World news | The Guardian

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...

Home Office will no longer distinguish between people arriving by irregular means and other asylum seekersRishi Sunak has quietly dropped a key plank of last year’s asylum law that introduced a two-tier refugee system and made lives tougher for tens of thousands of people who arrived in the UK via small boats.In a move to cut the asylum backlog, the Home Office said in a written statement on Thursday that it would no longer differentiate between people who arrive by irregular means, such as those who come across the Channel, and other asylum seekers, as had been stipulated in last year’s Nationality and Borders Act. Continue reading...

Police believe Yafa an-Naseriyye incident was connected to dispute between organised crime familiesFive people have been killed in a shooting at a car wash in an Arab town in northern Israel, police said, the latest incident in a wave of criminal violence tearing through the minority community.Police said they believed the shooting on Thursday in the town of Yafa an-Naseriyye, near the city of Nazareth, was connected to a dispute between organised crime families. Continue reading...

Briton was one of four children aged between 22 months and three years attacked in Annecy playgroundA British child is among four children and two adults who have been injured in the town of Annecy in the French Alps, after a knifeman went on a rampage in a playground, the foreign secretary has confirmed.At least two of the children, both aged about three, were reported to be in a critical condition in hospital, while an adult also suffered life-threatening injuries, French national police said. Continue reading...

Authorities close off 46-mile stretch of coastline after man attacked by tiger shark near HurghadaA Russian man has died after being mauled by a shark off one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, Egyptian and Russian authorities have said.Egypt’s environment ministry said the man was killed on Thursday after being attacked by a tiger shark in the waters near the city of Hurghada. Authorities closed off a 46-mile (74km) stretch of the coastline, announcing it would remain off-limits until Sunday. Continue reading...

Contractor says many of its staff rely on working 60 hours a week, but could see this reduced to 42 on averageDozens of security guards at one of the UK’s most prestigious universities face losing their jobs, while many more are likely to see pay cuts of as much as £13,500 a year during the cost of living crisis, their representatives have said.In the latest episode in the long-running fight by outsourced workers at University College London (UCL), the staff have been told that, with the risk of redundancy hanging over them, the roughly 260 existing workers would be expected to compete for around 220 remaining jobs, or leave. Continue reading...

Justices unanimously reject lower court ruling that defined Bad Spaniel chew toy as ‘expressive work’ exempt from trademark lawThe US supreme court on Thursday gave a boost to Jack Daniel’s in its trademark dispute with a dog accessory company that sold a parody chew toy resembling the distiller’s widely recognized black-label whiskey bottle.The 9-0 decision written by Justice Elena Kagan, from the liberal wing of the bench, threw out a lower court’s ruling that the pun-laden Bad Spaniels vinyl chew toy sold by an Arizona company called VIP Products is an “expressive work” protected by the US constitution’s first amendment. Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc is owned by the Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp. Continue reading...

Al Arfat Hassan, who is on trial with 16-year-old, used ‘cupcakes’ as code word for bomb, jury hearsA drill rapper on trial for terrorist offences watched gruesome IS propaganda videos as he plotted to kill people in central London, a court has heard.Al Arfat Hassan, of Enfield, north London, is on trial at Sheffield crown court alongside a 16-year-old boy, both accused of preparing terrorist acts. Continue reading...

Alfred Dorris, 49, apologises to families of seven victims while giving evidence for the first time at Old Bailey trialThe driver in the Croydon tram disaster has apologised to the families of the victims, saying: “I’m sorry that I became disoriented.”Alfred Dorris, 49, was allegedly going three times the speed he was supposed to before his tram derailed on a sharp curve at Sandilands in south London, killing seven passengers and seriously injuring 19 more. Continue reading...

Geza Tarjanyi, 62, denies pushing former health secretary towards London underground escalatorMatt Hancock felt “physically intimidated” and feared being pushed down a London underground escalator by an anti-vaccination protester accusing him of murdering people during the coronavirus pandemic, the former health secretary has told a court.Geza Tarjanyi, 62, of Leyland, in Lancashire, who has denied causing harassment without violence, is accused of shoulder-barging the MP and shouting “ridiculous conspiracy theories” on two separate occasions on 19 and 24 January this year. Continue reading...

News photographer Moamen Sumreen, 22, had been covering the demolition of the apartment in RamallahA Palestinian news photographer is in serious condition in hospital after being hit in the head by a rubber bullet during a rare Israeli raid in Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative capital in the occupied West Bank.A convoy of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) vehicles entered the city late on Wednesday night in order to demolish the home of a terrorism suspect who had been accused of planting two bombs targeting rush-hour commuters in Jerusalem last November that killed two people and injured another 21. Continue reading...

