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Greater Manchester mayor says he's found it quite hard' he's never been given key role at party conferenceAndy Burnham has told of his disappointment at being overlooked for a prominent role at Labour conference since becoming mayor of Greater Manchester, decrying Westminster's aggressive and negative" briefing culture in a tacit criticism of those close to his party's leadership.The relationship between Burnham, still regarded by many members as a potential leader in waiting, and Starmer has been marked by tensions while the mayor's backing for a ceasefire in Gaza is one area on which the two have diverged. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Older people also likely to be in poor health and out of work in the north of England, report saysOlder people in the north of England die earlier, spend more years in poor health and are more likely to be out of work compared with their contemporaries in the south, a shocking" report has found.The life expectancy difference is most acute between people in the north-east of England and the south-east, with men living an average of three years less and women 2.6 years less. Continue reading...

Standard tickets to the 2024 music festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset went on sale on Saturday morningStandard tickets to next year's Glastonbury festival have sold out in less than an hour, organisers said.The second batch of 360 tickets for the 2024 festival, taking place at Worthy Farm in Somerset, were all bought after being made available at 9am on Saturday. Continue reading...

PM's speech at food summit comes as humanitarian crisis caused by Israel-Hamas war reaches crisis point

Incredible tale of Melville House where, over a 30-year period, pupils uncovered treasures of antiquityIn 1952, a schoolboy was digging up potatoes, assisting a gardener in the grounds of his school in Fife as part of a punishment. He stumbled across a bulbous shape that he initially mistook for a potato, only to discover later that he had found an Egyptian masterpiece made some 4,000 years ago.The idea of finding ancient treasures buried in the Scottish countryside, rather than beneath the sands of Cairo, is somewhat unlikely. Yet this was to be the first of 18 Egyptian antiquities unearthed on three separate occasions by schoolboys over some 30 years in the most unexpected of places - Melville House, an historic building near the small parish of Monimail in Fife. Continue reading...

Populist provocateur appears slight favorite over Peronist Sergio Massa as 35m Argentinians vote to choose new president

Growing numbers are giving false information to obtain money, new study showsA growing number of people are committing fraud such as cheating on their council tax or trying to reclaim money on lost gambling bets, research has found.The cost of living crisis has led to a rise in first-party fraud" where people give false information, or misrepresent themselves, in order to make money, according to the fraud prevention service Cifas. Continue reading...

A surge in demand for the miniature models is driven by a desire for tradition and comfort in testing timesChristmas traditions may feel timeless, yet our choice of decorations can reveal a lot about our cultural preoccupations. In recent years, tinsel trees topped with plastic angels fell out of favour and were replaced with real pines, holly wreaths and baubles made of glass or wool. And this year, the favoured adornment for many British mantelpieces is set to be a group of twinkly Christmas houses and windowsills.The miniature ornamental buildings - usually featuring a candle or an LED light shining from within - are now available for every budget and aesthetic whim. A simple set of cardboard houses from Flying Tiger Copenhagen costs under a fiver, while a Georgian townhouse in hand-painted Wedgwood pottery is 120. Continue reading...

Expert claims to have indentified copies of mosaics at sites and in museums in Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and TurkeyAuthorities in New York have been accused by leading academics in France and Britain of repatriating fake Roman artefacts to Lebanon.Eight out of nine mosaic panels that the US authorities recently returned to the Middle Eastern country are not what they seem, according to claims made by Djamila Fellague of the University of Grenoble. Continue reading...

An Observer investigation has revealed 40% of internal inquiries into serious accusations were overturned on reviewCampaigners are calling for the police to be stopped from marking their own homework", after the Observer found 40% of internal investigations by forces into serious complaints were overturned following independent reviews.This newspaper identified 1,532 finalised complaint cases from April 2022 to March 2023 involving forces in England and Wales where the outcome was found to be not reasonable and proportionate" after a review. Continue reading...

Reporter's legal team argues that excessive costs awarded to Brexit backer violates her right to journalistic freedom of expression and will take case to European Court of Human Rights in StrasbourgA coalition of organisations championing press freedom have rallied behind the award-winning Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, stating they are deeply disappointed" she has been refused permission to appeal against a ruling that ordered her to pay significant legal costs to the prominent Brexit backer Arron Banks.The supreme court refused to let Cadwalladr contest a cost order six months ago making the journalist responsible for hundreds of thousands of pounds of Banks's legal costs. The coalition, which includes Index on Censorship, the Guardian, the Observer and Reporters Without Borders UK among others, warns that the decision risks stifling public interest journalism in the UK. Continue reading...

