IAEA says new hardline government in Tehran making oversight of nuclear programme impossibleEuropean powers and the US will decide on Friday whether to censure Iran in response to a damning report by the UN nuclear inspectorate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showing that the new hardline government in Tehran had made it impossible for inspectors to oversee the country’s nuclear programme.The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has warned any such censure motion, or a reference to the UN security council, could delay or prevent Iran returning to the talks in Vienna on how the US and Iran could come back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Continue reading...

Two months after 133 people died in the Ahr valley, residents say they feel abandoned by politiciansWhen she heard on the radio just weeks after floods had devastated her family-run restaurant and her home town that German authorities no longer classed it as a disaster zone, Paddy Amanatidis felt like she had been punched in the stomach.“It’s hard to be told that everything is supposedly OK when you have no electricity, no clean water, no heating,” she said. Continue reading...

Aboriginal leaders in Redfern say they don’t know where locals are catching the virus as NSW Health does not list exposure sites in metropolitan Sydney

Antony Blinken thanks Qatar and Taliban for facilitating flight that he says shows US commitment to help citizens and others who assisted USA flight carrying more than 100 international passengers out of Kabul has landed in Doha, the first such civilian flight since the chaotic evacuation of 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans sparked by the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country.About 113 people were aboard the flight to Doha operated by state-owned Qatar Airways, officials said. The passengers included US, British, Canadian, Ukrainian, Dutch and German citizens. Continue reading...

Asymptomatic woman isolating after testing positive but having no apparent exposure to another case or hotspot, as daily cases fall to 11

Exclusive: The woman’s 12-weeks premature baby was then taken to a separate hospital with better neonatal care resources

The 70-year-old singer and drummer calls his upcoming Genesis tour putting the band ‘to bed’British musician Phil Collins says he can barely hold a drum stick because of deteriorating health that has also forced him to sit while singing during live performances.The 70-year-old drummer and singer told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he was frustrated at the challenges he faced. He underwent surgery on his back in 2009 and again in 2015 that affected his nerves, and he also has diabetes. Continue reading...

People in Scotland will need vaccine passport to enter nightclubs and large events; German vaccine plan ‘not sufficient to stop fourth wave’

Sir Ken Olisa, first black Lord-Lieutenant for London, reveals he has talked about racism with royal householdThe Queen and the royal family are supporters of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, one of the monarch’s representatives has said.Sir Ken Olisa, the first black Lord-Lieutenant for London, revealed to Channel 4 that he had discussed the topic of racism with members of the royal household in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in the US. Continue reading...

Gen Hugo Carvajal, who had defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared, was arrested on Thursday nightPolice in Madrid have arrested a former Venezuelan spymaster on US narcotics charges nearly two years after he defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared.Gen Hugo Carvajal, who for over a decade was Hugo Chávez’s eyes and ears in the military, was arrested on Thursday night at a small apartment where he had been holed up. Continue reading...

Blaze in mountain range broke out late Wednesday and grew, fanned by winds of up to 50 km/hA worsening wildfire that kept advancing through forest land and prompted the evacuation of nearly 1,000 residents has claimed the life of one firefighter, authorities in southern Spain said late on Thursday.The blaze in a mountain range of the Málaga province broke out late Wednesday and grew, fanned by winds of up to 50km/h with shifting directions. 940 people were evacuated near the resort town of Estepona and three other municipalities, the Andalusia regional authorities said. Continue reading...

Term in office expected to be extended, despite calls for her to go from those who have won apologies from MetDowning Street has come out in strong support of the embattled Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, after a backlash to the government’s decision to extend her time in office.The formal announcement to extend her five-year term as Britain’s top police officer by two years, to 2024, is expected in days, multiple sources have told the Guardian. Continue reading...

QR code or paper document will be required for entry to nightclubs and large events from 1 October

Interior minister says UK plans to return boats of vulnerable people would not be acceptedPriti Patel has been accused by France’s interior minister of plotting “financial blackmail” and a violation of international maritime law in a deepening diplomatic row over efforts to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel by boat.Gérald Darmanin said that UK plans, released on Wednesday night, to send back boats of vulnerable people into French waters would not be accepted by his government. Continue reading...

Man, 66, admitted to freezing her body after she died before wrapping her in bandages to absorb any fluidAustrian police have discovered the body of an 89-year-old woman who died more than a year ago and was mummified in the cellar by her son who wanted to continue receiving her benefits.In a statement, police said the woman, who is believed to have suffered from dementia, had died in June last year. Continue reading...

Figure highest for almost six months leading to fears of resurgence in virus’ ability to cause serious illness

Massacre was perpetrated by fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, officials sayRebel forces in northern Ethiopia have been accused of killing more than a hundred civilians during fierce battles.Local government officials said the massacre in a village 6 miles (10km) from the town of Dabat took place just over a week ago and was perpetrated by fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Continue reading...

