World news | The Guardian

Russian-installed official says Ukraine has made new gain on battle front since launch of counter-offensive earlier this month

Teacher from west Sussex says victory was down to strong manifesto and knowing everyone in Sant JoanThe new mayor of Sant Joan, a small town of 2,000 people that sits in the centre of Mallorca, likes to joke that his main priority when he begins work on Monday will be ensuring a kettle is installed in his office.Last month’s regional and local elections – which left the ruling Socialists with a bloody nose, triggered a snap general election and caused the conservative People’s party (PP) to forge a coalition with the far-right Vox party to rule the Valencia region – have also had unexpected consequences in Sant Joan. Continue reading...

Disagreement over possible successors may mean secretary general is asked to remain in role at next month’s summit in LithuaniaPolitical disagreements, vetoes and personal reluctance make it increasingly likely that the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, will be asked to remain in post for another year at the Nato summit in Lithuania next month.It would be the third time the former Norwegian prime minister has been asked to extend his almost 10-year term. Continue reading...

Use of solitary confinement due to chronic staffing shortages at Cleveland detention centre has detrimental effect on children, advocates sayMore than 60% of the workforce at the troubled Cleveland youth detention centre in north Queensland quit during the past three years, data obtained by Guardian Australia shows.The figures supplied by the youth justice department show total staff numbers at the detention centre have declined since mid-2020, about the same time the state enacted laws designed to lock up more children. Continue reading...

Nick McKim to introduce private member’s bill in Senate to promote market intervention

But levelling up secretary insists Shaun Bailey and Ben Mallet should keep their honoursMichael Gove has apologised for a new Partygate video that shows Conservative officials dancing and laughing as they broke Covid lockdown rules, deeming their actions “terrible” and “indefensible”.The video, obtained by the Mirror, shows members of staff drinking alcohol at the gathering in London on 14 December 2020, and mocking lockdown rules the public were following at the time. At least 24 people were in attendance, including Shaun Bailey – made a peer in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list – whose campaign team organised the event. He left before the video was taken. Continue reading...

Two EU countries say agency unlawfully obtained details of citizens to issue driving finesTwo EU countries have accused Transport for London’s debt collection agency of breaching data protection laws to obtain the names and addresses of citizens in order to issue fines for driving in the capital.Motorists from across Europe have been hit with penalties, some totalling thousands of pounds, for driving in London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez). Penalty notices are being sent to foreign motorists who enter the capital without pre-registering their vehicle, and the Guardian has revealed hundreds of drivers have been fined despite driving emissions-compliant cars. Continue reading...

Exclusive: James Wharton is helping to forge Westminster connections for the cryptocurrency sectorA former campaign manager to Boris Johnson who was appointed to lead an education quango is facing fresh questions over his role in a cryptocurrency lobbying firm.James Wharton, a peer and former MP who chairs the Office for Students (OfS), has launched a new public affairs company that pledges to “help clients navigate the complexities of Whitehall and Westminster” and specialises in “disruptive” highly regulated sectors. Continue reading...

Scotland’s ex-first minister returns home after arrest as poll suggests Labour on course to defeat SNPScotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said “I’ve done nothing wrong” as she returned home for the first time following her arrest last Sunday.Her statement came as a Sunday Times poll suggested Labour would defeat the SNP at the next election for the first time since 2010 to become Scotland’s largest party at Westminster. Continue reading...

In Milano 2, the swish housing estate that launched a scandal-ridden career, residents are still grateful to the former PM. Whether they will vote for Forza Italia is a different matterOne of Silvio Berlusconi’s final wishes was to see the lago dei cigni, or swan lake, centrepiece of Milano 2, the peaceful, lusciously green residential development built by the entrepreneur on the outskirts of the northern Italian city, and a debut triumph that put him on the path to becoming a billionaire and ultimately conquering politics.On his way to nearby San Raffaele hospital, where he died three days later at the age of 86, Berlusconi and his entourage, including his 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina, stopped at the Maximilian Bistrot, where he took a seat by a window with a view of the artificial lake and ordered an ice lolly. Continue reading...

Group calls for police to reopen investigation, and for Shaun Bailey and Ben Mallet to lose honoursA group representing the families of people who died of Covid-19 has expressed its disgust at video purporting to show revellers at the Conservative party headquarters during lockdown, as the police said they were “considering” the footage.The video, which was obtained by the Mirror newspaper, appears to show Tory party workers drinking alcohol and dancing on 14 December 2020 at a gathering held by the campaign team of the unsuccessful London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey. Continue reading...

