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Exclusive: Dr Eric Descheemaeker also alleges Australia's top-ranked university will sack him unless restrained from doing so', court documents show

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...

Greens mount parliamentary push for Labor to level further sanctions on members of Israeli government

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...

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...

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...

Premier Chris Minns says he is not questioning the motives of the protesters, just the proposed route of the march

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

Coroner's findings welcomed by Suzzane Calgaret, who says it should not have taken her sister's death for changes to be made

Chris Bowen says Labor will increase size of its main climate and energy program by 25% to capitalise on falling cost of solar panels and batteries

Luke Harding talks to people in Kyiv protesting against the Ukrainian president's recent changes to the country's anti-corruption bodies, and analyses where the war against Russia is heading nextFor the first time since the war began three years ago, Ukraine was the scene of major anti-government protests earlier this month.The Guardian's correspondent in the country, Luke Harding, heads to the streets of Kyiv to hear from protesters angry at Volodymyr Zelenskyy's attempt to strip two key anti-corruption bodies of their independence - a move that he now seems to be retreating from. Continue reading...

Record number of homes for sale has created buyer's market' and kept price rises in check, Zoopla report saysThe typical summer lull in Britain's housing market has been avoided amid the availability of bigger home loans fuelling a buyer's market", according to a property website.Despite the signs of a bustling market, Zoopla said it had halved its house price forecast for 2025 as buyers were taking into account increased stamp duty costs in their offers in England and Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Reopening of South Crofty mine, which closed in 1998, could create 1,300 jobs for regionTin mining is poised for a comeback in Cornwall after the UK government invested almost 29m to reopen the county's last tin mine, creating more than 1,000 jobs in the region.The South Crofty tin mine, near the Cornish village of Pool, closed in 1998, and in the years since, as tin prices have soared, attempts to reopen it have been unsuccessful. Continue reading...

Ex-leader convicted over efforts to sway testimony in case tied to country's armed conflictA Colombian court has found the country's former president Alvaro Uribe guilty of witness tampering.The 73-year-old, who served as president from 2002 to 2010, was convicted on Monday of trying to persuade witnesses to lie for him in a separate investigation. He faces a 12-year prison sentence in a case that has become highly politicised. Continue reading...

Crowd erupted into cheers as team landed at Southend airport and squad then went to Downing Street for celebratory receptionThe Lionesses have been greeted by cheering crowds after landing at Southend airport, with fans eager to give the squad a triumphant homecoming after their Euro 2025 victory.The team arrived back in the UK on Monday afternoon after defending their title in a penalty shootout win over Spain in Basel on Sunday. Many supporters had dressed for the Lionesses' return, wearing England kits and holding flags. Continue reading...

Heat and humidity are stretching east from the Mississippi River valley, and some areas could see heat indices of 120FThe eastern half of the US is facing a significant heatwave, with more than 185 million people under warnings due to intense and widespread heat conditions on Monday.The south-east is likely to endure the most dangerous temperatures as the extreme heat spread across the region on Monday, spanning from the Carolinas through Florida. In these areas, heat index values (how hot it feels once humidity is accounted for) are forecast to range between 105 and 113F (40.5 to 45C). Continue reading...

Ian Rutledge died in hospital days after Vanessa Whyte and her son and daughter were shot dead in MaguiresbridgeA fourth person has died after a shooting in County Fermanagh in which a mother and two children were killed.Ian Rutledge, 43, died in hospital on Monday evening after the incident in Maguiresbridge last Wednesday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI) said. Vanessa Whyte, 45, a vet originally from County Clare, her son James, 14, and daughter Sara, 13, were also killed. Continue reading...

Adam Coy, who is white, fatally shot Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killedA former Ohio police officer convicted of murder in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed, was given a mandatory sentence Monday of 15 years to life.Former Columbus officer Adam Coy shot Hill four times in a garage in December 2020, as the country reckoned with a series of police killings of Black men, women and children. He told jurors that he feared for his life because he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver. Continue reading...

Co-founder Kristo Kaarmann gains enhanced voting rights in controversial moveThe UK online payments company Wise is to move its main share listing to the US after shareholders approved the move.Investors in Wise, one of the biggest financial technology businesses in the UK with a market value of about 11bn, voted in favour of a dual listing in the US in an attempt to attract more investors and boost its value. Continue reading...

