World news | The Guardian

Leo urges Israeli PM to reach a ceasefire deal and expresses concern over heartbreaking toll' in regionTwo of Jerusalem's most senior Christian clerics travelled to Gaza on Friday after a deadly Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed an ecclesiastical delegation" to meet local Christians after Thursday's strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, a statement read.Those responsible must be held to account.It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Continue reading...

Music fans snap up wellies, scarves and light jackets, and shares rise 4% on better-than-expected performanceShoppers snapping up Burberry wellies, scarves and light jackets to wear at music festivals have helped the fashion brand to its best sales performance in 18 months despite lacklustre spending by tourists around the world.Sales of the luxury British brand fell 2% to 433m in the three months to the end of June, with a 1% decline at established stores, an improvement from the 6% fall in the previous quarter and the best performance since Christmas 2023. Continue reading...

Historic decision in Australia's federal court gives traditional owners in state's north-west the right to control access to their country

Low-lying areas of Punjab province hit by significant flooding after rivers overflow their banksThe south-west monsoon continued a deadly streak in Pakistan this week, with torrential rain on Wednesday killing at least 63 people. After beginning life as showers and thunderstorms in north-west India this week, a more organised area of low pressure developed, merging showers into a larger area of heavy rain as they moved into the Pakistani province of Punjab. This rain tracked roughly north across Punjab on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, hitting several major cities including Lahore and the capital, Islamabad. The greatest rainfall was in the city of Chakwal, which recorded 423mm (16.6in), more than double the July average.Rivers overflowed their banks, significantly flooding low-lying areas of Punjab. Though several of the deaths were attributed to drowning, most were the result of building collapses. A number of deaths were reportedly from electrocution. This latest deluge takes the death toll from this year's monsoon, which began in late June, to almost 180, more than half of which are children. Owing to its large low-lying regions, Pakistan is among the countries most endangered by the climate crisis, with significant flooding events becoming more common in recent years. Continue reading...

Maha Almassri, 61, who fled Gaza last year, was detained in Villawood after Julian Hill personally' cancelled her bridging visa

The 74-year-old Bega man was flying from Wangaratta in Victoria to Moruya in NSW when his plane vanished on Tuesday afternoon

Perth man, 42, reportedly died on Wednesday after jumping from the peak of Sass Pordoi in the Dolomites regionAn Australian who reportedly died earlier this week in an accident at a competition in northern Italy has been remembered as a much-loved member of the international Base jumping community.James Nowland, 42, died on Wednesday after jumping from the peak of Sass Pordoi in the Dolomites region during the Pordoi Base race, Italy's Ansa news agency reported. Continue reading...

Aboriginal elder alleges he has been prevented from visiting Robert Barnes because he raised the matter with the state's First Nations voice

Case that exposed France's rape culture and shocked the world has been made into play to be shown in Avignon, where trial was heldA stage play based on the trial of the men who drugged and raped Gisele Pelicot will be staged this week in the southern city of Avignon, as France continues to debate the lessons for society from the country's biggest ever rape trial.The three-hour performance, The Pelicot Trial: Tribute to Gisele Pelicot, has been created by Milo Rau, the Swiss director and playwright acclaimed for his theatre interpretations of court proceedings, including the Moscow trial of the Russian punks Pussy Riot and the trial of the Romanian despot Nicolae Ceauescu. Continue reading...

Colbert told shocked audience he only found out the night before, as CBS announced it will end the entire Late Show franchise after 33 yearsThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been cancelled and will end in May, with network CBS announcing it will retire the Late Show entirely after a 33-year run.Colbert, who has hosted the talkshow since 2015, announced the news during Thursday night's taping, telling the audience he had only been told the news the previous night. Continue reading...

Initial 15.5m will go to schemes such as launch of large regional park to improving green spaces along canalsA coalition of environmental and heritage bodies has launched a billion-pound mission to bring nature into the heart of urban areas in the UK.The first phase of the Nature Towns and Cities initiative will involve 15.5m being invested in 40 towns and cities across the four nations. Continue reading...

Party investigating after MP said she did not regret remarks about people experiencing racism in different waysDiane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour party for a second time after saying she did not regret her past remarks on racism, as Keir Starmer once again attempted to reassert his grip over his backbenchers.The veteran MP now faces an investigation over her defence of remarks more than two years ago that people of colour experienced racism all their lives", which was different from the prejudice" experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers. Continue reading...

Witnesses say John Caravello did not throw teargas canister at agent during raid that resulted in farmworker's deathAcademics and colleagues are rallying around a California university professor who was arrested and charged with assaulting a federal officer during a chaotic immigration raid at a cannabis farm that resulted in a worker's death.John Caravello, a math and philosophy professor at California State University Channel Islands, joined a crowd of protesters who confronted immigration agents when they arrived at Glass House cannabis farm in Camarillo, a community about 50 miles north of Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Talks focused on resident doctors' working lives as health secretary refused to reopen negotiations on payHopes are rising that next week's strike by resident doctors in England will be called off after their leaders had a constructive" meeting with the health secretary and agreed to hold further talks.The co-chairs of the British Medical Association's resident doctors committee met Wes Streeting for 90 minutes - longer than the hour they had planned - in Westminster on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...

