World news | The Guardian

German capital’s oldest musical institution violated constitution by refusing girl’s application, court to hearA nine-year-old girl is taking Berlin’s oldest boys’ choir to court, claiming the state-run institution’s admissions criteria are gender-biased and violate Germany’s constitution.Next week, Berlin’s administrative court will hear that the decision of the State and Cathedral Choir Berlin (SDB) to reject the girl after an audition in April this year was discriminatory because it infringed on her right to equal opportunities in state support. Continue reading...

Malika Shamas, 14, died after three people were pulled from the sea in Clacton, EssexEssex police have named the 14-year-old girl who died after being pulled from the sea in Clacton on Thursday as Malika Shamas.A statement said: “We can provisionally name a teenage girl who died after getting into difficulty at sea near to Clacton Pier yesterday, Thursday 8 August. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s chief of staff tells advisers not to book holidays before 31 OctoberBoris Johnson’s chief of staff cancelled all leave for government advisers until 31 October in a missive on Thursday night, raising further speculation the government is planning for a forced snap election in the aftermath of the UK leaving the EU with no deal.Special advisers were emailed by Johnson’s senior adviser Edward Lister on Thursday night, saying there was “some confusion about taking holiday”. They were told none should be booked until 31 October, with compensation considered “on a case by case basis” for those who had already booked leave, though the email said advisers were free to spend their weekends “as you wish”. Continue reading...

City’s leader rules out political concessions as demonstrations continue with sit-in at airportThe Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, has said her priority is to “stop the violence” rather than make political concessions, as the city’s two- month-long protest movement pressed on with a demonstration at the airport.Lam said traffic disruptions and confrontations between police and protesters had hurt the economy, particularly the retail and food and beverage sectors. The demonstrations, however, are not abating and more are planned for this weekend, including at the airport, where protesters holding signs staged a sit-in at the arrival and departure halls on Friday. Continue reading...

Accused initially face lesser charge of sexual abuse over incident in Spanish resortFive French men accused of gang-raping a Norwegian woman in a holiday apartment in the Spanish resort of Benidorm have been charged with sexual abuse.The men, all aged 18 or 19, were arrested on Wednesday, Spanish police said, after a medical centre the 20-year-old woman visited had alerted authorities in the early hours of the morning. Continue reading...

Matteo Salvini reiterates call for snap vote as his party plans motion to dismantle coalitionItaly appears set for fresh elections that could push the country further toward the far right.Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, reiterated his calls for a snap vote on Friday, adding that any attempt to block his wishes and install a new ruling coalition would be unacceptable. His League party said it would present a no-confidence motion in the senate in its push to dismantle the tempestuous coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). Continue reading...

Weakest growth since 2008’s financial crisis reported as anxiety over US-China trade war growsThe world’s demand for oil is growing at the slowest rate since the financial crisis over fears of a global economic slowdown, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.The agency said fears about the economic impact of the US trade war with China have caused oil prices to slide despite flaring tensions in the Middle East which would typically cause markets to spike. Continue reading...

Artist fears Britain will take no responsibility and is seen by China as ‘nothing’

‘Extremely broad’ measures could increase suffering in the country, says Michelle BacheletThe UN rights chief has intensified criticism of US sanctions targeting Venezuela, condemning the latest measures as “extremely broad” with the potential to exacerbate suffering among an already vulnerable population.The UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, has raised concern about previous sanctions imposed by Washington against the government of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. Continue reading...

A 0.2% contraction between April and June is first fall in GDP in six and a half years

Ceiling ‘every bit as wonderful’ as the Sistine Chapel in Rome, says the Rev Andy BryantA cathedral has installed a 55ft-tall helter skelter in its nave so that visitors can enjoy a better view of its ornate roof.The Rev Canon Andy Bryant, of Norwich Cathedral, said the idea came to him when he was visiting the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Continue reading...

Strongest storm in five years has already cancelled 300 flights and cut power to 40,000 homes in TaiwanChina’s weather bureau issued a red alert as super typhoon Lekima approaches Zhejiang province on the eastern coast, after forcing flight cancellations in Taiwan and shutting markets and businesses.The National Meteorological Centre said the typhoon, the strongest since 2014, was expected to hit the mainland in early on Saturday and then turn north. It has issued gale warnings for the Yangtze river delta region, which includes China’s financial hub of Shanghai, a city of 26 million people. Continue reading...

