World news | The Guardian

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

International Rugby League says further consultation and research is needed before trans inclusion policy can be finalised

RBA governor Philip Lowe says rates are still very low for an economy with low unemployment and high inflation

Moderna application under consideration as company announces testing of combined shot for flu and coronavirus

Muratov, who was awarded the gold medal in October 2021, said proceeds would go to Unicef to help children displaced by Ukraine warThe Nobel Peace Prize that Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov was auctioning off to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees has sold for $103.5m (£84.5m), shattering the record for a Nobel.Previously, the most ever paid for a Nobel prize medal was in 2014, when James Watson, whose co-discovery of the structure of DNA earned him a Nobel prize in 1962, sold his medal for $4.76m. Continue reading...

Serving personnel taking suppressive treatment will be recognised as fully fit for all service from TuesdayUK armed forces personnel with HIV are to be declared fully fit and be able to deploy overseas, defence officials have said, in a move that removes the final barrier to service for personnel with the virus.From Tuesday, serving personnel who are taking suppressive treatment for HIV, and whose blood tests show no detectable virus, will now be recognised as fully fit for all service. The policy change also applies to anyone wishing to join the military. Continue reading...

Roberto David Castillo sentenced for role in assassination of Indigenous environmentalist in 2016

Attlee follows in the steps of other parliamentary moggies such as Palmerston, Gladstone and LarryFor the past few months, Westminster has been abuzz with little else other than Boris Johnson and his nine lives. Now, however, he may have a rival in that particular field: Lindsay Hoyle’s new cat, Attlee.The feline will follow in the steps of other parliamentary moggies including the Foreign Office’s Palmerston, Treasury’s Gladstone and Downing Street’s Larry. Continue reading...

Unions condemn measure as potentially against international law as 40,000 staff prepare for first day of industrial actionBoris Johnson has responded to the biggest rail strikes in a generation with plans to break the industrial action by allowing firms to bring in agency staff, a move unions have decried as unworkable, unsafe and potentially breaking international law.As 40,000 workers prepared for Tuesday’s strike, the most wide-reaching on the railways in 30 years, Downing Street brought forward changes to enable employers to replace employees with temporary staff. Continue reading...

Unions critical of leader’s instruction to senior MPs to ‘show leadership’ by not publicly siding with workersLabour’s frontbenchers have been warned to stay away from picket lines on the eve of the biggest rail strike since 1989.As staff get ready to take part in the RMT strike on Tuesday, Keir Starmer’s office told shadow cabinet members that to “show leadership” frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”. Continue reading...

New forecasts suggest household bills could rise more than £1,000 after another spike in wholesale pricesThe energy price cap could reach nearly £3,000 in the Britain at the beginning of October, with the planned increase possibly being more than £1,000 according to a new forecast.It is expected to rise to £2,980.63 for the next period, which runs between October and December, after another spike in wholesale demand prices last week. Continue reading...

Country faces fifth vote in three years after Naftali Bennett’s unruly anti-Netanyahu grouping gradually fell apartIsrael’s weakened coalition government has announced that it intends to dissolve the Knesset, setting the stage for the country’s fifth election in three years and a potential return to office for longtime prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.A statement released by the office of the prime minister, Naftali Bennett, on Monday night said that “attempts to stabilise the coalition had been exhausted” and his fractious government, made up of eight ideologically disparate parties, will submit a bill next week to dissolve parliament. Continue reading...

General secretary Mick Lynch confirms strike action will proceed, as transport secretary Grant Shapps says rail unions to blame

Three men, who were tortured and had been at risk of being put on UK flight to Rwanda, say being locked up is worsening traumaThree Sudanese victims of torture and trafficking who were threatened with being deported to Rwanda on a controversial charter flight last week have had their pleas to be released from detention rejected by a high court judge.The three asylum seekers, who all arrived in the UK on small boats last month, were issued with notices of intent that the home secretary was considering deporting them to Rwanda. Continue reading...

EU concerned over Moscow’s comments as people panic-buy in Baltic Sea exclaveRussia has provoked concern in Brussels after threatening to retaliate over Lithuania’s ban on the transit of some goods across its territory to Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.The move by the government in Vilnius was described as “unprecedented” in Moscow, where the Russian foreign office said they reserved the right to respond to protect their national interest. Continue reading...

PC David Taylor accepts he added details to Dorset police’s logs after 19-year-old was found dead in 2017A police officer has admitted altering official logs relating to the search for the missing Dorset teenager Gaia Pope, whose body was found 11 days after she went missing.PC David Taylor accepted that he added additional details to Dorset police’s logs after the 19-year-old was found dead in 2017. Continue reading...

Pagans and party-goers head back to Salisbury Plain in their thousands as site reopens for annual festivitiesA druid in flowing robes played a waltz on the bagpipes in the dappled shade of a tree as a band of pilgrims rested on the grass making crowns of summer flowers.Three Buddhist monks strolled past while a group of men took off their T-shirts in the warm sunshine and drank lager, promising to carry on partying until the sun sets and rises again. Continue reading...

Move by 11 establishments prompted by problem of groups ‘only looking to get drunk in the streets’Eleven seaside restaurants on the Spanish island of Mallorca have introduced a dress code for patrons in an attempt to crack down on what they described as a recent wave of antisocial behaviour among drunk tourists.In these restaurants, most of which are in the Playa de Palma, shirtless, costumed or football-jersey-clad punters will no longer be allowed, said Juan Miguel Ferrer of Palma Beach, a seal of quality created by local businesses to which the restaurants belong. Continue reading...

