World news | The Guardian

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...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Trump's Ukraine announcement, you can read:

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...

Ambulances were reportedly stopped from reaching Sayfollah Musallet after attack in which another Palestinian man was shot deadA 20-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by Israeli settlers while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank, his family have said.Sayfollah Saif" Musallet was reportedly beaten by Israeli settlers while he was on his family's farm in an area near Ramallah. A group then prevented ambulances from reaching Musallet for three hours, according to the family, who said he died of his injuries before reaching hospital. Continue reading...

Electric Light Orchestra frontman withdraws from BST Hyde Park festival owing to a systemic infection'Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) frontman Jeff Lynne has cancelled what had been billed as his final ever performance, owing to ill health.Lynne was due to appear at the BST Hyde Park festival series on Sunday night, closing what had been the band's farewell Over and Out" tour, 55 years since the band formed. Continue reading...

Resident doctors have voted to strike over pay but how much has their real-terms earnings changed since 2008?Resident doctors in England have voted to strike for five days from 25 July, reigniting one of the NHS's most bitter industrial disputes.At the heart of the row is pay: the British Medical Association (BMA) says resident (formerly known as junior) doctors have seen their real earnings fall by more than a quarter since 2008. The government says the union's demands are unaffordable, and they've already received generous rises in recent years. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedIsraeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Deputy PM accused of refusing to engage as union considers cutting ties with LabourAngela Rayner has been accused of handling the Birmingham bin workers' strike in a totally and utterly abhorrent" way by the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.Graham told BBC Radio 4 Today's programme: Angela Rayner refuses to get involved, and she is directly aiding and abetting the fire-and-rehire of these bin workers, it is totally and utterly abhorrent." Continue reading...

Militant group has become adept at exploiting successful attacks - and now needs all the leverage it can get for talksAs Hamas intensifies its insurgent campaign against Israeli forces in Gaza, it is focusing on a new aim: capturing an Israeli soldier.Last week, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sergeant was killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in an attempted abduction. Hamas militants also tried to take away the remains of 25-year-old Abraham Azulay but abandoned the effort when attacked by other Israeli forces. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Irish rap trio due to support Fontaines DC in August but it is understood they may be pulled over safety concerns'The Irish hip-hop band Kneecap may be dropped from the lineup at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, where they are due to support Fontaines DC in August.It is understood that talks are in progress between Manchester city council, which runs the park, and the concert's promoter about whether the band should be pulled from the lineup, apparently over safety concerns". Continue reading...

Labour is being pulled one way by a desire to cut debt and the other by slumping poll ratings. With growth nowhere to be seen, tax rises loomDuring the first televised debate in the run-up to last summer's general election, Keir Starmer used a phrase that received enthusiastic - and unanticipated - applause from the Salford audience.I don't pretend there's a magic wand that will fix everything overnight," he told them. Labour strategists were surprised by the clapping, and encouraged him to deploy the line again in future. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MPs say in letter Gaza is being ethnically cleansed as Israeli defence minister plans forcible transfer'Nearly 60 Labour MPs have demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel's defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to David Lammy on Thursday warning they believed Gaza was being ethnically cleansed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Young people deterred from politics, Rushanara Ali warns, as government plans stricter punishmentsMPs and political candidates are facing industrial" levels of intimidation and harassment, a minister has warned, as the government outlines plans for stricter punishments for those found guilty of abuse.Rushanara Ali, the minister for democracy, said her colleagues were suffering worse harassment than ever before and warned this was deterring many young people from becoming politically active. Continue reading...

Early investigation into accident in Ahmedabad in June also contains details of pilots discussing the switchesFuel to both engines of the Air India plane that crashed and killed 260 people last month appears to have been cut off seconds after the flight took off, a preliminary report has found.Air India flight AI171, bound for London, crashed into a densely populated residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground. It was India's deadliest air crash in almost three decades. Continue reading...

Finance department says advertising not paused during or after AI bot's MechaHitler' outburst, as antisemitism envoy praises Musk-owned platform for rooting out hate'

The 26-year-old's van had been found abandoned but police hail a great result' in finding her safe but ravaged by mosquitoes'

UN human rights office says 615 of the deaths were in vicinity of sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian FoundationAt least 798 people have been killed while seeking food at distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other humanitarian convoys since the end of May, the UN human rights office said on Friday.The GHF, proposed by Israel as an alternative to the UN aid system in Gaza, has been almost universally condemned by rights groups for its violation of principles of humanitarian impartiality and what they have said could be complicity in war crimes. Continue reading...

Deputy PM targeted for role in Birmingham bin strikes but sources say she resigned her membership months agoAngela Rayner has made clear she will not be pushed around" by the Unite trade union after it voted to suspend her membership and rethink its ties with the party.The deputy prime minister was targeted for censure by the union over her role in the Birmingham bin strike, although party sources said Rayner resigned her membership of Unite some months ago. Continue reading...

Blair, 72, led the London force from 2005-08 and was made a life peer two years laterSir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, has died aged 72.His death was confirmed on Friday by Christ Church college, University of Oxford, where Blair studied English and later became an honorary student. Continue reading...

Former chancellor says employees' contributions should rise to help address a 6bn shortfall caused by recent U-turnsThe Unite union has voted to re-examine its relationship with the Labour party in the light of the government's failure to support its members in the Birmingham bin strike.It has also said it was suspending Angela Rayner's membership, given her role as minister in charge of the department that oversees local government. The union is in dispute with Birmingham city council over proposals to reorganise waste disposal services in the city, and Unite has repeatedly said the government should step in and force the Labour-led council to settle.Unite is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises. Continue reading...

Israeli PM manages to avoid breach with US president through high-profile assurances he is seeking end to war