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Sam Tarry again joins picket line after being removed from Labour frontbench earlier in week

Ex PC joked about raping a female colleague, court hears, but says ‘nothing in the training gives you a specific word that is offensive’A former police officer who shared what are alleged to be “grossly offensive” messages in a WhatsApp group that included Wayne Couzens has told a court that his training failed to account for diversity and educate him in what words are offensive.“It seems like almost every week there is a word that is offensive. How are you supposed to know what is offensive?” said Joel Borders, who had joked with other officers about raping and beating a colleague and using Tasers on people with Down’s syndrome, who he referred to as “downys”. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s 74-person ensemble, most of whom have spent war at home, begin European tour to rousing reception in WarsawWith a stirring rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, the first concert of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra came to an end in Warsaw late on Thursday evening amid thunderous applause from a packed house at the Polish National Opera. It was hard to believe that two weeks ago this orchestra did not exist and that these musicians had never played together.The 74 musicians, all Ukrainian, come from many different orchestras inside the country and elsewhere across the world. They assembled in Warsaw 10 days before the concert for intensive rehearsals. More than half have spent the war in Ukraine, and only left to join the tour. Continue reading...

Weekend trip was discussed in 2013 at Moscow dinner with London mayor’s chief of staff and Lebedev’s ex-KGB agent fatherThe Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, sought to organise a private weekend trip in Russia in June 2014 for Boris Johnson when he was London mayor, according to emails newly disclosed under freedom of information laws.The unusual excursion, at one point discussed over dinner in Moscow by Johnson’s then chief of staff Edward Lister and Evgeny’s father, Alexander, would have been tacked on to the end of an official visit to Moscow and St Petersburg. Continue reading...

Announcement of 16 bridge-layer tanks adds to news of howitzer sale authorisation

Analysis: The way Coleen Rooney controlled her public persona made Rebekah Vardy’s approach seem dated

Bank to hand dividend to shareholders despite dip in second quarter profits and economic ‘uncertainty’The UK government is in line for a £1bn payout from its near-50% stake in NatWest Group, despite a dip in the bank’s second quarter profits and “uncertainty” over the UK’s economic outlook.NatWest revealed on Friday it was poised to issue dividends worth 20.3p a share, after reporting “strong growth” in lending and deposits across the business, thanks in part to rising interest rates that meant it could charge borrowers more for loans and mortgages. Continue reading...

Other neighbouring Schengen zone countries such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have already restricted visasFinland is debating whether to stop issuing tourist visas to regular Russian citizens, a move that would bring it into line with its Baltic neighbours but has already prompted Moscow to threaten a “very negative reaction”.Russians have long crossed their country’s 1,340km- (830-mile) border with Finland to holiday, shop in border stores and travel onwards to other European destinations – and Helsinki remains the only EU member to routinely grant tourist visas. Continue reading...

Dawoodi Bohra leader Mufaddal Saifuddin, who is in the UK to preach, is an advocate of the abusive practice whose visa should be revoked, say activistsCampaigners have criticised the UK government for granting a visa to a religious leader who has advocated for female genital mutilation (FGM).Mufaddal Saifuddin who is the syedna, or leader, of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a sect of Shia Islam with 1.2 million followers worldwide, will give sermons in front of tens of thousands of people at Northolt mosque in London between 29 July and 7 August. Continue reading...

Court of appeal dismisses Guardian challenge over private court hearing in which Philip’s will was sealedA judge acted correctly when he decided to hold a secret court hearing in which he banned the public from inspecting Prince Philip’s will, the court of appeal has ruled.Three appeal court judges ruled that the media did not have the right to attend the hearing or to be notified about it, adding that publicity would have compromised the need to preserve the dignity of the Queen and her family’s privacy. Continue reading...

Ghost-written book, with interviews conducted mostly during ‘peak rage’, expected to be published by end of yearThe manuscript is, reportedly, written; the ink now dry. Publication is said to be on course to capitalise on the lucrative Christmas market.Few crumbs, if any, of the contents of the Duke of Sussex’s much-anticipated memoirs have so far emerged. “It’s juicy, that’s for sure,” one source told the US Page Six website, with another adding: “There is some content in there that should make his family nervous.” Continue reading...

Cleo Watson also says ex-PM had to be ‘house-trained’ and that he compared her to an ‘ugly old lamp’Boris Johnson’s reluctance to leave Downing Street in the face of opposition from ministers and Tory MPs seemed a bit “let’s storm the Capitol, chaps,” according to a former senior No 10 aide, likening it to the January 6 insurrection in Washington DC.The comparison was made by Cleo Watson, a former special adviser to Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, in an article for Tatler magazine. Continue reading...

