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Tens of thousands of burners' urged to conserve food and water as rain and flash floods sweep NevadaTens of thousands of burners" at the Burning Man festival have been told to stay in the camps, conserve food and water and are being blocked from leaving Nevada's Black Rock desert after a slow-moving rainstorm turned the event into a mud bath.Organizers responding to the unusual weather indicated the closures could endure, as local reports described the conditions at the festival as treacherous" with thick, slimy mud that clung to shoes and anything else it touched". Continue reading...

Senior civil servant says many alerts' crossed education secretary's desk, but UK government was more concerned with saving moneyA senior civil service whistleblower has told the Observer that Tory ministers and their political advisers were dangerously complacent" about crumbling school buildings constructed with aerated concrete, and that they were more concerned with saving money than improving safety.The source, who worked in the private office of Nadhim Zahawi, the then education secretary, saw regular alerts crossing his desk. He said ministers and special advisers were trying to get away with spending as little as they could" and hoping to make do" rather than treating the problem with the urgency it required. Continue reading...

Analysis shows that number of cases upheld has soared by 60%, with some children left without a school placement for over a yearConcern is growing over provision for children with special educational needs after new figures revealed that a record number of complaints have been upheld by England's local government ombudsman this year.Analysis of the decisions showed that some children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) had been without a school placement for more than a year. Continue reading...

Coercive or controlling behaviour has been an offence since 2015, but its financial aspects are poorly understood and can leave lives in ruins, a new report saysI've got nothing. I've worked for 26 years and the only asset I have is my pension. I have no savings, no home and my credit rating is destroyed because of the credit cards and loans he took out in my name. Everything I thought we owned, we didn't."Two years ago, Ruth Dodsworth, a television journalist and weather presenter, gave a number of interviews disclosing that she had been a victim of domestic abuse. For almost a decade, her now ex-husband Jonathan Wignall phoned her up to 150 times a day, tracked her movements and was physically abusive. Continue reading...

Decision comes after Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the warmest winter since official records began

The shadow education secretary shattered the class barrier' of a tough upbringing to achieve her position. Now she wants others to do the sameIt is a Friday, a day of train strikes, so Bridget Phillipson cannot easily get back to her Houghton and Sunderland South constituency. Instead, the shadow secretary of state for education is in London being bombarded by media requests for comment on England's crumbling schools.The state of the country's public services reminds her of her own upbringing in the north-east, in Washington, a former mining town between Sunderland and Newcastle in Tyne and Wear. Continue reading...

The 230-page unpublished memoir will reflect the horrors suffered by ordinary Japanese citizens in a feature-length dramaA major feature film on Hiroshima is going into production, inspired in part by an unpublished memoir of a Japanese man who witnessed the devastation of the city after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945.Scriptwriter Elisabeth Bentley was taken aback by the personal recollections of Kiyoshi Tanimoto in a 230-page memoir that she unearthed in a US archive. Continue reading...

Nationals leader backs Peter Dutton's call to hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition if the voice to parliament vote fails in October. This blog is now closed

Opposition leader says constitutional recognition is the right thing to do' but Indigenous leader accuses him of kicking the can down the road'

Cost doubles in some poor urban districts, driven in part by mortgage rate rise, UK-wide study showsPeople living in the most deprived areas of Britain have seen their rents increase by 52% over the past four years - while for tenants in the wealthiest regions, rents have risen by only 29%, new figures show.It is shocking to see that home rents have been rising in areas where people are least able to afford to pay more," said Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of Generation Rent. Continue reading...

Architect of the Uluru statement criticises some media outlets for highlighting misinformation being shared on social media platforms

Workplace relations minister Tony Burke says he is surprised' move to close loopholes has been controversial

Only debris remained after crews were unable to extinguish the blaze that engulfed the multimillion dollar vessel

Ukrainian forces breach Russia's first defensive line in south, says general; Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky detained on suspicion of fraud

Arrest of one-time ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy comes as Kyiv attempts to crack down on corruptionA Ukrainian court has ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, a striking move against one of the country's most powerful businessmen.The detention on Saturday of Kolomoisky, who is under US sanctions and is a one-time supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is trying to signal progress during a wartime crackdown on corruption. Continue reading...

