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Retailer ups full-year expectations for third time in four months as it signals prices could fall in springNext has raised its full-year profit expectations for the third time in four months and signalled that prices could start to fall next spring for the first time in at least two years.The fashion and homewares retailer upped its annual profit guidance by 30m to 875m as it said better ranges, the sunny spring and pay rises for many of its customers had helped lift sales. Continue reading...

Former treasurer will become chairman of investment bank in Australia and New Zealand in move that prioritises precious time' with his family

The proportion of owners making a loss - after selling their home within two years of buying - rose to 9.7% in the June quarter

French and German politicians are in a standoff over a quota designed to boost European productionsBrussels must not shut the door" on British film and television, MEPs have said, as the European Commission mulls excluding the UK from a quota system designed to boost European productions on streaming platforms.In order to operate across Europe, streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ currently have to ensure that at least 30% of the films they have in their online catalogues are European works". Continue reading...

Home Office-funded survey exposes failures over serious sexual crimes by officers in England and WalesThe full extent of the trauma rape survivors experience as a direct result of their interaction with police has been shown for the first time in a damning official survey.Three-quarters of respondents to the largest ever survey of rape and sexual assault survivors in England and Wales said their mental health was damaged as a direct result of what police did, or failed to do, in their case", according to researchers. Continue reading...

From views on gay sex to women's role in the home, British social attitudes survey reveals a near revolution'From attitudes to gay sex and single parenting to views on abortion and the role of women in the home, Britain has evolved into a dramatically more liberal-minded country over the past four decades, a leading study has found.The transformation in public opinion on many social and moral issues - described by one of the study's researchers as a near revolution" - is captured in the latest British social attitudes (BSA) survey, which is marking its 40th year of mapping Britain's cultural and political landscape. Continue reading...

Exclusive: analysis of results in 31 countries last year found 32% of votes were cast for parties that are populist, far-left or far-rightAlmost one-third of Europeans now vote for populist, far-right or far-left parties, research shows, with wide support for anti-establishment politics surging across the continent in an increasingly problematic challenge to the mainstream.Analysis by more than 100 political scientists across 31 countries found that in national elections last year a record 32% of European voters cast their ballots for anti-establishment parties, compared with 20% in the early 2000s and 12% in the early 1990s. Continue reading...

Secret camera footage last year showed Ann King being taunted, shouted at and roughly handled at Reigate Grange in SurreyA criminal investigation has been launched into a luxury care home in Surrey where Ann King, an 88-year-old resident, was abused by staff in a case that shocked the country.The Care Quality Commission, which regulates social care in England, announced the investigation into Reigate Grange 11 months after the Guardian broadcast distressing secret camera footage of staff taunting, shouting at and roughly handling the former nurse who was living with dementia. King died in October 2022 after her children took her back home in March 2022 in disgust at her treatment. Continue reading...

Anti-establishment parties look likely to play a significant role in elections in Slovakia, Poland and the NetherlandsThe shape of three European governments could be decided by the performances of populist, far-right, or anti-establishment parties in elections this autumn, as the continent's fractured political landscape continues to splinter.September's parliamentary poll in Slovakia, a country of just five million people, could prove critical to Europe's continuing support for Ukraine against Russia's aggression, returning to power a proto-populist, Robert Fico, who is stridently pro-Moscow. Continue reading...

NSW treasurer wants to stop long-term rentals being pulled from the market and short-term rentals taking their place' during housing crisis

The PM has torn up his ambitious plans for Britain to achieve its commitments on net zero emissions, saying they were unrealistic and punitive'. Kiran Stacey reportsRishi Sunak has announced a major policy shift, rowing back on some of the government's net zero policies that impose a direct cost on consumers, as the Conservatives attempt to create a dividing line with Labour before the next election.As our political correspondent Kiran Stacey tells Nosheen Iqbal on a chaotic day in Westminster, the plans amount to delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and watering down the phasing out of gas boilers. Sunak also dropped proposals for new energy-efficiency targets for private rented homes. Continue reading...

Decision over judicial review of Sofronoff inquiry made after concerns of a potential conflict within ACT legal fraternity

New York-based Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse signals he rejects Thailand's harsh lese majeste laws, which ban criticism of the royal familyAn estranged son of Thailand's king who has spent almost all his adult life away from his homeland has unexpectedly gone public with his belief that open discussions about the country's monarchy should be allowed, in a rejection of a harsh royal anti-defamation law.Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, one of the king's five sons, posted his opinion on Facebook after attending a photo exhibition in New York about people who have been charged under the law, Article 112 of Thailand's Criminal Code. Continue reading...

