Secret schools formed as girls banned from classes languish with no accredited route to universityThe Taliban’s ban on girls studying at high schools will become a de facto ban on university degrees for women if it stays in place, a Taliban spokesperson and university officials have said.Girls will not have the documents needed to enrol in higher education, or the academic capacity to start university courses after nearly a year out of school. Continue reading...

Critics warn of loopholes as UK government tries to stop ‘oligarchs attempting to hide ill-gotten gains’The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has promised that legislation coming into force on Monday will have an “immediate dissuasive effect on oligarchs attempting to hide their ill-gotten gains, ensuring that the UK is a place for legitimate business only”.However, a string of lawyers, tax experts, MPs, accountants and transparency campaigners are warning that the long-awaited register of overseas entities, which was sped through parliament after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is “riddled with flaws and loopholes” and will have no impact on forcing corrupt oligarchs to reveal which UK mansions they own. Continue reading...

Breaking down the data: which demographic groups have suffered the most and the least Continue reading...

Cruise ships, international students and visitors from China and India among those who will be able to once again travel to New ZealandNew Zealand’s borders are fully open for the first time since they abruptly snapped shut to keep Covid-19 out in March 2020.The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the nation was “open for business” after the final stage of the phased reopening, which began in April, was completed on Sunday night. Continue reading...

Despite their differences the nations have shared interests, Jacinda Ardern says as she plans trip to ChinaNew Zealand will continue to cooperate on “shared interests” with China, even as tensions increase in the region and China grows “more assertive in the pursuit of its interests”, Jacinda Ardern has said.Speaking to the China Business Summit in Auckland on Monday, the prime minister said she was planning a trip to China “to seize new opportunities for dialogue,” support the trade relationship, and further cooperate on the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Protesters set up roadblocks and shots were fired after Pristina brought in rules that would mean Serbs in Kosovo must use Kosovo licence platesThe Kosovo government postponed implementation of a decision that would oblige Serbs in the north of the country to apply for car license plates issued by Pristina institutions after tensions rose between police and local communities.Late on Sunday protesters parked trucks filled with gravel and other heavy machinery on roads leading to two border crossings, Jarinje and Bernjak, in a territory where Serbs form a majority. Kosovo police said they had to close the border crossings. Continue reading...

Huge blaze burns out of control as crews were also battling fires in Montana, Idaho and HawaiiA wildfire in California grew to the largest the state has seen yet this year, as firefighting crews braced for thunderstorms and hot, windy conditions.The McKinney Fire was burning out of control in northern California’s Klamath national forest, near the Oregon border, with expected thunderstorms a big concern, said US Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman. Continue reading...

Winner took 25% of the vote, with Doctor Who in second place and Line of Duty and Sherlock tying in thirdCall the Midwife has been voted the best show of the last 25 years in a poll.The BBC period drama, which is loosely based on real events, follows a group of midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s as they cope with the pressures of their everyday lives as well as the changing times they are living through. Continue reading...

Event in London to include a Q&A with the victorious players and their manager, and will also be broadcastThousands of Lioness fans will have the opportunity to join the team for a daytime event to celebrate England’s Women’s Euro success in Trafalgar Square on Monday.The event, hosted by the former England player Alex Scott, will be free. However, entry will be gained on a first come, first served basis from 11am. Continue reading...

England women’s team’s 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley widely celebrated as a historic achievementSport stars, politicians and even the Queen have taken to Twitter to celebrate the England women’s team’s success in the final of the women’s Euros after a 2-1 victory over Germany in extra time.Following a video posted to Twitter by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge showing Prince William and Princess Charlotte offering their support to the Lionesses before the match, the monarch heaped praise on the victors, saying their “success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned”. Continue reading...

After stunning run ends with defeat at Wembley, German team receives praise for inspiring nation and winning new fansGermany reacted with disappointment after being beaten by England in a nail-biting and historic final at Wembley.“A hundred and twenty minutes of pure passion and pure struggle weren’t enough today,” tweeted the official account of the German team, after their 2-1 defeat. “Respect and congratulations to the Lionesses.” Continue reading...

