World news | The Guardian

City wakes to tense calm after splinter group of protesters smashed their way into the legislative council and raised the former colonial flagHong Kong faced a tense calm on Tuesday as clean-up operations were underway to repair damage done by protesters to the city’s legislative council building on Monday night.Debris including umbrellas, hard hats and water bottles were the few signs left of the confrontations that engulfed parts of the Chinese-ruled city overnight after protesters stormed and ransacked the legislature. Continue reading...

Palermo antimafia division brings charges against ‘Mesi’ – the word for ‘when’ in TigrinyaThe elite antimafia division of the Palermo prosecutor’s office has charged an adverb with the crime of human trafficking, defence lawyers and language specialists have said.Charges against “Mesi” were brought as part of a sprawling international investigation on human smuggling, but it appears Sicilian magistrates confused the word for “when” in the Tigrinya language of Eritrea with the name of a man they thought was a powerful smuggler. Continue reading...

Epic journey by female fox includes fastest movement rate for species ever recordedAn arctic fox has walked more than 3,500km (2,000 miles) from Norway to Canada in just 76 days, astonishing researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute.The animal, known as a coastal or blue fox, was fitted with a tracking device in July 2017. It left Spitsbergen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago on 26 March 2018. After 21 days and 1,512 km out on the sea ice, it landed in Greenland on 16 April 2018. Its journey continued to Ellesmere Island in Canada, where it arrived on 1 July. Continue reading...

Officers move to disperse crowds after breakaway group stormed parliament buildingHong Kong police have fired teargas at demonstrators and moved to disperse crowds after protesters stormed the legislative council building and raised the territory’s former colonial flag on the 22nd anniversary of its handover to China.The dramatic scenes came after a peaceful march of half a million people made its way through other parts of the city as its deepest political crisis in two decades showed no sign of abating. For the past month protesters have been demanding the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland as anger has grown against Hong Kong authorities and the territory’s chief executive, Carrie Lam. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the latest from the Tory leadership contest

Focus is on averting further breaches and UK says it remains committed to 2015 dealEuropean leaders have resisted calls to start reimposing sanctions on Iran after the country said it had for the first time broken the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with foreign powers in 2015.Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Monday it had allowed its stockpile of low-enriched uranium to exceed 300kg. The move is a carefully calibrated and reversible step intended to put pressure on Europe to do more to help mitigate the effect of crippling US sanctions. Continue reading...

Body discovered in Clapham thought to have fallen from Kenya Airways jet’s landing gearThe body of a suspected stowaway believed to have fallen from a plane has been found in a south London garden.Police were called to Offerton Road in Clapham at 3.39pm on Sunday following the discovery. The body, believed to be that of a man, is thought to have fallen from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways flight as it prepared to land at Heathrow airport. Continue reading...

A stray missile has exploded in mid-air over villages in northern Cyprus, thought to have been fired by Syrian forces in response to an Israeli attack. Hours after the projectile struck the area at about 1am local time (11pm BST) debris was still being discovered in Turkish Cypriot villages

British government alleged to have been lobbied for return of Princess HayaA legal battle between two of the most prominent Middle Eastern royals has been launched in the London courts amid claims that the UK government has been lobbied over the case.Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, are understood to have parted. They are now engaged in a formal dispute in the high court. The case began after she fled Dubai and is due to resume later this month. Continue reading...

Newman is regarded as one of the most influential figures from 19th-century Britain

In the world’s northernmost town, temperatures have risen by 4C, devastating homes, wildlife and even the cemetery. Will the rest of the planet heed its warning? Continue reading...

Supporters of Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson say they believe no-deal Brexit is unlikely

Scott Morrison says Australians voted for Coalition’s tax plan and he would not be splitting the legislationScott Morrison says he is confident the government will pass its tax cut legislation through Parliament this week, as Labor reveals it will consider backing the government’s $158bn plan in full.After Labor MPs resolved on Monday to try to convince the Senate crossbench to split the legislation to defer tax cuts for higher income earners and bring forward relief for low and middle income earners, the prime minister said he would not consider the compromise bid. Continue reading...

