Meghan rejects ‘gendered’ idea she was lucky to be chosen as Harry’s bride

In podcast interview, Duchess of Sussex discusses stereotypes and stigma surrounding single women

The Duchess of Sussex has dismissed comments she was lucky Prince Harry chose her as his bride as “gendered, archetyped and stereotyped” in a new podcast, released as the couple arrived in Germany to promote the Invictus Games.

Meghan said that when she and Harry got engaged, “everyone was just like: ‘Oh, my God, you’re so lucky, he chose you’. At a certain point, after you hear it a million times over, you’re like: ‘Well, I chose him, too.’

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Eustice defends ‘utter failure’ of efforts to cut raw sewage discharges in England

Environment secretary responds to criticism of plan to stop ‘literal shit being pumped into rivers and seas’

The environment secretary, George Eustice, insisted the government was tackling the millions of hours of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas in England as MPs demanded answers to a summer of water companies dumping effluent into holiday swimming spots.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Literal shit is being pumped into our rivers and seas. The state of our water network is a national scandal and the government has utterly failed to take action.”

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Scottish group scraps period dignity role after abuse for hiring man

Jason Grant’s appointment as Tay region’s period dignity lead had prompted anger on social media

A new regional role promoting period dignity across Tayside has been scrapped after the group involved received threats and abuse for appointing a man.

Last month, Jason Grant was announced as the period dignity regional lead officer for the Tay region in what was believed to be the first role of its kind in Scotland and the result of Holyrood’s groundbreaking women’s health legislation.

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‘Straight to business’: what the papers said about Liz Truss’s victory

The new Conservative leader comes in at a time of crisis, and Tuesday’s papers make it clear she will need to make a fast start

The Liz Truss supremacy has begun with promises of bold plans to tackle a “bulging in-tray” of problems such as the cost of living crisis, according to the front pages of many of Tuesday’s newspapers.

With the usual speech and visuals from the steps of No 10 delayed by 24 hours thanks to the Queen’s “episodic mobility issues”, the papers had to make do with Truss smiling broadly after she defeated Rishi Sunak to take the Tory crown and later become Britain’s fourth prime minister in six years.

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Kremlin scathing over Truss but Kyiv praises Britain’s new PM

Putin aide says relations could go ‘from bad to worse’ as Ukrainian pundits welcome new ‘iron lady’

Liz Truss’s imminent arrival in Downing Street as British prime minister has been greeted with scorn and scarcely veiled condescension from the Kremlin, but an outpouring of praise in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, expressed concerns that relations might deteriorate in comments to reporters shortly before Truss was announced as the winner of the Tory leadership race.

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Police granted more time to question men over Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s death

Officers have extra 36 hours to question trio arrested on Sunday in connection with nine-year-old’s fatal shooting

Detectives have been granted a further extension to continue questioning three men being held in connection with the killing of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

Merseyside police said a 34-year-old man, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, a 41-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, who have both been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, are being kept in custody for another 36 hours.

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More ‘banking hubs’ to open across UK to tackle branch and ATM closures

Additional 13 hubs will bring total to 25, where customers of almost any bank can carry out transactions

More shared “banking hubs” are to be rolled out across the UK to help communities hit by branch and ATM closures to get continued access to cash.

A banking hub is a shared service that operates in a similar way to a standard branch, with a counter service run by Post Office staff where customers of almost any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular transactions.

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Nadine Dorries joins Patel in quitting cabinet after Truss named next PM

Culture secretary offered chance to stay in role but reportedly said, ‘Now is the right time to leave cabinet’

Nadine Dorries has joined Priti Patel in quitting the cabinet hours after Liz Truss won the Conservative leadership contest.

The culture secretary was offered the chance to stay in the role, according to the Mail Plus, who first reported the story. The website quoted a friend as saying: “[Dorries] has decided now is the right time to leave cabinet.”

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Tory leadership: Nadine Dorries steps down and returns to backbenches – as it happened

Latest updates: culture secretary will not serve in Truss’s cabinet and is expected to receive peerage from Boris Johnson

Philip Hammond, who was chancellor when Theresa May was prime minister, has joined Rupert Harrison, another Tory Treasury alumnus (see 10.02am), in criticising the Truss camp this morning for disparaging Treasury orthodoxy. Hammond told Times Radio:

When I hear people talking about Treasury orthodoxy, I do worry that what they might sometimes be talking about are economic facts of life. And yes, the Treasury will ensure that politicians, however senior, are confronted with the realities of the economic facts of life. “Yes, Minister, you may wish to do this. But you need to understand that the consequences will be as follows.” And we can’t legislate to change the laws of economics, unfortunately. And I think Liz Truss understands that very well.

Obviously, I worked very closely with her. She was chief secretary to the Treasury when I was chancellor, she understands the laws of economics as well as anybody does. And it’s essential that the political solutions that a government crafts, go with the grain of the laws of economics, because if you try and confront the laws of economics, you will come unstuck.

I think it is right and unavoidable that the government needs to provide support to people dealing with these huge energy bills as a short term solution, but we have to be clear, and I think [Truss] will be clear, that this can only be government support to deal with the immediate emergency energy prices being sky high, largely because of the war in Ukraine.

At the same time we’ve got to be honest about the fact that energy bills in the future are going to be higher than they were, traditionally, as we move to ensure energy self sufficiency, and to decarbonise our economies. That has always been the case; decarbonisation doesn’t come free.

