World news | The Guardian

In this extract from a new biography, Gregor Paul tells how the legendary coach prepared for the 2015 World Cup final against the WallabiesIf it were possible to measure confidence on a device with a scale, Hansen’s numbers would have been off the charts in the week of the final. He wasn’t complacent, or arrogant – he simply knew that his side had the measure of the Wallabies in every way.He respected them, knew the dangers they posed and was aware that Australia had emerged through the so-called pool of death and were in great form, battle hardened and a different team to the one they had been a few months earlier at Eden Park when the All Blacks thumped them. Still, they left none of the residual doubt in Hansen the way the semi-final fixture against the Springboks had. Since Hansen had been elevated to the top job, the All Blacks had beaten the Wallabies eight times, drawn twice and lost once. Continue reading...

Onlookers bring deckchairs and binoculars to see the 400m-long Ever Given arrive at FelixstoweThe container ship that caused global disruption after blocking the Suez canal earlier this year has finally docked in the UK – four months later than planned.The Ever Given finally arrived at the Port of Felixstowe on Tuesday after gaining notoriety for becoming stuck against a bank of the major shipping lane in Egypt for six days from 23 March. Continue reading...

Residents north of Greek capital evacuated, while 42C heat forces Acropolis to reduce opening hoursThousands of people have fled their homes north of Athens after a forest wildfire reached residential areas. The hurried evacuations took place just as Greece grappled with its worst heatwave in decades.The blaze sent a huge cloud of smoke over Athens and prompted multiple evacuations near Tatoi, 13 miles to the north. Residents left their homes in cars and on motorcycles, heading toward the capital in a blanket of smoke. Continue reading...

Sudesh Amman was automatically released from prison 10 days before knife rampage despite police concerns, inquest jury hearsA convicted terrorist who was shot dead by police after going on a stabbing rampage had signalled his intention before he was released from prison to “commit jihad” and “kill the Queen”, an inquest has heard.Sudesh Amman, 20, was killed by undercover police on Streatham High Road in south London on 2 February 2020 after stealing a knife and injuring members of the public at random in broad daylight. Continue reading...

Hundreds take to streets of Indian capital after latest case of sexual violenceThe alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl from India’s lowest caste has sparked a third day of protests in the capital, in the latest case to spotlight the country’s high levels of sexual violence.Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Delhi on Tuesday holding banners reading “Give justice to the little girl” and demanding the death penalty for the four men accused of the crime. Continue reading...

Officials confirm all but one district of Lashkar Gah is under hardline Islamists’ control after fierce fightingTaliban fighters appeared to be on the brink of overrunning the key Afghan provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, as officials confirmed all but one district of the city was under the hardline Islamists’ control and residents were ordered to evacuate.Majid Akhund, the deputy chairman of the Helmand provincial council, said the Taliban had taken control of nine Lashkar Gah districts, as the Afghan government and US aircraft pounded their positions with strikes. Continue reading...

More than 50,000 hospitalized in US as of Monday, similar to rates seen last summerCovid-19 hospitalizations are surging across the US and stretched hospitals are warning that the overwhelming majority of coronavirus patients are unvaccinated and their serious sickness preventable.More than 50,000 people were hospitalized across the US as of Monday, according to the US health department. This is significantly fewer people than during the peak in cases, deaths and hospitalizations this January, but similar to the rates last summer when coronavirus vaccines were still in development. Continue reading...

President has stepped up crusade against Brazil’s electronic voting system – prompting counter-attack from superior electoral courtBrazil’s top electoral authority has launched a counter-offensive against Jair Bolsonaro’s Donald Trump-style campaign against the country’s voting system by announcing it will investigate his potentially criminal propagation of groundless vote-rigging claims.Related: Lula 2022? Brazil poised for sensational political comeback Continue reading...

French president’s TikTok session about Covid vaccine overshadowed by speculation over bird designWas it a bird, a subliminal message or a secret sign? Or was it just a logo of an owl on a T-shirt?Hours after Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to persuade French youngsters to get vaccinated on Monday, the buzz across the country was less of Covid shots and more of mysterious clothing symbols. Continue reading...

