World news | The Guardian

The company founded by Ron Pattenden’s collapsed owing millions in unpaid policies to thousands of low-income Aboriginal families

There is not enough proof Adem Somyurek and Marlene Kairouz committed criminal offences to recommend prosecution, investigators say

Mark Connell tells inquiry in letter that former NSW deputy premier had spoken about wanting NY trade role in 2019 ‘when I get the fuck out of this place’

Officials in Guangzhou apologise for ‘violent’ behaviour after 84 homes broken into during search for possible close contacts

Strategic lawsuits against public participation have been used by rich to try to stifle free speechCourts in England and Wales are to be granted new powers to dismiss lawsuits employed by wealthy claimants to stifle free speech, the government has said.The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, announced proposals on Wednesday for a three-stage test to tackle at an early stage intimidatory legal actions against reporters and publishers, known as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or Slapps. Continue reading...

Among proposals to ‘reset the dial’ on women’s health are training for doctors and hubs across the NHS

Fire services came under immense pressure dealing with multiple blazes that left homes and fields destroyedMajor incidents have been declared by fire services across the country as services endured immense pressure dealing with multiple blazes on the hottest day in the UK since records began.In London, South Yorkshire and Leicestershire major incidents were declared due to the number of incidents with people advised against having barbecues in parks, private gardens, patios and balconies due to the fire risk. Continue reading...

Tehran meeting saw discord over Erdoğan’s plan to intervene in Syria but ‘progress’ on shipping Ukrainian grainVladimir Putin ended his first major summit outside Russia since the invasion of Ukraine with an endorsement from Iran for its response to Nato, a clash with Turkey over Syria and signs of progress over the lifting of the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain.The White House said the Tehran summit held between Putin, the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, showed how isolated the Russian leader had become – which was not an observation shared by Moscow, who claimed it showed Russia remained respected in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Only 15 UK players have ever won more than £100m, with this scoop the biggest National Lottery win of all timeA UK ticket-holder has scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195m – the biggest National Lottery win of all time, Camelot has said.The winning EuroMillions numbers on Tuesday were 06, 23, 27, 40, 41 – plus the Lucky Star numbers 02 and 12. One ticket matched all seven numbers to win £195,707,000, making them the biggest jackpot winner of all time. Continue reading...

Laura and Philip Borrell benefited from Frances Noble, 66, defrauding council of £624,000 by faking illnessA couple who enjoyed holidays abroad with money from a relative who faked being bedridden to scam a local authority out of more than £624,000 have been jailed.Earlier this year, Frances Noble, 66, was sentenced at St Albans crown court to four years and nine months in jail for defrauding Hertfordshire county council of £624,047.50 by pretending she was bedridden, unable to feed herself and needed round-the-clock care between 15 January 2007 and 26 November 2018. Continue reading...

Russian president makes comments in Tehran, where he had a meeting with leaders from Turkey and Iran

Confirmed cases no longer required to isolate at home if they do not have symptomsPublic health officials have ordered 100,000 more doses of vaccine to help curb the spread of monkeypox as the number of UK cases rose to more than 2,000 in the months-long outbreak.According to figures released by the Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Tuesday, confirmed cases have risen to 2,137 in the UK, with 2,050 recorded in England. The majority of infections are in London and among men who have sex with men. Continue reading...

Rather than focusing on pay the dispute is more about working conditions and long hoursProduction of British television dramas could be disrupted as part of a union dispute, after crew members objected to long hours and having to undertake unpaid work on sets.The Bectu trade union says its members – who work behind the scenes on some of Britain’s biggest shows – are suffering burn out, low morale, and in many cases are unable to sustain a family life due to the industry’s expectation of long hours. Continue reading...

Drugs for diabetes, hormone replacement, depression, nausea and stroke among those listed by the TGA as in short supply

‘I don’t know how far they [politicians] can let the numbers go while still saying we don’t need mask mandates’, says Dr Omar Khorshid

Guardian analysis of ONS data shows public sector earnings have fallen in real terms by 4.3% since the financial crisisTeachers, doctors, nurses, police officers and civil servants are among the public sector workers set to receive below-inflation pay rises this year, with unions warning staff will quit as the cost of living crisis bites.Guardian analysis of ONS data shows that public sector earnings have fallen in real terms by 4.3% since the financial crisis, with some professions seeing falls of as much as 13%. Continue reading...

Judgment questioned over years spent as director of east London free school later criticised for ‘improper’ practicesRishi Sunak, the frontrunner for the Conservative leadership, was the director of a free school with close links to rightwing libertarian founders, which was found to have multiple financial and safeguarding failings years after his departure.Labour said there were questions to answer about Sunak’s time as a director of the The East London Science school (ELSS), where the former chancellor served from its founding in 2013 until he ran for office in 2015. Continue reading...

