by Bethan McKernan and Harriet Sherwood on (#6Z01M)
Bishop of Monmouth chosen after Andy John stepped down in June following scandal at Bangor CathedralThe Bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, has been elected as the new archbishop of Wales, becoming the UK's first female archbishop and first LGBTQ+ leader in the church in Wales in a symbolic break with recent safeguarding scandals.Vann, 66, was chosen on Wednesday after an electoral college made up of clergy and laypersons met for two days of deliberations at St Pierre church near Chepstow. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6Z056)
Settlements include payout to former elections chief falsely accused of trying to sabotage Corbyn campaign in 2017Labour has settled claims brought by 20 people, mainly former staffers, who featured in a leaked internal document about antisemitism within the party, with the costs estimated to be close to 2m.The settlements include a payout to Labour's former elections chief Patrick Heneghan, who was falsely accused in the dossier of having tried to sabotage Jeremy Corbyn's chances of winning the 2017 election. Continue reading...
EU entry exit system, involving fingerprinting and facial recognition, being introduced from 12 October for non-EU citizensSpeaking of the EU-US trade deal, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil joined the growing list of national leaders expressing their dissatisfaction with the agreement today, saying he feared it would hit the German economy.I have no illusions about it, it is rather growth-weakening," Klingbeil said in the presentation of the 2026 draft budget as per Reuters, lamenting that the EU was too weak" in the negotiations.Still, all in all, it is good that there is an agreement with the US, that there are no further escalations. Continue reading...
Justice department revealed that only two law enforcement witnesses testified during grand jury proceedingsTranscripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to the sex trafficking indictments of the sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, British socialiate Ghislaine Maxwell, include the testimony of just two law enforcement witnesses, the Department of Justice has said, as it argues for the documents' release.Top justice department officials disclosed in a filing late on Tuesday in New York City federal court that separate grand juries convened to consider the criminal investigations of Epstein and Maxwell, and had heard from only two witnesses. Continue reading...
Trump administration gives no details about reason for departure of Vinay Prasad, but he had critics and had taken unusual actionsThe top vaccine official at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Vinay Prasad, has left the federal agency less than four months after being appointed as the head of the division overseeing biological products like blood, vaccines, and cellular and gene therapies, a government spokesperson has said.Prasad, an oncologist and a professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, had previously criticized the FDA. Continue reading...
Carmaker avoids reporting a slump by sending three months' worth of sales on last day of the quarter at levy of 10%Aston Martin scrambled to deliver three months' worth of cars to dealers in the US within 24 hours as it rushed to qualify for lower tariffs that came into effect on 30 June.By invoicing the whole quarter's cars on that same day it also avoided having to report a sales slump that might have alarmed investors. Continue reading...
As official health guidance changes, scientific groups are stepping in with evidence-based recommendationsThe US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is adopting a recommendation from independent advisers to drop thimerosal, a preservative found in about 4% of flu vaccines, despite evidence that it poses no risks and helps prevent bacterial and fungal infections.But Robert F Kennedy Jr, the HHS secretary, has not adopted two other votes from the advisory meeting: recommending annual flu vaccines for everyone over the age of six months and RSV shots for infants. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6YZX0)
Exclusive: Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns say party could slide into irrelevance if it chooses new leader with polarising' approachThe Green party risks going into reverse if they elect Zack Polanski as leader, his two opponents have said, arguing that his promised brand of eco-populism" would prove polarising, divisive and likely to put off more moderate voters.Speaking to the Guardian before the opening of the month-long leadership vote, which begins on Friday, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns said the party in England and Wales was at a crossroads", and could miss the chance to hold the balance of power at the next election. Continue reading...
UK's largest Jewish body adds to pressure on Israel, saying moves to allow in limited aid are long overdue'The UK's largest Jewish organisation has called for a rapid, uninhibited, and sustained increase in aid through all available channels" in Gaza in a rare implicit criticism of the Israeli government.The Board of Deputies held an emergency meeting on Tuesday evening amid growing horror among British Jews at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with children malnourished and starving and desperate parents being killed as they try to secure food for their families. Continue reading...
