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Pro-Russian head of administration signs decree to start preparations, as Moscow plans to annex seized territory

Mark Barrott had long history as abuser, stalking his wife Eileen physically and electronicallyA “coercive and controlling” husband who murdered his wife when he realised she was trying to break free from what was a toxic relationship has been jailed for at least 21 years.Mark Barrott, who was the subject of a nationwide manhunt after the murder in the Whinmoor area of Leeds, was traced 400 miles away to a monastery in north-east Scotland where he was using an alias. Continue reading...

Footage includes white couple getting sunbeds shortly after couple of ‘north African appearance’ were told they were reservedAnti-racism activists who secretly filmed private beaches on the Côte d’Azur are planning legal action claiming discrimination on the French Riviera.SOS-Racisme sent couples of different ethnic backgrounds to exclusive coastal hotspots and used hidden cameras to record how each was received. Continue reading...

The director and others have criticised Warner Bros over its decision to scrap the superhero movie starring Leslie GraceKevin Smith is one of a number of directors who have weighed in over the decision by Warner Bros to cancel the release of its completed Batgirl movie.Speaking on his YouTube series Hollywood Babble-On, Smith said: “It’s an incredibly bad look to cancel the Latina Batgirl movie. I don’t give a shit if the movie was absolute fucking dogshit – I guarantee you that it wasn’t. The two directors who directed that movie did a couple of episodes of Ms Marvel, and it was a wonderful fucking show and they had more money to do Batgirl than they had to do an episode of Ms Marvel and stuff.” Continue reading...

Many of those in nearby countries ask themselves the same questions – is it time to go back? Is it safe?

French tourist, part of tour group of 25 people, taken to hospital after incident at Sveasletta, say policeA polar bear has been killed after it attacked a campsite in Norway’s remote Arctic Svalbard Islands on Monday, injuring a French tourist.The woman, who was not identified, was part of a tour group of 25 people who were camping at Sveasletta, in the central part of the Svalbard archipelago, more than 800km (500 miles) north of the Norwegian mainland. The campsite was located across a fjord from Longyearbyen, the main settlement in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Continue reading...

Britons resorting to superglue, says watchdog, as 98% of practices in some areas stop accepting new adult patientsIncidents of DIY dentistry, including people using superglue to stick homemade teeth to their gums, are increasing across Britain as more than nine in 10 NHS dental practices are unable to offer appointments to new adult patients, the director of the Healthwatch England watchdog has warned.According to a survey by the British Dental Association and the BBC, 91% of NHS practices across England were not accepting new adult patients, with this figure rising to 97% in the east midlands, and 98% in the south-west, north-west and Yorkshire and the Humber. Continue reading...

Ian Leavers’ affidavit in response to inquiry says failings in responding to such incidents more likely caused by ‘workload pressures or inadequate training’

Peaks of about 35C expected on Friday or Saturday amid warnings of fire riskBritain is braced for another heatwave that will last longer than July’s record-breaking hot spell, with highs of up to 35C expected over the next week, forecasters have said.Temperatures over the coming days will remain lower than the 40.3C reached in July, the hottest temperature on record, but the heatwave will continue over a “prolonged period”, the Met Office has said. Continue reading...

Smaller retailer also in negotiations for deal to use its larger rival’s online platform to run digital operationsNext is in talks to take a £15m stake in the struggling high street retailer Joules.Joules, whose share price has slumped by almost 90% over the last year, said it was in talks with Next about raising the sum in a deal that would result in the clothing and homeware retailer taking a strategic minority investment in the company. Continue reading...

Nick McGowan, who was best man at Guy’s wedding, will take time off to run for an upper house seat in November state election

‘We particularly want to make sure the bargaining system works for small business and for women’, says Tony Burke

Tory leadership candidates want to bring back grammar schools among other campaign promises but critics are wary“This is sugar-rush policymaking. It grabs a headline but has no real substance.” Such was the verdict of one leading figure in the world of education to the policy promises on schools and universities from the two candidates in the Conservative leadership race.Education may not have been a key battleground in the campaign so far, but a number of eye-catching themes have already emerged. First, grammar schools. Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak would like to see more of them. Is it feasible? Will it happen, and what would the impact be? Continue reading...

