General news

• Greece wildfire declared largest ever recorded in EU

  29-08-2023 16:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Eleven planes and helicopter from bloc sent to tackle fire that has burned more than 300 sq miles of landA forest blaze in Greece is the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesperson has said.Eleven planes and a helicopter from the EU fleet have been sent to help extinguish the fire north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters, Balazs Ujvari said on Tuesday. Continue r
  
  Read more

• China continues coal spree despite climate goals

  29-08-2023 12:04 via theguardian.com
  
  World’s biggest carbon emitter approving equivalent of two new coal plants a week, analysis showsChina is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets.The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, promised to stop building coal powered plants abroad. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• After two climate-decimated harvests, southern peach farmers wonder how to regroup

  29-08-2023 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Warmer winters, late freezes and wildly variable rainfall have formed a perfect storm to wreck the one of the region’s favorite fruitsFarming is inherently risky, a profession that always involves an expectation of loss and damage. But among many farmers, peaches are considered an unpredictable crop, with high risks and high rewards.“Farming peaches is like gambling in a casino,” said 44-year-old Robert Jackson II, of Lyman, South Carolina. The fruit bruises easily and is vulne
  
  Read more

• Price rises in shops at lowest for nearly a year

  29-08-2023 08:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The retail trade body, British Retail Consortium, says price rises are slowing but remain high.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Air traffic control: UK flight chaos to continue for days after fault

  29-08-2023 08:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Delays and cancellations continue after a nightmare Bank Holiday Monday for thousands of holidaymakers.
  
  Read more

• Sara Sharif: Pakistan police widen search for family

  29-08-2023 08:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sara Sharif was found dead at her home in Woking the day after her family flew to Pakistan.
  
  Read more

• Liverpool couple's flood deaths a terrible loss, says rabbi

  29-08-2023 08:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The loss of Elaine and Philip Marco will leave a mark on the whole community, says a local rabbi.
  
  Read more

• Russia-Ukraine war live: drones downed in Tula and Belgorod, says Moscow; US says Russia intimidating consulate staff

  29-08-2023 08:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Russian defence ministry did not indicate whether drone attacks caused damage; former US consulate worker charged with spying over Ukraine warRussia-Ukraine war at a glanceHello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until 3pm (UK time). Please do feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.AFP: Russian President Vladimir Putin will skip the G20 summit in India next month and will send his foreign minister instead, prime minister Narendra Modi’s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Runs in the family: racing around the coast of Sweden

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Three days running and hiking on the stunning Bohuslän coast with my pre-teen son is joyfully exhausting
  At the top of a steep path through a birch forest in western Sweden a middle-aged woman calls out “Välkommen!” with such warmth it’s as if we’re long-lost relatives being welcomed. We’re extremely happy to see her, too, and her trays of torn-up cinnamon buns, gherkins and crisps, the Swedish take on a pit-stop, which will power us on to the next feed st
  
  Read more

• Refugee wins last-minute extradition reprieve after trying to return from holiday

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Russian man, who claimed asylum in UK, was arrested at Palermo airport and told he would be sent back to country of originA refugee who was threatened with extradition when he tried to return to Britain after holidaying in Italy has won a last-minute reprieve.The Russian man, who has refugee status in the UK, was threatened with extradition to his home country when he tried to return at the end of a week’s holiday in Palermo. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• My mother is in a care home but a mobile firm is pursuing her for a debt

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  She had not used her phone for years, and we have tried to end her old rolling contract since JanuaryMy mother has Alzheimer’s and has gone into a care home but I am struggling to cancel her old mobile phone contract, and we are now being chased by a debt recovery company.She had a rolling contract with iD Mobile for £5 a month but had not used it for a long time. The last message I received was in 2018. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Money down the drain: scandal of Kenya’s failed dams reveals a country drowning in debt

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Kenya came out of the 2008 financial crisis in fine shape. Today, it is mired in ‘shocking corruption and debt dependency’. The tale of two ill-fated infrastructure projects explains whyTwo major dam projects in east Africa have cost the Kenyan government £80m despite having never been built, it has been revealed.The insurance bill was for the Arror and Kimwarer dams, planned to bring power and water to half a million people. An Italian construction firm was commissioned. Trees
  
  Read more

• ‘Like an alien world’: the banks of the River Thames and beyond – in pictures

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Josh Edgoose spent a decade documenting the community around his home in south-west London – from kerbside canoeists to train-riding Dalmatians Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘Be flexible, imaginative and brave’: experts give career advice for an AI world

  29-08-2023 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Artificial intelligence is on track to shake up work. So what should the next generation of workers be trying to pursue?Teenagers deciding their future this year have a lot to contend with. In England, those who sat their A-levels suffered the biggest results drop on record while the top grades in GCSEs also fell. And now they face the question: will the career I choose to pursue even exist by the time I enter the workforce?Artificial intelligence has hit the mainstream with the popularity of ge
  
  Read more

• Notting Hill Carnival: Eight injured in stabbings

  29-08-2023 07:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Metropolitan Police said there were 275 arrests across the Notting Hill Carnival's two days.
  