More than 2,000 people in the city’s fan zone watched England’s historic 2-1 triumph in the Women’s EurosThere were wild celebrations in Manchester’s fan zone at the final whistle on Sunday evening as more than 2,000 people, some of whom had arrived three hours before kick-off to queue for a seat, celebrated England’s Euros victory.Fans, including the former Lioness Stacey Copeland, gathered in the Piccadilly Gardens venue at the end of a watershed tournament that began against Austria just a few miles east, at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium. . Continue reading...

UN body wants 12-year-old in a coma to continue getting life-preserving treatment while it considers Barts’ decision to switch it offMinisters have asked the high court to “urgently consider” a request by the UN to stop life-support treatment being ended for 12-year-old Archie Battersbee.The letter, seen by PA Media, is from the government’s legal department and written on behalf of Steve Barclay, the health secretary. It states that the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities has asked the UK government to refrain from withdrawing treatment until the case has been considered by the committee. Continue reading...

Sian Green-Lord says use and alteration of her image without her knowledge in government poster was ‘beyond wrong’A British model has been left “literally shaking” with anger after Spain’s summer campaign encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach used her image without permission and edited out her prosthetic leg.Sian Green-Lord is the second model to complain that her picture was used without her knowledge in a body-positivity promotion called “Summer is ours too”, which was launched on Wednesday by the Women’s Institute – part of Spain’s equality ministry. Continue reading...

Mick Whelan denied transport secretary’s claim of unofficial strikes on Avanti West Coast trainsThe leader of the rail drivers’ union has called Grant Shapps a liar over allegations the union was pushing an “unofficial strike” relating to overtime shifts.The transport secretary tweeted that passengers using Avanti West Coast services should expect disruption on Sunday because of unofficial strikes. Aslef said that it had not pushed any industrial action on Sunday and said the shortage of services was because of the shortage of drivers. Continue reading...

Campaigners want government action to save Velintonia, where the Spanish poet received writers including Federico García LorcaThe cedar-dwarfed, pale yellow house at 3 Vicente Aleixandre Street in north-west Madrid wasn’t always the damp, silent and neglected place it is now. Nor was it always 3 Vicente Aleixandre Street.For almost half a century, it was known as Velintonia, the semi-mythical house where the Nobel-prize winning Spanish poet Vicente Aleixandre wrote and received poets and writers including Federico García Lorca, who used to read his works aloud there and play the living room piano. Continue reading...

Blaze caused by fermenting grains had been smouldering for weeks, with people told to stay indoorsA section of the huge grain silos at Beirut’s port, shredded in the 2020 explosion in the Lebanese capital, collapsed on Sunday after a weeks-long fire triggered by grains that had fermented and ignited in the summer heat.The northern block of the silos fell in a huge cloud of dust after what sounded like an explosion. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured. Continue reading...

Deputy director says institution seeks ‘dynamic and positive conversation’ over sculptures taken from Athens in 19th centuryThe deputy director of the British Museum has proposed a “Parthenon partnership” with Greece that could see the marbles returned to Athens after more than 200 years.The sculptures – 17 figures and part of a frieze that decorated the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple on the Acropolis – were taken by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, and have since been the subject of a long-running dispute over where they should be displayed. Continue reading...

MP and peers urge party to reconsider decision to reject request from Labour Women’s Declaration groupLabour MPs have expressed support for a group campaigning for sex-based rights that has been barred from having a presence inside the party’s autumn conference.The Labour Women’s Declaration group has been handed a definitive rejection after its request for a stand at the conference in Liverpool. The “gender-critical” group argues that sex-based rights should not be eroded by those based on gender identity. Continue reading...

Family accommodated in a Midlands hotel were sick after eating meal provided by SercoChildren at a Home Office hotel unwittingly ate worms that were in food provided to them by government contractors, the Guardian has learned.A four-year-old boy, not realising that his meal of fish and chips contained worms, began vomiting soon after he started to eat it. Paramedics were called and the boy was taken to hospital. Continue reading...

Ukraine does not confirm involvement in Sevastopol attack, while Russia cancels Navy Day events

Observer victory after judge rules in transparency battle in family courts in England and WalesA judge has ruled that a court-appointed expert can be named after their qualifications and conduct were challenged by a mother who claimed key evidence they provided led her children to be removed from her care against their wishes.The case raises questions about the regulation and use of psychological experts appointed to the family courts, in particular when allegations of “parental alienation” are made – meaning a child has unjustly rejected one parent due to manipulation by the other. The Observer won an application to name the expert in the case after making a series of submissions to the family court. Continue reading...

