Prof Jon Tonge has won most of his political bets, so here are some predictions from a ‘trumped-up Nostradamus’Prof Jon Tonge has faced remorseless teasing since being hailed as the “Mystic Meg of political science” for accurately predicting Monday’s confidence vote in Boris Johnson.When he turned up to a conference in Belfast on Thursday, an academic colleague said “the soothsayer has just walked in”. And his youngest daughter asked him: “If you can see things, how come you can’t tell you’re a complete loser?” Continue reading...

Prime minister says ‘Australia can’t be proud of’ detention of Nadesalingam family for four years

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, missing for more than five days, had failed to show up in Atalaia do Norte at the end of a reporting tripHopes of finding a British journalist and a Brazilian guide faded on Friday as police announced an unsettling development in the search for the two men last seen five days ago on a remote river in Amazonia.“Search teams found on the river, near to Atalaia do Norte, apparently human organic material,” Brazil’s federal police said in a statement. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Deputy head of military intelligence says it’s an artillery war now and ‘everything depends on what the west gives us’

Pontiff, 85, had planned to visit Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in early JulyPope Francis has scrapped a trip to Africa owing to an ongoing problem with his knee, raising further scrutiny about the 85-year-old pontiff’s health.The Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the planned visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in early July had been cancelled “at the request of his doctors in order not to jeopardise the results of the therapy that he is undergoing for his knee” and would be rescheduled to a later date. Continue reading...

Oscar-winning actor will attend funeral of brother Jonathan Waters who was hit by vehicle in CaliforniaThe Oscar-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance has pulled out of three performances of the West End show Jerusalem after his younger brother was killed in a bicycle accident in California.Jonathan Waters, a 60-year-old sommelier, was cycling in Oakland when he was hit by a vehicle last month. He suffered head injuries and died a day after the accident. Continue reading...

Analysis: Saturday expected to be start of joint earliest heatwave since records beganThrough the second half of this week, heat has gradually built across Spain, encouraging temperatures to reach widely 35-40C. Across central and southern parts they are forecast to rise even further this weekend. On Saturday temperatures are expected to exceed 40C in places and it will be the joint earliest heatwave since records began, tied with a heatwave that started on 11 June 1981. Records such as this are commonplace now, and more will be broken for decades to come as our atmosphere continues to hold increasing amounts of heat.In northern Africa and the Middle East, 50C is a common threshold to be broken during summer. However, this year the city of Al Jahra in Kuwait experienced this temperature threshold broken on 4 June – early compared with a normal year. The heat that has lingered across northern Africa throughout the week continued to bring temperatures into the low 50s celsius, and then pushed north into Spain through the latter half of this week. This is in large part due to a mass of very warm subtropical air, alongside high pressure centred over the Atlantic coinciding to allow for the warm air mass across Africa to be brought up on the southerly flow. Continue reading...

Urine tests not predictive enough to tell whether a woman is going through the phase, experts warnWomen are wasting their time and money buying do-at-home menopause testing kits, doctors have warned.The urine tests are not predictive enough to tell whether a woman is going through the phase when her periods will stop, doctors have told the BBC. Continue reading...

Singer who had chart hit with Falling in 1990 ‘left this realm on her own terms’ according to husbandJulee Cruise, the singer whose ethereal music deepened the drama of David Lynch’s work, has died aged 65.Her husband, Edward Grinnan, wrote on Facebook: “She left this realm on her own terms. No regrets. She is at peace … I played her [B-52’s song] Roam during her transition. Now she will roam forever. Rest in peace, my love.” Continue reading...

Family ecstatic to be back in small Queensland town that fought so hard to free them, but they still seek permanent protection

‘What is this, 2004???’ Clarke Gayford posted in response to Australian PM’s gift of Midnight Oil, Spiderbait and Powderfinger albumsJacinda Ardern’s fiancee has taken a cheeky swipe at Anthony Albanese’s music taste after the Australian prime minister and his New Zealand counterpart exchanged records during the pair’s first face-to-face meeting.Ardern and Albanese, who have both moonlighted as DJs in the past, made the customary display of gift-giving at their first meeting since the federal election in Sydney on Thursday, with both opting for the high-risk, high-reward gift of music. Continue reading...

