World news | The Guardian

Rockfall buries access road but stops just in front of hamlet, which had been evacuated in anticipationA large rockfall has narrowly missed a Swiss mountain village whose inhabitants were evacuated last month over fears of a landslide.The bulk of the rock, which geologists had warned was in danger of falling directly onto the village of Brienz, crashed to the ground on Thursday night, authorities in the Albula community in the canton of Graubünden said on Twitter. Continue reading...

Man in his 20s held on suspicion of murder after victim found with stab injuries in Camberwell, police sayA man has died after a stabbing in south-east London in the early hours of Friday.The victim, who was in his 40s, was found with stab injuries after officers were called to Southampton Way in Camberwell at 1.31am, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Authorities denied pregnant Indigenous girl her legal right to an abortion and ‘re-victimised’ her, UN child rights committee saysPeru violated the rights of a 13-year-old girl who had been repeatedly raped by her father by denying her an abortion after she became pregnant, the UN has ruled.The United Nations child rights committee found this week that the Peruvian authorities had violated the rights to health and life of the girl, known by the pseudonym Camila, by failing to provide her with information and access to legal and safe abortion. Continue reading...

Nine suspects expected to face court as search enters third day and initial response to disaster is criticisedRescuers have launched the third and final day of their search for survivors of one of the Mediterranean’s worst boat disasters, as authorities detained nine suspected people-smugglers and criticism of Greece’s initial response mounted.The Greek coastguard said on Friday a helicopter, a frigate and three smaller vessels were searching waters 50 miles (80 km) from the southern town of Pylos where the fishing boat, reportedly carrying between 400 and 750 people, sank on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Lockwood, 64, is accused of six counts of indecent assault and three counts of rape against girl under 16The former head of the police watchdog has been charged with raping a girl in the 1980s.The Crown Prosecution Service said Michael Lockwood, 64, who headed the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) until last year, had been charged with nine sexual offences. Continue reading...

Billionaire had an estimated wealth of $7.4bn and left no indication of who would take over after his deathSilvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving prime minister since the second world war, was a billionaire who had investments in everything from property and banking to the media and football. His death, at the age of 86, raises questions over the fate of an empire that was closely entwined with a political career that spanned almost three decades.Berlusconi had an estimated fortune of $7.4bn (£5.8bn) as of April 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But he left no indication, at least not publicly, of who would take over his empire after his death. Continue reading...

Update on victims’ condition comes as police name man suspected of killing three people in rampageTwo of the people who were hit by a van in the Nottingham attacks are now in a stable condition, while a third has been discharged from hospital.Nottinghamshire University hospitals NHS trust confirmed the condition of the three patients on Friday, after it was reported earlier in the week that one of the victims was in a critical condition. Continue reading...

The plane experienced engine problems after takeoff at Groote Eylandt but ended up upside down when the pilot tried to return to the airstrip

Train drivers to strike on Avanti West Coast on 2 July, while overtime will be banned on LNER from 1 JulyTrain drivers will strike on Avanti West Coast and ban overtime on LNER in July, spelling disruption on both of Britain’s mainlines from London to Scotland.The Aslef union announced a one-day strike on Sunday 2 July on Avanti, with an ongoing overtime ban starting on LNER from 1 July. Continue reading...

Ruling dismays free speech activists who accuse Modi government of systematically shrinking space for dissentAn Indian court has pre-emptively stopped the screening of an Al Jazeera documentary about the country’s Muslim minority, fuelling fears that the right to criticise the government is being eroded.The Allahabad high court was acting on a public interest petition filed by Sudhir Kumar, an activist, who said he had “learned” from media reports that the documentary Who Lit the Fuse? portrayed India’s 172-million Muslims as living in fear of the Narendra Modi government. He also alleged that it showed state agencies acting against the interests of Muslims. Continue reading...

A professor was accused of antisemitism. The controversy has exploded into a bigger, messier debate about the future of psychology itselfLara Sheehi, a psychoanalytic therapist and psychology professor from Lebanon, is a charismatic, caring and deeply ethical mental health professional, according to her friends and allies, or part of something “toxic, aggressive and narcissistically delusional”, in the words of an email sent not long ago to more than a thousand colleagues.Sheehi has never made a secret of her political commitments. Her influences include Che Guevara and the psychiatrist and anti-colonialist Frantz Fanon, and she sometimes sports a black-and-white keffiyeh, the checkered scarf associated with Palestinian resistance. Yet neither Sheehi nor her most caustic critics probably could have predicted the chain of events that followed a graduate psychology class she taught in October at George Washington University, in Washington DC. Continue reading...

