UK poised to water down 2030 EV sales targets after industry and union pressure

Keir Starmer ready to overrule Ed Miliband after warnings that manufacturers would be penalised and jobs put at risk

The UK government is poised to water down its 2030 targets for electric vehicle sales after intense lobbying by the car industry and unions.

The government is preparing to consult on less ambitious targets for the transition to fully battery-powered electric cars over the rest of the decade after carmakers and unions warned that they would penalise manufacturers and put jobs at risk.

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DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds points to origins of modern winemaking

Researchers also discover that the ancient vines of Chianti, famed for its red wines, produced white fruit

DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old grape seeds found in ancient wells in Tuscany has enabled scientists to map the most extensive genetic history of grapevines recovered from a single site, revealing that vineyards of the Roman era formed part of the empire’s sophisticated agricultural network that might have influenced the development of modern winemaking.

The research led by scientists at the University of York also found that white grapes once dominated the site in Chianti, an area of Tuscany famous for its red Sangiovese wines.

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Zelenskyy thanks UK for intercepting Russian shadow fleet oil tanker after armed forces board vessel – as it happened

Keir Starmer said British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the early hours of Sunday morning

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the UK for intercepting a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel, describing it as an “important step”.

“It was Russia’s hubris, fuelled by high oil and gas revenues, that paved the way for this war, and every decision by partners that deprives Russia of money also limits the war itself” he wrote in a post on X, in which he personally thanked the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and “all Britons”.

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Dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals found in US breast milk samples

Study of mothers in Seattle underscores ‘widespread, systemic problem’ of chemical contamination, experts say

Breast milk samples from mothers in Seattle contain alarming levels of dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid, and triclosan, new peer-reviewed research has found.

The chemicals present a serious risk to infants because they likely interfere with hormones that are critical to newborns’ proper development, and have been found to be harmful at very low levels of exposure. About 92% of 50 samples were contaminated with at least one of the anti-microbials or plasticizers for which researchers checked.

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Antidepressants and antipsychotics could serve as alternatives to opioids, study finds

Medications that target depression, anxiety and poor sleep could help treat pain without opioids’ addictive properties

A range of other medications could serve as alternatives to powerful opioids for pain relief in emergency departments, according to a new study.

The review paper examined non-opioid medications available in the emergency department at San Francisco general hospital and examined existing medical literature to figure out which ones might provide pain relief.

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Wes Streeting plans to increase high-skilled immigration if he becomes PM

Leadership hopeful to also say tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy bills

Wes Streeting’s pitch to be the next Labour leader will include a plan to increase high-skilled immigration to the UK, arguing that Donald Trump is telling scientists and AI experts they are not welcome in the US.

In a speech this coming week, the former health secretary will also say that tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy bills.

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Deadly Philippines earthquake found to have raised seabed by up to 2 metres

‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metres

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6ft), exposing coral and harming marine life, the country’s environment department has said.

At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude quake off southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency.

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Jamaican beach access campaigners go to court to fight privatisation of coast

Activists are challenging colonial-era law and demanding ‘free, legal, unfettered, forever rights’ to use beaches

Campaigners in Jamaica are heading to court next week to try to prevent the government from cutting off access to more of their beaches.

They argue that ceding their shorelines to big hotel chains enriches private investors and benefits tourists and outsiders while depriving Jamaicans who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, leisure and health.

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Farage vows to ban foreign nationals from social housing as byelection looms

Reform leader claims ‘anti-whiteness is institutionalised’ in UK as polls suggest Labour have lead in Makerfield

Nigel Farage said he would ban foreign nationals from social housing and then deport them if they could not find private sector homes, in a hardening of anti-immigration rhetoric before the Makerfield byelection.

Two recent polls in Makerfield have suggested Farage’s Reform UK is continuing to leak potentially crucial support to its far-right rival Restore Britain, which is led by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.

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Ukraine and Moldova to enter first phase of EU membership negotiations

Election of new Hungarian government in April has paved way for EU member states to agree to open talks

Ukraine and Moldova will take a decisive step towards joining the EU on Monday, as they embark on the first phase of membership negotiations.

The start of substantive negotiations, launched by senior EU officials and ministers from both countries in Luxembourg on Monday, will be a highly symbolic moment for the two countries that were both part of the former Soviet Union. It comes after Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities, while sustaining huge losses for little territorial gain.

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Trial of 12mph bike lane speed limit grinds gears of Dutch cyclists

Increase in road deaths amid rise of e-bikes prompts Houten to test willingness of freedom-loving cyclists to slow down

As road deaths increase and cycle lanes overflow with e-bikes, the Netherlands is considering a cycling speed limit of 12mph (20km/h).

The government has started a two-week trial in Houten, near Utrecht, to gauge whether freedom-loving Dutch cyclists are willing to slow down – and whether they have any idea how fast they are going in the first place.

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NSW lifts drone ban over Sydney beach after shark attack – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The Senate will deliver its report from the NDIS inquiry on Tuesday. Butler doesn’t directly answer a question about whether or not he is willing to make any significant changes to the legislation the government has put forward.

He says:

Look, the direction of travel I think is an important one for us to follow through. This largely reflects reviews and insights that we’ve gathered over the last three years since the independent review was done of the NDIS in 2023 and endorsed by all governments at national Cabinet later that year.

I’m utterly convinced this is the right plan for the NDIS… I’m not saying there won’t be any change. We heard ideas from the crossbench in the debate in the House of Representatives. I’ve very much heard that people want greater reassurance about what won’t change because of the reforms we’re putting in place.

We have to constrain that growth. Without reforms it would grow to $20 billion by the end of the decade and that’s simply not a sustainable position.

It’s also allowed us, as I said, to protect the core supports people rely upon for that safety that was part of your introduction.

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Angus Taylor using NDIS cuts as ‘pawn in bigger chess game’, Mark Butler warns

Opposition and Greens could team up to extend inquiry into changes but health minister ‘utterly convinced’ federal government’s plan is right

Mark Butler has doubled down on his plans to pass contentious NDIS changes as early as this month, warning the opposition against using the bill as a “pawn in a bigger chess game” as they consider a potential deal with the Greens.

The Coalition and the Greens have criticised Labor’s truncated timeline to pass NDIS, negative gearing and capital gains changes, and have signalled they could team up against the government in the Senate to extend inquiries into the bills.

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As Donald Trump turns 80, he faces a foe he can never defeat: Father Time. That’s a problem for us all

Alarm over the judgment and behaviour of the world’s most powerful man, and the consequent risks to the world, can only get worse

The main Nuremberg trial ended, Winston Churchill warned of an iron curtain descending across Europe, It’s a Wonderful Life received its premiere and, at Jamaica hospital in the borough of Queens, New York, Donald John Trump was born.

It was 1946, also the birth year of George W Bush and Bill Clinton, but on Sunday the current US president celebrates his 80th birthday in a style uniquely his own. Trump will stage a night of cage fighting on the once-pristine White House south lawn as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

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Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam to quit politics, says leadership spill ‘started to really wear on me’

Tasmanian senator says he feels he is ‘letting down the team’ but needs to prioritise family

Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam will quit politics before the end of the year, in another major blow to the struggling Coalition as it experiences its lowest levels of popularity in decades.

The Tasmanian senator, who was elected to parliament in 2016 and is seen as one of the Liberals’ best talents, said it was an “extremely difficult decision to make” but one he had been considering for “quite some time” to spend more time with family.

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