Extra cost of permission for British temporary staff to work in resorts likely to be prohibitive for firmsSchool skiing trips that rely on British personnel to staff their EU winter camps could be wiped out by Brexit after it emerged they are facing the same obstacles as the music and theatre sectors.Just like rock bands and music artists, instructors who work on the slopes of France, Italy or elsewhere in the EU are now required to have visas if they work in Europe, even if it is for just one week at a time. Continue reading...

Celebrated chef launches independent investigation after anonymous social media claims of ‘toxic workplace’Tom Kitchin, one of the UK’s most celebrated TV chefs, has suspended two members of staff and launched an independent investigation after a string of anonymous allegations from former staff that include historic claims of bullying and physical assault in his restaurants.Former staff have complained on social media that they faced a “toxic workplace”, with accounts including allegations that members of staff had been assaulted by senior chefs – including a case that resulted in a burn. Continue reading...

Tech firm, which just launched its IPO in New York, is latest online giant to be targeted by Chinese authoritiesChina’s internet regulator has launched an investigation into one of the country’s biggest ride-hailing services, Didi, two days after the company’s massive initial public offering (IPO) in New York.Some observers believe the move against Didi is part of a continuing crackdown by the Chinese authorities on what was once a loosely regulated technology sector. It follows government actions in recent months aimed at the online marketplace Alibaba, and social networks Tencent and Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok. Continue reading...

Residents recovering from record-breaking temperatures face a new threat, with more than 100 fires burningOn the heels of an unprecedented heatwave that left hundreds dead in British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province is now battling a fresh threat.More than 100 wildfires are burning across the province, as of late on Thursday, 86 of which started in the past two days. Evacuation orders and alerts have gone out in a dozen communities. The province’s premier, John Horgan, suggested that the crisis could become dire enough to see the Canadian military deployed. Continue reading...

Analysis: when the German chancellor steps down in September, her departure will leave a gaping holeAngela Merkel, now on an affable UK farewell tour including tea with the Queen, leaves a paradoxical legacy for many British.She is often hailed as the upholder of a liberal Europe that faced a populist onslaught from Donald Trump. But she is also the woman who refused to throw David Cameron a lifeline on immigration ahead of the Brexit referendum, judging it not in the national interest. But for Merkel’s stance then, her jocular host now might not have been Boris Johnson, who leaves her cold, but an ageing Cameron in his 11th year in office. Continue reading...

Decision to halt prosecution for murder of two British veterans is likely to affect other casesWhy have prosecutors dropped Troubles-era murder charges against former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland?A technicality, and a whole lot of history, lie behind Friday’s decision to halt the prosecution of two veterans. Soldier F had been charged with two murders and five attempted murders during Bloody Sunday in Derry in January 1972. Soldier B was charged with killing a teenager in the city in July 1972. Continue reading...

David Stirrup and James Mackay on Britain’s responsibility for systematic abuse and mistreatment of Indigenous childrenYour editorial on the atrocities against First Nations children in Canadian residential boarding schools (1 July) bore the subheading: “The discovery of hundreds of graves of Indigenous children is forcing a deeper reckoning with the country’s past.”I have to ask why you are fixing only on Canada’s history. All of the schools where human remains have been found were set up when Canada was a British dominion within the empire. The project of illegally expropriating Indigenous lands previously guaranteed under treaty goes back at least as far as the 1783 treaty of Paris, and one can draw a direct line from that act of dispossession to the eventual formalisation of the project of genocide in the boarding schools. Continue reading...

No laws were broken but brands failed to ensure workers were paid properly during the pandemic, says Clean Clothes CampaignCampaigners claim to have found evidence of “wage theft” in the supply chains of Primark, Nike and H&M in a report that outlines the devastating consequences of the pandemic on garment workers in Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh.Research by the Clean Clothes Campaign found that, while none of the brands had broken any laws, they had failed to ensure that their workers were properly paid throughout the pandemic. Continue reading...

Mixed reaction to revelation by governor who hopes to challenge far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro next yearOne of Brazil’s leading politicians, the presidential hopeful Eduardo Leite, has announced he is gay – a rare move celebrated by many as a triumph over prejudice in a country whose president has declared himself a proud homophobe.Leite, the 36-year-old governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, made the announcement on Thursday night during an interview with the country’s top broadcaster, TV Globo. Continue reading...