Angus Lapsley’s promotion not ruled out despite his mislaying secret documents in KentThe senior civil servant who misplaced 50 pages of classified Ministry of Defence documents, which were later found at a bus stop in Kent, was being lined up to be appointed the UK’s ambassador to Nato at the time of the incident, according to two government sources.The elevation of Angus Lapsley is now understood to be unlikely but not definitely ruled out in light of the unfortunate episode, in which the mislaid paperwork – some of which was marked secret – discussed sensitive deployments in Afghanistan and the Black Sea. Continue reading...

Barcelona city council opposes €1.7bn plan under which passenger numbers would reach 70 million a yearThe Spanish and Catalan governments have agreed a controversial plan to expand Barcelona airport that would increase passenger numbers from 55 million to 70 million a year.The €1.7bn plan, funded by Aena, the Spanish airports authority, is opposed by Barcelona city council. It will have to be approved by the European Commission, which has already condemned an earlier expansion carried out in the protected wetlands of the Llobregat delta. Continue reading...

PM gives full support to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and others’ efforts to bring down Lukashenko regimeThe UK is on the side of Belarusian opposition leaders trying to bring down the tyrannical regime led by Alexander Lukashenko, Boris Johnson has said.The prime minister gave his full support to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is at the forefront of efforts to restore democracy in the face of a crackdown on civil society in the eastern European country. Continue reading...

Members of far-right group in Scotland displayed ‘white lives matter’ sign atop UK’s highest peakRacists have been warned to stay away from Ben Nevis after a far-right group unfurled a “white lives matter” banner at the top of Scotland’s highest mountain peak on Sunday.Politicians, anti-racism campaigners and mountain rescue experts united to condemn the action by Patriotic Alternative, a UK white-nationalist group founded by Mark Collett, the British National party’s former director of publicity. Continue reading...

Charities warn of a public health emergency after data shows 4,561 deaths in 2020 – up 3.8% on previous yearDeaths from drug poisoning in England and Wales have reached a record high, with a growing number of people dying after using cocaine and opiates, data shows.Charities said the figures showed there was a public health emergency, with the pandemic negatively affecting those with addiction problems. In 2020, 4,561 people died from drug poisoning – the equivalent of 79.5 deaths per million people. This is 3.8% higher than figures for 2019 and the highest number since records began in 1993. Continue reading...

Police open murder investigation after activist discovered in park after failing to return from a runThe head of a Kyiv-based non-profit organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution has been found dead in a park in the Ukrainian capital, police have said, raising suspicion that he may have been murdered.Vitaly Shishov, the head of Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU), was reported missing by his partner on Monday after he did not return from a run and could not be reached on his mobile phone. Continue reading...

Items smuggled out after 2003 invasion include 3,500-year-old Gilgamesh clay tabletThe United States is returning more than 17,000 ancient artefacts that were looted and smuggled out of Iraq after the 2003 US invasion, including a 3,500-year-old clay tablet that bears part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Iraq has said.Tens of thousands of antiquities disappeared from Iraq after the invasion that toppled its leader, Saddam Hussein. Many more were smuggled out or destroyed by Islamic State (Isis), which held a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017 before it was defeated by Iraqi and international forces. Continue reading...

Best known for their global No 1 in 1987, the Los Angeleno band first emerged through the phlegm of the punk movement and are now returning to their rootsLos Lobos reached pop’s pinnacle in 1987 when their cover of La Bamba, recorded for a film of the same name, reached No 1 around the world. On their way up, and indeed back down the other side, the Los Angeles roots-rockers have mastered multiple musical styles during nearly 50 years together – from traditional Mexican folk to jump blues and avant-rock – and have earned 11 Grammy nominations (with three wins), working or appearing with Paul Simon, the Clash, film-maker Robert Rodriguez and more along the way.Now, to move forward, Los Lobos decided to look back. Native Sons, their 17th studio album, is a wide-ranging celebration of the LA artists that inspired the band early on. With covers of well-known pop tunes by the Beach Boys (Sail on Sailor) and Buffalo Springfield (For What It’s Worth) sitting alongside rare cuts from 60s garage rockers Thee Midniters and Latin jazz legend Willie Bobo, it’s the perfect polyglot collection for this multi-faceted ensemble. “You wouldn’t run into [these artists] at the same party,” says guitarist Louie Pérez Jr. “But once they all got to the party, everyone in the band thought, ‘Hey, this is kind of fun.’” Continue reading...

