World news | The Guardian

Authorities arrest suspected gang leader who allegedly lured women with false job offers then forced them into prostitutionInvestigators in Ukraine said they had foiled a criminal gang who forced women into sex work abroad after luring them with false adverts for legitimate employment.Authorities in Kyiv arrested the suspected leader of the gang after months of surveillance resulted in them stopping a woman as she was about to cross the border. They were then able to confirm the suspect’s involvement. Continue reading...

Following days of speculation China’s foreign ministry confirmed the meeting after Wong signalled she was open to a direct conversation

Michelle Donelan, Brandon Lewis, Damian Hinds, George Freeman, Helen Whately, Guy Opperman, Chris Philp and James Cartlidge hand in notices

From suggesting ministers are replaced with agency staff to Nish Kumar saying what he really thinks, nothing energies Twitter more

Johnson facing intense pressure from Tory colleagues who say he has to go now

Nadhim Zahawi calls on PM to resign after freshly-appointed education secretary steps down

Document shows Stuart Ayres signed briefing confirming appointment of Jenny West to New York trade commissioner role

Simba the goat’s owner says kid’s ears are record-breaking and has contacted Guinness World RecordsA kid goat with extraordinarily long ears has become a media star in Pakistan, with its owner claiming a world record that may or may not exist.Simba is now living a pampered existence in Karachi, where he was born last month with ears that were strikingly long – and have grown to reach 54cm (21 inches). Continue reading...

Mark Dreyfus ordered the commonwealth DPP to discontinue case over alleged unlawful disclosure of classified information

Extra paperwork, veterinary checks and expenses could mean thousands have to give up pastimeCross-Channel pigeon racing is “hugely at threat” owing to post-Brexit red tape that threatens to drive thousands out of the sport, the head of its governing body has said.British pigeon fanciers have been racing their birds home from destinations in Europe for more than a century without bureaucratic hurdles. But new EU regulations put in place after Brexit mean any bird entering continental Europe must be treated as if it is being imported, even if the pigeon will fly directly back over the Channel as soon as it is released. Continue reading...

Lee Archer and Shane Dowsett used an inflatable dinghy to reach the freezing infant at home in Bulga in flooded Hunter regionA baby who was having breathing problems on a New South Wales property cut off by flood waters has been rescued by two NSW lifesavers who used an inflatable dinghy to reach the freezing infant.Paramedics were called about 4.30pm on Wednesday about a baby boy who was struggling to breathe at a home in Bulga in the flooded Hunter region. Continue reading...

The inside story of Rajapaksa family infighting that toppled a country into violence and bankruptcyDilith Jayaweera can still recall the moment he realised Sri Lanka was hurtling, unstoppably, towards financial ruin.It was around October 2021 and Jayaweera, a Sri Lankan media magnate and close friend of the Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had invited Basil Rajapaksa, the president’s younger brother, who was also the finance minister, to join him for dinner. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson is clinging on to his leadership by a thread as the number of resignations from his government continues to rise. The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by columnists Gaby Hinsliff and Rafael Behr, to discuss the future for the PM Continue reading...

Word from No 10 bunker goes out to the Tory trenches but even the diehards know that the party’s one-time hero has to goA blood-curdling vow to fight to the death, despair among Tory grandees at the impending loss of their champion, and incredulity that Boris Johnson is still hanging on – it is all part of the mix as the UK newspapers feast on another day of high drama at Westminster.In what it calls an “exclusive” on “Defiant Boris’s message to Tory rebels”, the Sun splashes with the headline “You’ll have to dip your hands in blood to get rid of me”. A “key ally” of the prime minister repeats the No 10 briefing line that the rebels will have to overturn the “will of the people” if they want to oust Johnson. Continue reading...

Investigation recommends the state creates dedicated social housing ombudsman and makes law changes

Levelling up secretary had told PM to step down in face-to-face meeting as Simon Hart says it is too late to ‘turn the ship around’

Fight in front of fans was reportedly broken up by police with the men taken into custody and later bailedThree of Wimbledon’s security guards have been arrested after an alleged fight between them within the grounds of the grand slam tennis tournament.The altercation on Friday took place between guards working for Knights Group Security, the company contracted to provide security services to Wimbledon. Continue reading...

A number of senior Tory MPs are preparing leadership bids as Johnson’s hold on power weakens

Prime minister confirms meeting with Alexander Lebedev in Italy in 2018 when he was foreign secretary

Wimbledon player refuses to address accusation saying he had been gagged by lawyersThe tennis player Nick Kyrgios has admitted to struggling to focus after being accused of domestic abuse.But the 27-year-old Australian refused to address the allegation in more detail, saying he had been gagged by his lawyers. Continue reading...

Regulators say ‘scientific issues’ warrant further review of its decision to bar products from sale in USThe Food and Drug Administration will continue to allow Juul to sell its products while the vaping company appeals a recent ban, the agency said on Tuesday.The FDA wrote on Twitter that there were “scientific issues” warranting additional review of the agency’s ruling last month, which ordered the company to remove its e-cigarettes from the US marketplace. Continue reading...