  Read more

• Coal tip repairs threaten rare wildlife, ecologists warn

  29-08-2023 07:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Work to remove or make old coal tips safe could be "devastating" for important wildlife, experts say.
  
  Read more

• The Idol cancelled: funniest climax for world’s least sexy show

  29-08-2023 07:34 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘We’re pleased by the strong audience response,’ says HBO with one hand – while killing the short-lived horrorshow with the otherGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email“Skin-crawling … nasty, brutish … and way, way worse than you’d have anticipated” (Rolling Stone). “It feels like being licked all over by some dirty, drunk club DJ growling: ‘Nice ass’” (The Times, UK). “Kinky yet empty, like a visit to a re
  
  Read more

• Porthcawl disabled woman recalls trauma of night-time arrest

  29-08-2023 07:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A woman who says police barged into her home and arrested her has received £40,000 in compensation.
  
  Read more

• Hong Kong: Cantonese language group shuts down after targeting by national security police

  29-08-2023 07:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Fears that China’s crackdown on dissidents is expanding into cultural sphere after linguistic group closes over a fictional essay about erosion of libertiesA Cantonese language group has shut down after Hong Kong national security police raided the founder’s home over a fictional essay submitted to the group’s literary competition three years ago.Andrew Lok Han Chan, who created and convenes the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis (SLHK) group, said in a Facebook post that the o
  
  Read more

• Super blue moon to delight Northern Ireland stargazers

  29-08-2023 07:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The rare lunar sight will peak on Wednesday night but be visible on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
  
  Read more

• Newspaper headlines: Air traffic 'chaos' could last 'for days'

  29-08-2023 07:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tuesday's front pages are dominated by the delays and cancellations caused by a system failure.
  
  Read more

• TV tonight: a baffling new mystery thriller about a scammer

  29-08-2023 07:20 via theguardian.com
  
  This new BBC drama follows an ‘ecopreneur’ trying to scam two women. Plus, a bracing documentary looks at AI. Here’s what to watch this evening Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• SDLP's Colum Eastwood writes to Commons committee over BBC NI concerns

  29-08-2023 07:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Among concerns raised by Colum Eastwood are recent allegations about the BBC presenter Stephen Nolan.
  
  Read more

• Covid in Scotland: Families demand apology over care home ban

  29-08-2023 07:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It comes as judge Lord Brailsford sets out how the Scottish inquiry into the pandemic response will progress.
  
  Read more

• Call for emergency response to alcohol deaths

  29-08-2023 07:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Campaigners in Scotland want deaths from alcohol to be treated as seriously as drug fatalities.
  
  Read more

• UK food prices as big a concern for consumers as energy bills, Which? finds

  29-08-2023 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Pace of food inflation continued to slow in August, data shows, but trust in supermarket sector at decade-lowThe rate at which food prices are rising has continued to slow but stubbornly high grocery prices mean the cost of the weekly shop is now as big a concern as energy bills, according to research.Food inflation fell from 13.4% in the year to July to 11.5% in August, according to data published on Tuesday by the British Retail Consortium. This helped bring overall shop price inflation down f
  
  Read more

• Women in Sudan facing a ‘tragedy’ of sexual violence as rape cases rise

  29-08-2023 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Reported cases are almost all by RSF paramilitaries and are just the tip of the iceberg, say campaign groupsSince Sudan’s conflict erupted in April, Sulima Ishaq has been working around the clock. As the head of the country’s Combating Violence against Women and Children unit, it is her job to document sexual violence. It has now become systematic.Ishaq and her team usually act on tipoffs from doctors and nurses. Sometimes, late at night, she receives calls directly from survivors, w
  
  Read more

• The sudden removal of children’s human rights proves – yet again – why Queensland needs an upper house | Scott Prasser

  29-08-2023 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A second chamber makes governments more careful about what they propose – without one they can exercise control unchallengedThe ALP Palaszczuk government last week rushed 14 new laws and amendments through Queensland’s unicameral parliament without prior parliamentary committee review.Most worryingly, this included suspending the Human Rights Act – for the second time – to allow for detention of children in adult watch houses following a recent court challenge to the lega
  
