Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council dismisses claim counteroffensive has begun; Rishi Sunak says UK ‘can’t say definitively’ whether Russia was responsible

Actor was helped off stage from her one-woman show Prima Facie after city’s poor air quality prompted breathing issuesJodie Comer stopped her one-woman show Prima Facie on Broadway because of breathing difficulties owing to New York’s air crisis.According to eyewitnesses, the award-winning star of Killing Eve, tipped to win a Tony award this weekend, was 10 minutes late for the matinee performance. After three minutes of the show, she announced that she couldn’t proceed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: friend ‘helped the couple plan their wedding’ in May 2021 when restrictions on indoor gatherings in placeBoris and Carrie Johnson hosted a close friend, who helped plan their wedding, overnight at Chequers when a number of Covid restrictions were in place, the Guardian has been told.Dixie Maloney, a corporate events organiser, stayed at the former prime minister’s grace-and-favour country mansion on 7 May 2021 when indoor gatherings between different households were banned except when “reasonably necessary” for reasons such as work or childcare. Continue reading...

Agriculture ministry warns of greater disaster next year, with global implications, from loss of Kakhovka reservoir

Losing Telegraph newspapers will not turn remaining twin Frederick Barclay into a pauper, but it’s a bitter end to brothers’ empire-building

Oxfam International apologised and re-edited cartoon alleged to include racial stereotyping and JK Rowling attackThe UK charities watchdog is assessing whether it will take action against Oxfam after receiving complaints about a cartoon published by the charity that ignited a row about transgender issues.Oxfam International put the cartoon out on Twitter last week to mark pride month, but took it down on Tuesday after a backlash against its use of the term Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) in an image depicting anti-trans “hate groups”. Continue reading...

Nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempted murder of 10 more at Chester hospital in 2015-16Lucy Letby was texting about a doctor on whom she allegedly “had a crush” hours before she attempted to murder a vulnerable baby boy, a court has heard.The nurse, 33, denied the doctor was her boyfriend or that she was “sweet” on him, as she gave evidence for a 12th day at Manchester crown court. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of mines and debris are flowing into towns downstream, while lack of water upstream will hit food production

The Duke of Sussex forced back tears on his second day giving evidence in his case against Mirror Group NewspapersPrince Harry has concluded his high-profile appearance in the high court, where he became the first senior royal to be cross-examined since the 19th century.The Duke of Sussex forced back tears as his barrister asked how he felt after being in court for two days, giving evidence in support of his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Contentious plans to be discussed in Luxembourg aimed at making distribution of responsibility fairerEU countries that refuse to host migrants or asylum seekers could be charged up to €20,000 (£17,000) a head under radical proposals aimed at easing the pressure on frontline countries including Italy and Greece.Home affairs ministers from the 27 member states will attend a crunch meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday to discuss two key proposals including a relocation scheme for more than 100,000 migrants a year. Continue reading...

Latest updates: prime minister explicitly accepts formal post-Brexit trade deal with US is not on horizon, implying this is no longer a goalPMQs is starting soon. It will be the second encounter between Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM who is standing in while Rishi Sunak is in Washington, and Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader.Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.That the UK will have the highest inflation in the developed world is a mark of government failure.Inflation has remained so high in Britain – and hit families so hard – because our economy has been badly weakened by 13 years of Tory economic mismanagement. Continue reading...

Roderick Sinclair claims he has faced intimidation and mayor says he has had death threats in row with farmer in MontjoiA retired British stockbroker claims he has been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation in a row over a bridle path running through his property in an idyllic corner of south-west France.“It has been hell. In the beginning we all thought it was the traditional sort of spat between neighbours that happens all the time in France,” Roderick Sinclair said of the dispute at his French second home, a stone farmhouse his family have spent thousands renovating in Montjoi, in the Tarn-et-Garonne. Continue reading...

Starmer’s party is 12% ahead of Sunak’s Tories, survey based on new constituency boundaries suggests

Court rules that Giuseppe Conte and Roberto Speranza not at fault over 6,000 excess deaths in Bergamo at start of pandemicItaly’s former prime minister Giuseppe Conte and the former health minister Roberto Speranza were not responsible for the alleged mismanagement of the country’s first phase of the Covid pandemic, a court ruled on Wednesday.Last March, prosecutors in Bergamo, the Lombardy province worst hit during the first wave of the virus in 2020, had placed Conte and Speranza under investigation on suspicion of “aggravated culpable epidemic” and manslaughter in connection with the government’s response at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Officer behind scheme may face disciplinary investigation over ‘outdated and ridiculous’ planA police inspector in northern Spain is facing possible disciplinary action for attempting to increase migrant arrest rates by promising officers extra days off based on the number of people they detained.Details of the hastily cancelled scheme, which was due to take effect on 1 July in the Basque town of Irún – a popular departure point for people aiming to cross the border into southern France – were revealed by the regional branch of the Jupol police union on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Pupil from St Kentigern’s academy in Blackburn taken to hospital where he died short time laterA 14-year-old boy has died after an incident at a West Lothian school that has left staff and pupils “devastated”.Emergency services were called to St Kentigern’s academy in Blackburn on Tuesday afternoon. The school said the incident, which is understood to have involved two 14-year-old boys, took place within the grounds on Tuesday lunchtime. A pupil was taken to hospital but died shortly after. Continue reading...

