World news | The Guardian

Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden, 30, granted bail after supreme court in Brisbane hears of dead stepfather's alleged history of domestic violence

Only since Russian invasion have European leaders started to do necessary calculations, expert saysShe has extended the invitation multiple times but has yet to set a date for the welcome party. You are part of our family, your future is in our union, and our union is not complete without you," Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, last year told Ukraine and the nine other countries queuing patiently for EU membership.But as the prospect of Ukraine in particular joining the bloc looms closer, EU leaders are asking if the EU is ready for enlargement. Continue reading...

Labour viewed as better placed to tackle crisis but voters sceptical it is a priority for either partyLabour and the Conservatives have been accused of being out of step with public concern about the cost-of-living crisis, as polling suggested fewer than one in four people believed tackling it was a priority for the two parties.Swing voters from key demographics - Workington man and Stevenage woman, monikers campaign strategists have given to groups they are targeting - appear sceptical about the parties' proposals to ease cost pressures. Continue reading...

The competition watchdog's allegation follows Qantas executives' denials of so-called slot hoarding' at two parliamentary hearings

Winds reaching 209km/h recorded as major train lines suspended ahead of typhoon's expected arrival on FridayChina has issued the highest typhoon warning as Typhoon Saola crawled closer to the south-eastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in neighbouring Guangdong province.Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6am on Thursday. China's National Meteorological Centre said Saola, which lies about 295km (183 miles) south-east of Guangdong province, will move north-west across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10km/h (6mph), gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weaken in intensity. Continue reading...

Corporate regulator launches court action alleging former directors oversaw structure that left members vulnerable

James Hachem, 37, is serving a minimum 18-year prison term for the murder but investigators had been unable to find her body

The revised estimate for the scheme is contingent on completion by end of 2028 and may rise further if delays persist

Australian consumer watchdog launches legal action against Qantas alleging it engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct

Leading no campaigner links public debate over Indigenous voice referendum to his mental health struggles after prime minister promises positive' yes campaign

Group warns that if its financial performance continues to deteriorate' it faces possible default after huge half-year lossesEmbattled Chinese developer Country Garden reported a 48.9bn yuan ($6.7bn) loss for the first half of the year in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, adding to worries of a potentially catastrophic default.Its tenuous state has sparked fears of a collapse that could have far-reaching consequences for the Chinese financial system two years after the fall of Evergrande. Continue reading...

Beekeepers at site near Toronto in Ontario eventually managed to recapture most of the insects, although some remained on the loosePolice near Toronto have warned drivers to keep their car windows closed after a truck spilled crates carrying five million bees on to a road.Halton regional police said they received a call about 6.15am on Wednesday reporting the bee crates had come loose from a truck and spilled on to a road in Burlington, Ontario. Continue reading...

