Unicef says ‘more and more unaccompanied children’ among thousands of refugees streaming across 1,000km-long borderHundreds of unaccompanied children have crossed the border from Sudan into Chad in recent weeks as fighting separates families and forces minors to make the arduous journey to safety without their parents.Humanitarian workers say “more and more” children are arriving alone in the neighbouring country, to which more than 100,000 refugees, about 60% of them under-18s, have fled since fighting erupted between rival military factions in mid-April. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6C5WP)
GMC says cases were among 194 incidents of alleged violations of confidentiality between 2017 and 2022Two-dozen doctors have been disciplined by the UK medical regulator in the last five years after accessing and using information from patients’ treatment records without good reason.The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had struck off two of the 24 doctors it had sanctioned after finding that they had undertaken “inappropriate use” of medical records. Continue reading...
Driver Brett Andrew Button has been released after appearing in court in Cessnock charged with 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving. Follow the day’s news live
Estimated 60 children among those trapped in detention camps since Islamic State collapseA group of celebrities including Olivia Colman, Stephen Fry and Gillian Anderson have called on ministers to rescue and bring home British families trapped in detention camps in north-east Syria.The stars, along with various NGOs including War Child UK and Human Rights Watch, the Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi and several national security experts, have signed an open letter to the UK government appealing for the rescue of approximately 25 British families, including an estimated 60 children most of whom are under 10 years old, who are languishing in the camps. Continue reading...
Director, who has worked with Murray on nine of his 11 films, says it was Covid-19, not misconduct allegations, that stopped the actor appearing in his latest film Asteroid CityWes Anderson has said that various allegations made against his frequent collaborator Bill Murray will not affect their working relationship, describing him as “part of my family”.The 54-year-old director, known for using the same actors across his films, spoke before the release of his latest, Asteroid City, which is one of only two of his 11 released feature films that Murray has not appeared in. Continue reading...
by Presented by Hannah Moore with Pippa Crerar, produ on (#6C5TA)
The former PM and ex-Scottish first minister were controversial leaders. Now they are both facing disgrace – adding to the turmoil in British politicsThey are two of the biggest characters in modern British politics but could not be more different. The showman-like Boris Johnson and the down-to-earth Nicole Sturgeon were tasked with the enormous responsibility of steering the nation through the Covid-19 pandemic, and often clashed. Yet both former leaders are not just out of power but facing disgrace.On Friday, Boris Johnson suddenly quit as an MP – before the publication of a report into whether he misled parliament over the Partygate scandal, which would have led to a suspension that would have prompted a byelection. The Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, explains how in his furious resignation letter Johnson criticised the inquiry by the privileges committee, calling it a “kangaroo court” but also hit out at Rishi Sunak’s government. On Sunday came the news that Nicola Sturgeon had been arrested as part of a police investigation into allegations of financial misconduct by the Scottish National party. The former first minister of Scotland has proclaimed her innocence and said the experience was “deeply distressing”. Continue reading...
Officials are the interviewing family members of the children who survived 40 days alone in the rainforest to determine who should care for themA custody battle has broken out among relatives of the four Indigenous Colombian children who survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Amazon rainforest, with the father of two of them facing accusations of domestic violence.The siblings, ranging in age from one to 13, remained in hospital on Monday and were expected to stay there for several days, during which time Colombia’s child protection agency will interview family members to determine who should care for them after their mother died in the 1 May crash. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6C5RM)
Junior doctors are seeking a 35% salary rise to restore the value of their pay to 2008-09 levelsAlmost all routine NHS care in England will be disrupted for three days this week when junior doctors strike in their latest attempt to force ministers to increase their pay.Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the stoppage would have an enormous impact and lead to huge numbers of patients missing out on planned care. Continue reading...
Women will be able to apply for convictions and cautions under repealed or abolished offences to be wipedA scheme to pardon people unjustly criminalised for alleged gay or lesbian activity has been expanded, the Home Office has announced.For the first time, women will be able to apply for their records to be wiped if they have been convicted or cautioned under any repealed or abolished offences relating to same-sex activity. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6C5RJ)
Amendments to bill address concerns that strategic lawsuits against public participation stifle free speechOppressive lawsuits brought by wealthy individuals to evade scrutiny and intimidate critics are to be defined in English and Welsh law for the first time, as judges are handed powers to dismiss “Slapps” at an early stage.Amendments added to the economic crime and corporate transparency bill will bring a swift end to the vast majority of Slapps (strategic lawsuits against public participation), ministers claim. Continue reading...