German rescue group issues video of Libyans’ ‘brutal attack’ on boat of migrant families in MediterraneanFootage has emerged that appears to show the Libyan coastguard firing on a boat in distress carrying migrant families in the Mediterranean Sea.Rescue workers from the German organisation Sea-Watch recorded the coastguard patrol vessel apparently trying to ram the small wooden boat and firing shots in an attempt to force the people onboard back to Libya. Continue reading...

Airline carried 5.3m passengers on 38,000 flights in June compared with only 400,000 a year earlier

Bessemer Trust, approved last year to be added as co-conservator, wants out after singer’s testimony that she opposed arrangementA wealth management firm that had been tapped as co-conservator of singer Britney Spears’ estate, has asked a Los Angeles court to withdraw from the case after the pop superstar’s testimony that she opposed the arrangement.Related: Trump legal troubles escalate after company charged with tax crimes – live Continue reading...

What travel restrictions apply for Malta, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Tunisia and Turkey?

We’d like to hear from those in Australia, and relatives living in the UK or elsewhere, about their experiencesThe Australian government has announced a four-stage exit plan for coronavirus, which will see the weekly cap on international passenger arrivals into Australia tighten from 6,070 to 3,035 by 14 July. It comes as cases of the more infectious Delta variant of the virus have risen across the country.We’d like to speak to those in Australia about their experiences, and also relatives in the UK and elsewhere, about how they’re affected by the situation. Continue reading...

EU vaccine passport scheme omits Covishield jab, despite it offering same protection as UK-made one

International Swimming Federation rejects use of Soul Cap, saying it does not ‘fit the natural form of the head’Swimming caps designed for natural black hair created by a black-owned brand will not be allowed at the Olympics.The hats, made by Soul Cap, which previously partnered with Alice Dearing, who last week qualified to become the first female black swimmer to represent Team GB at the Olympics, have been rejected by the International Swimming Federation (Fina). Continue reading...

Investigation finds UK Aid and USAid money went to centres where ‘condemned’ practice is routinely offered to LGBTQ+ peopleThe UK government is among major aid donors to have funded clinics in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that offer so-called “conversion therapies”, which pressurise gay people to “quit” same-sex attraction, an investigation has found.In a six-month undercover investigation of the centres, reporters from global news website openDemocracy were told being gay is “evil”, “for whites” and a mental health problem. Among them were facilities funded by some of the world’s biggest aid donors, including USAid and the British government’s fund, UK Aid, run by organisations such as UK-based MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International) and Swiss-based Global Fund. Continue reading...

Lauren Laverne, Isaac Hayes, and the other music stars who had equally unexpected second winds

He played through extreme drug-taking on Bowie’s Station to Station, and with Yoko Ono weeks after Lennon’s death. The guitarist explains why he’s great at backing legends – and terrible at selling timesharesIt’s not surprising that Earl Slick was in the middle of a tour when the first Covid lockdown began. The guitarist is, by his own account, “the biggest roadhog on the planet”, one of rock’s most celebrated sidemen: his association with David Bowie stretched over five decades; he has played with everyone from John Lennon to the Cure to Carl Perkins. This time, he was playing in the UK with his friend Glen Matlock, which meant he spent the first six months of lockdown living not at home in New York but in the former Sex Pistol’s spare room in London, an experience he winningly likens to the 1968 comedy The Odd Couple. Apparently, Matlock was the neat-freak Jack Lemmon character and Slick the more laissez-faire Walter Matthau figure. They put on shambolic Facebook live performances, which, Slick notes, “probably had more comedic than musical value”. Between songs, there was certainly a lot of peering at the camera and discussing whether or not it was switched on.Video-calling from his home in New York, he says he “lost a lot of gigs and a lot of dough” as a result of the pandemic, but at least he had time to put the finishing touches to a solo album, Fistful of Devils, his first in 18 years. It’s instrumental – a stark contrast to 2003’s Zig Zag, which featured Bowie, Robert Smith and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott among its supporting cast. “But when I go out live,” he notes, “I always go out with a singer. When I’m on stage with a singer, all my sideman tools get pulled out the box. Even if my name’s on the marquee, the main focus should be on the vocalist.” Continue reading...

