World news | The Guardian

Signals point to explosion early on Tuesday, as Ukraine says intercepted call proves Russia was responsible

BBC’s Today programme host ‘fearful’ of new era of US-style mixing of news and viewsNick Robinson has said the reputation for impartiality built over decades by the UK’s broadcasters faces an existential threat from the growing influence of partisan political figures on newer channels.The presenter of Radio 4’s flagship Today programme and former BBC political editor said he feared a new era of US-style mixing of news and views if the UK continued down its current path. Continue reading...

Boy, 16, arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after incident at Blundell’s school in Tiverton

Nurse also rejects accusation she deliberately misled jury in her trial for alleged murder of babiesLucy Letby has denied she is a “very calculating” serial killer who has deliberately misled the jury in her trial over the alleged murder of babies.On a tense final day of cross-examination, the nurse admitted she was “drinking fizz and going to the races” and was very active socially at a time she claimed her life had been devastated. Continue reading...

Parents say Hamdan Aslam found to have pre-existing heart condition and call for online speculation to endA 14-year-old boy who collapsed at a school in Blackburn, West Lothian, on Tuesday died from natural causes, police have confirmed.Hamdan Aslam’s family revealed he had an undiagnosed heart condition, and emphasised there was “no one to blame for his loss”. Continue reading...

Henri d’Anselme, who was seen on video trying to disarm man with bag before chasing him, says: ‘I didn’t even think about it’He has been hailed in France as the “backpack hero”, a young man who challenged the knife-wielding attacker who stabbed four young children and two adults in a playground in Annecy.Videos that circulated on social media before being removed as too distressing showed Henri d’Anselme, 24, chasing the man out of the park as parents screamed, and using his bag to try to disarm the knifeman before pursuing him. Continue reading...

John Finucane, North Belfast MP, due to speak at event honouring members of deadly South Armagh brigadePolitical leaders and victims’ groups have accused Sinn Féin of glorifying murder at a planned commemoration in Northern Ireland for one of the IRA’s deadliest units.John Finucane, the party’s North Belfast MP, is to address an event on Sunday honouring members of the IRA’s South Armagh brigade, which carried out attacks targeting civilians and security forces during the Troubles. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP for Enfield Southgate and shadow Foreign Office minister is under investigation after complaintOne of Keir Starmer’s shadow ministers has had the Labour party whip suspended after a complaint about his conduct.Bambos Charalambous, a shadow Foreign Office minister and MP for Enfield Southgate, is under investigation after a complaint was made against him. Continue reading...

The question is not whether UK house prices will continue to fall but how big the drop will be

Move follows protest by refugees who had been told they would be sharing small London hotel rooms

Anneliese Dodds questions why it took so long for one of the Conservative senior treasurer’s firms to sever its Russia links

After years of infighting, 27-state bloc sets out new policies including charge of €20,000 a head for members that refuse to take refugeesThe EU has agreed radical reforms of its migration and asylum laws including charges of €20,000 (£17,200) per head for member countries that refuse to host refugees.After almost 12 hours of intense negotiations in Luxembourg, and years of fighting, interior ministers struck a deal on Thursday on what they described as a “historical” new approach to what one politician described as an often “toxic topic”. Continue reading...

Esther Ghey says she felt overwhelmed by support after her trans daughter’s death and has found comfort in outdoor swimmingThe mother of the transgender teenager Brianna Ghey says she has found solace in cold water swimming as she tries to come to terms with her daughter’s brutal death.Esther Ghey is taking part in Saturday’s Great North Swim in Windermere, in the Lake District, raising money for the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP). Continue reading...

Mural by Rogue One found to be not in keeping with historic area, after complaints about portrayal of women accused of witchcraftA “gaudy and inaccurate” mural by a renowned street artist will be removed from a historic fishing village after objections exposed deep sensitivities about how women persecuted for witchcraft are portrayed in modern times.The mural of the menacing witch reaching her spindly fingers towards passersby covers the gable end wall of the Larachmhor Tavern, a 19th-century Category C listed building that sits within the conservation area of Pittenweem, Fife. Continue reading...

Appointment expected despite strong calls for a woman to lead party after its misogyny scandal

Organisers add e-cigarettes to official ‘do not bring’ list, which also includes gazebos and knivesPeople heading to Glastonbury festival this month have been urged by organisers not to bring disposable vapes to the event.The electronic devices simulate tobacco smoking, run on lithium batteries and are not rechargeable, meaning they are single-use products. Some estimates suggest about 1.3m are thrown away each week in the UK. Continue reading...

French president and his wife will travel to Alpine town as one adult is also still in a critical conditionThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, are to visit victims of a knife attack in the French Alps in which four preschool children and two adults were injured, three critically, the Elysée Palace has said.“Following yesterday’s attack, the president of the republic and his spouse will today visit the victims and their families as well as everyone in Annecy who has contributed in helping and supporting them,” the palace said on Friday. Continue reading...