Professionals seeking affordable housing are displacing those at risk of homelessness as rents soar

20-year-old to face court over head-on collision that killed 24-year-old woman and her 15-year-old brother

Party to use parliamentary mechanism to force reveal of English schools affected by concrete safety crisisLabour plans to force a vote to compel the government to reveal the full list of schools affected by the Raac building safety crisis.It comes amid growing demands for transparency over the extent of the impact of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in public buildings. Continue reading...

Former head of V&A has suggested Parthenon marbles could be shared with GreeceA former head of the V&A Museum, who previously suggested the Parthenon marbles could be shared with Greece, has been put forward as the interim director of the British Museum.Sir Mark Jones will replace Hartwig Fischer, who quit after it emerged thousands of objects had been stolen from the museum's collection. A police investigation is under way regarding the reported thefts. Continue reading...

Singer joins Paul Kelly in supporting constitutional recognition and hopes use of song will help change the lives of our First Nations peoples for the better'

Saleyard prices down 40% on average from 2022 and are in line with amounts seen during 2019 drought, Meat and Livestock Australia says

Suspects aged 21 and 22 arrested under Terrorism Act after leak of names of 10,000 PSNI officers and staffTwo men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act by police officers investigating the PSNI data breach.The suspects, aged 21 and 22, were arrested on Saturday in the Portadown area of County Armagh, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said on X, formerly known as Twitter. They will be questioned at the Musgrave serious crime suite in Belfast. Continue reading...

Prime minister drops further in opinion polls after populist policies on migrants backfireRishi Sunak's approval ratings have failed to improve over the summer political break - despite several weeks of Tory policy blitzes intended to win back voters.The latest Opinium survey for the Observer shows the Conservative have failed to shift the dial in Sunak's favour, with the prime minister dropping two points in the past two weeks to a net score of -25% (24% approve, 49% disapprove). Continue reading...

Temperatures could reach 30C for first time since early July, according to Met OfficeThe great British summer could finally be upon us next week with temperatures possibly reaching 30C for the first time since early July, forecasters have suggested.The Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said 29C was certainly possible and we may also climb towards 30C" by midweek in the first week of meteorological autumn as many schools open after the summer break. Continue reading...

Demonstrators gather near base housing French soldiers as military junta accuses Paris of interferenceThousands of protesters rallied in Niger's capital Niamey to call for the withdrawal of French troops, as demanded by a junta that seized power in June.The demonstrators gathered near a base housing French soldiers on Saturday, after a call by several civic organisations hostile to the French military presence in the west African country. Continue reading...

Update from UK Ministry of Defence comes as Kyiv claims some small gains in the southRussian bloggers have been cashing in on their social media coverage of the Ukraine war with paid ads in their feeds worth more than a month's average wage.The BBC reports that pro-war influencers known in Russia as Z-bloggers" share ads, mostly on Telegram - the platform du jour in Russia after the banning of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook - on everything from cryptocurrency to fashion.The Ministry of Defence often listens to us, and we have a direct channel to privately communicate information to them. It's all behind the scenes, and I do that. Continue reading...

Mohamed Kissi says forces approached and began fatal shooting after group strayed into Algerian watersA Moroccan man has described how Algerian coastguard forces drew level with him and a group of holidaymakers who had accidentally strayed into the nation's waters on jetskis before opening fire.Mohamed Kissi said the incident took place at sunset on Tuesday when the four men travelling on two jetskis got lost after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco's north-east tip. The group was almost out of fuel when they unknowingly crossed the border into Algeria. Continue reading...

Figures reveal services regularly breached response-time targets, with one person waiting three daysMinisters have been accused of sheer neglect" of people with mental illness as figures reveal one patient waited nearly three days for an ambulance to arrive last year.Data obtained by the Liberal Democrats shows that ambulance services regularly breached response-time targets in emergency and urgent calls to help patients with a mental health crisis or severe illness last year. Continue reading...