Ukrainian drones strike six regions inside Russia, destroying military aircraft; Kremlin investigating whether plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin was downed on purposeUkrainian drones struck targets in at least six regions deep within Russia on Wednesday, in one of the largest-scale attacks on Russia in months. Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region, and the regions of Moscow, Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan and Kaluga.The strike on the city of Pskov started a fire and damaged four Il-76 military cargo aircraft, Russian authorities said, engulfing two of the planes in flames. Footage and images posted on social media showed smoke billowing over the city and the regional governor, Mikhail Vedernikov, ordered all flights to and from Pskov airport to be cancelled on Wednesday.Three drones came down in the Bryansk region, according to the Russian military, and two over the Oryol region, its governor, Andrei Klychkov, said. One came down in the Ryazan region, one more in Kaluga, and one more in the Moscow region, officials said. No damage or casualties were registered.At least two people were reported killed in Kyiv in what authorities described as the heaviest series of Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital for months. Air defences shot down all 28 Russian missiles and 15 out of 16 drones, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said on Wednesday.Six Ukrainian pilots were reportedly killed when two military helicopters crashed in the eastern Donetsk region. According to the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, the two Mi-8 helicopters crashed in Kramatorsk on Tuesday. The aircraft were completely destroyed and the bodies of six dead servicemen were found.The chief official in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, said a cruise missile was fired at the peninsula on Wednesday. Anti-aircraft forces in eastern Crimea have downed a cruise missile," Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram and asked residents to remain calm.Russian investigators are considering the possibility that the plane carrying the Wagner mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin was shot down on purpose, the Kremlin said on Wednesday in the first explicit acknowledgment of what most already believed to have been an assassination. It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including ... a deliberate atrocity," the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.EU imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) have increased by 40% since the invasion of Ukraine. Member states have bought more than half of Russia's LNG on the market in the first seven months of this year, according to analysis. Spain and Belgium, which acts as major gateways for LNG supplies to the EU, have emerged as the second and third-biggest customers of Russian LNG respectively after China.The Wagner group is expected to remain operational in Africa, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice-president of the European Commission said. They will remain operational in Africa because it is the armed wing of Russia," Josep Borrell said.Russia is in secret, active talks with North Korea to acquire a range of munitions and supplies, the White House has said. Arms negotiations between Russia and the DPRK are actively advancing," the White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said, adding that a key focus of the talks was artillery ammunition.Tech companies including TikTok and Twitter failed to effectively tackle Russian disinformation online during the first year of the war in Ukraine, according to a study published on Wednesday by the EU. The independent study for the EU comes after tougher rules under its Digital Services Act (DSA) kicked in this month for the world's biggest online platforms.The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his Turkish counterpart will discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal when they meet this week, Lavrov's ministry has said. Under the plan, Russia would send a million tonnes of grain to Turkey at a discounted price, with financial support from Qatar, to be processed in Turkey and sent to countries most in need, the foreign ministry said. Continue reading...

Psychiatrists say workforce gaps and tight implementation timeframe mean health system may not be ready for reforms to take effect Friday

Staff who fail re-vetting can also be sacked under UK government reforms of disciplinary systemPolice officers found guilty of gross misconduct face automatic dismissal while all staff who fail vetting can be sacked, under new government reforms of the disciplinary system.The measures are an attempt to restore the public's faith in policing in the wake of numerous controversies including serving firearms officer Wayne Couzens being convicted of the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Continue reading...

Offshore records suggest associates of wealthy Indian family spent years acquiring stock during rise of founder to be worth $120bnA billionaire Indian family with close ties to the country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, secretly invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Indian stock market, buying its own shares, newly disclosed documents suggest.According to offshore financial records seen by the Guardian, associates of the Adani family may have spent years discreetly acquiring stock in the Adani Group's own companies during its meteoric rise to become one of India's largest and most powerful businesses. Continue reading...

Research shows young black women more likely to have more aggressive cancer and receive poorer careAn NHS body is encouraging women with breast cancer from minority backgrounds are being encouraged to take part in more clinical trials, after research found they are under-represented in studies that can offer life-saving treatment.The pilot project, supported by the NHS Race and Health Observatory, is intended to improve representation in breast cancer clinical trials partly through culturally sensitive communications to people from racially diverse backgrounds. Continue reading...

Drop abstinence-only approach' and focus on public health, report by home affairs select committee saysMinisters should expand anonymous drug testing at festivals and allow supervised drug-taking facilities to reduce the risk of fatal overdoses and infections, an influential parliamentary committee has concluded.In a report that urges the government to focus on public health rather than an abstinence-only approach", the home affairs select committee calls for a national drug-checking service to anonymously test drugs and a licensing scheme for onsite drug-testing facilities at festivals. Continue reading...

Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought 311-litre bottle of 32-year-old Macallan single malt for 1.1m at auctionThe previously anonymous buyer of the world's largest bottle of whisky, which at 5ft 11in is taller than the average human, has been revealed as a Vietnamese businessman who already owns a spirits collection valued at more than 150m.Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought the 311-litre bottle filled with 32-year-old Macallan single malt for 1.1m at auction in Edinburgh last year. Continue reading...

