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Johns, who is listed as a member of Recognise a Better Way's Voice No Case Committee, suggested blood tests for welfare payments

PM vows to avoid concreting over the countryside' as Michael Gove prepares to set out housing initiativeInner-city areas will be the focus of new housebuilding projects, Rishi Sunak has announced, in a move designed to signal sympathy with those struggling to get on the property ladder but avoid a backlash from Tory MPs.The prime minister promised not to concrete over the countryside", before a speech by the housing secretary, Michael Gove, who will set out changes on Monday to help homeowners extend their properties and streamline the planning process. Continue reading...

Lib Dems call for rescue plan after data shows people unable to get appointments within period promised by ministersMore than 38 million patients in England have waited longer than a fortnight for a GP appointment since the government promised everyone would be able to get one within 14 days.In September last year, the government said patients would be able to see a family doctor within two weeks of booking a consultation. Therese Coffey, the then health secretary, promised to prioritise the issue with a laser-like focus". Continue reading...

Chain says a fifth of customers saw both films in a double bill that social media named BarbenheimerThe success of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office has led to Vue International reporting its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic.On Sunday, the cinema chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill given the moniker Barbenheimer on social media. Continue reading...

One crew evacuated before boat sinks as more than 80 vessels abandon world's largest offshore raceDozens of yachts have been forced to retire from the world's largest offshore race due to brutal" gale-force conditions in the Channel, with other vessels forced to seek shelter and one believed to have sunk.Strong winds and torrential rain affected the 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet race, which has been organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club since 1925 and takes place every two years. This year's event set a new record of 430 yachts, surpassing the 388 that took part in 2019. Continue reading...

Unconscionable' to penalise travellers, says Which?, as firms cancel holidays to wildfire hit Greek islandTravel firms and airlines are being urged to reimburse passengers who decide against flying to Rhodes as the Greek island is ravaged by wildfires, with a leading consumer group arguing it would be unconscionable" to withhold refunds.Which? travel editor Rory Boland called on carriers to be flexible" if customers decide for themselves that they do not want to fly to Rhodes, at a time when there have been emergency evacuations of more than 19,000 people on the island. Continue reading...

Momentum and union party members at national policy forum say Labour leader's vision is not bold enoughKeir Starmer has seen off attempts by groups including Unite and Momentum for Labour to adopt policies that were deemed to be un-costed".After a weekend of wrangling at the national policy forum over the policy document that will be presented to delegates at party conference in October, the Labour leader avoided any formal votes on amendments. Continue reading...

Congregation rallies to clear rubble and save precious artefacts as prayers held outside

Another 19 wounded in overnight attack on the southern Ukrainian port city, governor says

Pop singer recorded a number of hits in 1960s and 1970s came up with 1983 general election song It's Maggie for MeBritish pop singer Vince Hill who reached No 2 in the UK charts in 1967 with a cover of The Sound of Music song Edelweiss, has died at the age of 89.Hill died peacefully at home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on Saturday, according to a statement on his website. Continue reading...

Government blocks event after release of publicity featuring Susan Taslimi in 1982 film The Death of YazdgerdIranian authorities have banned a film festival that issued a publicity poster featuring an actor who was not wearing a hijab, state media has reported.The move came after the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) released a poster for its upcoming short-film festival featuring the Iranian actor Susan Taslimi in the 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd. Continue reading...

Fire department says 19,000 people have been moved on island where blazes are spreading uncontrollablyGreece mounted its biggest evacuation ever, moving thousands of men, women and children from villages and resorts on Rhodes as wildfires fanned by high-speed winds raged for a sixth day.The country's fire department said 19,000 people had been moved, mostly tourists from hotels, as blazes continued to spread uncontrollably on three fronts across the Aegean island. About 16,000 had been transferred by land, the rest by sea. Continue reading...

Overjoyed' justice and son, who spent two years in hiding in Pakistan, reunited with family after landmark caseA female Afghan judge who was in hiding in Pakistan after fleeing the Taliban has won a landmark right to sanctuary in the UK.The 53-year-old judge, known as Yosra, whose true identity cannot be disclosed due to security concerns, was granted the right to come to the UK after a long legal battle with the Home Office. Continue reading...