Analysis: UK stands alone in pitting advanced vaccination programme against fast-spreading Delta variant

WA nears the scheduled end of a four-day lockdown for people in Perth and the Peel region, while the Northern Territory announced some restrictions for Darwin and Alice Springs post-lockdown, and South Australia introduced new restrictions for at least one week. What are the reasons you can leave home? Is mask-wearing compulsory? Is travelling permitted? Here’s what you can and can’t do.

Senior party figures tell attorney general there is ‘clear evidence’ of breach of distancing rulesLabour has formally sought an explanation from the government as to why there has been no investigation into whether Matt Hancock broke the law during his relationship with an aide, despite what the party called “clear evidence” of a breach.The Labour request, in a letter to the attorney general, Michael Ellis, comes as a political thinktank argued that Hancock’s behaviour highlighted the need for the ministerial code to be underpinned by law. Continue reading...

Attorney general orders temporary pause following historic use of death penalty under Trump administrationThe US attorney general has imposed a moratorium on all federal executions while the justice department reviews its policies and procedures on capital punishment. Civil rights and criminal justice advocates have been pushing for a halt following a wave of controversial executions under the Trump administration.Citing the disproportionate impact of capital punishment on people of color, and deep controversy over the drugs used to put people to death, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, ordered a temporary pause on scheduling executions. Continue reading...

Hospitals in Jakarta unable to cope with demand as Delta variant accounts for more than 60% of cases

For a while Australia seemed to be on top of Covid-19, but we have lost our way – and an ideology is to blameHas Australia lost the plot? It’s the question many of us are asking. Our pandemic response, for so long admired as world-leading, is rapidly unravelling before our eyes. And as a nation, it feels like we are unravelling too.Our tempers are frayed, our patience thin. We all want someone to blame. We’ve become a nation divided: by politics, by state, by age, even by vaccine. Continue reading...

Christos Pappas has been on the run since he was sentenced to more than 13 years in jail in October 2020Police in Greece have arrested the fugitive deputy leader of neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn, who had been on the run since he was sentenced to more than 13 years in jail in October.Related: Greece puts faith in judges to heal wounds inflicted by Golden Dawn Continue reading...

European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans condemns Janez Janša’s claims of judicial biasThe opening of Slovenia’s presidency of the EU has descended into farce as the European Commission’s vice-president refused to be photographed with the country’s rightwing prime minister, Janez Janša, after a bitter behind-the-scenes row at a launch event.During an opening meeting in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, with the 27 members of the commission, Janša had shown them a group photograph of a Slovenian judge with a Socialist and Democrat MEP and other members of the country’s Social Democrats party. Continue reading...

Government is reducing its contribution to the scheme, with employers having to pay a share

Red Cross says time is running out to repatriate women and children from ‘appalling conditions’ of al-Roj camp, where 60 Australians remainThe Australian government is facing fresh calls to repatriate women and children from camps in north-east Syria, with top Red Cross officials warning time is running out “to prevent further distress and suffering”.Fabrizio Carboni, a regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), described the situation as “one of the most complex child protection crises today”. Continue reading...

Rob Taylor will work with police to fight crimes ranging from the sabotage of an osprey nest to fly-tippingHis patch takes in mountain ranges, farmland, rivers, estuaries and almost 1,000 miles of coastline. His in-tray includes getting to the bottom of a dreadful act of sabotage on the nest of a spectacular bird of prey and making sure the arrival of tourists in the summer holidays does not lead to a spike in dog attacks on sheep and cattle.The Welsh government on Thursday unveiled its wildlife and rural crime coordinator, the first role of its kind in the UK. Continue reading...

British sprinter and her partner were stopped by police in July 2020 while driving with three-month-old sonPolice officers involved in the stopping, searching and handcuffing of the British sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner are now under investigation for gross misconduct over alleged racism and dishonesty, the Guardian has learned.Williams and Ricardo dos Santos were stopped on 4 July last year in north-west London by officers from the Metropolitan police’s Territorial Support Group. Continue reading...