The 23-year-old was stabbed in broad daylight in Islington on Wednesday morningA murder inquiry has been launched after a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death in broad daylight in north London.Officers and London ambulance service were called to reports of a stabbing on a street in Islington on Wednesday morning and found a man with knife injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Driver or pirate' issued with traffic offence because feathered first mate not in suitable carrierA driver was stopped by police after they were found at the wheel with an African grey parrot on their shoulder.North West motorway police said its officers spotted the driver, who has not been named, with the bird on the M62. Continue reading...

Australian Energy Market Operator says imminent and urgent investment' in energy is needed

Employee, who was stuck in walk-in freezer for more than two hours, was treated in hospital for hypothermiaPret a Manger has been fined 800,000 after an employee was trapped in one of its freezers for more than two hours, where she tried to use croissant boxes to stave off hypothermia.The employee was wearing jeans and T-shirt when she was stuck in a walk-in freezer, which typically had its temperature set at -18C, in July 2021, Westminster magistrates court was told. Continue reading...

Ministers agree to give inquiry full statutory powers after families criticised current investigationWitnesses will be forced to give evidence at the inquiry into how Lucy Letby was able to murder seven babies, the health secretary has announced, in a move welcomed by victims' families.Steve Barclay announced the inquiry would be put on a statutory footing after mounting criticism that it lacked the necessary powers to compel people to give testimony under oath or force the disclosure of documents. Continue reading...

Those who attended the school in the 70s and 80s, including the broadcaster Nicky Campbell, detailed harrowing physical, sexual and psychological abuse to the inquiryIt's not the end of the story but a real turning point," said Giles Moffatt after 14 gruelling days of evidence detailing the physical, sexual and psychological abuse he and generations of boys endured at Edinburgh Academy, one of Scotland's most prestigious private schools.Moffatt, 51, is co-founder of the survivors' group of about 50 middle-aged men - including the broadcaster Nicky Campbell - who wept, embraced and applauded one another as they described hundreds of stomach-turning incidents of individual abuse to the long-running Scottish child abuse inquiry: a 14-year-old beaten like a rag doll" until he passed out, eight-year-old boys locked in a garden shed over a weekend for a minor infraction, a six-year-old with a garden hose pushed into his anus as a punishment for bed wetting. Continue reading...

Chilean state finally assumes responsibility for finding those executed and forcibly disappeared under dictatorshipChile's government has announced its much-anticipated plan to search for the victims of forced disappearance and political execution under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, which began with a coup 50 years ago next month.The plan nacional de busqueda, or national search plan, will seek to establish the circumstances and conditions under which each person was forcibly disappeared, guarantee access to government records and provide reparations and guarantees for victims' families. Continue reading...

Deeply flawed' imprisonment for public protection rules causing severe distress among prisoners and families, says rapporteurA UN torture expert has called on the UK government to urgently review all sentences imposed on prisoners held indefinitely under the widely discredited" imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme.Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said the sentences, scrapped in 2012 but without retrospective effect, caused severe distress, depression and anxiety among both prisoners and their families. Continue reading...

Emiliano Krosi, 23, charged with 33 offences of conspiracy to commit burglary, Surrey police sayA man has been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with a break-in at the home of the Chelsea and England footballer Raheem Sterling, Surrey police have said.Emiliano Krosi, 23, of Ditton Court Road in Southend-on-Sea has been charged with 33 offences of conspiracy to commit burglary. One count relates to the burglary of Sterling's property in Oxshott, Elmbridge, and was reported to police on 3 December last year during the men's World Cup in Qatar. Continue reading...