Critics say national cabinet roadmap appears ‘risky’ with Doherty Institute only considering best strategy for next six months

The Doherty Institute modelling is important but the PM’s presentation was likely incomprehensible to anxious Australians watching at home

Two clans brutally evicted to make way for tea plantations owned by white settlers are seeking reparations for rights violationsThe British government has been criticised by the UN for a lack of resolution over colonial-era crimes committed in Kenya.Six UN special rapporteurs have written to the government expressing concern over its failure to provide “effective remedies and reparations” to the Kipsigis and Talai peoples. Continue reading...

Labor opposition condemns decision to delay requests for papers as ‘completely unacceptable’After delaying sittings of state parliament for at least a month, the New South Wales government has cancelled another transparency process, citing Covid restrictions imposed on staff.Up to 10 “calls for papers” will not be processed because two of the three staff from the premier’s department responsible for sorting through the papers produced by departments are locked down in Covid-19 hotspot local government areas. Continue reading...

Gladys Berejiklian can’t say whether cases have ‘peaked’, as Queensland records 16 cases. This blog is now closed

Eight cases reported in city where coronavirus first emerged in 2019

Yakei took top spot after roughing up Sanchu, the alpha male who had been leader of ‘troop B’ on the island of Kyushu for five yearsIn a rarely seen phenomenon in the simian world, a nine-year-old female known as Yakei has become the boss of a 677-strong troop of Japanese macaque monkeys at a nature reserve on the island of Kyushu in Japan.Yakei’s path to the top began in April when she beat up her own mother to become the alpha female of the troop at the Takasakiyama natural zoological garden in Oita city. While that would have been the pinnacle for most female monkeys, Yakei decided to throw her 10kg weight around among the males. Continue reading...

Scrutiny board headed by Abimbola Johnson among initiatives that show police accept they need to changePolice chiefs hoping to pull themselves out of a race crisis have appointed a new tsar who has previously said black people fear calling on officers for help.Barrister Abimbola Johnson will chair a new independent scrutiny and oversight board as part of a promised suite of changes to policing meant to boost confidence among minority ethnic groups. Continue reading...

International Olympic Committee is waiting for a report from Belarusian counterparts on the incident involving Krystsina TsimanouskayaThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched an investigation into the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who took refuge in the Polish embassy in Tokyo on Monday after refusing her team’s orders to board a flight home from the Olympic Games.A spokesperson for the IOC said on Tuesday it was waiting for a report later in the day from the Belarusian National Olympic Committee on the incident that has rocked the Games. Warsaw has offered Tsimanouskaya a humanitarian visa. Continue reading...

Broadcaster complains about caution shown by ‘communists at Sage’ over reopening societyIt is a long list that includes travellers, cyclists, animal rights activists, lorry drivers, George Michael and Liverpool. Now Jeremy Clarkson has opened himself up to more anger after he criticised “those communists at Sage” preventing opening up because, he argues, “if you die, you die.”In an interview with the Radio Times, Clarkson gives his views on the pandemic and what should happen next. Many will find his thoughts typically boorish and insensitive. Continue reading...

The rapper and producer is on bail after an incident at a residential address in StreathamDizzee Rascal, the award-winning rapper and producer whose real name is Dylan Mills, has been charged with assaulting a woman following a domestic argument.In a statement, the Metropolitan police said: “Dylan Mills, 36, of Sevenoaks, Kent, has been charged with assault after an incident at a residential address in Streatham on 8 June. Officers attended and a woman reported minor injuries. She did not require hospital treatment.” Continue reading...