  Read more

• Lack of diversity in teaching in England means minority ethnic pupils miss out

  29-08-2023 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Pupils in north-east and London most likely to never have a teacher of similar ethnicity, study findsPupils in parts of England are likely to never have a teacher of the same ethnic background, in part because minority ethnic applicants are less likely to be accepted on to teacher training courses, research has revealed.The north-east has the least diverse teaching workforce in the country, with students of Pakistani or black-African origin likely to never have a teacher of similar et
  
  Read more

• Hundreds of children thrown out of school in English county lines hotspots

  29-08-2023 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Gangs target minors who are out of school and BBC report shows rise in exclusions and suspensions in biggest drug-exporting areasHundreds of extremely vulnerable children at risk of being recruited by criminal gangs are being thrown out of schools in county lines hotspots.Figures obtained by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme revealed there were more than 1,200 exclusions and suspensions of children assessed by social services to be grooming targets in England’s four largest drug-expo
  
  Read more

• Big money is trashing trust in British politics. ‘Democracy vouchers’ could be the solution | Daniel Chandler

  29-08-2023 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The way our system is funded allows rich donors to buy influence. Putting public financing into citizens’ hands could change thatAfter Partygate and a series of other scandals, it will come as no surprise that trust in politics is at an all-time low. A recent Ipsos poll found that barely one in 10 people in Britain trust politicians to tell the truth – the lowest level since the survey began in 1983, and less than half the proportion who say they trust estate agents.This is not only
  
  Read more

• Ulez expanded to include whole of outer London

  29-08-2023 06:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Drivers must pay a £12.50 charge per day for driving a non-compliant vehicle in the zone
  
  Read more

• Pollution rules could change to ease housebuilding

  29-08-2023 06:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Laws designed to protect waterways have ended plans for thousands of homes, developers claim.
  
  Read more

• Tropical storm Idalia places Florida on alert for major hurricane - BBC

  29-08-2023 06:16 via news.google.com
  
  Tropical storm Idalia places Florida on alert for major hurricane  BBCHurricane Idalia updates: Florida braces for storm with Tampa area starting evacuations ahead of Wednesday's l  Daily MailStorm Idalia: Disney World in line of fire before brutal storm becomes hurricane  The MirrorEditorial: Get ready for unpredictable Hurricane Idalia  Orlando SentinelTropical Storm Franklin strengthens into first major hurricane of 2023 Atlantic season  The I
  
  Read more

• Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Swedish teenager Ia Anstoot says group’s ‘unscientific’ opposition to EU nuclear power serves fossil fuel interestsAn 18-year-old climate activist has called for Greenpeace to drop its “old-fashioned and unscientific” campaign against nuclear power in the EU.In April, the environmental campaign group announced it would appeal against the EU Commission’s decision to include nuclear power in its classification system for sustainable finance. This “taxonomy
  
  Read more

• Video shows woman lying dead on floor of migrant detention centre in Libya

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Footage provides latest shocking glimpse of conditions endured by refugees in north African countryFootage has emerged showing a woman lying dead on the floor of a migrant detention centre in Libya in the latest shocking glimpse of the conditions endured by refugees in the north African country.The clip, believed to have been filmed two weeks ago and shared with the Guardian by a group who arrived in Tunisia from Libya, shows a room inside the Abu Salim detention centre in Tripoli. Continue read
  
  Read more

• UK air traffic control chaos 'to last for days' after 1200 flights cancelled - The Independent

  29-08-2023 06:00 via news.google.com
  
  UK air traffic control chaos 'to last for days' after 1200 flights cancelled  The IndependentAirlines warn of UK flight delays over air traffic control fault  BBCYour three-minute digest  The TimesUK flights disruption an 'evolving' situation, says Suella Braverman – video  The GuardianMARK PALMER: The UK's flight chaos is yet another travel foul-up... and with the worst possible timing  Daily MailView Full coverage on Google News
  
  Read more

• The Melilla massacre: how a Spanish enclave in Africa became a deadly flashpoint

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  At least 37 people were killed in June 2022 at the Morocco-Spain border, while scores more were injured. Despite the brutality and chaos, officials praised the actions of border agents
  On 24 June 2022, around 1,700 people, most of them asylum seekers from Sudan and South Sudan, filed down the wooded slopes of Mount Gurugu in north-eastern Morocco. They were headed to the enclave of Melilla, a Spanish city of some 85,000 people, perched on the coast of mainland Africa.At first, the migrants met n
  
  Read more

• Iris scans: proof of our humanity in an AI future, or marketing gimmick? – podcast

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s technology reporter Hibaq Farah about Worldcoin, a new cryptocurrency offering users tokens in exchange for a scan of their eyeballs. Farah explains what the motives behind the company are, why they think we all need to become ‘verified humans’, and how governments have responded to the projectClips: Worldcoin, DW NewsRead more of Hibaq’s reporting here Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘I couldn’t take it any more’: holdouts quit Kupiansk after renewed Russian shelling

