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Shelagh Robertson, 75, not guilty by reason of insanity after collision in Cambridgeshire that killed Louis ThoroldA woman charged with causing a baby boy’s death through careless driving has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, with jurors finding that her undiagnosed dementia had affected her.Shelagh Robertson, 75, was driving home from a shopping trip to Tesco when she turned into the path of a van on the A10 at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire on 22 January last year, Cambridge crown court heard. Continue reading...

Crew and passengers escape after Aria SF catches fire while anchored off Spanish island of FormenteraA brand-new £20m superyacht has been destroyed by fire in the Balearics weeks after it was delivered to its multimillionaire owner, the Italian car industry boss Paolo Scudieri.The 43.7-metre Aria SF caught fire on Thursday afternoon while anchored at Cala Saona, on the west coast of Formentera, according to Salvamento Marítimo, the Spanish sea search and rescue agency. Continue reading...

Firefighters from Romania, Poland, Austria, Greece and Italy fight blazes in show of ‘European solidarity’Hundreds of firefighters from across the EU have been rushed to France to help battle wildfires in an unprecedented show of international solidarity.Most are stationed along a 26 mile (40km) active fire-front in the south-west, where a blaze described as “monstrous” continued to devastate pine forests. Continue reading...

The Pharmacy Guild has pushed for the drugs to be made available without a prescription at community pharmacies due to national GP shortages. This blog is now closed

Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture a picture of the Perseid meteor shower at its peak in August

The annual Perseids meteor shower will peak on 13 August. Find out the best time to view

David Lambourne, who serves on the high court of Kiribati, was detained on Thursday after a failed attempt by the Kiribati government to deport himKiribati’s Australian-born high court justice David Lambourne was released from immigration detention on Friday night, with the government belatedly complying with an order from the country’s court of appeal.The court had ordered Lambourne’s release on Friday morning, after he was detained on Thursday following the government’s unsuccessful attempt to deport him, contrary to court orders. Continue reading...

MP says he can be ‘too blunt and too direct’, after release of landmark review into workplace culture

People on universal credit have payments reduced to zero because of a quirk in the systemSome low-paid workers on universal credit have missed out on the government’s first cost of living payment because of payroll quirks that removed their benefit entitlement during the key window set by the government.“I was going to use it to load up my gas meter, get ahead on my electricity and fill up the freezer,” said David Evans, a 55-year-old IT apprentice, of his plans for the £326 payment that in recent weeks has been landing in the bank accounts of struggling Britons. Continue reading...

Queensland crime and corruption commission to investigate officer interactions with victim and her partner before house fire

Western brands that pulled out are still on sale, due to legal changes that have fuelled entrepreneurshipAleksandr Gorbunov, a property investor from the Siberian city Krasnoyarsk, had a simple solution when Zara, the Spanish clothing giant, closed its stores in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine: import it himself.“The idea to start selling Zara came from my wife, who said she really wanted the clothes to return,” said Gorbunov, who said he was opening a store called Panika (panic) on Friday that deals exclusively in Zara and Zara Home products. Continue reading...

Campaigners say many people have had to stop or switch antiretroviral medication regimes – but the government denies supply crisisHundreds of thousands of people living with HIV in India are struggling to access treatment because of a shortage of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, according to campaigners.Up to 500,000 people have not been able to get hold of free ARVs from government health centres and hospitals over the past five months, they say, as the country experiences stock shortages of key drugs. Continue reading...

The US actor will be taken off life support after it is determined if her organs are viable for donation, following a severe collision that left her car in flamesThe family of Anne Heche say the US actor is “not expected to survive” a severe collision that left her vehicle engulfed in flames last Friday.In a statement, Heche’s family said through a representative that she had suffered “a severe anoxic brain injury” and was now being kept on life support to determine whether her organs were viable for donation. Continue reading...

Liberal leader’s legal team set to cross-examine refugee advocate and his counsel in November about their fee arrangement

Officers furious that initial manslaughter charge may be upgraded more than three years after shooting

The tech giant kept track of some Android phone owners even when their location history was set to ‘off’

Volodymyr Zelenskiy urges officials to keep quiet on military strategy; calls for demilitarised zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant amid fresh shelling

Former deputy premier was scheduled to face second day of questioning over his appointment to senior New York trade job

Onlookers continue to get close to ‘stressed’ 600kg mammal in Oslo despite appeals to keep a distanceNorwegian authorities say they are considering putting down a walrus that won hearts basking in the sun of the Oslo fjord, because of the danger to the public and itself from sightseers.Despite repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from the walrus – a young female weighing 600kg (1,300 pounds) that has been nicknamed Freya – the mammal continues to attract big crowds, the fisheries directorate has said. Continue reading...