The West End actor says the Shakespearean role has ‘the disastrous consequences of ambition’ in common with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical“They think me Macbeth,” sings Reuben Joseph in the West End production of Hamilton, quoting the Scottish king’s famous line “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” in the song Take a Break. Now, Joseph is set to go straight from playing the lead in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical to the title character of Shakespeare’s tragedy in his RSC debut this summer.Reuben’s final performance as Alexander Hamilton will take place this weekend and in two months he takes to the stage as Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Continue reading...
by Donna Ferguson and Mabel Banfield-Nwachi on (#6C5F4)
Woman, 49, held as schools pay tribute to Ethan John, 11, and Elizabeth John, seven, who were found with serious injuriesThe schools of the two children who lost their lives in a suspected double murder in Stoke-on-Trent have described the “huge hole” left behind in their community.Their schools paid tribute to the children, who have been named as Ethan John, 11, and Elizabeth John, seven. Continue reading...
Claudia Sheinbaum will seek ruling party’s nomination to succeed Andrés Manuel López Obrador in election next yearMexico City’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, has announced that she will step down this Friday to seek the ruling party’s presidential nomination, bidding to become the country’s first female leader in an election due to be held next year.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) said on Sunday it would on6 September announce the winning candidate from its internal selection process. Sheinbaum is one of the favorites. Continue reading...
Suspect Dirk Raats has been officially put under investigation for murder of Solaine ThorntonA man has appeared in court in France charged with shooting dead an 11-year-old British girl who was playing in the garden of her family home.The suspect, Dirk Raats, 70, originally from Antwerp in Belgium, has been officially put under investigation for the murder of Solaine Thornton and the attempted murder of her parents, Adrian and Rachel Thornton. Continue reading...
Siblings, who spent more than 40 days in Amazon after plane crash in early May, told of mother’s death when search party arrivedThe tragic first words four Colombian children spoke after surviving for 40 days in the Amazon jungle have been revealed by their rescuers, as the youngsters recover at a military hospital in Bogotá.When a search party found the emaciated children on Friday, the first thing Tien Noriel Ranoque Mucutuy, four, said was: “My mother is dead.” Continue reading...
UN’s Africa group ‘not prepared to participate’ with Dragos Viorel Tigau after alleged comment in KenyaThe Africa group within the United Nations said it would never work again with the Romanian ambassador to Kenya in certain forums after he allegedly compared them to a monkey while attending a meeting in Nairobi.The group also demanded an unconditional and public apology to the people of Africa. Continue reading...
Paris Mayo tells court her son was not alive when she gave birth and she feels ‘horrible’ about his deathA teenager accused of murdering her newborn son has said she did not know she was pregnant until the last moment and insisted the child was not alive when she gave birth.Paris Mayo, who was 15 when her son, Stanley, was born, told a jury that she loved her son and felt “horrible” about his death, wondering what he would have been like. Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose, Safi Bugel, Martin Belam and Adam Ful on (#6C5C4)
US secretary of state Antony Blinken says Ukraine should expect ‘robust’ political and practical support from the Nato summit. This live blog is closed
PM has clashed publicly with predecessor over failed attempts to elevate several close allies to LordsRishi Sunak would block Boris Johnson from standing again as a Conservative MP before the next election, sources have told the Guardian, as the two men engaged in an extraordinary war of words.The prime minister clashed publicly with Johnson over his failed attempts to elevate several close allies to the House of Lords, accusing him of having lobbied to overturn due process to appoint the three Tory MPs. Johnson dismissed his claims as “rubbish”. Continue reading...
Jamie Barrow ‘walked casually away’ as Fatoumatta Hydara and her children screamed from inside the flat he had set alightA mother and her two young daughters were murdered by a neighbour who set their flat on fire over a row about rubbish bags being left behind their building, a court has heard.The prosecution said the defendant, Jamie Barrow, “walked casually away” despite screams being heard from inside the flat. Continue reading...
Boris Johnson accepts post of crown steward and bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds after accusing PM of talking ‘rubbish’. This live blog is now closedFull story: Boris Johnson formally steps down as MPThe EU has dashed UK hopes of an early review of the Brexit trade deal saying is unlikely to re-open talks until 2026.European commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič, who leads for the EU on Brexit matters, said the deal was only in force for two years and it would be pointless re-opening it until its full potential was realised.If the decision is just to simply go for more divergence … some of the fundamentals of the withdrawal agreement and the TCA would be thrown into the shredder.Rishi secretly blocked the peerages for Nadine and others. He refused to ask for them to undergo basic checks that could have taken only a few weeks or even days. That is how he kept them off the list – without telling Boris Johnson. Continue reading...
Scottish first minister says he sees no reason to take action after his predecessor’s arrest on SundayHumza Yousaf has rejected growing calls from across the political spectrum to suspend Nicola Sturgeon from the Scottish National party after her arrest on Sunday.The first minister has been under pressure to suspend his predecessor and mentor after SNP parliamentarians and opposition leaders urged the party to take action or for Sturgeon to stand down voluntarily. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6C5MQ)
Helen Whately declines to endorse former health secretary’s 2020 assertion as pandemic public inquiry begins in earnestThe care minister, Helen Whately, has declined to back Matt Hancock’s claim that the government threw a “protective ring around care homes” at the start of the pandemic.Whately worked under the former health secretary in the first 18 months of Covid, but she avoided endorsing her former boss’s assertion, which will be tested at the public inquiry which starts in earnest this week. Continue reading...