Government-backed bank throws down gauntlet to high street lenders with new growth bondsThe UK government's savings bank, NS&I, has thrown down the gauntlet" to high street rivals by launching a one-year fixed-rate savings account paying a table-topping 6.2%.Commentators said NS&I was likely to experience strong demand from savers keen for a decent return, as it means they get to secure a record rate that comes with a 100% Treasury guarantee. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he will give police more powers to confiscate knives and will make it illegal to possess certain weapons. This live blog is closedRishi Sunak has said a crackdown on zombie-style knives, with new powers for police, would make a big difference" for officers.The government has announced more zombie-style" knives and machetes with no practical use are to be banned and police will be given more powers to seize and destroy them.Knife crime is appalling, it disproportionately affects young people and we should be doing everything we can to stamp it out. I spent time with officers here and the Met commissioner talking about what they're dealing with on the streets. What we're doing today will make their jobs easier.We're giving the police more powers to confiscate knives when they come across them, when they're going about their day-to-day policing business. We are banning particular types of knives. Having just seen them myself there's no reason these knives should be on the streets.There's no sensible reason anyone should own them or possess them. So, we're going to ban them and make it illegal to possess them. Lastly, we're toughening up the sentencing for people who are caught with these weapons.Taken together, it's a strong set of powers that, having spoken to the police, they know will make a big difference to their ability to cut knife crime down. I'm pleased that knife crime is down since the pre-pandemic levels but we've got to keep going to root out this awful crime. Today's powers will make a big difference. Continue reading...

A strong desire for change - even if it comes wearing combat fatigues - is feeding Africa's series of putsches

Seizure of power announced on television, cancelling election results that gave president third term in officeMilitary officers in Gabon say they have taken power and put the president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest, as the country becomes the latest in Africa to suffer an attempted coup, only weeks after mutinous troops seized power in Niger.A group of military personnel appeared on state television to announce they were seizing power to overturn the results of a presidential election, seeking to remove a president whose family has held power for nearly 56 years. The officers introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. Continue reading...

Speaking in Heart of Invictus Netflix docu-series, Duke of Sussex says military service triggered trauma from his mother's deathThe Duke of Sussex has spoken of his unravelling" after he returned from his tour of Afghanistan, which he said triggered the trauma from the death of his mother.Speaking in his Heart of Invictus Netflix docu-series, Prince Harry said mental illness was a dirty word" when he first joined the military and wanted to cure the stigma" in society. Continue reading...

As fallout from the tech meltdown continues, we hear from some of those who have been left strandedNick, 38, from Hampshire, had flown to the German city of Dusseldorf to spend a four-day holiday with his wife over the bank holiday weekend. But when the couple tried to fly back to the UK on Monday, they joined hundreds of thousands of travellers caught up in multi-day travel chaos as a result of air traffic control failures.They say they were initially stranded at the airport after their flight was cancelled by British Airways because of the technical meltdown. Airline passengers have been warned that flight disruption could persist for days. Continue reading...

UK's James Cleverly is latest to travel to Beijing hoping to improve ties and change Chinese foreign policyThe UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, on Wednesday described his government's relationship with Beijing as complicated and sophisticated". He said the UK's approach was clear-eyed" and pragmatic, neither seeking to isolate the world's second largest economy nor shying away from raising disagreements.The balancing act may prove difficult. Cleverly is the latest in a series of western government officials - from the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to the French president, Emmanuel Macron - to have visited China in recent months hoping to repair soured relations and trade ties. Few have had much success. Continue reading...

Instem is second UK life sciences company this week to be snapped up by a foreign buyer

Opposition parties call on Giorgia Meloni to condemn her partner who suggested women could avoid rape by not getting too drunkA row has erupted in Italy after a journalist and the partner of Giorgia Meloni appeared to suggest that women could avoid rape by not getting too drunk, with opposition parties calling on the prime minister to distance herself from his comments.If you go dancing you are fully entitled to get drunk ... but if you avoid getting drunk and losing consciousness, perhaps you'd also avoid getting into trouble, because then you'll find the wolf," Andrea Giambruno said on his show on the right-leaning channel Rete 4 after recent high-profile gang rape cases near Naples and in Palermo. Continue reading...

High court judicial review found PSNI unlawfully disciplined two junior officers to placate Sinn FeinThe head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland is facing mounting pressure to quit after a court ruled that the force unlawfully disciplined two junior officers to placate Sinn Fein.Unionist politicians said on Wednesday they had lost confidence in Simon Byrne, the PSNI chief constable, and urged him to resign. Continue reading...

