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Offences including manslaughter have been excluded from changes to sentencing rules amid an overcrowding crisis
Grooming gang perpetrators and killers including those responsible for PC Andrew Harper’s death will be blocked from early prison release under changes announced by Andy Burnham after a backlash over the scope of the scheme.
Here is a primer on how the crisis unfolded and what the upshot of Burnham’s decision could be.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 13:58:21 GMT
A retired software engineer and a planetary scientist disagreed about putting up flags and nationalising private companies, but were they worlds apart on legalising drugs?
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Finley, 23, London
Occupation Planetary scientist
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:00:54 GMT
Andy Burnham is in need of radical proposals. A ‘care first’ year in exchange for 50% off fees could be just what he needs
The UK’s social care sector is in crisis. Costs are spiralling, with many local councils forced to dedicate the vast majority of their budgets to it. At the same time, more and more families are seeing their savings disappear into the black hole of nursing home fees. With an ageing population, the problem is set to get worse.
In only his second week as prime minister, Andy Burnham pledged to succeed where so many of his predecessors have failed: by fixing Britain’s social care system. And yet, as parliament returns from recess, the new-ish administration is still worryingly unclear about how it will do this. Despite Burnham declaring that care workers should enjoy better compensation, we don’t know how he plans to pay for any of it – not least because he has kept Starmer’s campaign pledge to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. At the moment, it looks as though it will be impossible to square the circle.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:00:55 GMT
J’ouvert marks the start of the Notting Hill carnival in west London, with revellers covered in oil, paint and powder
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:43:34 GMT
Camille had bad experiences with men, so when she met Marcus they took things slowly. Now sex is a shared joy
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Marcus will go down on me for as long as it takes. He has a gentle touch and is an amazing kisser
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:00:52 GMT
The Canadian PM is one of the few world leaders to stand up to the US president. Former colleagues say they are not surprised
Mark Carney stood before a walnut-veneered lectern, his face drawn tight, as he announced that talks with Canada’s biggest trading partner had collapsed. “Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so that they can own us,” he said. “And I promised: that will never, ever happen. We are keeping that promise.”
For years, the former central bank governor had worked hard to calm markets. Now, he was asking Canadians to accept uncertainty and confrontation.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 05:00:46 GMT
Campaigners welcome plan to bring IPP sentences to a close but say the move is long overdue
Campaigners have hailed Andy Burnham’s pledge to bring an end to indefinite jail terms as “a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for”.
The prime minister has said he will “end the injustice” of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences during this parliament, meaning people will no longer be trapped indefinitely under a sentence abolished more than a decade ago.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:36:46 GMT
Total of confirmed 797 dead and more than 3,000 missing amid threat of fresh inundation
Rescuers in Nepal and Tibet have battled through leg-sucking mud amid the threat of fresh flooding to search for thousands of people still missing after a deadly wall of water swept through the Himalayan border zone, engulfing entire villages.
The latest updates on Sunday put the number of missing at 3,048, including hundreds of foreigners. There was a total of 797 confirmed deaths across Nepal and Tibet, and reports of some bodies swept downstream possibly as far as India.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:43:57 GMT
An estimated 237 people have been rescued but 23 are missing after accident off the coast of northern Cyprus
Republican Turkish party MP Sami Ozuslu told the Guardian late on Sunday that the death toll had risen. “Sadly we are now hearing that there are nine or ten dead,” he said.
The families of passengers were converging on hospitals in Nicosia, Kyrenia and elsewhere, desperate for news of loved ones, he added.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:25:45 GMT
Well-funded no camp prevails, winning 52.8% of votes and gaining plaudits from Eurosceptic figures across Europe
Voters in Iceland have rejected a government proposal to reopen accession talks with the EU after a closely fought referendum campaign that divided the country against a backdrop of global volatility.
After a long and anxious night for those on both sides of the debate, the no camp ended up with 52.8% of votes on Sunday morning and the yes camp with 47.2%. Voter turnout was high at 82.5%.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 14:57:49 GMT