A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Haiti to Pakistan Continue reading...

Karapiru Awá Guajá, among the last of the hunter-gatherer Awá tribe, survived a massacre and a decade alone in the forest, inspiring others with his resilience and ‘extraordinary warmth’He survived a massacre that killed most of his family in the Brazilian Amazon and lived for 10 years alone in the forest, but Karapiru Awá Guajá could not escape the pandemic.Karapiru, one of the last of the hunter-gatherer nomadic Awá of Maranhão state, died of Covid-19 earlier this month. With only 300 Awá thought to remain, they have been called the “earth’s most threatened tribe”. Continue reading...

Black Suffolk is a series of portraits by photographer John Ferguson of people from Suffolk’s African-Caribbean community. The pictures will be on display in an outdoor exhibition in central Ipswich from 30 July and throughout August. Ferguson said: ‘I have produced a new collection of portraits which explore the concept of home for a diversity of people in the African-Caribbean community in Suffolk. This theme creatively expresses people’s experience and interpretation of what exactly is home. Home can be a feeling, a physical space or a geographical place. Home can be a memory, metaphor or experience. The idea is to connect with the notion that our lives are inextricably attached to where we live, our homes, and Suffolk.’Black Suffolk is part of the six-month-long Aspire Black Suffolk cultural programme, promoted by Head East Continue reading...

The RSC and City of Culture’s free events include promenade performances and an installation by Tower of London poppy artistIn a celebration of one of the most religiously diverse cities in the UK, Coventry is to host 24 hours of art, theatre, music, food and debate aimed at exploring belief and promoting the connections between faiths.The Royal Shakespeare Company and Coventry City of Culture have teamed up to produce Faith, a series of free live events in September, including four promenade performances and an art installation by the creator of the 2014 Tower of London poppy memorial. Continue reading...

Censor, Prano Bailey-Bond’s horror debut, was inspired by the 80s home video outrage. She discusses art versus offence, while the BBFC’s head makes the case for its relevance todayRising film directors hailed as rock stars by the movie industry don’t always have much to talk about. Prano Bailey-Bond is different. Her first feature, the smart, playful horror Censor, is a talking point itself, an excavation of a murky British past. Then there is her background, of eye-opening things seen notably young. Her interview style is sharp. “I try to keep it fresh without changing the whole story,” she says.Bailey-Bond has dark hair in a fringe, a trace of a Welsh accent and the friendly, practical manner of a film-maker used to working on a budget. Censor is set in an unwell-looking London, circa 1985. The heroine – ish – is Enid, played by Niamh Algar, a film examiner at what we take to be the British Board of Film Classification. Her personal history is a risk for an organisation in crisis. That much is drawn from real life – the tinderbox era of video nasties. Continue reading...

Warning of possible infrastructure damage and travel disruption, with gusts of up to 75mph in CornwallWinds of up to 75mph (120km/h) will lash parts of south-west England as Storm Evert, the first storm to be named in the month of July, hits the UK on Friday.The Met Office said the newly named storm would bring “unseasonably strong winds and heavy rain” and would “get worse before it gets better”. Continue reading...

New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian pleads with Sydney residents to stay at home as 170 new Covid cases are recorded. She warns against people attending anti-lockdown protests over the weekend. 'Do not give those you love the most a death sentence. This Delta strain is contagious, it's deadly and it's affecting people of all ages,' she says. Chief health officer Kerry Chant says people are delaying seeking treatment, which affects the care that can be offered. She says her key message is get tested quickly if you have any symptoms including cough, fever, headache, loss of taste and smell, sore throat or muscle aches and pains. 'Just please, never be fearful of coming to a health services for care,' she says► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Proposed legislation would make it an offence to perform conversion practices on anyone aged under 18New Zealand has introduced legislation to ban conversion practices, saying the practice is harmful and has “no place in modern New Zealand”.Conversion therapy refers to the practice, often by religious groups, of trying to “cure” people of their sexuality, gender expression, or LGBTQI identity. Continue reading...

(Darkroom/Interscope)

Analysis: we have been here before with damning reports on race and policing, and we will almost certainly be here again• MPs rebuke police for systemic failure to improve record on race Race issues for the police – after the Macpherson report in 1999 – were seen as a problem mainly affecting the rank and file, which was dominated by the white working class. It was clear that policing would radically change only if government pressured it to do so. Promises were made and very basic targets for the recruitment of ethnic minority officers were set. So why are we still here?The bitter truth is because those who have the power to do something do not care enough, or lack the will, or focus, or think what the police are doing on race is enough. Critics would say those in power are hampered by institutional racism. The other possibility is that every report on this topic that raised troubling findings has been wrong. Continue reading...