MP Nigel Adams, who spelt out the cuts, says it is wrong to say council can only make impact with offices in-country

Pubs, restaurants and retailers face significant legal and logistical questions about how they will manage their new anti-Covid obligations

Russian president and Belarusian leader negotiate over greater union of countries’ economies and policiesVladimir Putin is meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the Kremlin on Thursday as the two discuss negotiations to integrate their countries’ economies and government policies before massive joint military exercises.Ahead of the talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that no documents were expected to be signed, signalling that the isolated Lukashenko continues to resist pressure from Moscow to concede control over government policy in exchange for Russian support. Continue reading...

Study suggests a worst-case scenario where 97% of Afghans would sink below poverty line by 2022Afghanistan’s population of 38 million people risks being plunged into near-universal poverty faced with a “catastrophic deterioration” of the country’s heavily aid-dependent economy, according to a warning issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).The study, which examines a series of scenarios facing the already impoverished country under the Taliban’s new hardline rule, suggests a worst-case scenario where as many as 97% of Afghans would sink below the poverty line by next year – a staggering increase of 25%. Continue reading...

Macklowe collection includes works by artists including Picasso, Rothko and GiacomettiIt is a collection that has attained almost mythical status in the art world, one that contains spectacular works by Picasso, Rothko, Warhol and a nightmarish Giacometti sculpture of a Pinocchio-like nose in a cage.After a US judge ordered its sale to help settle a billionaire couple’s acrimonious divorce there has been a string of rumours and stories about who would sell the collection and when. Continue reading...

Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Rebel News needed to take responsibility for polarising opinion across the country about coronavirus vaccines.After the official French-language federal leaders' election debate, Trudeau was questioned by a member of Rebel News, which counts Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson among its contributors, about Canada's rules that exclude some from election press conferences.'I salute all extraordinary hard-working journalists who put science and facts at the heart of what they do and ask me tough questions every day, but make sure that they are educating and informing Canadians from a broad range of perspectives – which is the last thing that you guys do,' he responded. Continue reading...

Canadian PM’s response to Rebel Media goes viral after court victory allows them to attend election debateCanada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has slammed a far-right website in the final days of the country’s federal election, accusing it of spreading misinformation about coronavirus vaccines and contributing to the growing number of protests across the country.After Wednesday night’s French language debate between federal leaders, Trudeau was asked by a member of Rebel Media – a website whose contributors include Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson – if he would continue to exclude the group from covering the election. Continue reading...

Churchill’s grandson oversaw change that had almost no complaints until Daily Mail and Sun coverageThe Churchill Fellowship has rejected allegations by Boris Johnson that it has airbrushed out images of Britain’s wartime prime minister from its website in an attempt to rewrite history, saying its was proud of its association with the wartime prime minister.Several newspapers have carried reports suggesting that the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, a charitable foundation that funds UK citizens to study abroad, had changed its name and removed pictures of Churchill in an attempt to “woke-wash” his memory. Continue reading...

Aaliyah, 15, had been missing since leaving family home in Sidcup, south London, on Sunday eveningPolice searching for missing teenager Aaliyah Chen have found her in a south London nature reserve, her family have said.Aaliyah, 15, sneaked out of a window of her family home in Sidcup, south London, on Sunday evening and had been missing since. Continue reading...

Jordanian intelligence officer tells Guardian Lafarge factory was used by intelligence agencies to gather information on IS hostagesA cement plant in Syria at the centre of a terror financing investigation in France was used by western intelligence agencies to gather information on hostages held by Islamic State, sources connected to the operation have said.A Jordanian intelligence officer who was central to the spying effort has confirmed to the Guardian that the Lafarge factory, which continued operating after the terrorist group overran eastern Syria, in one of the most controversial episodes of the war, was the regional hub of a failed effort to rescue up to 30 hostages. Those IS held included the American journalist James Foley, British photographer John Cantlie and Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh, two of whom were later confirmed to have been killed. Continue reading...

Threats force several scholars to withdraw as ‘far-right fringe groups’ accuse event of being ‘anti-Hindu’An academic conference in the US addressing Hindu nationalism is being targeted by rightwing Hindu groups, which have sent death threats to participants and forced several scholars to withdraw.The conference, titled Dismantling Global Hindutva, which is co-sponsored by more than 53 universities including Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers, has come under attack after several groups in India and the US accused the event of being “anti-Hindu”. Continue reading...