Embattled chairman was under siege from within after article in the Atlantic revealed decisions made over Trump town hallChris Licht, the controversial chairman and chief executive officer of CNN, is out after a short and turbulent time in charge of the news network.Puck News first reported Licht’s departure early on Wednesday morning. Not long after, CNN’s own news website said Licht’s “brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, [and he] will depart the company”. Continue reading...

Two companies offering to cut fixed rates set at height of energy crisis, putting pressure on competitors to follow suitEnergy companies are under growing pressure to allow thousands of struggling businesses to change their gas and electricity contracts after two major suppliers agreed to cut rates that had been fixed at the height of the energy crisis.EDF has agreed to offer new deals to 15,000 small and medium businesses that are trapped in long-term contracts fixed when energy market prices reached a historical peak last year. Continue reading...

Warning covers London, east Midlands, West Midlands, east of England, south-east and south-westThe first heat health alert of the year has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office.The warning covers six regions in England, London, the east Midlands, West Midlands, east of England, south-east and south-west, and is in place from 9am on Friday to Monday morning. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex concludes evidence after emotional second day in High Court during Mirror Group phone-hacking trialHarry tells the court all articles published about him were distressing at the time, distressing to go through with his legal team and more distressing going through them again today in court.Green turns to an article about Harry allegedly going to the strip club Spearmint Rhino and his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy being angered by this. Continue reading...

Gerald Jones will fight Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cyon, and Alison McGovern Birkenhead, after constituency boundaries redrawnTensions have flared within the Labour party as two members of Keir Starmer’s shadow ministerial team were pitted against junior leftwing MPs in battles to win the nomination for new parliamentary seats.Gerald Jones, the shadow Welsh minister, won a selection contest for the new seat of Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cynon on Wednesday against Beth Winter, an MP from the leftwing Socialist Campaign group. Continue reading...

Requirement to refund people who have been tricked by scammers will be implemented in 2024

Story of four Irish women who leave Dublin for the first time will be screened in New York next MondayFor almost 20 years, film-makers had struggled to make a heartwarming film about four riotous working-class Irish women, but they just could not make it happen – despite having a star in Dame Maggie Smith, whose awards include Oscars, Emmys and Baftas.The screenplay was not quite right and funds could not be raised, but Smith never lost faith in the project. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex appears as witness and claims reporters learned of meetings with TV star Caroline Flack through hacked voicemails

Investigators in Verona say some victims were pepper-sprayed in the eyes and kicked until they passed outFive police officers in the Italian city of Verona have been arrested on charges of torture and bodily harm against migrants and homeless people.Two of the suspects are also accused of racist hate crimes against black people and African migrants. Continue reading...

Trauma experienced by staff at Nairobi Facebook hub recognised in legal ruling that may have global implicationsMeta has been ordered to “provide proper medical, psychiatric and psychological care” to a group of moderators in Nairobi following a ruling in a Kenyan employment court that heard harrowing testimony about the distressing nature of their work.The instruction by judge Byram Ongaya formed part of a broader interim ruling that saw the moderators’ jobs restored after they sued Meta in March for what they termed a “sham” mass redundancy. Continue reading...

Taxpayer’s money also going to companies found to be flouting human rights in Kenya and DRC, says Commons committeeThe UK government is under attack for investing taxpayers’ money in fossil fuel companies, a hospital in Kenya accused of imprisoning patients who couldn’t pay for treatment, and a business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that exposed workers to dangerous chemicals and dumped untreated industrial waste.MPs questioned the investments at a two-hour session in parliament on Tuesday, and excoriated Andrew Mitchell, minister for development, for making overseas aid available to a company owned by Africa’s richest man that is suspected of causing serious environmental damage. Continue reading...

Previous Tory leadership embarked on risky investment spree involving hotels and skyscrapers

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the government managed the settlement by the letter of the law

More than 2,000 workers at London hub will strike for 31 days from June to August in row over pay

Independent MP Monique Ryan demands major changes to commonwealth grants in light of blistering audit office report

Committee finds case for suspending an MP is ‘weakened’ if voters are aware of charges before an election

Government researcher tells coroner’s investigation he had never before heard of a human being preyed upon by two crocodiles

Poll of primary teachers finds pupils more likely to complain about being bored and provoke others in classMost primary schoolteachers think children’s attention spans are getting shorter and classroom behaviour has deteriorated since before the Covid pandemic, a survey has found.More than two in three (70%) teachers questioned said pupils’ behaviour in class had declined. Children were more likely to move around the room, complain about being bored and annoy or provoke others in the classroom, the poll showed. Continue reading...

