US National Weather Service warns of dangerously hot conditions' with temperatures rising during the weekHeat will build over parts of California this week, potentially challenging current temperature records. The US National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings and heat advisories for the days between Tuesday and Saturday due to dangerously hot conditions" with temperatures likely to soar into the triple digits fahrenheit.Temperatures have already been building across the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys this past weekend, but will continue to rise through this week. One of the hottest cities will likely be Fresno, where maximum temperatures could exceed 110F (43C) across multiple days. Death Valley may also get close to 130F (54C) towards the end of the week; a temperature that has been reached only three times - in 1913, 2020 and 2021. Temperatures more widely will reach 100-110F (38-43C) between Tuesday and Saturday, although peak temperatures could reach 115F (46C), which would be 5-10C above the climatological average. In addition to the high daytime maximum temperatures, there won't be much relief overnight, with minimum temperatures dropping into the mid-60s F to low-80s F (around 18C-28C). Continue reading...
Spoof ads with tennis players appear near club in protest against sponsor's ties to fossil fuels and arms companiesHundreds of ads on commercial billboards, the tube and bus shelters near Wimbledon have been replaced with artwork taking aim at the tournament's sponsorship with Barclays over its ties to fossil fuels and companies supplying arms to Israel.Tournament organisers have come under pressure to drop the bank as a sponsor by climate groups and anti-war activists who accuse Barclays of using the event to cover up its role" in funding the climate crisis and to hide from accountability for its role in enabling Israel's war crimes". Continue reading...
Coroner says death at Port Phillip prison was preventable and the result of a series of missed opportunitiesFor 16 minutes, an Indigenous man was left unconscious in his prison cell before dying in what his mother describes as a system lacking care and compassion for human life.A series of missed opportunities culminated in the preventable death of 32-year-old Yorta Yorta and Gunaikurani man Joshua Kerr in August 2022, Victorian coroner David Ryan has found. Continue reading...
MSF says it is overwhelmed in country where 31.8 million people are suffering from hungerAn unprecedented number of children in northern Nigeria are suffering from acute malnutrition, aid workers in the country have said.Nigeria has the largest number of food insecure people globally" at 31.8 million, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization office in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri said. Continue reading...
by Paul Karp Chief political correspondent on (#6NX03)
Greens motion that Labor senator crossed floor to support was designed to put her in a difficult position, PM says after her appearance on ABC Insiders
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6NX1Z)
Claimants who were onboard BA149 claim airline and Thatcher's government knew of risk before they landed in 1990British Airways (BA) passengers and crew taken hostage in Kuwait and used as human shields during Saddam Hussein's invasion are suing the airline and the UK government.The claimants, who were subjected to torture, including mock executions, say they have evidence that BA and the government knew the invasion had taken place hours before the plane landed in Kuwait. They also claim that the flight was used to secretly transport a special ops team for immediate and covert deployment to the battlefield, regardless of the risk this posed to the civilians onboard". Continue reading...
People will be asking, is it worth the pain?' if asked to give UK a gift, says European diplomatThe EU will not rush to reopen Brexit negotiations with the UK even if Labour is swept to power next Thursday, senior sources in Brussels have indicated.They say they will welcome a change of government but the deep scars left by the Conservatives during Brexit negotiations along with the new priorities caused by the war in Ukraine, and the rise of the far right weigh heavily on the minds of influential figures in Brussels. Continue reading...
After festival organisers refused to screen Euros clash, pop singer bought flat screen TV and generator from Argos on Sunday morning and set them up in camping areaFestivalgoers at Glastonbury were given the opportunity to watch England's Euro 2024 last-16 match against Slovakia by an unlikely figure: former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, who livestreamed the game in the festival campsite on a flatscreen television he'd bought from Argos earlier in the day.Glastonbury officials had announced earlier in the week that the match would not be shown at the festival due to clashes with performances on the major stages, forcing fans to find enterprising ways to watch it. Tomlinson was more enterprising than most, purchasing a flat screen TV and generator on Sunday morning and streaming the game using wifi. He said that he had initially intended to watch the game in the hospitality section but was thwarted by spotty reception, so brought the TV to the main festival site instead. Continue reading...
University of Warwick says video troubling' after footage shows students dancing at Conservative association dinnerA Conservative student association has been condemned after attenders at one of its events were filmed singing a Nazi marching song.Footage showed a group of people at a black-tie dinner hosted by the University of Warwick Conservative Association dancing to Erika by German composer Herms Niel. Continue reading...
