World news | The Guardian

Two 19-year-old students and man is his 50s die in early morning attack with 31-year-old held on suspicion of murder

Police find body of Brisbane woman Julia-Mary Lane, 25, who had been living in Alberta, near Bear Lake in British ColumbiaAn Australian hiker has been found dead in Canadian bear country after a Mounties search that deployed police dogs and a drone.Twenty-five-year-old Julia-Mary Lane, from Brisbane, had been living in Canmore, Alberta since January. Continue reading...

The long-running investigations into murder allegations in Afghanistan will be replaced by new inquiries because of concerns about evidence

Actor, 82, also comments she ‘wouldn’t want to be straight for anything’ as she appears on the cover of Vogue for the first timeMiriam Margolyes has said she “never had any shame about being gay” as she makes her British Vogue cover debut at the age of 82.The award-winning actor, known for her foul mouth and lovable eccentricity, said gay people are “not conventional” and she “wouldn’t want to be straight for anything”. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says creative industries are ‘going like gangbusters’ and are a unique strength for UKThe government is boosting the UK’s creative industries by £77m as part of a plan to support the next Adele or Ed Sheeran in a sector that is “going like gangbusters”, according to the prime minister.The funding will be spread among hundreds of grassroots music venues, new video games studios, fashion, film and other creative ventures. Continue reading...

Almost £150m to be spent on research labs to help future-proof industry and lift creative economyThe government is seeking to future-proof the UK’s multibillion-pound film and TV production industry by investing almost £150m in a network of research labs across the country tasked with developing the next generation of special effects using tech such as artificial intelligence.The scheme aims to build on Britain’s reputation for producing hi-tech hits from Star Wars to Harry Potter, and is part of wide-ranging plans to drive the UK creative economy. The government has earmarked millions to support grassroots music venues hammered by the Covid pandemic, and is tripling a fund designed to find and support the next generation of homegrown superstars like Adele and Ed Sheeran. Continue reading...

Anglesey deputy leader apologises for comment condemned as ‘appalling’ by area’s Conservative MPThe deputy leader of a Welsh council has stepped down after saying during a meeting that “all Tories should be shot”.Ieuan Williams, an independent councillor in Anglesey, north Wales, has apologised since making the comment on Monday morning and referred himself to the council’s standards committee. Continue reading...

Wilson the Belgian shepherd featured prominently in drawings by Indigenous children as they recover in Bogotá hospitalThe four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Colombian Amazon are continuing their recovery in Bogotá’s military hospital, and the oldest two have been well enough to pick up crayons.In their first pictures released by Colombia’s armed forces, a four-legged figure jumps from the page: Wilson, the Belgian shepherd dog who helped lead rescuers to their location – and who remains missing in the jungle. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Three asylum seekers and refugee advocates say government has flagged a 30 June goal

Oscar-winning writer and director of Women Talking in discussions with studio to update much-loved animationOscar-winner Sarah Polley is in talks to direct a live-action Bambi film for Disney.According to Deadline, the writer-director, who recently won the Academy award for best adapted screenplay for Women Talking, is in discussions with the studio on the project which would use photorealistic CGI. Continue reading...

Some students fearful to leave their homes after two 19-year-olds from University of Nottingham confirmed among dead

Leading expert warns of ‘sustained attacks’ on reproductive rights after sentence imposed on MondayLeading women’s health experts have warned of an attack on women’s reproductive rights and the potential for more prosecutions, following the jailing of a woman for terminating her pregnancy after the legal time limit.The president of the UK’s leading body for sexual health professionals said that women should be “more worried than they are” following the sentencing, adding that it could lead to sustained attacks on established rights, and efforts to curtail reforms. Continue reading...