Minister says privileges committee’s recommendation that Boris Johnson serve 90-day ban was ‘not merited’Michael Gove has said he disagrees with the parliamentary investigation that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs over the Partygate scandal, and will abstain from voting on it in the Commons.The UK levelling up secretary claimed the Commons privileges committee’s recommendation that Johnson should be suspended for 90 days over repeated contempts of parliament was “not merited”. Continue reading...

Ukraine reportedly makes gain in counteroffensive; Russia claims to have repelled attacks on Zaporizhzhia frontline

More than $3bn in costs could be added to EU industry unless deal is tweaked, say representatives of sectorEU exports of electric cars to the UK worth €30bn a year will be put at risk unless the Brexit trade deal is tweaked, representatives of the sector in Brussels have said.Three of the world’s biggest car manufacturers have already called on the British government to open talks over new rules that will see 10% tariffs put on exports to the EU, if 45% of an electric vehicle by value does not originate in the EU or the UK. Continue reading...

Footage shows members of staff drinking alcohol and dancing at the gathering on 14 December 2020New footage has emerged appearing to show a Christmas party at Conservative party headquarters during coronavirus restrictions in 2020.The video, obtained by the Mirror newspaper, shows members of staff drinking alcohol at the gathering in London on 14 December 2020. At least 24 people were reportedly in attendance. Continue reading...

TaxPayers’ Alliance says HMRC, health department and atomic energy authority all use old servers that make them vulnerableGovernment departments responsible for running health and social care, and for collecting taxes, are using outdated software that leaves them wide open to cyber-attacks, according to a disturbing new investigation.The use of “legacy” servers and databases has been uncovered through freedom of information (FoI) requests from the low-tax pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance. It has found that many of the systems in Whitehall were so out of date that they were no longer supported by Microsoft and would cost huge sums to replace. Continue reading...

On the publication of today’s 4,000th Everyman crossword, setter Alan Connor is asked about the ‘entry-level’ puzzle’s history and his five predecessorsReaders, how might one describe “the angry outburst of a common man who is stumped by a cryptic clue on his birthday”? Answer: Everyman’s anniversary crossword. This weekend, with the sort of opening riddle that would never pass muster alongside our weekly Everyman grid, the Observer is taking time to mark the 4,000th outing of its celebrated, supposedly entry-level Sunday puzzle.First published in August 1945, Everyman is one of Fleet Street’s most established and beloved crossword challenges and yet has passed down through only six skilled compilers’ hands. This Sunday the occasion is celebrated in a special anniversary layout, featuring an appropriate selection of historic Everyman clues. Continue reading...

Russian occupiers have unleashed a reign of terror in the city of Enerhodar, detailed here by one survivor of the secret police

Mark Taylor is used to steering through dangerous seas – now he will have to navigate the London art marketStormy seas are a common challenge for lifeboatman Mark Taylor. As a skilled coxswain of the RNLI boat that serves the coast around Tynemouth in the north-east of England, he has often faced down dangerous swells to reach mariners in distress.But this weekend Taylor, who has also become a sought-after artist, is getting used to the contrasting waters of the Thames. After working on his painting in his studio near his North Shields home, the 43-year-old has been picked out for a London exhibition and a new artistic residency on the banks of the Thames in Canary Wharf. Continue reading...

Former social worker now helping in Kherson says her account was closed after missing a text messageA retired social worker who has spent the past year doing humanitarian work across Ukraine – frequently dodging missiles and other attacks – was left with no access to her pension or life savings after Lloyds Banking Group, possibly fearing she was a sanctions risk, shut her bank account.Fiona Hancock and her partner, Robert Paliwoda, have been working as volunteers helping women and children across various parts of the country since June last year. Continue reading...

Irish dancer who found fame with Riverdance to be focus of ‘no holds barred’ TV biopicThe premise may sound familiar: an ageing, little-known athlete from the wrong side of the tracks gets a belated shot at the big time and triumphs, finding fame and redemption, but the price is a broken, battered body.It’s not Rocky Balboa, it’s Michael Flatley in a “no holds barred” biopic series about his rise, fall and Pphoenix-like resurrection in the world of Irish dancing. Continue reading...

Broadcaster gives no explanation for decision to pull long-planned documentary examining Westminster’s handling of allegationsA BBC Panorama documentary commissioned to look into the internal handling of claims of widespread sexual harassment inside the Palace of Westminster has been dropped for the foreseeable future, the Observer understands, despite months of research.The prestigious investigative programme, which had been due to go out this summer, has now been removed from future broadcast schedules without any public explanation from the BBC. Continue reading...

