by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6NQPS)
Images, which have not been widely seen before, are part of exhibition to mark 40th anniversary of the fireDramatic photographs showing just how close York Minster came to being destroyed by fire after a freak lightning bolt are to go on public display to mark the day's 40th anniversary.Many of the images have not been widely seen before. They include photographs taken by a neighbour through a bedroom window, which vividly show the intensity of the blaze at its height. Continue reading...
by Jim Waterson Political media editor on (#6NQNJ)
Six volunteers shared their phone activity to give a snapshot of how voters keep themselves abreast of current affairsIs this the first post-mainstream-media election? The Guardian asked six volunteers to record their phone screens for three days - and the results provide a glimpse of what news, if any, the British public is consuming as they go to the polls.Zoya, 28, a British-Pakistani woman in Birmingham, used to be a loyal Labour voter who knew nothing about Palestine. After watching TikTok videos and AI-generated Instagram posts, she is now a Green supporter who feels Gaza is her top issue. Continue reading...
Exclusive UK accused of trying to head off condemnation of Gulf ally over alleged aid to forces accused of genocide in DarfurUK government officials attempted to suppress criticism of the United Arab Emirates and its alleged role in supplying arms to a notorious militia waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, sources have told the Guardian.Claims that Foreign Office officials put pressure on African diplomats to avoid criticising the UAE over its alleged military support for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will intensify scrutiny of the UK's relationship with the Gulf state. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6NQNN)
Adult cats were released into national park last year after British population had come close to extinctionThe birth of wildcat kittens in the Cairngorms national park has been hailed as a major milestone" in efforts to rescue the secretive mammals from extinction in the UK.In footage exclusively shared with the Guardian by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), two of the kittens can be seen playing in grassland with their mother and leaping on to a fallen tree branch. Continue reading...
Employers told to prepare for wave of sickies or last-minute requests for time off as warm weather coincides with Euros matchA surge in workers taking a day off, working from home or calling in sick is being forecast for Wednesday as the aftermath of England's last group game in the Euros combines with an expected heatwave.After a cold, damp start to June, warm weather is predicted across the UK from Monday, and temperatures of up to 31C are likely in south-east England. Continue reading...
Transfer of seven detainees to custody 17,000 kilometres away on charges tied to deadly unrest criticised as political deportation'Buildings, including a police station and a town hall, were set on fire in New Caledonia overnight, authorities said, as the French Pacific territory was hit by a new surge of unrest.It comes after seven independence activists linked to a group accused of orchestrating deadly riots last month in the French Pacific territory were sent to mainland France for pre-trial detention, a local prosecutor said. Continue reading...
Hany Bebawy wins bid to overturn suspension, after two women alleged they were inappropriately touched at one of his three clinics in Victoria - claims that he denies
Riyadh says more than four-fifths did not have permit to make pilgrimage to Mecca, where temperatures hit 51.8CAt least 1,300 people have died during the hajj pilgrimage, which took place during intense heat, Saudi Arabia has said, adding that most of the deceased did not have official permits.Regrettably, the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83% being unauthorised to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Continue reading...
Officers search around two structures at bottom of ravine in rugged Rural de Teno parkOutbuildings close to where the missing teenager Jay Slater's phone last picked up signal are the current focus of a police search in Tenerife.As the hunt for the 19-year-old continued for a seventh day on the Canary island, his mother thanked those who had together donated more than 30,000 to a GoFundMe page, exceeding its target. Continue reading...
Company is looking for help from next government to upgrade to less polluting technologyChinese-owned British Steel has reportedly submitted a request for a package of taxpayer support worth 600m as it looks for assistance from the next government to upgrade to less polluting technology.Government officials are due to review plans that set out the costs of switching from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces at the company's steelworks in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, the Sunday Times reported. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#6NQF9)
Exclusive: Party has pledged to abolish House of Lords but plans initial appointments to bolster its benchesLabour is to appoint dozens of peers within weeks in an attempt to push through its policies and improve the representation of women in the House of Lords, the Guardian has learned.Senior Labour figures have drawn up a list of peerages to bolster the party benches and help implement its legislative programme if it wins the election on 4 July. The Conservatives have 104 more peers than Labour, while fewer than a third of the 784 members of parliament's second chamber are women. Continue reading...
