Exclusive: Guardian Australia uncovers multiple near-identical phrases and scenes in John Hughes’ book The Dogs and Svetlana Alexievich’s nonfiction work The Unwomanly Face of War

Premier announces $742m for end-of-life care while acknowledging he ‘failed’ to address issue as treasurer

No one was hurt in the apparent drive-by shooting at the Sunnybanks Hills property

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who recently stood down from Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art after 22 years, recalls ‘being yelled at’ by male politicians in new interview

Retailer aims to start work on flats furnished with own products in Bromley, Ealing and Reading in 2024John Lewis has chosen Bromley, Ealing and Reading as the pilot locations for its venture into building branded homes for the rental market, as the staff-owned retailer tries to create new communities around its stores.Unveiling its plans in detail for the first time, the company said its one-, two- and three-bedroom flats will be furnished with John Lewis products and come complete with communal areas such as roof gardens, gyms, flexible office space or meeting rooms where events will be hosted to bring people together. The spaces will be used to host community and social events, attracting renters with an offer that is about “more than just four walls”, the company said. Continue reading...

Katharine Birbalsingh says aim is to move away from fixation on small minority of rags to riches talesThe new head of the Social Mobility Commission will call for a move away from the fixation with rags to riches tales of “caretaker’s daughter goes to Oxbridge and becomes a top surgeon” and highlight instead the value of “small steps up the ladder”.In her inaugural speech as the SMC’s chair, Katharine Birbalsingh will appeal for a radical rethink of what social mobility means, saying it should not just be about opening up elite pathways for the few. She will also echo the government’s view that widening access to university has “not always brought the dividends hoped for”, although more than 80% of sixth-formers at the school where she is headteacher went on to Russell Group universities last year. Continue reading...

PM pledges £80m of government funding to move industry to circular modelThere has been little cause for celebration in Downing Street this week. But on Wednesday evening the prime minister, accompanied by his wife, Carrie Johnson, and their children, hosted a champagne reception in honour of sustainable fashion.Boris Johnson pledged £80m in government funding for a programme of structural change which the British Fashion Council believes can move the UK industry toward a circular model. Continue reading...

Russian state media shows Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, appearing in court in DonetskRussia-Ukraine war: latest developmentsTwo British men captured by Russian forces while fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers face 20 years in prison, according to a video shared by Russian state media.Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were serving in the Ukrainian military, were detained in April while fighting in Mariupol. Continue reading...

Credit Suisse, one of Gupta’s main creditors, started insolvency hearings against GFG companies last monthSanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has failed in an attempt to have a winding-up order thrown out on the grounds that the metals group’s struggles were caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Credit Suisse, one of Gupta’s main creditors, started insolvency hearings against GFG companies last month, in a move that raised concerns for the jobs of 35,000 workers in the UK and in operations around the world. US bank Citibank has brought the claim on behalf of Credit Suisse, its client. Continue reading...

Seven Frenchmen and Italian on trial for theft of work thought to be a tribute to victims of Paris attacksThieves who stole a mural by the street artist Banksy on an emergency exit door of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris used a crowbar and angle grinder to prise it free, in a crime that lasted just minutes, a French court heard.The work depicting a veiled and mournful figure is thought to have been a tribute to victims of the Islamist militant attacks against the Bataclan and other entertainment venues in Paris in 2015. Continue reading...

Analysis: The question is not what is in the Khan review but whether its recommendations will be implement• Plan to raise smoking age to 21 to be unveiled amid cabinet splitsWhile much has been made recently of the danger posed by soaring obesity levels, tobacco remains the biggest public health threat the world has ever faced.Despite its risks being known for decades, 1.3 billion people globally still use tobacco products. They kill 8 million people every year, and more than one million of whom die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Continue reading...

Police say 14 children on school trip injured on road adjacent to 2016 fatal attackA man has been detained after driving his car into a crowd of people in western Berlin, killing a teacher and injuring 14 children who were on a school trip, police have said.The man drove into people on a street corner before getting the car back on the road and crashing into a shop window further on. Continue reading...