As five-year anniversary approaches, figures reveal public inquiry into the fire has spent £149m so farLegal bills relating to the Grenfell Tower fire are on course to top a quarter of a billion pounds, according to figures obtained by the Guardian on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the disaster.The public inquiry into the causes of the fire that killed 72 people in the west London tower block has spent £149m so far with more than £60m going to lawyers working for the core participants, the inquiry revealed on Thursday. Continue reading...

Disagreements have led to delay in course rollout as civil servants think empire material ‘too controversial’Civil servants have attempted to “sanitise” a Home Office teaching module on race, empire and colonialism, according to those involved in devising a mandatory course on British history for the department’s 36,000 employees.Disagreements have led to a year-long delay in the rollout of the project, which was due to be launched in June 2021. Home Office civil servants are understood to be nervous that some of the proposed material addressing issues of race, colonialism and empire is “too controversial” and have urged academics to tone down some of the content. Continue reading...

The 54-year-old, who had cerebral palsy, died in 2020 from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment

Attorney general Shannon Fentiman awaiting legal advice about the possibility of an appeal

Holidaymakers have been confronted by queues at the nation’s two largest air hubs, with about 180,000 people passing through security gates on Friday

Union says plan to make reporters do their own archival research will massively increase workloads. Plus: is it really a press conference if no one turns up?

Jacinda Ardern welcomes ‘reset’ in trans-Tasman relationship after years of tension over visa cancellations on character grounds

Car that had been parked for years under corn bags in a Bundaberg garage attracted 300-400 inquiries before selling to Sunshine Coast man

Jason Alexander was livestreaming his approach to the venue on Instagram and was arrested by California authoritiesBritney Spears’s ex-husband was arrested while crashing her wedding site in southern California, authorities say.Captain Cameron Henderson of Ventura county sheriff’s office said officers responded to a trespassing call after 2pm on Thursday. He said the pop singer’s first husband, Jason Alexander, was detained at the site of the ceremony. Continue reading...

Opposition parties say the findings show the Conservatives are ‘burning taxpayers money by the billion’Protective clothing worth £4bn bought early in the pandemic to stop NHS staff being infected with Covid is to be burned because it is unusable, a report has revealed.The imminent destruction of so many items and waste of public money is disclosed in a report by the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) that is scathing of the DHSC’s strategy when the Covid pandemic struck in 2020. Continue reading...

Asylum Aid makes legal application to stop flights in challenge to Priti Patel’s offshoring policyThe Home Office’s first flight to Rwanda under the home secretary’s offshoring plan is facing a second injunction which aims to stop it from taking off.A refugee charity, Asylum Aid, has applied for an urgent interim injunction preventing any flights from leaving, including the first one, scheduled on Tuesday, until after its application for a judicial review can be heard. Continue reading...

In US ‘trigger states’ where the procedure may soon be illegal, searchers may be sent to centers that do not actually provide careOne in 10 Google searches for abortion services in US “trigger states”, where the procedure is likely to become illegal if the US supreme court overturns Roe v Wade, are being misdirected to clinics known as “pregnancy crisis centers” that do not actually provide care, according to a new study.After a leak revealed the US supreme court is on the verge of overturning the landmark abortion rights law Roe v Wade, attention has turned to “trigger law” states that would ban abortion immediately if the decades-old decision is undone. Continue reading...

BBC investigation alleges assault and grooming incidents at homes, schools and housing run by firmMinisters are facing calls for urgent reform of the children’s residential care system in the wake of shocking reports of vulnerable youngsters being abused and sexually assaulted at homes run by a private firm making huge profits.A BBC investigation revealed a series of alleged safeguarding incidents in which youngsters were put at risk in homes, schools and supported housing run by Calcot Services for Children, including assault, grooming and child-on-child sexual abuse.A 28-year-old Calcot head office staff member was jailed after abusing his position by grooming and having sex with a 17-year-old while redeployed as a support worker at a supported living accommodation.A girl at a Calcot home with significant learning difficulties who was known to be at risk of absconding, repeatedly fled, once with a boy, and twice attempted to take her own life, in one instance being rescued from the side of a nearby river bridge. Continue reading...

London university investigation finds ‘culture of unacceptable behaviour’ going back decadesUniversity College London has apologised to current and former students and staff for a “culture of unacceptable behaviour” at its architecture school going back decades.The apology comes after the university conducted an investigation into complaints of sexism and racism on campus, first reported by the Guardian last year. Continue reading...