Moscow's renewed assault on Ukraine's energy grid has seen worst rolling outages since full-scale invasion beganUkrainians are having to cope with widespread emergency blackouts as Russia continues to pound critical infrastructure.In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's energy grid. On Friday night, energy facilities came under a massive attack", Ukraine's energy ministry said. Several workers were injured as a result of shelling at one of the facilities. Continue reading...
Anas Sarwar says not a single vote has been cast' after Grant Shapps said Tories fighting to prevent Labour landslide even bigger than 1997The SNP leader John Swinney said at the manifesto launch that a win in Scotland for his party would be a mandate to push for a second vote.The Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, widely expected to become the prime minister after 4 July, said categorically last week that he would refuse to participate in negotiations for another independence referendum even if the SNP won a majority of seats.So what I am saying in this election is that if people in Scotland want to be an independent country, then they've got to support the Scottish National Party as the only means of ensuring that can come about and we cannot allow the westminster political parties to deny the people of Scotland their democratic rights and the democratic opportunity to decide their own constitutional future.Because I think it's an essential solution to the issues that people face in their lives today. If you look at the challenges of public spending cuts, which you've talked about in this programme, the devastating effects of Brexit on our country and our economy, and the impact of the cost of living these are all issues that have been delivered by westminster.Well, I've obviously discussed this with my staff. I've been assured that no parliamentary stamps that have been provided by parliament have been used to support election purposes.And it obviously the parliament has said that they're looking into this matter, and obviously we will provide parliament with any assistance they require as they undertake those inquiries.We campaign on a regular basis in my capacity as a member of parliament. So we're engaging with the public on a countless range of different issues. So I think these are sort of humorous remarks made in a WhatsApp channel. And what's important is the reassurance that I've had that parliamentary stamps have not been used for election purposes. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6NQE1)
Exclusive: Two-thirds of housing benefit claims marked as high risk in last three years were legitimate, figures showMore than 200,000 people have wrongly faced investigation for housing benefit fraud and error after the performance of a government algorithm fell far short of expectations, the Guardian can reveal.Two-thirds of claims flagged as potentially high risk by a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) automated system over the last three years were in fact legitimate, official figures released under freedom of information laws show. Continue reading...
Starmer vowed to bulldoze through' planning restrictions and experts say it will put money in people's pocketsLabour appears poised to win a historic election victory on 4 July. In the series Life under Labour we look at Keir Starmer's five key political missions. We ask what is at stake and whether he can deliver the change the country is crying out for.* * * Continue reading...
Staff at Essex primary describe struggle to secure support and the difference a charity's specialist training madeWhen a hotel in the village of Birchanger started hosting refugees in 2022, a group of the fathers turned up at the local school one day and asked: Can our children join?"It was both an easy and a difficult decision for Birchanger Church of England primary school in Essex. The school sees itself as a welcoming space rooted in the community, yet staff feared that, like most schools, they would be left on their own to integrate the new pupils. Continue reading...
Last summer the Swedish carmaker announced it would limit UK sales to its more popular SUV modelsIt is not the kind of risky manoeuvre any self-respecting Volvo estate driver would execute but the Swedish carmaker has performed a sharp U-turn on the decision to stop selling them here after an outcry from drivers devoted to a car synonymous with British middle-class family life.Last summer Volvo dropped the bombshell that it would no longer market its estates or saloon cars in the UK and would instead concentrate on its sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which are increasingly favoured by drivers who like the higher seating position and off-road styling. Continue reading...
The defiant Russia-North Korea friendship pact raises big questions for Washington and Seoul - but also for BeijingA quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a friendship treaty" with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia's relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other's aid in case of a military attack.With his visit last week, Putin has in effect gone further into the past, signing a deal with Kim Jong-un reminiscent of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the cold war. But today Russia is engaged in a hot war in Ukraine that Putin has made his foreign policy priority, and a nuclear North Korea has become a crucial lifeline of munitions for his military. Continue reading...
