30,000 jobs could go in Labour’s radical overhaul of NHS

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Loss of staff will be at least twice as big as thought, as new NHS England chief tells regional boards to cut costs by 50%

The jobs cull from the government’s radical restructuring of the NHS will be at least twice as big as previously thought, with other parts of the health service now being downsized too.

The staff shakeout caused by NHS England’s abolition and unprecedented cost-cutting elsewhere will mean the number of lost posts will soar from the 10,000 expected to between 20,000 and 30,000.

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Actor said to have been groped by Noel Clarke tells court it did not happen

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Louise Dylan speaks at Clarke’s libel case against Guardian about wrap party for 2012 film The Knot

An actor who was said to have been groped by Noel Clarke has told the high court that the incident never happened.

In a witness statement for Guardian News and Media (GNM), which is being sued for libel by Clarke, his former creative partner Davie Fairbanks said he saw the former Doctor Who star inappropriately touch Louise Dylan at the wrap party for the 2012 film, The Knot.

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Ukraine’s retreat from Kursk appears to mark end of audacious operation

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Some say incursion achieved many goals while others wonder if it cost Ukrainian lives for no tangible gain

Under constant attack from drones attached to fibre optic cables, the soldiers scrambled in groups of two or three along hidden tracks or through fields, often walking miles to reach Ukrainian territory.

The Ukrainian retreat from the Kursk region, carried out in stages over the past two weeks, appears to mark the end of one of the most audacious and surprising operations of the conflict, and strips Ukraine of one of its few solid bargaining chips in possible peace negotiations with Russia.

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Lawyer says Philippines’ Duterte was ‘abducted’, too ill to testify at ICC – Reuters

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  1. Lawyer says Philippines' Duterte was 'abducted', too ill to testify at ICC  Reuters
  2. Former Philippines leader Duterte appears in Hague courtroom via video link on ‘war on drugs’ charges  CNN
  3. Access Asia - Philippine ex-President Duterte faces charges for war on drugs  FRANCE 24 English
  4. Philippines Duterte's first night in ICC custody is a pivotal moment for the court  BBC.com
  5. The senator, the priest, the forensic pathologist: the people who brought ex-president Duterte to justice  The Guardian
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‘Germany is back’: Merz secures Greens’ support for defence spend boost

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Backing of Greens is tantamount to approval of chancellor-in-waiting’s proposal to relax debt brake

Germany’s conservative chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, has said he has secured the support of the Green party for his radical plan to increase spending on defence and infrastructure after marathon talks that went through the night, paving the way for its approval in parliament.

“Germany is back,” Merz said in Berlin on Friday. “Germany is making its large contribution to the defence of freedom and peace in Europe.”

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AP Exclusive: US and Israel look to Africa for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza – The Associated Press

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  1. AP Exclusive: US and Israel look to Africa for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza  The Associated Press
  2. Somalia rejects any plan to use its territory to resettle Palestinians, minister says  The Times of Israel
  3. Sudan rejects US request to discuss taking in Palestinians under Trump’s Gaza plan  The Guardian US
  4. US and Israel look to Africa for resettling Palestinians uprooted from Gaza - report  The Jerusalem Post
  5. Somalia and Somaliland say no talks on resettling Palestinians from Gaza  Reuters
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The new reality dawning in Australia: it can no longer rely on the US

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For all the fraternal rhetoric, the alliance has always been asymmetric. It seems Washington under Trump sees it as immaterial

It’s not really about the tariffs.

Not for Australia the brutal humiliation meted out on camera to Ukraine in the Oval Office. Nor Canada’s escalating war of invective and retaliatory sanctions.

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Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte appears by video link in Hague accused of crimes against humanity – as it happened

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Duterte faces charges over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed tens of thousands. This live blog is closed

Philippine ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is appearing by video link before judges at the international criminal court.

Duterte would follow the proceedings through a video link, a court spokesperson said.

To some Duterte’s arrest this week came as a sudden shock. But for years many brave Filipinos, from priests, politicians, pathologists, to relatives of the victims and journalists, have worked tirelessly, in and out of the spotlight, to expose the horrors of the deadly campaign and collect enough evidence to hold Duterte to account.

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