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On latest day of rail strikes, UK transport secretary tweets letter after Mick Lynch warns of further actionThe transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has written to the head of the rail union representing tens of thousands of striking rail workers to demand that he put a pay offer to a members’ vote.Shapps wrote to Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT), after Lynch warned earlier on Saturday that further rail strikes were “very likely” after the latest wave of industrial action, as transport services were disrupted by the latest strikes over pay and conditions. Continue reading...

East London group hopes to raise enough money to turn concrete wasteland by River Lea into a ‘brownfield rainforest’A concrete-covered, brownfield industrial storage site does not scream out wild swimming haven. But a community group is hoping to transform the east London plot – currently used by Thames Water – into what is believed to be the capital’s first new wild swimming ponds since Hampstead Ponds were created in 1777.Under the proposed plans, residents want to buy the government-owned 5.68-hectare site on the polluted River Lea in Waltham Forest and turn it into a “brownfield rainforest”, featuring two free-to-use pools, community spaces, an anaerobic digester, a cafe and a make-and-repair hub. Continue reading...

Insolvency Service’s decision has prompted calls for a change in the law to better protect workers in the futureP&O Ferries will not face criminal proceedings over its mass sacking of almost 800 workers earlier this year, it has emerged, sparking calls for a change in the law.The company provoked public anger and was hauled in front of MPs to answer questions when it sacked hundreds of workers without notice in March. Continue reading...

Albanese government awaits legal advice from solicitor general over former prime minister’s power grab. This blog is now closed

With Tory members seeming to tolerate a series of missteps, the frontrunner is on course for No 10 – barring a ‘spectacular foul-up’Rishi Sunak’s supporters are understandably glum, but one thing alone means they have not totally given up hope of defeating Liz Truss. “We’re crossing our fingers for a gamechanging gaffe,” says one Conservative MP who has ended up supporting Sunak after initially backing another candidate.John Curtice, the polling expert from Strathclyde University, this week put Sunak’s chances of victory at just 5%, saying Truss was almost sure to win unless she “fouls up in some spectacular fashion” in the final stages of the Tory leadership contest. Continue reading...

Urgent action needed to avert further disaster in war-torn country as funding ‘fast running out’Nearly one in three children under five in the Ethiopian region of Tigray are malnourished and the UN said urgent action is needed to prevent them from dying.According to a new emergency assessment carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP), 29% of very young children are suffering from global acute malnutrition (GAM). More than half of pregnant or breastfeeding woman are also malnourished. Continue reading...

Proceeds of the sale of Axioma, valued at £65m, will benefit JP Morgan rather than the Ukrainian peopleA £65m superyacht of a Russian oligarch hit by sanctions will be auctioned off by the Gibraltar government on Tuesday, becoming the first of the luxury vessels to be sold off since restrictions were imposed on hundreds of rich Russians after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.However, the 72.5-metre Axioma is not being sold for the benefit of the Ukrainian people but for a US investment bank, JP Morgan, which claims the yacht’s billionaire owner, Dmitry Pumpyansky, owes it more than $20m (£17m). Continue reading...

Rail services will be much-reduced, and buses in west and south-west London and Surrey also affectedTravellers are facing a further day of disruption on Saturday as thousands of transport workers go on strike in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.Network Rail, several train companies, and bus services in London and parts of Surrey will be hit by industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), TSSA and Unite unions which will also affect Sunday morning train services. Continue reading...

Jesús Murillo held on charges of forced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice in notorious Guerrero caseMexico’s former attorney general has been arrested in relation to the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, the most prominent individual held so far in the notorious case that has haunted the country ever since.Jesús Murillo was arrested at his home in Mexico City home on Friday on charges of forced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice in the abduction and disappearance of the student-teachers in the south-western state of Guerrero, now seen as a “state-sponsored crime”. Continue reading...

Greens want to know if decision not to disclose extra ministerial powers was David Hurley’s or then prime minister’s

Putin agrees to allow inspectors at Zaporizhzhia nuclear station as UN chief urges Russia not to take it off grid amid fears over cooling system

Putin agrees to allow inspectors to travel to Zaporizhzhia plant, French president says, amid fears of radioactive accident if it is taken off grid

Former cabinet minister says he does not expect to return to frontbench politics as he backs underdog in race to be PMMichael Gove has thrown his support behind Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest, warning that Liz Truss’s refusal to offer more support over rising energy bills and to just focus on tax cuts marked a “holiday from reality”.In a sometimes hard-hitting article in the Times, Gove said he did not expect to be made a minister again and that many people expected Truss to win, but he believes Sunak “makes the right arguments”. Continue reading...