Failings have led to ‘unjustified inequalities’, says landmark report that finds little progress in 22 years since MacphersonPolice and governments have done too little to stamp out racial injustice in the ranks, with the failings being systemic and leading to “unjustified inequalities”, a report by an all-party committee of MPs has found.The report by the home affairs committee was heavily critical of the progress made in the 22 years since the Macpherson report into why the white killers of Stephen Lawrence were allowed to go free, which blamed “institutional racism” Continue reading...

As Covid cases decrease in Melbourne, Victoria’s restrictions have been eased. Is there a travel radius limit? Is mask-wearing compulsory? Are home visits limited again? Here are the new rules

Yvette Cooper, chair of home affairs committee, wrote to Priti Patel after visiting Kent sites on TuesdayMPs have raised serious concerns about the “shocking conditions” they found in Kent holding facilities for asylum seekers, including an unaccompanied child housed in an office space for 10 days, and a girl forced to sleep on a sofa for days on end.Yvette Cooper, chair of the home affairs select committee, has written to the home secretary following a committee visit on Tuesday when MPs saw asylum seekers held in cramped, unsafe and “completely inappropriate” facilities. Continue reading...

Pakistan to require all public sector staff to get jabbed in raft of draconian measures; Israel to give people a third shot as efficacy wanes, reports say

Steve Wright, who killed five women in 2006, said to have been detained in connection with Victoria Hall’s deathA serial killer who murdered five women in Suffolk in 2006 has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of murdering a teenager who went missing on her way home from a nightclub nearly 22 years ago.The naked body of Victoria Hall, 17, was found in a ditch on 24 September 1999, five days after she was last seen alive in Felixstowe. Continue reading...

Rule would affect more than 2m civilian employees, but Republicans continue to block preventive measuresJoe Biden was poised on Thursday to announce that all civilian federal workers must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face regular testing and stringent physical distancing, masking and travel restrictions.Facing a political test as the Delta variant cuts a swath through unvaccinated Americans, the president was set to put the government in a position of leading by example and offer a potential model to corporate employers. Continue reading...

Criticism grows after concerns raised over whether there was too much focus on Covid cases in Réunion

Mostafa ‘Moz’ Azimitabar seeks damages for detention over 14 months in case that could carry implications for hundreds of asylum seekersA refugee detained for more than a year in two Melbourne hotels is suing the federal government for damages, arguing its use of hotels for immigration detention is illegal.Mostafa “Moz” Azimitabar is suing the Australian government in the federal court for unlawful imprisonment. He is seeking damages for his detention over 14 months in Melbourne’s Park and Mantra hotels. Continue reading...

The actor claims that the studio breached her contract by releasing her standalone Marvel adventure on Disney+Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the recent release of Black Widow.The actor is claiming that the studio’s decision to launch her first, and last, Marvel standalone film on Disney+ as well as cinemas is a breach of contract. Continue reading...

Female duo who approach older men including in golf club car parks are believed to have struck 14 timesPeople in the south of England have been warned to be vigilant if wearing high-value watches or jewellery after a spate of thefts by women approaching older men.Several expensive watches have been stolen in the car parks of golf clubs and most victims have been lone men aged in their 70s. Continue reading...

Strong winds have fanned multiple wildfires in southern Turkey, killing at least three people and sending many others to hospital as homes burned down in the blazes. A wildfire that broke out on 28 July near the Mediterranean coastal resort town of Manavgat, in Antalya province, had largely been contained, but another fire that started early Thursday and swept through the district of Akseki kept firefighters engaged.Wildfires are common in Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions during the arid summer months, although some previous forest fires have been blamed on arson Continue reading...

Benevolent dictatorship is not the answer to the region’s real problemsThis week has shown that Arab regimes are tough on dissent, but much less interested in its causes. This will create problems for years to come as these states struggle to recover from the pandemic. Tunisia’s presidential power grab is a test for Joe Biden’s democracy and human rights agenda. War has impoverished ancient centres of Arab civilisation. The UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia this week pointed out that poverty now affects 88% of the population in Syria and 83% in Yemen. Even nations once considered wealthy have been brought low by an unhappy meeting of leadership failures and Covid-19. Lebanon’s leaders are begging for foreign assistance after the local currency plummeted in value and the population ran short of food, fuel and medicine.The Arab world is a varied place. The latest UN survey shows it diverging into wealthy Gulf absolute monarchies; a set of middle-income countries with more people than their oil reserves can comfortably afford; war zones in some of the largest nations such as Iraq; and very poor states. The oil-rich sheikhdoms are pulling ahead and using their financial and military clout to extend their influence, often with disastrous results. The Arab region, says the UN, hosts more than six million refugees and more than 11 million internally displaced persons. There is little coordinated action to deal with the numerous social challenges, including growing poverty, increased unemployment and persistent gender inequalities. Food insecurity has spread. One can be too downcast: the UN hopes for a silver lining in the prospect of peace in Libya. Continue reading...