Explosions reported in Kyiv during African peace initiative visit; Ukraine has retaken more than 100 sq km in counteroffensive, commander claims

‘Dragon boat water’ is breaking records in Guangxi region, as air conditioner use in Xinjiang puts strain on gridMany people in China have experienced a variety of weather extremes in recent days. Parts of southern and eastern China experienced prolonged periods of torrential rainfall, as the summer rains known as “dragon boat water” got off to a remarkable start.The city of Yulin in the Guangxi region experienced 35 hours of non-stop rain on 8 and 9 June, while the nearby city of Beihai was flooded after 614.7mm of rainfall over 24 hours in the same period. This is approximately a third of the city’s average yearly precipitation, and a June record for the Guangxi region. It is in stark contrast to May, when Guangxi experienced its lowest rainfall in 60 years. Continue reading...

Urgent meeting called for this weekend after allegations raised against the senator in parliament. This blog is now closed

Graduates now owe an average amount of £45,000, Student Loans Company figures have revealedOutstanding student loans in England have surpassed £200bn for the first time – 20 years earlier than previous government forecasts, as the number of students at universities continues to outstrip expectations.The Student Loans Company (SLC), which administers tuition and maintenance loans in England, said that the balance of government-backed loans reached £205bn in the current academic year, including £19bn worth of new loans to undergraduates. The figure has doubled in just six years. It reached more than £100bn in 2016-17 after the coalition government decided to increase undergraduate tuition fees from £3,600 a year to £9,000 in 2012. Continue reading...

As the UK is set to hold a conference on how to rebuild postwar Ukraine, many worry what will happen to funds sent through a system where money disappearsIf a fire is raging in a house, discussion of the colour of the replacement carpets is not normally the first priority, so to convene a Ukraine reconstruction conference in the midst of Kyiv’s counteroffensive may seem premature, and even tempting fate. The EU staged a large number of Syria reconstruction conferences premised on the defeat of Bashar al-Assad and look how that turned out.The UK’s two-day conference starting on 21 June is at least the sixth since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The first was held on 4 July 2022 in Lugano, Switzerland. Germany, holding the rotating chair of the G7, held an event in Berlin on 24 October, Paris got in on the act on 13 December, Warsaw on 13 February and the EU Committee of the Regions held an event just last month, on 25 May. Continue reading...

When people came from the Caribbean last century and were turned away by banks, many relied on communal trustAmong the challenges faced by the Windrush generation when they arrived to work in Britain in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was the refusal by many banks and building societies to allow them to open accounts, deposit savings or take out loans.Instead, they set up their own community schemes, based on those that had existed for generations in the Caribbean and elsewhere, that relied on trust. Continue reading...

Changes include the criminalisation of voyeurism and follow a string of acquittals in rape cases that triggered protests nationwideJapan has raised the age of consent from 13, among the world’s lowest, to 16 years old as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation.A new bill, which also clarifies rape prosecution requirements and criminalises voyeurism, cleared parliament’s upper house in a unanimous vote. Continue reading...

Coroner makes recommendation following inquest into death of Brandon Clark, who fled into dangerous waters after vehicle stopPolice did everything they could to save the life of Indigenous man Brandon Clark who fled into dangerous river waters while evading officers and drowned, a coroner has found.Clark had been pulled over by police during a vehicle stop when officers discovered an alleged breach of bail. He was also affected by illicit substances at the time.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat becoming mired in inquiries into his eligibility and still faces the uncertainty of a vote in the military-appointed SenateMore than a month has passed since Thai voters went to the polls to choose their next government. Yet the country remains in limbo, with little clarity about whether the most popular party will be able to take power and with its leader placed under investigation.The progressive Move Forward party stunned many observers by winning the most seats in May’s election after promising change in a country that has been ruled by coup-maker Prayuth Chan-ocha for nine years. Move Forward, which is hugely popular among younger voters, has since announced it has agreed to form a coalition with other opposition parties.

