In dramatic intervention in election, health chiefs urge parties to avoid false promises

Hospitals are so short of doctors and nurses that patients’ safety and quality of care are under threat, senior NHS leaders have warned in a dramatic intervention in the general election campaign

Nine out of 10 hospital bosses in England fear understaffing across the service has become so severe that patients’ health could be damaged. In addition, almost six in 10 (58%) believe this winter will be the toughest yet for the service.

Accountancy firm not renewing sponsorship, it emerges, after much-criticised TV interview

The accountancy giant KPMG is not renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew’s entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, it has emerged, in the wake of his much-derided interview in which he defended his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York has been heavily criticised as having shown neither contrition nor sympathy for Epstein’s child victims in the BBC Newsnight interview and his suitability as patron to scores of charities and organisations has been called into question as a result.

Declaration marks rejection of 2016 UN resolution that settlements on the West Bank are a ‘flagrant violation’ of international law

The US has declared that Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are not necessarily illegal, in a dramatic break with decades of international law, US policy and the established position of most US allies.

“Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” said Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace.”

Hundreds trapped inside Polytechnic as demonstrators try to break campus siege

Hong Kong police have fought running battles with protesters trying to break a security cordon around a university in the city, firing teargas both at activists trying to escape the besieged campus and at crowds trying to reach it from outside.

Police have said the demonstrators inside Polytechnic University had no option but to come out and surrender.

People with asthma or respiratory illness should stay inside, health authorities warn

Sydney woke up to a thick blanket of smoke over the city on Tuesday as New South Wales headed into the first of two “tough days” this week, with temperatures likely to rise to the 40s and little-to-no rainfall forecast.

Most of the state’s east coast was under severe or very high fire danger ratings, with more than 50 bushfires burning, of which 28 remained uncontained.

Shootings at high school, home and backyard party prompt renewed calls for action against gun violence

Nine people were killed in three mass shootings in California in just four days, marking a particularly brutal wave of gun violence incidents in the state.

On Thursday morning, a 16-year-old student from Saugus high school in Santa Clarita, 30 miles north of Los Angeles, shot five classmates and then himself. Two of the victims, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, succumbed to their injuries, as did the gunman.

Windfarms could be able to generate more energy due to phenomenon, says report

The global climate crisis could lead to more renewable electricity being generated by spurring faster wind speeds for the world’s growing number of windfarms, according to research.

Scientists have discovered that the world’s shifting ocean circulation patterns may have triggered a rapid increase in wind speeds over the last 10 years.

• Swift said Big Machine had said she could not sing old tracks
• High-profile Democrats attacked label’s private equity backers

Taylor Swift has been cleared to perform Shake It Off and her older hit songs at Sunday’s American Music Awards (AMAs) after her former record label backed away from an increasingly bitter row with the music star.

Related: Taylor Swift's former label denies blocking her from performing

Expert warns of ‘huge inequality’ in capital, while Lithuanian males live shortest lives

Men from west London, one of the wealthiest areas of the UK, have the longest life expectancy of males in Europe with a newborn baby expected to live to the age of 82, according to statistics published to mark International Men’s Day.

The data from the EU department Eurostat suggests that only men from the city centre of the Spanish capital, Madrid, tend to live as long as the fortunate subset of Londoners.

Medical team say people’s unexplained breathlessness could be down to bedding dust

As winter approaches it might be tempting to curl up under a thick feather duvet, but experts have warned it might lead to more than just warm toes.

Doctors have reported a case of “feather duvet lung” – a lung inflammation cause by breathing in dust from the feathers in bedding – and have called for medical professionals to be on the alert if patients turn up with unexplained breathlessness.