Georgie Bilham, who is accused of sexual assault, says woman she had sex with knew she was femaleA young woman has told a court she got trapped in a “web of lies” after posing as a boy to meet girls online, but insisted that a woman she had sex with knew she was female.Georgia Bilham, 21, from Chester, said she created a male alter ego called George as “an escape” from her unhappy life, saying her mum would not have approved of her being in a lesbian relationship. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Deputy political editor on (#6C5KT)
Confirmation of former PM’s departure from parliament fires starting gun on byelection in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seatBoris Johnson has formally stepped down as an MP, parliamentary authorities announced, bringing down the curtain on a tumultuous second stint in the Commons.Johnson has accepted the post of crown steward and bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, a statement said, the slightly convoluted process under which MPs resign. Continue reading...
More than 14,000 remain under evacuation as nearly 450 fires burned across the country on Sunday, with 220 out of controlOverdue rains and cooler temperatures have given Quebec fire crews a chance to launch their assault on dozens of wildfires, but the reprieve for one part of Canada comes as fires in the west of the country have once again forced residents to flee their homes.The country has been struggling with an “unprecedented” wildfire season, with nearly 450 forest fires across the country on Sunday, 220 of which were burning out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Continue reading...
Move to buy £75m of shares in UK’s biggest seller of large domestic appliancesMike Ashley’s Frasers Group has taken an 18.9% stake in the online electricals retailer AO World in a £75m deal involving buying out shares held by crisis-hit Odey Asset Management.Frasers Group, the parent of brands from Sports Direct to Evans Cycles, said the deal was part of a strategic partnership that the two companies have been in talks about forming for two years. Continue reading...
Police investigate after footage apparently shows three men assaulting a man and a womanPolice are investigating after footage emerged apparently showing pro-Hong Kong demonstrators being violently attacked by a group of Chinese activists in Southampton.The alleged incident occurred after a rally to mark the anniversary of the 2019 protests for democratic changes in Hong Kong. Continue reading...
Woman had pleaded guilty to procuring drugs under ‘pills by post’ scheme in pandemicA woman has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after pleading guilty to procuring drugs to induce an abortion after the legal limit.The mother-of-three, 44, received the medication under the “pills by post” scheme which was introduced during the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...
by Ruth Michaelson and Kevin Rawlinson on (#6C5DR)
Three were among group of diving enthusiasts reportedly on six-day stay onboard boat when fire broke outThree British tourists have been confirmed dead after a fire onboard a diving boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, a day after they were declared missing after a frantic search by the captain and crew.Twelve other divers and 14 crew, including the captain of the Hurricane, were rescued after abandoning the ship on Sunday morning. The group had sailed out to Elphinstone reef, a famed diving spot roughly 12km offshore and 30km from the resort town of Marsa Alam. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6C5G3)
About 15,000 passengers affected by Sunday cancellations and knock-on effects on MondayThousands of easyJet passengers flying to and from Gatwick have had their flights cancelled due to storms in the last 24 hours.More than 54 of the budget carrier’s flights scheduled for Sunday evening did not operate due to what the airport described as “intense thunderstorms” in the area after the weekend heat. Continue reading...
Man identified locally as George King-Thompson, who was previously jailed after free-climbing London’s ShardA British man, previously jailed after free-climbing the Shard in London, has reportedly been arrested in South Korea after attempting to climb the country’s tallest skyscraper without equipment, police said.The man was scaling the 123-storey Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul early on Monday when staff spotted him, forcing him to stop his ascent as he reached the 73rd floor. Continue reading...
Scientists aim to analyse remains of 128 people recovered from basilica where thousands were buriedForensic scientists are beginning efforts to exhume the remains of 128 people from the huge basilica outside Madrid where 34,000 dead from both sides of the Spanish civil war were buried, and where the body of Gen Francisco Franco also lay for almost half a century.The exhumations at the Valley of Cuelgamuros – known until last year as the Valley of the Fallen – come after the families of some of those interred there spent almost two decades fighting for their loved ones to receive a dignified burial. Continue reading...
Return of US ends decade-long dispute sparked by agency’s move to admit Palestine as a memberThe UN’s cultural and scientific agency, Unesco, has announced that the US plans to rejoin – and pay more than $600m (£477m) in back dues – after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organisation’s move to include Palestine as a member.US officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by Washington in Unesco policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. Continue reading...
Chief inspector says up to government to change system despite outcry over suicide of head whose school was downgradedScrapping single-word gradings for schools would not alleviate the “underlying discomfort” teachers feel, Ofsted’s chief inspector has said, as she came under increasing pressure to reform the system after a headteacher’s suicide.Amanda Spielman has announced a series of changes in response to Ruth Perry’s death, but has been criticised for not going far enough. Perry, the head of a primary in Reading, killed herself earlier this year after learning an Ofsted inspection was to lower her school’s grade from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...