Femke Halsema says city’s past is ‘indivisible from the persistent racism that still festers’The mayor of Amsterdam has apologised for former governors’ extensive involvement in the global slave trade, saying the moment had come for the city to confront its grim history.Debate about the city’s role in the slave trade has been going on for years but has gained more attention amid the global reckoning with racial injustice that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Home Office receives fivefold daily rise in applications as people tell of fear and angerThere was a fivefold increase in applications by EU citizens for UK settled status on Wednesday, with more than 50,000 people scrambling to beat the midnight deadline, it has emerged.Such was the last-minute rush that the Home Office extended the time applications would be accepted to 9am on Thursday. Continue reading...

Bronze artwork depicts princess flanked by children to represent ‘generational impact of her work’The sons of Diana, Princess of Wales have unveiled her long-awaited statue in Kensington palace. In the shadow of their mother’s likeness cast in bronze, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex put on a united front.With Diana’s siblings watching, William and Harry pulled away a cloth covering the monument that will remind visitors to her former home of Kensington Palace about its most famous resident. Continue reading...

Allen Weisselberg prepares to face charges in tax-related investigation at pivotal moment for ex-presidentThe Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, has surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as he and the Trump family business prepare to face criminal charges in a tax-related investigation.Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump family for nearly 50 years, entered a building housing Manhattan’s criminal court, where he and a Trump Organization representative are expected to appear later in the day. His lawyers said he would plead not guilty and would fight the charges. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands to demand Bolsonaro’s removal from office after incendiary reports on allegedly corrupt deals to acquire vaccinesJair Bolsonaro has been plunged into arguably the most treacherous moment of his presidency, as the Brazilian leader faces a snowballing scandal over allegedly corrupt Covid vaccine deals and mounting public rage over his handling of an epidemic that has killed more than half a million people.Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to return to the streets on Saturday to demand Bolsonaro’s removal from office – the third such mass demonstration in just over a month. On Wednesday a curious coalition of left- and rightwing opponents submitted a fresh petition for Bolsonaro’s impeachment after the Brazilian media published incendiary claims about supposedly dodgy dealings to acquire coronavirus vaccines. Continue reading...

With his new film, The Birthday Cake, out next week, we take a look at the best roles of the Scottish actor – and no, Phantom Menace is not on itLip-syncing in Dennis Potter’s 1993 musical drama Lipstick on Your Collar was all very well. Crooning for real opposite Nicole Kidman, McGregor looks and sounds strained to say the least. But then his entire floundering performance represents a mere fender bump in Baz Luhrmann’s car crash of a musical. “His idea of conveying high emotion is to let his mouth hang wide open,” noted the critic Anthony Quinn. Continue reading...

Exposure to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud reduces confidence in elections and factchecks have little effect – studyHappy Thursday,Republicans across the country have embraced a similar refrain as they push for new restrictions on voting. A significant chunk of the American electorate doesn’t have confidence in the results of the 2020 election, they argue, so new laws to restore “integrity” to elections are needed. Continue reading...

Regions speed up plans to vaccinate under-30s as more than 1,000 cases traced to Mallorca school trip

Violence is spiralling with militants seizing at least 50 of county’s nearly 400 districts since MayHaji Ghoulam Farouq Siawshani watched the Taliban rampage across northern Afghanistan this month, weighing up the threat from militants on his doorstep. Then, 10 days ago, the former oil trader turned militia commander issued a call to arms.“Where the Taliban go, they bring destruction, and they are one kilometre away from my village,” he told the Guardian. “We decided to respond.” Continue reading...

Satellite footage shows ‘alarming development’ that signals possible expansion of nuclear capabilitiesChina is building more than 100 missile silos in the desert, according to an analysis of satellite photos, which researchers say signals a possible expansion of the country’s nuclear capabilities.Analysts warned the expansion signified an “alarming development” but also urged caution against “worst-case thinking”, noting tension between major nuclear powers over disarmament. Continue reading...

Scheme requires tourists to stay on island for 14 days if they wish to travel elsewhere in Thailand

Prince William and Prince Harry will be at unveiling on Thursday, which would have been her 60th birthdayThe statue of Diana, Princess of Wales, to be unveiled by Prince William and Prince Harry on Thursday, will stand in a garden redesigned to offer a “calmer, more reflective setting” at Kensington Palace.Her sons are to put aside differences in their troubled relationship to focus on their mother on what would have been her 60th birthday in a small ceremony in the Sunken Garden, one of her favourite spots, where the statue will stand. It will be the first time the brothers have appeared together since the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Continue reading...