Former tennis star's lawyer alleges Herald Sun articles are defamatory and constitute a serious invasion of Brittany Groth's privacy under new tort laws
Cambodia has previously denied breaking the truce, which came into effect on Tuesday after five days of violent clashesThailand has accused Cambodia of a flagrant violation" of a truce to end cross-border fighting, claiming Cambodian troops launched an overnight attack on the frontier.The neighbours agreed a ceasefire starting Tuesday after five days of clashes killed at least 43 people on both sides, as a longstanding dispute over contested border regions boiled over into open combat across the 800km frontier. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6YZR7)
Grandson of valet Alf Edwards and kitchen maid Caroline Palmer donates dozens of their personal objects to English HeritageHe was a valet, she was a kitchen maid and more than a century ago they met because of his passion for photography and desperate need of a warm place to use as a makeshift studio.Alf Edwards and Caroline Palmer worked at opposite ends of an imposing country house, set in a huge estate with hundreds of employees, and there was little other reason for their paths to cross. Continue reading...
The Taiwanese government insists Lai Ching-te's visit was delayed due to domestic issues, including natural disasters and tariff negotiationsTaiwan's President Lai Ching-te will delay an expected trip to his country's remaining allies in Latin America, amid conflicting accounts of the reason for the postponement.Lai was expected to travel to the Americas next month, as his government seeks to shore up support in a region where many countries have cut diplomatic ties in favour of relations with China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. Continue reading...
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Terry and Brendan McMillanA father and son killed in a stabbing attack in south London on Monday have been named as Terry and Brendan McMillan.Detectives arrested a man on suspicion of their murder on Tuesday after the incident at an office block in south London on Monday that also left a third man hospitalised. Continue reading...
The Past Lives and Materialists writer-director is set to pen a follow-up to the dark, Julia Roberts-led 1997 favouriteA sequel to the 1997 comedy My Best Friend's Wedding is in the works with Celine Song tapped to write the screenplay.According to Collider, the playwright turned writer-director, who broke out with the Oscar-nominated drama Past Lives, has reportedly been hired by Sony as the film enters early development. Continue reading...
Actor and book prize judge's production company in process of developing novel by Claire AdamAn apparent conflict of interest has emerged over the Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker's judging of this year's Booker prize.A production company run by the actor is reportedly in the process of developing a book written by Claire Adam, whose second novel, Love Forms, appears on this year's longlist, announced on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Missile attack on prison in frontline region of Zaporizhzhia kills 16 as Kyiv hopes for US action against MoscowRussia launched one of its deadliest night assaults on Ukraine for months in the early hours of Tuesday, the day after Donald Trump said he was setting a new deadline of 10 or 12 days" for Russia to make progress towards ending the war or face new sanctions.A series of Russian strikes across the country killed at least 25 people, Ukrainian officials said, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen prison inmates. About 100 people were injured across the country. Continue reading...
by William Christou and Quique Kierszenbaum in Umm al on (#6YYZV)
Israeli soldiers raid mourning tent after death of Awdah Hathaleen, who helped make Oscar-winning No Other LandAwdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist and journalist who helped make the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, has been killed during an attack by Israeli settlers in the south Hebron hills, prompting a wave of condemnation of what was described as state impunity for Israeli settler violence.A video captured on Monday appears to show an Israeli settler, Yinon Levi, who was put under sanctions by the US president Joe Biden then removed from the sanctions list by Donald Trump, firing his gun wildly at residents of the village of Umm al-Khair at the time of the killing. Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose, Yohannes Lowe and Hamish Mackay on (#6YYYC)
Antonio Guterres says trickle of aid into Gaza must become an ocean as UN-backed experts say famine is underway. This live blog is closedThe UN's World Food Programme has warned that the disaster unfolding in Gaza is reminiscent of last century's famines seen in Ethiopia and Biafra in Nigeria.WFP emergency director Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva:This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century.We need urgent action now. Continue reading...
