Macron lays out broad European offer for Iran to end war with Israel

Proposal would cover uranium enrichment and ballistic missile programmes and aim to end terrorist funding

Europe is to make Iran a comprehensive offer to end its war with Israel that would include an Iranian move to zero uranium enrichment, restrictions on its ballistic missile programme and an end to Tehran’s funding of terrorist groups, Emmanuel Macron has said.

The proposals are surprisingly broad, spanning a range of complex issues beyond Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, and are likely to complicate any solution unless an interim agreement can be agreed.

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Campaign for statue of British suffragette hero is hit by funding crisis

Organisers seek an extra £40,000 for a memorial to Mary Clarke, the first suffragette to die for women’s rights

The campaign to commemorate the first suffragette to die for women’s rights is facing a funding crisis.

Mary Clarke, who was the sister of Emmeline Pankhurst, helped found the Women’s Social and Political Union and was imprisoned three times.

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Assisted dying set to become law in England and Wales after MPs pass bill

Terminally ill people with less than six months to live will have right to choose procedure after approval from doctors and panel

Terminally ill people in England and Wales are to be given the right to an assisted death in a historic societal shift that will transform end-of-life care.

After months of argument, MPs narrowly voted in favour of a private member’s bill introduced by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, which could become law within four years.

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British nationals who want to leave Israel to be offered flights to UK, says David Lammy

Foreign secretary says government will provide charter flights from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens

British nationals who want to leave Israel will be offered charter flights from Tel Aviv as soon as airspace reopens, the government has said.

With the conflict with Iran continuing, Whitehall officials have been working to organise escape routes for the thousands of British and dual nationals in Israel.

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Nigerian communities to take Shell to high court over oil pollution

Residents of Bille and Ogale in Niger delta are suing Shell and subsidiary, but company denies liability

Residents of two Nigerian communities who are taking legal action against Shell over oil pollution are set to take their cases to trial at the high court in 2027.

Members of the Bille and Ogale communities in the Niger delta, which have a combined population of about 50,000, are suing Shell and a Nigerian-based subsidiary of the company, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, which is now the Renaissance Africa Energy Company.

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UK borrowing rises to £17.7bn, adding to pressure on Rachel Reeves

May figure second highest for month on record amid fears chancellor is struggling to keep within spending rules

Higher tax receipts were unable to prevent a rise in public sector borrowing in May to £17.7bn, up from £17bn a year earlier and the second highest for the month on record.

A poll of City economists had forecast public sector net borrowing – the difference between public spending and income – would be £17.1bn.

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Pioneering London playwright decried gentrification of ‘writer’s paradise’

In 1992 letter, Mustapha Matura warned of risk to Ladbroke Grove, home to strong Caribbean creative community

A groundbreaking Trinidadian-British playwright who paved the way for modern Black British theatre makers warned about the dangers of gentrification in Ladbroke Grove, which he believed would ruin the “writer’s paradise”.

Mustapha Matura was the first British writer of colour to have work put on in the West End, and used the west London area as an inspiration for many of his plays, which were also staged at the Royal Court and National Theatre.

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£5bn UK overseas aid cuts cannot be challenged in court, say government lawyers

Claim comes in legal exchange with advocacy group ahead of judicial review of decision to slash support to 0.3% of gross national income

Cuts of £5bn to the UK overseas aid budget cannot be challenged in the courts, government lawyers have said, even though ministers have no plan to return spending to the legal commitment of 0.7 % of UK gross national income (GNI).

The assertion by Treasury solicitors that ministers are immune from legal challenge over aid cuts comes in preliminary exchanges with the aid advocacy group One Campaign. It is the first step in what could prove a highly embarrassing judicial review.

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Students in England now graduate with average debt of £53,000, data shows

Student Loans Company figures show 10% jump in a year as individuals increase borrowing to meet cost of living

Students in England are finishing their degrees with government loans averaging £53,000, a jump of 10% in a year, as they increase their borrowing to meet the rising cost of living.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has released figures showing individual loan balances were £5,000 higher in 2024-25 than a year earlier, when the average in England was £48,270.

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Buy here now: Oasis to open series of merch stores before reunion gigs

Exclusive: first store opens in Spinningfields, Manchester, two weeks before band’s first gig in 16 years in Cardiff

Will the truce between the Gallagher brothers hold out? Will the most-hyped reunion in British rock history actually come off? And will fans be able to bag themselves an official Oasis tea towel?

The answer to that final question, at least, has arrived. The first Oasis merchandise store will open in Manchester on Friday, two weeks before the band perform their first gig in 16 years at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

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Grooming gang survivors tell MPs to stop ‘tug-of-war with vulnerable women’ – UK politics live

Two survivors urged politicians and those without experience of abuse to allow women to shape the investigation

Campaigners from trade unions, voluntary organisations and the Church of Scotland have announced plans for an anti-poverty march to “demand better” from politicians in Scotland, reports the PA news agency.

The campaign, Scotland Demands Better, will culminate in a march in Edinburgh on 25 October, walking from the Scottish parliament, up the Royal Mile and along George IV Bridge to The Meadows.