Charges against former film producer relate to alleged assault in London in 1996, CPS saysHarvey Weinstein will face two charges of indecent assault against a woman in London in 1996, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced.After a review of evidence gathered by the Metropolitan police, the CPS gave the force the green light to charge the former Hollywood film producer on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Analysis: while Tories try to make capital from Corbyn era, Labour seeks to put onus on ministers to resolve rowNo one asked Boris Johnson about the looming train and tube strikes at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, but he managed to shoehorn the subject in anyway, to have a dig at Keir Starmer.“Have we heard any condemnation yet, from the opposition, of the RMT and their reckless and wanton strike?” he asked in response a question about passport backlogs. Continue reading...

Candida Uderzo says she likes to be autonomous as she joins at least two other centenarians deemed fit to drive in ItalyAn Italian woman has had her driving licence renewed at the age of 100, becoming at least the country’s third centenarian in recent years deemed fit to get behind the wheel.Candida Uderzo was given a new licence after passing an eye test at a driving school in the northern province of Vicenza. Continue reading...

John Pettigrew lands £6.5m payday, far outstripping the average FTSE 100 remunerationThe chief executive of National Grid has been criticised after he saw his pay packet swell by more than £1m while Britons battle rising energy bills.John Pettigrew landed a £6.5m payday for the year to the end of March 2022, a year which saw the country plunged into an energy crisis. Continue reading...

Suicide bombings threatened after ‘slandering’ comments made by Hindu Bharatiya Janata partyAl-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent has said it plans to carry out suicide bombings in revenge for the “insulting and slandering” remarks made by leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party about the prophet Muhammad and his wife, Aisha.The Indian news agency ANI has reported that in a letter dated 6 June, AQIS – the regional branch of al-Qaida – warned that Hindu nationalist “terrorists should now await their end in Delhi and Bombay and in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat”. Continue reading...

Scientists warn that BA.4 and BA.5 are more contagious forms that could escape immunity from past infections and vaccinationsTwo new sub-variants of Omicron are spreading throughout the US, leaving experts concerned about their transmissibility amid America’s ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Tuesday, sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 now account for almost 13% of all new Covid-19 cases in the US between 29 May and 4 June, making up 5.4% and 7.6% of cases, respectively. Continue reading...

Cambodia says facilities at Ream naval base will not be for exclusive use of Chinese military, while Beijing denounces ‘malicious conjecture’Chinese and Cambodian officials attended a ceremony for a controversial naval port expansion on Wednesday, dismissing reports that the base will provide a crucial strategic foothold for Beijing.Officials broke ground at the Ream naval base, turning over shovels of dirt as work commenced on a China-funded renovation of Ream, Cambodia’s biggest naval base. Continue reading...

Building in upstate New York New had its windows smashed and premises allegedly firebombedPolice are investigating a suspected arson attack at an anti-abortion clinic in upstate New York in which a facility describing itself as a “pro-life medical office” had its windows smashed and premises allegedly firebombed.The fire broke out early on Tuesday morning at the CompassCare “community medical facility” in Amherst, New York. Extensive damage was caused that will take months to repair, the group said. Continue reading...

Incident at world heritage site comes fortnight after another tourist drove a Maserati down the stepsAn American tourist has caused €25,000 (£21,000) worth of damage after hurling her electric scooter down Rome’s Spanish Steps.The incident was filmed by a passerby in the early hours of Friday. Police later caught up with the 28-year-old and fined her and a 29-year-old male companion, who had wheeled his e-scooter down the 18th-century marble steps. Continue reading...

Inditex experiences ‘significant rebound in traffic’ to stores that offsets 6% decline onlineThe owner of Zara has revealed a 36% jump in sales this spring as shoppers flooded back to its high street outlets after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.Inditex, which also owns Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka, said total sales rose to €6.7bn in the three months to 30 April as there was a “significant rebound in traffic” to stores that offset a 6% decline online. Continue reading...

Health secretary says ‘I don’t think it’s right’ after reported amendments to advice pages about ovarian cancerSajid Javid has said he disagrees with the NHS reportedly removing the word “women” from some of its online guidance, after campaigners criticised the health service for its choice of wording on a webpage about ovarian cancer.The health secretary said “common sense and the right language” should be used to “give people the best possible patient care”. Continue reading...