Tool gives guidance rather than serving up complete essays or answers, amid rising AI misuse at universitiesChatGPT is launching a study mode" to encourage responsible academic use of the chatbot, amid rising cases of misuse of artificial intelligence tools at universities.The feature, which can be accessed via the chatbot's tools button, can walk users through complex subjects in a step-by-step format akin to an unfolding academic lesson. Continue reading...
Longstanding ties between US conservatives and Israel face strain as war's toll and internal rifts reshape the rightAs the Israel-Gaza war nears its two-year mark, and as images of starving people and utter devastation flood social media, cracks seem to be emerging in the American right's typically iron-clad support for Israel.The US continues to support Israel diplomatically and militarily, and last Thursday pulled out of peace negotiations that it accused Hamas of sabotaging. And in the US Congress, only two Republicans voted for a recent amendment that would have pulled funding for missile defense systems for Israel. Continue reading...
Detectives still trying to determine motive in attack that killed four in Manhattan on MondayThe gunman identified in the mass shooting in New York on Monday that killed four victims - including a police officer - was a former high school football player who left a note complaining that the sport had given him the brain injury known as CTE.Detectives are still trying to determine the motive behind 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura's shooting spree in 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan on Monday. It ranks as the deadliest firearms attack in New York City in a quarter of a century. Continue reading...
At least 85 people injured in overnight attacks after Trump said he will shorten the deadline for reaching an agreement on a ceasefire to 10-12 days'Here is the latest on the overnight attacks from our corrrespondent, Shaun Walker in Kyiv.Russian airstrikes on Ukraine killed 22 people overnight, said the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and injured another 85, a day after Donald Trump said he was setting a new deadline of 10 or 12 days" for Russia to make progress towards ending the war.The worst death toll was at a prison facility in the town of Bilenke in the frontline region of Zaporizhzhia, which appeared to have taken a direct hit from a guided air bomb. Local authorities said 17 people died and dozens sustained injuries. A hospital in the city of Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region was also hit, killing three people including a 23-year-old pregnant woman, Zelenskyy said.Today, Russia is challenging not only Ukraine and Europe, but also the United States.Putin's regime is incapable of stopping the war - this is possible only by force ..." Continue reading...
Judge seemed to scrutinize female accuser more harshly than the five hockey players who were charged with sexual assault but ultimately walked freeThe stunning conclusion to a pivotal sexual assault trial has left some observers in Canada shocked but unsurprised - not only by a judge who seemed to scrutinize the female accuser more harshly than the five ice hockey players who ultimately walked free, but by yet another missed opportunity for a reckoning in the macho culture of a major professional sport.The blockbuster case seemed to crystallize any number of hot-button topics - the #MeToo movement, the nature of consent, the role of pornography, the impunity of men - in the most Canadian way possible: through hockey. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6YZ3G)
Far-right activist is thought to have left UK after claiming in video that injured man had attacked him at St PancrasPolice investigating an alleged assault of a man at a London train station are hunting for the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who is understood to have taken a flight out of Britain shortly after video was put online showing him near the injured man.The video shows Robinson claiming the man had attacked him, and was filmed at London St Pancras station where he had been leafleting earlier in the day. Robinson is 42 and originally from Luton. Continue reading...