Andrea Jenkyns and Michael Fabricant also among 12 MPs who used parliamentary expenses for help with tax returnsThe shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were among 12 MPs who used parliamentary expenses to claim for professional accountancy advice to help with tax returns, documents show.The expenses claims relate to the 2021-22 tax year for earnings which had to be declared under HMRC's self assessment system. Continue reading...

Calls for special deal to be struck for NT which has biggest funding gap between public and private schools

Residents of nearby village say water mains and sewers can't cope with large numbers of new arrivals at RAF WethersfieldResidents in the village of Wethersfield in Essex have described the newly opened asylum seeker accommodation on the military base there as a stalag".The Home Office's controversial plans to accommodate some asylum seekers on military bases - RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire along with Wethersfield and the Bibby Stockholm barge which has docked at Portland in Dorset - has distressed residents who say their areas do not have the infrastructure to cope with the new arrivals. Continue reading...

Regulator urged to expose the hidden commission fees middlemen charge which inflate company billsA coalition representing 1m small businesses is urging the energy regulator to crack down on the rogue energy brokers who rip off firms, charities, care homes and faith groups by piling billions of pounds in hidden commission fees on to bills.The business groups have written to Ofgem demanding it force gas and electricity suppliers to disclose how much they are paying the intermediaries who market deals on their behalf. Continue reading...

Downpours affect Open golf tournament and fourth Ashes Test and festivalgoers also drenchedFlood alerts have been issued across the north of England where heavy rain disrupted sporting events and left festivalgoers drenched.It has been a soggy final day of the Open Championship golf tournament in Liverpool and downpours have blighted the fourth Ashes cricket Test in Manchester on Sunday. Continue reading...

Work described as birth certificate of the C of E' could form centrepiece of Faith Museum in County DurhamA campaign has been launched to bring a remarkable 16th-century tapestry commissioned by Henry VIII from Spain to be the centrepiece of a new UK museum dedicated to faith opening in October.Saint Paul Directing the Burning of Heathen Books is effectively the birth certificate of the Church of England", according to Jonathan Ruffer, the founder of the Auckland Project in County Durham, the site of the Faith Museum. Continue reading...

Exclusive: home secretary orders exclusion of Siyabonga Twala, in limbo in Turkey after being stopped from flying back from holidayThe home secretary, Suella Braverman, has personally intervened to bar a man living in exile in Turkey from being reunited in the UK with his British son.Siyabonga Twala from Chester has been in limbo in Ankara for more than six months after he was blocked from boarding a flight back to Manchester last December. Continue reading...

BBC host reveals brother told him of tragic death of dad, 92, who had cancer and heart failure, during receptionBBC broadcaster Evan Davis has revealed he learned on his wedding day that his father had taken his own life.Davis's father, Quintin, who was 92 and had cancer, had left a note saying his system is closing down" and he had no alternative".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

As both Labour and Conservatives ponder their green policy, we look back at the Tories' propensity to promise much - and deliver littleConservative party support for environmental causes has generally been vocal at election time but hesitant and half-hearted in power. On one hand, the party - with the exception of a few hardcore climate crisis deniers - has never reached the total opposition to green causes that disfigures rightwing parties in other nations, in particular the US Republicans. On the other, it has generally failed to enact the kind of legislation that would allow the UK to take a global lead in the battle against global heating, as can be seen from the records of three recent Tory prime ministers. Continue reading...

Teachers have to fill in social worker gaps while postal workers report being physically exhausted after having to walk miles with heavy bags at speed

Law would weaken right to force app-based firms to explain automated decisions, says research groupProtections for gig economy workers will be watered down should ministers succeed in pushing a controversial bill through parliament, experts have said.The new law would weaken a relatively little-known right to force app-based firms to explain themselves when they make automated decisions, known as management by algorithm", before many workers had even realised they had it, they said. Continue reading...