Son was upholding wishes of victim not to have matter pursued by ‘secular authorities’ when he failed to report offending to police, lawyer says

The couple have produced just one podcast series since signing with Spotify in 2020 for a reported US$20m

Independent senator claims she faced a pile on and media only took notice when a white woman made similar allegations

Liberal leader says third allegation came after he expelled David Van, who says he ‘will fully cooperate’ with investigation and is ‘stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged’

Rafael Grossi visited the Russian-controlled plant amid concerns for water levels in cooling pools after dam breachThe head of the UN atomic energy agency has said the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine is “serious” and that ensuring water for cooling was a priority of his visit, adding that the station could operate safely for “some time”.Rafael Grossi, of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was inspecting the state of Europe’s largest nuclear plant following last week’s breach in the Kakhovka dam downstream on the Dnipro River. He said IAEA inspectors would remain at the site. Continue reading...

Incident involving semi-trailer truck and vehicle used to transport elderly and disabled people sparks huge emergency responseAt least 15 people are dead in Canada after a crash between a semi-trailer truck and a vehicle used to transport elderly and physically disabled people, according to multiple media reports, as crews mount one of the largest-ever emergency responses in the region.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the province of Manitoba said as of Thursday evening, 15 people had been killed in the crash and 10 others taken to hospitals with injuries. Continue reading...

Leader Samantha Ratnam says half of all dwellings in new projects should be public or affordable housing

Report by cross-party MPs criticises previous ‘lack of urgency in addressing market failures’MPs have urged the government to set out its plans to protect households from high energy bills this winter as they said about 1.7 million people, including some of the most vulnerable groups, had been left waiting too long to receive previous support.The public accounts committee (PAC) said that although schemes were introduced quickly, the government “did not have the bandwidth” to make sure help reached all groups in a timely fashion. Continue reading...

Open letter says burden on victims to prove intent leaves door open for perpetrators to claim they were jokingProposals to tackle sexual harassment in the street in England and Wales do not go far enough because the bar for offences has been set too high, charities have warned.The Fawcett Society, Girl Guiding and Refuge are among organisations who say the requirement to prove perpetrators intended to cause alarm or distress undermines the provisions of two bills intended to protect women and girls going through parliament. Continue reading...

Chief executive Amanda Pritchard says that if early results are successful it will be rolled out more widely next yearA blood test which can detect 50 cancers before symptoms start to show could be offered to a million people in a pilot programme from next summer, according to the head of the NHS.Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said the Galleri test has the potential to “transform cancer care forever”, according to reports. Continue reading...

Child’s death in medical care follows that of 15-year-old Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, who was found in the River Eden on 27 MayA second boy has died after an incident in which a group of teenagers got into trouble in a river in Cumbria last month.The announcement of the 14-year-old’s death by Cumbria police follows the death of 15-year-old Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, whose body was found in the River Eden in Carlisle on 27 May. Continue reading...

Edward Argar says government does not intend to change law after case of woman jailed for late abortionAbortion law in England and Wales has been settled by parliament and the government does not intend to change it, a justice minister has told MPs, after a woman was jailed for taking abortion pills after the legal limit.Edward Argar was speaking after opposition MPs secured an urgent question on the 162-year-old legislation underpinning abortion regulations in part of the UK, during which there were cross-party calls for an overhaul. Continue reading...

Official report criticises Tory-run authority’s dysfunctional leadership and says it tried to silence criticsBankrupt Thurrock council recklessly gambled hundreds of millions of pounds on risky commercial investments while covering up evidence of its losses and attempting to silence critics, a devastating official review has concluded.The government-commissioned report published on Thursday said the Tory-run council’s financial collapse in 2022 was the culmination of years of dysfunctional leadership characterised by complacency, denial, and what the review called “unconscious incompetence”. Continue reading...

Privileges committee also details how ex-PM was part of a campaign to abuse and intimidate MPs investigating him

Man held by police after triple knife killings is understood to be Valdo Amissão Mendes CalocaneThe suspect in the Nottingham triple knife killings is a former student at the University of Nottingham named Valdo Amissão Mendes Calocane, sources have said.Calocane, 31, was born in Guinea-Bissau and settled in Nottingham as a child, according to multiple sources. Continue reading...

Women also said to have been in the hold, amid fears 78 so far confirmed dead could rise into the hundredsSurvivors from an overcrowded fishing boat that capsized and sank on Wednesday off the Greek coast in one of the worst disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years have told doctors and police that women and children were travelling in the hold of the vessel.Seventy-eight people have been confirmed dead, but there are fears the number of victims could run into the hundreds. Continue reading...

