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Labour-supporting unions predict Starmer will not lead party into next election

13 May 2026 at 05:00

Exclusive: Leaked draft statement says party ‘cannot continue on its current path’ under PM

Keir Starmer will not lead his party into the next general election, Labour-supporting unions have predicted, in an intervention that threatens to further destabilise the prime minister after a damaging few days.

The 11 Labour-affiliated unions – which include Unite, Unison and the GMB – are expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday saying “at some stage” the party will have to put a plan in place to elect a new leader.

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© Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

© Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

© Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI Helena Horton
    Horticulturalists express alarm after award-winning Matt Keightley launches app that can automate designsWith glasses of champagne sipped among the peonies, Chelsea flower show is generally a friendly and genteel occasion. But this year, the secateurs have been drawn as gardeners clash over the use of AI in designing the exhibits.Matt Keightley, an award-winning designer who has created gardens for figures including Prince Harry, is using artificial intelligence to design his garden for the pres
     

Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI

13 May 2026 at 05:00

Horticulturalists express alarm after award-winning Matt Keightley launches app that can automate designs

With glasses of champagne sipped among the peonies, Chelsea flower show is generally a friendly and genteel occasion. But this year, the secateurs have been drawn as gardeners clash over the use of AI in designing the exhibits.

Matt Keightley, an award-winning designer who has created gardens for figures including Prince Harry, is using artificial intelligence to design his garden for the prestigious show, held at the Royal Hospital gardens in Chelsea, London, next week.

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© Photograph: Teri Pengilley/Teri Pengilley for The Guardian

© Photograph: Teri Pengilley/Teri Pengilley for The Guardian

© Photograph: Teri Pengilley/Teri Pengilley for The Guardian

NSW police to drop charges against Isaac Herzog protesters laid using unlawful public assembly restrictions

13 May 2026 at 04:23

Lawyers calling for all charges to be withdrawn after Sydney town hall rally against Israeli president

Charges laid under a now defunct law against people who attended a Sydney protest against Isaac Herzog will be dropped, police have confirmed, but it remains unclear how many of the 30 protesters charged the decision affects.

The New South Wales police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said on ABC Radio on Wednesday morning that, pending a review, police would drop charges laid under the public assembly restriction declaration (Pard) law. That law was in force during the February protest at Sydney’s town hall against the Israeli president’s visit to Australia and was cited by police as the reason a march could not go ahead.

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© Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

© Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

© Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

‘Blatant disregard for rights’: concern grows over Gabon’s social media clampdown

13 May 2026 at 04:00

Activists claim use of laws to curtail internet freedoms part of well-documented history of cracking down on dissent

When Gabon’s media regulator indefinitely suspended major social media platforms in February, citing security concerns during anti-government protests, it became the talk of town – literally.

Within weeks of the announcement, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass the restrictions surged in the central African country. When gendarmerie began stopping young men at road checkpoints in the capital Libreville and other urban centres to confiscate mobile phones with VPNs installed or detain the owners, warnings spread by word of mouth. Activists and opposition members said their accounts were also suspended due to efforts of state officials.

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© Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images

Inquest into death of Clare Nowland after Tasering by NSW police aims to answer ‘outstanding questions’

13 May 2026 at 03:41

Coroner will examine 95-year-old’s death and look at dementia training for aged care staff, police and ambulance officers

Three years after police fatally Tasered an aged care resident, an inquest could save lives by improving training for first responders dealing with aggressive dementia patients.

Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after being called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern New South Wales on 17 May 2023.

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© Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

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