Union anger after bosses' pay at arts charity rises 170% while staff are offered just 4%Charity workers could walk out on strike for the first time in the 270-year history of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) as a simmering row over pay, alleged union-busting and rising executive wages reaches boiling point.Union members at the enlightenment charity, which once counted Karl Marx and Nelson Mandela as members, are being balloted for strike action by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) over a below-inflation pay offer, with the result expected this week. Continue reading...

Kazu Hiro says he was surprised by Jewface' criticism over actor's portrayal of composer Leonard Bernstein in biopic MaestroThe makeup artist who worked on Bradley Cooper's movie Maestro has apologised to anyone who felt hurt by the use of a prosthetic nose, which has been criticised by some as an example of Jewface".Speaking at a press conference at the Venice film festival - where Maestro, a biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein, will premiere - Kazu Hiro said he was surprised by the backlash. Continue reading...

Welly boots were a must during stays with the queen, but King Charles may take a new approachMargaret Thatcher reportedly described it as purgatory", while Tony Blair needed a stiff drink to survive it.Now Rishi Sunak is expected to meet the King during a weekend trip to Balmoral Castle, continuing a long-held tradition of the monarch hosting the prime minister at the Scottish royal retreat. Continue reading...

DJ to host drive-time show one day a week instead of five, with Huw Stephens taking over rest of weekSteve Lamacq, the BBC Radio 6 Music DJ, is to step back from presenting his drive-time show full-time after 18 years.Addressing listeners on Friday, the broadcaster said he was a bit knackered" from hosting the teatime show five days a week since 2005. Continue reading...

Fifty-seven law enforcement officers held in six prisons amid sharp rise in gang violence ahead of electionFifty guards and seven police officers have been released, Ecuadorian authorities said, after being held hostage in several prisons for more than a day.The country's corrections system, the National Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, said in a statement that the 57 law enforcement officers, who were held in six different prisons, were safe, but did not offer details about how they were released. Continue reading...

Labour accuses Braverman of focusing on her political obsessions' as she says officers should focus on crime and avoid contentious issues'The home secretary has commissioned a review into police activism and impartiality as she tells officers to focus on crime rather than being involved in political matters".Suella Braverman said public confidence had been damaged as a result of police engaging in contentious issues" such as officers taking a knee and policing gender-critical views on social media. Continue reading...

Violence broke out as Eritreans protested at event held by the country's embassy in Tel AvivA dozen Eritrean asylum seekers have been injured by Israeli police gunfire in Tel Aviv after a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, police and medical sources said.Clashes began on Saturday outside a venue in south Tel Aviv that was to host an event organised by the Eritrean embassy in Israel. Continue reading...

Analysis of official data has revealed the system for drawing constituencies is warping' democracy by omitting eligible votersBritish democracy is being warped" by an unfair system for drawing constituency boundaries that ignores millions of missing voters" and hugely benefits the Tories, according to a new study of official data.Analysis by the political commentator and pollster Peter Kellner shows that if constituencies were determined according to the size of their populations rather than the number of registered voters - as happens in most other advanced democracies - then the number of extra Labour seats created would cut the Tories' Commons majority by 22. Continue reading...

At the village with the most unsolved burglaries in the UK, shopkeepers are turning to vigilante-style tacticsWithin the genteel New Forest village of Lyndhurst, it was considered a crime of almost outrageous audacity.On a busy Saturday afternoon in February, two vividly painted Moorcroft pottery charger plates were stolen in plain sight from the middle of the venerable antique store. Continue reading...

Samuels Library set to close on 1 October after far-right community members claimed LGBTQ+ books were pornographicA public county library in Virginia is at risk of shutting down after a group of far-right community members launched a campaign to defund it on accusations it held pornographic books" though in fact the works usually just explore LGBTQ+ themes.Samuels Library in Front Royal's Warren county is set to close on 1 October as public funding has been withheld by the Warren county board of supervisors since July, cutting off crucial financial support. Continue reading...

Labour demands urgent audit of government's handling of longstanding concerns about RaacEngland's growing buildings crisis could expand beyond schools to other public buildings such as hospitals and courts, experts have said.More than 100 schools were forced to partially or fully close this week after a dramatic escalation of the government's approach towards crumbling concrete. Continue reading...

