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This blog is now closedAsked about the planned anti-immigration protests across Australia today, Julian Leeser says he's concerned about some of the anti-Indian and antisemitic sentiment being expressed. But he also adds that there are people who will be attending these protests with goodwill":There are people there of goodwill who want to change policies in relation to this country. But I would say to them be careful of the company you keep. I've seen some of the material for that particular protest and I'm really concerned about the anti-Indian sentiment that is being expressed and some of the antisemitic undertones of some of those protests.We are working through this legislation through our processes but I will say this: This cohort of people have had ample opportunities to put their case. They have exhausted all appeal avenues and the question now is whether they can be removed to another country.This is a legitimate arrangement. The only reason people can remain in Australia - and this is very well established under the migration law of this country - is if they have an Australian citizen or on a valid visa. Continue reading...

The 18m deal to acquire Challenge Recruitment Group assets from administration repaid private funders in fullThe UK exchequer is chasing about 90m in unpaid taxes after a temporary staffing business was rescued from insolvency proceedings in an 18m deal that reimbursed private funders in full.The main assets of Challenge Recruitment Group, which counted Tesco, Sainsbury's and Co-op among its top customers, were acquired from administration in July by the US website swipejobs, in what appears to be the second time the British staffing business has emerged from insolvency while owing tens of millions of pounds to the exchequer. Continue reading...

Amalia Freeman says Victoria police have her full support' in search for fugitive accused of fatally shooting two officers

Ten years after Angela Merkel declared We can do this' at the height of the 2015 migration into Europe, Syrian refugee Somar Kreker looks back at his 44-day odysseyThe trip would be tough, Somar Kreker knew, but he was not overly fearful. It was the summer of 2015, and in a small flat in Amman, Jordan, this young Syrian's only thought was how to turn a long and arduous journey into something more bearable. The engineering student had fled Syria three and a half years earlier after refusing to enlist in the brutal regime's army. He was now ready to begin a new chapter of his life, starting with a new task: to reunite with his younger sisters, still trapped in Damascus, and lead them to Germany, where their brother was living.I was never worried or stressed about the trip," says Somar, just 27 years old at the time. I never had any thought about danger or failure. My only thoughts were how I could make the trip a happy adventure for me and my sisters. Continue reading...

Ahmed al-Rahawi killed alongside several ministers gathered for prerecorded speech by rebel group's leaderAn Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, the Houthis have said.Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a strike in Sana'a on Thursday along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement on Saturday. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing further details. Continue reading...

Irish aid worker and director Gena Heraty was taken along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old childAn Irish aid worker and seven fellow captives have been released nearly a month after they were kidnapped in Haiti.Gena Heraty, a missionary who ran the Our Little Brothers and Sisters orphanage in the hills outside Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, was abducted on 3 August along with seven Haitians, including a three-year-old child. Continue reading...

Jewish Artists for Palestine interrupted a BBC Proms performance at Royal Albert Hall on Friday, claiming the MSO silenced artists' and silenced protest'

In federal court documents, the 24-year-old's family claim officers acted unlawfully in apprehending him and applying force to him such as to cause the loss of his life'Warning: This article contains reference to Indigenous Australians who have died

Peer who appeared on I'm a Celebrity denies charges of rape and sexual assault at Westminster magistrates courtA celebrity peer and former reality TV show contestant has appeared in court after being charged with rape and sexual assault by penetration, police said.Lord Charles Brocket, 73, a contestant on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!, appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Saturday. Continue reading...

Two anti-asylum groups marched to Crowne Plaza before attempting to enter building at rear, Met police sayFive people have been arrested at a protest in London where a group of masked men attempted to enter a hotel housing asylum seekers on Saturday.At about noon, two anti-asylum groups marched to the Crowne Plaza in Stockley Road, west London, and a group of men in masks attempted to enter the building through the rear entrance and damaged security fences, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Former parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy shot dead as EU ministers meet to discuss measures to force Moscow to the negotiating tableA Ukrainian former parliamentary speaker was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday, authorities said, as European foreign ministers met to discuss increasing pressure on Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.Andriy Parubiy, a member of parliament who served as parliamentary speaker from 2016 to 2019 and a key figure in Ukraine's 2013 pro-European Maidan revolution, was shot dead, prosecutors said. A murder investigation has been launched and the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the killing as a horrific murder". Continue reading...