David Chandler’s job brought him into close proximity with developers. In NSW, that means politics is never far away either

Animal shelters nearing capacity are encouraging people to adopt by slashing fees and hosting events to make room for other animals in need

With 14 weeks until the Victorian state election, the opposition has a mountain to climb in order to form government

Article by Tory hopeful arguing NHS ‘cannot be put on pedestal’ shows she fully backed 2009 cost-cutting pamphletLiz Truss personally supported cuts to the NHS, arguing the service “cannot be put on a pedestal” in an article in which she also criticised the “inexorable” rise in doctors’ pay.The newly emerged opinion piece was written by Truss to support a thinktank report she co-authored that called for patients to be charged for GP appointments and doctors’ pay to be slashed by 10%. Continue reading...

Intervention expanded to include financial decisions and governance after report calls for urgent reformThe government’s intervention in the running of Liverpool city council is to be expanded to include governance and financial decision-making.It comes after the publication of another critical report into the local authority by four commissioners appointed last year to work with the council staff in key areas after an inspection.

The former British national was involved in taking hostage and beheading American journalists and aid workersA federal judge on Friday handed a life sentence to an Islamic State cell member who had a role in a hostage-taking scheme leading to the beheadings of American journalists and aid workers.The punishment from Judge TS Ellis III for the former British national El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, came after a jury convicted him in April at the end of a six-week trial. Continue reading...

Michelle O’Bonsawin’s appointment to the court would address longstanding criticism over lack of First Nations representationJustin Trudeau has nominated an Indigenous woman to Canada’s supreme court, in a landmark appointment after decades of criticism over a lack of Indigenous representation on the country’s highest court.The prime minister announced on Friday that Michelle O’Bonsawin had been selected to fill an upcoming vacancy on the court. Continue reading...

Wall Street Journal suggests Russian and Chinese leaders could hold discussions in Uzbek cityXi Jinping could meet Vladimir Putin in mid-September at a regional summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, it has been reported.According to the Wall Street Journal, preparations are being made for the Chinese president to travel to Samarkand on 15 September for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Continue reading...

Secretary general makes plea amid concerns from western officials over whether cooling of reactor can be maintained

Event organized by Pen America champions freedom to write after novelist survived assassination attempt last weekCrowds gathered near the steps of the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan on Friday morning, as writers read works by the novelist Salman Rushdie, who survived an assassination attempt in western New York last week.The event, Stand With Salman; Defend the Freedom to Write, was organized by Pen America, the library and Rushdie’s publisher, Penguin Random House. Continue reading...

Munitions depot in Belgorod province and airbase near Sevastopol hit in latest apparent sabotage missions

Rolando Álvarez and eight others in custody after latest clash between President Daniel Ortega and Catholic churchHeavily armed Nicaraguan police have arrested a bishop who is an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega’s government, launching a raid after a two-week standoff at his residence in the latest blow against the Roman Catholic church in the country.Rolando Álvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, was detained early on Friday, along with eight others – including several priests – who had been holed up for two weeks after police blocked the bishop from reaching the city’s cathedral to celebrate a mass. Continue reading...

Transport secretary said he could enact legislation to force through measures sought by rail companiesThe transport secretary was accused of “advocating fire-and-rehire” tactics after he warned that the changes sought by rail companies could be imposed on workers.Grant Shapps told Sky News on Friday that he could enact legislation referred to as a “section 188” to force through some of the measures at the heart of the current strikes. Continue reading...

Travellers barred from sightseeing or returning home until confirmed clear of disease as authorities struggle to contain casesThousands of Chinese tourists have been left stranded in Tibet as authorities in the region struggle to contain a fresh Covid outbreak.In recent months, at the same time as many cities went into lockdowns, Chinese tourists have flocked to scenic destinations such as the southern province of Hainan and the western region of Tibet. Continue reading...

Leaked videos show leader drinking at event at which unconfirmed reports claim drugs may have been taken by othersFinland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, has said she has taken a drug test after videos were leaked showing her dancing and drinking during a private party at which some reports have suggested drugs may have been consumed.Marin, 36, told reporters she was tested on Friday and the results would be available in a week’s time. She said she had never taken drugs, “not even in my teenage years”, and had taken the test “for my own legal protection and to clear up any doubts”. Continue reading...

Former Manchester United manager gives evidence at trial of footballer he worked with for 24 yearsSir Alex Ferguson has told a court that he never once saw Ryan Giggs lose his temper in his former player’s career.The former Manchester United manager said the footballer had a “fantastic temperament” and that the entire club treated Giggs “as the number one”. Continue reading...