Woman who claimed she was abused by Dylan aged 12 withdraws suit after being accused of destroying evidenceThe woman who accused Bob Dylan of grooming and sexually abusing her in 1965, when she was 12 years old, has dropped her case, Billboard reports.The woman, identified as JC, had been accused by Dylan’s lawyers of destroying evidence after she failed to hand over emails and text messages by a deadline set by the court. She had also recently discharged her own legal representatives. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese is first prime minister to visit Arnhem Land festival since Malcolm Turnbull in 2017

This blog is now closed

Former police officer expected to die in prison after rape and murder of Sarah EverardWayne Couzens is still expected to die in prison after he lost his bid to reduce his sentence at the court of appeal.In May, senior judges heard challenges or appeals to the prison sentences of five convicted killers, including the whole-life terms of the former police officer Couzens and the double murderer Ian Stewart. Continue reading...

Organisation says fees for treatment of injuries, MRIs and STI testing for people without medicare would be reassessed

Amayah and Safhira Rowe say hair requirement of Highview College in Maryborough causes them pain

Defence secretary says public would never have forgiven Tories if financial markets had crashedThe British public would never have forgiven the Conservatives if the financial markets had crashed after Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor, Ben Wallace ha said as he stepped up attacks on the Tory leadership candidate after endorsing his rival Liz Truss.Wallace, the defence secretary, also suggested he was throwing his weight behind Truss because she recognised that the “threats we face every day” needed to be “funded properly”. Continue reading...

Major parties vote against allowing ‘stranger’ into Senate, while government offers screens to display interpreter as compromise

Support for households to be issued in instalments over six months, but there are fears the most vulnerable could miss outCharities have warned that some of the most vulnerable households could miss out the £400 to help with soaring energy bills this autumn, after details were revealed of how all homes in Great Britain would receive the support.The money, part of the already announced energy bill support scheme, will be paid in six monthly instalments of £66 or £67 to about 29m households. Continue reading...

Firm that played key role in lockdown is grappling with pay row, strategic uncertainty and the cost of living crisisBT’s first national strikes in 35 years, which kick off on Friday morning, are just the latest in a series of headaches to have beset the telecoms company.Amid a backlash over accusations that it set up a “food bank” for cash-strapped staff and the growing threat from a stake-building corporate raider, Philip Jansen’s mission to recreate BT’s glory days as a “national champion” seems to slipping away. Continue reading...

Analysis: recent cases strengthen protections for debate, but questions remain around workplace conflictsThe decision, on Wednesday, that LGB Alliance founder and barrister Allison Bailey had suffered direct discrimination and victimisation was the second highly anticipated ruling in less than a month – after the Maya Forstater case – concerning gender-critical women in the workplace.With both women being allies of JK Rowling, and both of their cases turning on their tweets criticising beliefs of supporters of transgender rights, they attracted an unusual amount of attention for employment tribunals and experts say they have important implications. Continue reading...

Gathering likely to descend into acrimony over polarised views on same-sex relationshipsMore than 650 Anglican bishops are meeting in Canterbury for almost two weeks of prayer and discussion that will highlight divisions within the church, broadly between the global north and south.The 15th Lambeth conference – postponed twice before finally convening this week, and formally opening on Friday – is likely to descend into acrimony over polarised views on same-sex marriage and relationships. Even before the conference began, a furious row over a draft declaration forced Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and conference president, into a U-turn. Continue reading...

Analysis: in this massive hybrid war, Europe is preparing its defences before winter and hoping sanctions biteWith little appetite in Europe for a further wave of sanctions on Russia, and Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, raising the prospect of a popular uprising in Germany this autumn over gas prices, Ukraine and its allies are focused on tightening the existing panoply of sanctions rather than putting forward more radical proposals. As many as 20 countries may be involved in bypassing the current sanctions, Ukraine reckons.Ukraine cannot but be nervous that the popular revolt of which Baerbock warned – before quickly regretting her choice of words – will mean support for the war erodes before a Ukrainian military counteroffensive can bolster it. “In Ukraine Putin fights with missiles and tanks, in Europe he fights with gas prices,” says the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Continue reading...

Moira Deeming’s 2020 comments on Safe Schools and gender identity not made by ‘a candidate’, Guy says

Samuel Alito, who authored the argument overturning the landmark case, dismisses complaints by foreign leaders at conference in RomeUS supreme court justice Samuel Alito has mocked prominent figures around the world who have criticised last month’s ruling that overturned Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision.In his first public remarks since the decision, which has led to various conservative US states imposing abortion bans, Alito dismissed criticism of the ruling, which has come from the likes of British prime minister Boris Johnson, French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Continue reading...