Annual figures indicate ‘dramatic collapse’ in confidence in criminal justice system, says LabourAlmost 1.5 million victims of crime in England and Wales have decided not to pursue their cases, feeding concern that public confidence in the criminal justice system has collapsed.Home Office figures unearthed by Labour show there were 1,411,650 victims who did not support continuing action after they had reported a crime in the year to March 2022. Continue reading...

Incontinence, bleeding and STIs among consequences, say two surgeons, who want doctors to raise the topic with patientsWomen in the UK are suffering injuries and other health problems as a result of the growing popularity of anal sex among straight couples, two NHS surgeons have warned.The consequences include incontinence and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as pain and bleeding because they have experienced bodily trauma while engaging in the practice, the doctors write in an article in the British Medical Journal. Continue reading...

The two candidates are bidding for support from Conservative party members ahead of the final vote for the next PMGordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, has used an article in today’s Guardian to propose that the government should halt the increases in the energy price cap planned for later this year and next year and, if necessary, take energy companies into public ownership to ensure that they keep prices down.Alongside the Lib Dem plan, with which it has some similarities (they also want a price cap freeze, and more money raised through a windfall tax), it is the most radical and ambitious proposal on the table to tackle the energy bills crisis. Continue reading...

Number of people taken to hospital after being assaulted by local man thought to have mental health issuesA man has been arrested after a number of people were taken to hospital with slash wounds near Liverpool FC’s stadium.Merseyside police were called at just after 5.30pm to Arkles Lane, Anfield, after a report of a man walking around shouting at people and carrying what was described as a machete. Continue reading...

Change in guidelines come as an estimated 95% of Americans ages 16 and older have acquired some level of immunityThe nation’s top public health agency on Thursday relaxed its Covid-19 guidelines, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said people no longer need to stay at least 6ft (about 2 metres) away from others. Continue reading...

Power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customersA power outage in Toronto’s downtown core has left the offices of Canada’s top businesses in the dark, forced the evacuation of one of the city’s biggest shopping malls, and caused some bank branches to be locked.The power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customers in downtown Toronto, Canada’s biggest city. Hydro One was investigating but gave no details on the cause. Continue reading...

Attorney general declared the donation from company owned by Terence Mordaunt, who chaired the climate sceptic thinktank Global Warming Policy FoundationSuella Braverman received £10,000 from a company owned by a leading climate denier to support her campaign for the Conservative leadership, according to the most recent update to the register of MPs’ interests.The attorney general, who came sixth in the leadership race, declared a donation of £10,000 from First Corporate Consultants Ltd, which is owned by the Bristol Port owner Terence Mordaunt. Continue reading...

Analysis also finds Priti Patel was only minister to register receiving hospitality at Tory party conferenceLiz Truss declared just two meetings as foreign secretary in a three-month period in the government’s transparency register, compared with 51 by the Welsh secretary, according to an analysis showing wide discrepancies in declarations.Just one cabinet minister, Priti Patel, declared receiving hospitality at the Conservative party conference, where ministers are routinely entertained for lunches or receptions. Continue reading...

Locals say voters disillusioned by Boris Johnson are unlikely to be won back by new leader

Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh called for operations to uphold the ‘median line’ in the Taiwan Strait in response to China’s military exercisesThe US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live ammunition drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s official representative to the UK has said.In an interview with the Guardian, Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh also called on the UK to uphold the principles of rules-based international order and forge closer trade and security investment relations with Taiwan. He welcomed the decision of the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to condemn the unprecedented Chinese military exercises in the wake of the visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to the island, the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Continue reading...

John MacKinnon died while three others were injured in series of incidents on Skye and in DornieA man has been charged with murder in connection with the death of John MacKinnon, who was killed in a violent attack on the Isle of Skye, as his devastated family paid tribute to the father-of-six and “much-loved member of the community”.MacKinnon, 47, was shot dead at his home in Sasaig in the south-east of the island at about 9.30am on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Sexual assault in relationships requires entirely separate systems of reporting, says professor who coined term ‘coercive control’

Government has yet to provide any details about what a future review of protections will examine

Exclusive: A lack of federal support means several rural areas are using council rates to subsidise health services for vulnerable patients

Shepparton’s Suzanna Sheed says VFF should support candidates with track records but Mildura MP is happy for attention

Watchdog orders West Yorkshire police to reinvestigate complaint by Hesham Sharif over search last yearA black man abandoned his plans of being a police officer after he was subjected to a stop and search that he believes to have been based on racist profiling, by officers from the force he was hoping to join.Hesham Sharif, 33, is a prominent member of the Somali community in Leeds. His brother is an officer in the Metropolitan police and he hoped to follow a similar career path. Sharif said he hoped he could be a bridge between communities of colour and the police. Continue reading...

