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Comments come as data shows average two-year fixed rate rises to 6.07%, and five-year to 5.72%

Former prime minister censured in his absence, with 354 MPs voting to approve and just seven voting against

MPs today voted to approve the Commons privileges committee’s report into Boris Johnson and his statements to the house on Partygate. The report found that Johnson repeatedly misled parliament about lockdown parties at Downing Street, but many Tory MPs did not vote Continue reading...

MPs endorse privileges committee report censuring former PM by 354 votes to sevenConservative infighting over Boris Johnson misleading the House of Commons about Partygate reached bitter new heights on Monday night, with his supporters being told to hang their heads in shame.Johnson faces being blocked from obtaining special access to parliament after being rounded on by furious Tory MPs in an attempt to “restore faith” in democracy. Continue reading...

The party’s bill allowing adults to possess and grow small quantities of the drug at home will be introduced across Victoria, NSW and WA

Five first-time nominees are among the six authors competing for $60,000 award for novels that ‘present Australian life in any of its phases’

Sgt Laurence Knight met woman in Brighton last July and allegedly raped her in the sea, jury hearsA serving Metropolitan police officer raped a woman in the sea on Brighton beach on his stag night, a court has heard.Sgt Laurence Knight, 34, is said to have met the woman, a stranger, in the early hours of 17 July 2021 while in the city centre. Prosecutors say the pair walked to the beach together, undressed to their underwear and ended up in the sea. Continue reading...

Speech in Scotland shows willingness to face energy dilemma head-on, but green groups say fossil fuel end date must come soonScotland was a brave choice as the venue for the launch of Keir Starmer’s new energy and climate policy. Back in March, Rishi Sunak was planning to hold his “energy day” in Aberdeen, the UK’s oil and gas capital, but after criticism he switched to the much safer Oxfordshire.Starmer knows that Labour needs to win back lost seats in Scotland, so visiting the Scottish capital for an important speech was a canny move. More than that, though, taking the launch to Edinburgh showed a willingness to face head-on Labour’s energy dilemma: how to shift the UK economy to a low-carbon footing, as net zero demands, without destroying high-quality jobs in carbon-intensive industries. Continue reading...

UN says Russia blocking humanitarian aid deliveries following Kakhovka dam rupture; Death toll from flooding caused by collapse of the dam has risen to 16 Continue reading...

Ukraine deputy defence minister says Russia is continuing efforts to occupy the whole of the Donbas

Royal College of Nursing raises doubts over whether enough members will get postal votes in on timeThe rolling strikes by NHS nurses could “hit the end of the road” this week as the leader of the Royal College of Nursing raised doubts over whether sufficient numbers of members would get their postal votes in on time.The RCN union’s ballot on further industrial action in England will close on 23 June but its general secretary, Pat Cullen, has for the first time suggested an affirmative result is in doubt. Continue reading...

Sir Mark Rowley suggests force will investigate again after viewing video of party in December 2020

Olivia Burt, who studied natural sciences at Durham University, suffered an ‘unsurvivable’ head injuryA 20-year-old student died as she was waiting to get into a bar run by the UK’s largest pub company because an “unsuitable” heavy screen was being used to manage the queue.The screen fell and collapsed on Olivia Burt who suffered an “unsurvivable” head injury, a court heard on Monday. Continue reading...

Report comes shortly before an expected apology from King Willem-Alexander in a speech in AmsterdamInside the stables of Paleis Noordeinde in The Hague is a golden coach embellished with images of colonial offerings to Dutch rulers that many, including the current Dutch king, regard as a symbol of exploitation that according to a new study netted three Dutch rulers the equivalent of more than €545m (£465m).Historians have calculated the staggering value of colonial profit for Willem III (also king of England, Ireland and Scotland), Willem IV and Willem V in a report published at the request of the Dutch parliament last week before a widely expected apology over slavery from the Dutch king. Continue reading...

Ex-PM defends austerity programme that unions said meant the NHS ‘didn’t stand a fighting chance’David Cameron has admitted failures in his government’s preparations for a pandemic but defended the austerity drive that he and his chancellor, George Osborne, imposed, saying “your health system is only as strong as your economy”.The former prime minister repeatedly told the Covid inquiry it was a mistake that “more time and more questions” were not focused on tackling what turned out to be a “highly infectious, asymptomatic” pandemic. Continue reading...

Kremlin critic faces charges that could lead to a substantial extension of his jail time

Tracking data indicates two vessels stood by or circled around stationary refugee boat for several hoursTracking data suggests an overcrowded fishing boat that sank off the Greek coast last week with the feared loss of hundreds of lives had not moved for several hours before it capsized, contradicting accounts from the Hellenic coastguard.As Pakistani police said on Monday they believed up to 800 people were onboard, a Guardian analysis of ship movements supplied by the MariTrace service indicated two vessels – the Lucky Sailor and the Faithful Warrior – stood by or circled round the stationary trawler for at least four hours. Continue reading...