Missile believed to be made in Russia crashes into mountain overnight, setting hills ablazeA missile has landed on the side of a mountain in Cyprus in what officials say could be a spillover of an Israeli strike on Syria and a counter response.The impact occurred at about 1am (10pm GMT) in the area of TaÅŸkent, also known as Vouno, 12 miles (20km) north-east of Nicosia, with the explosion setting hills ablaze and being heard for miles around. There were no casualties. Continue reading...

Kristina Keneally says Peter Dutton should not use medical transfers in a punitive fashionLabor and the Greens have both voiced concern about “punitive” and “cruel” treatment of refugees brought to Australia for medical treatment, after revelations dozens are detained in dirty and restrictive conditions inside a Brisbane hotel.Guardian Australia reported on Sunday that a cohort of refugees had been kept in the hotel, under heavy guard, for up to six months. Continue reading...

This calculator lets you work out how and when the government can pass legislationDespite winning the Australian election, the Coalition still does not have a majority in the Senate. If the government wants to pass legislation in the Senate, such as its tax cuts package, it needs to either gain the support of Labor, the Greens, or a combination of crossbench votes from One Nation, Centre Alliance or Jacqui Lambie.If all 76 senators are present, 39 are needed to pass legislation, and 38 are needed to block. Continue reading...

Airedale, West Yorkshire: This tiny community patch hosts damselflies and swallows, mallards and moorhensThere’s a hole in the wall. We hope they never get round to fixing it. The wall is the retaining stonework of the canal bywash, a bent offshoot down which tumbles overspill from the lock pound. The hole opens on to a French drain that runs down through a tangle of undergrowth to a pond. There is a duck house in the pond.This sloped rectangle of wetland and bright greenery beside the stately old Leeds-Liverpool canal is Hirst Wood, our newest nature reserve, a community patch with barely the footprint of a couple of semi-detached houses, hewn and shaped from unpromising scrub by hours of volunteer labour. The pond is at its heart. No: the pond is its heart, its life source. As we slosh through a wet summer it’s good to spend a little time reflecting on water as a vibrant and vivifying thing (even as we wring it from our socks and curse our canvas trainers). Continue reading...

4 July 1919 These dark-coloured animals are not the descendants of domesticated stock, but are a distinct phase of wild rabbitVery determined efforts were made last year to reduce the over-abundant rabbits, but, as far as one can see, without marked success. At the present time the corpses of infantile bunnies which have blundered through inexperience are very common in the woods. These youngsters will come out in the daytime and often get into stoat traps, spending many painful hours until mercifully destroyed by the keeper on his rounds. I may be too tender-hearted, but I confess that it spoils the enjoyment of a walk when I find it necessary to shorten the life of one of these beautiful little innocents.Related: Ben-Fur: Romans brought rabbits to Britain, experts discover Continue reading...

Pyongyang official news agency says leaders ‘agreed to keep in close touch in future’North Korea has described the weekend meeting between its leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump as “historic” and “amazing”.Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea on Sunday when he met Kim in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas and agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks. Continue reading...

PM says Britain must leave EU with ‘a good deal’ in apparent rebuke to ‘do or die’ comment

Ex-synagogue, once at heart of thriving Jewish quarter, aims to become community hub

Carola Rackete says act of ‘disobedience’ in Lampedusa was necessary to avert tragedyAn NGO rescue boat captain who has risked jail time after forcing her way into Lampedusa port in Italy with 40 migrants onboard has defended her act of “disobedience”, saying it was necessary to avert a tragedy.“It wasn’t an act of violence, but only one of disobedience,” the Sea-Watch 3 skipper, Carola Rackete, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday, as donations poured in for her legal defence. Continue reading...

Second man is arrested as Kelly Mary Fauvrelle’s baby remains in critical conditionDetectives investigating the murder of a pregnant woman in Croydon, south London, have named the victim as Kelly Mary Fauvrelle and have made a second arrest.Police were called by London ambulance service at 3.30am on Saturday to reports of a woman in cardiac arrest at a property on Raymead Avenue, Thornton Heath. Continue reading...

