overseas and job numbers riseThe music industry contributed a record total of 8bn to the UK economy in 2024, powered in part by Taylor Swift's Eras tour and Take That's stadium run.According to figures in the annual report from UK Music, the umbrella organisation encompassing a range of bodies including the BPI and PRS for Music, the figure is a 5% rise from the 7.6bn contributed to UK GDP in 2023. As well as tours generating revenue through ticket sales, tourism and more, the 8bn figure also factors in revenue from recorded music, whether via sales, streaming, commercial deals and other sources. Continue reading...

Unions decry move, saying it will put more pressure on headteachers without tackling absence from classroomsEvery school in England is to be issued with an AI-generated target for minimum pupil attendance, the government has announced, as part of its continuing efforts to tackle absence in the country's classrooms.Headteachers will be given the targets this month in an effort to boost attendance rates, which remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels. Continue reading...

More than third of profits analysed went to firms owned by private equity or based in tax havens, research findsPrivate companies operating care services in just three regions of England have taken more than 250m in profits in three years, with more than a third going to providers owned by private equity firms or companies based in tax havens.New analysis by Reclaiming Our Regional Economies warned that public money is being rapidly funnelled out of the care system into the hands of private companies, rather than reinvested to improve services. Continue reading...

Federal infrastructure department analysis recommends reducing default speed limits on regional roads from 100km/h

Health secretary Wes Streeting lobbied behind the scenes for emergency funds to pay off 18,000 staff losing their jobsRachel Reeves has rebuffed a plea from Wes Streeting for an emergency injection of 1bn into the NHS's budget to cover the cost of mass redundancies.The chancellor's decision is a setback for the health secretary, who had been lobbying behind the scenes in Whitehall for extra money to pay off 18,000 personnel who are losing their jobs. Continue reading...

Mike Burgess points to successful infiltration in the US by units known as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon working for the Chinese government'Australia's intelligence agency has accused Chinese hackers" of seeking to gain access to critical infrastructure assets, including telecommunications networks.In a speech to a business forum in Melbourne, the director-general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said the nation now faced a threat of high-impact sabotage". Continue reading...

Medical examiner says Kiss founding member's death was accidental, caused by blunt force injuries from a fallAce Frehley, the original lead guitarist and founding member of the glam rock band Kiss, died from blunt force injuries to the head that he suffered in a fall earlier this year, an autopsy has determined.Frehley died peacefully on 16 October surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey, a few weeks after the fall occurred, according to his agent. Continue reading...

Agent said woman was following and filming him, but officer said he couldn't assist if no crime was committedA US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent briefly held at gunpoint a woman whom he claimed was following him, prompting a southern California police officer to intervene, authorities said.The police department in Fullerton, a city in Orange county almost 30 miles (48km) from Los Angeles, said that on Sunday one of its officers had just finished taking an incarcerated person to a county jail when he saw two vehicles stopped in an intersection in Santa Ana. Continue reading...

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack are joined by Past Lives star Greta Lee in Disney's highly anticipated sequelThe first trailer for Toy Story 5 has provided a brief glimpse at the highly anticipated animated sequel out next summer.The teaser introduces a new arrival and all-new threat to playtime" with the tagline the age of toys is over". The latest character is a smart tablet called Lilypad, voiced by Past Lives and Tron: Ares star Greta Lee, bringing new tech to the old toys. Continue reading...

Gavin Burrows says signature on alleged statement is not mine' and denies carrying out illegal activity on behalf of Associated NewspapersA private investigator central to the legal action by the Duke of Sussex and others against the publisher of the Daily Mail has claimed that his signature on an earlier witness statement was a forgery", the high court has heard.Gavin Burrows, linked to the most serious allegations of unlawful information gathering made by seven prominent individuals including Elton John and Doreen Lawrence, retracted his alleged confession, saying it was completely false". Continue reading...

Cross-party group wants environment secretary to urgently examine moving the birds to a facility better aligned with their needs'A group of 75 MPs are calling for the release of 15 penguins trapped" in a small enclosure without sunlight or fresh air" at the Sea Life London Aquarium.Housing the 15 gentoo penguins at the attraction on the South Bank was un-British", said the leader of the campaign. Continue reading...

Experts including children's laureate lament low quality of entertainment and call for more funding for children's TVLots of children's programming made for YouTube is not entertainment, it's sedation", the UK children's laureate has warned.Frank Cottrell-Boyce said frictionless" programming in which children are bombarded with information", such as CoCoMelon, a YouTube Kids channel with 180 million subscribers, failed to offer the stimulation and nourishment" that previous generations had enjoyed. Continue reading...

Oklahoma archbishop seen as culture warrior but also likely to endorse push for more human treatment of immigrantsUS Catholic bishops elected Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City as their new president on Tuesday, choosing a conservative culture warrior to lead during Donald Trump's second term as president.The vote acts as a barometer for the bishops' priorities. In choosing Coakley, they are doubling down on their conservative bent, even as they push for more humane immigration policies from the Trump administration. Continue reading...

Frustration with Starmer's lack of visibility unlikely to be quelled by No 10 efforts to show up leadership challengers

Exclusive: No 10 said to be in full bunker mode' over fears of attempt to oust him after budget or May local elections

Millions born in 50s lost out because of government failings over changes to state retirement age, campaigners sayMillions of Waspi women" have been given fresh hope that they might receive compensation after the UK government announced it would revisit a decision to deny them payouts.As many as 3.6 million women born in the 1950s are said to have lost out because of government failings in the way changes to the state pension age were made, prompting the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign to launch in 2015. Continue reading...