White House says no viable path forward for planned 800-mile system aiming to connect San Francisco to LADonald Trump said on Wednesday the transportation department was rescinding $4bn in US government funding for California's high-speed rail project.The department said there was no viable path forward for California's high-speed rail development and it was considering potentially clawing back additional funding related to the project. Continue reading...

Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, 38, was arrested outside Guidepost Montessori school after agents stopped him en routeAn Oregon father was taken into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody while dropping off his child on 15 July at a preschool in the Portland-area town of Beaverton, the agency confirmed.The man, identified by Ice as 38-year-old Iranian citizen Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, was arrested outside Guidepost Montessori school after being stopped by agents en route. An Ice spokesperson said in a statement that Khanbabazadeh entered the country legally but overstayed his visa. Continue reading...

Sources say leak included details of Britons who endorsed Afghan applications to be brought to UK after Taliban takeoverDetails of members of the SAS are among more than 100 Britons named in the database of 18,700 Afghans, the accidental leak of which by a defence official led to thousands being secretly relocated to the UK.Defence sources said the highly sensitive document contained names and email addresses belonging to people sponsoring or linked to some individual cases. Personal information about MI6 officers was also included. Continue reading...

16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections as part of changes including easier voter registration and crackdown on foreign interference

Those from Asian or British Asian backgrounds are more likely to be waiting longer than 18 weeksPatients from the most deprived areas of England face longer waits for NHS treatment and make up a higher proportion of those waiting for care, according to figures.Data released by NHS England on Thursday provides a breakdown of the health service's waiting lists by ethnicity and deprivation levels for the first time. It shows that people in the most deprived areas of England and people from ethnic minority backgrounds make up a disproportionate and growing proportion of those waiting for NHS treatment. Continue reading...

Mike Pence is latest prominent figure to call for release of files on sex offender once close to president

UK PM and German chancellor answered media questions after signing first treaty between two countries since second world warWhile Rushanara Ali is answering the urgent question in the Commons, Keir Starmer is speaking at the event where he is announcing a civil society covenant".There is a live feed here.Why does this government think a 16-year-old can vote but not be allowed to buy a lottery ticket or an alcoholic drink, marry or go to war, or even stand in the elections they're voting? It isn't the government's position on the age of maturity just hopelessly confused? Continue reading...

Alfie Coleman, 21, was arrested by counter-terrorism police in east London after picking up pistol and ammunitionA former Tesco worker caught buying a gun in an MI5 sting operation has denied compiling a kill-list of colleagues and customers branded race traitors".Alfie Coleman was arrested by counter-terrorism police in an east London supermarket car park moments after picking up a Makarov pistol and ammunition on 29 September 2023. Continue reading...

Alexus Grynkewich says Russia will remain a threat even if a peaceful solution to war in Ukraine can be foundFour Flemish civil society groups that brought the case against the regional Flemish government hailed the court's decision (12:39) as historic".This historic ruling acknowledges that the Flemish government bears a heavy legal responsibility when it facilitates military shipments to a state committing war crimes and possibly genocide," said Fien De Meyer of the League for Human Rights. The court has now said what politicians refuse to admit." Continue reading...

Local state-controlled media buzzed about the visit, praising the turnaround' and suggesting relations between the two countries were back on track

FCA fines bank for failures relating to money-laundering risk linked to two businesses

Star's team members reported music, concert visuals and future setlists taken from vehicle ahead of Atlanta showsBeyonce's choreographer and one of her dancers for the Cowboy Carter tour told police that thieves broke into their vehicle and stole numerous items, including jump drives full of unreleased music, footage for her upcoming shows and past and future setlists.The alleged robbery, first reported by Channel 2 in Atlanta, occurred less than 48 hours before the singer kicked off a four-show residence at the city's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Continue reading...

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Air India cautions investigation into Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash is in early stages as speculation about cause growsIndia's aviation regulator has ordered the country's airlines to examine fuel switches on Boeing aircraft, after a preliminary report on the Air India flight 171 crash in June showed the fuel supply had been cut seconds after takeoff.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had issued the order after several domestic and international airlines began making their own inspections of the locking mechanisms attached to the switches. Continue reading...

Study notes young people more likely to accept unfair demands and less likely to report exploitative conditions

Summit will guide Labor's second-term agenda and include skills, the net zero energy transition, workforce pressures and the care economy

Pair found guilty of manslaughter of newborn baby, who died after they went on run to evade social servicesTwo parents have been found guilty of the manslaughter of their newborn daughter, who died after they took her to live in a tent in freezing wintry conditions to evade social services.Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who had already had their first four children taken into care, went on the run with their fifth - a baby girl named Victoria - shortly after her birth in December 2022. Continue reading...