Inquiry into death of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 says state had created a culture of impunityAn independent inquiry in Malta into the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has found that the state had to bear responsibility after creating a “culture of impunity”.The 437-page report, conducted by a team of judges and released on Thursday, said the state “failed to recognise the real and immediate risks” to the investigative journalist’s life and “failed to take reasonable steps to avoid them”. Continue reading...

Sector urges government to ramp up in-reach Covid vaccination teams ahead of looming one-dose deadline

As the NSW Covid outbreak continues and millions of Australians struggle to access the financial support they need, the state and federal governments have announced increased Covid support payments. Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor and head of news Mike Ticher discuss if this expansion of financial support has hit the markRead more: Continue reading...

Delegation from militants meets Chinese foreign minister as Beijing seeks to extend influence in AfghanistanThe US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that Beijing’s interest in Afghanistan could be a “positive thing”, after China gave a warm and very public welcome to a senior Taliban delegation.Nine officials from the militant group, which is eager for political recognition to bolster the impact of its military victories across much of Afghanistan, met China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, in the coastal city of Tianjin on Wednesday. Continue reading...

President attempts to crush simmering insurrection with unprecedented offensive against Deraa al-BaladBashar al-Assad has attacked a former opposition stronghold with missiles and artillery shelling in an attempt to crush a simmering insurrection, in an unprecedented development in Syria’s decade-long war.Deraa al-Balad and its surrounds, a district of Deraa city in the southern province of the same name, was targeted with heavy weaponry in tandem with a ground push on three axes from two Syrian army divisions and allied Iran-backed militias early on Thursday morning, in a large offensive which continued throughout the day. Continue reading...

Latest updates: new infections rise second day in a row; figures came ahead of publication of Public Health England’s latest vaccine surveillance report

Two industries overtake hospitality sector as number on scheme drops by 590,000 after taper kicks in

India’s only all-women news organisation is the subject of an award-winning documentary. The film-makers explain their inspiring courage and energyA woman explains how a group of four men repeatedly broke into her house and raped her; six times so far. Did she go to the police? Yes, but officers refused to investigate. Instead, they threatened her and her husband. “These men can do anything. They can even kill us,” the victim says to the reporter, Meera, who is filming on her smartphone. As Meera leaves, the woman’s husband tells her that she is their only hope. “We don’t trust anyone except Khabar Lahariya.”Khabar Lahariya is India’s only all-female news organisation. Based in Uttar Pradesh, its journalists passionately believe in reporting rural issues through a feminist lens. Continue reading...

Analysis: Xi Jinping wants his country to appear more lovable, but critics say Beijing’s efforts are too superficialChina’s appointment of a new ambassador to the US has shone a light on the ongoing debate among analysts about how Beijing communicates with its biggest competitor, the future of its “wolf warrior” diplomacy and how Xi Jinping’s call to “tell a good China story” might work in practice.The debate over the “wolf warrior” style – under which, as the Chinese ambassador to Sweden said on Swedish public radio in 2019, “we treat our friends with fine wine, but for our enemies we have shotguns” – comes amid a burst of positive publicity that delighted Beijing’s propaganda officials: the foreign coverage of the herd of 15 wandering Asian elephants in southern China that captured the country’s imagination and led Chinese vloggers to travel hundreds of miles to take selfies with them. Continue reading...

Alla Mousa is accused of 18 counts of torturing people in military hospitals in Homs and DamascusA Syrian doctor has been charged in Germany with crimes against humanity for allegedly torturing people in military hospitals in his homeland and killing one of them, German federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.The federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe said in a statement that Alla Mousa, who came to Germany in 2015 and practised medicine before he was arrested last year, was accused of 18 counts of torturing people in military hospitals in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus. The allegations include charges that Mousa tried to make people infertile. Continue reading...

The government’s words at the global education summit are completely at odds with its behaviour. Whatever the event achieves will be despite its UK hosts, not because of themWith all the fanfare Covid would allow, the global education summit opened in London this week. Ahead of the meeting, the minister for European neighbourhood and the Americas was on rousing form. “Educating girls is a gamechanger,” Wendy Morton said, going on to describe what a plan would look like to do just that.The UK, co-hosting the summit with Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, plans to raise funds for the Global Partnership for Education, from governments and donors. The UK government has promised £430m over the next five years. Continue reading...

First Washington press conference stresses “mutual exploration, understanding and adaptation”China’s new envoy to the US, Qin Gang, struck a conciliatory tone in his debut press conference upon arrival in Washington DC on Wednesday.“I believe that the door of China-US relations, which is already open, cannot be closed,” Qin said, adding he would “endeavour to bring [bilateral] relations back on track, turning the way for the two countries to get along with each other … from a possibility into a reality. Continue reading...