Government must make clear whether it has power to legislate for another poll, say opposition partiesThe Scottish government has been urged to “come clean once and for all” about whether it has the power to legislate for a second independence referendum at Holyrood.A limited selection of legal advice was published on Tuesday after a lengthy freedom of information battle with the Scotsman newspaper, but the key question of whether the SNP government has been advised that putting forward a bill for a second independence referendum is within the powers of the Scottish parliament is not included in the disclosure. Continue reading...

People will be allowed to grow it at home but smoking for recreational purposes is still forbiddenThailand will soon ease its rules on cannabis and allow people to grow the plant at home – but smoking for recreational purposes is still forbidden, and officials have warned that anyone who creates a smell by doing so in public could be charged.From Thursday, Thailand will remove cannabis and hemp plants from its narcotics list, part of a drive to tap into the growing interest in infused drinks and medical treatments. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary says UK government ignoring catastrophe as millions of Afghans go hungryThe shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has flown to Kabul to see at first-hand the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.Lammy is the first senior British politician to visit the country since the west’s chaotic pullout last August. He is being accompanied on his visit by Preet Gill, the shadow minister for international development. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt questions ‘morally dubious’ recruitment as thousands hired from poorer countriesThe NHS is hiring more doctors from outside the UK and the European Economic Area than from within for the first time, setting off a moral argument over the health service’s growing mentality of “poaching” from the developing world.Unpublished figures from the General Medical Council (GMC) show that 7,377 (37%) of the 19,977 doctors who started work in the NHS in 2021 had a British qualification. Continue reading...

Covid and crackdowns also blamed as researchers find half of pills sold as MDMA at festivals in England contained none of the drugSummer festivalgoers are being warned that an “unprecedented shift” in the drug market caused by a combination of Brexit, Covid lockdowns and police operations against supply chains has led to a sharp and potentially harmful increase in fake MDMA.Criminologists and chemists have found that almost half of substances sold as MDMA (ecstasy) at festivals in England last year did not contain any of the drug. Continue reading...

Advocates call for NDIA to be led by person with disability after Martin Hoffman steps down as chief executive

Communications industry peak body and watchdog sees telcos block more than 549m scam calls since inception of code

Anthony Albanese says he is proud to see Tamil family returning home, but their long-term status remains unresolved

Police say deaths appear suspicious after bodies found at Canterbury apartment

Ukrainian forces fight to stave off Russian attacks in Sievierodonestk as 800 civilians reportedly take refuge in a chemical factory in the city

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereA Fiji court has ruled Russian-owned superyacht Amadea be removed from the Pacific island nation by the United States because it was a waste of money for Fiji to maintain the vessel amid legal wrangling over its seizure. The yacht is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.The FBI has said the $300m luxury vessel had running costs of more than $25m per year, and the US would pay to maintain the vessel after it was seized. However, the Fiji government has been footing the bill while an appeal by the vessel’s registered owner, Millemarin Investments, worked its way through Fiji’s courts.

Department of Health and Social Care press release cited negative behaviours but not findings of political pressureBullying, discrimination and shifting the blame when things go wrong are rife in the NHS, a government-commissioned inquiry into health service leadership has found.But NHS England bosses are fearful that Sajid Javid will use the report’s findings selectively to paint an unfair picture of the behaviour of senior managers. Continue reading...

Research by Royal College of Nursing suggests racism is ‘endemic’ in health and careWhite nurses are twice as likely as black and Asian colleagues to be promoted in the NHS, with minority ethnic staff overlooked due to structural racism, according to research.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said its study suggests racism is “endemic” in health and care. A survey of almost 10,000 nursing staff found that those who are white or of a mixed ethnic background are more likely than black and Asian colleagues to have received at least one promotion since the start of their career. Continue reading...