Blaze continues to ravage pine forest in France as heatwave breaks temperature records across Europe

Papers from 1970s and 1980s warn practice of sealing wills was ‘haphazard’ with ‘slender’ legal basisSenior government officials privately believed that the practice of keeping secret the wills of the royal family was legally questionable and even warned ministers not to discuss it in parliament, according to official documents.Over the past century, high court judges have issued secret legal orders allowing the wills of 33 members of the royal family to be kept confidential after hearings that were held behind closed doors. Continue reading...

Cause of death of 21 young people at Enyobeni tavern last month still yet to be determinedInvestigators have found traces of the toxic chemical methanol in the bodies of 21 teenagers who died in a nightclub in South Africa last month.The tragedy at the Enyobeni tavern in the poor Scenery Park township in the coastal city of East London on 26 June caused shock and grief in a nation used to seeing casualties from a widespread culture of heavy drinking. Continue reading...

Analysis: as heat records break across the UK, the north of England and Scotland are reassessing the effects of climate crisis thereNewspaper readers in the UK’s northern half were used to scowling at the front pages every time they declared a sizzling summer. “It may well be sizzling in the south but it’s chucking it down in Hull/freezing in Wrexham/blowing a hoolie in Aberdeen” they grumbled, as they put on another cardigan or rescued the washing from a downpour.Not this time. With a few exceptions (it’s still coat weather for those living in the Shetland islands) much of the UK really has been outrageously hot this week. Whether it is asphalt melting, schools shutting or allotments withering, all but the most hardcore of climate crisis deniers now accept people are experiencing the effects of global heating in their own communities. Continue reading...

Carabinieri allege dealers fraudulently exported €2m work by 17th-century baroque artist for auction in ViennaItalian police have prevented the potential illegal sale by a Viennese auction house of a 17th-century painting by the baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi.The carabinieri art squad said dealers had allegedly described the work as being painted by a follower of Gentileschi, and not the artist herself, in order to fraudulently obtain export permission from Italian authorities. Continue reading...

Data says more than 11% of women who give birth behind bars do so before 37 weeks, compared with 6.5% in communityFemale prisoners are almost twice as likely to give birth prematurely as women in the general population, leaving them and their babies at risk, new research reveals.More than one in 10 (11%) women who have a child while behind bars do so before 37 weeks of their pregnancy, compared with 6.5% of mothers in the community, the Nuffield Trust found. Continue reading...

Man in 50s emerges from blaze with clothes burned to rags and flames flickering around him

Moves to question integrity of voting system comes amid poor polling results for far-right leader facing October electionElectoral officials and senior politicians have criticised the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, after the far-right leader called foreign diplomats to the presidential palace and made unfounded allegations about the integrity of the upcoming election.Bolsonaro told them the electronic voting system in Brazil, which has been used without controversy since 1996, was vulnerable. The remarks raised concerns that the populist politician – facing poor polling results – might attempt to discredit the democratic process if he loses in October. Continue reading...

Vladislav Buryak was kept for 90 days and describes people screaming and a room with bloodstains and soaked bandagesA 16-year-old Ukrainian boy has described how he was held hostage by Russian soldiers for 90 days as he heard other prisoners being tortured in a nearby cell.Vladislav Buryak, who was separated from his family on 8 April at a checkpoint while attempting to flee the city of Melitopol, was released after a months-long negotiation between his father, Oleg – a local Ukrainian official – and Russian soldiers, who wanted to exchange Vladislav for an individual of interest to the Russian military. Continue reading...

Fund says GDP in Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic would fall by up to 6%, with Italy, Germany and Austria also hit hardA total shutdown of Russian gas supply would reduce GDP in the most vulnerable EU countries by as much as 6% and send them plunging into recession, the International Monetary Fund has warned.Amid speculation that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will keep the Nord Stream 1 pipeline closed when routine annual maintenance ends later this week, the IMF said Europe lacked a comprehensive plan to cope with shortages, further increases in energy prices and the impact on growth. Continue reading...

Analysis: Tory leader contender was first woman to hold post and is hoping trade and equalities experience will also play in favour

Furniture retailer issues third profit warning, as Hotel Chocolat’s share price tumbles as it predicts lossMade.com has cut its revenue and profit forecasts and warned of job cuts as costs rise and customers reduce spending on “big ticket” home improvement purchases because of the cost of living crisis.Shares in the online furniture retailer, which have lost almost 90% of their value since the company floated at 200p last June, plunged 38% to 24p on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Outspoken critic of Boris Johnson sanctioned by PM for refusing to support government

Analysis: worsening meltdown in the country’s debt-laden property market is at the heart of a problem that comes at a precarious time for the Communist partyThe alarm bells are ringing louder. Last week, hundreds of depositors gathered in front of the Zhengzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China in the provincial capital of Henan, demanding their frozen life savings held in rural banks. A day later, tens of thousands of homeowners threatened to stop paying mortgages on scores of unfinished housing projects they had purchased. All of this happened in a week where the officials reported lacklustre second-quarter economic performance.China’s economy is facing a dangerous cocktail of stalling growth, high unemployment, spreading mortgage payment strikes and continued Covid shutdowns that threaten to explode with serious social and political consequences. Continue reading...

