World news | The Guardian

Kristian Kovaleff feigned mental illness until realising he could not fool forensic psychologists, judge says

Memorial given more than $600m in last two years of Morrison government, as the nation’s peak collecting museums languished

Guidance says strong population-level immunity due to infection and vaccination means boosters have less impactOnly high-risk groups should receive ongoing Covid-19 booster doses because strong population-level immunity means ongoing boosting of the general population offers little impact, the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO) says.The vaccination guide, from WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation, says each country needs to take into account its own epidemiological situation, stressing that its recommendations are for short-to-medium term planning and subject to change. Continue reading...

Report finds up to 33% of looming price rises could be avoided if state and federal governments cracked down on return allowed for suppliers

Sanderson shown photos of himself on vacation after ski collision, and doctor suggested any concussion suffered was ‘very mild’Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys called ski crash accuser Terry Sanderson back to the stand late on Wednesday in a final effort to eviscerate claims that he suffered an extensive brain injury that led to loss of joie de vivre and brain function as a result of the actress allegedly skiing into him on a Utah mountain slope.Under an intense grilling, Sanderson was shown photographs, culled from Facebook, showing the retired eye doctor taking frequent holiday trips around the world after the ski collision, including floating down the Amazon, visiting the Netherlands three times, Morocco twice, Thailand and other destinations. Continue reading...

Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy was due to give the welcome to country for former US president in Melbourne

No major publishers represented among final six books in contention for $60,000 prize for female authors

Country gives just $1 in assistance for every $10 that goes to defence, humanitarian groups say

Actor and former Miss World announced move to US at pinnacle of her fame in India eight years agoThe Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has spoken of how Bollywood’s enduring obsession with fair skin was one of the reasons she left the industry to try her luck in Hollywood eight years ago.Chopra, 40, is a former Miss World and was at the pinnacle of her fame in India when she abruptly announced the move to the US. Continue reading...

UN experts lead calls for public and private bodies to take steps toward restorative justiceUN experts are leading calls for the British government and royal family to investigate their historical links to transatlantic slavery and take steps toward restorative justice.The Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian, apologised on Tuesday for the role the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery and announced a decade-long, multimillion-pound programme of restorative justice. Continue reading...

Figures indicate Reserve Bank may consider pausing interest rates at its next meeting on Tuesday

Government introduces bill transferring responsibility for ‘positive vetting’ to Australia’s spy agency to tackle foreign interference

India’s patent office turns down bedaquiline extension to Johnson & Johnson, clearing the way for generic versionsPeople with drug-resistant tuberculosis in India could soon have access to critical medication at a far lower cost after the authorities rejected US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s application to extend a patent.The firm wanted to extend its patent on bedaquiline, which expires in July, until 2027, which would have prevented cheaper generic versions reaching the market. Continue reading...

The ABC has called the seat for the independent MP, who has pleaded not guilty to sexual and indecent assault charges

Harry says he was conditioned to accept family’s view that they should not dare take on UK newspaper industryPrince Harry has claimed members of the royal family struck a secret deal with newspapers not to sue them over phone hacking because it would “open a can of worms”.Harry alleged his own family hid information from him about press intrusion and he had been conditioned to accept his family’s view that they should not dare to take on the British newspaper industry. Continue reading...

Police use teargas and water cannon against hooded protesters on the margins in some citiesProtesters and police clashed on the edges of street demonstrations in France on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people took part in marches against Emmanuel Macron’s use of constitutional executive powers to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age to 64.While demonstrations in Paris and Nantes were peaceful, with the majority of demonstrators chanting and calling for the pension changes to be scrapped, on the margins in some cities, men in masks or hoods clashed with police. Continue reading...

Ex-Labour leader says he has ‘no intention of stopping the fight’ as Keir Starmer faces fierce criticism from leftJeremy Corbyn has given his strongest hint yet that he will stand as an independent candidate, saying he has “no intention of stopping the fight” to represent his north London constituents.The former party leader was on Tuesday formally blocked from standing for Labour at the next election, prompting leftwingers to fiercely criticise Keir Starmer’s “authoritarian” and “divisive” move. Continue reading...