Russia’s media watchdog demands registration be declared invalid as independent newspaper vows legal fight

The two men were at the end of a three-day trip in The Remarkables above Queenstown when they triggered an avalancheTwo climbers who were buried by an avalanche and then caught in a blizzard atop one of New Zealand’s most famous mountain ranges survived their ordeal by digging themselves out of the snow, building a cave and living off muesli bars.The two men in their 20s were on a three-day ice climbing adventure in The Remarkables – a 2,300-metre high range above Queenstown – when they triggered an avalanche and were carried about 20 metres downhill. Continue reading...

Two dancers injured as suspended LED screen crashes down on to stage during show by Cantopop band MirrorTwo dancers have been injured at a Cantopop concert in Hong Kong after a massive video screen suspended above the stage fell on to performers below.The concert on Thursday, by Cantopop boyband Mirror, was the fourth of a series of 12 scheduled concerts by the band held at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Continue reading...

Tumbi Umbi man, 56, arrested after 82-year-old found dead with head injuries in their home

Opposition leader and refugee activist are in a dispute over costs after Bazzi won defamation case in full federal court

Tory leadership candidate says current system too soft but rival Truss camp says plan is unworkableRishi Sunak has unveiled another new policy in the battle between the Conservative leadership candidates to be tougher on immigration, promising that as prime minister he would double the number of overseas offenders who are deported each year.In a plan immediately criticised by his rival Liz Truss’s camp as unworkable, the former chancellor said he would change the deportation rules so that overseas nationals convicted even of relatively minor crimes such as shoplifting could be deported. Continue reading...

Saudi crown prince accused of complicity in murder of Jamal Khashoggi is welcomed in ParisHuman rights campaigners have hit out at Emmanuel Macron’s decision to host Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris during the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to Europe since the murder nearly four years ago of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.On Thursday evening, Macron welcomed Prince Mohammed to talks at the Elysée Palace with a long handshake before the pair were due to dine together. Continue reading...

A raging bull, Malala Yousafzai, a Brummie drag queen and Duran Duran all part of opening ceremonyWith a 10-metre-tall raging bull, a union jack made from 72 cars, and an appearance by Malala Yousafzai, the Commonwealth Games kicked off on Thursday night with an unashamedly loud celebration of everything Birmingham.Crammed with references to the host city’s history and culture, the two-and-a-half-hour opening ceremony marked the start of Britain’s biggest multisport event since the London Olympics. Continue reading...

Analysis: as NHS shuts London clinic for young people, new regional hubs are planned – but thousands remain on waiting listsWhen the Gender Identity Development Service for Children and Adolescents (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust in London was established in 1983, it was a different era in terms of the medical understanding of gender dysphoria and the cultural debate around appropriate treatments for transgender young people.The demand for the service was unrecognisable for what it is today: in the past decade alone, the number of referrals to the GIDS went from 138 in 2010-11 to 2,383 in 2020-21. Continue reading...

Union source claims MPs will join BT staff on Friday despite Labour leader’s call for frontbenchers to stay awayUp to 70 Labour MPs could join union picket lines on Friday as Keir Starmer faces a renewed battle to maintain party unity over support for striking workers.One shadow minister was believed to be considering joining a Communication Workers Union (CWU) picket line as thousands of BT staff began two days of strikes over pay, which would set up a fresh potential conflict with the Labour leader’s office. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest Ukraine war coverage hereKirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine has posted to Telegram this morning to say that “all stories about successful ‘Ukronazi’ counter-offensives in the Kherson region are sheer lies.”He offered no evidence to support the claim.Educational institutions and residential buildings were damaged by rocket attacks today. Russian terrorists are cynically shelling the civilian infrastructure of Mykolaiv.Another city school was almost completely destroyed. Part of the building collapsed there. The security guard of the institution was injured. Windows and roofs were broken in nearby private houses. Continue reading...

‘We’re screaming for joy’: activists hail decision, but others condemn failure to tackle ‘sexist culture that underpins male violence’There were passionate speeches, barbed exchanges, tears and laughter – hardly the usual fare at a meeting of Bristol city council’s licensing committee.But most committee members could not help but smile when performers from the city’s two lapdancing clubs greeted their decision not to shut down the venues with whoops and cheers. Continue reading...