President admits Russia has lost 54 tanks in the opening assaults but insists Ukraine’s losses are greater

Gabriel Fortin, 48, is alleged to have killed two HR directors and a jobs centre worker and wounded a fourth person in 2021 attacksAn unemployed French engineer has gone on trial accused of shooting dead three women he blamed for his failure to find a job.Gabriel Fortin, 48, allegedly killed two human resources directors and a jobs centre employee, and attempted to kill another worker, after a string of dismissals. Continue reading...

Exclusive: plan to bolt PM’s five pledges on to a range of campaigns seen as too political within Whitehall, source saysNo 10 is planning a multimillion-pound taxpayer-funded campaign to promote Rishi Sunak’s “five priorities”, despite some within the civil service having questioned whether it was too political.No 10 has been in discussions for months about a campaign from the government communications service supporting Sunak’s missions, on which he has based his prime ministership – halving inflation, expanding the economy, reducing debt, cutting waiting lists and stopping small boats crossing the Channel. Continue reading...

Russian president says Russia needs to ‘fight enemy agents’ inside its own territory; several Russian military bloggers report Maj Gen Sergei Goryachev killed by UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missileWhat we know on day 475 of the wayA fire broke out at an oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, Russia’s RBK news outlet reported, citing the local city administration.RBK reported that the fire was now contained and its cause was not immediately clear.This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com. Continue reading...

More than 600 people still missing, authorities say, amid reports pastor ordered followers to starve themselvesThe death toll linked to a Kenyan pastor accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus has passed 300, with the figure expected to increase as more exhumations are planned.Authorities say the dead were members of the Good News international church, led by Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven before the end of the world. Continue reading...

Covid inquiry hears that from 2018 planning for UK’s disorderly exit from EU ‘drained resources and capacity’Planning for a no-deal Brexit from 2018 “crowded out” government efforts to prepare for a pandemic and contributed to leaving the country unready, the first evidence session of the Covid public inquiry has heard.UK government pandemic planning failed to show “proper foresight” and “even at this stage, before hearing the evidence, it is apparent that we might not have been very well prepared at all”, Hugo Keith KC, counsel to the inquiry, said. Continue reading...

Connor Chapman used submachine gun to fire at group from rival estate last Christmas Eve, says prosecutionA woman who was shot dead while celebrating Christmas Eve with friends at a pub in Wirral was a “wholly innocent bystander” caught up in a gang feud, a court has heard.Connor Chapman, 23, is on trial at Liverpool crown court charged with the murder of Elle Edwards, 26, who was on an “enjoyable night out” with friends at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village on 24 December last year. Continue reading...

Amanda Spielman defends failure to spot mistreatment at residential facility for disabled children as she is grilled by MPsOfsted’s chief inspector has told MPs its inspection system “did not work as well as it should,” as she defended the watchdog’s failure to spot mistreatment of more than 100 youngsters over several years at a large residential school for disabled children.Amanda Spielman was quizzed by the education select committee over why Ofsted had rated three Doncaster educational facilities run by the Hesley Group as “good” in 2019 despite evidence of a string of complaints and serious incidents going back to 2015. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s brigades record videos of flag-raisings in a series of villages but its fundamental challenge of a lack of combat aircraft remains

Henry Hendron, whose clients have included the Earl of Cardigan and Nadine Dorries, sentenced to 14 monthsA barrister whose clients have included Nadine Dorries has been jailed for 14 months after trying to buy drugs from two men he represented over drug supply allegations.Henry Hendron, 42, asked to buy class A methamphetamine and then class C GBL from Arno Smit and another man, messages found on his mobile phone revealed. Continue reading...

Independent Office for Police Conduct says it is focusing on nature of police interaction with boys before collisionTwo police officers who followed two teenage boys on an electric bike shortly before it was involved in a fatal crash, sparking a riot in Cardiff, have been served gross misconduct notices.The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was examining whether the marked van was chasing Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, who were killed moments after CCTV footage caught the police vehicle just behind the bike. Continue reading...