Russian embassy call for Ukrainian executions condemned; strikes hit Kharkiv school; Gazprom halts gas to Latvia; Moscow bars NZ officials

Retired Australian grand slam winner posts a picture from her wedding day online with the caption ‘husband & wife’

Leader’s comments seek to defuse row with unions after sacking of minister who gave interviews from picket lineKeir Starmer has said Labour must move from being a “party of protest” to one that can win an election in order to help working people.The party’s leader said he supports the right to strike, pointing to his pro-bono work as a lawyer representing striking miners instead of “just sentiment and a photo op”. Continue reading...

Future king allegedly accepted donation for his charity in 2013 but Clarence House disputes the claimsThe Prince of Wales received a £1m donation for his charity from relatives of Osama bin Laden, according to a report.The Sunday Times alleged that the future king accepted the payment from Bakr bin Laden, the patriarch of the Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq. Continue reading...

Sione Lavalu lost his health insurance after Covid stranded him in Australia and now owes $79,000 after suffering major burns

Melanie Stephens is caught up in Administrative Appeals Tribunal case after being denied funding for a device to help Ella communicate

‘Special shuttle’ one of few services running in Birmingham after the latest industrial action on the networkRail strikes brought fresh misery for millions across the country on Saturday, including major disruption to Birmingham as it hosted one of the busiest days of the Commonwealth Games.The latest round of strikes during a summer of chaos for passengers prompted bitter exchanges between union leaders and ministers. Continue reading...

Outgoing PM and his wife celebrate nuptials with wider circle after scaling back wedding last yearGuests are arriving for Boris and Carrie Johnson’s wedding bash at the grand Cotswolds estate of a major Tory donor.The outgoing prime minister and his wife are hosting family and friends at 18th-century Daylesford House to celebrate their nuptials with a wider circle, after the pandemic forced them to scale back festivities last year. Continue reading...

Employment conditions can tie staff to roles for up to five years and impose fees of £14,000 for an early return home• Trapped and destitute: how foreign nurses’ dreams turned sourThe NHS must halt the use of “repayment clauses” in contracts for international healthcare workers, MPs have said.Members of the Commons health and social care committee came to this finding after an Observer investigation in March revealed how some workers were being forced to pay thousands of pounds if they wish to quit their jobs before their agreed contract ends. Widely used in both the private health and social care sector and in the NHS, the clauses are designed to help with retention of workers and recouping costs associated with overseas recruitment. Continue reading...

The popularity of ‘boy-love’ series sends fans from home and abroad flocking to filming locations across the countryThere is a table in Soontaree Thiprat’s Phuket cafe that is always fully booked. Most of her customers at the Dibuk restaurant want to sit in the corner, at the spot with the red tablecloth and purple flower.It is the table where the male student characters Teh and Oh-aew, played by the actors Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul and Krit “PP” Amnuaydechkorn, would sit together and flirt in I Told Sunset About You and its sequel, I Promised You the Moon, a romantic Thai series that has proved hugely popular in its home country and abroad. Continue reading...

Beating in broad daylight of Alika Ogorchukwu in Civitanova Marche sparks outrage and protestsAn Italian man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a Nigerian street seller, whose beating in broad daylight was reportedly filmed by onlookers and which has sparked outrage and protests.Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, was killed in the centre of Civitanova Marche on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Ukraine says comments from Russian embassy Twitter account shows Russia ‘is a state sponsor of terrorism’

PLA carries out ‘live-fire exercises’ after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told not to visit the island democracyChina said it was conducting military exercises off its coast opposite Taiwan after warning Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, to scrap possible plans to visit the island democracy.The ruling Communist party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was conducting “live-fire exercises” near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 8am to 9pm, the official Xinhua news agency said. The Maritime Safety Administration warned ships to avoid the area. Continue reading...

Head of Aslef says transport secretary ‘misrepresenting’ the truth after claim the union was ‘dragging its feet’ in pay talksMary Kelly Foy, the Labour MP for City of Durham, has expressed solidarity with Aslef union members as they strike.LNER, which runs trains between London and Scotland, is warning customers of its “extremely limited services” today. Continue reading...