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Olivia Wilde shuts down Don’t Worry Darling rumours amid controversy

The director dodged awkward questions over Florence Pugh and Shia LaBeouf ahead of the film’s Venice premiere

From its starry cast to its seemingly volcanic behind-the-scenes drama, Olivia Wilde’s new film Don’t Worry Darling has become the talk of the town in Venice. All eyes were on the director as she faced the world’s press ahead of the film’s premiere – and after days of controversy involving Shia LaBeouf’s withdrawal from the project and Florence Pugh’s reluctance to take part in any press tours.

But the rumour mill was swiftly stifled after Wilde repeated the party line that everything was totally fine, and the festival’s press conference moderator shut down any further awkward questions. “Florence is a force; we are so grateful she is able to make it tonight [to the premiere] despite being in production,” Wilde said in response to a question about Pugh’s absence. “As for the endless tabloid gossip and noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel I need to contribute to it.”

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Liz Truss shows little sign she is ready to meet big environmental challenges

The new PM has not set out plans for reducing energy waste; instead she has talked of more oil and gas

Liz Truss faces a daunting array of environmental crises, from energy supply to sewage spills on British beaches, with little to show that she has the inclination to take them on.

Ben Goldsmith, the chair of the Conservative Environment Network, and a longtime green Tory who was a strong supporter of Boris Johnson, said of the UK’s new prime minister and her defeated rival: “Neither Truss nor Sunak has been known for their passion for nature. Neither has made a name for themselves as an environmental leader.”

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Literary festival cancelled due to cost of living crisis

Ways With Words, the organisers of Words by the Water in Keswick, say low ticket sales mean it is not viable to run next year’s event

Ways With Words, which runs literary festivals in the Lake District, Suffolk and Devon, has cancelled its forthcoming festival, saying it is not “currently viable” because of the UK’s cost of living crisis.

The organisation had been due to put on Words by the Water, a 10-day event in Keswick, in March 2023. But after experiencing low ticket sales for its festival in Dartington, Devon, in July this year, the decision was made to cancel the Lake District gathering and cease planning events for the foreseeable future.

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Posties’ paths: Britons who delivered mail by foot sought for new book

Author Alan Cleaver collecting stories of rural postal workers who walked miles each week, and the routes they took

The last surviving rural postal workers who delivered mail by foot are being sought for a forthcoming book celebrating their lives and mapping their often arduous daily journeys.

Delivering mail by foot ended in the countryside in 1970 with the adoption of postal vans, and it is now feared that the postal paths and the history of those who trod them are disappearing from living memory.

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Liz Truss wins Tory leadership race to become Britain’s next PM

Foreign secretary defeats Rishi Sunak, winning 57.4% of Tory members’ votes to former chancellor’s 42.6%

Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister after beating Rishi Sunak in the bitterly fought Conservative leadership contest.

The foreign secretary, who won 81,326 votes (57.4%) of Tory members to the former chancellor’s 60,399 (42.6%), takes over from Boris Johnson, who was ousted by his own MPs earlier this summer.

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Ukraine offensive prompts Kherson separatists to ‘pause’ poll on joining Russia

Russian state news agency says referendum plans on hold as Ukrainian attacks on key bridge over Dnieper River put pressure on troops

Russia-appointed officials in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine say they are “pausing” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia because of attacks by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine last week said it had launched offensives in several directions in the southern region but has since released few details and continues to insist on a “regime of silence” for strategic reasons.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.

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UK ministers ignored evidence Rwanda violated human rights, court told

African country went back on list of destinations for ‘migration partnership’ after civil servants had ruled it out, judges hear

The UK’s plan to deport people seeking asylum to Rwanda has been challenged in the high court, with claims that ministers deliberately ignored evidence that the east African country had violated human rights, including the right to live free from torture.

Rwanda was put back on to a list of potential destinations for a “migration partnership” after previously being ruled out by civil servants, the court was told.

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Three men arrested in connection with killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Thirty-four-year-old held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after death of nine-year-old while two other men are held on suspicion of helping an offender

Three men have been arrested over the over the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Merseyside police have said.

Earlier on Sunday the force said a 34-year-old man from Liverpool had been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with the killing.

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Refugees minister who refused to endorse Rwanda policy quits

Richard Harrington declares his job ‘essentially complete’ day before Liz Truss expected to be named new PM

Richard Harrington, who distanced himself from the government’s policy of sending migrants to Rwanda, has quit as refugees minister a day before Liz Truss is expected to be confirmed as the next prime minister.

He claimed he was stepping down because his job was essentially complete, but the timing of his departure suggests he expected his role was not likely to be renewed by the incoming administration.

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Gas prices likely to hit new highs as Russia shuts pipeline indefinitely

More UK manufacturers are cutting production or making job cuts as result of ‘out of control’ energy bills

Analysts are expecting gas prices to surge to record highs this week after Russia shut down a key pipeline to Europe.

At the same time, a growing number of UK manufacturers have said they are already cutting production or making job cuts as a direct result of “out of control” energy bills.

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Larry4Leader: No 10’s Larry the cat ‘enters’ race to become next PM

Downing Street’s ‘chief mouser’ has apparently thrown his collar in the ring to replace Boris Johnson

Twitter users were delighted to see billboards across London announcing that Larry the cat, No 10’s “chief mouser”, has thrown his collar into the ring to become the country’s next prime minister.

Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be declared as the new leader of the Conservative party on Monday, but the campaign team behind Larry4Leader has gone to extra lengths to ensure the tabby’s stance is known.

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