Major telecoms company bans access to far-right site in wake of El Paso shooting manifesto that praised Christchurch attackOne of New Zealand’s largest telecommunications providers, Spark, has banned the far-right site 8chan after the country’s chief censor offered his backing for any internet service provider who did so in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting.Censor David Shanks applauded Spark’s “brave and meaningful” decision, describing the message board as “the white supremacist killer’s platform of choice”. Continue reading...

Japan’s capital has had temperatures above 31C for two weeks, prompting fears for 2020 Games’ athletesHeatstroke is suspected in the death of a worker at a Tokyo Olympics construction site, NHK national television has said, as the Japanese capital swelters through a scorching weather that has killed dozens of people.Soaring temperatures have killed at least 57 people across Japan from 29 July to 4 August, highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that is one of the biggest challenges for Olympics planners. Continue reading...

Rupert Murdoch’s Australian mastheads and Foxtel suffer drop in revenue although global profits increase after huge loss in 2018Revenue at the Australian mastheads run by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp fell by 6% last year, and the company’s pay TV operation, Foxtel, has also been hit by falling subscriber numbers.But results released on Friday show that overall the globe-spanning media empire returned to the black in the year to the end of June, declaring a profit of US$155m (A$228m). Continue reading...

Repeal of law was key part of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s election campaignGreece’s newly elected, centre-right government has ignored leftists’ protests to overturn a law that had prohibited police from entering universities.In a stormy debate preceding Thursday’s vote, the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, insisted the old law – regarded as sacrosanct in a country that had once known military rule – had turned campuses into dens of criminality and no-go zones for police. Continue reading...

Portion of White Sea closed to civilian ships for a month after explosion in ArkhangelskTwo people have been killed and radiation levels reportedly spiked after a rocket engine exploded during a test in northern Russia, prompting authorities to close a portion of the White Sea to civilian ships for a month.The reports of a sudden rise in radiation levels in the nearby city of Severodvinsk after the explosion contradicted official statements by Russia’s defence ministry that all radiation levels in the area remained stable. The surge in radiation levels lasted less than one hour, local officials said. Continue reading...

19-year-old killed by ex-boyfriend was fined for ‘wasting officers’ time’ after reporting harassmentPolice officers have been told not to hand out fixed penalty notices in stalking and harassment cases after the teenager Shana Grice was fined for wasting police time before she was murdered.The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) issued the recommendation to chief constables of all forces in England and Wales in the wake of the 19-year-old’s killing at the hands of her ex-boyfriend after he spent months stalking and harassing her. Continue reading...

Far-right linked fan leader Fabrizio Piscitelli reportedly victim of ‘hit’ in Rome parkProsecutors in Rome have launched a murder investigation after a leading member of Lazio Ultras, hardcore football fans often associated with the extreme right, was shot dead in a park in Rome.Fabrizio Piscitelli, 53, was shot in the back of the neck in broad daylight on Wednesday in Acqueduct park, in the Cinecittà area of the capital. Continue reading...

Previous attempt to arrest Almazbek Atambayev led to fighting between soldiers and his supportersPolice in Kyrgyzstan have detained the former presidentafter an outbreak of violence during a botched raid on his compound left a police officer dead and nearly 80 people injured.The violence has raised the threat of fresh turmoil in the former Soviet country, which borders China and hosts a Russian military airbase. There have been two revolutions in Kyrgyzstan since 2005. Continue reading...

Several colleagues walked out of parliament after Zuleikha Hassan was forced to leaveSome Kenyan lawmakers are protesting against a decision by the temporary speaker of parliament’s lower house to eject their colleague who was holding her young child during a session of the legislature.Zuleikha Hassan was ejected from the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday with her five-month-old baby. Continue reading...