Leader again forced to defend past remarks amid allegations of prejudice in party and candidate's resignationNigel Farage has sought to distance himself from bad apples" in Reform UK amid continuing allegations of prejudice in its ranks and the resignation of a candidate who cited concerns about the behaviour and conduct of others in the party.The Reform UK leader was forced to continue defending his own past remarks about individuals ranging from Vladimir Putin to Andrew Tate as the general election campaign entered its final week. Continue reading...
Sources say Tata offer is predicated on unions at south Wales site agreeing to suspend future industrial actionThe owner of the Port Talbot steelworks has written to trade unions offering fresh talks amid a battle to delay plans that would see 2,800 jobs lost and production suspended at a site that has been in operation since 1951.The Guardian understands that a letter sent on Sunday afternoon by Rajesh Nair, the UK boss of Tata Steel, has offered a new round of discussions about future investments at the company's plants in the UK, including Port Talbot. Continue reading...
Nursery and garden centre trade bodies write open letter saying problems at border need to be urgently fixedNurseries and garden centres across Britain and Europe have warned that new post-Brexit border posts are not working properly and are leading to delays, damage and significant extra costs for importers bringing plants into Britain.The Horticultural Trade Association, which represents 1,400 garden retailers and growers in the UK, has joined forces with several European trade bodies to write an open letter to call for urgent solutions, warning the new system was adding more than 25% to import costs. Continue reading...
Authorities say 19 more were seriously injured in blasts at wedding, hospital and funeral in country's north-eastAt least 18 people have been killed and 19 seriously injured in suicide attacks targeting a wedding, a hospital and a funeral in north-east Nigeria, authorities have said.In one of three blasts on Saturday in the town of Gwoza, a woman with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to state police. Continue reading...
Costs of trying to deport asylum seekers cannot be recovered if Labour wins and disbands policyMore than 320m spent by the government on the controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is likely to be lost if the Conservatives are voted out of power at Thursday's general election.The sum has been spent on economic development money for Rwanda, along with set-up costs for the scheme, which cannot be recovered if it does not go ahead. Continue reading...
Daniel Lynch was convicted of arranging for Stefan Sylvestre to throw sulphuric acid at Piper's faceThe man who arranged for the model and TV presenter Katie Piper to be attacked with acid could be eligible for parole next month.Daniel Lynch, a former boyfriend of Piper, was convicted five years ago of arranging for Stefan Sylvestre to throw sulphuric acid at her face in March 2008, leaving her blind in one eye. Continue reading...
by Kiran StaceyPolitical correspondent on (#6NWSB)
Exclusive: Party sources say Tory support collapsing' in the south as they target additional 25 seatsThe Liberal Democrats are increasingly confident they can beat the Conservatives in large parts of southern England, including the two Oxfordshire seats formerly held by David Cameron and Boris Johnson.Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, spent Sunday campaigning in Bicester, where the party believes it can defeat the Conservative candidate, Rupert Harrison, a highly regarded economist and one-time adviser to the former chancellor George Osborne. Continue reading...
by Kiran StaceyPolitical correspondent on (#6NWSC)
Exclusive: Leaked recording of ex-minister lays bare despondency at high levels of Conservative partyThe Conservatives have lost their way after 14 years in government, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said, in a leaked recording of a meeting with young Tories which lays bare the despondency at high levels of the party.Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, told young activists at a meeting in March he felt the party had squandered its opportunity to achieve anything substantial in the last five years, having won a majority in 2019. Continue reading...
Ballot could enable Marine Le Pen's National Rally to form government as polls suggest support for party has grownVoter turnout across France has surged to a near four-decade high as voters cast their ballots in the first round of high stakes, snap parliamentary elections that could lead to the far-right party of Marine Le Pen forming a government in a historic first.While polls suggest support for Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) has strengthened in recent days, the outcome of the two-round election, called three weeks ago by the president, Emmanuel Macron, following the crushing defeat of his allies in the European parliamentary elections, remains highly uncertain. Continue reading...
Linda De Sousa Abreu is in custody and will appear at Uxbridge magistrates court on Monday, Met police sayA woman is to appear in court after a video was shared on social media allegedly showing a prison officer having sex with an inmate in a cell.Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, of Fulham, south-west London, has been charged with misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...
Tributes pour in for former sheep farmer who broke record for most peaks climbed in a 24-hour period three timesTributes have poured in for the veteran fell runner Joss Naylor, known as the King of the Fells", who has died aged 88.Naylor, from Wasdale Head, Cumbria, is famous for breaking the record for most fells climbed in a 24-hour period three times. He also ran the fastest known times on the Three Peaks, Welsh 3,000ers and Pennine Way. Continue reading...