British intelligence report comes as Kyiv celebrates liberation of eighth settlement in south of country

German national rail service blames malfunctioning and delays on lack of investment and staff shortagesFirefighters had to rescue about 1,200 passengers onboard a regional express train that broke down south-east of Berlin at the weekend, in the latest in a string of failures and mishaps to befall the national rail service, Deutsche Bahn.The firefighters had to force open the train’s doors to free passengers, some of whom were suffering from heat exhaustion after a lengthy holdup in the train in which the air conditioning failed. Continue reading...

Band cancel open-air Dublin gig on Tuesday, leaving a nervous wait for fans looking forward to Friday’s Glastonbury setAlex Turner, frontman with Arctic Monkeys, is suffering from “acute laryngitis” and the band have been forced to cancel an open-air concert in Dublin on Tuesday.His condition could affect his ability to perform the group’s Glastonbury headline slot on Friday evening, though it is currently scheduled to go ahead. Continue reading...

Luxembourg calls proposal by Sweden ‘astonishing’ as energy ministers gather to discuss overhaulA group of EU countries are fighting attempts by Poland to extend subsidies for coal plants, with Luxembourg’s energy minister describing the proposal as “astonishing”.Luxembourg’s energy minister Claude Turmes said he could not believe the proposal, which was made on Friday, days before a planned summit of energy ministers from across the bloc on Monday, was even on the table given the EU’s commitment to combatting the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Four Palestinians killed and 45 injured, according to Palestinian officials as Israeli army enters city to arrest ‘suspects’The Israeli military used combat helicopters in the occupied West Bank for the first time in years on Monday as an arrest operation in Jenin encountered unexpectedly fierce Palestinian resistance.The heavy fighting intensified calls by settler leaders to call for a broader military campaign in the West Bank. Continue reading...

Defendants allegedly planned attacks on mosques and Jewish targets in France in 2017 and 2018Four men are going on trial in Paris accused of conspiring as a neo-Nazi terrorist group to plan attacks on mosques and Jewish targets in France in 2017 and 2018.An investigation was opened in 2018 after Alexandre Gilet, a 22-year-old volunteer deputy gendarme in Grenoble, allegedly ordered products that could be used in explosive devices. The manager of a fireworks shop found his order suspicious and contacted police. Continue reading...

John Gaffney, whose son Mitchell married Madeleine Edsell last Sunday, calls for mandatory rule on all buses

Move changes purpose of sanctions so that they will be maintained until Russia agrees to pay compensationThe UK is introducing new laws that will allow ministers to maintain Russian sanctions until compensation is paid to Ukraine, thus introducing a way for frozen Russian assets to be donated to Ukrainian reconstruction.The laws go some way to ensuring that Russian assets currently frozen by the UK government can in effect eventually be seized – a move that many western powers have rejected on the basis that it could set a precedent for western assets held overseas to also be seized. Continue reading...

Green groups call on ministers to add environmental baseline to post-Brexit bill, fearing future laws could weaken protectionsGreen groups are calling on ministers to put their commitment not to weaken environmental standards post-Brexit into law as part of the retained EU law bill.Peers are tabling motions on Tuesday for an environmental baseline to be put into the controversial bill, which is designed to formalise which EU-derived legislation is brought permanently into UK law. Continue reading...

Meeting between China’s president and US secretary of state takes place at time of heightened tensionThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has wrapped up a rare trip to Beijing where he met China’s president, Xi Jinping, concluding a high-stakes visit aimed at stabilising spiralling relations.Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing before his departure, Blinken said he had “an important conversation” with Xi during the 35-minute encounter and stressed it was the responsibility of both countries to find a path forward. Continue reading...

Hopkins was part of vanguard of ‘hi-tech’ architects who dominated building design in UK and beyondSir Michael Hopkins, one of the leading British architects of his era, has died leaving behind a built legacy including Portcullis House at the Palace of Westminster, the Mound Stand at Lord’s cricket ground and the Jubilee campus at Nottingham University.His wife, Patty Hopkins, with whom he formed Hopkins Architects in 1976, said he had “died peacefully at the age of 88, surrounded by his family”. Continue reading...

Auditor general’s report says bid to tackle cash-in-hand work and tax avoidance measures haven’t worked

Union stops short of fresh strikes but week-long action from 3 July will hit services in England and cross-border trainsThe train drivers’ union Aslef has announced a week-long overtime ban at the start of July, which will further disrupt much of Britain’s railway.While the union has stopped short of calling fresh strikes in the long-running pay dispute, the industrial action by about 12,000 drivers across the 16 English train operators contracted to the Department for Transport is likely to cause more headaches for passengers. Continue reading...