Conservatives are desperate to halt the rise of Reform UK, which is splitting their party in twoRishi Sunak and a string of senior Conservatives have condemned Nigel Farage for claiming the west provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid a growing internal Tory battle over how to deal with the Reform UK leader.The prime minister accused Farage of playing into Putin's hands" after he made the claim in a BBC Panorama interview on Friday, in which he linked Nato and EU expansion to the conflict in eastern Europe. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister went further, telling the Observer: It doesn't matter whether you're Jeremy Corbyn or Nigel Farage - if you parrot the Kremlin's lies, you cannot be trusted with our national security." Continue reading...
The MPs standing down and those at risk of losing their seats mean the parliamentary Conservative party could look very different after the electionThe new parliament after the election may no longer be home to many of the Conservative big beasts" who have sat on the green benches for decades, Guardian analysis shows.Not only are many big Tory names standing down, but the latest polling-based projections suggest those who are standing may find it difficult to hold their seats. Continue reading...
The Kilmarnock postman behind the song blaring out in Germany reveals his inspiration for No Scotland, no Party'In a taxi on Wednesday night in Cologne, after watching Scotland draw with Switzerland in the Euros, 40-year-old Kilmarnock postman Nick Morgan experienced a surreal moment.His taxi stopped at a red light next to a nightclub. And it was blaring out my song," Morgan said. Continue reading...
The Socialists, Greens and Communists have put aside their differences to form a New Popular Front'The posters strung across the street in Montreuil, east of Paris, were still fluttering in the breeze days after the stage, the microphones and the politicians at the launch of France's newest political force had gone.Here, out of the smouldering ashes of the country's bickering left, a coalition had risen to take on the far right. Continue reading...
Verified video shows Jenin resident Mujahed Azmi on vehicle that passes two ambulances during raidIsraeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military Jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.A video circulating on social media and verified by Reuters showed a Palestinian resident of Jenin, Mujahed Azmi, on the Jeep that passes two ambulances. Continue reading...
Ferries from Naples and Sorrento had been forced to return to port as mayor described situation as real emergency'The Italian island of Capri has lifted a ban on tourists after problems with the water supply to the holiday hotspot were resolved.The ban had been announced early on Saturday, forcing several morning ferries from Naples and Sorrento to return to port. Continue reading...
The shadow housing minister's objection to high-rise flats in his constituency is typical of the dilemmas Keir Starmer, who has pledged to build 1.5m new homes, will faceEvery Wednesday, just before noon, Heavenly Tucker has a flicker of hope. Will today be the day she finally finds her own home? But after waiting more than two years, she is not optimistic when her alarm goes, reminding her to log on to Greenwich council's housing website and bid for whatever properties she can.The 26-year-old cafe manager still lives with her mother; she is single and has no dependants, so is a low priority. Renting privately would mean coming up with 1,300 a month, and even with two jobs she cannot afford that much. Continue reading...
Government funded Parkfield, in Dorset, after unbelievable' lack of due diligence, says expertOne of the government's vaunted free schools, whose site was beset with so many problems it is estimated to have cost 35m, is set to close, having failed to attract enough pupils.Free schools were launched by Michael Gove in 2010, when he was education secretary, with the promise that they would close the attainment gap in England. Continue reading...
After losing his empire in 2022, the lauded host is opening a new world grand cafe' in London's BayswaterThis month, Jeremy King will open the Park, an all-day restaurant in Bayswater. It is the second of three big 2024 openings for the lauded restaurateur, who was behind the heydays of some of London's most celebrated restaurants such as Le Caprice, the Ivy and the Wolseley.It follows the launch of Arlington in January, King's modern reboot of Le Caprice, once a favourite with the stars from Diana, Princess of Wales to Mick Jagger. Later in the year he'll be reviving another stalwart, Simpson's on the Strand. Continue reading...