In the shadow culture minister's seat, there is a degree of hope a Labour government might bring changeI felt like Bristol was one of the best places in the country to make theatre," says writer and performer Amy Mason, who's lived in Bristol for most of her life. It was quite punk. It was this very well organised, inclusive and active system of getting work on stage. People could make a living out of theatre."Mason left school at 16 and worked in retail, but a community theatre project not far from the colourful house we're sitting in on the edge of the city offered her the chance to attend a playwright workshop and put on a small show. They liked it, they gave me a commission, I was like: Oh my God, I could be a writer!" From there, she started writing short stories, went on to stage three shows with Bristol Old Vic, and has grown a career as a TV writer and standup comedian. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6NWNM)
Case remains open following unsuccessful coordinated attempt to locate missing British teenagerPolice in Tenerife have said the unsuccessful two-week search in the mountains for a missing British teenager is now over, although the case remains open.Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing on Monday 17 June after attending a weekend rave with friends. Continue reading...
by Natricia Duncan, Caribbean correspondent and Hipol on (#6NWMH)
State of emergency imposes curfew on young people and gives police powers to detain suspects for up to 90 daysA controversial state of emergency in Belize to crack down on a surge of gang-related murders and other violent crimes has led to the arrest of nearly a hundred people.The order, announced on Tuesday, gives police the power to search homes without a warrant and detain suspects for up to 90 days. Originally implemented for 30 days, the government announced on Friday that it was increasing its length to maximise its effectiveness. Continue reading...
Media reporting on the campaign is overwhelmingly dominated by men, say researchersGeneral election coverage has been dominated by male voices, according to researchers from Loughborough University.Academics from the university's Centre for Research in Communication and Culture have conducted news audits for every general election since 1992. They analyse TV coverage from BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky's evening news bulletins, plus print reporting by the UK's broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Continue reading...
Festival opens its arms with more diversity but rock royalty gets the crowd bouncingThis is our favourite thing to do on earth, so thank you for letting us do it here," says Chris Martin as Coldplay headline Glastonbury for a record-breaking fifth time. No other band has such a direct line to the festival's inclusive, idealistic heart. Their speciality is the universal.Each year's line-up throws its arms a little wider around the world of music. On Friday afternoon, for example, you could see in quick succession Indonesian heavy metal, Indian disco, Sofia Kourtesis' dreamy, therapeutic dance music and Headie One's furious drill. Continue reading...
Reform canvassers tap into fertile territory with populist policies and leader's blend of bluster and charismaThe historic pier at Clacton-on-Sea promotes water slides, arcades and variety shows, but it is the town's political drama that will be entertaining a nation on Thursday night, with Nigel Farage hoping to secure his first seat in Westminster.As visitors descended on the town's wide golden sands in bright sunshine on Saturday, young and old campaigners filed out of the offices of the Reform party, near an amusement arcade sign stating welcome to the smile factory", to distribute leaflets. Continue reading...
Party hopes to limit damage by warning of supermajority' while thoughts also turn to aftermath of defeatFor some Tory candidates, despair is the appropriate mindset in the final days of the election campaign. Others are angry. Many remain disbelieving of polls that point to a Labour landslide. Ahead of polling day, there are already those worried about a swift leadership election lurching the party further to the right. A certain gallows humour has also kicked in. You know what they say," said one candidate. It's always darkest before it's completely pitch black."As Tory candidates complete a torrid campaign that began with Rishi Sunak's rain-soaked announcement of a July election, the full range of emotions is on display among them. For most candidates who spoke to the Observer last week, Sunak's decision to leave D-Day commemorations early came up as the main frustration, even eclipsing the election date betting scandal. Continue reading...
Thinktank says decisive action must be taken to counter inequality in health, housing, poverty and the north-south income divideThe next government must take decisive action to reduce inequality or risk unprecedented far-right gains, a thinktank has warned.A report from the Fairness Foundation says that Britain will become more unfair and unequal over the next five years, with growing inequality in health, housing, poverty and the north-south income divide. Continue reading...
From his London HQ, Pat McFadden talks about his party's nothing-left-to-chance preparations, Nigel Farage showing his true colours, and fending off Tory nonsense'A testament to the kind of campaign being run by Labour is that an apparently straightforward answer from its election chief the other day caused an outbreak of incredulity from colleagues.How are you?" a BBC Today programme presenter had asked Pat McFadden at the start of a big interview. I'm great, I'm great!" he replied. As concerned text messages pinged into his phone, he wryly admitted this uncharacteristic display of ebullience had been an appalling lapse". Continue reading...