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Exclusive: Increasing involvement of investment funds could leave nursery places at risk

Sentencing of stepfather of Jacob Crouch for boy's murder is latest case from first year of Covid-19

Stores saw unseasonal spending pattern as rain-soaked July shoppers plumped for winter comfort foodSummer is traditionally the time of year for barbecuing, eating ice-cream and drinking sundowners but after a rain-soaked July, weary Britons are taking solace in wintry comfort food such as roast dinners, soup, rice pudding and custard.For campers and festivalgoers, the fact that the UK had one of the wettest Julys on record is not news. Indeed, in Northern Ireland and parts of England such as Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside, rainfall records were broken. And there is no end in sight soon, with Storm Antoni due to bring strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday. Continue reading...

Pilot of about 20 patients in London will track success of hormone-free intracervical insemination kitsNHS patients will be given free at-home fertility kits as part of a trial to explore methods beyond IVF that could be used for those struggling to conceive.Currently the only fertility treatments funded by the NHS are IVF, when a fertilised egg is inserted into the womb, and intrauterine insemination (IUI), which involves directly inserting sperm into a woman's womb. Access can depend on location, relationship status, BMI and sexual orientation. Continue reading...

GTR blames driver overtime ban but seaside resort's council frustrated by lack of creative solutionThere will be no trains between London and Brighton on Saturday, causing major disruption for people travelling to the coastal city's Pride festival.Talks between Brighton and Hove city council and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Southern rail, collapsed after a compromise was unable to be found. Continue reading...

Clashes between the army and a regional militia threaten public security and are causing serious economic and humanitarian damage', said officialsEthiopia's council of ministers has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region after its leader said he was no longer able to contain a surge in violence between a local ethnic militia and the army.The office of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced the emergency on Friday, saying attacks by armed extremist groups" posed an increasing threat to public security and were causing significant economic damage. Continue reading...

With elections due next year, there are fears unrest will grow as the ruling BJP faces criticism over its alleged inactionAn imam stabbed and shot to death in a mosque that was then burned to the ground. A young doctor, walking home, set upon by an armed mob who thrashed and molested her. A railway officer, boarding a train, prowled the carriages for his targets and shot dead three men. The incidents, which all took place in India this week, were seemingly unconnected, yet the victims were united by a common factor: they were all Muslim.Since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, incidents of sectarian violence targeting the Muslim minority, who make up about 14% of the population, have become increasingly frequent. Continue reading...

Communist party secretary for Hebei made comments after visiting flood-hit areas earlier this weekChinese social media users have reacted angrily to comments from a local Communist party official suggesting that the city of Zhuozhou and other flood-hit areas near Beijing should be used as a moat for the capital".Ni Yuefeng, the Communist party secretary for Hebei, a province that borders the capital on three sides, made the comments after visiting flooded areas earlier this week. Typhoon Doksuri has ripped through north-east China, destroying homes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Continue reading...

Thousands of people evacuated from homes in Beijing, while South America swelters during heatwaveChina has been battered by two typhoons in recent weeks that have caused severe flooding across the east coast. Typhoon Talim hit the south on 17 July, with gusts of 85mph (137km/h), according to the Guangdong weather bureau.Days later, on 28 July, Typhoon Doksuri struck Fujian province on China's south-eastern coast with gusts above 100mph. Continue reading...

Parliamentary ombudsman says Matthew Hedges was let down by UK government during imprisonmentThe UK's parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office failed to notice signs of torture" when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying. Continue reading...

ABC executive Jo Puccini tells court rival radio station derided all' of public broadcaster's alleged war crimes coverage

The event began with a solemn and loving tribute to beloved late Gumatj leader Yunupingu

ACT says it remains extremely disappointed' Walter Sofronoff released report to media outlets

Group, which runs services for NHS, councils and military, reports loss of almost 68m for first half of yearCapita expects to take a financial hit of as much as 25m as a result of a cyber-attack that began in March, pushing the outsourcing group to a pre-tax loss of almost 68m for the first half of the year.The group is still recovering from the attack by the Black Basta ransomware group, which hacked its Microsoft Office 365 software and accessed the personal data of staff working for the company and dozens of clients. Continue reading...

Second victim in a stable condition after shots were fired when fight broke out in city centreOne of two people who were shot in downtown Auckland on Thursday night has died in hospital, police have confirmed.Police were called after receiving reports of a fight between a group of people at about 11.30pm on Thursday on lower Queen Street, in Auckland's city centre. Continue reading...

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North Yorkshire police criticised over major security breach' after protesters covered PM's home in black fabricA group of Greenpeace activists arrested following an anti-oil protest on the roof of Rishi Sunak's constituency manor house have been released while inquiries continue, police have said.North Yorkshire police, who have come under criticism following the security breach at the prime minister's grade II-listed mansion in Kirby Sigston on Thursday, said their investigation remains ongoing". Continue reading...