Eleanor Lyons will interview women who say they have been trafficked into sex work and advertised onlineThe independent anti-slavery commissioner has launched an investigation into so-called pimping websites amid concern at the level of exploitation of trafficked and vulnerable women on those platforms.Eleanor Lyons will interview women who say they have been trafficked into sex work and advertised on adult services websites such as Vivastreet that allow users to browse images and videos of women selling sex in their local area. Continue reading...

Armoured vehicle hit in Zeitoun neighbourhood as Arab media reports intense clashes in the areaSeven Israeli soldiers were wounded in an explosion targeting an armoured vehicle in Gaza City on Friday night, the Israel Defense Forces have said.The soldiers were wounded while operating in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, which has been the site of intense Israeli military activity in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Trials of baxdrostat have produced exciting' results for people whose hypertension has proved difficult to controlDoctors are hailing a new pill for patients with high blood pressure resistant to existing medication as a gamechanger" and a triumph of science".Globally, more than 1.3 billion people have hypertension. In half of them, their high blood pressure is uncontrolled or resistant to existing treatments. They face a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and early death. Continue reading...

Lower court to decide if Ralph Leroy Menzies, who killed Maurine Hunsaker in 1986, is competent to face executionThe impending execution of a man by firing squad in Utah was blocked by the state's supreme court on Friday after his attorneys argued he should be spared because he has dementia.Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to be executed on 5 September for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would have become only the sixth US prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. Continue reading...

As fertility rate hits all-time low in England and Wales, is there cause for concern for the economy and services?We happen to be alive at this really transitional moment," said Prof Jane Falkingham, the director of the Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton. We're moving from a world with high fertility and high mortality to a world of low mortality and low fertility. We have to get our heads around how we're going to make that transition from the old world to the new world."Earlier this week, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the fertility rate for England and Wales had fallen for the third year in a row to reach a record low of 1.41. The rate represents the average number of live children women can expect to have in their child-bearing life. Continue reading...

Citizen patrols' and self-styled protective forces are fuelling social fears and the far right, say expertsSporting black shirts emblazoned with an iron cross, a dozen or so men marched through the centre of Reykjavik, courting attention on a buzzy Friday night. In Poland and the Netherlands, vigilantes thronged along the German border, ready to turn back any asylum seekers they came across. In Belfast, they roamed after sunset, demanding to see the identity documents of migrants and people of colour.Each of the groups, who are part of a renewed wave of anti-migrant vigilantes that have sprung up in recent months across Europe, have sought to cast themselves as a sort of protective force. But those who have studied vigilantes warn that their actions often exacerbate security concerns, sow fear and fuel the far right. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedAndriy Parubiy, a Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker, has been shot dead in western city of Lviv, say officials.Confirming the news, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X:Ukraine's minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko and prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko have just reported the first known circumstances of the horrendous murder in Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was killed.My condolences to his family and loved ones. All necessary forces and means are engaged in the investigation and search for the killer. Continue reading...

Charlie Falconer says government was right to challenge Epping hotel ruling but now has to move forward'A former Labour justice secretary has warned that Reform UK will continue to rise in opinion polls unless the government moves faster to close hotels housing people seeking asylum.On Friday, the government won a court of appeal challenge against an injunction by Epping Forest district council that would have resulted in 130 asylum seekers being moved out of the Bell hotel. In recent weeks the hotel has become the focus of repeated protests, some of which have been orchestrated by far-right extremists and have turned violent. Continue reading...

Cities in Indonesia rocked by protests after motorcycle taxi driver run over by police tactical vehicleProtesters have torched parliamentary buildings in three further Indonesian provinces, a day after at least three people were killed by a fire started by demonstrators at a council building in the city of Makassar.Protests erupted across Indonesia after footage spread showing a motorcycle taxi driver being run over and killed by a police vehicle on Thursday night during earlier demonstrations over low wages for workers and perks for lawmakers. Continue reading...

Police launch investigation into escalation of dispute in bar in Evreux, Normandy, after five others injuredA man has driven a car into a crowd outside a bar in northern France after a dispute in which one person was killed and five others injured, according to prosecutors.The incident took place in the town of Evreux, Normandy, at about 4am on Saturday. Continue reading...

The clandestine businesses - a financial lifeline for many women - have been given a month to cease operationsThe Taliban have issued an order targeting underground beauty salons operating in secret across Afghanistan, warning the women running them that they have one month to stop or face arrest.Officially, all beauty salons were closed by the Taliban in August 2023, shuttering 12,000 businesses with the loss of more than 50,000 female beautician jobs. Yet clandestine salons have continued to operate within communities across the country. Continue reading...