Audit office criticises how home affairs handled tender process for multimillion-dollar contract but makes no finding against former minister

After more than a decade running Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, the hit-making director is to take over the Covent Garden venue next yearTim Sheader has been appointed as the artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse. Sheader, who currently runs Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, will take over from Michael Longhurst in March 2024 and will also be the Donmar’s joint chief executive alongside executive director Henny Finch.The Donmar, which occupies a site once used as a brewery and a banana-ripening warehouse, is one of London’s most illustrious theatres. With 251 seats, it is considerably more intimate than the 1,240-seat Open Air theatre where Sheader has directed more than 20 summer shows through rain and sunshine since 2007. Continue reading...

Queensland government reinstates name at ceremony attended by hundreds of traditional owners

Sale to tech firm Eucalyptus comes as Australia and New Zealand arm to cease trading and be placed into liquidation

Inquiry told of consultancy’s use of tens of thousands of claims of client privilege to avoid scrutiny

Senator Ron Wyden, chair of finance panel, warns of ‘next steps’ to compel testimony of Harlan Crow about supreme court justiceThe Democratic chair of the Senate finance committee has reiterated his threat to subpoena Harlan Crow, the Republican mega-donor whose gifts to the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas are the source of scandal.In a statement Ron Wyden of Oregon accused Crow of “doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family. Continue reading...

Owens centre, co-founded by Lubov Chernukhin, raises questions about whether public money has gone to projects most in need of itA £150,000 grant from Boris Johnson’s flagship levelling up towns fund was awarded to an amusement centre launched by the Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin, raising questions about whether public money has gone to projects most in need of financial help.Chernukhin, a businesswoman who has given more than £2m to the Conservatives since 2014 and is married to a former Russian finance minister, co-founded the Owens entertainment centre in Hastings, East Sussex. Continue reading...

Veterans minister Emma Davidson says prosecution of military lawyer who served in Afghanistan is not in the public interest

Woman alleges Tate choked and raped her after they met on night out in Luton in 2014A fourth British woman has joined a civil claim for damages against Andrew Tate, alleging she was also a victim of sexual and physical assault by him.The woman joins three claimants who said in April that they intended to commence proceedings against the former kickboxer and self-proclaimed misogynist.In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html. Continue reading...

Damning report from government spending watchdog criticises Department for Transport’s approachMinisters are very unlikely to meet their own targets to boost walking and cycling in England despite spending more than £2bn on active travel infrastructure, a damning report has found.While most walking and cycling projects are delivered by local councils, until recently there were few guidelines for how these should be built, the government’s official spending watchdog said, and thus minimal oversight of their quality. Continue reading...

Survey reveals shift in opinion since Ukraine war and big majority favour EU increasing its defence capabilitiesFifteen months after Russia invaded Ukraine, twice as many Europeans – almost two-thirds – view Moscow as an adversary or rival as did before the war, but opinions on the continent’s long-term relations with its eastern neighbour still vary widely.A multi-country survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) also found a large majority in favour of the EU boosting its defence capabilities rather than relying on the US and many seeing China as a partner, not a competitor. Continue reading...

Panel yet to complete review into allegations non-Indigenous APY Art Centre Collective staff painted on works – claims which the centre denies

Jim Chalmers says higher interest rates and cost-of-living pressures are squeezing household budgets and slowing the economy

Hazy skies hung over north-eastern US a day after the midwest received a similar alert from the Environmental Protection AgencyCanada is dealing with a series of intense wildfires that have spread from the western provinces to Quebec, with hundreds of forest fires burning. Wind has carried smoke from the fires southward, triggering air-quality alerts throughout the United States.The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday issued a poor air-quality alert for New England, a day after parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota received a similar advisory. Last week, US officials as far south as Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being affected by the wildfires. Continue reading...

NSW police minister hopes coronial investigation sheds light on ‘terrible’ circumstances that led to the deaths of Wayne Smith and son Noah

Security council meeting discusses disaster as US, UK and French representatives call for an investigationRussia’s UN envoy was accused of floundering in a “mud of lies” after he claimed at an emergency session of the security council that Ukraine destroyed Kakhovka dam in a “war crime”.Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukraine envoy to the UN, said it was typical of Russia to blame the victim for its own crimes, pointing out Russia has been in control of the dam for more than a year and it was physically impossible to blow it up by shelling. He said the dam was mined by the Russian occupiers and they blew it up. He accused Russia of “floundering again in the mud of lies”. Continue reading...