Yousaf becomes Scotland’s youngest first minister and first from minority ethnic background

Chris Heaton-Harris tells MPs MI5 has increased level from ‘substantial’, meaning an attack is highly likelyThe terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland has been increased from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.In a written statement to MPs, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said MI5 had increased the threat to the country from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and the public should remain vigilant but not be alarmed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The figure includes one in seven children, with western Sydney suffering the highest rates of child poverty

Ministers announce refugees in hotels will be offered move to a home on condition they accept first offer

Former chief operating officer to be one of fewer than 10 women leading FTSE 100 companiesThe world’s biggest spirits maker, Diageo, has appointed Debra Crew as chief executive, one of few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.The company, which makes well-known brands including Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Guinness and Baileys, announced that Sir Ivan Menezes would step down on 30 June after 10 years as chief executive. It decided to promote Crew from chief operating officer to the top job, effective from 1 July. Continue reading...

President Guillermo Lasso confirms seven people have died, with 62 still missing after disaster on Sunday nightA huge landslide that swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, has killed at least seven people, authorities said as rescuers continued a frantic search for survivors.Earlier on Monday, officials had reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at seven as he arrived on Monday night at the scene of the disaster in Alausí, about 137 miles south of the capital, Quito. Officials also raised the number of people reported missing to 62. Continue reading...

Rise in emergency financing since 2016 correlates with drop in Chinese lending for infrastructure projectsChina spent $240bn (£195bn) bailing out countries struggling under their belt and road initiative debts between 2008 and 2021, new data shows.Research found that Chinese state-backed lenders released bailout funds to 22 countries, including Argentina, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. Almost 80% of the emergency rescue lending was issued after 2016, reaching more than $40bn in 2021. Continue reading...

Family of Aubrey Donahue had requested body-worn camera vision of incident in Mareeba but police say none exists

Senate to investigate after resignation of commissioner Leo Hardiman, who cited his lack of powers to make changes to fix delays

Victoria’s opposition accuses premier of snubbing education leaders while union says absence of journalists on China trip is ‘disturbing’

Controversial neurosurgeon’s claim a patient’s husband was ‘hoodwinked’ into making a complaint against him showed ‘lack of empathy’, inquiry also told

Ma Ying-jeou’s ‘we are all Chinese’ message starkly at odds with vision of Tsai Ing-wen, who seeks support from WashingtonTaiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou stood in front of the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum in Nanjing on Tuesday and called for people on both sides of the Taiwan strait to work together for peace, because, he said: “We are all Chinese.”The 73-year-old is in China on a historic visit, the first by a current or former Taiwanese president since 1949. In the decades since, tensions have increased as Beijing vows to annex Taiwan under what it calls “reunification”. Taiwan’s government and people have become increasingly opposed to the prospect of Chinese rule, and few identify themselves as Chinese. Continue reading...

Matiullah Wesa, head of Pen Path, was beaten and arrested outside a mosque after prayersThe founder of a project that campaigned for girls’ education in Afghanistan has been detained by Taliban authorities in Kabul, his brother and the United Nations have said.The Taliban government last year barred girls from attending secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where there is a ban on education. Continue reading...

The Paddington Bear Experience, a family-friendly show based on Michael Bond’s character, will be at the ex-GLC building on the South BankThe world of Michael Bond’s irrepressible, marmalade-loving bear Paddington is to be re-created for an immersive theatre experience at London’s County Hall.Audiences will be invited to explore the environs of 32 Windsor Gardens, where Paddington settles with the Brown family after arriving from Peru, including an array of familiar settings from Bond’s books. Opening later this year, The Paddington Bear Experience will unfold across a space of 26,000 sq ft at the building, a former local government headquarters, on the Thames. The production is designed by Immersive Octopus, the creative collective behind Peaky Blinders: The Rise, which runs in London until May and brings to life the violent world of the gangster TV series. Continue reading...

More than 60 signatories write to PM before Tuesday’s debate, warning bill will ‘cost lives’More than 60 NGOs, MPs and academics have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to withdraw the UK’s illegal migration bill, warning that it will drive modern slavery underground and “cost lives”.Ahead of the controversial bill’s committee stage debate on Tuesday, signatories, including Anti-Slavery International, After Exploitation and Liberty say it would “rob” people fleeing danger of the right to claim asylum, simply for entering the UK irregularly. Continue reading...