Khamis Abdallah Abbakar was murdered hours after criticising Rapid Support Forces on televisionSudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been blamed for the assassination and mutilation of a senior government official, amid growing reports of mass killings in the restive Darfur region in the country’s devastating war.Khamis Abdallah Abbakar, the governor of West Darfur, was murdered this week just hours after he gave an interview to a Saudi-owned TV station in which he criticised the RSF and described a “genocide”.
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As anguished family members arrive in Kalamata, search operation continues with negligible progressHope dies last and for Kassem Abo Zeed it was running out fast. Hope was the force that had led him to board a plane from Hamburg and fly to Greece after he heard that a boat carrying his wife had capsized off the country’s southern coast.But by 2pm on Thursday, 36 hours after the blue fishing trawler packed with migrants and refugees had sunk in one of the worst maritime disasters in recent Greek history, hope was fading in a way he had prayed would never happen. Continue reading...

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says Ukrainian personnel being trained so when planes are delivered, pilots are ready

Connections joins Wordle on website, leading to raised eyebrows from Victoria Coren MitchellIt’s quite the conundrum. Is a new puzzle game launched by the New York Times original, or does it have connections to a long-running BBC programme?Victoria Coren Mitchell, host of the BBC’s Only Connect, floated the question on Twitter in response to the US newspaper’s associate puzzle editor sharing its new game Connections. Continue reading...

Carr will be the first woman to lead the judiciary in the history of the role dating back to the 13th centuryThe most senior judge in England and Wales will be a woman for the first time in history – although uncertainty remains as to whether she will be known as lord chief justice.Dame Sue Carr, an appeal court judge and former vice chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission, will take up the position on 1 October, becoming the first woman in the role which dates back to the 13th century. Only two people – both women – applied for the job. Continue reading...

Berlin prosecutors say investigation against German singer is based on suspicion of abuse after concertsBerlin state prosecutors have launched an investigation into sexual assault allegations against the lead singer of the German metal band Rammstein, Till Lindemann.The prosecutors confirmed to German media that the investigation was based on the initial suspicion of sexual abuse as well as drug-related activity. The announcement follows allegations made by a number of women that they were picked out to have sex with Lindemann at concerts. Continue reading...

Annual event headlined by Vladimir Putin described as ‘totally toxic’ since full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Supporters of ex-PM have voiced fury at ‘vindictive’ privileges committee’s finding that Johnson deliberately misled parliamentSupporters of Boris Johnson have pledged to target both Conservative members of the privileges committee and Tory MPs who endorse its findings for deselection, as the aftermath of the report prompted vicious internal infighting.One ally of the former prime minister said they expected Bernard Jenkin, the most senior Tory on the committee, which said Johnson misled parliament in denying any lockdown-breaking parties, could be a particular focus in his Harwich and North Essex seat. Continue reading...

David Alexander of UCL says new framework merely ‘an attempt to tinker with the system’Experts in national disaster preparedness have warned that the UK’s post-pandemic resilience plan requires “wholesale, radical rewriting” and said the government was failing to keep the public sufficiently safe.Bruce Mann, former director of the Cabinet Office civil contingencies secretariat, told the Covid-19 public inquiry that changes called for in the new framework, published by Rishi Sunak’s government in December 2022, were “too slow” and it was “almost silent on resourcing”. Continue reading...

Long-awaited privileges committee report finds former PM was ‘deliberately disingenuous’ about Partygate events

Move follows months of debate in Washington, as Ukraine reports success in its counteroffensive

California-based Saddleback megachurch and Fern Creek Baptist church, a smaller congregation in Kentucky, were both expelledThe US Southern Baptist Convention voted to uphold the expulsion of two churches due to their having female pastors.On Wednesday at the annual SBC conference in New Orleans, representatives also known as “messengers” upheld an executive committee decision to expel the California-based Saddleback megachurch and Fern Creek Baptist church, a smaller congregation in Kentucky. Continue reading...

A brief breakdown of the report that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament while he was PM

Grey-faced officer pleaded his innocence after anti-corruption police allegedly caught him in the act of extorting businessmanA Colombian police officer has been admitted to hospital after swallowing a wad of banknotes he extorted from a businessman.The officer had demanded payments in return for not arresting his victim on trumped-up charges – but did not know that the businessman had already reported the shakedown to Colombia’s anti-kidnapping and extortion unit. Continue reading...