In speech to divided parliament, Élisabeth Borne tries to court opposition parties to avoid deadlockFrance is to renationalise its indebted electricity giant EDF in response to the energy crisis aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has said.Borne vowed to limit the impact of rising energy prices despite the political turmoil of Emmanuel Macron losing control of parliament in recent legislative elections. Continue reading...

Increases reported in countries including Greece, Spain, France and Germany as Omicron variant BA.5 spreadsHolidaymakers heading to and from the European mainland are being warned of a growing incidence of coronavirus, especially in tourist hotspots, which risks hampering travel plans.Health officials are calling in some cases for a reintroduction of face masks and other measures, and are urging travellers to exercise personal responsibility, warning that an escalation of the virus could lead to the swift return of restrictions. Continue reading...

UK pharmaceutical to spin off brands such as Sensodyne, Voltaren and Panadol into Haleon in largest listing since 2011Investors in the British pharmaceuticals giant GSK have voted to approve a demerger of its consumer brands into a new company, Haleon, firing the starting gun on the largest London stock market listing in a decade.Shares in Haleon are scheduled to start trading on Monday 18 July, after investors in GSK – previously GlaxoSmithKline – voted to approve the demerger. The FTSE 100 company won 99.8% of the votes cast at a general meeting on Wednesday at a hotel by London’s Heathrow airport. Continue reading...

CMA looks into whether firm gives own sellers unfair advantage over third-party rivalsThe UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Amazon has been giving its own brands and those using its logistics services unfair advantage over third-party rivals on its online marketplace.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it opened an investigation on Tuesday amid concerns the US tech corporation’s practices on its UK marketplace may be anti-competitive and could result in a worse deal for customers. Continue reading...

IOPC tells force to apologise to family of teenager who was found dead two weeks after going missingThe family of a vulnerable black teenager who went missing and then was found dead were failed by the Metropolitan police when they most needed them, the police watchdog has found.The desperate family of Richard Okorogheye, 19, were told by one call handler: “If you can’t find your son, how do you expect us to?” which the Met has accepted was insensitive. Continue reading...

MPs write letter expressing fear that policy advisers may be opposing regulation of gambling industryMPs will this week write to the prime minister to voice concern that No 10 policy advisers with past ties to the gambling industry may be opposing tougher regulation designed to protect vulnerable people and addicts.It comes as Guardian analysis reveals that the industry lavished £280,000 on MPs in the run-up to an overhaul of gambling laws, which were expected to be published next week. Continue reading...

Refugee agency releases figure as Donetsk governor urges people to leave after more civilian deaths

Could Michael Gove strike again as he did in 2016? And who is positioning to be the PM’s possible successor?Latest politics news – liveBoris Johnson has lost Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, but where do some of his other key ministers stand on the loyalty spectrum? And who is most likely to walk next? Continue reading...

Rocco Morabito is part of the ’Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, which does billions of euros in cocaine businessA convicted mobster who was one of Italy’s most-wanted fugitives and reputedly one of the world’s most powerful drug brokers, has arrived in Rome, following his extradition from Brazil after 28 years on the lam.Rocco Morabito held the No 2 position on the list of Italy’s most wanted and dangerous mobsters. He was convicted two decades ago in absentia of drug trafficking as part of the ’Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, which does billions of euros in cocaine business. Continue reading...

‘I went to help people,’ says Togolese boy, who was among 71 survivors rescued nine days after boat sank, killing at least 30The actions of a teenager from Togo have been lauded after video footage was published of him supporting a baby he saved from a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea last week in which at least 30 people died.The 17-year-old, whose identity has not been disclosed, swam to save the child, whom he was holding above water when a rescue team arrived, in footage published by the French media group Brut. Continue reading...

Inmates on the run after gunmen armed with explosives attack prison near capital AbujaHundreds of prisoners including scores of detained terrorists were on the run in Nigeria after suspected Boko Haram militants attacked a prison near the capital, Abuja.Gunmen armed with explosives blasted into Kuje medium-security prison, on the outskirts of Abuja at about 10pm on Tuesday, freeing 600 of the prison’s 994 inmates, government officials said. Continue reading...

A toxic combination of climate emergency, conflict and Covid is pushing some of the poorest countries into an acute hunger crisisGlobal hunger toll soars by 150m as Covid and war make their markThe world is in the grip of an unprecedented hunger crisis. A toxic combination of climate crisis, conflict and Covid had already placed some of the poorest countries under enormous strain, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent grain and fuel prices soaring.“We thought it couldn’t get any worse,” said David Beasley, director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), in June. “But this war has been devastating.” Continue reading...

Tenth of world’s population now chronically undernourished, with spectre of widespread famine drawing ever closer, warns reportFamine: what is it, where will it strike and how should we respond?The number of people going hungry in the world has risen by 150 million since the start of the Covid pandemic, the UN has said, warning that the food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risks pushing the worst-hit countries into famine.Globally, the number suffering from chronic undernourishment rose to as many as 828 million last year, a rise of about 46 million on the previous year, and three times that increase if measured since the world shut down due to Covid, a report has found. Continue reading...