NGO director appeals directly to France, Germany and Spain after Italy and Malta spurn boatA rescue ship carrying 121 migrants in the Mediterranean has called on the French, German and Spanish governments to intervene after Italy and Malta denied it access to their ports.The Open Arms boat, which is operated by the Spanish-based NGO Proactiva Open Arms, has been in international waters for eight days. Among those on board are 32 children, including nine-month-old twins. Continue reading...

No cause of death has been announced for songwriter and poet known for his projects Silver Jews and Purple Mountains, and his wry, witty lyricsDavid Berman, who was regarded as one of the most poetic voices in US indie rock, has died aged 52. His record label, Drag City, confirmed the news, but hasn’t confirmed the cause of death.Berman was best known for his project Silver Jews, and his wry lyrics. The band formed in 1989 in New Jersey, when Berman was living and working with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, who would go on to form the successful band Pavement. Malkmus has paid tribute to Berman, writing on Twitter: “His death is fucking dark … depression is crippling … he was a one of a kinder [sic] the songs he wrote were his main passion esp at the end. Hope death equals peace cuz he could sure use it.” Continue reading...

Umashima has more cats than people but numbers have fallen by two-thirds, with pieces of poisoned fish suspectedAuthorities on a remote island in Japan where there are more cats than people appear close to solving the mystery behind a dramatic drop in its feline population.Animal welfare groups voiced concern that foul play was responsible after the number of cats on Umashima, an island about 10km (six miles) off the south-western city of Kitakyushu, fell from 90 in 2014 to just 30 this year. Continue reading...

Removals are set to triple in the next 20 years. Aboriginal organisations have the solutionsThere is no doubt about it: the child protection system is in crisis, and it is manifestly failing Aboriginal children and young people. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on removing children and depositing them in a revolving door of unstable placements, homelessness, substance abuse and prison, the rate of Aboriginal children being removed from their families is expected to triple by 2037.In Victoria, Aboriginal children are 15.8 times more likely to be removed from their homes than their non-Aboriginal peers. Despite making up 1% of the population, Aboriginal children represent 20% of children in out-of-home care. Continue reading...

Melbourne to be hit with high winds after storms leave 4,000 properties without power in SA and bureau forecasts thunderstorms combined with snowHail, storms, damaging winds and “thundersnow” could sweep across parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, in what the Bureau of Meteorology described on Wednesday as “the strongest weather system this winter” to hit south-east Australia.Melbourne’s suburbs could be hit by 110km/h winds on Thursday night and Friday morning, while Adelaide and Sydney were also set to experience icy blasts as the storm swept across the country. Continue reading...

8 August 1960: Mixed together here in the same borough are about eight thousand laymen and what is claimed to be the largest artists community outside LondonSt Ives is frankly unsympathetic to the little colony of disillusionment in its midst. When several prime members, bearded and be-jeaned, broke down and asked for jobs at the local Employment Exchange, the manager hid his embarrassment and firmly told them to return when they had had a wash. “It would have been an insult “to send them round to an employer,” he explained, with true local pride.Related: The art of St Ives is no sideshow Continue reading...

Brandon Lee, dubbed an ‘enemy of the state’ on social media, is in a critical condition after the shooting in northern Ifugao provinceAn American human rights volunteer tagged an “enemy of the state” on social media in the Philippines has been shot four times outside his home.Brandon Lee, 37, who is married to a Filipina woman, was in a critical condition after suffering cardiac arrests during surgery to remove a bullet from his jaw after the shooting in Ifugao province in the northern Philippines on 6 August, according to a local rights group, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance. Continue reading...

ACTU leadership signals at conference it will continue to pursue political agendaA secretive review into the union movement’s federal election campaign has highlighted that it had the right policy ideas but the wrong slogan.The review, conducted by Evan Moorhead, a former Queensland state Labor MP, and its recommendations were unanimously endorsed at a two-day Australian Council of Trade Unions executive meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Continue reading...

Embassy accuses MP of having a ‘Cold-War mentality’ after he said rise of China was putting Australia’s sovereignty at riskChina has said it “strongly deplores” comments by the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie comparing the west’s attitude to China to France’s inadequate defences against Nazi Germany, accusing him of a “Cold War mentality and ideological bias”.On Thursday morning Labor branded Hastie’s intervention “extreme, overblown and unwelcome” and Scott Morrison attempted to distance himself from the backbencher’s remarks. Continue reading...

