The Guardian

Many people now feel trapped despite major provider’s guidance that mortgage, rent and service charges should not exceed 40% of take-home payResidents who bought shared-ownership properties promoted as “affordable homes” say they now feel trapped because they have to spend more than half of their net salaries on mortgage repayments, rent and service charges.Campaigners say residents have become the victims of financial abuse after buying properties promoted as a step on the property ladder, only to be told of dramatic increases in service charges. Some residents face annual charges of more than £5,000 a year. Continue reading... Source link :

UN says there is no military solution to conflict; Hezbollah launches widespread attacks across northern Israel on SundayIsrael’s military said on Sunday that it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” launched from the east, and that no damage or injuries were reported.Earlier, an official in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of Iranian-backed militias that oppose US support for Israel in the war on Gaza, said they launched cruise missile and explosive drone attacks at Israel. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/sep/22/middle-east-crisis-live-hezbollah-israel-lebanon-gaza-latest-news-updates Author : Yohannes Lowe Publish date : 2024-09-22 08:34:35 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

Labour conference opens as PM sees approval ratings plunge amid warnings on economy and controversy over freebies and Sue GrayHere are national newspaper front pages featuring the Labour conference.The Observer and the Sunday Mirror splash on what Keir Starmer has told them in interviews. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/sep/22/keir-starmer-angela-rayner-labour-party-conference-latest-live-news Author : Andrew Sparrow Publish date : 2024-09-22 07:38:26 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Perry Kouroumblis, 65, was arrested at Rome airport and held for the alleged murders of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan BartlettGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe brother of a man accused of the 1977 Easey Street killings in Melbourne says he is “100% sure” that there has been a mistake and his brother is innocent of the double murder.Perry Kouroumblis, 65, was arrested at Rome airport on Thursday Australian time and held for the murders of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett. Police plan to apply to Italy for extradition for the man to face charges in

The former top civil servant at the Department for International Development has warned a lack of oversight in spending echoes corrupt contracts awarded during CovidThe billions of pounds spent on housing asylum seekers is ripe for the kind of “scam and scandal” that emerged in the contracts awarded during the Covid pandemic, the Observer has been told.A crippling collapse of the systems and expertise monitoring the use of Britain’s aid budget over several years means that there has been a dangerous lack of oversight of the £4.3bn spent annually on asylum seekers in the UK, according to a damning assessment

US president is recorded on hot mic singling out Beijing, saying it ‘continues to behave aggressively’ in areas including the South China SeaJoe Biden has been recorded on a hot mic telling the leaders of Australia, India and Japan that an aggressive China is “testing us”, in remarks at a Quad summit that risked undercutting the group’s declaration that carefully avoided referring to Beijing by name.The comments came as Biden opened a farewell summit in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware, with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. Continue reading...

Sister of headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself last year, joins call for ‘complete reset’ of schools inspectorateEducation unions are to warn that Ofsted cannot be trusted to reform itself, as headteachers ­continue to report that school inspections are leaving their staff feeling distressed.Prof Julia Waters, sister of the Reading headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself last year after an inspection downgraded her school from outstanding to inadequate, will call on the government to make deeper reforms of the inspectorate at the Labour party conference on Sunday. While welcoming the government’s recent confirmation that Ofsted’s single-word judgments will be scrapped,

Despite cementing control, the EU commission’s president faces a daunting second term amid the rise of the far rightUrsula von der Leyen was leaving nothing to chance. At a private meeting with members of the European parliament in Strasbourg last Tuesday, she chose not to reveal who would get what job in her incoming European Commission, due to take office at the end of the year.Then immediately afterwards, during a brisk 21-minute press conference, she announced every single name, leaving MEPs fuming. “That’s not how it should be done,” said one. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/von-der-leyen-tightens-grip-on-power-in-eu-but-trouble-looms-on-the-horizon Author : Jennifer

‘It will cost more, it will push prices up, it will take longer,’ treasurer says of opposition leader’s ‘fantasy’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCoalition plans to build seven nuclear power plants are “economic insanity”, Jim Chalmers has said, in the lead-up to a speech by Peter Dutton that is expected to provide new details of the policy.The federal opposition has outlined plans to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should it win the next election, with the first to be built by 2035 to 2037 at