Chair of the 1922 Committee leaves door open to rule change as William Hague says PM could be ousted by other meansBoris Johnson could face the prospect of another no-confidence vote within a year after Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, refused to rule out changing the rules.Some Tory rebels hope that after the prime minister faced calls from 41% of his own MPs to quit, a second bid to depose him could come sooner than expected. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president pleads for more outside help in speech at gala to honour Time’s most influential people

After a decade in detention, an Iranian refugee family dares to dream of the possibility of resettlement

Labor urged to revive national pandemic strategy while medical bodies warn of ‘looming disaster’ from flu, Covid and staff burnouts

TSSA union ballots could lead to complete national shutdown by time of Commonwealth Games in JulyManagers and train drivers could join the strikes across the railway, potentially setting up a complete national shutdown by the time of the Commonwealth Games in July.The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) union, whose members manage control rooms, signalling and power for train operators and Network Rail, has launched its first strike ballot, while the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) union has called the first regional walkouts by drivers. Continue reading...

New single This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr is a ballad about the difficulties of film stardom, taken from Depp’s forthcoming album with Jeff BeckJohnny Depp has released a new self-penned song performed with Jeff Beck, This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr, taken from the pair’s forthcoming collaborative album, entitled 18.A trudging rock ballad sung by Depp interspersed with solo vocals from Beck, it hymns the 1940s film star (and innovative electrical engineer) Hedy Lamarr, though this lament about fame will inevitably be read as a reaction to the high-profile, frequently ugly defamation case he recently brought against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Continue reading...

Interior ministry believes Iswap was behind attack in Ondo state on Sunday that killed 40 peopleNigerian security officials suspect extremists from Islamic State’s affiliate in west Africa were behind an attack on a Catholic church last weekend that killed dozens.Forty people are now thought to have died after gunmen stormed St Francis Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State, on Sunday, and 61 survivors are still being treated in hospital, according to local authorities. The total is double an earlier estimate. Continue reading...

Can Arslan stabbed Matthew Boorman to death on lawn and seriously injured two othersA “monster” who murdered one neighbour and seriously wounded two others in a “spree of planned violence” after they took legal action to try to curtail his 12-year campaign of extreme harassment has been jailed for at least 37 years.Can Arslan, 52, stabbed Matthew Boorman on Boorman’s front lawn in the village of Walton Cardiff, Gloucestershire, on 5 October last year. Boorman’s wife, Sarah, sustained a knife wound to her thigh as she tried to help, while another neighbour, Peter Marsden, was stabbed eight times but managed to fend off Arslan. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on Boris Johnson’s comments about a potential ‘wage-price spiral’ hereThe Queen has received a present from the cabinet to mark her Platinum Jubilee, No 10 says. It is a specially-commissioned musical box, with pictures of all the 14 prime ministers who have served here around the side. When it opens it plays Handel’s Hallelujah.In every office there is always someone who organises the presents and this picture, on the No 10 Flickr account, suggests that in cabinet that job falls to Michael Ellis, the paymaster general. Continue reading...

Regulator berates network operators for ‘unacceptable’ time taken to restore power to thousands of homesPower companies must “up their game” after thousands of households in Britain faced “appalling conditions” when they were left without power for more than a week after Storm Arwen hit last year, the industry watchdog has said.Publishing its full report into the response of power distributors to the storm, Ofgem said they were underprepared and provided an “unacceptable service” to customers, with nearly 1m homes losing power and 4,000 of those cut off for longer than a week. Continue reading...

Figures shows 10% rise in FSM across England and school leaders say real child poverty level is even higherNearly one in three children in the north-east of England are receiving free school meals (FSM), according to figures that reveal a 10% rise across England, as school leaders say the real level of child poverty is even higher.The figures released in the Department for Education (DfE) annual school census show that 22.5% of state school pupils are on FSM, up from 20.8% last year, reflecting the increasing number of households receiving universal credit and earning less than £7,400 a year after tax. Continue reading...

Steven Pleasant, who expressed surprise about Question Time audience member’s ‘compassion’, steps downA long-serving council chief executive has resigned after he posted a tweet expressing surprise that a Conservative voter could show “compassion and empathy”.Steven Pleasant, the head of Tameside council in Greater Manchester, made the remark about an audience member on the BBC’s Question Time before last month’s local elections. Continue reading...