Regulator Easa concludes there is not enough evidence it is as safe as flying with two pilots as currently requiredProposals for commercial aeroplanes to operate with just one pilot in the cockpit have been put on ice after a report for the European regulator suggested it would make flying more dangerous.A three-year research project into extended minimum crew operations" commissioned by the EU Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) found that despite advances in technology there was not sufficient evidence that flying with a single pilot could be as safe as with the two currently required. Continue reading...

Former Roman Catholic priest and two dominatrices were evidently recording sexual videos in the church in 2020A judge in Louisiana has ordered the return of electronics belonging to an ex-Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to obscenity for being caught having sex with two dominatrices atop a church altar while still belonging to the clergy in 2020.However, the judge also told authorities to erase all data from the devices and storage media as a precaution against videos taken of the tryst from becoming public. Continue reading...

Therapists say they are seeing negative impacts of people increasingly turning to AI chatbots for helpVulnerable people turning to AI chatbots instead of professional therapists for mental health support could be sliding into a dangerous abyss", psychotherapists have warned.Psychotherapists and psychiatristssaid they were increasingly seeing negative impacts of AI chatbots being used for mental health, such as fostering emotional dependence, exacerbating anxiety symptoms, self-diagnosis, or amplifying delusional thought patterns, dark thoughts and suicide ideation. Continue reading...

Some are happy to see new faces in the chambers but many are frustrated with a lack of improvements on the ground since party's sweeping victoriesThis motion is bizarre to say the least," said a bemused Doncaster Labour councillor as Reform proposed that the council fly no flags apart from the union flag from its buildings.It would not just mean no Pride flag on Pride Day, a debate heard. It would mean no white rose flag on Yorkshire Day, no Rovers flag celebrating the football team winning the league, no St George's flag marking England's Lionesses' Euros triumph, and no green flags celebrating municipal park management achievements in the city's green spaces. The motion was a waste of time and a waste of resources", one councillor said. Continue reading...

Users of the salary advance service marketed by their employers say it was all too easy to slip into debt

Critics concerned as Wagestream offers loans of up to 25,000 to workers at Pizza Express, Asda and others

It is understood an investigation will look at whether Paul Bean of Durham council breached civil service codeA local councillor for Reform UK who works for the Home Office processing asylum and immigration claims has been suspended from his job while an investigation is carried out, the Guardian has learned.Paul Bean, who serves as a councillor for Crook ward at Durham county council, declared his day job as a civil servant at the Home Office in his register of interests. Continue reading...

An agreement relating to the NZYQ cohort, who previously faced indefinite immigration detention, was signed by home affairs minister Tony Burke on Friday

As a new academic year begins providers say national insurance rises and food price inflation has forced up pricesParents across England are facing higher prices for school lunches as the new school year begins, with caterers blaming the government's national insurance increase alongside rising food and energy costs.Lunch providers say increases in staffing costs, including employer national insurance contributions announced by the chancellor last year, have added significant extra pressure" to their budgets. Continue reading...

Organiser of petition says French president ignoring expert advice that artefact too fragile to be transported to UKThe Bayeux tapestry is so fragile that transporting it risks irreparable damage, French experts have said, as a petition urging Emmanuel Macron to reverse a catastrophic" decision to loan the unique embroidery to Britain passed 60,000 signatures.France's president declared in July that the nearly 1,000-year-old, 70-metre-long wool-on-linen artwork, which depicts William the Conqueror's victory over King Harold II of England at Hastings in 1066, would cross the Channel next year. Continue reading...

Analysts say Putin and Xi will aim to align positions during Russian leader's unusually long stayVladimir Putin will travel to China this weekend for what the Kremlin has called a truly unprecedented" visit to his most important ally, which comes at a crunch moment in talks over Ukraine.During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week - unusually long for the Russian leader - he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing's Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan's defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea's Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba. Continue reading...

MHRA is cracking down on unlicensed anti-wrinkle products after spate of botulism cases in EnglandSellers of fake Botox jabs could be jailed for up to two years, the UK's medicine watchdog has warned, as it increases efforts to track down those flouting the law.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says it is cracking down on the trade of unlicensed botulinum toxin products after a spate of botulism cases across England thought to be linked to them. Continue reading...

