Main ticket seller and six tour companies fined £17m for Colosseum price-fixing

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Illegal practices included use of bots to hoard tickets for attraction in Rome for resale at inflated prices

An Italian ticketing company and six tour operators have been fined almost €20m (£17m) for illegal practices that made it difficult for regular visitors to access Rome’s Colosseum at the standard cost.

Italy’s antitrust authority, AGCM, said the practices, including using software bots to hoard tickets and resell them at higher prices, made it “essentially impossible” to buy tickets online for site.

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Albanese accuses Coalition of ‘gaslighting’ public over energy as Dutton touts economic credentials in first leaders’ debate

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Prime minister asks ‘how can you believe what they’ll do after the election’ as opposition leader accuses Labor of having the wrong priorities

Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of “gaslighting” Australians on key Liberal policies in a spirited first leaders’ debate of the election campaign which focused heavily on energy, health and tax policies.

Neither man made a major misstep in the Sky News forum on Tuesday evening in western Sydney, where Albanese was voted the winner in a poll of 100 undecided voters. Albanese won 44 votes, Dutton won 35 and 21 remained undecided.

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US workers feel effects of Trump cuts: ‘I am seeing my work dry up’

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President’s effort to rapidly shrink federal government is already reaching private sector as recession fears loom

Americans are grappling with climbing costs, falling sales and dwindling work as Donald Trump moves to overhaul the federal government and economy.

As the US president pushes forward with an array of controversial policies, from sweeping cuts to blanket tariffs, the Guardian asked US workers how they have been affected. Some requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

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RFK Jr stayed silent on vaccine, says father of child who died from measles

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Pete Hildebrand says health secretary ‘never said anything’ about vaccine’s efficacy when he visited for funeral

A Texas man who buried his eight-year-old daughter on Sunday after the unvaccinated child died with measles says Robert F Kennedy Jr “never said anything” about the vaccine against the illness or its proven efficacy while visiting the girl’s family and community for her funeral.

“He did not say that the vaccine was effective,” Pete Hildebrand, the father of Daisy Hildebrand, said in reference to Kennedy during a brief interview on Monday. “I had supper with the guy … and he never said anything about that.”

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US Supreme Court clears way for Alien Enemies Act deportations – but migrants must get court hearing | First Thing

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Family members of many deported Venezuelans deny alleged gang ties. Plus, global executions hit 10-year high in 2024

Good morning.

The supreme court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th-century wartime law to deport Venezuelan people, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the US.

What was the reaction? Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit against the deportations, said the court’s ruling that deportees were entitled to due process was an “important victory”. Donald Trump posted: “The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA.”

What did Beijing say on Tuesday? China’s commerce ministry accused the US of “blackmail” and said Trump’s threats of additional 50% tariffs if Beijing did not reverse its own 34% reciprocal tariff were a “mistake on top of a mistake”.

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