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Official data cannot show what impact ECHR has on asylum cases, says leading thinktank Migration ObservatoryGaps in official migration statistics are hampering public debate and policy decisions including on cases relating to human rights laws, according to a leading thinktank.The University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory has identified 10 areas where information is lacking, including immigration enforcement and returns, and the size of the population living undocumented in the UK. Continue reading...

Meanwhile sewage risked spilling into Sydney Harbour from a cracked wastewater pipe. This blog is now closedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian government’s controversial “adult time for violent crime” bill has passed parliament without amendment.The bill, which will move serious crimes committed by children as young as 14 from the children’s court to adult courts, passed at about 6pm on Thursday with the support of the Coalition.I’m pleased these laws can now be put in place as soon as possible to protect Victorians. There are no easy solutions to youth crime, and the best approach is always to stop crime before it starts. But we absolutely need serious consequences for violent youth crime to protect the community now. Continue reading...

From ‘all at sea’ to ‘by and large’, windy weather has had quite an impact on the English languageSome everyday expressions have an obvious nautical origin such as “all at sea” and “an even keel”. But plenty of others have slipped into the language unnoticed, including a number derived from how sailors talked about the wind.Surprisingly, “overbearing” was originally a nautical term, meaning having an advantage over another ship by carrying more canvas safely and so being able to sail faster. The expression came to be used metaphorically to describe an approaching storm or anything else that could not be outrun. Similarly to “bear down” on something was to approach forcefully with the wind behind. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Group’s open letter says Reform UK leader must take responsibility for behaviour as a schoolboyA group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich College allege he made toward Jewish pupils.The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with intent but may have engaged in “banter in a playground”. Continue reading...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an annual summit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties

This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: US supreme court gives Texas win in national redistricting battleAmong the beneficiaries of Donald Trump’s pardons and commutations, there is a group that legal experts and political scientists see as some of the clearest evidence of how such actions undermine the rule of law: those who were released from prison and again arrested for different alleged crimes.During his first term, Trump issued 237 acts of clemency – including to someone who was a predatory lender and drug smuggler and to another who ran a Ponzi scheme. Since taking office again, Trump has issued more than 1,600, most for people involved in the January 6 attack on Congress. Continue reading...

Six days after alleged incident, evidence emerges without requiring medical intervention, New Zealand police sayPolice say they have recovered a Fabergé egg pendant from a man accused of swallowing the item in a jewellery story.New Zealand police have spent six days monitoring every bowel movement of the suspect, a spokesperson said, and the NZ$33,000 ($19,000) James Bond Octopussy pendant was recovered from his gastrointestinal tract on Thursday night by natural means, without requiring medical intervention. Continue reading...

Strike comes amid congressional turmoil over legality of US attacks on suspected drug smugglersThe Pentagon announced on Thursday that the US military had conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics, killing four men in the eastern Pacific, as questions mount over the legality of the attacks.Video of the new strike was posted on social media by the US southern command, based in Florida, with a statement saying that, at the direction of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”. Continue reading...