Volunteers ‘operating blind’ about refugees’ needs, while hotels left with no staff to distribute aidThe government’s response towards families evacuated from Afghanistan to Britain has been “chaotic and uncoordinated”, hampering volunteers’ efforts to help, charities have said.One hotel where 50 babies were in quarantine with their families after fleeing the Taliban had no formula milk, they said. In other hotels, supplies of clothes, toiletries and nappies donated by the public were turned away by managers who had no staff to distribute them. Continue reading...

Is the $450m Salvator Mundi a fake? This film – featuring tearful sycophants, sneering experts, dodgy dealers and a secretive superyacht – may finally settle the great da Vinci controversyIt is almost exactly 10 years since Salvator Mundi was unveiled, this “lost Leonardo” instantly triggering astonishment around the world. Since those giddy days, the work has had a turbulent time. As well as becoming the most expensive painting in history, going for $450m (£326m) at auction, Salvator Mundi was denounced by many as a fake and subsequently vanished from view. The painting is now the subject of The Lost Leonardo, a documentary by Andreas Koefoed that opens in cinemas this week.“I would be surprised,” says Luke Syson, “if I went to see this documentary.” Syson is the curator who, back in 2011, first displayed The Saviour of the World, as its title translates, at the National Gallery’s Leonardo da Vinci blockbuster. Syson is probably making a wise choice. He’s in the film and the way he clams up mid-interview makes him look like the archetypal embarrassed expert caught out on screen. Continue reading...

Former UK prime minister urges rich nations to transfer unused supplies to countries in desperate need

Two-hour siege in which staff hid in safe room ends with officers leading away man in his 50s dressed in blackA man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after staff were taken hostage at knifepoint at a petrol station in Bristol.The man, dressed entirely in black, was seen being led away in handcuffs by officers after a two-hour siege within the Esso station on Hengrove Way in the south of the city. Continue reading...

Some people cannot prove they are in the country legally because of glitch in digital residency permitsEU nationals living in the UK who apply to change their status risk being rejected by landlords, employers and mortgage lenders because of an anomaly on the digital residency permits issued by the government.Before they can access public or financial services, EU nationals have to prove that they have been granted either settled or pre-settled status by the Home Office. Continue reading...

Ahead of the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark hitting cinemas, here are 30 organised crime flicks you must see before you sleep with the fishesOur criteria here is films featuring actual mobsters and the organised crime milieu – as opposed to hitmen, heists or bank robbers. Stefano Sollima’s punchy neo-noir, set in 2011, fits the bill with its imbroglio of crime families, political corruption and Rome real estate. Financed by Netflix, this is essentially a feature-length pilot for the addictive Suburra: Blood on Rome prequel series. Continue reading...

The Russian star brings his take on Bach’s Goldberg Variations to the Proms, having recently torn the piece apart with choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. He explains his new, ‘tree-like’ twist“Like climbing an infinite stairway, one step at a time.” That is how Pavel Kolesnikov describes working on JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations, one of the outstanding releases of last year. On Friday 10 September, he will perform them at the penultimate night of the Proms.“I’ve never had the chance to dedicate so much quality time to a piece before,” he says when we meet in a tiny cafe in central London. The city has been home since the Siberia-born Kolesnikov, now in his early 30s, came to study at the Royal College of Music. He had grown up listening to recordings of the Goldbergs by Glenn Gould and Rosalyn Tureck, but had never considered performing them himself – “I did not feel I had anything to add”. Continue reading...

Civil defence units and health personnel wearing gas masks and hazmat suits featured in celebrations in Pyongyang to mark the 73rd anniversary of North Korea’s founding, in a departure from previous militaristic displays Continue reading...

Peter Dutton meets with Jakarta counterpart, who says the two countries ‘would like to be even closer friends’

Fast-track scheme is aimed at those whose jobs put them at risk in pandemic

Justices decision to decriminalise abortion was based on human rights arguments and will mean fewer criminal investigationsActivists in Mexico have hailed a supreme court decision to decriminalize abortion, saying it would stop the legal prosecution of women who terminate their pregnancies – and those reported to the authorities after suffering miscarriages.The decision, handed down unanimously on Tuesday, declared that criminal sanctions for abortion in the northern state of Coahuila were unconstitutional. The decision sets precedent, according to lawyers involved in abortion cases, and will be applicable across the country. Continue reading...

Fourteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare?The quiz master is away, but do not fret. Before he left, a cache of documents written in invisible ink were entrusted to a secret operative in the Guardian offices, containing 14 questions on topical trivia and general knowledge. As usual, there’s a hidden Doctor Who reference to spot, a picture of our beloved Kate Bush, and one round that has anagrams in it just to be annoying. Have fun. There are no prizes, but let us know how you get on in the comments.The Thursday quiz, No 20 Continue reading...

