World news | The Guardian

Rise in delivery and processing costs combined with increased use of free returns service has led to 1.99 chargeThe Swedish fast fashion chain H&M has become the latest in its sector to start charging shoppers to return unwanted items bought online.The group, the world's second-largest clothing retailer after Zara-owner Inditex, will charge 1.99 to take back items that are not damaged or faulty - either in stores or via the post. Continue reading...

DfE says number where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been found has risen from 147 to 174

As Birmingham is placed in special measures the council reviews assets such as its library and stadiumAs government commissioners are sent to run Birmingham city council as it embarks on the challenge of pulling itself back from the financial brink, speculation is growing about which council assets could be at risk.Back in 2015 the local authority sold the NEC Group, which includes the National Exhibition Centre, International Convention Centre, Utilita and Resorts World Arena, for 307m to help fund its equal pay claim bill, which has only continued to rise since. Continue reading...

Evidence collected by New York Times suggests Russia may not have been responsible for strike

Virginia McCullough remanded in custody until plea hearing on 1 DecemberA woman has appeared in court accused of murdering her parents whose remains are believed to have been found at her house in Essex, police have said.Virginia McCullough, 35, appeared by prison video link at Basildon crown court charged with the murders of John and Lois McCullough, who were in their 70s. Continue reading...

Report identifies toxic culture' and breaches of human rights laws relating to torture and inhuman treatment

Watchdog launched inquiry after row over Coutts's handling of Nigel Farage's account

Emergency services called after Toyota Corolla smashes into Coles in Ballina and allegedly strikes woman

More than 1,800 cases of people criminalized for their pregnancies between Roe's emergence in 1973 and its end in 2022, report showsLaw enforcement carried out nearly 1,400 arrests of people for allegedly endangering unborn life" between 2006 and the fall of Roe v Wade in 2022, according to a new report released Tuesday, which found a sharp rise in how often people face criminal consequences over pregnancy.The report is the only comprehensive accounting of how law enforcement criminalized pregnant people during the Roe era. Notably, relatively few of the cases captured in the report involve abortion. Instead, they focus on individuals who lost pregnancies or were accused of child abuse" while pregnant. Continue reading...

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Former Liberal minister's response comes as Anthony Albanese urges respectful' referendum debate after conservative politicians were insulted at a no campaign event

Health secretary sets out proposals to extend minimum cover laws as 48-hour strike begins in EnglandThe health secretary has accused NHS staff in England of planning politically timed" industrial action as he outlined proposals to extend strike laws to ensure doctors and nurses in hospitals provide a minimum level of cover.As consultants began another 48-hour strike on Tuesday as part of a row over pay, one of their representatives warned Steve Barclay that the plans - which are unlikely to come into force until the new year - would only save up problems for later". Continue reading...

Lawyer for Australian Muslim Advocacy Network argues white supremacist's tweets caused harm to local Muslims

Danushka Gunathilaka has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman after the pair matched on Tinder and met for a date

Google-owned company says move is due to it violating our creator responsibility policy'YouTube has suspended Russell Brand's revenues from his channel on the platform following allegations of rape and sexual assault in a massive hit to his finances.The video-sharing and social media site said it had suspended Brand's channel from the YouTube partner program after serious allegations against him, meaning his videos are no longer able to monetise on the platform. Continue reading...

Week-long operation targeting criminal drug syndicates nets 814kg of methamphetamine and 182kg of MDMA

Go-it-alone approach to building network between Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong shelved entirely. This blog is now closed

BoM warns it's likely this summer will be hotter than average and certainly hotter than the last three years'

Ethiopian government is failing to protect its citizens from grave' human rights abuses, amid rising violence and hate speech - reportHuman rights abuses are still being committed in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region more than 10 months after a ceasefire formally ended the bloody civil war, according to a group of UN experts.The latest report by the UN's International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said the nation's government was failing to protect its citizens from grave and ongoing" human rights abuses being committed by militias and Eritrean troops, who fought alongside Ethiopia's federal military and remain in border areas of Tigray. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese praises Victorian government for not flogging off' site to developers as he announces project alongside Daniel Andrews

Exclusive: Firms call on future PM to introduce 15-per-hour minimum wage for frontline workersCare home bosses are demanding the next government funds a 44% pay rise for frontline staff to stabilise the crisis-hit sector and boost a system that is in an extremely precarious state".Care England, whose members include the largest care home chains, is calling for the next prime minister to set a 15-per-hour minimum wage for care workers as part of a 10bn a year support package. There are currently over 152,000 vacant posts, 430,000 people are on care waiting lists and scores of facilities are rated inadequate in the care system. Continue reading...