Bride and groom, who both underwent sex reassignment, comes as lower house of parliament votes to enshrine transgender rightsAn Indian transgender couple who both underwent sex re-assignment have tied the knot in a traditional Bengali ceremony, in what is believed to be the state’s first “rainbow wedding”.Surrounded by family and friends, the bride, Tista Das, 38, and groom, Dipan Chakravarthy, 40, took part in rituals in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state. Continue reading...

Puerto Rico’s supreme court overturned the swearing-in of Pedro Pierluisi, who was appointed by disgraced Ricardo RossellóPuerto Rico’s supreme court on Wednesday overturned the swearing-in of Pedro Pierluisi as the island’s governor less than a week ago, clearing the way for the justice secretary, Wanda Vázquez, to take up the post after weeks of turmoil.Vázquez took the oath of office in the early evening at the supreme court before leaving without making any public comment. She became just the second woman to hold the office. Continue reading...

Survivors not consulted and reporters shut out of royal commission hearings into March attack that killed 51 peopleConcern is growing that New Zealand’s royal inquiry into the Christchurch massacre is lacking teeth and transparency with survivors, the media and security experts raising red flags.On 15 March a lone gunmen killed 51 people in a white supremacist-inspired attack at two inner-city Christchurch mosques. Prosecutors say the massacre was livestreamed by the Australian-born shooter, Brenton Tarrant, and is the biggest mass murder in New Zealand’s modern history. Continue reading...

Melbourne gangland widow freed on bail after being charged with kidnapping and death threatGangland widow Roberta Williams has been given bail by a Melbourne court after allegedly kidnapping and threatening to kill a television producer making a show about her life.The 50-year-old widow of convicted killer Carl Williams, who was killed in prison in 2010, is one of four people charged with assaulting and threatening to kill producer Ryan Naumenko at Collingwood on 9 July. Continue reading...

Thursday: Canadian police have found two bodies, believed to be those of teenage murder suspects. Plus: actual data on ‘dole bludgers’Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 8 August. Continue reading...

Embassy denies staff used violence to halt rooftop protest against executions in BahrainA Bahraini dissident has said he was beaten and threatened with being thrown from the roof of the country’s embassy in London last month by staff trying to halt his rooftop protest against the execution of two men in the Gulf nation.Moosa Mohammed said he feared for his life in the struggle atop the five-storey Belgravia building. He said it began when an embassy staffer pushed him, then hit him with a metre-long plank of wood while he was perched precariously on the edge. Continue reading...

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is an overlooked UK cultural highlight, says James GriffithsEvery year the National Eisteddfod of Wales is held in the first week of August. Every year the “national” newspapers are oblivious to its existence. This is the largest and oldest cultural festival in Europe, with very high standards in choral, instrumental and singing performances. The literary competitions in poetry and drama, and the visual arts and science exhibitions, are among the best in the “United” Kingdom, yet there is never any mention of any of this.Highly talented young people take part in the Eisteddfod, but their abilities are ignored – and all because it is in Welsh and in Wales. There is no comparison between these high standards and the standards at Glastonbury, for example, and yet it is the latter that is given all of the publicity.

Far-right leader takes unusual step in effort to drum up support in south of countryMatteo Salvini is taking his perennial campaign to Italy’s beaches as the far-right leader seeks to whip up more support before widely-anticipated new elections.The Italian parliament officially begins its summer break at the end of the week, but Salvini, deputy prime minister and interior minister, is finishing on Wednesday to begin what the Italian media are calling his “beach tour”. Continue reading...

Papers and manuscripts were salvaged by author’s friend Max BrodIsrael’s National Library has unveiled a missing batch of Franz Kafka’s papers, ending more than a decade of legal wrangling between Israel and Germany over his legacy.As he battled with tuberculosis in an Austrian sanatorium, Kafka, a German-speaking Jew from Prague, asked his close friend Max Brod to destroy all his letters and writings. Continue reading...