Proposals for tougher quarantine rules for some holidaymakers killed off after cabinet revolt

Brits return from Tokyo with haul of four golds, having finished third in swimming medal tableBritish swimming Olympians have landed back in the UK from Tokyo after returning from their most successful Games.Team GB finished third in the swimming medal table behind the US and Australia. They won eight medals this past week. The squad returned with a haul of four golds, beating the UK’s previous best performance, at the 1908 Games in London. Continue reading...

Armed surveillance officers shot dead Sudesh Amman after he stabbed two people in south London street, inquest jury hearsA convicted terrorist who went on a knife rampage wearing a fake bomb belt within days of his release from jail was shot dead by officers following him, an inquest has heard.Police had tried to block the release of Sudesh Amman, 20, because of intelligence that he wanted to stage an attack. He was in prison for terrorism offences. Continue reading...

Ashraf Ghani comments come as government forces battle to prevent Lashkar Gah falling to the TalibanAfghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, has blamed the speedy withdrawal of US-led troops for the worsening violence in his country, as government forces battled to prevent provincial cities from falling to the Taliban in a major escalation in fighting.Taliban fighters assaulted at least three provincial capitals overnight – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat – after a weekend of heavy fighting that resulted in thousands of civilians fleeing the advancing militants. Continue reading...

Tokyo Games wins in 100m and high jump in space of 11 minutes prompt outpouring of national prideStunned and ecstatic after claiming two gold medals in the space of 11 minutes, as Lamont Marcell Jacobs won the 100m final and Gianmarco Tamberi shared first place in the high jump, Italians have been celebrating a golden Sunday at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.“It is Italian sport’s most beautiful day,” said Giovanni Malagò, the president of the Italian Olympics Committee. “They have made history. Our grandchildren’s grandchildren will talk about it. This is better than the Eurocup,” he added, referring to Italy’s Euro 2020 football victory last month. Continue reading...

Australian shareholders will own about 18.5% of combined business under deal, which the two companies say will create an online payments powerhouseAustralian Stock Exchange-listed buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay will be bought out by US fintech giant Square for A$39bn.Digital transactions and point of sale business Square said on Monday it had agreed to purchase the company in an all-stock deal worth US$29bn. Afterpay shareholders will get 0.375 shares of Square class A stock for every share they own, or around a price of A$126.21 per share based on Square’s Friday close. Continue reading...

‘We will chop them up’: an Indonesian police chief implicated in alleged human rights abuses against a group of West Papuan activists was trained by Australian Federal PoliceCharles Sraun was chatting with five friends at a house in Merauke, the easternmost city of the disputed Indonesian territory of West Papua, when police stormed the building.The 39-year-old health worker says he and his friends, all members of a pro-independence organisation called the National Committee for West Papua, were beaten with batons, made to lie face down and some forced to undress, before being cable-tied and bundled into the back of a vehicle belonging to the Indonesian paramilitary police unit, Brimob. Continue reading...

Jury at Birmingham crown court convicts Carvel Bennett for crime in 1970s in what is thought to be first case of its kindA man has been convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, after the daughter conceived during the attack pursued charges against him.Carvel Bennett, 74, was convicted by a jury at Birmingham crown court. Members of the jury deliberated for just over two hours before finding him guilty. Continue reading...

Tour operators are calling on the government for clarity or risk further damage to the travel sector

‘He died as he lived, resisting’, says mother of young artist killed in Cali, as report claims authorities used systematic ‘pattern of violence’ in cityNicolás Guerrero, a 26-year-old artist from the Colombian city of Cali, took to the streets on 2 May to protest against the lack of opportunities he saw in his country. He had a family in Spain that he had hoped one day to bring to South America. But later that night, after riot police launched a brutal crackdown, he was found lying on the pavement, seriously wounded. He died hours later in hospital. Continue reading...