Cyber-attack in which information of 14 million customers has been exposed dubbed Australia’s largest to date

Traditional owners granted right to access land stretching from Ararat to Warrnambool, encompassing much of the Great Ocean Road and Great Otway national park

League ‘supports and adopts’ recent statements from US which accept association between head impacts and neurodegenerative disease

Experts alarmed by volume and complexity of restrictions as discussion paper sets stage for Labor’s push for reforms

With potential workplace changes coming to the gig economy, workers argue they are already treated as employees with none of the benefits

Station employs second censor after Acma finds radio host’s mocking remarks breached decency provisions

Creed III actor due to face court in May after unnamed female accuser alleges he struck her ‘about the face with an opened hand’ and bruised her neckJonathan Majors has been charged with several assault and harassment misdemeanours, after being accused of assaulting a woman during an alleged “domestic dispute”, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has confirmed.New York City police said Majors, the star of Creed III as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was arrested on Saturday when police responded to a 911 call inside an apartment in the Chelsea neighbourhood in Manhattan. Continue reading...

Delays mean private tenants in the 2.4m homes with an EPC rating below C will face years of high billsPrivate renters face paying an additional £1bn in gas and electricity bills because of delays in the introduction of new standards forcing landlords to make their properties more energy efficient.The government has been criticised for dragging its feet on enacting new proposals that would require landlords to improve properties to at least a C rating under the energy performance certificate (EPC) scheme. Continue reading...

Scottish Power, British Gas and Ovo responsible for 70% of forced installations, government saysUK energy companies forcibly installed 94,000 prepayment meters using warrants in 2022, with Scottish Power and British Gas ordering the most, according to government data.The government has been keen to distance itself from the practice of forcible installations of prepayment meters, which are generally used by energy companies for customers who have missed payments in the past. Continue reading...

Abi Harris was reportedly born in 1970 after her mother, actor Jennifer Hill, had a brief relationship with JasonDavid Jason has said he was “delighted” to discover he has a 52-year-old daughter who he did not know anything about, according to reports.Abi Harris was reportedly born in 1970 after her mother, the actor Jennifer Hill, had a brief relationship with the Only Fools and Horses star. Continue reading...

Suspended Liberal MP appears to contradict claims she made ‘important concessions’ to avoid party room expulsion

Ministers consider removing more safeguards while European watchdog urges UK parliament to reject billMinisters appear poised to give way to Conservative MPs by removing more safeguards from the illegal migration bill, as the European rights watchdog warned that the proposals even as they stand risk being incompatible with international law.After days of discussions between ministers and Tory backbenchers, up to 60 of whom are said to want to toughen up a bill that already pledges to deport asylum seekers who arrive in the UK unofficially, one of the leading rebels said the government had promised action. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister confirms he will delay controversial measure for several weeks after tens of thousands protested

Legal claims alleging illegal behaviour have been brought by Doreen Lawrence, Elton John, David Furnish, Prince Harry, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost and Simon HughesSeven prominent individuals have brought legal claims alleging widespread illegal behaviour by individuals working for the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday between 1993 and 2018.The Mail’s parent company strongly denies all the allegations and is seeking to stop the cases going to trial, arguing the individuals have waited too long to start legal proceedings and are relying on material provided by the Mail on a confidential basis to the Leveson inquiry into the British media industry. Continue reading...

The musician, who spent the last almost 40 years of her life living in a monastery in Jerusalem, has diedEmahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, an Ethiopian nun, composer and pianist, has died at the age of 99.According to the country’s state-run news outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate, she died in Jerusalem. Guèbrou had been living at the Ethiopian Monastery there for almost 40 years. Continue reading...

High court also hears claims against Associated Newspapers brought by Prince Harry, Elton John and Liz Hurley among othersDoreen Lawrence has claimed the Daily Mail hired private investigators to hack her phone and obtain information on her murdered son, potentially disrupting the police investigation into the racially motivated killing.Lady Lawrence now believes she “failed her murdered son” by trusting the Daily Mail during the 1990s, claiming the news outlet only campaigned for justice on behalf of Stephen Lawrence in a cynical bid to sell more newspapers. Continue reading...

Bank further distanced itself from its former chief executive who resigned in November 2021Barclays has said allegations that its former chief executive Jes Staley was aware of sex trafficking operations run by the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein were “serious and new”, as it further distanced itself from its ex-boss.It is the most substantial comment made by Barclays since Staley resigned in November 2021 after a UK regulatory investigation into his relationship with the convicted sex offender, who was one of Staley’s clients when he worked at JP Morgan years earlier. Continue reading...