NSW treasurer joins transport minister, David Elliott, in running for senior party role after Stuart Ayres resigned

Peggy Woolley character featured in very first episode of BBC radio soap aired in 1951She has played the role of the redoubtable matriarch Peggy Woolley in The Archers for more than 70 years.But at the age of 103, June Spencer is finally retiring from the BBC Radio 4 soap. Continue reading...

At his swearing in Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, says the country is getting a ‘second chance’ to tackle violence and povertyColombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups.Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the market-friendly economy, but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmental groups in rural areas. Continue reading...

New US ambassador to Australia was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of GuadalcanalA visit to Solomon Islands by senior US diplomats included a touching personal moment, as Caroline Kennedy, the new US ambassador to Australia, met with the children of two men who saved the life of her father, John F Kennedy, during the second world war.Caroline Kennedy was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal, a brutal seven-month land, sea and air fight between allied and Japanese forces that marked a turning point in the war. Continue reading...

Queensland police say they are speaking to a man following the discovery of two bodies

Dominic Perrottet said he did discuss other potential roles with the NSW transport minister, but there was nothing guaranteed

Appropriate adults were often absent during the search, and the majority of children were innocentThe children’s commissioner for England has denounced the Metropolitan police’s record on child protection after new data revealed that 650 children were strip-searched over a two-year period and the majority were found to be innocent of the suspicions against them.Dame Rachel de Souza said she was not convinced that the force was “consistently considering children’s welfare and wellbeing” after police data showed that in almost a quarter of cases (23%) an appropriate adult was not present during the search, despite this being a requirement under statutory guidance. Continue reading...

Government seeks to reassure pupils taking GCSEs and A-levels after sharp rises in grades during pandemicThe government has sought to allay pupils’ fears over GCSE and A-level results, which are expected to be lower in England this summer after two years of record increases, reassuring them that universities will “adjust accordingly”.The schools minister Will Quince said it was important to “move back to a position where qualifications maintain their value” and reassured students that grades will still be higher than in 2019, before the pandemic. Continue reading...

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Horniman museum is first government-funded institution to hand back artefacts looted by British forces in 1897A London museum is to return 72 treasured artefacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria in what experts described as an “immensely significant” moment.The Horniman museum said it would transfer the ownership of the historic objects to the Nigerian government after an unanimous vote by its board of trustees. Continue reading...

PM criticised for nearly week-long break in Slovenia after 15 Whitehall consultations left unansweredLabour has hit out at 15 Whitehall consultations being left unanswered by what it called the “zombie government”, as Boris Johnson arrived back at work from a nearly week-long holiday.After being criticised for reportedly heading to Slovenia while his chancellor was also away despite dire economic warnings and calls to help those struggling with the cost of living crisis, the outgoing prime minister was told to “get on with running the country”. Continue reading...

Police allege man drove directly into crowd of people in north-west Queensland city

Ten-year-old girl suffers major head injuries as motocross bike rider at meet-up in Pontoise hits two childrenFrench politicians have called for a crackdown on urban dirt-bike riding as a 10-year-old girl was critically ill in hospital after being hit by a motocross bike while she played on a housing estate north-east of Paris.An 18-year-old boy was being questioned by police on Sunday after he handed himself in at a police station, accompanied by his lawyer. Continue reading...

Rights group defends allegations that military endangered civilians but says none of them justify Russia’s actionsAmnesty International has said it “deeply regrets the distress and anger” caused after it alleged that Ukrainian forces were flouting international law by exposing civilians to Russian fire.“We fully stand by our findings,” the rights group said on Sunday, but it stressed that “nothing we documented Ukrainian forces doing in any way justifies Russian violations”. Continue reading...

A recent survey showed the station is losing its mandated audience – but the full story is more complicated than it seems

The site is not far from another village and an aged care centre that were both hit by flooding in February

Modelling suggests demand for secondary school teachers will outstrip graduates by more than 4,000 in coming years

Julie Collins tells thinktank ‘ensuring every Australian has a safe place to call home is not someone else’s job’

Hekmatullah, who killed three Australian soldiers, is living in a heavily protected luxury Kabul home after being freed from prison

Deputy prime minister has been accused of wanting ‘a world in which the government is above the law’

Relatives say they want changes to how life-support cases are dealt with after 12-year-old died following withdrawal of careRelatives of Archie Battersbee, who died after his life support treatment was withdrawn on Saturday, have called for change in the way such cases are handled, saying they “want something good to come out of this tragedy”.The 12-year-old’s parents fought a bitter legal battle to try to stop doctors, who believed Archie to be brain stem dead, from removing treatment. After that failed, they began a fresh legal challenge – also unsuccessful – for him to be moved to a hospice to die. Continue reading...