Foreign Office diplomats secured their freedom but sources say nothing was given in return except an apologyFive British nationals held by the Taliban since last December including the former BBC cameraman and Afghanistan expert Peter Jouvenal were released on Monday after backroom diplomacy by the British Foreign Office (FCDO).It is understood that the five had been seized separately, and British sources said nothing was given in return for their release except an apology by them. However, the British government on Sunday had released a statement renouncing violence in Afghanistan and saying there was no alternative to pragmatic engagement with the current administration. Continue reading...

No 10 urges private sector firms against giving out pay rises as inflation feared to rise above 10%Most public sector workers should expect a real-terms pay cut this year, a minister has said ahead of the biggest rail strikes in 30 years, with Downing Street warning private employers against giving out pay rises.With inflation feared to potentially rise above 10% by the end of the year, No 10 urged private sector firms not to hike wages as it would make the issue worse. Continue reading...

Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov will sell 23-carat gold medal in US on Monday, donating proceeds to charityThe editor of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta is auctioning his Nobel peace prize medal, with the proceeds to go to helping children displaced by the war in Ukraine.Dmitry Muratov led one of the last major independent media outlets critical of Vladimir Putin’s government after others either closed or had their websites blocked after the invasion of Ukraine. In March, Novaya Gazeta announced it was suspending operations for the duration of the war after it became a crime to report anything on the conflict that veered from the government line. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary faces allegations believed to centre on late registration of financial interestsThe shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, is being investigated over allegations believed to centre on the late registration of financial interests.The parliamentary standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, was looking at possible breaches to the MPs’ code of conduct under areas covering earnings, gifts and foreign travel. The Labour MP apologised for the error and said he had put “revised systems in place” to prevent late declarations in the future. Continue reading...

Liberal leader says refugee advocate’s May win in full federal court was a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and applies for special leave to appeal

Items include armour, banners, and two skulls taken from Omdurman battlefieldMuseum officials in Sudan are hoping for the return of priceless artefacts and body parts taken by British soldiers, colonial administrators and travellers, saying they could help bring peace to the unstable east African country.The items include valuable armour, weapons and clothing, and the banners of fighters who resisted the British force that invaded and colonised Sudan 124 years ago. Continue reading...

Regulator says shake-up is designed to cut risk of suppliers going bust and will change rules on credit balances in event of collapsesNew measures to better protect customers’ money and stop energy suppliers using some of their cash “like an interest-free company credit card” are to be announced on Monday by the industry regulator.Ofgem said its package of “tough” measures was aimed at reducing the risk of more energy suppliers going bust, and would also include changes designed to stop firms raising customers’ direct debit payments by more than necessary. Continue reading...

Disruption to start on Monday evening before RMT walkouts stop trains in much of northern and south-west England, Wales and Scotland

Health Canada confirms reviews into trials following complaint of ‘alleged investigator misconduct’All clinical trials into the psychoactive drug MDMA are being reviewed by Canadian regulators after complaints about abuse of study participants by a trailblazing American psychedelic research organization.The California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps) has led the way in conducting trials into the medicinal qualities of the drug. In May 2021, it released results from a phase-three trial in the journal Nature on the benefits of the drug – commonly sold illegally as a powder or within ecstasy tablets – as a breakthrough treatment for PTSD, for which there is currently no effective pharmaceutical treatment. Continue reading...

Chinese refiners cash in on heavily discounted Russian oil supplies, boosting imports by 55%

Queensland Council of Social Service says more needs to be done, with families living in cars, tents and motels

Zelenskiy says he expects Russia will intensify attacks on Ukraine and possibly strike other European countries this week

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereUkraine is losing territories and struggling to regain them since Russia began concentrating its military attacks on the country’s east, Ukrainian MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsintzadze has said.Klympush-Tsintzadze told Sky News that she hopes the military situation in eastern Ukraine will change soon. “Unfortunately, at this particular moment, Russia has gathered all this military capacity in the in the east of the country. Continue reading...

Rightmove expects cost of living crisis to have impact on market in second half of yearHouse prices in Great Britain hit a record high in June but are likely to start falling during the next few months as five interest rate rises and a worsening cost of living crisis finally start to put the brakes on the property market’s record-breaking run, according to Rightmove.The property website said asking prices hit a record for a fifth consecutive month in June, rising by 0.3% – or £1,113 – to reach £368,614. However, this was the smallest monthly increase since January, with the site saying: “The exceptional pace of the market is easing a little.” Continue reading...

Win frees PP from relying on far-right Vox to govern, as leftwing parties take a drubbingSpain’s conservative People’s party has won a resounding majority in the regional elections in Andalucía, in an unprecedented win that frees it from relying on the far-right Vox party to govern in the country’s most populous region.With 99% of polling stations in the southern Spanish region reporting, the PP, in opposition nationally, had received 58 seats – three more than the 55 needed for a majority. It is the party’s best-ever result in the region. Continue reading...

Analysis: France’s new parliament likely to be less pliant as president tries to tackle a series of crises

Document published this year does not mention asylum seekers as priority group for ‘intrusive policy’The Home Office appears to have contradicted its own guidance on GPS tagging, which prioritised “very high harm offenders”, after it announced the devices would be used on asylum seekers arriving in the UK.An 86-page guidance document titled “Immigration Bail” was published on 31 January 2022. It includes a large section about the GPS tagging of migrants and does not mention asylum seekers who have not committed crimes as a priority group for GPS tagging. Continue reading...