Inquiry headed by independent panel of experts will cover commonwealth pandemic response but exclude unilateral actions of states or territories

The 14-year-old boy was put in handcuffs and marched out of his classroom on MondayThe French government has defended the arrest of a teenage boy in the middle of class over claims of bullying a transgender classmate, a rare move that angered many pupils and parents despite widespread support for a crackdown on harassment.The 14-year-old boy was put in handcuffs and marched out of his classroom in the Paris suburb of Alfortville on Monday. Continue reading...

Building society's regular saver for current account holders is one of a growing number paying 6% interest or moreCompetition among financial firms for a slice of the nation's savings is intensifying, with Nationwide launching an account paying a market-leading" 8% interest.A string of Bank of England interest rate rises have pushed up savings rates across the board, and many experts expect another one on Thursday. Continue reading...

Research finds breakdown in parents' social contract with schools since Covid lockdowns and cost of living crisisParents in England no longer subscribe to the view that their children need to be in school full-time, according to new research which says there has been a seismic shift" in attitudes to attendance since the pandemic.For decades, attendance at school by all pupils every day throughout term time has been part of a social contract between schools and families, but the report says this is no longer the case. Continue reading...

Severed fibre-optic cables hamper search for survivors in eastern Libya where thousands died after dams collapsedA daylong communication outage in the flood-stricken city of Derna in eastern Libya has further complicated the work of teams searching for bodies under the rubble and at sea.The country's chief prosecutor, meanwhile, vowed to take serious measures" to deliver justice for the victims of the floods, which killed thousands of people and devastated the coastal city more than a week ago. Continue reading...

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Leaders seeking south Yemen's independence say they have been sidelined from talks between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebelsLeaders of the Southern Yemen independence movement said they have been sidelined from the critical talks held in Riyadh between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels on the future of Yemen. They warned any peace deal cannot be imposed upon the south, saying possible Iranian control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterways was at stake.After an unprecedented five days of meetings with the Saudi defence minister, Khalid bin Salman, Houthi leaders returned on Tuesday to their capital Sana'a saying the talks were positive. It was the first official meeting between the Saudis and Houthi rebels since the Saudi military intervention in 2015 and reflects Saudi Arabia's determination to end the conflict. Continue reading...

PM says people to be given more time to switch gas boilers to heat pumps, and ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars delayed

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering says ministers must make up for lost time' with more ambitious policy

The fright" look is all naturally mine,' riposted Rose Knox-Peebles after FT reviewer assumed she had makeup on in Das RheingoldRose Knox-Peebles was on a high after the opening night of Das Rheingold at the Royal Opera House earlier this week.It was the first time the 82-year-old model, who plays Erda, the weary, gnarled earth mother who has seen it all, who knows what has been, what is and will be, had performed in an opera. In quite the baptism of all sorts of fire, director Barrie Kosky decided to keep her character on stage, naked, for the entire two and a half hour performance - with no interval. Continue reading...

Family of Alice Litman, who died aged 20, say she was failed by those tasked with her care'The family of a young trans woman who is believed to have taken her own life have said she was failed by those tasked with her care", as the coroner investigating her death described services for transgender people as underfunded and insufficiently resourced".Alice Litman had been waiting to receive gender-affirming healthcare for more than three years when she died in Brighton at the age of 20 in May 2022.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Seventeen authors have joined a new lawsuit alleging systematic theft on a mass scale' by the programJohn Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George RR Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for systematic theft on a mass scale", the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that artificial intelligence programs are using their copyrighted works without permission.In papers filed on Tuesday in federal court in New York, the authors alleged flagrant and harmful infringements of plaintiffs' registered copyrights" and called the ChatGPT program a massive commercial enterprise" that is reliant upon systematic theft on a mass scale". Continue reading...

Teresa Ribera calls for alert systems in every country by 2027 after spate of natural disasters across the worldThe latest spate of natural disasters - from the floods in Libya, Greece and Spain to the wildfires in Hawaii and Canada - has further underscored the need for early warning systems to help the world cope with the realities of the climate emergency, Spain's environment minister has said.Speaking to the Guardian as she prepared to travel to New York to take part in the UN's climate ambition summit and sign a landmark treaty to protect the high seas, Teresa Ribera said the calamities laid bare the challenges the planet faced. Continue reading...