Previously unseen emails put former Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz back in spotlight over €300m fraud schemeThe German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Friday again denied allegations that he held a protecting hand over a local bank found guilty of a multimillion euro tax fraud scheme while he was mayor of Hamburg, as the centre-left politician was questioned by a state parliamentary committee in the northern city for a second time.“I did not influence the Warburg tax procedure,” Scholz said at the start of the session. “There was no political influence on the tax procedure.” Continue reading...

Services in the north-east and South Yorkshire were facing cuts as end of pandemic funding nearsRegional bus services in England that were facing the axe have been given a reprieve after the government announced £130m of funding to keep them going for at least six months.Services in the north-east and South Yorkshire were at risk amid concern that many more routes could be cut back when Covid grants, which propped up routes during the pandemic, expire at the start of October. Continue reading...

Award-winning host of CTV National News ‘shocked and saddened’ as company denies accusations of sexism and ageismAllegations that a popular television news anchor in Canada lost her job after “going grey” have prompted anger and disbelief, casting one of the country’s largest media organisations into turmoil and highlighting the rigid expectations facing women in the workforce.In a two-minute video posted on Twitter on Monday, Lisa LaFlamme announced she had been ousted as anchor of CTV National News, one of the country’s most-watched evening shows. Continue reading...

Mark & Spencer says 95% of materials will be recovered, recycled or reused amid growing oppositionMarks & Spencer has pledged that 95% of the materials in its Marble Arch building in Oxford Street, west London, will be recovered, recycled or reused as it fights back against heavy opposition to its plan to flatten the shop.In the run-up an inquiry into the scheme, scheduled to begin on 25 October, the retailer said some materials would be reused directly on site within its new building as part of its efforts to “promote circular economy principles”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: earnings of lowest-paid could rise by £832; lower rates for 18- to 22-year-olds to be scrappedLabour has drawn up plans to put hundreds of pounds into the pockets of the lowest-paid by instructing the Low Pay Commission to factor in living costs when it sets the minimum wage.They also want to scrap the lower pay categories for workers aged between 18 and 22, so that everyone would be paid at the higher rate. Continue reading...

Islands bond idea, dismissed as ‘election gimmick’ by critics, found to be unpopular with islandersControversial proposals to offer a £50,000 welcome grant to encourage more young people and families to stay on or move to Scottish islands have been scrapped after a consultation found that islanders themselves did not believe the scheme was the right way to tackle depopulation.The Scottish government announced that the proposed islands bond, which was dismissed as a gimmick by critics and attracted initial inquiries from as far afield as Ecuador, would not go ahead after an analysis of consultation responses found that those in favour of it were largely non-islanders. Continue reading...

Strong competition for places means many of those who dropped grades in their A-levels are missing out on preferred institutionsMore than 53,510 UK-based students were scrambling for places on university courses on Friday, the day after receiving lower grades in their A-level results, with many missing out on their offers in the most competitive year for university places in a decade.This year’s number of applicants marked as “free to be placed in clearing” on the Ucas website is the highest in more than a decade, and compares with 39,230 at the same point last year. Some of these students missed their grades while others declined their offers, and some may decide not to go to university.

Sadiq Khan claims transport secretary ‘deliberately’ seeking industrial action to pave way for legislation curtailing union rightsMinisters have been accused of “deliberately provoking” strikes as industrial action on the underground in London caused travel disruption.Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) workers walked out on Friday over issues including jobs and pensions, halting most services on tube lines across the capital’s transport network. Continue reading...

London-listed company, which operates 751 sites in 10 countries, has run up debts of more than £4bnCineworld, the world’s second largest cinema chain, is preparing to file for bankruptcy after failing to see a quick enough recovery in movie-going since the end of the pandemic.The London-listed business, which has run up debt of more than $4.8bn (£4bn) after losses soared while cinemas were shut during the global coronavirus crisis, has hired lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis and consultants from restructuring experts AlixPartners to advise on the process. Continue reading...

Sculpture, which is 11.5m high and stands in St Austell town centre, has been deemed an idol that is ‘offensive to God’Since its dramatic appearance in a Cornish town centre, Earth Goddess, the tallest ceramic sculpture in the UK (and possibly the world), has provoked its fair share of controversy, with unkind critics condemning it as a gaudy piece of junk more suited to the land of the Teletubbies.But the row has taken a religious twist after a group of church leaders wrote to St Austell town council claiming it was “offensive to God” and calling for the brightly coloured 11.5-metre-tall piece to be rebranded or removed. Continue reading...