Hoda Nagib and her husband had walked 20km in the baking sun in Saudi Arabia while on Mecca pilgrimageHoda Nagib and her husband had walked 20km in the baking sun in Saudi Arabia when she told him that she needed to rest. The couple, who are in their 60s, had just scaled Mount Arafat, along with thousands of other white-robed pilgrims on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, where temperatures as high as 51.8C have been recorded in the shade in recent days.Nagib's husband left her to perform a ritual known as the stoning of the devil. When he returned she had disappeared, their neighbour Walaa Roshdy explained. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England editor on (#6NPB1)
Ex-nurse denies trying to murder infant by tampering with breathing tube at Countess of Chester hospitalLucy Letby suggested the hospital ward where she worked was understaffed as she denied attempting to murder a newborn girl, a jury has heard.The nurse told police the skill mix was probably not right" on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital when a two-hour-old baby suddenly deteriorated in February 2016. Continue reading...
Ex-footballer reportedly struck on the head with butt of a gun and detained in a room while Italy game was on TVThe Italian football legend Roberto Baggio was robbed and beaten at gunpoint in his home on Thursday while watching the Italy-Spain match in the European Championship with his family.A group of at least five armed individuals forcefully entered the villa in Altavilla Vicentina, located in northern Italy, at 10pm local time. Continue reading...
Nick Adderley, who was 15 at time of conflict, found to have lied with arrogant temerity' over service in navyA police chief constable who wore a Falklands war medal despite being 15 at the time of the conflict has been dismissed without notice and placed on the police barred list after being found guilty of gross misconduct.Nick Adderley, the chief constable at Northamptonshire police, exaggerated his military rank, length of service and naval achievements, including implying that he served in the Falklands war, the hearing heard. Continue reading...
by Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies on (#6NP1J)
State department warns such a move could destabilise the peninsula, as South Korea considers arming UkraineVladimir Putin's suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is incredibly concerning", a senior US official has said, days after Putin and the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.Matthew Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially ... depending on the type of weapons they provide ... violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported". Continue reading...
A decade after tens of thousands of Yazidis escaped an Islamic State attack many fear return to a home in ruinsThe Iraqi government has been accused of making the survivors of the Sinjar massacre fear for their future once more, almost a decade after the murderous Islamic State campaign that forced tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes.In January, the Iraqi council of ministers set a deadline of 30 July to close 23 displacement camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camps are home to about 155,000 internally displaced people (IDP), mostly Yazidis, who were slaughtered, kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in their thousands at the height of the violence in northern Iraq in 2014. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#6NNG0)
Total infections caused by small number' of salad leaves grows to 256, with 45 new cases in last two daysAt least 86 people have now been admitted to hospital as a result of an E coli outbreak linked to lettuce, health officials have said.A further 45 cases of E coli infection have been confirmed since 18 June, making the total number of confirmed cases across the UK 256, with those affected having developed symptoms before 31 May, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Continue reading...
by Benita Kolovos Victorian state correspondent on (#6NN3F)
Labor will also overhaul a much-criticised tax break scheme for gaming venues under deal with GreensA default $50 daily limit on poker machine losses is set to be introduced in Victoria, and an overhaul of a much-criticised tax break for gambling venues considered, as part of a deal struck between the Labor government and the Greens.The Greens said they had secured the commitments in exchange for their support of the government's Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation repeal and advisory councils bill. The bill was debated in the upper house on Thursday and passed with the Greens' amendment. It now will return to the lower house.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
Exclusive: heads of prisons say they will no longer be able to accept new inmates very soon' after 4 July electionPrison governors have been warned that jails will be so overcrowded by the second week of July that they will struggle to accept any more inmates, plunging an incoming government into an immediate crisis.The heads of jails in England and Wales were informed by HM Prison and Probation Service officials earlier this month that data pointed to an operational capacity breaking point" only days after the 4 July general election. Continue reading...
by Pjotr Sauer at the Volkel military base, Shaun Wal on (#6NN37)
After delays in delivery and training pilots and ground staff, Netherlands says Ukraine should get first planes in summerAt a military base in the rural south of the Netherlands, Gen Arnoud Stallmann, a Dutch air force commander, said he expected that at some point this summer, F-16 fighter jets would finally take to the skies over Ukraine.Around this summertime, it is all lining up," he said, speaking in front of two disused F-16s inside a hangar at the base, where a recent programme to train Ukrainian air force instructors in maintenance for the jets had just come to a close. Continue reading...
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