Qatari broadcaster says it has been ordered to close office in Ramallah for 45 days, months after being banned from operating inside IsraelSee all our Middle East coverageIsraeli forces raided the office of Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order, the Qatari broadcaster said, with footage showing heavily armed and masked troops entering the premises in Ramallah.“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live. “I

Federal health minister also calls for prosecution of shopkeepers caught illegally selling vapesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal health minister, Mark Butler, says he is “astounded” that medical students can spend as little as one hour learning about menopause and has signalled that the government is likely to take action after a damning parliamentary inquiry.On Sunday Butler told the ABC’s Insiders that several inquiries had told a “shameful story” about women’s treatment in Australia’s health system, saying there was more to do after Labor’s “modest investments”

New cabinet likely to face immediate no-confidence motion from leftwing bloc sidelined by presidentThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has named a new government led by the prime minister, Michel Barnier, marked by a shift to the right 11 weeks after an inconclusive parliamentary election.The first major task for Barnier, appointed just more than two weeks ago, will be to submit a 2025 budget plan addressing France’s financial situation, which the prime minister this week called “very serious”. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/21/macron-names-french-government-to-be-led-by-michel-barnier Author : Agence France-Presse in Paris Publish date : 2024-09-21 20:56:12 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to

Take Home Naloxone program, which allows access without a prescription, sees rise in use after multiple reports of people who unknowingly used laced drugs and diedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDemand for a life-saving opioid overdose drug has doubled in one year as a “whole new cohort” of stimulant and hallucinogenic users, fearful of taking lethally laced narcotics, have rushed to get the medication.Prior to a recent spike in overdose deaths, regular users of illicit opioids were the predominant users of naloxone, which can rapidly reverse an

Israeli military says its jets targeted hundreds of Hezbollah sites on Saturday, while Hezbollah says it launched dozens of missiles at an airbase in northern IsraelSee all our Middle East coverageThe Israeli military says it has launched airstrikes on hundreds of targets in southern Lebanon, as Hezbollah launched its deepest rocket attacks into Israel since the start of the Gaza war, fuelling fears of a wider conflict.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday night it launched two wave of attacks – one attacking about 290 targets, and a second targeting 110 sites – across southern Lebanon as sirens warning

Labour wants to see apartment blocks built in more densely populated cities to achieve its housing targetsA radical scheme to speed up the building of more apartment blocks in towns and cities – as opposed to individual houses and bungalows – has been announced by the prime minister on the eve of the Labour party conference.Keir Starmer told the Observer in an exclusive interview that the new system of “planning passports” would be a “game-changer” as the government strives to build 1.5m new homes within five years. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/21/planning-passports-that-automatically-approve-high-quality-new-homes-will-be-a-game-changer-says-keir-starmer Author : Toby Helm Political Editor Publish

PM met with Quad leaders in Delaware after attending a one-on-one with Joe Biden at his personal home. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has used his opening address at the Quad summit in Delaware in the US to reaffirm Australia’s commitment to the regional grouping, describing it as a “key instrument to promote stability in our region” and saying that “a stronger Quad means a stronger Australia”.Together, our four nations are committed to an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and we have a shared vision for a region that is

In ceremony in Kake, military acknowledges bombardment of village that destroyed it and led to many deaths In a ceremony Saturday afternoon, the US navy apologized for firing upon and torching the Alaska Native village of Kake in 1869.Surrounded by tribal Chilkat weavings, historic photographs and other Lingít artwork in the Kake elementary and high school gymnasium, R Adm Mark B Sucato expressed the military’s regret, in the first of two apologies planned by the military for bombardments of Alaska Native communities in the late 1800s. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/21/us-navy-to-apologize-for-razing-of-native-alaska-community-in-late-1800s Author : Cecilia Nowell Publish date : 2024-09-21