Najla al-Mangoush had already been suspended after news of secret meeting with Eli Cohen was releasedLibya's foreign minister has fled the country after news of a secret meeting in Rome between her and her Israeli counterpart last week was released by the Israeli foreign ministry, causing a political outcry in Tripoli and two nights of street protests across the country.Najla al-Mangoush had already been suspended by her Tripoli-based prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, on Sunday evening when news of the meeting broke. Officials initially claimed the meeting had been a chance affair, and not planned. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report says optics of western firms organising Xinjiang tours amid crimes against humanity are disastrous'Uyghur advocates have called on western tourism companies to stop selling package holidays that take visitors through Xinjiang, where human rights abuses by authorities have been called a genocide by some governments.The request comes as China reopens to foreign visitors after the pandemic, and as its leader, Xi Jinping, calls for more tourism to the region. Continue reading...

Inquiry looked at two-year delay to finalise report into former NSW premier's conduct and whether the investigation was appropriate

Khaled Nezzar is to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1991-2002 Algerian civil warVictims of the 1991-2002 Algerian civil war have been given hope that they will finally receive justice after the highly unusual announcement by Swiss authorities that a former Algerian minister of defence is to stand trial in Switzerland on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.Khaled Nezzar is set to be the highest-ranking military official ever tried for war crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to investigate and prosecute people suspected of having committed international crimes regardless of where they were committed, their nationality, or the nationality of the victims. Continue reading...

Choreographer Drew McOnie's version of the festive sweet-treat ballet will have a male hero and aims to represent those who felt it wasn't for them'It is a sweet treat of a ballet that enchants festive theatregoers and has introduced successive generations to dance. But The Nutcracker's cultural stereotypes, including in its Chinese and Arabian dances, have long caused offence and some audiences have also been alienated by its representation of class and family life.Step forward Drew McOnie, the Olivier award-winning director and choreographer, who is creating a new production that is representative of all the people who perhaps felt like The Nutcracker wasn't necessarily for them". Continue reading...

On trip to Beijing, James Cleverly says Britain is clear-eyed' about its disagreements with world's second largest economyJames Cleverly has said it would be a mistake try to isolate China, during the first visit to Beijing by a UK foreign secretary in five years.On Wednesday, Cleverly met China's vice-president, Han Zheng, and was expected to meet the foreign minister, Wang Yi. Continue reading...

Senate inquiry told tax concessions for property investors making housing crisis worse and locking young people out of home ownership

Queensland premier says everyone is entitled to leave' as rumours circulate of a leadership challenge

City of Melbourne council approved in-principle regulations on short-stay rental accommodation on Tuesday night, with a view to combating the housing crisis

Startup considers cities including Leeds and Glasgow for new versions of its paywalled local media modelThe local news outlet Manchester Mill is preparing to expand across the UK after being valued at 1.75m by a group of investors including the former New York Times boss Mark Thompson.Joshi Herrmann, the founder, said his startup was considering Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and Newcastle among the targets for new versions of its high-end paywalled local newsletter model. We've shown in the past few years that very high quality reader-funded local media is possible," he said. What we've done is build up an unusually zealous and committed number of readers who want better coverage, better writing, better investigative writing." Continue reading...

Demand to join Nato, coupled with claim France and Germany would leave, pissed off' US president, author Franklin Foer reportsIn a development likely to cause consternation in Washington and Kyiv, an eagerly awaited new book says Volodymyr Zelenskiy bombed" his first Oval Office meeting with Joe Biden.The two men reportedly failed to establish a rapport as the Ukrainian leader's demand to join Nato and absurd analysis" of alliance dynamics left the US president pissed off". Continue reading...

Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates workforce expansion plan means NHS would employ 49% of all public sector staffOne in 11 workers in England will be NHS employees by 2036-37 if Rishi Sunak's staffing plan for the health service goes ahead, new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows.The planned massive expansion of the NHS workforce also means that it would employ almost half (49%) of all public sector staff by then, the thinktank estimates. That compares with the 38% who did so in 2021-22. Continue reading...