Police patrol 18th-century marble steps, blowing whistles at visitors sitting downThe authorities in Rome have been accused of applying “fascist-style” measures after police began shooing resting tourists away from the staircase of the famous Spanish Steps.Police began patrolling the 18th-century marble steps on Tuesday, blowing whistles at those sitting down. The monument, a Unesco world heritage site, has long been the ideal resting spot for tired visitors and holds a special allure at sunset. Continue reading...

Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso allegedly used money-laundering scheme spanning six European countriesThe son of Congo-Brazzaville’s president has misappropriated $50m (£41m) of public money by routing it through shell companies and secrecy jurisdictions, according to a new investigation.Six countries in the EU, the US state of Delaware and the British Virgin Islands all played a key role in Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso’s scheme, according to Global Witness. The campaign group said the money was siphoned off through an apparent sham contract Congo-Brazzaville had with a Brazilian infrastructure company. Continue reading...

State regulator bans country’s movies, directors and actors from taking part in prestigious Chinese-language event, amid political tensionChina’s film regulator said on Wednesday it was blocking the mainland movie industry from participating in Taiwan’s Golden Horse awards, the ‘Chinese Oscars’. No reason was given, in the latest sign of rising tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island.The China Film News, a magazine published by the China Film Administration, made the announcement on its official WeChat account. “China Film Administration says that it will suspend mainland movies and their personnel from participating in 2019’s 56th Golden Horse awards,” it said. Continue reading...

For all the talk of social change in Saudi Arabia, the beneficiaries of a grand prix would be F1’s coffers and the country’s rulerWas it really only last year that Formula One’s owner, Liberty Media, was making its pious announcement that “grid girls” would no longer be a part of its stewardship of this most woke of all sports? “We feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values,” intoned F1’s managing director of commercial operations back then, “and clearly is at odds with modern day societal norms.”But which society? Formula One takes gazillions to race in so many different types of society. It feels difficult to apply any standard across the board. For instance, things that might be acceptable in the land of Silverstone, such as human rights and democracy, are less acceptable in the land of, say, the Shanghai International Circuit. Continue reading...

Latest series of the US hit show will recount the former White House intern’s affair with the then president that led to his impeachment in 1998Monica Lewinsky is among the producers on a new series of American Crime Story focusing on the Bill Clinton sex scandal.Titled Impeachment: American Crime Story, the Ryan Murphy-helmed anthology drama will recount the notorious affair between the then US president Clinton and former White House intern Lewinsky, and the subsequent impeachment proceedings called against him by the US House of Representatives. Continue reading...

Despite the poverty, lawlessness and pollution of life in Kibera, creativity still thrives thanks to a mix of determination, guts and luck. The Guardian spoke to people who have all threeLiving in a slum is the reality for 1 billion people and rising across the world. More than half of Africa’s city dwellers live in “informal settlements” and the continent’s biggest is Kibera, in Kenya. We heard from people there about their struggles, aspirations and their innovation, busting the myths and stereotypes about being poor and powerless. Continue reading...

Booker nominated author Chigozie Obioma reflects on losing a ‘literary mother’ and her encouragement for generations of black and African writers to come

St Stephens College principal says incident unrelated to overdose at same school last year

Liberal minister Shelley Hancock says she’s ‘suspicious’ of last-minute amendment circulated by Mark Speakman and Rob StokesPeak health and women’s groups have slammed proposed amendments to an historic bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales, saying the changes are a “perversion” of the legislation that would result in “an additional burden on medical practitioners and to delay access to care”.On Wednesday the Australian Medical Association said it was concerned the objectives of the bill risked being “derailed by unfounded fear-mongering on abortion” while the NSW Pro-Choice alliance said the amendments “present a worse situation than the status quo”. Continue reading...

Artist Luke Cornish’s critique of Australia’s offshore detention regime provoked push by local Liberals for its removalA contentious mural on Sydney’s Bondi Beach highlighting Australia’s hardline immigration policies and deaths in detention has been vandalised, amid calls for its removal.The black and white artwork, “Not … Welcome to Bondi”, depicted a row of heavily armed and masked Australian Border Force officers. Artist Luke Cornish, who has a show on display at the Bondi Pavilion, said the piece was a commentary on Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers. Continue reading...