It comes as Donald Trump reduced deadline for Russia to move towards ending Ukraine war. Plus, eastern US swelters in heatwaveGood morning.Famine is unfolding in Gaza, where Israeli restrictions on food aid and ongoing fighting have produced a worst-case scenario", UN-backed hunger experts have said, calling for immediate intervention to save lives.What did the UN World Food Programme's emergency director say? This is unlike anything we have seen in this century," said Ross Smith, addressing reporters in Geneva via video link from Rome. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century. We need urgent action now."This is a developing story. Follow our live coverage of the Middle East crisis here.What do we know about the shooter so far? Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner, said the gunman, identified as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident with a history of mental illness, had driven cross-country to New York in recent days. Tisch said the gunman opened fire on the 33rd floor. The gunman then went to the stairwell and shot himself, she said. Continue reading...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe in Surin and agencies on (#6YYT6)
Military spokesperson said earlier Cambodia had attacked Thai territory in several places and that it had responded to maintain national sovereignty'Thailand's prime minister has tried to ease fears of a shaky ceasefire with Cambodia, hours after the Thai military reported violations of the deal to end hostilities along their shared border.Thailand and Cambodia reached an agreement in Malaysia on Monday to unconditionally end five days of fighting during which 38 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, in the worst violence between the two nations in more than a decade. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: What a landmark inquiry into the university's slavery connections found - and what the institution is going to do about itGood morning. I'm Phoebe Weston, and I'll be bringing you First Edition alongside Aamna this summer. If there is anything you would like to see covered over the coming weeks, please hit reply and send us your suggestions.Today's newsletter takes you behind a series of locked doors at the University of Edinburgh's Anatomical museum. The skull room" is at the end of a long corridor, rarely visited by anyone outside the university - and inside it are mahogany-framed glass cabinets containing appropriately 1,500 human skulls, some with peeling labels and catalogue numbers, others bare.Israel | Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and Israel's western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it. Donald Trump has told Israel to allow every ounce of food" into Gaza as he acknowledged for the first time that there is real starvation" in the region.Politics | The US president heaped praise on Keir Starmer as the two met in Scotland, but in a domestic intervention that will not have been appreciated by the British PM, Trump urged him to cut taxes and tackle illegal immigration to win the next election.Economy | The French prime minister, Francois Bayrou, said the EU had capitulated to Donald Trump's threats of ever-increasing tariffs, as he labelled the framework deal struck in Scotland on Sunday as a dark day, when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission".Labour | Angela Rayner has hit back at anonymous No 10 officials who have briefed against senior cabinet ministers in recent months, warning them they are committing self-harm".Cost of living | Food prices rose by 4% in July from a year earlier, up from 3.7% in June and above the three-month average of 3.5% according to the latest snapshot from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The rising cost of staples like meat and butter - which have both increased by over 15% - has been blamed for large retailers struggling to entice shoppers back to the high street. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England editor on (#6YYWP)
Police monitor social media for attempts to stir up disorder as town pays tribute to three girls murdered last yearSouthport must not be defined by the atrocity at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club last summer, its leaders have said, a year on from the murders.The Merseyside town will hold a three-minute silence and lower flags on public buildings on Tuesday in tribute to those caught up in the attack on 29 July last year. Continue reading...
by Severin Carrell, Harriet Sherwood and Richard Adam on (#6YYWN)
Institution has said it is reviewing its support for IHRA's definition as critics argue it restricts freedom of speechJewish leaders have urged the University of Edinburgh to uphold a controversial definition of antisemitism after the institution revealed it was reviewing its support for it.The university said on Sunday it could unadopt the internationally recognised definition written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which its critics argue restricts freedom of speech on Israel and Palestine. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#6YYWM)
Changes to welfare reforms not enough to protect newly sick and disabled people from financial hardshipAbout 50,000 people who become disabled or chronically ill will be pushed into poverty by the end of the decade because of cuts to incapacity benefit, despite ministers dropping the bulk of its welfare reform plans, MPs have warned.The work and pensions select committee report welcomed ministers' decision earlier this month to drop some of the most controversial aspects of its disability reforms in the face of a parliamentary revolt by over 100 Labour backbenchers. Continue reading...
School wants to move current traffic snail ... within its property' during drop-off and pick-up but plan could result in local residents losing parking spaces