Change for the better happens when people stand together and demand it. Scotland desperately needs that change.

Too many of us are being cut off from life’s essentials. Too many are frightened of what the future will bring. Too many of us are feeling tired, angry, isolated, and disillusioned.

Air pollution remains the most important environmental threat to health, with impacts throughout the life course.

It is an area of health where the UK has made substantial progress in the last three decades, with concentrations of many of the main pollutants falling rapidly, but it remains a major cause of chronic ill health as well as premature mortality.

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Amber heat alert issued across England with warning of ‘rise in deaths’

UKHSA warns of risk to people aged 65 and over as temperatures of up to 33C expected until Monday

Amber heat alerts have been issued in England as the UK experiences its hottest day of the year so far, with a temperature of 30.8C recorded at Wisley in Surrey.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued the warningd on Thursday, and stated there could be “a rise in deaths” across all nine English regions, with “those aged 65 and over or people with health conditions” particularly at risk as the temperature is expected to rise sharply.

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Ringo Starr labels Roger Daltrey ‘that little man’ after son’s sacking from the Who

Zak Starkey says his father made the comment after he was fired over a disagreement about his performance

Ringo Starr has reportedly criticised the way “that little man” Roger Daltrey runs the Who after Starr’s son was sacked from the band.

Zak Starkey, 59, who was sacked as the Who’s drummer over a disagreement about his performance, said he was proud that his father had come to his defence.

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Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou jailed for minimum of 24 years

London student drugged and filmed himself raping at least 60 victims between 2019 and 2024

A PhD student feared to be one of the worst sexual offenders in British history has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years for drugging and raping 10 women.

Zhenhao Zou, 28, drugged and filmed himself raping at least 60 victims between 2019 and 2024 after luring them into his flat with invitations to study or have drinks. Since his conviction more than 20 women have come forward to police, and still more remain unidentified.

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Remove decisions on lone child asylum seekers from Home Office, report says

Call for root-and-branch reform of treatment of children, many of whom are wrongly classified as adults

Decisions relating to lone child asylum seekers should be removed from Home Office officials because of fundamental problems with the way they treat this vulnerable group, a report has found.

The report calls for root-and-branch reform of the treatment of thousands of children who have fled persecution in their home countries and made hazardous journeys in search of safety, often crossing the Channel in a dinghy or concealing themselves in the back of a lorry.

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Ministers urged to publish legal advice on UK involvement in Israel-Iran war

Calls follow news that attorney general advised government to limit its involvement to defending allies

Ministers are facing calls to publish legal advice given to the government on Israel’s war against Iran after reports emerged that the attorney general had warned that any UK involvement beyond defensive support would be illegal.

Richard Hermer, the government’s most senior legal officer, is said to have raised concerns internally about the legality of joining a bombing campaign against Iran.

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UK watchdog criticises ‘offensive’ portrayal of older people in adverts

ASA report finds many use negative stereotypes and highlights concerns about targeting of end-of-life services

An elderly man fires off a tirade at a child who has asked “grandad” to return a mud-covered football that has landed on his gleaming car. He is then seen eating a microwave dinner for one and chuckling, with the now-deflated ball pinned to the table next to him by a large kitchen knife.

The TV advert for the Scotland-based Strathmore Foods, maker of the McIntosh of Strathmore ready meals stocked by most big supermarket chains, has been identified in a report by the UK advertising watchdog as showing an “offensive” portrayal of older people – by stereotyping them as grumpy and intolerant, and implying many are lonely and isolated.

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English universities barred from enforcing blanket bans on student protests

Office for Students guidance urges ‘very strong’ approach to permitting lawful speech on campus

Universities in England will no longer be able to enforce blanket bans on student protests under sweeping new guidance that urges a “very strong” approach to permitting lawful speech on campus.

The detailed regulations set out for the first time how universities should deal with inflammatory disputes, such as those between the University of Cambridge and students over the war in Gaza, and rows over academics who hold controversial but legal opinions, such as the gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.

The guidance issued by the Office for Students (OfS) will make it harder for universities to penalise students and staff for anything other than unlawful speech or harassment.

Academics should not be pressed to support particular views.

Protests should not be restricted for supporting legal viewpoints.

Students or staff should not be “encouraged to report others” for lawful speech.

Universities must “secure freedom of speech” for visiting speakers.

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Flavour of gin and tonic could be impacted by climate change, study finds

Volatile weather patterns may be altering taste of juniper berries – a key botanical in the spirit – scientists say

The flavour of a gin and tonic may be impacted by climate change, scientists have found.

Volatile weather patterns, made more likely by climate breakdown, could change the taste of juniper berries, which are the key botanical that give gin its distinctive taste.

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Scottish government faces legal action over failure to implement biological sex ruling

Campaign group accuses Holyrood of ‘intolerable’ delays to new policies required after landmark case

The Scottish government has been given a deadline to implement the UK supreme court’s ruling on biological sex across all public bodies or face further legal challenges.

Sex Matters, the UK-wide gender-critical campaign group, has threatened legal action in 14 days if ministers continue “intolerable” delays to new policies and guidance required by April’s landmark ruling that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 does not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates.

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