Aid Access ships medication abortion to all 50 states under the protection provided to clinicians serving patients in banned statesDr Linda Prine is providing abortion access to people in all 50 states, even those that have banned it. That might seem like an admission to be discreet about in post-Roe America, but Prine and her colleagues at Aid Access, a telemedicine abortion service, are doing it openly and in a way they believe is on firm legal ground.On 14 July, Aid Access announced that over the past month, a team of seven doctors, midwives and nurse practitioners have mailed medication abortion to 3,500 people under the protection of shield laws", which protect clinicians who serve patients in states where providing abortion is illegal. As soon as she learned about shield laws, Prine knew it represented an opportunity to go on the offensive, for those bold enough to try it. Continue reading...

Ukrainian authorities say children among 22 injured in new wave of attacks on Black Sea port city

Exclusive: Payments underline absurdity of counting British accommodation as aid, say critics, and cost of application backlogHundreds of millions of pounds in British aid spending is returning to the Treasury each year in tax, thanks to the spiralling cost of housing asylum seekers in UK hotels.The government says it is paying VAT on its bills for hotels to accommodate asylum seekers, while also classifying such spending towards its overseas development spending target. Continue reading...

A species almost wiped out by tree snakes is being returned to the wild and, eventually, to its Pacific island homeAs arks go, the shipping container that has been placed inside Sedgwick County Zoo, in Wichita, Kansas, looks an unlikely vehicle for saving species.Nevertheless, work there is expected to play a key role in undoing one of the world's worst conservation disasters: the accidental introduction of brown tree snakes to the Pacific island of Guam. The snakes' arrival, at the end of the second world war, eventually wiped out huge numbers of indigenous birds, mammals, and lizards including the Guam kingfisher, the Guam rail, and the Guam flycatcher. Continue reading...

Bookseller removes anti-Muslim document by extremist who killed 77 people in Norway, after discovery by investigatorsThe notorious manifesto of far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway's worst peacetime atrocity, was listed for sale by Britain's biggest book chain, Waterstones.Investigators found Breivik's manifesto on the website last Wednesday before it was removed after the bookseller was informed. Continue reading...

Indigenous leader says referendum will be won if yes campaign can find the better angels' in Australian community

Victoria recorded the biggest increase in road deaths in the last year, followed by NSW

Ban on US stars promoting their new movies will force producers to use more homegrown guestsBritish chatshows are set to feature more homegrown stars in the wake of the US actors' strike that has halted filming on Hollywood blockbusters and TV dramas.Producers on some of TV's biggest talk and daily magazine shows face a headache as actors follow in the footsteps of the cast of Oppenheimer, who walked out of its premiere when the strike began earlier this month. Continue reading...

Staff working for the London borough claim inexperienced recruits are encouraged to put people off seeking council helpAn east London council has left homeless families living in hotels for six months because its housing service is near collapse", according to a number of staff members who work there.The Observer understands from multiple employees that Tower Hamlets council employs inadequately trained staff to work in the department, and that these workers have been issued with scripts to use on the phone to try to put homeless people off seeking council help. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister vows to push ahead with controversial reforms despite procedure and even as tens of thousands protest against themIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been fitted with a pacemaker, after being rushed to hospital hours ahead of a key vote on his controversial judicial reforms.His doctors said the operation had gone well. The implant went smoothly without any complications. He is not in a life-threatening condition and he feels great and is returning to his daily routine," said Roy Beinart, who manages the arrhythmia centre at Sheba Medical Center, early Sunday. Continue reading...

Lib Dem leader says people lending their votes to rival parties could shut the door on Conservatives at Westminster for years to comeThe Tories could be locked out of power for a generation if supporters of other parties vote tactically at the next general election, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, says on Sunday, after his party chalked up another stunning West Country byelection victory.A massive 29% swing to the Lib Dems saw Sarah Dyke take the Somerton and Frome seat, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 19,200. Davey's party now has a comfortable 11,000 majority of its own, the largest it has ever had over the Tories in the constituency. Continue reading...

A bureaucratic, peacetime approach to training and stockpiling among Zelenskiy's allies is posing a threat to European securityFor two months Ukrainian forces have been endeavouring to fight their way through densely fortified Russian positions to breach the so-called Surovikin line in an attempt to liberate their territory. Fighting has been exceedingly hard, with heavy losses of equipment and personnel on both sides. Irrespective of how much progress is made over the coming months, Ukraine's international partners need to focus their assistance on preparing Ukrainian armed forces for the next fight.It is important to understand the challenge the Ukrainians are trying to overcome. Russian troops are fighting from successive layers of concrete-hardened positions, each behind 120-500 metres of complex minefields. They are backed up by significant artillery and attack helicopter support and protected by dense electronic warfare and air defences. Although Ukrainian troops tend to win when they get into close combat with the Russians, getting there without taking unsustainable losses is not always possible. Continue reading...