More than 36,000 raised to support low-income black writers in memory of award-winning poet who went missingThe family of the award-winning poet Gboyega Odubanjo have raised more than 36,000 to help launch a foundation in his memory.Odubanjo went missing at a music festival last week, and officers investigating his disappearance found a body on Thursday. Continue reading...

Newsreader's older brothers were both affected, unable to access healthcare or benefits or get a passportThe BBC presenter Clive Myrie has said he felt angry and ashamed" of the UK after the Windrush scandal, which affected two of his brothers.The foreign correspondent and newsreader, whose parents moved to Bolton from Jamaica in the early 1960s, reveals the impact of the government's hostile environment policy" in his upcoming memoir. Continue reading...

Storm hit overnight as business, transport and schools suspended in Hong Kong and GuangdongTyphoon Saola has made landfall in southern China after nearly 900,000 people were moved to safety and most of Hong Kong and other parts of coastal southern China suspended business, transport and schools.Guangdong province's meteorological bureau said the powerful storm churned into an outlying district of the city of Zhuhai, just south of Hong Kong at 3.30am local time. It was forecast to move in a south-westerly direction along the Guangdong coast at a speed of about 10mph (17km/h), gradually weakening before heading out to sea. Continue reading...

Police accused of playing fast and loose' with New Yorkers' rights to due process and to freely hold peaceful gatheringsNew York City police plan to monitor large gatherings and noise complaints over Labor Day weekend with surveillance drones, officials have announced, prompting outcry from privacy advocates.Police said Thursday that the remote-controlled aircrafts would be deployed to keep tabs on large gatherings, including private events, as New Yorkers prepared to celebrate the weekend heading into Monday's holiday. Continue reading...

Nine months after Kenneth Smith's botched lethal injection, state attorney general has asked for approval to kill him with nitrogenKenneth Smith is one of two living Americans who can describe what it is like to survive an execution, having endured an aborted lethal injection last November during which he was subjected to excruciating pain tantamount, his lawyers claim, to torture.Nine months later Smith has been singled out for another undesirable distinction. If the state of Alabama has its way, he will become the test dummy for an execution method that has never before been used in judicial killings and which veterinarians consider unacceptable as a form of euthanasia for animals - death by nitrogen gas. Continue reading...

Egyptian businessman and self-made billionaire dies almost 26 years to the day after his son was killed in Paris car crashMohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian-born businessman who owned the department store Harrods, has died aged 94.His death comes almost 26 years to the day after the car crash in Paris that killed his eldest son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997. Continue reading...

Woman, 24, and her brother, 15, died after their Toyota Echo was hit by a Mercedes in Heckenberg smash

Man and woman held on suspicion of murder of 49-year-old Bournemouth man found in BoscombeTwo people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after partial human remains were found in Boscombe, Dorset police said.The victim had been identified as a 49-year-old man from Bournemouth and his family had been informed, the force said. Continue reading...

Aditya-L1 is to observe sun's outermost layers and will be first vessel by any Asian nation to be placed in orbit around sunThe latest mission in India's ambitious space program has blasted off on a voyage towards the centre of the solar system, a week after the country's successful unmanned moon landing.Aditya-L1 launched shortly before midday, with a live broadcast showing hundreds of spectators cheering wildly against the deafening noise of the rocket's ascent. Continue reading...

SNP hopes Believe in Scotland march will boost morale after weeks of gloomy headlinesHumza Yousaf is hoping for sunshine. In chatty video clips that have circulated on social media this week, the first minister extends a personal invitation to SNP members and the wider yes movement to attend this Saturday's Believe in Scotland march and rally for independence. And he assures them that whatever the weather, nothing can dampen our enthusiasm and determination".It signals a distinct change in emphasis from his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, who rarely attended marches like this one, according to the veteran independence campaigner Lesley Riddoch. By contrast, Yousaf has the top speaker billing at the rally. Continue reading...

Friends and foes of Brazil's former president believe it is only a matter of time before he is detainedBrazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has never shown much sympathy for prisoners.Why should we give those dirtbags a good life? ... They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's what I reckon," he once ranted. Continue reading...