Supermarket brands of the tipple, made with added water and sugar, are ‘giving cider a bad name’From the crab apples pressed during the Roman conquest to the Kent orchards planted during the reign of Henry VIII, the making of British cider is one of the country’s finest heritage assets. So much so that craft producers are now demanding protection from modern commercial ciders with added water and fruit flavourings which they say are undermining the reputation of the traditional products.They say leading supermarket brands such as Strongbow, Frosty Jack’s and Kopparberg cider may contain more added water than apple juice. They are calling for new regulations as part of the government’s review of alcohol duty. Continue reading...

Application refused after concerns store could become ‘hotspot for late-night disturbances and antisocial behaviour’The bakery chain Greggs has been refused an overnight licence for a large new store in central London amid claims it could become a “hotspot for late-night disturbances and antisocial behaviour”.The company applied to extend the opening hours of its new Leicester Square branch, which operates between 6am and 11pm from Monday to Saturday, from 11pm to 5am. Continue reading...

Comedian doesn’t directly address apology onstage but says: ‘Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith ... I went to work the next day’Comedian Chris Rock did not directly address Will Smith’s recent apology video to him when onstage in Atlanta on Friday but he did continue to make jokes about the notorious incident at the Oscars when he was slapped by the actor while presenting the awards show.“If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims,” Rock said. “Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith ... I went to work the next day, I got kids,” he joked, according to CNN. Continue reading...

Attorney general reportedly tells lawyers to stop rejecting unlawful policies without assessing chance of successThe attorney general is to order government lawyers to provide “solutions-based advice” when assessing the legal risk of policies in updated guidance.Suella Braverman’s office said the new recommendations, which come amid a row over the government’s highly controversial policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, will mean that when “a substantial legal challenge to a policy is likely, it does not automatically mean the policy cannot be pursued”. Continue reading...

Health ministry says 4,298 cases confirmed in Spain, as it records what is thought to be Europe’s second death in outbreakSpain reported its second monkeypox-related death on Saturday, in what is thought to be Europe’s second death from the disease in the current outbreak.Spain reported its first death on Friday, shortly after Brazil reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current wave of the disease. Continue reading...

Stars including Stephen Fry and Joe Lycett join forces to help campaigners fundraise for UK’s first community-run queer venueComedians Stephen Fry and Joe Lycett and actor Mawaan Rizwan have joined in a race to raise tens of thousands of pounds to open the UK’s first community-run queer venue.Campaigners need to raise nearly £30,000 in the next four days to hit their £100,000 target and keep alive hopes of reviving the Joiners Arms, a famous east London gay institution. Continue reading...

Lawyer says client ‘glad it’s over’ as Rebekah Vardy faces considerable bill after high court judgmentColeen Rooney does not want any compensation or retribution following the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial, according to her lawyer, who said she is “just glad that it’s over and that she can get on with her life”.On Friday, Rebekah Vardy lost her libel case against Rooney after a scathing high court judgment described her as an “untrustworthy witness” who was likely to have purposely destroyed potentially vital evidence. Continue reading...

Johnson under pressure from former health secretaries to pay interim amounts to victims and familiesPressure is growing for government to compensate victims of the contaminated blood scandal immediately.The chair of the contaminated blood inquiry on Friday called for the victims and their families to be paid “without delay” after he recommended the level of interim compensation payments. Sir Brian Langstaff said infected people and bereaved partners should be given “payments of no less than £100,000”. Continue reading...

Tony Danker says thousands of companies are ‘rethinking their supply chains’ in shift that could exacerbate cost of living crisisBritish businesses are scrambling to sever economic ties with China in the wake of increased political and security tensions between Beijing and the west, an industry leader has said.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director general, Tony Danker, warned that the sudden restructuring of supply chains from China could also exacerbate the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Police officers came across the boy’s unresponsive body during an early morning welfare check at the home in RockhamptonA woman has been charged with murder after an eight-year-old boy was found dead in a central Queensland home.Police officers came across the boy’s unresponsive body during an early morning welfare check at the home in Rockhampton on Saturday. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese announces draft wording of referendum question in Garma festival speech. This blog is now closed

Uluru Statement from the Heart advocates praise Anthony Albanese’s Garma festival speech but Coalition wants more details