The agreement promises to compensate residents and ensure drinking water infrastructure is builtCanada’s federal government has reached a C$8bn settlement in two class-action lawsuits with First Nations communities over access to clean drinking water.The agreement promises to compensate residents, ensure drinking water infrastructure is built and modernize legislation – as First Nations leaders have been demanding for decades. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson has said Iran must face up to the consequences of its 'outrageous' attack on a tanker in the Arabian Sea that killed two crew, including a British national. The Liberian-flagged Mercer Street, which is linked to an Israeli tycoon, was hit off the coast of Oman late on 29 July in what is thought to have been a swarm attack involving multiple drones

Judge proposes compromise to settle dispute over home ownership with Israeli settlers in Sheikh JarrahPalestinian residents of the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah facing forcible eviction from their homes have been offered a compromise deal with Jewish settlers by Israel’s supreme court, in an unexpected development in the high-profile case.The session on Monday, which was supposed to reach a final decision on whether to accept an appeal from four Palestinian families over eviction orders in the decades-old legal battle, was instead met with a surprise entreaty from the judges for the two sides to accept a “practical solution”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: photographer casts models as characters, creating an amalgam with their ‘dæmons’The photographer Rankin has designed the covers for a forthcoming edition of Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials.Rankin, who has photographed everyone from the Queen to David Bowie, created eye-catching images for each of the three books, which tell the story of Lyra, an intrepid young girl who encounters otherworldly characters in parallel universes. Continue reading...

Niesr says even though UK will move from bottom to top of G7 growth table, there will be a hit to jobs

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has not directly criticised her government but her parents warned her not to returnJust two years ago, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was greeted by smiling Belarusian athletics and academic officials as she brandished a gold medal from the 2019 Summer Universiade, the young star’s greatest victory for her native Belarus yet.Now that same bureaucracy is threatening to tear her life apart, as her coach and a delegation official warned a crying Tsimanouskaya on leaked audio that she was “caught in a spider’s web” and suggested that cases of “excessive pride” often lead to suicide. Continue reading...

Officer tells inquest convicted terrorist bolted down street and stabbed two members of public in just over a minuteA police officer has described the final moments of Sudesh Amman’s life, during which the convicted terrorist bolted down a south London high street and stabbed two members of the public in just over a minute.Det Supt Dominic Murphy of the Metropolitan police said before the attack Amman had wandered from his probation hostel to Streatham High Road “apparently aimlessly”. Continue reading...

Yellow storm warning covers areas including Cardiff, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and LondonThunderstorms and torrential downpours could cause flooding across parts of southern England and Wales.The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for storms on Monday that covers areas including Cardiff, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and London and is in place until 11pm. Continue reading...

Bank helped by economic recovery from Covid-19 crisis in big markets including the UKHSBC has increased its bankers’ bonus pool and announced fresh shareholder payouts after profits grew more than fourfold in the second quarter, thanks to an economic rebound in key markets, including the UK.The London-headquartered bank said it had increased its banker bonus pool by $900m in order to compensate its star staff in the first half of the year, compared with a $600m increase during the same period in 2020 when its profits suffered from the onset of the Covid-19 crisis. Continue reading...

Case before Swedish court may reveal further details about Ebrahim Raisi’s role in mass executions in 1988The war crimes trial in Sweden of a former Iranian official could reveal further damaging details about the role played in the mass execution of prisoners 30 years ago by Iran’s president-elect, Ebrahim Raisi, barely a week after his inauguration.Hamid Noury, 60, was charged last week with “war crimes and murder” over the killings of more than 100 armed opponents and political prisoners during the final year of the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq. Continue reading...

At least five people were wounded and holidaymakers evacuated after wildfires devastated a pine wood near a beach in Pescara, Italy, as one of the worst heatwaves in decades swept across south-east Europe.About 800 people were evacuated from their homes, including a convent of nuns, after a fire broke out in the 53-hectare (131-acre) Pineta Dannunziana nature reserve, as the fires continue to be active on different fronts

Many of us are returning to the office or socialising for the first time in a year – and may be feeling anxious about physical changes. Here’s how to feel a little bit better about yourselfAs pandemic restrictions are lifted in England, many of us will be returning to offices and meeting up with friends for the first time in more than a year – and some of us may not look the same way we did in pre-Covid times. We may have gained weight, or lost muscle, or simply look more tired than before. Perhaps we harboured vague goals of returning to the world with sculpted abs and perky posteriors, but life in a pandemic puts paid to the best-laid plans. So how do you feel OK about your body as the country begins to open up? The experts weigh in. Continue reading...