Potential test case on the state's use of watch houses to detain children takes unexpected turn, with hundreds possibly affected

Five Australian women are suing the airline and its subsidiary over what they claim was unlawful physical contact' in Doha in October 2020

Children suffering from shameful' failure to protect play with park budgets falling by 350m in 11 yearsPlaygrounds around England are falling to pieces, missing large pieces of play equipment, or simply being locked up, as councils facing huge budget cuts struggle to maintain them. In some of the poorest parts of the country, family groups are warning that children face a summer spent indoors because of a lack of safe and free spaces to play.The head of Play England has said that children's mental health will suffer as a result, and has called for radical change from what he called a shameful" lack of protection for children and play in planning. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Deleting national emissions ceiling regulations as part of scrapping EU laws a clear example of deregulation'The government is ignoring its post-Brexit green watchdog over the removal of air quality regulations, in a move that has been described by experts as a clear example of deregulation".The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) was set up in 2020 to replace the role the EU had played in regulating and enforcing environmental law in the UK. Campaigners raised concerns at the time that it might not have the same teeth as the EU and that it would not be able to stop the government riding roughshod over environment protections. Continue reading...

Campaigners urge more openness after more than $1m handed to influential British thinktanks by donors in USTransparency campaigners have called for thinktanks to be more open about their funding sources, after it emerged that some of Britain's most influential ones received more than $1m (787,000) from from donations in the US in 2021.They include the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), regarded as an inspiration for policies adopted by the Liz Truss government, and Policy Exchange - a conservative thinktank used as a platform by ministers to trail new measures and which recently incubated hardline immigration plans. Continue reading...

ACT chief police officer Neil Gaughan says Mr Dutton was not briefed in relation to Radiance International or Mr Bhojani' regarding Nauru contracts

The Reserve Bank's latest update predicts a retreat in GDP per capita but rent inflation will increase

Academic says Indigenous voice supporters are being maliciously targeted by those in the referendum no camp

Announcement comes weeks after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 GamesThe province of Alberta has withdrawn its support for a bid centred around Calgary/Edmonton to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, weeks after the Australia state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games.Alberta's tourism minister, Joseph Schow, said that cost was behind the decision. Continue reading...

Yoon Suk Yeol tells officials to provide cold water trucks and improved food, after hundreds fall ill with heat-related illnesses amid soaring temperatures

US statement comes as ousted president says he is being held hostage and calls on international community to restore orderJoe Biden has called for the immediate release of Niger's elected president and for the country's democracy to be restored, in the highest profile statement by the US since the coup that removed Mohamed Bazoum from power, as Senegal also ramped up the pressure by saying its troops would join a a military intervention if necessary.I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger's hard-earned democracy," the US president said in a statement on Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of Niger's independence. In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honour our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance." Continue reading...

The former US president appeared in court on Wednesday charged on four counts related to his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election. Hugo Lowell reportsThe attack on our nation's Capitol on 6 January 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy," special counsel Jack Smith said on Tuesday. As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies."Donald Trump has been charged over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president faces four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Continue reading...

ACCC says second-tier banks such as Suncorp are important competitors against major banks which dominate market

Police allege Ellen Craig, 60, killed Tillie Craig near Oberon, NSW, and disposed of her remains at the Ministry of God cult headquarters

Andrews government unveils plan for 20-bed Collingwood facility as public drunkenness is decriminalised

Emergency services were called to the fire at a Teviotville property in the Scenic Rim region during the early hours of Friday morning

Defence minister launches first security strategy warning New Zealand faces greatest geostrategic challenges in decadesNew Zealand needs to spend more on its military and strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific to help meet the challenges of great power rivalry and climate change, the government said amid an ongoing defence review.Launching the country's first ever national security strategy, defence minister Andrew Little said New Zealand faced more geostrategic challenges than it had in decades. Continue reading...

Health secretary says every available resource' must be used to help patients access diagnosis and treatment fasterMore private and third sector providers should be used by the NHS to help cut post-Covid waiting lists, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, will say after a review of capacity in the health service.Barclay will draw on the work of his elective recovery taskforce" - a group convened by ministers to look at how to bring down waiting times. Continue reading...

Buenos Aires records hottest start to August in 117 years, Chile sees highs towards 40C and Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil also bakeNow should be South America's bleak midwinter, but several parts of the continent are experiencing an extraordinary unseasonal heatwave that scientists believe offers a disturbing glimpse of a future of extreme weather.Argentina's riverside capital, Buenos Aires, this week recorded its hottest 1 August in 117 years. Continue reading...

Some legal experts are concerned changes to the law could curtail freedom of speech

Police in remote Welsh town appeal to anyone who may have seen someone have sudden influx of beehives'Police in a remote Welsh town are on the hunt for a thief who stole 14 beehives.Witnesses have been urged to come forward after the hives disappeared from Blackwood Road near Llangollen, North Wales, over the weekend. Continue reading...