Met Office warns of heavy showers and some flooding in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern IrelandThunder, lightning and heavy rain is set to lash large swathes of the UK on Father’s Day.A yellow Met Office weather warning for thunderstorms almost entirely covers England and Wales between noon and midnight on Sunday, and there is also a warning in place until 9pm in Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

The youngest life peer in UK history at the age of 29, the former assistant to Boris Johnson was covering maternity leave in his officeConcern is growing within Whitehall over Boris Johnson’s decision to make a former political aide the UK’s youngest ever life peer, amid claims that she only entered Downing Street’s political office to cover for another official’s maternity leave.The former prime minister’s resignation honours list caused months of angst within the government as a result of some of the names that Johnson intended to either place in the House of Lords or award with another gong. It has already been confirmed that eight people that Johnson had wanted to place in the second chamber were rejected by the commission tasked with vetting new peers. Continue reading...

The former prime minister is at war with the parliament whose powers and authority he claimed to hold so dear to bolster the Vote Leave endeavourIn the long June days running up to the 2016 referendum on EU membership, Boris Johnson toured the country to promote the supposed benefits of Brexit. Wherever he went he drew large crowds. Leaving the European project, he told voters, would allow the UK to take back control of its money, its laws and its borders.While the Vote Leave slogans cut through because they were simple (if often misleading), there were also high-minded constitutional themes, central to the great Johnson-led push for freedom. During a visit to Ipswich on 20 June 2016 he alluded to the most important, saying that staying in the EU would mean “the steady and miserable erosion of parliamentary democracy in this country”. Continue reading...

Futurebuilders England Fund doubled economic output of some areas and improved deprivation levels by up to 17%A long-term anti-poverty fund created during the government of Tony Blair doubled the economic output of some local areas and improved deprivation levels by up to 17%.The Futurebuilders England Fund gave £142m in loans and other financing to 406 charities and enterprises in England from 2004 to 2010. Continue reading...

Half of all Tory voters take a dim view of the former prime minister whereas the ex-president has a strong Republican supportThere are two very big differences between the situation confronting Boris Johnson and that facing the man with whom he is frequently compared, Donald Trump – namely, popularity and context.Johnson is weaker than Trump. First, because he is less popular with Conservative voters than Trump is with his Republican supporters. About half of 2019 Conservative voters disapprove of Johnson’s performance in office. And at the time he left office, 40% or more rated him as untrustworthy, dishonest and/or incompetent. Continue reading...

The senator – who denies any wrongdoing – resigned from the Liberal party on Saturday and claimed he has been denied procedural fairness

Sporting teams, friends and family used weekend to mourn the victims as fundraising effort tops $600,000

Witnesses say some groups were forced into the most hazardous part of the vessel that sank, leaving hundreds feared deadPakistani nationals appear to have been singled out on the trawler that sank off Greece last Wednesday with hundreds of passengers feared dead.Macabre details have emerged of conditions on the boat, as questions mount over whether the Greek coastguard “covered up” its role in the tragedy. With about 500 people still feared missing, new accounts from survivors indicate that women and children were forced to travel in the hold, and that certain nationalities were condemned to the most dangerous part of the trawler. Continue reading...

Eleven first-time members chosen as results reignite debate about representation of traditional owners

Nineteen-year-old accused of killing Patrik Weiss, 45, at his home in Lockridge last week

Mediators from the US and Saudi Arabia broker pause after airstrikes on Khartoum kill 17 civilians including five childrenSudan’s warring generals agreed to a new 72-hour truce to take place from Sunday, US and Saudi mediators said, after fighting intensified with deadly airstrikes in Khartoum and an exodus of wounded from Darfur over the border into Chad.Airstrikes killed 17 civilians, including five children, in the capital on Saturday, a citizens’ group said, while medics in Chad reported hundreds of wounded from Darfur seeking treatment. Continue reading...

Authorities warn of landslides after conducting several thousand flood rescues in two daysAt least 11 people were killed in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul after an extra-tropical cyclone struck the region, according to the state’s authorities.The storm on Friday caused torrential rains and helicopter searches were under way in flooded neighbourhoods to find 20 others who were missing, the government of Rio Grande do Sul said. Continue reading...

Writer of comic medical memoir This is Going to Hurt reveals surrogacy on BBC’s Desert Island DiscsAdam Kay, the author of This is Going to Hurt, the bestselling “secret diary” of a junior doctor, is now the father of two babies, he has revealed.Kay, who was portrayed by Ben Whishaw in the Bafta-winning BBC1 adaptation of his comic memoir, said life with his husband, TV producer James Farrell, has been “absolutely transformed for the better” by the arrival through surrogacy of their two children. Continue reading...

