Ministers urged to digitise adoption records to help reunite families

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As ITV’s Long Lost Family airs, campaigners say retaining archives is crucial for those separated by forced adoptions at unmarried mothers’ homes

Ministers have been urged to digitise records essential to reuniting families separated by the UK’s unmarried mothers’ home scandal by campaigners who fear they could be lost in Angela Rayner’s local government reorganisation project.

Hundreds of thousands of British women were coerced to give up babies at church-linked homes, which worked alongside statutory agencies, between the 1940s and 1980s.

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Decision to close Meanjin criticised as act of ‘utter cultural vandalism’

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Shutting long-running literary journal, which published emerging writers as well as the cream of Australia’s literary talent, described as ‘enormous loss’

One of Australia’s longest running literary journals has been scrapped, in what has been described as an act of “utter cultural vandalism” on the part of the University of Melbourne.

After 85 years, Meanjin, run by the university’s subsidiary Melbourne University Publishing (MUP), will publish its last edition in December. Although the journal’s editor, Esther Anatolitis, worked her last day at Meanjin on Thursday, the spring and summer quarterly editions of the journal are already at the printers.

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Trump asks US supreme court to overturn trade tariffs ruling

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Move follows federal appeals court decision that sweeping ‘liberation day’ levies on imports had overstepped presidential powers

Donald Trump has asked the US supreme court to overturn a lower court decision that most of his sweeping trade tariffs were illegal.

The US president filed a petition late on Wednesday to ask for a review of last week’s federal appeals court ruling in Washington DC, which centred on his “liberation day” border taxes introduced on 2 April, which imposed levies of between 10% and 50% on most US imports, sending shock waves through global trade and markets.

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Benjamin Netanyahu scraps sovereignty plan for W. Bank from meeting – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. Benjamin Netanyahu scraps sovereignty plan for W. Bank from meeting  The Jerusalem Post
  2. UAE warns Israel’s West Bank annexation would cross ‘red line’ and end regional integration efforts  CNN
  3. UAE official warns Israel West Bank settlement plans cross 'red line'  Reuters
  4. UAE warns White House that Israeli annexations could unravel Abraham Accords  Axios
  5. UNGA, Gaza, annexation put Israel’s September on edge  The Jerusalem Post
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Russian economy hits ‘technical stagnation,’ biggest bank chief warns of ‘close to zero’ growth – The Kyiv Independent

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  1. Russian economy hits 'technical stagnation,' biggest bank chief warns of 'close to zero' growth  The Kyiv Independent
  2. Putin’s Fear of a Humiliating Economic Crisis  Foreign Policy
  3. Sberbank CEO Gref warns of Russian recession if rates not slashed  Reuters
  4. Russian Economy Slipped Into ‘Technical Stagnation,’ Sberbank CEO Warns  The Moscow Times
  5. Putin Ally Issues Dire Warning About Russian Economy  Newsweek
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‘It may be… possible to live to 150 years old’: Open mic captures Xi, Putin’s candid chat; moment caught – Times of India

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  1. 'It may be… possible to live to 150 years old’: Open mic captures Xi, Putin's candid chat; moment caught  Times of India
  2. Organ transplants and immortality: Might Xi and Putin be onto something?  BBC
  3. Xi and Putin’s hot mic moment: How long will science extend the human life span?  AP News
  4. Hot Mic in Beijing Captures Leaders’ Drive for Longevity  The Wall Street Journal
  5. In a ‘Hot Mic’ Moment, Xi and Putin Muse About Immortality and Organ Transplants  The New York Times
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Houthi missile, 3rd in 24 hours, falls short of Israel; Katz threatens ‘all 10 plagues’ – The Times of Israel

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  1. Houthi missile, 3rd in 24 hours, falls short of Israel; Katz threatens ‘all 10 plagues’  The Times of Israel
  2. Israel threatens to unleash biblical plagues on Yemen’s Houthis  Al Jazeera
  3. IDF says intercepted Houthi missile carried a cluster bomb warhead  The Times of Israel
  4. Israel intercepts missile fired from Yemen  Reuters
  5. Third Houthi Missile Fired Towards Israel In 24 Hrs | LIVE BLOG  i24NEWS
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GST: India makes ACs, tea, school supplies cheaper to mitigate shock of US tariffs – BBC

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  1. GST: India makes ACs, tea, school supplies cheaper to mitigate shock of US tariffs  BBC
  2. Next-gen GST regime is a booster for MSMEs, say Karnataka trade bodies  The Hindu
  3. India's tax cut on solar and wind devices to lower clean energy tariff, experts say  Reuters
  4. India cuts consumption taxes to boost demand after Trump’s tariff blow  Al Jazeera
  5. Tax Cuts Ignite Hope of Festival Sales Surge for India Carmakers  Bloomberg.com
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Thursday briefing: China flexes its muscle in the tussle for global dominance

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In today’s newsletter: In hosting anti-western leaders at its largest ever military parade, Beijing sent a defiant message that will be heard loud and clear across the world

Good morning. All eyes have been on China this week as the second biggest global economy flexed its muscles.

Dozens of world leaders, including from the global south, authoritarian pariah states and the EU, attended China’s largest ever military parade on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

UK news | Deputy PM Angela Rayner has admitted she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat, after coming under intense pressure to be more transparent about her property arrangements.

Russia | Vladimir Putin has invited Kim Jong-un to visit Russia during a lengthy meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s biggest military parade, as Kim promised to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.

Police | The Metropolitan police have declined to drop their investigation into the comedy writer Graham Linehan for tweets about trans issues, and said that the law used by officers to detain him needs reviewing.

Israel | Israeli drones dropped four grenades near UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, the agency’s force said on Wednesday, in what it described as “one of the most serious attacks” on its personnel since a November ceasefire.

Portugal | A day of national mourning has been declared in Portugal after at least 15 people were killed when Lisbon’s well-known Gloria funicular railway car derailed and crashed on Wednesday.

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Scrap two-child benefit cap to help lift 4m people out of poverty, government urged

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Exclusive: Cross-party Poverty Strategy Commission says abolishing limit would be part of its ‘once in a generation’ plan

A cross-party commission including former welfare ministers is urging the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit as part of an ambitious “once in a generation” plan to lift millions of people out of poverty.

The Poverty Strategy Commission said billions of pounds of investment – including a boost to the rate of universal credit – was needed to reverse record levels of poverty in the UK, and tackle longstanding failures over rising hardship and destitution.

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