Chancellor wants Financial Conduct Authority to investigate whether practice is widespread'Jeremy Hunt has asked the financial regulator to urgently investigate whether banks are barring politicians from accounts on a widespread" basis, after Nigel Farage had his account shut down by private bank Coutts.The chancellor said everyone must be able to express their opinions and people must have access to banking. Continue reading...

Deputy PM suggested FBU's Labour affiliation influenced its decision to raise concerns about the Bibby StockholmThe deputy prime minister has been accused of making disgraceful" comments after claiming that the firefighters' union had raised safety concerns over a barge due to house asylum seekers because of close links to Labour.Oliver Dowden suggested that the Fire Brigades Union's affiliation and donations to the opposition were a motivating factor behind fire and overcrowding concerns raised about the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset. Continue reading...

Opponents of Eritrean government tore down tents and set cars on fire, with around 100' people arrestedMore than 50 people have been injured and dozens detained in Stockholm after opponents of the Eritrean government stormed an event in the Swedish capital organised by regime supporters.About 1,000 anti-government demonstrators who had been authorised to hold a protest nearby broke through a police barrier, tearing down festival tents and setting booths and vehicles on fire. Continue reading...

PC Luke Christopher Horner admits offence, which he recorded on victim's phone, at Northampton crown courtA police officer has admitted to penetrative sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl in Northamptonshire after recording the act on the victim's phone.PC Luke Christopher Horner of Thames Valley police travelled to Rushden, a town about 18 miles east of Northampton, while off duty to commit the offence on 11 June. Continue reading...

Harry Vaughan, convicted of 14 terror offences in 2020, admitted further crimes including possession of indecent images of childrenA convicted satanist and far-right extremist who was given a suspended sentence as a teenager has now been imprisoned after admitting further crimes including making an indecent photograph of a child.Harry Vaughan, from Twickenham, south-west London, was 18 when he admitted 14 terror offences and two of possessing indecent images of children during his first trial at the Old Bailey. Continue reading...

Brussels' foreign policy chief calls on nations to speak with a unified voice to help people most in need'The EU's foreign policy chief has written to G20 ministers urging them to help Brussels persuade Vladimir Putin to reopen the main export route for Ukraine grain to countries in Africa and the Middle East.In a letter seen by the Guardian, Josep Borrell warned that Russia's decision to walk out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) last month was risking the lives of children and others in war-torn countries and conflict zones. Continue reading...

Calls for overhaul of defamation laws in Italy after legal action brought against Brian MolkoThe Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is suing Placebo frontman, Brian Molko, for defamation after publicly calling her racist" and fascist", according to local media reports.Molko made the comments during a performance by the band at the Sonic Park festival in Stupinigi outside Turin in July. Giorgia Meloni, piece of shit, fascist, racist," he appeared to shout in Italian in footage posted on social media by fans who attended the gig. Continue reading...

Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is close ally of Vladimir Putin and EU says regime is accomplice in Russia's unprovoked war'

Pair have cases to answer in death of black man who died shortly after being restrained by up to nine officers, says watchdogTwo Metropolitan police constables will face a gross misconduct hearing after the Independent Office for Police Conduct's reinvestigation into the death of Kevin Clarke, who died shortly after being restrained by up to nine officers.The watchdog said the constables should be subject to misconduct proceedings over their alleged failure to provide an appropriate level of care to Clarke, a mentally ill black man, who could be heard saying the words I can't breathe" while being restrained, and for alleged dishonesty and lack of integrity. Continue reading...

Singer calls claims of harassment and a hostile work environment sensationalized stories'Lizzo has spoken out in response to several of her tour dancers levelling allegations of sexual harassment against her, calling their claims sensationalized stories".Earlier this week, a lawsuit filed by three of the singer's tour dancers alleged that Lizzo had sexually harassed them and created a hostile work environment through sexual, racial and religious harassment in various incidents between 2021 and 2023. Continue reading...

Remaining 11 members of jury will continue to deliberate in case against nurse charged with murdering seven babiesA member of the jury in the Lucy Letby trial has been discharged for good personal reasons", a judge has told Manchester crown court.The nurse, 33, has been on trial for almost 10 months charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another 10 on the hospital neonatal unit where she worked. Continue reading...

Lords standards commissioners to investigate Lord Chadlington over alleged rule-breaking in relation to 50m PPE contractsThe House of Lords conduct watchdog has opened an investigation into the Conservative peer Lord Chadlington after new details about his introduction of a firm that was awarded 50m in PPE contracts were reported by the Guardian.The inquiry by the standards commissioners into Chadlington, whose real name is Peter Gummer, follows a request sent by the Labour peer George Foulkes. Continue reading...