Analysis: Kurdish officials are considering allying with Iranian interests to finally form a government in BaghdadA parliament besieged by protesters, a country adrift nine months after an election, a feud between domestic blocs and Iranian proxies: for many Iraqis, the latest political crisis is nothing new.But to many observers this standoff appears more complex and protracted than most over more than two decades of efforts to root a democratic state in Iraq. From the Kurdish region in the north, through Anbar province in western Iraq and to the Shia communities in the south, there appears little hope that a government pursuing a collective national interest can emerge from the power struggle. Continue reading...

Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee wanted justices to bar doctors from stopping treatment until they had time to apply to the UNThe parents of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who was left in a comatose state after suffering brain damage, have failed to persuade the supreme court to intervene in a life support treatment battle.Archie’s mother and father, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, had asked supreme court justices to give them more time to carry on their fight. Continue reading...

International market for scotch, tequila and Chinese spirits grows as customers trade up to more expensive brandsDrinkers have been filling their glasses with “super-premium” spirits, boosting the annual sales of the drinks firm Diageo by a fifth, as the return to bars and restaurants after the pandemic continues apace.Brands such as Don Julio tequila, Johnnie Walker whisky and Casamigos – the tequila company co-founded by George Clooney – highlighted consumers’ growing taste for “super-premium plus brands”, the company said, even at a time of rising prices and a squeeze on incomes. Continue reading...

Tavistock and Portman trust’s clinic to shut, with two services set up in hospitals in London and north-west EnglandThe NHS is shutting down its gender identity clinic for children at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust after it was criticised in an independent review.Regional centres will be set up to replace the service and “ensure the holistic needs” of patients are fully met, NHS England said, after being warned that only having one provider was “not a safe or viable long-term option”. Continue reading...

Cumbrian boy might not have died had agencies collaborated better, investigation concludesInformation about drinking, debts and mental health that could have prevented a baby boy being placed with an adopting mother who went on to murder him was not shared between agencies, an investigation has concluded.It also found that when the mother told social workers she was struggling to bond with the child, not enough support for the family was put in place. Continue reading...

News of billion-pound profits comes after UK households warned average annual bill could hit £3,850 by 2023Soaring profits at the energy companies Shell and Centrica have been described as an “insult” to millions of people struggling with the cost of living crisis, with high oil and gas prices funding multibillion-pound rewards for their shareholders.A day after millions of households were warned that average annual energy bills could hit £3,850 from January, triple the level at the beginning of this year, two of the UK’s biggest energy companies sparked outrage with their bumper profits. Continue reading...

Union and AQA disagree about possibility of GCSE and A-level results being delayed by the actionTrade union members at England’s biggest exam board will start a 72-hour strike over pay tomorrow, raising the prospect of delays to GCSE and A-level results.AQA said it expected 65 staff members to walk out – representing 5% of the workforce – and insisted the action would not stop results arriving on time, which is the exam board’s “priority”. Continue reading...

Killing of doorman in Andalucían town triggered rampage in which houses were burned and lootedSpanish Gypsy groups are calling for urgent action and protection after dozens of people were forced to abandon their homes in a small Andalucían town when a killing triggered a wave of racist violence.In the early hours of Sunday 17 July, a 29-year-old pub doorman called Álvaro Soto was stabbed to death in Peal de Becerro after an argument with four members of the local Gypsy community. The alleged attackers were later arrested. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands refuse to sign edited version, drawing up new phrasing including women and girls’ sexual and reproductive rightsThe UK government is in a diplomatic standoff with three European countries over a statement on gender equality that it changed to remove commitments to women’s reproductive and sexual health rights.Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are refusing to sign the edited version unless their concerns “are taken into consideration”, a spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry told the Guardian on Thursday. Continue reading...

Eurocamp executive says more passport capacity needed, after Port of Dover gets just one-thousandth of the Brexit funding it requestedAs holidaymakers continued to face long delays in Dover this week, travel industry insiders have called for an end to the “blame game”. Tens of thousands of families saw the start of their summer holidays ruined last weekend as the roads approaching the Kent port were gridlocked, causing delays of several hours.Demand for cross-Channel sailings is expected to surge in the coming days, leading to fears of more disruption. Ferry operator DFDS is urging passengers to allow two hours to complete the check-in process. Continue reading...

Sale comes after purchase of Missguided and earlier acquisition of Studio RetailMike Ashley’s Frasers Group has snapped up I Saw It First, its second acquisition of an online fast-fashion specialist in as many months.The company said I Saw It First – which was founded and controlled by Jalal Kamani, brother of the Boohoo boss Mahmud Kamani, in 2017 – had more than 5 million shoppers and would “benefit from the strength and scale of Frasers Group’s platform”. Continue reading...