In this issue

May 17, 2023

'Stick to the job': Tories fear Braverman wants to be PM after inflammatory speech

A cabinet rift has opened up over the direction of Rishi Sunak's government after Suella Braverman sparked fears she is pitching to be prime minister by setting out her hardline, right-wing vision of Conservatism.

3 mins

Sunak's Push For European Court Reform Knocked Back

PM's bid to alter deportation rules hits resistance at summit

4 mins

Plans to 'train up' Britons to fill labour gap will fall short

Suella Braverman has called for Britain to be \"less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour\" and claimed job shortages can be filled with domestic workers. The home secretary is among the right-wing Conservative MPs pressuring Rishi Sunak to drive down net migration after it soared to a record of more than 500,000 in the year to June.

4 mins

Could Farage Be Preparing Another Brexit Comeback?

Brexit has "failed" says Nigel Farage, former leader of Ukip and the Brexit Party and leading force in the Leave movement. He concedes the economy hasn't benefitted and that immigration has not fallen as he and many Leave voters expected during the 2016 referendum. His admission leaves the door open to a political comeback.

4 mins

Top Tory donor linked to money laundering probe

A top businessman named as a \"person of interest\" in a global money laundering investigation has been revealed as a major Tory donor.

3 mins

Truss Will Challenge Sunak To Brand China As A 'Threat'

Fears ex-PM could antagonise Beijing in speech in Taipei

2 mins

Record 2.5 million leaving work with long-term illness

The number of Britons not working due to long-term sickness has hit a record high, with the increase driven by a rise in mental health problems among young people and a rise in back and neck pain.

3 mins

Minister to look at SATs after pupils left in 'tears'

The schools minister has pledged to look at concerns last week's SATS exams were too difficult after claims a paper left some year 6 pupils in \"tears\".

3 mins

Kyiv 'Shoots Down' Barrage Of Deadly Russian Missiles

Ukraine claims to have intercepted six hypersonic rockets

4 mins

Giuliani accused of selling pardons for $2m and of demanding sex from aide

Rudy Giuliani has been accused of forcing an aide to give him oral sex while he was on speakerphone to Donald Trump, in a bombshell $10m (£8m) sexual assault and harassment lawsuit brought against the former New York City mayor.

3 mins

Who will lead Thailand's new era after junta defeat?

After a resounding general election success, Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party now faces the task of assembling a coalition that can win approval both from parliament and the Senate whose members were appointed by the military after the 2014 coup.

2 mins

India's Row Over Low-Budget Bollywood Film Turns Deadly

A Bollywood film depicting Hindu and Christian women lured to join ISIS has divided India along state lines, triggering deadly clashes. The Kerala Story is a fictional drama but was originally touted as being based on the true stories of more than 30,000 such women until a court ruled the creators' claims had no basis in fact.

3 mins

Five jailed for carrying out £100m German jewel heist

Five men have been found guilty of stealing jewels worth more than €113m (£98m) in the German city of Dresden - one of the most spectacular heists the country has seen.

2 mins

The Tory right wants to drag women back to the dark ages

The right wing of the Conservative Party turns with glowing eyes to Gilead. All extremist political movements depend on invented enemies to inspire fear and the promise of renewal and, at the National Conservative Conference in London this week, they invoked a familiar victim for sacrifice: the non-compliant female and her too-small brood.

2 mins

It's fair that more nurses pay the higher rate of income tax

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) knows how to hit the headlines, and \"One in five will be paying higher income tax rate by 2027\" is one that many readers want to read.

2 mins

I'll never forget the sound of the missiles that shook Kyiv

In the course of this long, loud spring of almost nightly Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, everyone here has developed their own sleeping policy.

3 mins

Truss is on a mission to mess with fragile China diplomacy

At the age of just 48, the late John Profumo was barely a few months older than Liz Truss is now when his political career came to a sudden and profoundly embarrassing end.

3 mins

Vietnam is brewing up a rescue plan to save coffee from the climate crisis

Researchers are trying to produce a 'super' bean resilient to temperature change, say Rebecca Tan and Nhung Nguyen

6 mins

'I think Megan become an illness influencer of sorts'

A BBC podcast explores the story of a seriously ill pop fan whose charity wooed celebs and politicians - until doubts arose about her brain tumour diagnosis. Eloise Hendy talks to journalist Jamie Bartlett about what he unearthed

5 mins

CRIME DOES PAY...

Patricia Arquette plays an enterprising former felon turned detective in Apple TV+s 'High Desert' - and the result is a mix of chaos, charisma and dysfunction, says Louis Chilton

2 mins

Holly and Phil have been doomed since 'queuegate'

As rumours of a rift between the two presenters swirl on social media, Louis Chilton points out that morning TV's golden duo lost the sympathy of their audience months ago

3 mins

Why London-Sydney in two hours won't occur by 2033

Local time here at Hong Kong airport is 10.40pm on Tuesday evening. In half an hour, British Airways flight BA32 is due to depart for London Heathrow from Gate 26.

2 mins

Regulation 'critical' to curb AI risk, says ChatGPT boss

Artificial intelligence needs regulation and its possible use to interfere with election integrity is a \"significant area of concern\", the boss of the company behind ChatGPT has told Congress.

1 min

A tight labour market is bad news for real wage growth

There was a certain synchronicity in Vodafone announcing plans to axe 11,000 jobs from the group's workforce on the day the Office for National Statistics (ONS) unveiled its latest look at Britain's noticeably tightening jobs market.

3 mins

Inter see off Milan to reach Champions League final

After clawing their way to Istanbul, Internazionale have made one thing clear beyond the fact they have reached a first Champions League final since 2010, and a sixth in their history.

3 mins

England still searching for answers after Archer injury

It was the news everyone expected, but it still dealt a bitter blow when England announced Jofra Archer was ruled out of the most highly anticipated home Ashes series in more than a decade.

3 mins

Read all stories from The Independent

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