Prime minister defends social media bill amid concerns from Christian groups it could portray religious teachings as misinformation

India rejects as absurd' allegation by PM that it was responsible for fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soilJustin Trudeau has said there is credible evidence" India is responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader, a claim Delhi dismissed as absurd".The Canadian prime minister told the House of Commons of Canada on Monday that, in recent weeks, national security authorities had been probing allegations that New Delhi was behind a state-sponsored assassination. Continue reading...

NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey points to largest debt any incoming state government has ever inherited' as he hands down party's first budget in more than a decade

Ukraine president visits wounded soldiers in New York and questions Russia's right to a security council seat ahead of key speech at UN general assembly

Figures reveal NSW is expected to be back in the black next financial year and will focus on paying down debt

The comedian, presenter and actor has been accused of sexual assault, emotional abuse and rape between 2006 and 2013 - allegations Brand denies. Alexandra Topping explains why such stories can be particularly difficult to investigateRussell Brand's public persona has always been outrageous, controversial and sexually explicit. Yet despite multiple falls from grace he became a ubiquitous presence in the British media as a TV and radio presenter and comedian. After yet another scandal he left the UK for the US - starring in Hollywood films and being briefly married to the pop star Katy Perry.But now he has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse. The allegations against him come from a number of women, one of whom says Brand started a sexual relationship with her when she was 16 years old that spanned seven years. Nosheen Iqbal hears how alongside serious assaults, former colleagues say his inappropriate behaviour on and off air went unchallenged. Continue reading...

Police allege the man initially attacked a male student with a frying pan then stabbed two female students

Acting commissioner says use of bean bag rounds suspended in state after Krista Kach Tasered and shot by officers in Newcastle last week

China's latest missing minister underscores the move to centralised rule, and how questioning Xi's judgement has become increasingly dangerousThree weeks after he was last seen in public, there is still no official confirmation about what has happened to Gen Li Shangfu, China's defence minister and the latest senior official to be seemingly swept up in China's political purges.Last week, Reuters reported that Li, along with eight other senior officials, was under investigation for the corrupt procurement of military equipment relating to his time at the helm of the equipment division of the Central Military Commission, the military's ruling body, between September 2017 and October 2022. US intelligence has also made similar conclusions. Continue reading...

Former PM became lighting rod for discontent' among some voters as analysts say her time in office associated with Covid falloutAs the final month of campaigning in New Zealand's election begins, one figure is noticeably absent for observers abroad: former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

Police allege Stanley Turvey fired a shot in the air during attempted arrest near Shepparton

Recapture of two villages near Bakhmut by Ukraine hailed as important breakthrough; Kyiv dismisses six deputy defence ministers Continue reading...

Hundreds have demonstrated demanding urgent' international investigations into the disaster that left thousands deadProtests broke out in the Libyan city of Derna on Monday, with hundreds venting their anger against authorities and demanding accountability one week after a flood that killed thousands of residents and destroyed entire neighbourhoods.Later in the evening, angry protesters set fire to the house of the man who was Derna's mayor at the time of the flood, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, his office manager told Reuters. Continue reading...

Residents warned to be prepared on Tuesday as weather bureau predicts Wednesday could be even hotter with extreme fire danger

Leaders insisted war in Ukraine had not distracted them from sustainable development goalsWestern leaders have gone on a charm offensive on the opening day of the UN general assembly as they were forced to defend their record in meeting the organisation's sustainable development goals (SDGs), and insist that the war in Ukraine had not distracted them from this commitment to end global inequality.At a special summit in New York amounting to a halfway stocktake on progress towards meeting the goals by the target date of 2030, all sides acknowledged there was little chance that the ambitious set of commitments set in 2015, including ending extreme poverty and safeguarding the environment, will be met on schedule. Continue reading...