Penny Wong says Labor is considering Rex Patrick’s proposal for Senate inquiryLabor is considering backing a Senate inquiry into compliance with ministerial standards which is being pursued by the Centre Alliance after controversy over Christopher Pyne’s decision to join a major consultancy firm.Pyne, the former defence minister, announced last week he had taken up a job with EY to help the consulting group expand its defence business. Continue reading...

Support for same-sex marriage could hurt the Anglican church’s hopes of forging closer tiesThe Methodist church will decide this week whether to take a significant step towards allowing same-sex marriage, a move likely to complicate plans for closer ties with the Church of England.The Methodist conference in Birmingham is being urged to support proposals to allow same-sex marriage in its chapels. If successful, a final decision would be taken next year after wider consultation. Continue reading...

The design for a temporary new House of Commons while the Palace of Westminster undergoes a £4bn restoration feels like a missed opportunityBeyond the toxic imbroglio of Brexit and the unedifying psychodrama of the Tory leadership contest, something is deeply rotten in the “mother of parliaments”. The recent spectacle of a Commons sitting being suspended because of foetid water pouring into the chamber was just the latest and most televisual manifestation of problems with the ageing fabric of Britain’s creaking ship of state. Dating from the mid-19th century, with some parts considerably older, the Palace of Westminster has now reached the point where a £4bn programme of remedial action is required to make it remotely fit for purpose. Corrupted by decades of air pollution, its blackened Anston stone is now crumbling like feta cheese. Roofs leak, asbestos runs stealthily through its veins, vermin scuttle with impunity and antiquated Victorian plumbing cannot cope with modern volumes of water and sewage. Images of Notre Dame being apocalyptically consumed by flames must have induced queasiness in the members of the fire safety teams who patrol Westminster’s labyrinthine corridors every hour of every day, ready to stave off incipient catastrophe.Fire is a recurring theme of parliamentary history. Both Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, architects of the present building, were on hand to witness the conflagration of October 1834 which more or less destroyed its predecessor, giving them the opportunity to remodel Britain’s legislature as a fussy, frivolous neo-gothic wedding cake. “C’est un rêve en pierre” – a dream in stone – Nicholas I of Russia is said to have remarked, and Monet spent hours immortalising its many moods. Incorporating actual medieval structures, such as the surviving Westminster Hall, it represented the apotheosis of gothic as the dominant national style, classicism being fatally associated in the popular patriotic mind with the anarchy of revolutionary France. More royal residence than democratic legislature, the building was instantly antique, its lavishly ornamented interior groaning with allusions to royalty, aristocracy and chivalry. Reflecting Victorian political and social structures, however, it was expressly conceived for the use of a privileged ruling elite. Universal suffrage would not be achieved until 1928. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison says world leaders at G20 summit have offered assistance to help find SigleyThe prime minister, Scott Morrison, says Australian authorities are still attempting to establish what happened to Perth student Alek Sigley, who disappeared in North Korea several days ago.Morrison told reporters at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday evening that he had been in contact with Sigley’s family. He said world leaders at the summit had offered their assistance in attempts to locate the young man. Continue reading...

Australian prime minister convinces world leaders to take action following the Christchurch massacreThe world’s leaders have pushed social media giants to root out terrorism and violent extremist content on the internet.The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, earned a victory at the G20 summit by convincing all leaders of the world’s major economies to agree to take action, inspired by the live-streamed Christchurch massacre. Continue reading...

Hong Kong has seen its biggest political crisis in decades, but Beijing cannot afford to let the dissent go unpunishedThe Communist Party has always been aware of the power of mass protests.Mao Zedong in 1930 famously used the traditional saying: “a single spark can start a prairie fire” to remind fellow Communists the power of strikes and uprisings when they were a fledgling opposition party under the one-party Nationalist rule. Continue reading...