Exclusive: party insiders say extra help for poorer families still on table as shadow ministers review policy optionsLabour has ruled out offering universal free childcare for children over nine months old but is considering a means-tested offer, sources have told the Guardian, as the party strives to prove its fiscal credibility.Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, told the Sunday Times earlier this year that Labour would guarantee childcare from the end of parental leave until the end of primary school, saying her reforms would resemble the “birth of the NHS”. Continue reading...

Low turnout at confidence vote and police investigation into lobby group raise questions about its mandateIt was the Confederation of British Industry’s moment to persuade parliament that it was now time to re-engage. Interactions with ministers and civil servants have been on hold since the beginning of April, after the Guardian revealed more than a dozen women had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape.The setting for a rapprochement was a hearing of the business and trade select committee. These encounters can often be used as a pressure valve for public outrage, with errant company bosses hauled over the coals – the BHS boss Sir Phillip Green famously told an MP to stop staring at him during a heated exchange in 2016. But Tuesday’s event was more of a polite question and answer than a grilling. If not exactly warm, the welcome was at least cordial. Continue reading...

Specialist general physicians need advanced training from RACP – but some practitioners appear to be wrongfully using the title

Friends pay tribute to those still unaccounted for after disaster, while premier vows to enact any recommended law changes

Clean Energy Finance calculates the price of systems will fall by 10% thanks to cheaper raw materials and more production in China and US

Key members of the campaign for an Indigenous voice to parliament say they won’t be caught up analysing numbers as some polls show no vote growing

Jury clears ‘Brook House three’ of public nuisance charges over non-violent protest near GatwickThree activists who lay on a road outside an immigration detention centre to prevent people being put on a Home Office deportation flight to Jamaica have been cleared by a jury of charges of causing a public nuisance.The acquittal at Lewes crown court was hailed by the defendants at a time when the right to non-violent protest is under unprecedented threat. Continue reading...

Police say 31-year-old held on suspicion of murder after deaths in city centre on Tuesday morning

Author’s decision to remove The Snow Forest from publication because of Russia-Ukraine war sparks intense debateMixed reactions have met the decision by the US novelist Elizabeth Gilbert to withdraw her forthcoming novel The Snow Forest from publication after receiving criticism for its Russian setting in various forums.The author best known for the bestselling 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love has asked her publishers at Penguin Random House to withdraw her new book. In statement, Gilbert said that “an enormous, massive outpouring of reactions and responses from my Ukrainian readers, expressing anger, sorrow, disappointment and pain” about her choice of location had informed her decision to remove it from publication scheduled for next year. Continue reading...

A mother and daughter from Singleton, a young athlete and a former footballer with ‘a big heart’ named among wedding guests unaccounted for after crash

Rami Ranger apologises and promises to attend behaviour course after report into his conduct towards Poonam JoshiA prominent Conservative peer and donor bullied and harassed a female journalist after she publicly criticised him and an organisation he runs, a Lords committee has ruled.Lord Rami Ranger has apologised and promised to attend a behavioural course after the House of Lords commissioner for standards found he had broken the house’s code of conduct with a barrage of messages and tweets aimed at Poonam Joshi. Continue reading...

Some of the largest Roman mosaics found in 50 years were unearthed on same site last yearThe remains of a Roman mausoleum “with an astonishing level of preservation” – believed to be the most intact structure of its kind discovered in Britain – have been unearthed in London.The “incredibly rare” find has been excavated at the The Liberty of Southwark development site, a stone’s throw from Borough Market and London Bridge station, the Museum of London Archeology (MOLA) has revealed. Continue reading...

Dozens wounded as people trapped in rubble after attack on apartment block and a food warehouse

Three families launch action against plan to exempt landlords in England and Wales from rules including minimum room sizesThree families seeking asylum in the UK have launched a legal challenge against new Home Office rules to ditch basic housing protections for tens of thousands in this group.The Guardian revealed last month that ministers were removing these basic protections, which govern houses in multiple occupation, from asylum seekers, as part of their plan to move tens of thousands out of hotels and into the private rented sector. Continue reading...