Tories suspended MP in April last year amid claims over sexual harassment and drug useThe Conservative MP David Warburton has announced that he is resigning his seat.Warburton was suspended from the party in April 2022 pending the outcome of an independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS) investigation into allegations of harassment and drug use. Continue reading...

Animal Justice party will put forward an amendment to the government’s bill that further strengthens laws allowing renters to own pets

Bella Montoya, 76, who knocked on her coffin during her wake, has died seven days later from a strokeA 76-year-old woman who had been declared dead and surprised her relatives by knocking on her coffin during her wake earlier this month has died after seven days in intensive care.Ecuador’s health ministry confirmed in a statement that Bella Montoya died from an ischemic stroke after spending a week in intensive care. It added that Montoya had remained under “permanent surveillance” but didn’t provide further information on the medical investigation surrounding the case. Continue reading...

Headteachers say situation is critical as they try to fill vacancies for September

Members of the NEU will strike on 5 and 7 July in a long-running dispute over pay and fundingTeachers in England are to stage fresh strikes in their long-running dispute over pay.Members of the National Education Union (NEU) will strike on 5 and 7 July, causing disruption to schools in the current term. Continue reading...

There are no applicants at all for some posts, and pupils are paying the price, warn heads and parentsKirsten Griffiths’ daughter is in a class of 35 for GCSE English and has “limited input” from her overstretched teacher. In September, when she starts her crucial exam year at her Hampshire state school, she has been told that many English lessons will have a non-specialist cover teacher as the school manages the juggling act of coping with too few staff.“We’re really grateful we are in a position to support her with a private English tutor, but that makes me feel guilty because I know many families can’t do that,” she says. Continue reading...

Workers at luxury hotel where John Heathco and Abby Lutz died report managers had disabled carbon monoxide alarmsTwo Americans whose bodies were found in their room at a resort in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur on 13 June died from inhaling toxic gas, according to officials’ preliminary findings.The couple – identified as 41-year-old John Heathco and 28-year-old Abby Lutz, of California – had reportedly been dead between 10 and 11 hours before being discovered in their room at the oceanfront Hyatt Rancho Pescadero Hotel in El Pescadero, Mexico. The cause of death was ruled as intoxication of an unspecified gas substance that local officials as of Saturday were still working to determine. Continue reading...

Government adviser says Britain should confiscate mansions to fund postwar rebuildingMinisters should confiscate the mansions, country estates and UK assets of Russian oligarchs to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, a senior adviser in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said this weekend.Vladyslav Vlasiuk, a sanctions expert working in the presidential office, said Ukraine’s government would like the UK to follow Canada in implementing new regulations that allow authorities to seize and redistribute assets belonging to sanctioned individuals and entities. Continue reading...

Valdo Calocane appears at magistrates court after alleged murder of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian CoatesA murder suspect has been remanded in custody by magistrates after two students and a school caretaker were killed in knife attacks in Nottingham.A former University of Nottingham student named by police as Valdo Calocane, who gave his name in court as Adam Mendes, appeared in the dock at Nottingham magistrates court on Saturday wearing a grey T-shirt and jogging bottoms, and flanked by three security officers. Continue reading...

Survey comes as government rhetoric on immigrants gets increasingly toxic, adopting far-right slogansBritons have among the most positive attitudes towards refugees in the world, a new global poll has found, despite increased hostility from the UK government to asylum seekers.An international survey of almost 22,000 adults across 29 countries found British people had the third-most enthusiastic outlook towards refugees, just behind Spain and New Zealand. Continue reading...

Ukraine forces slowly pushing back Putin’s troops, claims Kyiv, aided by western hardware

Covid inquiry will be given redacted notes and WhatsApp messages from former PM’s time in officeA collection of 25 notebooks from Boris Johnson’s time in office is being withheld by the government after a security services review found they contained highly sensitive material.It comes after officials advised that only those with the highest level of security clearance should be able to see the sensitive passages, according to the Times. Continue reading...

Shadow health secretary adds he would ‘die happy’ if he had chance to become Labour leaderWes Streeting has revealed he does harbour ambitions to be prime minister one day, saying he would “die happy” if he had the chance to be a Labour leader like Keir Starmer, Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.The shadow health secretary, often tipped to be a future party leader, has previously said he was “sick and tired” of being asked whether he would like the top job and that he would be too old for it after Starmer leaves the role. Continue reading...

Militants believed to be Allied Democratic Forces abducted others in attack on secondary school in MpondweMilitants linked to Islamic State reportedly killed at least 41 people and abducted others in an attack on a school in western Uganda, police have said.“Our forces are pursuing the enemy to rescue those abducted and destroy this group,” defence spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said on Twitter. Continue reading...

Resignation follows multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour which Van has rejected