The south of France is like August in Death Valley, officials say, but lessons have been learnt from the deadly summer of 2003“Where shall we put it?” asked Luc Gomel, the director of Montpellier zoo. “Right on the front gate, to make sure the joggers see it,” came the reply from the reception desk. “They always complain if bits of the park are shut.”Gomel, sweat patches already blotting his armpits in the early morning heat, pinned the red notice to the gatepost. It warned that, because Montpellier was both on red alert for a heatwave and rated as a “severe” wildfire risk, special measures had been put in place at the zoo. Continue reading...

Lawyers say abuse claims by Moroccans must be investigated by Spanish authoritiesHuman-rights lawyers are warning that abuse claims by Moroccans picking fruit in Spain for UK supermarkets could amount to “state-sponsored human trafficking”.The international lawyers say Spanish authorities have a legal duty to ensure the allegations by the women – that they have faced exploitation and abuse while harvesting strawberries – are properly investigated by the courts. Continue reading...

Tourist chiefs ask for investment to build on success in doubling visitor numbersTourists in hats, cameras slung around their necks, crane them for a view. In the heart of old Athens, it is a reminder that the holiday season has begun. Last week as parties from cruise ships were guided through the narrow streets and squares of Pláka beneath the ancient Acropolis, industry officials were rejoicing at another seemingly immutable fact: that Greece is now among the most popular destinations in the world, poised to attract about 33 million tourists this year despite global economic uncertainty.Around a sixth will visit Athens, a capital that not that long ago was synonymous with anti-austerity protests and bypassed by holidaymakers heading straight for the isles. “There has been a massive increase with each year being a record year for the last six years,” Yiannis Retsos, the country’s tourism chief, told the Observer. “Greece has become trendy for sure.” Continue reading...

Carola Rackete reaches Sicily with 40 people on Sea-Watch 3 in defiance of Salvini banThe captain of a rescue ship carrying 40 people has been arrested for breaking an Italian naval blockade that was trying to stop her from docking the vessel in Lampedusa.After a two-week standoff with Italian authorities, Carola Rackete, docked the German boat Sea-Watch 3 on the Sicilian island on Saturday in defiance of a ban by the country’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini. Continue reading...

Air Canada’s planned C$520m purchase of Air Transat could be bad news for passengers who already pay double what Americans doFor most Canadians, flying from one corner of their country to the other can be a pricey endeavour – so expensive, in fact, that they could fly to Europe or Asia for nearly the same price.Online travel agency Kiwi noted in its 2017 flight price index that Canadians pay more than twice the price Americans do for similar-distance domestic flights. Continue reading...

Husband also ends strike outside Iranian embassy in London after wife takes food

Leeds’ managed zone for prostitution was meant to make life safer for women, but, amid a firestorm of opposition, who is benefiting from the radical approach?During the day the Holbeck industrial zone looks pretty innocuous. Perched on the southern edge of Leeds city centre, it backs on to residential streets peppered with betting shops, newsagents and takeaways.Yet at night this industrial zone becomes something very different. It transforms into the UK’s first designated red light zone where, between the hours of 8pm-6am, street prostitution operates openly with neither the women nor the sex buyers facing prosecution. Continue reading...

Prime minister urges open legal process over murder and raises Yemen concerns

Officials say local affiliate Abu Sayyaf was likely behind blast that targeted elite army unitFive people including three soldiers were killed in a bombing targeting an elite army unit in the Philippines’s restive south, which Islamic State claimed was a suicide attack, authorities and experts said.The military said the kidnap-for-ransom group and Isis-affiliate Abu Sayyaf was likely behind the midday blast on the island of Jolo on Friday, which also left nine other soldiers wounded. Continue reading...

The problem will finally be rectified next month, although Blind Citizens Australia raised it about three years agoIt seems like an obvious thing for a national disability program: don’t send letters to blind Australians in a format they cannot read.But since the national disability insurance scheme began its rollout, blind and vision impaired participants have received vital correspondence – such as their support plans – in the form of regular letters, or as PDFs that do not accomodate a screen reader. Continue reading...