Clare Dunne stars in and writes this self-empowering story of a battered Dublin cleaner who builds her own house, directed by The Iron Lady’s Phyllida LloydClare Dunne is the young Irish stage and screen performer who takes a commanding role in this heartfelt and engrossing personal movie: she is the star and co-writer with Malcolm Campbell (who scripted Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did). The director is Phyllida Lloyd, known for mainstream films like Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady, and she shows a confident touch with both the subdued moments, the intestine-clenching spasms of domestic abuse and the big C-major chords of emotional uplift. It’s a really unexpected drama: unexpected for a heartwarmer, unexpected for a tough social-realist picture, these being the two genres in which it finds a Venn overlap.Sandra (Dunne) is a young woman in Dublin who has had to separate from her toxic and violently abusive husband Gary (scarily portrayed by Ian Lloyd Anderson), taking her two young daughters with her, taking cleaning jobs and living in state-funded hotel accommodation near the airport where she is humiliatingly told to come in through the service door at the back so her evident distress and poverty won’t upset the well-heeled customers. The hatchet-faced concierge icily reminds her of this arrangement whenever she cowers past the sleek flight attendants and pilots in their uniforms who are overnighting there. Here is how Sandra gets her nose rubbed in the glamorous world of international travel, a brutal reminder of how she is imprisoned at home – and doesn’t even actually have a home. Continue reading...

Justin Welby says favouring wealthy pensioners over young and poor not a ‘people-centred policy’Boris Johnson’s plan to increase national insurance contributions to raise £12bn for the NHS and social care could pose a “serious problem” for low-income workers, the archbishop of Canterbury has said.Justin Welby said privileging wealthy pensioners over the poorest young people was “not a people-centred policy”, as he stressed the need for “intergenerational equity”. Continue reading...

Supermarket ‘closely reviewing’ report that found the certification system failed to prevent a mass fish kill in TasmaniaSupermarket giant Woolworths says it is concerned by claims an environmental certification scheme used to assess the Tasmanian salmon it sells may not be “fit for purpose”.The comments were in response to an independent report commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that found an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification system had failed to prevent a mass fish kill in Macquarie Harbour, on the state’s west coast, in 2018 because it was not designed to identify and address potential threats before they occurred. Continue reading...

Move aims to tackle decline in use of contraception ‘because it costs too much’, says health minsterYoung French women will be offered free contraception from next year, the health minister has announced.Olivier Véran said those under 25 would not be charged for medical appointments, tests, or other medical procedures related to birth control. Continue reading...

Prime minister says Pfizer’s ‘focus was not on Australia’ in mid-2020; NSW freedoms come into effect the Monday after 70% over-16 vaccination is achieved; state confirms five more deaths; new case in Qld quarantine; 107 of Victoria’s new cases linked to known outbreaks – follow the latest updates live

In Rajasthan a project developing self-esteem and skills is getting people off the streets and into workPandit Tulsidas, 52, was resting under a tree by a road junction in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he had begged for years.When an official approached him about a government scheme that would teach him job skills, he rejected the offer. When the man said his meals would be looked after and he would have a room to share with only one other person, he refused again. Continue reading...

Crackdown follows arrest of four members of civil society group that ran June 4th MuseumHong Kong authorities have raided the city’s Tiananmen massacre museum a day after arresting four members of the civil society group that ran it.The raid is the latest act by police in a sweeping crackdown on dissent and civil society groups that do not toe a pro-Beijing line, and came on the same day 12 activists pleaded guilty over a banned Tiananmen vigil last year. Continue reading...

New Zealand prime minister’s face shows full range of emotions after being asked about Auckland patient’s liaison that health chief called a ‘high-risk activity’

At Thursday's daily Covid-19 briefing, the typically unflappable prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, could barely contain her expression when asked to respond to an allegation that a visitor and a patient had sex in a shared room at Auckland hospital. The allegation comes as the Auckland District Health Board faces criticism for allowing hundreds of visitors a day into hospitals, despite the strict lockdown measures in place to help the country stamp out an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Thursday: Wilcannia residents have been targeted by a someone offering to treat locals with an unproven drug for Covid. Plus: the funniest things on the internetGood morning. NSW is due to reveal its roadmap out of Covid today, which is expected to hinge on the state’s vaccination rates. The UK has been criticised for reportedly dropping Paris climate goals in its trade deal with Australia. And the US walks a delicate line trying to seek a consensus position for negotiations with the Taliban.The NSW government will reveal its roadmap to economic recovery on Thursday at the 11am press conference. It is understood premier Gladys Berejiklian will unveil the plan, which will involve a cautious reopening of restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs for fully vaccinated patrons. It is expected that citizens will be allowed to attend pubs and clubs, get their hair cut and sit in cafes once the state reaches 70% double vaccination rates – most likely by 18 October.