Regulator Ofwat says companies lost an average of 2,923.8m litres of water a day in 2021-22Water companies in England and Wales lost more than 1tn litres via leaky pipes last year, according to the sector’s latest figures.The industry and its financial regulator, Ofwat, say the water companies lost an average of 2,923.8m litres of water a day in 2021-22, equating to 1.06tn litres over the year, although Ofwat said the figures remained provisional until it has completed validation checks. Continue reading...

Tokyo high court rules that child born after woman’s legal gender change should not be recognised as her daughterA Japanese court has ruled that a child born after a transgender woman went through her surgical and legal transition should not be recognised legally as her child, according to local media.Japan requires that anyone who wants to legally change their gender have surgery to remove the sexual organs they were born with, a practice sharply criticised by human rights groups. Continue reading...

Hostile policies encourage asylum seekers to try dangerous routes to England, say French support groupsOrganisations supporting refugees in northern France have blamed the French government for the high number of people risking their lives to cross the Channel in small boats.So far this year more than 20,000 people have crossed with UK Border Force union officials predicting that the number could reach 60,000 by the end of the year. Continue reading...

Relatives built makeshift shelter to keep David Wakeley warm after he fell on patio at his home in CornwallThe family of an 87-year-old man who had to wait 15 hours for an ambulance in a makeshift shelter made out of a garden football goal after a fall has said the emergency healthcare system is “broken”.Relatives used umbrellas and pieces of tarpaulin to try to keep retired welder David Wakeley warm and dry when he fell on the patio at his home in Cornwall, suffering broken bones and head wounds. Continue reading...

Former SNP politician Margaret Ferrier under more pressure after admitting she failed to self-isolateConstituents of the Covid rule-breaking MP Margaret Ferrier are said to be “aghast” that she remains in post, as calls for her to resign gathered pace after she pleaded guilty on Thursday to “culpably and recklessly” exposing the public to the virus.The former Scottish National party politician, who now sits as an independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, faced immediate calls to stand down, including from the leader of her former party, Nicola Sturgeon, in October 2020 when it emerged she had visited a number of venues in her constituency and spoken in the Commons while awaiting the result of a Covid test. Continue reading...

People in Ethiopian region turn to desperate measures after authorities stop 6 million people accessing their own moneyHunger in the besieged region of Tigray is pushing people to increasingly desperate measures as the authorities are systematically blocking and confiscating remittances needed by millions of people.Banking services and all communications have been cut off to the state by the Ethiopian administration since last year, with 6 million people denied access to their own money. Continue reading...

Lee Byer, 44, appears at Willesden magistrates court after being charged with murder of Thomas O’Halloran in GreenfordA man charged with the murder of 87-year-old Thomas O’Halloran, who was stabbed in the chest while on his mobility scooter, has been remanded in custody.Lee Byer, 44, appeared at Willesden magistrates court on Friday over the alleged killing of O’Halloran, in Greenford, west London, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Chinese-Canadian’s firm fined record 55.03bn yuan on charges including illegally taking funds from publicXiao Jianhua, a Chinese-Canadian billionaire at the centre of an alleged abduction scandal in Hong Kong in 2017, has been sentenced by a Shanghai court to 13 years in prison and his company fined a record 55.03bn yuan (£6.8bn).Xiao, 50, and his Tomorrow Holdings conglomerate were charged with illegally absorbing public deposits, betraying the use of entrusted property, and the illegal use of funds and bribery, the Shanghai first intermediate court said. Continue reading...

Highs of over 40C in Chengdu dry up hydropower reservoirs and raise demand for air conditioningA provincial capital in south-west China has dimmed outdoor advertisements, subway lighting and building signs to save energy as the area struggles with a power crunch triggered by record-high temperatures.Temperatures rose past 40C (104F) in Sichuan province this week, fuelling massive demand for air conditioning and drying up reservoirs in a region reliant on dams for most of its electricity. Continue reading...

23-year-old being questioned over incident in which child was allegedly sexually assaulted in DroylsdenA man has been arrested on suspicion of the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Droylsden, Greater Manchester.The 23-year-old man, who remains in custody for questioning, is the second to be arrested, after a man aged 35 was arrested on Wednesday evening, shortly after the child’s disappearance, and later released with no further investigation. Continue reading...

Torrential rains hit parts of England, Italy, France and Belgium, while in China flooding leaves 18 deadProlonged heat across parts of northern and western Europe ended with torrential showers and thunderstorms this week.On Wednesday, parts of southern England received up to 50-65mm of rainfall within a few hours, causing London’s Gatwick airport to delay and cancel dozens of flights. Continue reading...