Alice Figueiredo, 22, died in 2015 after 18 similar attempts to self-harm on the Hepworth ward at Goodmayes hospitalA woman whose daughter killed herself on a death trap" mental health ward in London has called for urgent change after an NHS trust was fined more than half a million pounds.Alice Figueiredo, 22, took her own life at Goodmayes hospital, Redbridge, after 18 similar attempts. Continue reading...

Zhimin Qian cheated 128,000 victims in China through a Ponzi scheme before going on the run for six yearsThe trail had been cold for five years - ever since Zhimin Qian narrowly escaped the police days after they raided her six-bedroom house in London. Then, in February 2024, detectives noticed a long-dormant bitcoin wallet flicker to life, and a manhunt began.For over a month, police tracked the mastermind of one of the UK's largest money-laundering cases - from a lonely bungalow on the shores of Loch Tay to a red-tiled house outside Glasgow, and finally to a quiet Airbnb in suburban York, where the 46-year-old was arrested in late April alongside four Malaysian nationals working illegally as her domestic staff. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of people attend event organised primarily by nationalist and far-right groups to mark 107th anniversary of independenceYou can watch the live stream of the Irish presidential inauguration here:Irish president-elect Catherine Connolly has just arrived at the Dublin Castle for her presidential inauguration. Continue reading...

Two fathers in UK who are separated from relatives enlist law firm to get government to act on promises made months agoThe British government is facing legal action over its lack of action to help evacuate families in Gaza after committing to do so months ago.Two families have argued that the government's failure to act is unlawful and in breach of their family's human rights. They are among a number of separated families to which the government has failed to keep its evacuation promise, according to the law firm Leigh Day, which is representing them. Continue reading...

Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena died in Florida crash as they were flying supplies to JamaicaThe founder of a church ministry and his 22-year-old daughter have been identified as the victims of a deadly plane crash in Florida on Monday as they were flying hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica.Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena died when their twin-engined Beechcraft King Air crashed into a residential neighborhood in Coral Springs on Monday morning shortly after take-off from Fort Lauderdale's executive airport. Continue reading...

Injuries are non-life-threatening after mobile lounge moving passengers between terminal and plane hit dockA vehicle transporting passengers at a Washington DC-area airport hit a dock at the building on Monday, sending 18 people to the hospital, according to officials.A mobile lounge, which transports passengers between the terminal and aircraft, struck the dock at an angle at about 4.30pm at Washington Dulles international airport as it was pulling up to the building, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement. The dock is where the vehicle stops to let people into the concourse. Continue reading...

Mariam Cisse, who posted videos in support of ruling junta, received death threats before being abducted and killedA TikTok influencer has been publicly executed by suspected jihadists in Mali, underlining how state control has been eroded in the west African nation.Mariam Cisse often wore combat attire to post videos in support of the country's military to more than 100,000 followers on TikTok. According to Yehia Tandina, the mayor of Timbuktu region, she was abducted in a market on Friday by unknown gunmen. Continue reading...

Coroner reaches conclusion of accidental death and says author died as a result of a traumatic subdural haematomaThe author Jilly Cooper suffered a fatal head injury during a fall at her Gloucestershire home, an inquest has heard.Cooper, 88, whose 18 novels include Riders and Rivals, was found by family at her home in Bisley at about 5pm on 4 October. Continue reading...

People without university-educated parents are 36% likely to enrol in degree, compared to 59% of students whose parents are tertiary educated

US president has said he will bring proceedings if the documentary containing an edited speech from 6 January 2021 is not retractedDonald Trump has grabbed the headlines after threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn (760m) for what the corporation has accepted was a misleading edit of his speech on 6 January 2021 during the Capitol Hill insurrection. Here the Guardian examines the US president's potential path to bringing and winning a libel claim. Continue reading...

Twelve people were killed and 27 injured in a suicide bombing outside district court buildingsAt least 12 people have been killed in a suicide blast in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, as the defence minister said a deadly surge in terror attacks had put the country in a state of war".The explosion, which was described as a suicide attack by several government ministers, took place outside the district court buildings in Islamabad on Tuesday at about 12.30pm. The area is usually heavily crowded with lawyers and litigants attending trials. Continue reading...

Outgoing director general tells staff we have to be very clear and stand up for our journalism'

President David Adeang was spotted by ABC cameras as Nauru received its fourth member from the NZYQ cohort

Division remains half a century on from Gough Whitlam's historic dismissal, but there was a spark of common ground

Prices are rising fastest in markets such as chocolate confectionery, fresh meat and coffee, new figures show

Star of Japan's cinematic golden age, who collaborated with Kurosawa and played the lead in Kobayashi's Human Condition trilogy, died from pneumoniaThe Japanese stage and screen actor Tatsuya Nakadai, whose celebrated performances symbolised a golden age for the country's cinema, has died aged 92.Nakadai garnered more than 100 screen credits during a career spanning seven decades, but is perhaps best known internationally for his role in Ran, Akira Kurosawa's 1985 epic set in the Sengoku warring states" period that took its inspiration from Shakespeare's King Lear. Continue reading...

Eight people killed in explosion outside city's historic Red Fort on Monday eveningPolice investigating the car explosion outside Delhi's historic Red Fort that killed eight people are focusing on the final movements of the vehicle involved.The explosion on Monday occurred at about 7pm, a peak time when Delhi's old city is usually packed with people and traffic. Continue reading...

Andy McDonald, 61, says he fell on to' the shark and was like, punching it' before friend helped him paddle to shore

Gambling Commission may launch inquiry after finding potentially incriminating evidence hidden in documents, sources sayThe Gambling Commission has demanded a UK bookmaker hand over a trove of financial documents after the company accidentally disclosed information suggesting it may be running an illegal offshore betting operation.The Guardian understands that the company, which sponsors sporting events and boasts connections to high-profile figures in sport and politics, is the subject of early inquiries that could lead to a full-blown investigation. Continue reading...

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