For too long, the west has turned a blind eye to Russian atrocities in a string of warsVladimir Putin is on a high. Kicked out of the G8 in 2014 after the start of his military operations in Ukraine, he’s been making full use of the G20 summit in Osaka to bask in meetings with world grandees and soak up all the international media attention he possibly can, complete with a not very challenging interview with the Financial Times.Ever the opportunist, he takes what’s on offer, he glides, he smirks. And he watches with glee as we huff and puff at his provocations, whose over-riding purpose is to keep us on edge and play on our divisions. Continue reading...

Milena Bertolini’s team face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Saturday and the country is beginning to appreciate the women’s game once moreIn 2015, a senior Italian football official dismissed female players as a “bunch of lesbians”. Felice Belloli, who was speaking during a meeting to discuss funding in women’s football, was forced to resign as head of the National Amateur League after his comments unleashed a torrent of criticism in Italy and beyond.Coupled with the national team’s fourth consecutive failure to reach a World Cup finals which got underway in Canada a few weeks later, the episode signalled the lowest ebb for women’s football in a country where in the 1970s and 80s it had enjoyed increasing popularity. But it also marked a turning point after propelling Milena Bertolini, the current coach of the women’s national team, to put her head above the parapet. Bertolini, who at the time was president of the Reggio Emilia Foundation of Sport, edited a book called “Giocare con le tette” (“Playing with tits”). The bold title caused embarrassment and the book was mostly ignored by the media, but its publication in the wake of the debacle broke the silence on sexism within football, forcing the higher echelons of the Italian Football Federation (Figc) to take note, while challenging stereotypes across wider Italian society. Continue reading...

Officers work to identify body found on Isle of Wight, near where 22-year-old disappearedPolice searching on the Isle of Wight for missing Rosie Johnson, 22, have found the body of a woman in Wootton in the north-east of the island, close to where she disappeared.A statement released by Hampshire police said: “Formal identification procedures are ongoing but Rosie’s next of kin have been made aware of the discovery. Continue reading...

Record for mainland France falls in southern commune of Gallargues-le-Montueux as Europe swelters in heatwave

Wife of Wang Quanzhang says his health has deteriorated after four years incarcerationThe wife of the jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang has described her husband as a “totally changed man” after she and her son were allowed to see him for the first time since he disappeared nearly four years ago.Wang, 43, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January for “subverting state power” after a closed-door trial. Continue reading...

Activists linked to military and police suspected of preparing terror attack, reports say

Dozens of people could be in line for payments after judge’s landmark rulingDozens of cyclists in Edinburgh could be in line for damages after a judge ruled the city’s tram tracks were to blame for two incidents.In a landmark legal action, the court of session awarded damages to two people who were thrown off their bikes and injured when their wheels became trapped in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Continue reading...

Fans eager to hear new albums first are warned they give labels extensive access to their data“Pre-saving” albums and singles is an increasingly common part of the promotional process for big music releases – but many users do not realise they are paying for that access with their personal data, a report has warned.A pre-save is the streaming music equivalent of a pre-order: before a big release hits services such as Spotify or Apple Music, fans are encouraged to save the album to their library, ensuring it will be immediately available the second it is launched. Continue reading...

Actors and directors, from Richard Gere to Spike Lee, condemn violence that targeted Cinema AmericaHollywood names including Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe and Alejandro González Iñárritu have come out in support of an Italian cinema collective who have become a target of the far right.Cinema America, which organises free outdoor movie screenings in Rome, has issued a message of support on its Facebook page after four people were attacked following a showing of the Paul Schrader film First Reformed. The message reads in Italian: “It is unacceptable that there is still someone that thinks they can impose their view through the use of violence … We can’t accept a wound of this kind, inflicted not only to the world of art and cinema but to the whole world.” The letter was also signed by the directors Alfonso Cuarón, Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro, and Stephen Frears and the actors Jeremy Irons, Debra Winger, Richard Gere and John Malkovich. Continue reading...

Action star involved in Aylan Baby, about the three-year-old whose death widened awareness of the migrant crisisThe tragic death of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian toddler who drowned off the Turkish coast in 2015, is to be made into a movie.Aylan Baby has begun shooting in the southwest of the country, where the child’s body was found. Subsequent photographs highlighted the plight of migrants who die in the Mediterranean while trying to seek asylum in Europe. Continue reading...