Polls suggest conservative PP will need the support of far-right Vox party to form a governmentSpaniards are heading to the polls to vote in a bitterly contested general election that could see the far right play a key role in government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco's death five decades ago.The vote, called two months ago by Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) suffered a drubbing in May's regional and municipal elections, offers people a stark choice between the left and right blocs. Continue reading...

Magpies CEO Craig Kelly said abhorrent and disgusting' racist remarks were directed towards Willie Rioli

Ukrainian drone attack on ammunition depot in Crimea prompts evacuation, bridge closure; Putin and Lukashenko set to meet in St Petersburg

Long-time ruler, who has ruthlessly oppressed critics, has indicated he will soon hand power to his sonCambodians have begun voting in a one-sided general election in which the country's strongman leader will run virtually uncontested.It's expected that Hun Sen, 70, who has ruled the country for almost four decades, will claim a landslide victory in Sunday's vote. The country's main opposition party, the Candlelight Party, was banned from running after it was accused of not providing the right paperwork. Continue reading...

Substantial downpours expected to affect the Ashes in Manchester and the Open in MerseysideA yellow rain warning has been issued for Sunday across most of northern England and Wales, with travel disruption possible and major outdoor events affected, including the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester.The Met Office said the region would widely see 20-30mm of rain, while places over higher ground could see up to 50-70mm as wet weather persists across the weekend. Continue reading...

Three people were found injured in two parked cars, NSW police said, and two are in a critical condition in hospital

Housing secretary's plans aim to address the housing crisis as he says country must make better use' of buildingsMichael Gove is planning to change planning laws to pave the way for more home extensions and conversions of shops into houses in England in efforts to address the housing crisis.As part of plans due to be announced on Monday, the housing secretary said new rules will be drawn up to give greater freedoms to carry out property extensions and to open up lofts. Continue reading...

Fighting increases in border states while junta continues to delay electionsFighting between the Myanmar army and anti-junta rebels has flared up in recent days, with local people in one village saying on Saturday that 14 people were killed in a single raid.Deadly violence has engulfed Myanmar since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government in February 2021 and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead. Continue reading...

Ten also injured, some with burns, at Vremena Goda mall in western MoscowFour people were killed and 10 injured on Saturday after a hot water pipe burst at a shopping mall in western Moscow, officials said.The city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said some of those injured had suffered burns and that emergency services were working at the scene. Continue reading...

Twenty-five centimetres of rain fall on Novia Scotia in a day and state of emergency declared, but risk of dam breach recedesThe heaviest rains in more than 40 years badly damaged a city in Canada's Atlantic region on Saturday but authorities are no longer concerned a dam may breach, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said.Police reported that four people were missing, including two children. Continue reading...

Singer's protest kiss with bandmate and criticism of anti-homosexuality law leads to ban and festival cancellationThe English band the 1975 have been banned from performing in Malaysia after their lead singer criticised the country's anti-LGBTQ+ laws on stage.The group, fronted by Matty Healy, were playing at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Continue reading...

Majority of workers applying don't expect they will be allowed to stay in Australia but see it as a way to get to stay a bit longer,' union says

Zoo visitors thrilled as mother Jingga shows off five-week-old son, born as part of endangered species breeding programmeA very special" baby orangutan, whose birth could kickstart a new generation of the critically endangered species, has been shown off by his proud mother.The five-week-old, yet to be named, is Blackpool zoo's first Bornean orangutan baby for more than 20 years and has boosted conservation efforts. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer's approval ratings suffer but his party remains far ahead of Conservatives as Westminster summer recess beginsLabour goes into the Westminster summer break with a commanding 17-point lead over the Conservatives, despite a fall in approval ratings for party leader Keir Starmer.The latest Opinium poll for the Observer puts Labour on 42%, down one point since a fortnight ago, while the Tories are down three points to 25%, their poorest showing since the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss. Continue reading...