African social spiders' sinister game of grandmother's footsteps' could be breakout moment in BBC's ParenthoodIt is a scene that will make every parent shudder and fuel the generation wars debate.David Attenborough's new series, Parenthood, features sinister behaviour that has not been captured by TV cameras before of a 1,000-strong pack of young African social spiders hunting prey in a game of grandmother's footsteps" during which they freeze in unison like musical statues then eat all their mothers and elderly relatives alive.Parenthood starts on Sunday 3 August at 7.20pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Continue reading...

UK PM meets US president at his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, where they discuss energy, Gaza and trade

Starmer said to have pressed US president on humanitarian crisis during talks at Turnberry golf resort in Scotland

US president on visit to Scotland repeats he is very disappointed' with Vladimir Putin and increases pressure for peace dealReactions from Europe's largest economy over the Trump tariff deal hatched in Turnberry, Scotland at the weekend, have inevitably been mixed, with some breathing a sigh of relief that there is finally a concrete figure to work with, but others exasperated, and warning that with such an unpredictable US president, it would be foolhardy to see the figure agreed upon as set in stone.MPs from Ursula von der Leyen's own political heimat, the CDU, as well as leading German economists have reacted with disappointment and urged caution. Continue reading...

Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf say they would find other ways to protect children online but admit they don't know howReform UK has promised to repeal the Online Safety Act, arguing that measures intended to push social media companies to limit false and potentially harmful content would instead make the UK a borderline dystopian state".At a press conference in Westminster billed as discussing crime, Nigel Farage and his close aide Zia Yusuf instead spent much of the time discussing the act, which came into force last week, and particularly its approach towards social media. Continue reading...

Police say Paul Gallagher also faces charges including sexual assault, intentional strangulation and threat to killThe older brother of Oasis's Noel and Liam Gallagher has been charged with rape and other sexual offences, Scotland Yard has said.Paul Gallagher, 59, has been charged with rape, coercive and controlling behaviour, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of making a threat to kill and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

UN says vast amounts of aid' needed to prevent catastrophic health crisis in GazaAt least 43 Palestinian people have been killed across Gaza since dawn, including nine people seeking aid, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing hospital sources.More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to get aid, most of them near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation food distribution sites, during its two months in Gaza, the UN says. Continue reading...

Payment platforms demand services remove NSFW content after open letter from Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout, triggering accusations of censorship

Exclusive: Federation head says in response that former SBS newsreader's attempt to strike out case is without foundation and should be rejected'

NSW Labor MP Anthony D'Adam rejects premier's claim march would cause chaos and says it should take place in two to three weeks'Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has said a pro-Palestine protest involving a march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be a powerful symbol" and should go ahead at some point if the community sentiment is significant enough".A New South Wales Labor MP has also rejected the premier's claim a march across the bridge would cause chaos and urged police to facilitate the demonstration within two to three weeks". Continue reading...

One insurer spent $85,000 of public money to fight $5,000 knee surgery claim, says Unions NSW

CPI figures released on Wednesday will determine whether millions of mortgaged Australians will get a rate cut next month, economists say

More than 50 flights axed and 20 delayed as Silent Crow hacking group apparently claims responsibility

Man housed at hotel targeted in protests writes letter urging people not to resort to harmful stereotypesAsylum seekers housed in an Essex hotel that has been the target of protests and far-right incitement for two weeks have told the Guardian how the Bell hotel, where they had previously felt safe, has been transformed since demonstrations began.In a letter sent to the Guardian one of the men living in the hotel, Nabil, who said he had previously been attacked while out walking, called to be treated with understanding and fairness" and for people not to resort to harmful stereotypes. Nabil's name has been changed.Warm greetings,

Refreshing northerly airmass to bring abrupt end to extreme heat, offering respite for residents and firefightersAfter enduring a relentless stretch of searing temperatures, relief is finally in sight for south-east Europe. The Balkans, which have been scorched by a brutal heatwave over recent weeks, have seen daily maximum temperatures soar, culminating in a peak on Saturday with widespread temperatures of 40C (104F) and above across Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and neighbouring regions.Turkey also suffered, with a scorching 50.5C (122.9F) recorded in Silopi on Friday, the country's all-time highest maximum temperature. Now these places are set to experience a dramatic cooldown as a refreshing northerly airmass is moving in, bringing an abrupt end to the extreme heat and offering much-needed respite. Continue reading...