Two planes involved were Viper S-211 Marchetti jets with second aircraft safely landing at Essendon airport after incident, authorities say

Organisers say growing popularity of protests speaks to abhorrence at the way our government is dragging its feet in calling for an immediate ceasefire'

Home Office approach to tackling drug operations is based on racialised tropes', says new studyThe Home Office's approach to tackling county lines drug operations is based on unproven assumptions and racialised tropes" that criminalise Black boys and young men, according to new research.The study also found that the policing strategy towards county lines stigmatised Black youngsters in a similar way to how the Metropolitan police's discredited gang violence matrix database was found to be discriminatory. Continue reading...

A damning parliamentary inquiry has revealed hundreds of thousands of children are learning in potentially unsafe buildingsThe state of disrepair of some schools is so bad that 700,000 pupils are learning in classrooms that need a major rebuild or refurbishment, according to a damning parliamentary inquiry into the school estate.This year's crisis over crumbling and potentially dangerous concrete means that other schools in dire need of an overhaul will not be included in the government's current rebuilding programme. Continue reading...

Like many UK village schools, Lerryn primary was struggling financially but parents now hope to make it sustainableLerryn Church of England Primary School, near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, was told by its academy trust at the end of the last academic year that lack of funding would mean they had to scale down to only one class. This would have left one teacher juggling the education of children from reception age up to year 6.This could have been the end of the story - another struggling school left to manage with depleted resources. Instead, residents of this tiny Cornish village have raised more than 30,000 to hire a second teacher and keep their school open. Continue reading...

Former PM's promotion of Beijing-backed development in Sri Lanka has increased concern he could be a pawn for Xi JinpingWhen Chinese president Xi Jinping cut the ribbon on Sri Lanka's Port City Colombo construction site in September 2014, it was promoted as a future major hub in China's global infrastructure project, the belt and road initiative.With a financial centre, beach-front villas and an international yacht marina, the city is aiming to be a rival to Dubai and Singapore. China has already invested $1.4bn in the development, which is due to be completed by 2041. Continue reading...

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The socialist leader's pact with separatist activists has returned him to power for now, but it's a strategy fraught with political uncertaintyAt the end of an investiture debate that had been fraught, savage and bizarre, even by recent standards, the defeated leader of Spain's conservative opposition offered his triumphant socialist rival a handshake. It was not accompanied by his warmest wishes.This was a mistake," said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the leader of the People's party (PP), as he pressed the flesh with a smiling Pedro Sanchez on Thursday. And you're responsible for what you've just done." Continue reading...

The raid on al-Shifa hospital by Israeli forces forced out thousands of patients and medical staffIn the early hours of Saturday morning, over piles of concrete and rubble, crowds of doctors and patients walked miles through the destroyed streets of Gaza City, forced to evacuate on foot from what remained of its hospitals. Medics said they feared leaving critically ill patients behind in a city now largely reduced to rubble and overtaken by Israeli forces, where hospitals had been operating without power, fuel, water or food.It's basically hell on earth," said William Schomburg, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, describing what remained of life inside the city. Continue reading...

Defence ministry detects nine Chinese aircraft crossing Taiwan Strait's median line after tensions were a focus of Biden-Xi talks at Apec summitTaiwan has reported renewed Chinese military activity including nine aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait and warships carrying out combat readiness patrols".Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past four years of regular Chinese military patrols and drills near the island, as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei over its sovereignty claims. Continue reading...

James Paterson refuses to back Peter Dutton's plan to send people back to immigration detention but pushes alternative method of jailing them

Outgoing chairman Stephen Keir IV says family-owned company thought long and hard about selling business after five generations'

Dandenong mayor Eden Foster leading 54-46 on a two-party preferred basis after Saturday's byelection

Grant Stevens' teenage son Charlie sustained a brain injury after allegedly being run down south-east of Adelaide, with a man later charged

Record smashed at auction of one of 40 bottles of oldest-ever Macallan vintage, described as rich, rich dram'The record for the world's most expensive bottle of whisky has been broken after a bottle of Macallan 1926 went for 2.1m at a Sotheby's auction in London.The sale set a new record for any bottle of spirit or wine sold at auction, the auction house told the AFP news agency. Continue reading...

