Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violenceThe scale of the prison overcrowding crisis has been laid bare by figures revealing that a quarter of prisoners in England and Wales have been sharing cells designed for one person with at least one other inmate.According...

Organisers of this year’s environmental conference hope cooperation on green issues could help ease global tensions This year’s Cop29 UN climate summit will be the first “Cop of peace”, focusing on the prevention of future climate-fuelled conflicts and using international cooperation on green issues to help heal existing tensions, according to plans...

Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth, official inquiry toldDisastrous failures that caused the contaminated blood scandal were denied by ministers for decades after officials destroyed, lost and blocked access to key documents, memos submitted to the official inquiry reveal.Several batches of files involving the work of a blood...

Centre-right politicians must resist urge to copy or work with far right, Spain’s environment minister saysThe future of the EU is being jeopardised by people stirring up social tensions for short-term political gain, Spain’s environment minister has said ahead of next month’s European parliamentary elections.Teresa Ribera, who is heading the list for...

Woman and man, aged 21 and 23, facing charges including murder and deprivation of liberty after alleged victim died in hospitalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA Queensland man who was allegedly held captive, tortured and beaten at a remote property north of...

Union leader Sharon Graham says Keir Starmer risks ‘limping into Downing Street’Labour’s biggest union backer has warned it may divert election funding earmarked for the party, amid claims that Keir Starmer is diluting plans to overhaul workers’ rights.In an interview with the Observer, Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the Labour leader...