Investigation verifies allegations of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contactA report on the behaviour of Gregg Wallace has substantiated 45 allegations made against the former BBC presenter, including claims of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contact.A seven-month investigation into the MasterChef presenter's behaviour covered 83 allegations against him, of which more than half were substantiated. Continue reading...

Cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics considers mechanism to halt crimes against humanityClearer legal obligations on the British government to prevent genocides, and to determine if one is occurring rather than leaving such judgments to international courts, are to be considered by a cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics under the chairmanship of Lady Helena Kennedy.The new group, known as the standing group on atrocity crimes, says its genesis does not derive from a specific conflict such as Gaza or Xinjiang, but a wider concern that such crime is spreading as international law loses its purchase. Continue reading...

Recruitment body blames scar tissue' left by April tax increases as starting salaries rise only modestly in JuneThe number of people hunting for jobs in Britain surged in June at the fastest rate since the height of the Covid pandemic, industry figures show, amid growing business fears over tax rises and the economic outlook.The snapshot from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG showed the number of new candidates looking for work rose at the sharpest rate since November 2020, when the UK entered the second nationwide lockdown. Continue reading...

Mark Rowley says historically policing has got a lot wrong' in black communities but we get a lot more right today'The head of the Metropolitan police has said it is shameful" that black boys in London are more likely to be dead by 18 than white boys.Sir Mark Rowley spoke on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips where he said racial disparity among suspects and victims of crime in the capital was a difficult" issue for the force. Continue reading...

Graduate recruiter says much use of AI goes undetected as specialist says half of candidates are now using it

Windrush Untold Stories exhibition received global support after portraits were slashed and daubed with paintPortraits celebrating the Windrush generation in the heart of Brixton have been restored after a vandalism attack led to a global outpouring of support.The Windrush Untold Stories exhibition, displayed in Windrush Square, features 20 portraits and recollections of people who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean in the postwar era. Continue reading...

Deputy premier likens investigation to 1980s Fitzgerald inquiry, accusing Labor of orchestrating protection racket' for union

Exclusive: Party talks up sums that can be saved by cutting DEI jobs, but there are only a handful of such roles across the 10 councils it runsCouncils run by Reform UK have an average of fewer than 0.5 diversity and equality roles each, it has emerged, calling into question the party's stated aim to save significant sums of money by cutting such jobs.According to freedom of information requests, across the 10 Reform-run English councils there was a combined 4.56 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs connected to equality and diversity, not including roles required by law such as those for inclusion in education, including for pupils with disabilities. Continue reading...

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Anthony Albanese says he doesn't support unilateral action in Taiwan amid reports Washington seeking guarantees about how Canberra would respond in event of Indo-Pacific conflict

Emmanuel Macron hails new chapter' for New Caledonia as politicians agree on statehood after 10 days of talksFrance has announced a historic" accord with New Caledonia in which the overseas territory, rocked by deadly separatist violence last year, would remain French but be declared a new state.A State of New Caledonia within the Republic: it's a bet on trust," the French president, Emmanuel Macron, posted on X on Saturday, hailing a historic" agreement. Continue reading...

Women in melee' in Mount Druitt were not known to each other and it was sheer fluke' they met, police say

We need our auntie back, we need her freedom,' says cousin of Maha Almassri, who was moved to Villawood detention centre after pre-dawn raid

Scheme aims to stop cables trailing across pavements and encourage drivers to switch to electric vehiclesLocal councils in England will be encouraged to install pavement gullies that link houses to the kerbside so that electric cars owners can charge their cars from home if they do not have a driveway.The new government scheme hopes to stop cables trailing across pavements, as EV owners in built up areas where off-street parking is scarce, try to charge their cars. The Department for Transport has said it will put 25m towards cross-pavement" charging - essentially a narrow cable channel with a cover on top. Continue reading...

A fresh cycle of interest rate cuts have propelled house prices in capital cities to peak levels - locking new buyers out of the market

The former life member says his support of those voicing trans-critical' views is a matter of free speech - but others say it's a question of what values the party supports

One thing's for certain, it will take more than an abundance of rhetoric to get things done

Dozens' held after campaigners gathered in Parliament Square on Saturday, with demonstrations across the UK prompting police actionMore than 70 people have been arrested across the UK in several demonstrations where references to Palestine Action were allegedly made, a week after the group was banned as a terrorist organisation.Protesters gathered for the second week in a row in central London after police reiterated that showing support for the group was a criminal offence, resulting in the Metropolitan police making 42 arrests. Continue reading...

Bloc had already backtracked from tough talk to seeking a bare bones deal - but US president has turned tables againSecond-guessing Donald Trump is a fool's errand.But Saturday's shock threat to impose tariffs of 30% on the EU is a blow to the bloc's confidence, which had already secretly capitulated during negotiations with diplomats revealing they had to sacrifice trade for the wider prize of security and defence of the continent. Continue reading...