Singer says safety comes first after death of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, in sweltering stadiumTaylor Swift's concert in Brazil on Saturday night has been postponed after a fan died shortly before the start of her gig in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.The show's organisers, Time4Fun (T4F), said in a statement that paramedics had attended to Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, at the concert venue and taken her to a hospital, where she died an hour later. Continue reading...

Fears mount for Gaza refugees as nowhere is deemed safe for civilians in effort to destroy HamasIsrael-Hamas war - live updateAirstrikes on crowded UN shelters in north Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp killed more than 80 people on Saturday, as Israeli plans to expand operations into south Gaza deepened fears for hundreds of thousands of civilians who have sought refuge there.Underlining the reminder that there is nowhere safe for Gaza's civilians, an airstrike outside the southern town of Khan Younis killed at least 26 people in the early hours of Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Michael Zacharias's victims said the priest waited until they began abusing drugs before he sexually trafficked themA Roman Catholic priest received a life sentence on Friday for his convictions on five counts related to sex-trafficking charges in the molestation of three boys whom prosecutors say he met at an Ohio preschool and coerced to continue sexual activity as adults.Michael Zacharias, 56, received concurrent, maximum life sentences for counts of sex trafficking a minor and sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud or coercion. He received concurrent 20-year sentences for two counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud or coercion, and one of similarly trafficking a minor. Continue reading...

NSW and Victoria government documents show support for push by doctors to combine the Albury and Wodonga hospitals into one new facility -but that's not what was announced

Thousands had marched for five days to demand action by the Israeli prime minister to bring home the 240 people captured by Hamas

Two others injured in Pwllheli attack, involving dog that was destroyed and whose breed not yet establishedTwo people have been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after a dog attack in Pwllheli, north Wales.Officers attended an address in the Rhoshirwaun area just before 11.30am on Friday, and two other people suffered minor injuries, North Wales police said. Continue reading...

Former Labour leader argues Hamas and Israel both guilty of targeting civilians, after he avoided term in TV interviewJeremy Corbyn has described Hamas as a terrorist group" in a magazine article after repeatedly refusing to use the term in a television interview earlier this week.The former Labour leader has written an article accusing the Israeli army of being guilty of acts of terror too", arguing that the comparison was necessary because Israel had killed thousands of children in strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's attacks. Continue reading...

Protesters march through Camden and gather outside Labour leader's office amid anger over failure to call for ceasefire

Authorities say it could be months before people evacuated from town of Grindavik can go home even if danger subsidesPeople in south-west Iceland remain on edge as they wait to see whether a volcano rumbling under the Reykjanes peninsula will erupt.Civil protection authorities said that even if it does not, it is likely to be months before residents evacuated from the danger zone can safely return home. Continue reading...

Ukrainian police say workers were at scene of attacks on village near frontline when Russia launched another strikeTwo first responders have been killed by rocket attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.Ukrainian police said Russia fired a series of rockets at the village of Komyshuvakha, close to the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia annexed last year. Continue reading...

About 170,000 people demonstrate in capital over socialist party leader's deal enabling second term in officeAt least 170,000 people gathered in central Madrid for another large protest against the controversial Catalan amnesty law that has allowed Spain's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, to secure a second term in office.Sanchez was sworn in on Friday after winning an investiture vote the previous day that came almost four months after July's inconclusive snap general election. Although the conservative People's party (PP) narrowly beat Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) in the election, it was unable to secure the parliamentary support to form a government even with the backing of the far-right Vox party and other smaller groupings. Continue reading...

Drug firm Novo Nordisk proposed singling out those most likely to return to work with its weight-loss injectionObesity jab maker Novo Nordisk suggested to senior government officials that they could profile" benefit claimants so that those most likely to return to work could be targeted with its weight-loss injections.Internal documents obtained by the Observer reveal that Pinder Sahota, corporate vice-president of Novo Nordisk UK, told the then health secretary Steve Barclay, England's chief medical officer and Treasury officials that data from the Department for Work and Pensions [DWP] could help profile those who are most likely to return to the labour market". Continue reading...