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Siamak Namazi was held in Iran's notorious Evin prison for nearly eight years before the $6bn prisoner swap on MondayAn American citizen freed in a complex exchange deal after being imprisoned for nearly eight years in Iran has urged the Biden administration to launch a gamechanging global endeavour" to end the Islamic regime's longstanding practice of holding foreign nationals hostage.Siamak Namazi, 51, was one of five US citizens released on Monday under the terms of an agreement that saw five Iranians facing charges in the United States granted clemency and Iran being given access to $6bn of previously frozen oil revenues. Continue reading...

Prints symbolising British summertime appear on fashion week catwalk alongside modernised version of brand's staple productThe scene before the biggest show of London fashion week was quintessentially British: an orderly queue for tea, coffee and eccles cake. Britishness, along with trenchcoats and checked scarves, is what Burberry stands for. This is surely the only catwalk show where Hollywood action hero Jason Statham, acclaimed choreographer Wayne MacGregor and Arsenal striker Bukayo Saka can be found rubbing shoulders in the front row.The first look on to the catwalk was a trenchcoat. The trench is a Burberry staple - but this had a notably slimmer cut, an elegant dropped-waist silhouette, and was black rather than beige. There were more trenchcoats to follow: some sleeveless, some leather, all of them sleek and minimal. Continue reading...

Promoters cancel comedian's one-man theatre shows in Windsor, Plymouth and WolverhamptonThe promoters of Russell Brand's standup show have pulled his appearances over the next 10 days, while the actor and comedian's publisher announced it was pausing" all future book projects with him.Brand also failed to appear for his regular 5pm live show on the video platform Rumble on Monday. He used his last appearance on Friday evening to deny the rape and sexual assault allegations against him that were published at the weekend. Continue reading...

Licensing hearing will decide whether multi-city Electric Group can run venue after serving eviction notice on longstanding leaseholderPeople in Sheffield have protested against what they call a hostile takeover" of one of the city's best-known music venues.About 100 people gathered outside Sheffield town hall on the first of a two-day licensing hearing to decide the future of the Leadmill, which helped launch the careers of Pulp, Arctic Monkeys and Self Esteem. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham says reports Rishi Sunak wants to cut line short at Birmingham beggared belief'Northern leaders have called on Downing Street to honour promises to build the HS2 high-speed rail line, as ministers repeatedly refused to confirm to MPs whether it would run to Manchester.Doubts over the future of the multibillion-pound HS2 project are growing after the junior transport minister Richard Holden dodged multiple questions in the Commons. Continue reading...

Esther McVey and Philip Davies accused of hosting love-in' with the chancellor, prompting 45 complaintsGB News breached impartiality rules when two Conservative MPs interviewed the chancellor before the spring budget and failed to represent a wide range of significant views", Ofcom has found.Esther McVey, a former pensions minister, and her husband Philip Davies, a longstanding MP, were accused of hosting a love-in" interview with Jeremy Hunt on 11 March for their weekly morning show on the channel. Continue reading...

Claims reported on Saturday related to incidents said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013Police have received a report of an alleged sexual assault in in the wake of media reporting of allegations against Russell Brand, Scotland Yard has said.The 48-year-old comedian and actor has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films. He denies the allegations. Continue reading...

Workers whose wrongful convictions for theft and false accounting have been overturned to receive payment from governmentEvery post office operator whose wrongful conviction over the Horizon IT scandal has been overturned will receive 600,000 in compensation from the government, ministers have announced.The Horizon scandal, described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history", resulted in more than 700 post office operators being prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for theft, fraud and false accounting because of faulty accounting software installed in the late 1990s. Continue reading...

Joe Biden announces return of detainees as US in turn frees five Iranians under controversial agreement

US and Iran agree to free five people each under deal also involving transfer of $6bn in unfrozen Iranian assets

Exclusive: Leadership needs to act with urgency to address culture of racism' instead of focusing on performative' elements, says adviser

The pathway to victory has narrowed, with some corporate support becoming more muted as polarisation has increased