Controversial £100m education centre to be built next to parliament, but opponents may launch appealA controversial Holocaust memorial and education centre is to be built in the heart of Westminster at a cost of more than £100m after the government gave it the go-ahead following a public inquiry.The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the decision, saying there was “something uniquely powerful about locating a memorial to the Holocaust right next to the centre of the UK’s democracy”. Continue reading...

We’d like to hear from people living in Tunisia about the political situationA decade after the revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, has suspended parliament for 30 days and dismissed the prime minister Hichem Mechichi in what critics have described as a coup. On Monday, Saied announced a month-long nationwide curfew.We would like to hear from people in Tunisia who are affected by the current political situation – what are your concerns? Have you taken part in the protests last week? What is the political atmosphere where you live ? Continue reading...

ITV is cancelling the TV talent show before it ‘fizzles out with a whimper’. After a decade of plummeting ratings, we remember its highs, lows … and Chico Time

Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a so-called freedom marchAn alleged Sydney anti-lockdown protester accused of punching a police horse called Tobruk will remain behind bars after refusing a Covid test that was a prerequiste for him to appear in court.Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a march in Sydney’s city centre where thousands of people defied coronavirus restrictions to attend. Continue reading...

People coming to the aid of the Wet’suwet’en nation to stop a pipeline are using direct action that is prompting terror chargesThe night of 28 November, Samantha Brooks, 24, hunched over the railway tracks near Bellingham, Washington, about 32km (20 miles) south of the Canada-US border and installed a “shunt,” according to trial documents obtained by the Guardian.Related: Dakota access pipeline: court strikes down permits in victory for Standing Rock Sioux Continue reading...

Catholic church had denied 13-year-old girl sexually assaulted and killed in 1955 a funeral due to arcane ruleThere had never been so many people at a funeral in the history of Montedoro, a village suspended in time among wheat fields and abandoned sulphur mines in central Sicily.Its 1,500 inhabitants had waited for this moment for more than half a century, and on Wednesday gathered in hundreds in solemn prayer in the village church around a small white coffin. Continue reading...

Fourteen questions on general knowledge and topical news trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare?Have you been enjoying the Olympics? Then why not go for gold yourself with the challenge of the Thursday quiz. A mix of general knowledge and topical trivia questions, all laced with a smattering of jokes, the ever-present Kate Bush, the odd irritating anagram, and a hidden Doctor Who Easter egg for you to find. It is just for fun, but let us know how you get on in the comments.The Thursday quiz, No 14 Continue reading...

Different restrictions for different local government areas leads to confusion – and that’s a disaster for compliance

Health experts say surge in cases amid Olympics could overload hospitals unless action taken

Foreign secretary says government will not ‘hold country back’ because some are not getting vaccinated

Former No 10 adviser pressed for appointment to be hurried through, saying he had ‘ordered it’ from PM

The inflammatory condition causes swelling of the limbs and affects more people in the UK than Parkinson’s or MS. For years it has been overlooked, but now awareness is finally growingFive weeks after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, Corinne Singleton was declared to be in remission. She skipped out of the oncology ward that day, ready to make the most of her retirement. Little did she know that her health challenges were far from over. “To be honest,” says Singleton, five years later, “the cancer was a breeze compared with the lymphoedema.”About a month into her recovery, Singleton, 60, noticed some unusual swelling of her upper thigh. “I just thought I must have banged it,” she says. When it persisted after two weeks, she realised, with a sinking feeling, what was the likely cause. She had learned about lymphoedema early on in her treatment for cancer, as a possible side effect of radiotherapy. “I remembered thinking: ‘I hope I don’t get that one’,” she says. Continue reading...

In the last month, devastating weather extremes have hit regions across the world. From flash floods in Belgium to deadly temperatures in the US, from wildfires in Siberia to landslides in India, it has been an unprecedented period of chaotic weather. Climate scientists have long predicted that human-caused climate disruption would lead to more flooding, heatwaves, droughts, storms and other forms of extreme weather, but even they have been shocked by the scale of these scenes

Fuelled by summer heatwaves, wildfires have swept through more than 1.5m hectares of Yakutia’s swampy coniferous taiga, with more than a month still to go in Siberia‘s annual fire season Continue reading...

Photographer Maroussia Mbaye spoke to women who said crushing social stigma, poverty and lack of traditional support systems had left them with no choice but to commit infanticideMbeubeuss is one of the biggest rubbish tips in Africa and Senegal’s largest open cemetery for murdered children. In the past three years, the bodies of 32 infants have been recovered from the site by the waste-pickers who work there.Looking at the high rate of infanticide in Senegal, it seems the main reasons for it are shame about pregnancy outside marriage and a loss of traditional support for young women. Continue reading...

Flights have reportedly been cancelled and checkpoints set up to verify travellers’ health status amid Delta