Mass prison escapes during the chaos of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured two of its largest cities over the past two months, have caused panic among the public. Jailbreaks involving thousands of people at four prisons in the region have accompanied the rapid advance … Read more
A man has been arrested after a 40-year-old woman who was shot dead in Talbot Green, about 15 miles west of Cardiff. The woman was found with serious injuries in the Green Park area of the Welsh town just after 6pm on Sunday and could not be saved by emergency services, south Wales police said. … Read more
Peter Dutton has defended his decision to attend a lavish fundraiser in Sydney as then Tropical Cyclone Alfred approached Queensland last week, claiming those criticising his decision were seeking “political advantage”. The opposition leader’s Monday morning interview on Sky News came after Queensland Labor senator Murray Watt claimed Dutton had “sold out his constituents” by … Read more
A 29-year-old man has been charged after climbing on to the clock tower of Big Ben, the Metropolitan police has said. Daniel Day, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, has been charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and trespassing on a protected site. Day is accused of scaling the Elizabeth Tower barefoot at … Read more
The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms. Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to “strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world”, announced the inclusion of the US on the non-profit’s … Read more
Companies are putting the brakes on hiring new staff amid a “subdued” economic outlook and rising wage bills, according to the latest business surveys. In signs of a weakening UK labour market, the consultancy KPMG and the trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said a marked decline in the number of people being … Read more
The UN has condemned what it called “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being killed in north-west Syria as clashes between security forces and Assad regime loyalists resulted in the country’s highest death toll since the start of its revolution in 2011. The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, called on Sunday for investigations … Read more
Thousands of people living near rivers and creeks in south-east Queensland have been warned to seek shelter or find high ground, amid concern about more flash flooding in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. More than 230,000 households and businesses are still without power, as heavy rain continued on Sunday night and into Monday morning. … Read more
The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable … Read more
Mark Carney, the former central banker who oversaw the response to financial crises in North America and the UK, will become the next prime minister of Canada after winning the race to lead the country’s federal Liberal party. Carney, 59, takes on the role as Canada is locked in a potentially catastrophic trade war with … Read more