Saul Cookson, 15, collided with parked ambulance shortly after being followed by police vehicleThe family of a Salford teenager who died when the e-bike he was riding crashed after being followed by police, who has been named locally as Saul Cookson, have paid tribute to “the nicest lad about”.The 15-year-old boy’s e-bike collided with a parked ambulance at about 2pm on Thursday, Greater Manchester police said. It had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, “in line with normal proceedings” when someone has died after contact with police, it added. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

Sutton says the pressure of the public role through the worst of the pandemic took a toll on his family

Experts warn heat poses threat to wider population, while thunderstorms also forecastUK temperatures could peak at 30C (86F) this weekend as public health experts warn the heat poses a threat to the wellbeing of the wider population.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday upgraded an alert for hot weather in five regions of England as warnings were also issued for thunderstorms. Continue reading...

Broadcaster says she has had double mastectomy and was told news on same day as her OBE announcedThe broadcaster Anne Diamond has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.The GB News presenter said she received the diagnosis the same day as finding out she was to be made OBE. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury expresses dismay over church’s support for Ugandan law enacted last monthThe archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican church in Uganda to reconsider its vociferous support for the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ law, which imposes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.Justin Welby said there was no justification for supporting the legislation, in a move that highlights deep divisions within the global Anglican church on LGBTQ+ issues. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt hopes suspending tax on oil profits if Brent crude falls below $71.40 a barrel will aid investmentJeremy Hunt has offered the North Sea oil and gas industry a ‘get-out’ clause from the windfall tax on fossil fuel profits if wholesale energy market prices fall back to normal levels.The chancellor hopes to boost investment in the North Sea by agreeing to suspend the windfall tax on oil profits if the market price for Brent crude falls below $71.40 a barrel, and gas prices fall below 54 pence a therm, for a period of six months. The global oil price is currently about $75 a barrel, and the UK’s gas price is about 64 p/th. Continue reading...

Nine Entertainment paper says it ‘essentially campaigned’ for 11 stockmen accused of killing at least 28 Aboriginal people to escape prosecution

Writer of Empireland, which examined Britain’s imperial past, says culture war-fuelled online trolling and heckling ‘gets to you’The writer Sathnam Sanghera has said he barely ever does public events in the UK because of a fear of being attacked amid a culture war-fuelled backlash over his views on Britain’s imperial past, saying he feared a Florida-style push towards the banning of books.Sanghera, a journalist and author whose bestselling book Empireland assessed how the UK’s colonial territories still infect contemporary politics and discourse, said he had begun to dread holding book events here. Continue reading...

Playful takes on cautionary Ministry of Works signs encourage visitors to have a sensory experienceFifty years ago, heritage sites in England were covered in signs saying don’t do this, don’t do that, beware coming closer, danger here, keep your children under control and the dreaded we will prosecute you.Those doom-laden Ministry of Works signs are making a comeback. Or a sort of comeback, as English Heritage announces plans for new signs that will have a more mindful spin. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US embassy says review ended with a decision that no training restrictions needed ‘at this time’

Coalition presses finance minister over her comment to Senate estimates that ‘no one had any knowledge’ before rape allegation was made public

North-west Syria regains access to radiotherapy for first time since Earthquake devastated the region but backlog means many remain in limboCross-border treatment for cancer patients from north-west Syria resumed this week after February’s earthquake had left people without access to radiotherapy.But medical organisations in the area are warning that the backlog means many cancer patients remain in limbo and some could die as a result. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research reveals only a quarter of primaries will have vital school-based support by end of 2024Ministers have been accused of failing to grasp the “tidal wave” of mental ill health blighting children’s lives, after research found that only a quarter of English primaries will be able to offer vital school-based support by the end of next year.With almost one in five pupils aged seven to 16 now thought to have a mental health disorder, specialist support teams were set up to work with children in schools, addressing early symptoms and reducing pressure on overstretched NHS services. Continue reading...

Police say emergency services found woman, 39, and girl, 11, with a number of wounds at home in Rosewood, west of Brisbane

Children’s commissioner points to research showing some are so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate in schoolThe children’s commissioner for England has urged ministers to crack down on the “insidious” marketing of vapes to young people, which is leaving them so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate on lessons.Rachel de Souza said the government would be “failing a generation” if these “highly addictive and sometimes dangerous products” were allowed to become mainstream. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president’s remarks echo previous remarks about international bodies’ failure to intervene more decisivelyVolodymyr Zelenskiy – well schooled in chiding the west for being slow in providing help – has shifted his line of criticism from the pace at which arms has been reaching his country to the slow international response to the humanitarian and ecological disaster caused by the breach of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.Before visiting the flood-affected areas on Thursday, he used his nightly address to say: “Large-scale efforts are needed. We need international organisations, such as the International Committee on Red Cross, to immediately join the rescue operation and help the people in the occupied part of Kherson region. Each person that dies there is a verdict on the existing international architecture and international organisations that have forgotten how to save lives. If there is no international organisation in the area of this disaster now, it means it does not exist at all and that it is incapable of functioning.” Continue reading...

