The Guardian

In today’s newsletter: They spent weeks bracing the country for ‘tough decisions’, but in Labour’s first budget in 14 years, the chancellor adopted a slightly more optimistic tone• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It was Labour’s first budget in 14 years; it was the first budget ever to be delivered by a female chancellor; and, as a share of GDP, it takes taxes to their highest level since comparable records began. As heavily trailed as Rachel Reeves’s appearance at the dispatch box yesterday was, it was still a monumental political moment, and one that is

Once-in-a-generation summit set to commence in Griffith on 1 November amid concern over transparency and questions over commitment to meaningful changeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNew South Wales Labor has been accused of trying to minimise the impact of a once-in-a-generation drug reform summit amid last-minute changes and concern from experts over transparency.The long-promised NSW drug summit begins on Friday in the regional city of Griffith before hearings in Lismore and Sydney.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/31/nsw-labor-drugs-summit-griffith-complaints Author :

The 18-year-old male was found guilty of burglary and assault occasioning bodily harm by a Queensland judgeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA teenager who broke into the home of Emma Lovell, alongside another teen who stabbed her to death, has been found not guilty of murder in a case that shocked Queensland in December 2022.The 18-year-old – who cannot be named for legal reasons as he was 17 on the night Lovell was killed – was found guilty of burglary and assault occasioning bodily harm in a

Dave Rowntree speaks out about his ex-wife’s choice to take her life at Dignitas in SwitzerlandThe Blur drummer, Dave Rowntree, has attacked the UK law on assisted dying as “psychopathic” as he spoke out for the first time about the choice of his terminally ill ex-wife to take her own life at Dignitas in Switzerland.Rowntree said that the choice facing dying people who are facing extreme suffering was “brutal” and the criminalisation of assisted dying made him “bloody angry” as he called for a change in the law to allow adults with months to live to be allowed help to

Jo Wright, 64, tells AGM she is subject to an unfair rostering system at supermarket giant and not remunerated properly for her experienceFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Woolworths employee has confronted the supermarket’s board over the huge disparity between her $26 hourly rate, which she describes as “not a living wage”, and the high salaries of executives.Jo Wright, who works on the supermarket floor in a New South Wales southern highlands store, told the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday she was subject to an unfair

The North’s test of a missile that is theoretically capable of striking the US mainland comes amid warnings over its troops’ presence in UkraineNorth Korea has test launched a long-range missile that is theoretically capable of striking the US mainland, in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing warnings over its troops’ participation in the war in Ukraine.US officials said they believed the launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested

Artists including Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons join VP at rally briefly interrupted by Gaza protestersKamala Harris warned a crowd that time was running out at a get-out-the-vote event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, joined by a lineup of folk and pop musicians including Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons.“We have six days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime,” the vice-president and Democratic nominee told the crowd, denouncing Donald Trump and issuing a dire warning about the consequences of a second Trump presidency.Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our

Regulator alleges in court case one person living with a disability was sold a phone, a contract, an internet plan and accessories despite not wanting most of itFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOptus sold hundreds of vulnerable consumers – including many First Nations customers – phones and plans they could not afford as well as overpriced accessories, the Australian consumer watchdog has alleged in a federal court case launched on Thursday.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged the telco had engaged in unconscionable conduct, in contravention of

Mike Davey remembers ‘beautiful son’, as one child injured in Auburn South primary school tragedy leaves hospitalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe father of an 11-year-old boy killed in a school crash says he cannot comprehend life without his “beautiful son”, as another child injured in the incident leaves hospital.Grade five student Jack Davey died after a car ploughed through a fence and into a school yard on Tuesday afternoon, hitting a group of Auburn South primary school students sitting at a table. Continue reading... Source link

Prime minister’s office says it took six days to respond clearly because they had to check decades of communications between Albanese and airlineAnthony Albanese has denied contacting – in any way – the former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce or any other airline staff to seek flight upgrades.The prime minister’s office on Thursday confirmed Albanese did not contact Joyce by phone, email, text message or any other direct means, and also did not directly contact Qantas government relations executive Andrew Parker, as has been alleged in other media reports, or any other airline staff to seek an upgrade. Continue reading...

Vice-president continues to make closing argument to voters, reminding Americans of two different futures for USKamala Harris continued to make her closing argument to voters just six days before voting ends, reminding Americans in what is perhaps the most critical battleground state that two very different futures for the United States could be around the corner.“We know who Donald Trump is. This is someone who is not thinking about how to make your life better,” she said in remarks that lasted about half an hour to a packed crowd at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Continue reading... Source link :

Xu is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his familyConcerns are growing about the health of Xu Zhiyong, China’s most prominent imprisoned human rights lawyer, who is thought to have been on hunger strike for nearly a month.Xu, a scholar and leading figure in China’s embattled civil rights movement, started his hunger strike on 4 October, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an NGO. He is protesting against what he describes as inhumane treatment in prison, including lack of contact with his family and intensive surveillance by other prisoners, according to

WHO food scientist says relying on voluntary measures to reduce salt in the country’s food supply is not enoughGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s voluntary food formulation guidelines are inadequate at preventing diet-related diseases such as heart attack and stroke, a World Health Organization food scientist has said.Dr Luz Maria De Regil made the comments off the back of a study published in the journal The Lancet Public Health on Thursday, which found making Australian Health Food Partnership sodium limits compulsory could prevent more than 12,700 heart disease cases, 9,400 kidney disease cases and