Foreign Office says it is supporting families after 32 Wales football fans arrested in YerevanMore than 30 Wales football fans have been arrested in Armenia before Saturday's European Championship qualifier in Yerevan.The Football Association of Wales (FAW) confirmed that 32 supporters had been arrested in the Armenian capital and that the Foreign Office was involved. Continue reading...

Group of state voters tried to disqualify ex-president from 2024 election for his conduct leading up to January 6 Capitol attackA Colorado judge on Friday allowed Donald Trump to remain on the ballot in the state's election next year, but found that he engaged in insurrection" by sparking the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.The ruling from Judge Sarah Wallace, which is almost certain to be appealed, rejects a bid by a group of Colorado voters to disqualify Trump under a rarely used amendment to the US constitution that bars officials who have engaged in insurrection" from holding federal office. Continue reading...

Authorities say cracking sound caused panic' at site in Uttarakhand where 41 men remain trappedIndian rescuers have paused efforts to reach 41 men trapped in a collapsed road tunnel after a cracking sound created a panic situation" over the possibility of a further cave-in.Excavators have been removing debris from the tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since Sunday after a section that the workers had been building collapsed. Continue reading...

A new exhibition in Oxford charts the different ways the great Medieval poet has been interpreted by readers down the centuriesHusbands and fathers are never humiliated in these copies of The Canterbury Tales and treachery never triumphs. No one ever has sex in a tree or accidentally kisses someone else's hairy bottom - and anyone who expects to read about adultery and farting at friars will be offered moral tales celebrating martyrdom and marital obedience instead.Children in the 19th century were routinely presented with sanitised Victorian versions of Geoffrey Chaucer's medieval masterpiece, and copies of these are now to go on public display for the first time at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Continue reading...

Chancellor rumoured to be considering 2bn of cuts to benefits while reducing inheritance taxJeremy Hunt has said he faces difficult decisions" before the autumn statement, as he is considering reducing benefits while cutting inheritance tax.The chancellor is thought to be considering 2bn of cuts to benefits, including stopping people who are unemployed but not actively looking for work from claiming free prescriptions and discounted bus travel. Continue reading...

Campaigners criticise loss of open space as Wandsworth prepares to decide on plan for 10-storey show courtForget the tennis. A much bigger match will take place in Wimbledon next week as the All England Lawn Tennis Club takes on another local council over its plan to build an 8,000-seat stadium on a Grade II*-listed park.The AELTC will on Tuesday night attempt to convince Wandsworth's planning committee to vote through its proposal to build the 10-storey show court and 38 other grass courts on Wimbledon Park. Campaigners have described the proposals as an industrial tennis complex". Continue reading...

The Care Quality Commission also evaluated 68% of hospitals in London as inadequate' or requires improvement'More than half of all hospitals in England and over two-thirds of those in London offer substandard care, an Observer investigation has found.In one hospital emergency department, inspectors reported patients being treated in corridors and deadly diseases such as sepsis and cancer not being diagnosed. Continue reading...

The chances of the UK striking key deals with Brussels are looking up, with many seeing the new foreign secretary David Cameron as the latest step in a rapprochementIn her final key pre-Brexit speech in 2019, Ursula von der Leyen declared she would always be a remainer", insisting that Europe's bond of friendship" with the UK would remain unbreakable.In her hour-long state of the union" address this year, the EU's most senior executive official did not mention the UK once, despite common interests in Ukraine, the climate crisis, energy and China. Continue reading...

Ayman Safadi says credibility of international law at stake as he clashes with senior US official over terms for humanitarian pause

Man, 37, had attempted to kill himself at Brook House removal centre and died in hospital on FridayThree investigations have been launched after the death of a 37-year-old Albanian immigration detainee, the Home Office has said.The man, who died on Friday, had attempted to kill himself just over a week ago in Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick airport and was subsequently taken to East Surrey hospital, where he was cared for in the intensive care unit. Continue reading...

Opposition and unions call on Grant Shapps to take action after 60 senior women report widespread abuseLabour and civil service unions have called on the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to launch an urgent investigation after 60 senior female staff at the Ministry of Defence reported a widespread culture of sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues.The opposition party called on Shapps to take action to root out this behaviour from top to bottom", while the heads of the FDA and PCS trade unions called for a meeting with the department's permanent secretary, David Williams. Continue reading...

Groups behind ceasefire protests attended by hundreds of thousands say local action will replace London march this week