The public broadcaster’s five-year-plan, released on Friday, stops short of the BBC’s plan to shut down its TV and radio broadcasts to be digital first

Sushiro says business badly damaged by video of teenager licking soy sauce bottle and wiping saliva on passing foodA sushi chain in Japan is seeking ¥67m (£383,280) in damages from a diner who filmed himself licking a soy sauce bottle and wiping saliva on a slice of fish at one of its restaurants, part of a wave of “sushi terrorism” that scandalised the country’s budget food industry.Sushiro, Japan’s biggest operator of revolving sushi restaurants, filed the suit with a court in Osaka, according to the Kyodo news agency, arguing that it had suffered financial losses after the incident triggered public fears over food hygiene. Continue reading...

National carrier says update to uniform and grooming requirements follows worker feedback and evolving customer expectations

Assange’s father, John Shipton, says his son’s grounds for a further UK hearing are ‘clear, firm and just’

Lawyers for Bruce Lehrmann denied involvement and rejected the allegation

Experts have warned that the US program is too tightly squeezed to produce Australia’s additional subs, which are meant to fill a capability gap

Andy Cooke says trust in police ‘hanging by a thread’ and forces failing to act on recommendationsThe head of the police inspectorate in England and Wales has demanded sweeping new powers to compel police forces to tackle what he described as the worst crisis in law and order in living memory.In his first annual assessment as head of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), Andy Cooke said there was a limited opportunity to restore public trust in police before it was irreparably damaged. Continue reading...

Consumer group contends that supermarket’s failure to provide unit prices could amount to ‘misleading practice’The consumer group Which? has reported Tesco to the UK’s competition watchdog over the supermarket’s failure to provide detailed pricing information on its loyalty card offers.The group said the UK’s largest retailer had not clearly explained the unit price of deals for its Clubcard holders – such as the price per 100g or 100ml – so that shoppers could easily compare value for money between different sized packages, bottles, brands and retailers. Continue reading...

Ex-PM handed dossier laying out privileges committee’s findings as inquiry into whether he misled parliament nears endBoris Johnson has been given the findings of an investigation into whether he misled parliament over Partygate, the Guardian has been told.With the nearly year-long inquiry drawing to a close, sources said a “warning letter” had been submitted to the former prime minister containing criticisms for him to respond to. Continue reading...

Senator Dorinda Cox and former Blak Greens leader Tjanara Goreng Goreng have made separate allegations to the AFP over an altercation between them in Perth

Landmark agreement moves UK firmly into US economic orbit but falls far short of full trade deal Tories promised in 2019Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden have announced a deal for transatlantic cooperation that moves the UK firmly into the US administration’s economic orbit and marks a revival in ties after the turbulence of Brexit.Unveiling the so-called “Atlantic declaration” at a joint press conference with Biden at the White House, Sunak was explicit that the closer links were designed to bolster economic security in response to threats from China and Russia. Continue reading...

Nuclear safety organisation says loss of pool would not necessarily be catastrophic, but would dramatically increase safety concernsThe cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in danger of collapse as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the draining of its reservoir, according to a French nuclear safety organisation.Without the reservoir on the other side to counteract it, the internal pressure of the water in the cooling pool could breach the dyke around it, a report by the Paris-based Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) said. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police say officers were not following teenager when he collided with ambulanceA 15-year-old boy riding an e-bike has died in a collision with an ambulance in Greater Manchester shortly after he was followed by traffic officers, police said.Greater Manchester police (GMP) said at about 2pm on Thursday the officers began following the boy along Fitzwarren Street in Salford on to Lower Seedley Road but bollards prevented the police vehicle from continuing. Continue reading...

Facility would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from US but Cuba dismisses report as ‘unfounded’China has reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal has reported, but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.Such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the south-eastern United States, which houses many US military bases, as well as to monitor ship traffic, the newspaper reported. Continue reading...

Staff will be left at risk if proposals to ban members under police investigation from Westminster estate dropped, unions sayLong-awaited plans to bar MPs and peers accused of sexual or violent offences from Westminster will be “kicked into the long grass”, it is feared, as plans to hold a vote on the proposals have been delayed.Commons leader Penny Mordaunt confirmed MPs will debate whether MPs should be barred from entering the parliamentary estate once they are subject to police investigation on Monday, but there will not be a vote.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

US president and UK prime minister announce plan to bolster economic security in response to China’s growing influenceThe North Sea oil and gas industry is in decline, the shadow business minister Seema Malhotra said, as she defended plans to block new drilling licences, a move criticised by trade unions. Aubrey Allegretti has the story here.MPs will hold a debate on Monday on proposals to ban members from the parliamentary estate if they are being investigated for a criminal offence and are deemed to pose a risk to other people.Last night the government was debating whether to hold a vote on Monday on proposals to ban MPs accused of violent or sexual offences from the estate — after backlash from some Tory backbenchers. One senior Tory MP told Playbook they opposed the plan because it would overturn “common practice that you are innocent until proven guilty”. Continue reading...