Unnamed victim, who lived in Málaga, died from cardiac arrests and hypothermia, and is one of more than 95 deathsTorrential rain brings deadly flooding to Spain – in picturesA 71-year-old British man has died after he was rescued from the floods in Spain, a local government leader has said.He died hours after being rescued from his home on the outskirts of Alhaurin de la Torre, Málaga, the president of the Andalusian government said on Wednesday. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/30/british-man-71-dies-after-being-rescued-from-floods-in-spain Author : PA Media Publish date : 2024-10-30 22:18:49 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Company beats financial predictions but does not increase daily users as much as Wall Street thought it mightMeta’s blowout year continues after the company reported another stellar financial quarter on Wednesday. Shares fell in after-hours trading.Wall Street analysts had high expectations for the Instagram and WhatsApp parent company, projecting an 18% jump in sales year over year. The company reported $40.6bn in sales, a 19% increase year over year that outpaced investor expectations of $40.19bn. Meta, which saw a 25% jump in its share price over the past two months, reported $6.03 in earnings per share (EPS), surpassing Wall Street’s

Output from gas plants up 29% on average from a year earlier, Aemo says, even though price was up by a fifth over same periodFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGreenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s main electricity grid increased for a third quarter in a row as higher power demand drove more use of black coal and gas plants, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.For the September quarter alone, emissions from the national electricity market (Nem) that serves the eastern states and South Australia rose 2% from a

Under proposal, Greens would remove cap of 10 subsidised mental health sessions a year after it was halved from 20 in late 2022. Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastUp to 55% of schools and childcare centres are unsafely close to main roads in some Australian suburbs, exposing children to deadly car pollution, according to a new report.A Climate Council report, released today, finds that about one in six schools and childcare centres across our capital cities are located within 100 metres of a busy road. That equates to more than 2,300

Lloyd Austin said deployment near Ukraine border was dangerous and destabilising developmentNorth Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who described the deployment as a dangerous and destabilising development.Austin was speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with the South Korean defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 11,000 troops to Russia. The US and South Korea said some of the North Korean troops are heading to Kursk, on the border with

Rachel Reeves has finally laid out Labour’s spending plans in the party’s first budget in almost 15 years. The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by political editor Pippa Crerar and political correspondent Kiran Stacey to discuss the fallout Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/audio/2024/oct/30/budget-2022-rachel-reeves-labour-politics-weekly-uk-podcast Author : Presented by John Harris with Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey, produced by Frankie Tobi, music by Axel Kacoutié; the executive producers are Maz Ebtehaj and Nicole Jackson Publish date : 2024-10-30 19:29:48 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

The roughly £9bn unveiled in budget expected to disappear rapidly due to rising costs and years of underinvestmentSchools in England are to get a multibillion-pound injection of funding, with extra money for children with special educational needs, but experts have said it will be rapidly swallowed up by rising costs and much more will be needed after years of underinvestment.Among a raft of measures designed to show the government’s commitment to education, the chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced £6.7bn in capital investment for next year, which she said was a 19% real-terms increase on this year’s settlement. Continue

Secretary general’s comments come at time of mounting civilian casualties, including children, in mass Israeli strikes on northern GazaMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe UN secretary general, António Guterres has warned Israel could carry out the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza if the international community does not make a determined stand to prevent it.Guterres made his appeal at a time of mounting civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza. A strike on Tuesday in Beit Lahiya district left at least 93 dead, in what the UN said was just one of at least seven “mass casualty incidents” across Gaza

Knocked-over bag led to unintended use of drug to counter nerve agents, which may have saved former Russian spy’s lifeA paramedic has described the extraordinary moment he knocked over a drugs bag as he treated the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and then by chance gave him a nerve agent antidote that may have saved his life.Emergency services workers who went to help Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, initially suspected they may have been experiencing the effects of a recreational drugs overdose. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/30/paramedic-gave-sergei-skripal-novichok-antidote-by-chance-inquiry-hears Author : Steven

The fuel duty freeze led to ire, but there were boosts for renewable energy investment and heat decarbonisationSo how did Rachel Reeves’ ambition to be the “green chancellor” survive contact with battle in the budget? Reactions are, honestly, mixed.The decision to freeze fuel duty and keep the 5p cut made by the Conservatives in 2022 is attracting some fury, not least because the tax relief is estimated to have raised UK greenhouse gas emissions by 7% since 2010. Reeves has been accused of doing “completely the wrong thing” for climate by making this decision at the same time as raising

Admission made at meeting chaired by Andy Burnham in which rail operator is asked to account for poor performanceThe rail operator Northern has said it still uses fax machines to communicate vital messages to train crews.The train company made the admission at an extraordinary meeting of the Rail North Committee, chaired by the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, on Wednesday morning, at which Northern was asked to account for its poor performance, including repeated “do not travel” messages issued to passengers on Sundays. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/30/northern-uses-fax-machines-send-messages-train-crews Author : Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent Publish date

Clip of Russian and Ukrainian flags with angry face and heart emojis accused of ‘discrediting’ armyPolice in Russian-annexed Crimea have charged a woman with child neglect after her 10-year-old daughter allegedly posted a video online that “discredited” the Russian army, authorities said on Wednesday.The video, shared on Russian Telegram channels, showed a girl choosing between Russian and Ukrainian flags, with an angry-face emoji next to the Russian flag and a heart emoji next to the Ukrainian one. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/30/russian-police-charge-woman-crimea-daughters-pro-ukraine-video Author : Agence France-Presse Publish date : 2024-10-30 15:27:42 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked