World news | The Guardian

Lawyers say new offence, introduced after four police officers were filmed dying, may have unintended negative consequences

Aemo says it ‘wants to understand comprehensively the lessons learned’, with trading to resume at 4am on Thursday

Exclusive: Investment NSW chief executive did not have ‘conflict of interest’, agency says after former deputy premier’s appointment to $500,000-a-year role

Green light comes after a string of controversies over money laundering, and 18 months after Barangaroo opened its bars and restaurants

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereReuters reports the Georgian prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, has said at an economic conference in Qatar that his country is committed to joining Nato, but must solve its territorial problems with Russia first.Georgia is sandwiched between Russia in the north, with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan to its south. The breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are internationally recognised as part of Georgia’s territory, although a handful of states, including Russia, officially recognise them. Continue reading...

Comedian says he was asked to explain context of gag to investigating officers, and will keep it in his showThe comedian Joe Lycett has said he was investigated by the police after an audience member made a complaint about a joke in one of his shows.In a post on Instagram, he revealed that he was asked to explain the context of the gag and that the authorities have now closed the case. Continue reading...

Hamilton Mourão’s claim sparked anger from Indigenous communities who believe organised crime was involvedBrazil’s vice-president has claimed that British journalist Dom Phillips was “collateral damage” in an attack on his travelling partner, the Indigenous activist Bruno Pereira, as grisly details emerged about the killing of the two men in early June.One of the three men in custody for the killings said he and his accomplices tried to burn the bodies after shooting them dead at the edge of a river in western Brazil. Continue reading...

At least five MPs defy Keir Starmer’s orders and tweet pictures of themselves with RMT strikersKeir Starmer is expected to discipline at least five Labour frontbenchers who defied his orders and appeared on RMT picket lines on Tuesday in solidarity with striking railworkers.On the first of three days of industrial action, the Labour leader had instructed his team not to appear alongside striking workers, in order to show “leadership”, amid fears of Labour being portrayed by the Tories as responsible for the RMT’s walkout. Continue reading...

Officer involved in 2015 Kirkcaldy fatal arrest dismisses relative’s recollection as ‘absolute nonsense’A former police officer involved in the fatal arrest of Sheku Bayoh has vehemently denied that he told his own grandfather he was “a total racist and hated all blacks”.Alan Paton, who has since retired from the force on mental health grounds, was one of the first officers to arrive after multiple calls were received from the public about a man brandishing a knife and behaving erratically early on a Sunday morning in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May 2015. Continue reading...

Calls grow for greater measures against wave of BA.4 and BA.5 cases in countries from Spain to DenmarkMultiple European countries are experiencing a significant surge in new Covid-19 infections, as experts warn that with almost all restrictions lifted and booster take-up often low, cases could spiral throughout the summer leading to more deaths.According to the Our World in Data scientific aggregator, the rolling seven-day average of confirmed new cases per million inhabitants is on the rise in countries including Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands and Denmark. Continue reading...

President seeking consensus with groups including far right after failing to control Assemblée NationaleEmmanuel Macron has met leaders of opposition groups including the far right’s Marine Le Pen to sound out his chances of negotiating a parliamentary majority.The French president, whose centre-right alliance fell 44 seats short of controlling the Assemblée Nationale, was said to be exploring his “room for manoeuvre” after losing control of the lower house in Sunday’s legislative elections. Continue reading...

Cleveland police blame ‘genuine human error’ in release papers that brought Brian Temple months of threats and abuseA man who was arrested for stealing Greggs sausage rolls killed himself after being mistakenly described by police as a paedophile, an inquest has heard.Brian Temple, 34, from Redcar killed himself on New Year’s Eve in 2017 almost seven months after the alleged theft of a packet of Greggs snacks, Teesside coroner’s court was told, according to TeessideLive.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

The victims, a man and woman, are the latest in a string of several violent incidents in Quintana Roo stateTwo Canadians have been found dead of knife wounds in Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort of Playa del Carmen, the state prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.Prosecutors in Quintana Roo state, also home to resorts like Cancún and Tulum, said the man and the woman were found dead Monday at a hotel or condominium in the troubled resort, and a third person was reported injured. Continue reading...

Burton in Lonsdale resident Ian Macdonald and German student Admarsu Birhan have been namedTributes have been paid to a pilot and a teenage German exchange student who died when a helicopter crashed into a North Yorkshire field.Police confirmed Ian Macdonald, 66, died in the crash near his home in the village of Burton in Lonsdale shortly before midday on Monday. Continue reading...

Jabs will be offered to some men at higher risk of exposure, even if not a confirmed contact of a caseVaccines will be offered more widely to people at higher risk of getting monkeypox, in an attempt to help control the unprecedented outbreak in the UK.Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reveals that up to 20 June there were 793 laboratory confirmed cases in the UK, up from 574 on 16 June – a 38% rise in just four days. Continue reading...

Pensions triple lock likely to be ‘significantly higher’ but PM’s spokesman says similar public sector rise would be inflationary

Newspaper accused of ‘disseminating false information’ about Russia’s so-called special military operation

RMT union told formal consultations on modernisation plans to begin on 1 July to save over £100m annuallyNetwork Rail will start the formal process to lay off up to 1,800 staff at the end of the month, it has told the RMT, as the first day of the biggest rail strikes in 30 years halted most train services and forced travellers on to congested roads.Talks were expected to restart on Wednesday to find a settlement to a dispute that involved 40,000 rail staff from Network Rail and 13 train operators walking out for 24 hours on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Move is intended to help airlines run reduced summer schedules, while easyJet plans to cut 11,000 flightsThe government has announced an “amnesty” on airport slot rules, making it easier for struggling airlines to plan schedules with fewer flights, as fresh strikes at easyJet threaten to add to a summer of disruption for passengers.Airlines normally have to use allocated takeoff and landing slots at the busiest airports, such as London Heathrow and Gatwick, at least 70% of the time or risk forfeiting a valuable asset. Continue reading...

Lesser-known songwriters ordered to pay legal costs after court rejected accusations Shape of You ripped off their songEd Sheeran and his co-songwriters have been awarded more than £900,000 in legal costs after winning their high court copyright trial over the hit Shape of You earlier this year.At a trial in March, the singer and his co-writers Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon faced accusations that their track ripped off a 2015 song by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue. Continue reading...

SFO says subsidiary of commodity trading company will be sentenced in NovemberA subsidiary of the commodity trader Glencore has pleaded guilty in a London court to seven counts of bribery related to its oil operations in several African countries.The Serious Fraud Office, which had brought charges against the FTSE 100-listed company after conducting an investigation, said the sentencing hearing would take place on 2 and 3 November. Continue reading...

Mark Pearson heard loud thump on his way to work in Bangor, but saw nothing and carried on drivingA rabbit has survived a journey of more than 30 miles while trapped in the grille of a car after being hit by the driver.Mark Pearson was driving between Pwllheli and Bangor in Wales last Tuesday when he heard a loud “thump” on the outskirts of Nefyn. Continue reading...

City council had voted to allow the body-covering swimwear worn by many Muslim womenFull-body swimwear including burkinis should not be worn in public pools in the city of Grenoble, France’s top administrative court ruled on Tuesday, upholding an earlier order by a lower court.“The new rules of procedure for the municipal swimming pools of Grenoble affect (...) the proper functioning of the public service, and undermines the equal treatment of users, so that the neutrality of public service is compromised,” the Conseil d’Etat said. Continue reading...

The US has begun to roll out vaccines for children under five – here are more details about the Moderna and Pfizer vaccinesThe United States has begun rolling out Covid vaccines for children as young as six months after receiving the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The following are some details about the two messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech for young children: Continue reading...

Lithuanian ban on transit of sanctioned goods across its territory to and from Russian region has angered Kremlin

Little sign of predicted chaos, and some people supportive of strikers while others critical

Simon Arora’s pay package beats Tesco CEO’s remuneration despite flatlining profits and falling salesThe outgoing chief executive of discount retailer B&M earned £5m last year – more than the boss of Tesco.Simon Arora’s pay package rose by more than a third to the highest level ever for the company – and 270 times that of the average B&M worker – despite flatlining profits and falling sales in the year to the end of March as more rival shops reopened from the Covid pandemic. B&M enjoyed “essential retailer” during the lockdowns. Continue reading...

Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Alabama have been taken into detention in DonetskThe Kremlin has said that two captured US volunteers are not covered by the Geneva conventions and could face the death penalty.“We are talking about mercenaries who threatened the lives of our service personnel,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. “And not only ours, but also the service personnel of the DPR and LPR,” he added, referencing the Russian-controlled self-proclaimed peoples’ republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Continue reading...

Eight fire engines went to fire on 12th floor of building and ambulance service treated people at the sceneFirefighters and parademics attended a fire at a high-rise block in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, less than a mile from the site of Grenfell Tower.London fire brigade said eight engines and about 60 firefighters were at the scene of the tower block in Queensdale Crescent on Tuesday morning. The brigade said half of a flat on the 12th floor was on fire. Continue reading...