Former German chancellor claims her opposition to Ukraine’s Nato membership helped countryAngela Merkel has said she feels no regrets for her handling of Vladimir Putin during her time in power, arguing that Russia’s president would have perceived a 2008 Nato membership plan for Ukraine that was blocked by her government as a “declaration of war”.The former German chancellor also claimed that an oligarch-run and democratically immature Ukraine would have been less prepared for an invasion then than it is now. Continue reading...

Binding targets for boardroom gender equality come 10 years after proposals first madeThe EU has agreed that companies will face mandatory quotas to ensure women have at least 40% of seats on corporate boards.After 10 years of stalemate over the proposals, EU lawmakers hailed a “landmark” deal for gender equality. As well as the legally binding target, companies could also be fined for failing to recruit enough women to their non-executive boards and see board appointments cancelled for non-compliance with the law. Continue reading...

High-profile MPs back demand from Adam Smith Institute to reduce tax burden and ease cost of living crisisSenior Conservatives from across the party have renewed calls for Boris Johnson to implement urgent tax cuts as Downing Street played down the prospects of a shift in policy.A string of high-profile MPs, from Steve Baker on the party’s right wing to Damian Green on its left, have backed a fresh demand from the Adam Smith Institute for the government to reduce the tax burden. Continue reading...

Wednesday: Labor government urged to provide $1,000 emergency payments to those on low fixed incomes hit by power price rises. Plus: Selwyn Cobbo’s incredible rise

Mayor of Cuernavaca was inaugurating structure when it gave way, injuring eight people, many with broken bonesThe mayor of the Mexican city of Cuernavaca was proudly inaugurating a footbridge over a scenic stream on Tuesday when the bridge collapsed, sending him and about two dozen other people plunging into a gully.The hanging bridge made of wooden boards and metal chains had recently been remodeled. Video of the collapse suggested the boards separated from the chains supporting them. Continue reading...

Daughter of Peter R de Vries tells his alleged killers ‘I hate you’ and says her father was a heroThe children of a Dutch crime reporter who was fatally shot last year have confronted his alleged killers in court.Peter R de Vries, 64, was shot in the head outside an Amsterdam television studio in July 2021 in a crime that prosecutors say was linked to his role in the trial of a Dutch drugs mafia kingpin. Continue reading...

Non-stop street fighting and bombardments as Kremlin seeks full control of Luhansk provinceRussian forces are bombarding Ukrainian positions in the symbolic eastern city of Sievierodonetsk with intense artillery barrages, airstrikes and non-stop street-by-street fighting, according to the governor of Luhansk province.After a Ukrainian counterattack over the weekend, Russian soldiers were seeking to regain the initiative. They were trying to move forward to dislodge Ukrainian fighters from their last stronghold in an industrial zone. Between 10,000 and 11,000 civilians remain in the city. Continue reading...

The lead vocalist of the pair known for 1970s hits like Summer Breeze and Diamond Girl has diedJim Seals, of music duo Seals and Crofts, has died at the age of 80.The lead vocalist of the pair, known for hits such as Summer Breeze and Diamond Girl, died on Monday. The cause of death is unknown. Continue reading...

Workers to strike on 21, 23 and 25 June over possible job cuts at Transport for London and national rail networkRail workers are to strike for three days in late June, in a move that is likely to halt much of the national rail network across Britain for a week.The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has told members to prepare to “shut down the rail system” with strikes on 21, 23 and 25 June, after a ballot of 40,000 members last month resulted in staff at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies voting overwhelmingly for full-scale industrial action. Continue reading...

US authorities claim vessel is beneficially owned by sanctioned oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, one of Russia’s richest men

Russia claims control of 97% of Luhansk as UN warns war is creating a human trafficking crisis

Actor thanks his ‘most treasured, loyal and unwavering supporters’ following his defamation trial against Amber HeardJohnny Depp has posted a message to his “most treasured, loyal and unwavering supporters” on Instagram and TikTok on Tuesday, days after winning a defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.In the post, the 58-year-old actor wrote to his fans: “We’ve been everywhere together, we have seen everything together. We have walked the same road together. We did the right thing together, all because you cared. And now, we will all move forward together. You are, as always, my employers and once again I am whittled down to no way to say thank you, other than just by saying thank you. So, thank you. My love & respect, JD.” Continue reading...