Devon port among south coast sites examined by Home Office staff amid calls for legal challenge to policyPlymouth could become the latest site chosen for a giant vessel to house asylum seekers amid calls for the Home Office to be challenged in the courts over the policy.The Devon port is one of several places along the south coast that have been examined by Home Office staff, Whitehall and maritime sources have said. Continue reading...

Government publishes total of support to homes and businesses between October and MarchThe UK’s cost of keeping energy bills down for homes and businesses over the winter months added up to almost £40bn, the first official government total shows.The Treasury pegged the final cost of keeping a lid on the UK’s energy bills at £39.3bn between October 2022 and March 2023 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine propelled energy market prices to record levels. Continue reading...

Department for Education survey finds that 40,000 – almost 9% of workforce – left state schools in 2021-22 before retirementTeachers in England are abandoning their profession in record numbers, according to official figures, with Labour claiming that “incompetent” government policies were to blame.The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) found that 40,000 teachers resigned from state schools last year – almost 9% of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011 – while a further 4,000 retired. Continue reading...

Murder inquiry launched and family of Alfred Swinscoe appeal for information after discovery in NottinghamshirePolice have launched a murder inquiry after human remains found in a Nottinghamshire field were identified as those of a miner who vanished after a night at a pub 56 years ago.A member of the public found the remains in farmland in Sutton-in-Ashfield in April, and Nottinghamshire police launched an appeal for information after a postmortem found that the person had been killed. Continue reading...

Stephan Schmidheiny found guilty of causing deaths of 392 people in Casale Monferrato in PiedmontA Swiss billionaire has been sentenced to 12 years in jail on aggravated manslaughter charges connected to the deaths of hundreds of people due to asbestos exposure, in what has been hailed as the most significant trial in Italy over workplace deaths.Stephan Schmidheiny, an industrialist and former main shareholder in the cement production company Eternit Italia, was sentenced by a court in Novara after being found guilty of causing the death of 392 people in Casale Monferrato, the Piedmont town that until 1986 was home to the largest of Eternit Italia’s six factories. Continue reading...

Sajad Hussain tricked women he met on dating sites into believing they were in relationship then used them as ‘human piggy banks’A “romance fraudster” has been jailed for five years and four months after admitting manipulating three women into giving him more than £200,000 to fund his gambling habit.Sajad Hussain, 45, of Swindon, Wiltshire, who had pretended to be a police officer, admitted five counts of defrauding three women he met on dating sites over a seven-year period. Continue reading...

Man targeted solicitor and court staff over months, says judge in what is believed to be first ruling of its kindA judge has banned a man from applying for contact with his child for a year after he “bombarded” court officials with abusive messages.The landmark ruling, thought to be the first of its kind, means the man, known as Mr B, can only make an application for a new hearing in the next 12 months if he first obtains permission from the judge. Continue reading...

Joran van der Sloot, already serving 28-year sentence, faces fraud and extortion charges linked to Alabama teen missing since 2005Peruvian police have handed over a convicted Dutch murderer to US FBI agents for transfer to the United States, where he faces extortion and fraud charges related to the killing of the Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway two decades ago.Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national from the Caribbean island of Aruba, is set to face charges in the United States related to the mysterious disappearance and presumed murder of Holloway, an 18-year-old from a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, who vanished during a high school graduation trip to Aruba in 2005. Continue reading...

Awarding grants for explicit decisions of government risks ‘entrenching a system of permissible pork-barrelling’, barrister says

Many children on remand who may be exonerated or not sentenced are pleading guilty to escape long periods of detention

Guild says it adheres to all relevant privacy laws as medical association says patient’s personal information is ‘sacrosanct, not a plaything’

Applicants asked for proof of identity, rental and financial history, and references, with some listings being snapped up before first showing

Labor MP Tom Smith raises concerns after speaking to alleged victim who was taken in the back of a police car to a hospital 90 minutes away

Georgia Bilham, 21, is on trial in Chester for 17 sexual offences after allegedly deceiving shortsighted girlA teenage girl who pretended to be a boy in order to engage in sexual activity with a severely shortsighted girl also duped a second teenager, a court has heard.Georgia Bilham, 21, is on trial at Chester crown court for 17 sexual offences after allegedly deceiving a teenage girl into sex by pretending to be a boy. Continue reading...

Sir Mark Rowley makes apology in letter to activist Peter Tatchell, and says there is still ‘much for us to do’Scotland Yard has apologised to the LGBTQ+ community for past failings, in what campaigners have hailed as a historic first they hope other police forces around the UK will follow.The Met police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, made the admission in a letter to Peter Tatchell, the prominent British LGBTQ+ activist. Continue reading...