Dennis Basic, 42, had pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, assaulting police and throwing a missile following Melbourne protests in 2020 and 2021

At least two frontbenchers have said Labour should not support former leader’s candidacy at next election

Matchmaking initiative in Miyazaki has brought together 17 couples, as Japan battles falling birthrateJapan’s faltering campaign to raise its birthrate has gone analogue, with authorities in a southwestern city encouraging potential suitors to put pen to paper and wait patiently for a reply rather than simply swiping right.The city of Miyazaki says hundreds of men and women have dabbled in old-fashioned letter writing since the matchmaking scheme was launched two years ago. While there have been no wedding bells, the programme has spawned 32 face-to-face meetings and brought together 17 couples. Continue reading...

NSW Teachers Federation president says Dominic Perrottet ‘did nothing’ to improve ‘uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads’

Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson was assassinated by IRA gunmen 100 years ago and then all but forgottenOn 22 June 1922 Sir Henry Wilson, an army field marshal turned MP, unveiled a plaque to railway employees who had died in the first world war before returning to his stately home in Belgravia, central London.He was a distinctive figure – tall, in uniform, with a facial scar that had earned him a nickname as the “ugliest man in the British army”. Continue reading...

After weeks of prevaricating, state’s opposition expresses support for independent body to oversee treaty negotiations

Noughts & Crosses author praised by judges for ‘challenging issues of injustice in a way that is totally engaging’Noughts & Crosses author Malorie Blackman has become the first children’s and YA writer to be awarded the PEN Pinter prize.The prize is given by English PEN annually to a writer of “outstanding literary merit” who is based in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. The recipient must also, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel prize, cast an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world and show a “fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies”. Continue reading...

Biggest stoppages in decades involving 40,000 Network Rail staff could spread across public sector

Trial hears recordings in which he chastises alleged victim over social media photo he felt drew attention to her breasts

Network Rail and train operator staff walk out on Tuesday, beginning what is expected to be almost a week of cancellations and delaysTrain passengers were facing widespread disruption and cancellations as Britain’s biggest nationwide rail strike for 30 years began on Tuesday morning.Workers responsible for train lines and infrastructure across the UK walked out on Tuesday – with further action on Thursday and Saturday – leaving thousands of services cancelled and passengers forced to seek alternative means of transport. Continue reading...

New hospitals, increased mental health support and a boost in concessions announced in Queensland’s state budget

Treasurer Cameron Dick hands down 2022 Queensland state budget with plans to hire 9,450 health workers

Sydney airport has started using new scanners in its Qantas domestic terminal as part of the shift away from metal detectors

Fashion industry told to avoid cotton from Xinjiang, which accounts for 84% of China’s exports of the productThe fashion industry has been told it must wean itself off cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, as a new law comes into force giving US border authorities greater powers to block or seize goods linked to forced labour in China.The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which comes into force today, assumes that any product partly or wholly made in Xinjiang, north-west China, is linked to the region’s labour camps. Since 2017, the Chinese authorities have detained as many as one million Uyghurs and subjected them to forced labour. Continue reading...

Opposition motion would mean potentially hostile candidate could get job if role is not filled within two monthsLabour will pile pressure on Boris Johnson to speedily replace his ethics adviser by launching an attempt to ensure the role is effectively filled within two months – or a potentially more hostile candidate is installed.The party came up with the “backstop” plan to ensure Johnson does not evade scrutiny after Downing Street refused to commit to replacing Christopher Geidt, who stepped down last week over alleged breaches of the ministerial code by the prime minister. Continue reading...

Exclusive: more than a third of childhood offences on DBS certificates happened over 40 years ago

Now 31, woman tells of shying away from teaching jobs because of criminal record checks flagging up minor incident

NSW’s 2022 budget addresses issues for women but economic factors will determine whether it can deliver on promises

Taipei angered by references to Taiwanese visitors after multiple name changes in visa application system for tournament in DohaTaiwan has accused China of bullying after organisers of the World Cup in Qatar listed the nationality of Taiwanese visitors applying for an identification card as “Chinese Taipei”.All World Cup ticket holders must apply for the Hayya card used to identify fans, which also serves as their Qatar visa, but Taiwan’s government originally expressed concern after discovering the online application system made no mention of the island. Continue reading...

Moderate Liberal MP says Albanese government has opportunity to make parliament more collaborative