Phillippa Kaufmann KC, who helped black cab rapist’s victims sue the Metropolitan police, is helping examine whether the force should have done more to bring Harrods boss to justiceThe lawyer who helped victims sue the Metropolitan Police for failing to investigate John Worboys, the black cab rapist, is working with women allegedly attacked by Mohamed Al Fayed.Phillippa Kaufmann KC has joined the legal team examining whether police had a duty to do more to bring Fayed to justice when allegations were made against him. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/21/warboys-lawyer-joins-team-working-for-alleged-fayed-victims Author : James Tapper Publish date : 2024-09-21 21:35:08 Copyright

Thirty-two-year-old in custody after attack on man, 25, on Stapleton Road in the east of the cityA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a 25-year-old man in Bristol, police have said.Avon and Somerset police arrested a 32-year-old man in the Eastville area of the city at about 5.45pm on Saturday. He remains in custody. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/21/man-dies-in-east-bristol-after-stabbing-police-report Author : Nadeem Badshah and agency Publish date : 2024-09-21 21:09:16 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Australian Study of Health and Relationship study finds 3.9% of women aged 16-69 had experienced contraceptive interference and 4.9% forced abortionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne in 20 Australian adults have experienced reproductive coercion and abuse.That is among the findings of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships, released this week, the first time researchers in Australia have estimated the national prevalence of behaviour used to control a person’s reproductive autonomy.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/22/one-in-20-australian-adults-found-to-have-suffered-reproductive-coercion-and-abuse Author : Natasha May Publish date : 2024-09-21 20:00:49 Copyright for

Exclusive: Independent MPs and Lidia Thorpe tell PM that environment law reforms under negotiation must remove exemptions for native forest loggingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIndependent MPs and a crossbench senator are trying to increase the pressure on the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to remove Howard-era exemptions that allow native forest logging to operate outside national environment laws.The government has been negotiating over reforms to the laws in the Senate, where Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have been pushing for an end to the exemptions for logging covered by regional forest agreements.Sign

Meliesha Jones sacked by Vale Curtains and Blinds after replying ‘he’s a twat’ to customer complaintA worker who was sacked after calling a customer “a twat” in an email she mistakenly sent to him has won more than £5,000 in an unfair dismissal claim.Meliesha Jones, who had been a part-time administrator at Vale Curtains and Blinds since 2021, was dealing with a customer complaint with a colleague when she hit the wrong button. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/sep/21/worker-who-mistakenly-sent-abuse-to-customer-wins-unfair-dismissal-claim Author : Nadeem Badshah Publish date : 2024-09-21 19:11:16 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

The former Conservative justice secretary is on a shortlist to lead a policy review that could herald radical reforms Keir Starmer is considering appointing former Tory justice secretary David Gauke to head a review into sentencing policy in a move that could signal a radical change in approach towards short prison sentences.Government sources confirmed on Saturday night that Gauke was a “strong contender”, despite being a member of the Conservative party, and that he was on a shortlist of names that also included former Labour home secretary David Blunkett. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/21/starmer-eyes-ex-tory-minister-david-gauke-for-sentencing-review-role Author : Toby Helm, Political

Widow and sons of Alistair Wilson speak to media after trust in officers’ ability to identify shooter ‘eroded’The family of a banker who was shot on his doorstep say they have lost confidence in Police Scotland as his murder remains unsolved almost 20 years on.Relatives of Alistair Wilson labelled the police “incompetent” and said they had lost trust in their ability to secure justice. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/21/family-of-banker-alistair-wilson-murdered-20-years-ago-rebuke-incompetent-police-scotland Author : PA Media Publish date : 2024-09-21 17:57:45 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

The last time the Israeli PM spoke at the UN, he was touting his vision of a new Middle East. Now he is on the brink of catastropheOne year ago, Benjamin Netanyahu came to the UN with a vision of a “new Middle East” anchored by Israel’s growing ties with its Arab partners in the region. Now he is on the brink of launching a major escalation against Hezbollah, ignoring calls for restraint from his allies over the Gaza war and defying criticism that he is prevaricating in negotiations over a temporary ceasefire.The Israeli PM remains scheduled to speak on