Leena Manimekalai’s Kaali is the latest of scores of works being censored by the nationalist governmentAn Indian film director is facing multiple police cases for “hurting religious sentiments” over the poster for her new film, which depicts the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette and clutching an LGBTQ+ flag.Leena Manimekalai, an Indian film-maker currently based in Canada, was attacked online with thousands of threats of violence, rape and death after the poster of her short film, Kaali, which was aired in the Canadian city of Toronto on the weekend, went viral on social media. Continue reading...

Judge rules in case of Saudi diplomat who allegedly forced Filipino worker to wear a bell 24 hours a dayThe UK’s highest court has ruled that diplomats who exploit domestic workers in conditions of modern slavery cannot rely on diplomatic immunity to prevent compensation claims.Describing exploitation of migrant domestic workers by foreign diplomats as a “significant problem”, the supreme court ruled by a majority of three to two that exploitation of a domestic worker for profit falls within the “commercial activity” exemption to immunity under the diplomatic convention. Continue reading...

Labour leader says Conservative MPs backing Boris Johnson do not have ‘a shred of integrity’Keir Starmer has accused Conservative MPs and ministers of complicity in propping up a prime minister with a history of indefensible behaviour, as he condemned and mocked what he called the “dying spectacle” of Boris Johnson’s political career.Focusing in particular on Johnson’s decision earlier this year to promote Chris Pincher to be deputy chief whip, despite a known history of sexually predatory behaviour, Starmer said any Tory MPs still backing Johnson did not have “a shred of integrity”. Continue reading...

Atagi will brief the health minister, Mark Butler, on Thursday after agreeing to recommend the expansion of Australia’s Covid vaccine program

Country hails ‘monumental step’ towards expanding reproductive rights at a time when the US has overturned themMinisters in Sierra Leone have taken a major step towards decriminalising abortion and overturning the country’s colonial-era law, in a move hailed by campaigners and women’s rights activists.President Julius Maada Bio said his cabinet had unanimously backed a bill on risk-free motherhood, which would expand access to abortion in a country where terminations are only permitted when a mother’s life is at risk. Continue reading...

Prime minister’s next steps hard to call due to unreliability of his logic and desire to act in interest of Tory partyBy any normal metric it is fair to say Boris Johnson is doomed, given the scale of ministerial resignations and the number of backbench MPs publicly withdrawing their support. While Johnson has often defied normal political rules, it does seem a matter of when he is ousted from No 10 rather than if. But how? Here are some scenarios. Continue reading...

Children’s minister Will Quince and parliamentary aide Laura Trott resign as support for PM drains away

NSW has confirmed 11 cases and health authorities are urging people to be aware of symptoms

Complex in Alicante, sanctioned for breaking competition rules, to begin productions later this yearOne of Spain’s most notorious and costly white elephants, the Ciudad de la Luz (City of Light) film studios in Alicante, is to get a new lease of life 10 years after it was forced to shut by the European Union on grounds of unfair competition.The Valencian regional government has announced that the studios will reopen with productions expected to begin later this year. Brussels had banned it from operating until 2027 after production companies, including Pinewood Studios in London, complained that government subsidies broke EU competition rules. Continue reading...

Defence minister announces move as ‘we have no reason to think Russia will change its behaviour’

Director rejects fears that the sequel to record-breaking 2009 blockbuster will be met with apathy, since ‘people binge-watch TV for eight hours!’James Cameron has pre-empted fears that his forthcoming sequel to 2009’s Avatar will be met with apathy when it’s released in December.Speaking to Empire, Cameron addressed the frequent criticism of the original film that few can remember the name – Jake Sully – of its protagonist, played by Sam Worthington. Continue reading...

Girl, 16, had been taken into care by Blackpool council, which has made an official complaintLancashire police threatened to shoot a suicidal 16-year-old girl on a motorway bridge with a Taser and then accused her of wasting police time, a court has heard.The girl, identified as HT, had “highly complex needs” and was living in an unregistered private children’s home at the time, where staff referred to her as a “wild animal”. Continue reading...

Foreign minister confirms Australia’s willingness to engage with China but insists ‘coercive’ trade sanctions must be scrapped

Norwegian government intervenes in pay row because of ‘great social consequences for whole of Europe’The Norwegian government has stepped in to end a strike that had threatened supplies of gas to Britain.The labour dispute had shut down oil and gasfields and was expected to cut Norway’s gas supplies by almost 60% by the weekend. Continue reading...

74-year-old guitarist says he ‘forgot to eat and drink water so dehydrated and passed out’The US guitarist Carlos Santana has recovered after collapsing on stage during a concert in suburban Detroit on Tuesday.The audience was reportedly initially told of a serious medical issue and asked to pray for the 74-year-old musician, but Santana was treated swiftly and was seen waving to fans as he was wheeled off stage. He was taken to a local hospital for observation. Continue reading...