The 56-year-old made a series of threats against police and had a long history of minor offences, culminating in the loss of his driver's licence in 2022

County court judge found physical and psychological injuries from the accident caused complete destruction of her capacity for any form of meaningful remunerative work'

Home Office and Bell hotel owner challenged injunction granted to council that would have stopped dozens of asylum seekers being housed thereUK bank shares tumbled on Friday, cutting the stock market value of the sector by almost 8bn in morning trading, as fresh calls for a windfall tax on large lenders in the autumn budget spooked investors.Calls for a tax grab, in a paper written by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank, took a toll on some of the UK's biggest high street banks. NatWest Group suffered the biggest drop on Friday morning, registering a decline of as much as 5% in its share price, while Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays followed close behind, falling 4.5% and 3.6% respectively. HSBC dropped more than 1%. Continue reading...

Malcolm Kenyatta is on a 105-mile march to highlight drastic cuts to the stat's regional public transport servicesThe best part of this is I get to eat as many carbs as possible," jokes Malcolm Kenyatta, who has lost 100lbs over the past two years. I had a bagel already, I'm eating snacks, I'm having a good time."The Democratic state representative was speaking by phone from Broomall, Pennsylvania, on Friday, around 12 miles into a one-man, 105-mile march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg in protest to drastic cuts to regional public transport services. Continue reading...

Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Moyski, 10, died during the attack on the Annunciation Catholic school churchAn eight-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl who were killed in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school have been identified by their parents.Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Moyski, 10, died during the attack on the Annunciation Catholic school church on Wednesday morning, their parents confirmed. A further 17 people, 14 of them children, were injured in the shooting. Continue reading...

Trump officials accused of false imprisonment and unconstitutional racial profiling' over incident in LAThe mother of a 15-year-old boy who was detained at gunpoint by federal immigration agents is seeking $1m in damages and accusing the Trump administration of false imprisonment and unconstitutional racial profiling".The teenager, a US citizen with disabilities, was in a vehicle with his mother outside Arleta high school in Los Angeles on 11 August when masked immigration agents surrounded them and pulled them from the vehicle. They said the boy was a suspect in a crime, and handcuffed him for several minutes until they realized had the wrong person, the Los Angeles Times reported. Continue reading...

Israeli military announces move in Gaza City as it steps up attacks before planned offensiveIsrael's military will no longer pause fighting to allow aid deliveries in Gaza City, a military spokesperson has said, in a decision likely to deepen the famine already gripping the north of the territory.Israeli forces have been stepping up attacks in and around Gaza City as the military prepares for a ground operation that humanitarian groups and many of Israel's closest allies have warned will be catastrophic for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians already struggling to survive hunger, disease and Israeli attacks. Continue reading...

First female senator to represent Iowa had a rocky reception from constituents earlier year over Medicaid cuts

Step comes when France is leading a push to recognise Palestinian state after Israel's unyielding bombing of GazaThe US has begun denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the United Nations general assembly meeting in September, the state department said on Friday.The Trump administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace," it said in a statement. Continue reading...

Ruling has bought government time to plan closures but Farage and Tories have more fuel for their grievances

At hearing for Federal Reserve governor's suit over firing, attorney says president engages in litigation by tweet'Donald Trump has been accused of wielding unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud as his weapon of choice" to attack the Federal Reserve's independence, as a governor at the central bank sues the president over his bid to fire her.In court on Friday, lawyers for Lisa Cook argued she was fired without the notice or cause" required to remove a Fed governor. Cook learned of her removal from the board via a post on social media, they said. Continue reading...

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Chao Xu, of Greenwich, admits 24 offences against six women and police say there could be many more victimsA businessman who concealed cameras in his home and drugged women has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual offences, and police fear the full scale of his crimes may be vast".Chao Xu, 33, pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing on Friday to 24 offences against six young women in London over three years, including rape, digital penetration, sexual assault, administering a substance with intent and voyeurism. Continue reading...

Judges say decision to allow injunction was seriously flawed' and contained several errors in principle'

French president says he will speak to US counterpart amid calls for a Monday deadline for Russian leader to agree to bilateral talksEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is in Latvia today, and has been speaking to the media in the last few minutes.Speaking alongside Latvia's prime minister Evika Silia, she praised the country's work on becoming a true drone and anti drone powerhouse" in Europe, contributing to Nato's security in the region bordering with Russia.We know that Europe is only safe if the eastern border is safe.The risks your country and the other Baltic States warned us about, unfortunately, have materialised.Russia's brutal war against Ukraine is now in its fourth year, Putin is a predator, Putin's proxies have been targeting our societies for years with hybrid attacks, with cyber-attacks, [and] the weaponising of migrants is another example." Continue reading...