Jamie Spears said he’s had no power over his daughter’s affairs for nearly two years after pop star called court arrangement ‘abusive’Britney Spears’s father has asked the court overseeing his daughter’s conservatorship to investigate her statements to a judge last week on the court’s control of her medical treatment and personal life, which she called overly restrictive and abusive.James Spears, who goes by Jamie, said in a pair of documents filed late on Tuesday night that he has had no power over his daughter’s personal affairs for nearly two years. Continue reading...

Tehran’s insistence signals that issue is still a serious obstacle after three months of talks in ViennaA US guarantee that it will never unilaterally leave the Iran nuclear deal again is vital to a successful conclusion of talks in Vienna on the terms of Washington’s return to the agreement, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, has said.His comments are the clearest official signal yet that disagreements between the US and Iran on how such a guarantee might be constructed remain a serious obstacle. Donald Trump took the US out of the nuclear deal in 2018, only three years afterhis predecessor, Barack Obama, had signed it. Continue reading...

Warning comes less than 48 hours after unilateral ceasefire declared by Addis AbabaEthiopian military and diplomatic officials have threatened to send troops back into Tigray less than 48 hours after announcing that Addis Ababa had declared a unilateral ceasefire in the devastated northern province.The announcement on Wednesday that Ethiopian federal forces would withdraw from Tigray caught many observers by surprise, and signals a major shift in strategy. However, the new threat underlines the fragility of any current calm. Continue reading...

An obsession with sovereignty at all costs is not the right starting point for a post-Brexit economic modelThe purpose of Brexit is summarised by its advocates in a word – sovereignty. In practice, that means the power to enact laws that European Union membership would forbid. With the exception of border control, the leave campaign avoided spelling out what those legal departures might be.The picture is coming into focus. On Wednesday, the government described the outline for a system of industrial subsidy. These rules will replace the state aid regime by which Brussels enforces a level economic playing field between member states. The theory is that a nimble, proactive state can make strategic interventions to support up-and-coming sectors, enhancing British competitiveness. Continue reading...

The discovery of hundreds of graves of Indigenous children is forcing a deeper reckoning with the country’s pastIt is hard to fathom the full horror of what happened in Canada’s church-run residential schools for over a century: systematic abuse and mistreatment, on an industrial scale, with an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children ripped from their homes. The last school closed in 1996. Thousands have since testified to widespread sexual and physical abuse, forced labour on starvation rations, the eradication of their language and culture, and diseases allowed to run rampant. Some witnesses even spoke of killings. The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report called it cultural genocide.But it has taken the discovery of hundreds of children’s bodies to fully awaken Canada. Last week, 751 unmarked graves were found at a former school in Saskatchewan province, weeks after 215 were located in Kamloops, British Columbia. Murray Sinclair, who led the TRC, suggests as many as 15,000 died: one in 10 of the students. Since the state funded over 130 schools, and many more were run by churches, others believe the toll could be much higher. Continue reading...

Steve Bouquet, 54 convicted of killing nine cats, injuring seven and possessing a knifeA shopping centre security guard has been found guilty of carrying out a series of cat killings in Brighton, closing a case that had puzzled police for months.On Wednesday a jury at Chichester crown court found Steve Bouquet, 54, guilty of 16 offences of criminal damage, related to the nine cats he killed and seven he injured, and possession of a knife. He will be sentenced at a later date. Continue reading...

Former soldier told court he was aware he had classified commonwealth material but ‘didn’t think it was a criminal offence’The Australian federal police has refused to confirm whether it is investigating admissions made by Ben Roberts-Smith in court during his defamation trial that he held classified and secret material – including footage of a raid on an Afghanistan compound during which he is accused of murdering a man with a prosthetic leg – in an apparent breach of national security laws.Under cross-examination last week during his defamation trial, Roberts-Smith conceded he knowingly kept classified and secret material on a series of USBs at his Queensland home without authorisation. Continue reading...