The Guardian

Shadow justice secretary says despite U-turn Labour are still ‘restricting juries by the back door’, as Conservative conference begins in Birmingham Good morning. Anthony Seldon recently published the latest in his long and invaluable series of inside stories of premierships, Sunak at 10 , and he gave it the subtitle “The last Conservative prime minister?” When the book was being planned in the e…

FOI request shows wildfire risk scheme scrapped, as survey highlights many fire services lack proper protective gear The government quietly scrapped plans to prepare the countryside in England for wildfires, it has been revealed. This was despite new data showing fire crews do not have the proper protective gear to tackle them. This summer has been a potent reminder of the scale of the threat pos…

Exclusive: Clare Matterson, the head of the Royal Horticultural Society, talks about the charity’s £2.3m roadworks compensation, community gardening and her high hopes for Andy Burnham The government has awarded £2.3m in compensation to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) after roadworks affecting its premier garden in Wisley caused a “three-year traffic jam”. The horticulture charity estimated…

The mood is better but ‘overhyped’, says one Conservative MP as party remains a distant third in polls The forthcoming Conservative conference will be, almost everyone in the party agrees, notably more upbeat and unified than last year. There is a similar consensus that Kemi Badenoch is doing well as party leader. That is, however, not the whole story. “The mood is better but the facts are still …

Those who have stepped in to keep young family members from going into care in England and Wales say the decision has brought them joy and hardship Clive vividly remembers the day when, without warning or time to work out what he was really letting himself in for, he became a kinship carer. “The social worker left, the door closed and Savannah was lying there in a carry cot, wrapped up in a pink …

Britain under pressure to put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicle imports ahead of protectionist trade measures Britain’s car industry is grappling with a “difficult trade-off” between China and Europe, as manufacturers struggle to balance the benefits of both markets ahead of looming trade measures that could restrict UK exports to the EU. The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on…

‘AbortOmat’ in Warsaw offers novel way to challenge country’s restrictions and allow women swift, anonymous access They call it the “world’s first parcel locker for abortion pills”. Polish campaigners have launched a new means of distribution as part of their ongoing effort to skirt the country’s near-total ban on abortion. Painted pink and framed by zebra-striped curtains, the 22-compartment “Ab…

Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe, 18, appears in court on dangerous driving offences after car struck Knights supporters lining streets to farewell their team Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A driver whose car careered into a crowd of Newcastle Knights supporters – leaving children as young as five injured – will be kept in custody as the community rallies to support thos…

Treasurer says ‘very substantial and intensifying pressure’ on federal budget as he points finger at private sector for driving up inflation amid Middle East conflict Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast Jim Chalmers has warned of “very substantial and intensifying” economic pressures on the horizon but insists he’s not planning for a recession, as he prepares to find new …

Police confirm investigation into period the man reportedly spent in Australia before alleged attempted terrorist attack Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australian security agencies have launched an investigation after it emerged that the flydubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack an Israel-bound flight spent about two years in the country as a student. Disaster …

President appeared to share phone number of Tom Cotton for people to call to push him to support measure Donald Trump on Saturday put pressure on the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of his fellow Republican and the chair of the Senate intelligence committee. The S…

Frank Strada leaving position as state launches independent investigation into what went wrong Tennessee’s top prison official is stepping down in the aftermath of the failed execution of death row prisoner Christa Pike , the state’s governor Bill Lee announced Saturday. Frank Strada, the department of correction commissioner, will leave his position later in October as the state launches an inde…

The plane was undertaking a medical evacuation from Bermuda with six people onboard when it lost contact The US Coast Guard is searching for an air ambulance jet with six people onboard that lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during a flight from Bermuda to Boston early on Saturday morning. In a statement to the Guardian, an FAA spokesperson said that the agency issued a …

Roger Fortson was shot by deputy when he opened door with gun in hand after a false domestic disturbance call A Florida jury recently found former sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the fatal shooting of Roger Fortson, a Black US air force airman who was killed inside his apartment after authorities responded to an unfounded report of a domestic disturbance.…

Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang died after apparently ingesting kratom product last month Federal authorities investigating the recent deaths of two University of Mississippi students have charged a store clerk and his son with selling an illegal kratom product, prosecutors announced on Friday. A drug taskforce in Mississippi had previously urged people to avoid kratom, an herbal substance that …