Streamlining system would get more people into suitable jobs and ease labour supply issues, advocates say

Road safety campaigners say that people drive at ‘terrifying speeds’ throughout the cityThere is growing anger over people killed on roads in Birmingham after four people, including two children, died and four were seriously injured by drivers in separate incidents across the city in a month.The victims were all cyclists or pedestrians, including a woman and child who were left seriously injured in a hit and run while crossing the road on the way to school on Thursday. Continue reading...

Photograph taken by Ukrainian drone on 28 May said to offer further evidence Russia was behind breach

Police say 59% increase in crimes against swans, ducks and geese in 2020-22 may be ‘tip of the iceberg’Nine decapitated swans are among the victims of a rising number of sadistic attacks against waterfowl, according to police data.Police recorded a 59% increase in crimes against swans, ducks and geese from 2020 to 2022. The crimes ranged from fireworks and BB guns being shot into duck ponds to swans and geese being strangled and beheaded. Continue reading...

Editors of the online news outlet vow to change editorial processes after taking down controversial article

Representatives for opposing sides must collaborate on essays outlining their stands on Indigenous voice to parliament

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Labour leader says Sunak ‘waved through’ Boris Johnson’s honours and challenges PM to vote on privileges committee report

Allegation raised in parliament that MP arranged for property developer Alex Sekler to travel to Torres Strait for Covid jab referred to state corruption watchdogQueensland’s corruption watchdog will consider whether to investigate allegations raised in parliament that Liberal National Party MP Warren Entsch helped a political donor get a Covid vaccine in the middle of the pandemic when doses were in short supply.Queensland Health on Monday confirmed it had referred the matter to the state crime and corruption commission (CCC). Continue reading...

Labor’s Don Farrell warns the government will regard the delay until October as a ‘failure to pass’ the bill

The recent college graduates were visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria when man allegedly shoved them down a steep slopeTwo US women who had just earned computer-related college degrees had gone to southern Germany to celebrate when a fellow American whom they met while hiking shoved them both down a steep slope last week, killing one and seriously wounding the other, according to officials.Eva Liu, 21, had received her bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May. Authorities say she was sexually assaulted and pushed to her death near Neuschwanstein Castle, a famous tourist destination in Bavaria. Her 22-year-old friend Kelsey Chang had also just graduated from the same school with a bachelor’s in computer engineering – reports say she was attacked, too, but survived. Continue reading...

A magistrate for nearly 30 years, David Rose describes the feeling of exclusion after not being able to enter certain legal buildings

Rightwingers claim Boris Johnson suspension ‘unnecessarily high and fierce’ after findings he deliberately misled parliamentDozens of Tory rightwing MPs are preparing to abstain from voting in the Commons on Monday over the parliamentary investigation that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs, in a sign of support for the former prime minister.Between 60 and 70 MPs with constituencies in the “red wall” were said to be feeling “incredibly warm” towards Johnson, after he urged his parliamentary supporters not to vote against the committee’s findings. Continue reading...

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, wants to frame Islamist opponents as a threatHundreds of Islamist leaders and activists in Sudan have been detained by the Rapid Support Forces in a wave of repression targeting the paramilitary group’s political opponents.The arrests began before the outbreak of fighting in April between the RSF and forces loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto military leader, but have intensified since. Continue reading...

Palestinians condemn move and Washington calls for return to dialogue amid Israeli plans to give go-ahead to 4,560 housing units in occupied territoryThe United States says it is “deeply troubled” by the Israeli government’s tabling of plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank and has called on Israel to return to dialogue aimed at de-escalation.The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel’s Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process. Continue reading...

Suspected people smugglers to appear in court in Kalamata, as police in Kashmir announce 10 arrestsNine suspected people smugglers are to appear before a Greek court accused of piloting the fishing trawler that sank off the coast of Greece last week leaving hundreds missing and presumed dead in one of the Mediterranean’s worst boat disasters.Greek authorities have said 78 dead and 104 survivors – mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Pakistan – were brought ashore after the overcrowded boat sank about 50 miles (80km) off the southern Greek town of Pylos early on Wednesday, days after it set sail from Tobruk in Libya heading towards Italy. Continue reading...

Opposition attorney general Michaelia Cash made last-minute speech slamming proposed Indigenous consultation body

Winter has set in and forecasters predict clear frosty nights and chilly icy mornings for south-east

Temperatures of nearly 45C recorded, with people over 60 particularly at risk, as deaths strike Uttar Pradesh and Bihar statesAt least 96 people died in two of India’s most populous states over the past several days, with swaths of the country reeling from a sweltering heatwave.The deaths happened in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar, where authorities warned residents aged over 60 and others suffering various maladies to stay indoors during the daytime. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak told his government appears to be going backwards on pledge to end rough sleeping in EnglandHomelessness charities have told Rishi Sunak they are deeply concerned the government will fail to meet its target of ending rough sleeping in England by 2024.In a letter to the prime minister, the organisations said the data shows “we are going backwards in terms of meeting the goal”. Continue reading...