Deal includes provisions for local Armenian government to disband its local military, in capitulation to Azerbaijan

Springwatch host claims politicians ignored veteran conservationist's message on the climate crisis - and failed humanity wholesale'Broadcaster and conservationist Chris Packham has claimed that David Attenborough's Cop 26 speech had no impact. The Planet Earth creator was lauded for his 2021 address at the Glasgow climate summit, in which he urged an audience including US President Joe Biden to commit to holding global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.However, Packham claims that politicians' total failure to take the broadcaster's words on board meant they had no impact. Continue reading...

Archaeologists to survey waters off coast of northern France using latest technology to scour seabedChurchill called the mass evacuation of allied forces from the beach and pier at Dunkirk a miracle of deliverance", but the operation to rescue more than 330,000 troops trapped by German forces in May 1940 came at a heavy cost.Of the up to 1,000 vessels, from military warships to fishing boats, lifeboats and pleasure craft, that scrambled to help the stranded men, hundreds were sunk during the nine-day Operation Dynamo with the loss of many lives. Continue reading...

Cuts to climate funding and to taxes on petrol and diesel expected to increase emissions

Series with 370m views echoes Chinese state media calls for return of cultural relicsA viral series on the Chinese version of TikTok about a jade teapot that turns into a woman and escapes from the British Museum is to be adapted into an animated film.The plot of Escape from the British Museum, a series made by two social media influencers, echoes Chinese state media calls for the British government to make amends for historical sins" and return Chinese cultural relics. Continue reading...

Bronx day care owner Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito charged after fentanyl allegedly stored on top of play matsThe owner of a New York City day care center where a one-year-old died after being exposed to fentanyl allegedly stored on top of play mats took steps to cover up her involvement in a drug distribution operation, federal prosecutors have said.Grei Mendez, the 36-year-old owner of the day care center, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, a 41-year-old man who rented a room from her, were hit with federal narcotics conspiracy charges on Tuesday. The charges came just days after the pair were charged with murder of depraved indifference" in the death of Nicholas Dominici in state court. Continue reading...

Police raid homes of members of US-linked group as part of nationwide crackdown on extremismGermany has banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Deutschland, describing it as an extremist organisation with ties to the US that sees itself as the elite of the rightwing skinhead scene.The German organisation, believed to play a leading role in Europe's rightwing extremist scene, was an offshoot of Hammerskins Nation, an organisation founded in Texas in 1988, Germany's interior ministry said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Parole Board confirms that Venables, who was turned down for parole in 2020, has been listed for review in NovemberThe child killer Jon Venables will make a fresh bid to be released from prison at a parole hearing in November.Venables and his schoolfriend, Robert Thompson, were both 10 when they murdered two-year-old James Bulger after taking him from his mother's side in a shopping centre in Merseyside in 1993. Continue reading...

Officials reverse earlier position that killings were murder-suicide after two adults and their two children found dead in RomeovillePolice in Chicago have said the deaths of four people in their Romeoville subdivision home were not a random act", a reversal of an earlier position that the killings were a murder-suicide.An Illinois family of two adults, two children and three pet dogs were found dead by police on Sunday during a wellness check after a member of the family did not show up to work or respond to phone calls from relatives. Continue reading...

Concern for future of Guatemalan democracy amid alleged attempts to block inauguration of anti-corruption crusaderInternational concern over the future of Guatemala's democracy is growing, as Brazil's president warned of a possible coup to stop the president-elect taking power and the US denounced unprecedented attempts to undermine the Central American country's election result.The centre-left anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo was elected Guatemala's new president last month. This week thousands of supporters took to the streets to protest against alleged attempts to block his inauguration in January. Continue reading...

Weather warnings in place for areas of Wales, the north-west and south of England and west ScotlandHundreds of homes and businesses have been hit by power cuts, and roads and a railway line have been blocked, as heavy rain and high winds battered parts of the UK.Yellow weather warnings were in place on Wednesday for areas of Wales, the north-west and south of England and west Scotland, with travel disruption predicted in some parts into the early hours of Thursday. Continue reading...

Prime minister says Italy under incredible pressure' from large number of arrivals from north Africa

Halt to so-called anti-terrorist operation in disputed region was due to take effect at 1pm local timeRussia's defence ministry said today that the newly-announced ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh will be coordinated with its troops.A ceasefire agreement between the Azerbaijani side and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh has been reached through the mediation of the command for Russia's peacekeeping mission," the ministry said, according to the TASS news agency. Continue reading...