Labor MP Basem Abdo urges government to make historic commitment' to international law and human rights in his first speech to parliament

Senate votes to establish inquiry after aged care minister rejects calls to bring forward additional 20,000 home care packages

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Major parties mulling options ahead of state parliament returning next week. Ward, the MP for Kiama, has yet to reveal if he will appeal Friday's verdicts

Samuel Rowe, who was returning from allotment, seeking to overturn caution for possession of offensive weaponA man who had returned home from his allotment with a trug of vegetables and gardening tools strapped to his belt was arrested by armed police, after a member of the public said they had seen a man wearing khaki clothing and in possession of a knife".Samuel Rowe, 35, who works as a technical manager at a theatre, had come back from his allotment in Manchester earlier this month and decided to trim his hedge with one of his tools, a Japanese garden sickle, when police turned up on his doorstep. Continue reading...

Analysis finds swift release of information helps to debunk inflammatory falsehoods on social mediaDebunking" efforts involving police forces, community leaders and local councillors should be deployed to counter misinformation in the wake of serious incidents such as the Southport murders, according to a new analysis.Trust in the UK government and law enforcement is so low that attempts to curb online falsehoods need to be backed up by other sources, said experts at the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security (Cetas). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lobbyists meet with ministers, and host a darts night with Labour advisers and MPs' staffGambling lobbyists are staging a summer charm offensive designed to stop ministers from raising taxes on the sector, the Guardian has learned, including meeting with Treasury insiders and hosting a darts evening with Labour special advisers and MPs' staff.The Treasury is considering whether to simplify the various rates of duty applied to gambling products, a measure that the 11.5bn-a-year sector fears would increase its overall tax bill. Continue reading...

Sydney-based activists Palestine Action Group argue the bridge should be temporarily closed to help stop a genocide' in Gaza

Joe Outlaw, who climbed on to a prison roof, is using the mental toll of indeterminate detention as a legal defenceThe trial of an alleged escapee who spent hours on the roof of a high-security prison in his underpants is set to be the first time the stress caused by indeterminate sentences can be used as a legal defence.Joe Outlaw is due to stand trial on Monday for climbing on to the roof of HMP Frankland in Durham in June 2023 in protest at the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence he and others are serving. Continue reading...

Judith Collins also said the controversial electoral law reform could disenfranchise MoriNew Zealand's prime minister Christopher Luxon has defended his government's plans to overhaul its electoral laws, despite warnings from his own attorney general the changes could breach human rights law and disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters.The right-wing government last week announced its plan to shake up electoral laws it said were outdated and unsustainable", including closing voter enrolment 13 days before election day, reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting and prohibiting anyone from providing free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting station. Continue reading...

The celebrity croc wrangler was charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice after 2022 crashThe Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice more than three years after a fatal helicopter crash.The celebrity crocodile wrangler was charged after the crash that killed his co-star Chris Willow" Wilson in February 2022. Continue reading...

The Guardian's south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, and the Tibet activist Lhadon Tethong discuss the battle between Buddhist monks and the Chinese state over the successor to the Dalai LamaBefore long, Tibetan Buddhism will enter an unknown world - one without its current Dalai Lama. He has been the leader since he was chosen as a toddler more than 80 years ago. But the Dalai Lama is now 90, and talking openly about the process to pick his successor.Much has changed, however, since he was discovered by senior Buddhist monks in a village in north-west Tibet in 1937. Most pertinently, the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s and the subsequent exile of the region's Buddhist leadership to India in the decades since. Continue reading...

The Moscow-Pyongyang flights operated by Russia's Nordwind Airlines will initially operate only once a monthDirect flights from Moscow to North Korea have begun this week, amid a strengthening of ties between the two nations and a decline in options for Russian tourists travelling abroad.The first Moscow-Pyongyang flight, operated by Russia's Nordwind Airlines, took off on Sunday, according to the Sheremetyevo airport's website, and landed in the North Korean capital about eight hours later. Continue reading...

Prime ministers of two countries to attend talks in Malaysia on Monday, following Trump threat on Saturday to pause trade deals unless fighting stoppedDonald Trump has said he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting.On Monday, Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister's office said on Sunday. The deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day, has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 218,000. Continue reading...

A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60sTom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America's favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported on Sunday. He was 97.The singer-songwriter died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to the New York Times. Continue reading...

Lords doing bidding of bad bosses', says TUC, amid growing campaign by business leaders to water down Labour's plansConservative and Liberal Democrat peers have been accused of trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers amid a growing campaign by business leaders to water down Labour's zero-hours contract plans.In a blow for the government, the Lords last week voted to curtail the manifesto promise to give workers a right to a guaranteed hours contract and day-one protections against unfair dismissal. Continue reading...