Explainer: The looming hardship is fuelling support for Don’t Pay UK campaign, but there are other approachesAnnual energy bills are predicted to surpass £4,200 come January – a startling number that many Britons will struggle to comprehend, let alone pay, given household budgets are already being stretched to the limit by soaring food and fuel prices.This looming hardship has fuelled support for the Don’t Pay UK campaign, which says more than 100,000 people have pledged to join its mass protest and stop paying their energy bills from October. However, charities have issued warnings about the risks associated with doing this. So what are your options to manage skyrocketing energy bills this winter? Continue reading...

Kate Greville tells assault trial jury of ‘utter hell’ after she moved in with former Manchester United footballerThe former partner of Ryan Giggs has told his assault trial that she had panic attacks when their relationship became “utter hell” during the Covid-19 lockdown.Kate Greville, 36, said she was “hugely ashamed” that she moved in with the former Manchester United footballer in March 2020 despite his allegedly aggressive and controlling behaviour. Continue reading...

Man threatens to set himself on fire as he reportedly seeks access to his money to pay his father’s medical billsA Lebanese man armed with a shotgun took hostages at a Beirut bank on Thursday and threatened to set himself on fire unless he received his trapped savings.The man, identified as 42-year-old Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, entered a branch of the Federal Bank in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district carrying a canister of petrol and the gun and took six or seven bank employees hostage. Continue reading...

Critics say message is part of election game plan and point to recent speech on immigration and homosexualityA declaration by Giorgia Meloni, who could be Italy’s next prime minister, that her far-right party has consigned fascism to history has been greeted with scepticism.In a video message issued on Wednesday, Meloni, who leads Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, said the Italian right had “handed fascism over to history for decades now” and “unambiguously condemns the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws”. Continue reading...

Burger chain announces plan to reopen in western Ukraine and Kyiv after selling 850 restaurants in Russia

One car crashes into another that had braked heavily on Fire Dragon ride in GuenzburgTwo rollercoaster trains crashed into each other at a Legoland amusement park in southern Germany on Thursday, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely.One train braked heavily and another train crashed into it at the park in Guenzburg, the German news agency dpa reported. Continue reading...

Taliban in Kabul say they are investigating death of prominent figure they describe as a ‘huge loss’A prominent Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in an attack in a seminary in Kabul when the attacker detonated explosives hidden in a plastic artificial leg, according to officials and Taliban sources.“Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies,” said Bilal Karimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration. Continue reading...

US secretary of state on last stop of African tour has been clear about US misgivings related to Paul Rusesabagina’s convictionThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has raised US concerns about the trial of the jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and other senior Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.Blinken is in Kigali on the last stop of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa that aims to regain the diplomatic initiative across a continent that received little attention under the Trump administration. Continue reading...

Retailer tells customers historic pledge will soon not be honoured but keeps new slogan under wrapsJohn Lewis is to retire its 97-year-old price pledge “never knowingly undersold” on 22 August but has yet to reveal a catchy new slogan to take its place.The department store chain told customers in an email it will not accept new claims under the pledge from 23 August, instead promising them – rather long-windedly – it is “always knowingly committed to outstanding value”. Continue reading...

Ex-leader joins criticism of decision to allow Jonathan Edwards to represent party in Commons againPlaid Cymru’s restoration of the whip to an MP who was cautioned by police after assaulting his wife has caused anger, with a former leader joining in the criticism.Jonathan Edwards, who had been sitting as an independent since he was arrested on suspicion of assault, will again be able to represent the nationalist party at Westminster following his suspension in July 2020. Continue reading...

Analysis: Ukraine did more than destroy combat aircraft in Crimea raid, it scored a huge propaganda victory

Campaign group plans mass non-payment if 1 million sign up and government fails to address crisisMore than 100,000 people have pledged to cancel their direct debits for gas and electricity from October in protest against rocketing energy prices, according to a campaign group.Don’t Pay UK, which launched in June this year, said its campaign had reached “millions of people” and the support received so far “demonstrates the anger and frustration at a broken energy system that needs to be drastically transformed for the interests of people”. Continue reading...

Delay in responding to second most serious category of incident is more than three times the 18-minute maximum waitAmbulances are taking almost an hour to reach patients who have had a suspected stroke or heart attack, more than three times the 18-minute maximum wait, the latest NHS data shows.Ambulance crews in England took an average of 59 minutes and seven seconds to respond to “category two” 999 calls, the second most serious category of incident. That also includes people suffering from an epileptic fit, major burn or sepsis, which kills 48,000 people a year. Continue reading...