James Cleverly says some in south feel they only hear Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine' from western leadersThe west has so far failed to convince the global south that its concern for Ukraine does not come at the expense of issues such as the climate crisis, the UK foreign secretary has admitted.Speaking on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, James Cleverly said the west will be in trouble unless it learns to listen better to the global south" and conceded that despite his efforts, foreign ministers whom he respects feel they only hear the words Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine" from figures like him. Continue reading...

Matt Broomfield, who has worked in Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria, had his phone and laptop seized when he was questioned last monthA British freelance journalist who previously worked in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria was held by counter-terrorism police at Luton airport for five hours without being arrested last month under controversial powers of detention.Matt Broomfield, 29, said he was met by police as he got off a plane from Belgrade with his girlfriend on 24 August and was taken aside for questioning, where he was asked do you consider your reporting objective" and his opinions of the British state. Police told Broomfield they were engaged in a mopping up operation". They seized his phone and laptop and have since refused to return them. After the questioning ended, he was allowed to proceed and no police action has followed. Continue reading...

CPS says officer who shot Chris Kaba in south London in September last year has been chargedThe police officer who shot Chris Kaba in south London in September last year has been charged with murder, the Crown Prosecution Service said.More details soon ...

Expanded presence to showcase original journalism and highlight issues that matter to European readersThe Guardian has launched a digital Europe edition with an expanded presence across the continent in an attempt to focus a European lens on world issues", its editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, has announced.The fifth digital edition of the Guardian, which launches on Wednesday, follows its UK, US, Australia and international editions. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak accused of disgusting betrayal of vulnerable people' over net zero U-turn as he misses UN climate ambition summitThe UK was notable by its absence on Wednesday from a key statement pledging ambitious action on the climate crisis, from a group of countries of which it is normally a leading member.The high ambition coalition" of countries, which aims to push the world to swifter cuts on greenhouse gas emissions, issued a call for faster stronger" action on the climate, to cause emissions to peak by 2025, and a plan to put the world on course to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement. Continue reading...

The CLC executive - 90 elected members who represent 75 communities across nine regions - said comments insult survivors of 1927 Coniston massacre. Follow the day's news live

State visit by British monarch to Versailles and Bordeaux offers chance to further reset UK-French relationsEmmanuel Macron and King Charles will dine on lobster at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday night in a three-day state visit by the British monarch, marking a crucial reset of the UK-French relationship after the near-total collapse in trust of the Boris Johnson years.At a one-to-one discussion at the Elysee Palace, the king and the French president will discuss the war in Ukraine, military coups in the Sahel region of Africa and the challenges of artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

More than 11,000 people have landed on the island in recent days - a decade on from when hundreds were killed in a shipwreckVito Fiorino and his friends were preparing to go fishing after sleeping the night on his boat docked off Lampedusa when one of them, Alessandro, heard piercing screams. It was about 6am on 3 October 2013. The group often ventured out to sea on the abandoned boat that Fiorino had brought back to life after moving to the tiny Sicilian island a few years earlier. But rarely would they spend the night.It was a dark night with lots of stars, no wind and a beautiful sea, and so we decided to sleep on the boat, something we hadn't done in years," Fiorino said. Alessandro got the boat going as dawn broke and after a few metres stopped the engine and asked: Did you hear that noise?' He used a Sicilian word which means cries of anguish'. There was a huge flock of seagulls so I was convinced that the noise was coming from them." Continue reading...

Tory MPs who have championed net zero policies furious at PM's plans to delay or water down green measuresRishi Sunak's determination to roll back some of the UK's key climate policies risks opening up rifts within his own party, as senior Conservatives expressed their deep unease at the move.Proposals to delay or water down green measures, such as pushing back the dates for ending sales of petrol and diesel cars, and gas boilers, are likely to be fleshed out later this week. Continue reading...

Ralph Babet and Clive Palmer lose case against AEC, which is following precedent by counting ticks but disregarding crosses in upcoming vote

Mortality rate grows as animals roam long distances and clash with local people in desperate search for waterThe climate crisis is pushing elephants on a forced migration across borders in southern Africa in search of water, creating problems for national parks and conservation efforts.In recent weeks, Zimbabwe's elephants have been crossing the country's borders into Botswana, officials said on Tuesday. Exactly how many elephants are affected is not yet known. The development comes as a survey this month revealed that elephants are dying of heat stress. Continue reading...