Lion’s owners arrested after woman and children injured in attack in Pakistan

Footage shows animal leaping over wall in Lahore before attack that left victims with face and arm injuries

The owners of a pet lion that escaped from a farmhouse and injured a woman and her two children in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore have been arrested, authorities said on Sunday.

The arrest came after dramatic video footage emerged showing the lion leaping over a wall and attacking the victims in a residential area.

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Continue ReadingLion’s owners arrested after woman and children injured in attack in Pakistan

Ben Stokes’ waning influence with the bat on display in England’s soggy defeat | Andy Bull

Captain was bamboozled by Jadeja’s bowling before falling to Washington Sundar in crushing second Test loss to India

It was raining hard in Birmingham on Sunday morning. A weight of great black clouds broke over the city while it was feeling its way into the day. On the streets people pressed themselves together under the cover of bus stops and awnings: revellers off to the Queens Heath pride festival, heavy metal lovers making their way home after Black Sabbath’s farewell gig at Villa Park the previous evening, and cricket supporters bound for the ground, most of them with last-minute tickets, split between anxious Indian and wry English fans, the only people in the city who were happy enough to be getting wet.

The bad weather was about the only way England were going to get out of this match with a draw. A team who have spent three years learning how to do the improbable were in no position at all to attempt the unremarkable and bat out the match, even after the rain had washed out the first hour and a half of the day.

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Continue ReadingBen Stokes’ waning influence with the bat on display in England’s soggy defeat | Andy Bull

Texas floods reveal limitations of disaster forecasting under climate crisis

Texas’s ‘flash flood alley’ could bring even more floods in near future as Trump cuts compound with warming climate

The ongoing challenges of forecasting extreme weather during the era of the climate crisis have been brought to the fore again amid catastrophic flash flooding in the “hill country” region of Texas.

As of early Sunday, hundreds of rescuers are searching for at least 12 people still missing as rains taper off outside of San Antonio and Austin. Hundreds of people have already been pulled from floodwaters that have killed nearly 70 people so far, many of them children at a summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River.

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Continue ReadingTexas floods reveal limitations of disaster forecasting under climate crisis

Parents in Britain to be granted bereavement leave after miscarriage

Mothers and partners will gain the legal right if they lose a baby before 24 weeks, in Labour workers’ rights reform

Parents in Britain will be granted the right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour’s changes to workers’ rights, it has been confirmed.

In a change to the law made via amendments to the employment rights bill, mothers and their partners will be given the legal right to at least one week’s bereavement leave if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation.

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Continue ReadingParents in Britain to be granted bereavement leave after miscarriage

Leeds stun Super League leaders Hull KR to spark life into title race

With 10 rounds to go, Super League had threatened to become a tad dull at the top – not any more

Every win results in the same amount of points and every round in Super League has the same level of importance attached to it. But as the Leeds Rhinos players punched the air in jubilation at full-time here, you could not escape the fact that this was a statement result on a significant weekend for the whole competition.

With 10 rounds to go, Super League had threatened to become a tad dull at the top. Hull KR and Wigan, considered the best two teams by a distance, were streaking away towards the playoffs with few giving anyone else a chance of beating either in a semi-final to make Old Trafford.

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Continue ReadingLeeds stun Super League leaders Hull KR to spark life into title race

Government faces battle over Send overhaul as campaigners voice fears

MPs and parents worry shake-up may abolish vital education, health and care plans that SEN children rely on

Downing Street is facing another bruising battle following last week’s humiliating retreat on welfare reforms, as MPs, campaigners and parents voice concern at its overhaul of special needs education for children in England.

A letter to the Guardian, signed by dozens of special needs and disability charities and campaigners – including the broadcaster Chris Packham, actor Sally Phillips and Jane Asher, actor and president of the National Autistic Society – says parents fear the reforms may restrict or abolish the vital education, health and care plans (EHCPs) that more than 600,000 children and young people rely on for individual support.

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Continue ReadingGovernment faces battle over Send overhaul as campaigners voice fears