Revelation among number of stories thrown up by latest batch of released documents from Kew recordsA story involving an alleged coup attempt in 1968 against the then prime minister, Harold Wilson, is just one of the subjects covered by the latest release of classified files from the National Archives at Kew in London. Continue reading...

Senior figures expect increase of between 4% and 5% but fear they will have to cover costs of anything over the previously agreed 3%NHS staff look set to get a pay rise of barely half the rate of inflation, a move that will force the health service to make more than £1bn of cuts and could trigger a wave of strikes.Senior NHS figures expect ministers to award staff an increase of between 4% and 5% when they announce on Tuesday how much the public sector workers will receive in 2022-23. Continue reading...

Notes from late 1990s show UK government believed it was due contract in recognition of defence of KuwaitTony Blair urged Kuwait to buy the UK’s latest artillery as payback for supporting the country during the Gulf war, newly released papers reveal.Blair lobbied Crown Prince Sheikh Sa’ad between 1998 and 1999, including calling in on him during a brief stopover on a flight home from South Africa. Continue reading...

Average place at a holiday club now costs £148 a week, up 5%, and availability is patchy, survey findsFamilies will have to fork out almost £900 for six weeks of holiday childcare for each school-age child, according to a survey – a 5% increase on last year’s prices.The average place at a holiday club now costs £148 a week, which is more than double what parents pay for an after-school club during term time, according to the charity Coram Family and Childcare. Continue reading...

Chris Carr disputes parts of evidence of Jenny West, who says she was offered the role, NSW parliamentary inquiry hears

Temperatures also forecast to rise in the Netherlands and Belgium as wildfires continue to rage in southern parts of the continentFirefighters continued to battle blazes in southern Europe as searing temperatures moved north and Britain braced for what could be its hottest day on record.Expectations are now high that on Tuesday the British record of 38.7C could be broken and 40C breached for the first time, with experts blaming climate change and predicting more frequent extreme weather to come. Continue reading...

Moderna’s paediatric dose will become available only after Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation gives advice

Charges flow from 2014 corruption investigation into infrastructure company Australian Water Holdings

Archives reveal David Blunkett voiced concerns about overturning ban on ‘promotion’ of homosexualityTony Blair was warned about his government’s commitment to overturning a ban on the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools in the run-up to the 2001 general election, previously classified records show.David Blunkett, then the education secretary, twice wrote to the prime minister to voice his concerns regarding the furore over section 28. It followed months of debate over potential changes to same-sex education in schools. Continue reading...

Research suggests one in four children are on diets, including one in seven who are considered a healthy weightOne in four children in England are on diets, research suggests, with the proportion who are considered healthy but trying to lose weight almost tripling.Britain is engulfed in a child obesity crisis, with one in four 10- and 11-year-olds officially obese. Continue reading...

Graham Brady announces outcome of third round of race to replace PM, who faced Labour anger during vote of no confidence debate

Pressure still on foreign secretary in leadership race as she gains just seven new backers in latest round

Five Years Next Sunday, about an ostracised girl who ‘holds the fate of her community in her hair’, wins £10,000 award for African writing in EnglishKenyan writer Idza Luhumyo has won the 2022 AKO Caine prize for African writing, with a short story judges described as “incandescent”.Five Years Next Sunday, first published in the book Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, is about a young woman with the unique power to call the rain in her hair. Feared by her family and community, a chance encounter with a foreigner changes her fortunes, but there are duplicitous designs upon her most prized and vulnerable possession. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson regales Farnborough airshow with tales of Typhoon jet in speech brimming with metaphorsBoris Johnson has joked about sending critical Conservative MPs into space and recalled doing a “fantastic loop the loop” in an RAF Typhoon as he reflected on his premiership in a valedictory speech.While the race to replace him as prime minister narrowed in Westminster, Johnson told attendees at the Farnborough airshow that after “three happy years in the cockpit and after performing some pretty difficult if not astonishing feats”, he was “going to hand over the controls seamlessly to someone else”, but he added: “I don’t know who.” Continue reading...

Train services were cut and schools closed, with water firms experiencing ‘unprecedented demanded’ as Britain tried to stay cool

State-owned British Business Bank makes decision after investigation of lending practicesThe government has dropped guarantees made on £400m of loans from Greensill Capital to companies linked to the embattled metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.The state-owned British Business Bank (BBB) said on Monday that it had “terminated” guarantees backing Greensill’s loans to large businesses after investigating its lending practices. Continue reading...

Analysis: Vladimir Putin claims time is on his side but he will have only one shot at making a gas cutoff count

Graffiti crew spent five weeks taking turns to dangle down 82-metre tower to paint mural celebrating cityThe Leicester street artist Wing Lo says he never had a problem with heights, but swinging from the side of a building in a cradle more than 80 metres in the air to create one of the world’s tallest artworks pushed him to the limits.“When I was on the cradle, at times I just wanted to get off it because it’s really scary. But looking back now, I’m sad it has finished,” he said. “We just wanted to make the people of Leicester proud, and I think so far we’ve done that.” Continue reading...