Owami Davies, 24, was last seen just after midnight in West Croydon, south London a month ago

Mercenary group does not officially exist but is playing a more public role and openly recruiting in Russia

Some pregnant women denied usual choice as supplies of epidural kits and alternative drug both run low

Government accused of ‘darkest practices’ in eavesdropping scandal that evokes worst days of country’s military ruleAn eavesdropping scandal that sees Greece’s intelligence chief and the head of his personal office resign within minutes; calls for further resignations amid revelations of “dark practices”, and a spy crisis likened to Watergate.The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing his toughest hour in office following the discovery that the mobile phone of his political opponent, the leader of the country’s third largest party, was tapped by order of EYP, the intelligence service that reports directly to his office. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tate agreed to pay a six-figure settlement after claim of discrimination, victimisation and harassmentThree artists who sued the Tate for victimisation, alleging breach of contract and race discrimination, have told of their experiences after it agreed to pay them a six-figure settlement.The action was taken after the institution told one of the women, who had been commissioned to lead a major year-long programme, that she could not work with Jade Montserrat, an artist who has made allegations of sexual abuse and inappropriate behaviour against the art dealer Anthony d’Offay. Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden says ‘we need to get real' but Penny Mourdant insists foreign secretary ‘misinterpreted’Liz Truss has been told to “get real” as she came under fire from Rishi Sunak’s supporters for signalling opposition to any more “handouts” to help struggling people through the worsening cost of living crisis this winter.The foreign secretary was accused of having “ruled out direct support payments” to combat spiralling inflation and energy prices. Continue reading...

Figure passed as charities criticise Mail on Sunday’s claims about ‘economic migrants’ from AlbaniaThe number of refugees crossing the Channel this year has passed 18,000 after 337 crossed in small boats on Saturday, according to Ministry of Defence figures.The new data comes after a newspaper report claimed that many of those who had crossed the Channel in the past six weeks were economic migrants from Albania, not refugees. Continue reading...

PM’s allies brand investigation a ‘witch-hunt’ as others call for him to stand down to avoid further damageConservatives MPs want to do a deal with Boris Johnson for him to quit parliament and in return axe the inquiry into whether he misled them over Partygate, as allies of the prime minister branded it a “witch-hunt”.Although he is due to leave No 10 in less than a month, a Commons privileges committee inquiry is still ongoing into the prime minister’s initial denials in December last year that any Covid laws were broken during lockdown. Continue reading...

Warships shadow each other in final hours of exercises as White House calls Beijing’s actions ‘irresponsible’China has wrapped up its unprecedented four days of drills that showcased Beijing’s growing military prowess and determination to challenge what it called “any attempt to separate Taiwan from China”, after the controversial visit to the island democracy last week by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi’.Over the course of the drills, Beijing responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei, for the first time. It also halted some ties with the US, including cancelling a number of efforts to keep communication channels open between military commanders and suspending bilateral collaborations on the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Killing of Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, sparks racism debate amid election campaign focused on immigrationHundreds of people marched in a central Italian town on Saturday, demanding justice for the murder of a Nigerian street vendor as prosecutors investigated an attack against a Nigerian woman in a separate incident.The killing in broad daylight of Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, and case of Beauty Davis, who was allegedly slapped by her restaurant owner boss after she asked for wages owed to her, sparked a racism debate in Italy amid an election campaign in which immigration is a central theme for a coalition containing two far-right parties that is tipped to win. Continue reading...

Measures aim to ensure safety, pay transparency and anti-harassment and discrimination policiesThe performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a comedian’s charter in an effort to ensure good working practices and the safety of performers.Developed by the union’s comedians’ network, the measures included in the charter “will ensure pay transparency, a safe working environment, late-night safety, and anti-harassment and discrimination policies”, according to Equity. Continue reading...

EU officials see little hope of escape from post-Brexit low under either Tory candidateEuropean officials are pessimistic about a reset in post-Brexit relations with the UK, whoever becomes Britain’s next prime minister in September.Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak who is handed the keys to Downing Street on 5 September, officials in Brussels have little hope of a rapprochement with the new government. Continue reading...