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  People who stayed through last year’s occupation are now abandoning the city amid fears of a ‘Bakhmut 2.0’Antonina Sanina, 75, had spent the last two nights hiding in the basement of her apartment block in Kupiansk. She had endured six and a half months of Russian occupation last year, but now the renewed shelling of the city had prompted her to abandon her home. “I couldn’t take it any more,” she said a few minutes after local volunteers had driven her to saf
  
  Read more

• Exploitation and low pay causing poverty among care workers, TUC finds

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  TUC says urgent investment needed in ‘Cinderella sectors’ to head off demographic timebomb‘Invisible, endless, relentless’: the reality of care work in EnglandChronic under-investment, exploitation and low pay is leading to widespread poverty among workers in the care sector, according to damning research from the Trades Union Congress.As it publishes its first workforce blueprint for the care economy, the TUC argues that the “Cinderella sectors” of social car
  
  Read more

• Braverman ‘interfering with police independence’ after crime pledge - The Guardian

  29-08-2023 06:00 via news.google.com
  Braverman ‘interfering with police independence’ after crime pledge  The GuardianEvery theft must be investigated, home secretary tells police  BBCPolice are there to enforce the law  The TelegraphPolice forces must investigate every theft - Home secretary  Sky NewsSuella Braverman says the police DO have the manpower needed to investigate every crime  Daily MailView Full coverage on Google News
  
  Read more

• Braverman ‘interfering with police independence’ after crime pledge

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The home secretary instructed forces to pursue all reasonable crime leads despite squeeze on fundingPolice chiefs have suggested the home secretary is interfering with their operational independence by demanding forces pursue all reasonable crime leads at a time when their resources are being outstripped by a rise in offences.The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) raised serious doubts about an initiative Suella Braverman used to launch the government’s crime week with insistence
  
  Read more

• Beaten, suffocated, forced into an abortion: the fate of one Venezuelan woman under Maduro

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Latest Amnesty International report documents ongoing state detention and torture in the South American country – all while its president seeks renewed links with the westWhen Emirlendris Benítez suddenly went missing in August 2018, her family feared the worst. So they were incredulous to hear Venezuela’s attorney general announce on television 10 days later that she had been detained on a motorway and arrested for orchestrating a plot to assassinate President Nicolás
  
  Read more

• At 17, a shark attack cost me my leg. A year later, I’m back in the water where I almost died

  29-08-2023 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Addison Bethea was snorkelling off the Florida coast when she found herself fighting for her life. Her love of wildlife documentaries had taught her how to fend off a shark – but it was back on dry land that she really needed her courageWhen Addison Bethea felt the tug on her leg, she thought it was her brother, Rhett, playing a prank. It was a hot Saturday afternoon and they were snorkelling off the Florida coast, scouring the seabed for scallops with a couple of Rhett’s friends. Th
  
  Read more

• Jesus Green Lido: Cambridge 'people's pool' turns 100

  29-08-2023 05:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Devotees of Jesus Green Lido in Cambridge describe the magic of the 100-yard pool on its centenary.
  
  Read more

• Notting Hill Carnival: Man in critical condition after spate of stabbings. - Sky News

  29-08-2023 04:49 via news.google.com
  Notting Hill Carnival: Man in critical condition after spate of stabbings.  Sky NewsChildren's Day parade brings cheer to Notting Hill Carnival  The IndependentNotting Hill Carnival celebrates Windrush legacy in blaze of colour  BBCBrigade celebrates Notting Hill Carnival by unveiling Windrush anniversary artwork created by local children  London Fire BrigadeView Full coverage on Google News
  
  Read more

• 'I wrote a play about my mental health struggles'

  29-08-2023 04:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Siyani Sheth, 17, says mental health can be a taboo topic for the South Asian community.
  
  Read more

• China region offers cash ‘rewards’ for newlyweds if bride is under 25

  29-08-2023 04:40 via theguardian.com
  
  China’s eastern county of Changshan has made the offer in an effort to promote ‘age-appropriate marriage and childbearing’A county in eastern China is offering couples a “reward” of 1,000 yuan ($137) if the bride is aged 25 or younger, the latest in a series of measures to incentivise young people to get married amid rising concern over a declining national birthrate.The notice, which was published on Changshan county’s official WeChat account last week, said
  
  Read more

• Co-sleeping with children has biological benefits – but it’s not always the answer to a good night’s sleep | Sarah Blunden

  29-08-2023 04:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Despite the fact separate sleep spaces are more available than ever before, the vast majority of adults share their bed at one time or another with a partner, child or even a petEvery parent knows the feeling of being woken up through the night by a small child stumbling their way into their bed.But why do children want to sleep with us? And why are they so reluctant to sleep on their own? Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!