Musician says he used technology to ‘extricate’ John Lennon’s voice from an old demo and complete a decades-old songA new and final Beatles recording using artificial intelligence will be released later this year, Sir Paul McCartney has announced.The musician said he had used new technology to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo and complete a decades-old song. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury says he would welcome ‘serious changes’ to church communion ‘that is 90% global south’The leader of the global Anglican church should not always be a “white guy from England”, the archbishop of Canterbury has said.Justin Welby’s comment came amid divisions over sexuality between conservative churches in sub-Saharan Africa and more liberal churches in the developed world. Continue reading...

Golden Globe-nominated actor starred in a string of films including Hair, as well as taking a lead role in TV series EverwoodTreat Williams, whose 50-year acting career saw him appear in a string of films including Hair, Prince of the City, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Deep Rising, has died aged 71 after a motorcycle crash in Vermont.In a statement released to Deadline, Williams’ family confirmed the cause of his death, saying: “It is with great sadness that we report that our beloved Treat Williams has passed away tonight in Dorset, Vermont after a fatal motorcycle accident. As you can imagine, we are shocked and greatly bereaved at this time.” Continue reading...

Knesset to elect two members to judges selection committee, with hardliners in ruling coalition pushing to pick both membersIsraeli politics is once again reaching a fever pitch before a crucial vote related to the government’s controversial proposals to overhaul the judiciary.The Knesset will convene on Wednesday to elect two representatives to Israel’s judicial selection committee – the composition of which is at the heart of the now six-month-old battle over the future of Israeli democracy. Continue reading...

At least six dead in Russian strike on city of Kryvyi Rih; Ukraine says it has retaken several villages in Zaporizhzhia

Before Centrica’s annual meeting, union urged shareholders to reject CEO Chris O’Shea’s remunerationThe boss of the British Gas owner, Centrica, is expected to come under pressure over his bumper £4.5m pay packet as shareholders gather for the company’s annual meeting in Leeds.Before the meeting, Centrica said annual profits were expected to come in at the top end of estimates, driven by “significantly higher” profits at its retail division. Continue reading...

Cam Cameron, who hopes to spend up to 60 days on Atlantic islet, has shopping list including fast-setting cement and a radioAn adventurer who plans to break the record for living on Rockall, an isolated islet roughly 230 miles west of the Outer Hebrides, has sent home a shopping list for extra supplies – including a kilogram of fast-setting cement and a radio.Cam Cameron, a Scottish teacher and former soldier, has been occupying a tiny guano-flecked ledge on Rockall since 30 May in the hope he can survive there for up to 60 days. Continue reading...

Katy Gallagher hits back at Coalition attacks, saying she conducted herself with ‘highest levels of integrity’ over Higgins allegations. Follow live

Police cordon off roads and tram network suspended due to serious incidents around city and suburbsPolice have put in place multiple road closures in Nottingham as officers deal with an ongoing serious incident.The Nottingham Express Transit (NET) tram network said it had suspended all services due to “major police incidents around the city and suburbs”. Continue reading...

Julia-Mary Lane failed to return from road trip, prompting housemate in Alberta to contact her family in Queensland

Lehrmann is suing Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court over their initial reporting of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, which he denies

Finance minister tells Senate she has ‘always acted ethically and with basic human decency on all matters to do with Ms Higgins’

Nicole Bent and her daughter are among dozens of homeless families being put up by council in hotel roomsA hotel getaway should be a time to escape the stresses of everyday life – but for Nicole Bent, life in a hotel has become her everyday. “It’s been demoralising, to be honest. That’s the word I would use to describe this whole experience,” she said of her ongoing three-month stay in a north London Travelodge.Bent, 28, and her three-year-old daughter have been living in the hotel since the beginning of March, when she was made homeless after her tenancy came to an end and the landlord wanted to sell the property. She is one of dozens of homeless families being housed there by Enfield council while it tries to find her a permanent home. Continue reading...