Achim Allweyer, 52, and Arend-Adolf Gräss, 60, allegedly tried to form paramilitary unit to join civil warTwo former German soldiers have gone on trial accused of attempting to form a paramilitary group to fight in Yemen’s civil war after being inspired by a psychic.Achim Allweyer, 52, and Arend-Adolf Gräss, 60, took steps to set up what prosecutors say amounted to a “terrorist organisation” after receiving “messages from a fortune teller that they understood as binding instructions for action”, according to the indictment read out at Stuttgart’s higher regional court on Thursday. Continue reading...

Ivan Rogers says plan by ‘dishonest’ government to override Northern Ireland protocol may cause trade warBritish-EU relations will probably get worse over the next two years because “the narcissistic politics of self-preservation” will continue to prevail in the UK, according to a former British envoy to Brussels.Sir Ivan Rogers, who served as Britain’s ambassador to the EU until he quit in 2017 over Brexit, forecast that the Northern Ireland protocol dispute would remain “a crucial impediment to any improvement in the UK-EU relationship” for the rest of the British parliamentary and European Commission terms, which are both due to end in 2024. Continue reading...

Troops in Bakhmut describe perilous fight as city standing in way of Russian advance is pounded by missilesSeven miles from Ukraine’s frontline, resting Ukrainian soldiers were smoking cigarettes on benches in the shade outside a military hospital. The constant thud of artillery could be heard in the distance. The city of Bakhmut felt deserted. There was little sense of life from before the war – no children, cars, and barely any people. Windows were boarded up with only a handful of civilians on the streets. Almost the only activity had been brought here by the war.The soldiers, weary and jaded, described a perilous fight to hold Ukraine’s east. First a relentless bombardment by Russian heavy equipment, quickly followed by advancing tanks and infantry soldiers – whose job it is to “clean up” any Ukrainian troops left standing. Continue reading...

Detectives told teenager there was little chance of the case succeeding, inquest jurors toldThe Dorset teenager Gaia Pope was left devastated when she learned a man she had accused of raping her had allegedly harassed and targeted many other women and girls, an inquest jury has heard.Pope, 19, whose body was found on a clifftop in November 2017, 11 days after she went missing, had reported the rape because she wanted to protect others, jurors were told, but detectives told her there was little chance of the case succeeding and it would be traumatic to go to court, it is claimed.In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

As its defence minister trumpets a key aim being achieved, Russia is pushing hard to subjugate areas of southern Ukraine it controls

Greggor Grey, who has served 17 years for robbery, says he escaped because of ‘injustice and heartache’An escaped prisoner who has been on the run for over three weeks has appeared on a podcast, saying being in prison was causing him “heartache”.Greggor Grey, who has so far served 17 years of a sentence for robbery, escaped from HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire in mid-May. Continue reading...

Diana Reid’s Love & Virtue wins book of the year and literary fiction category at Australian Book Industry Association’s annual awards in Sydney

However volatile her subject matter, her art never tells you what to feel, writes the Guardian’s art critic – although she could indulge in a kind of knockabout buffoonery

Minister expresses support for PM and admits making ‘mistake’ in standing against him in 2016Michael Gove has ruled out running against Boris Johnson again as a potential new Conservative party leader, as he admitted making a “mistake” by doing so in 2016.The levelling up secretary said he believed the prime minister was “doing a good job” after more than 40% of Tory MPs called on him to quit. Continue reading...

Under new laws, anyone found with amount that falls within threshold will be fined, but not charged

Age to legally buy tobacco should increase from 18 and continue to rise, government-commissoned review suggestsThe age at which people can legally buy tobacco in England should rise from 18 by one year every year until eventually no one can buy tobacco, a radical government-commissioned review has recommended in an effort to end smoking-related harm.The review recommends 15 interventions to give the government the best chance of meeting its national target to be smoke-free by 2030. They include promoting vapes as an effective “swap to stop” tool to help people quit smoking, as well as improving prevention in the NHS so smokers are offered advice and support to quit at every interaction they have with health services. Continue reading...

Defamation trial hears testimony from woman first employed as Burston family cleaner before becoming political staffer. Burston denies all allegations