Exclusive: special rapporteur Tom Andrews says crimes against humanity are happening ‘before our very eyes’ and calls for urgent action against military juntaA top United Nations expert is in direct talks with the Australian government about how to expand sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime, and warned that crimes against humanity are being “committed before our very eyes”.Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, told Guardian Australia the government should target the commander-in-chief, whom he described as “the gang leader” responsible for mass atrocities, and should link additional sanctions with those imposed by other countries. Continue reading...

Analysis: Ukraine’s military is in better shape than at outbreak of war in 2014, but still no match for Russia’s larger forceRussia’s unexplained buildup along Ukraine’s border set alarm bells ringing in the west last month as military analysts noted unusual flourishes – such as new field hospitals, long-distance shipments of armour and artillery and last-minute railcar bookings – that did not feel like a normal exercise.Whether it is merely an attention-grabbing feint or a prelude to an escalation will depend on the Kremlin’s will. But through the buildup, Russia has already signalled that if a larger war does take place, it is prepared to deliver a hammer blow to its neighbour. Continue reading...

Labour claims ‘sleaze is now at heart of this Tory government’ and says current inquiry is ‘inadequate, and deliberately so’Tory MPs have voted en masse to block a broader inquiry into the Greensill scandal as Labour claimed there was now evidence of sleaze at the heart of government.The opposition day motion in the Commons, which would have created a cross-party committee of MPs to look into Greensill and wider issues of lobbying, was defeated by 357 votes to 262, after the government opposed the plan. Continue reading...

The late Duke of Edinburgh passionately supported invention and engineering, writes Roland HillYour obituary, editorial and other pages devoted to the Duke of Edinburgh (9 April) omitted his passionate support of design, invention and engineering.From working as a young engineer in London in the 1960s and seeing the Prince Philip designer’s prize (1959-2011) displayed at the Design Council’s showroom on Haymarket, to his impassioned BBC Radio 4 Today programme statement in 2016 that “everything that wasn’t invented by God is invented by an engineer”, I have seen him consistently champion these crucial parts of our economy. Indeed, he has been followed by other members of the royal family, which I can say, as a beneficiary of a BBC Tomorrow’s World Prince of Wales award for innovation in 1990, greatly helps international licensing of our inventions. Continue reading...

After 20 years of liberty, female education is once again threatened by hardline IslamistsOutside a college from which their mothers were banned, the women waited for friends finishing exams they fear will be some of the last they can take. “The Americans are leaving,” said Basireh Heydari, a Herat University student. “We have terrible days ahead with the Taliban. I’m worried they won’t let me leave the house, let alone what I’m doing now.”The Biden administration’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by 11 September will bring an end to the US’s longest war. With Nato allies such as Germany already announcing on Wednesday that they will follow Washington’s lead and exit the country, Afghans fear an intensification of fighting between the national government and the Taliban, who were ousted by the US-led intervention two decades ago. Continue reading...

Three European countries say there is no ‘credible civilian need’ for enriching uranium to 60%France, Germany and the UK have warned that Iran took a dangerous step towards the production of a nuclear weapon by enriching uranium to levels for which there is no “credible civilian need”.Tehran, which claims its nuclear ambitions are limited to creating energy, announced this week it was boosting its levels of uranium enrichment to 60%, just short of weapons-grade purity. The 2015 nuclear deal only allows enrichment to a purity level of 3.67%. Continue reading...

Holdings of more than 40,000 hectares in London, Scotland and Newmarket make Dubai ruler one of UK’s biggest landowners

Labor senator says she received Border Force permission for the Christmas Island meeting at 4.50pm but defence minister ‘cancelled the trip’ at 5.12pmKristina Keneally has accused Peter Dutton of cancelling her trip to Christmas Island where she was to visit a Tamil family from Biloela who have been detained in the detention centre since August 2019.The Labor senator said she had been granted permission by the Australian Border Force at 4.50pm to visit the detention centre next week and she tweeted she was looking forward to meeting Priya, Nades and their children. Continue reading...

White House chief medical adviser says significant resources needed to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible

Grenfell United, representing bereaved families, welcomes move by Baillie Gifford and other asset managersInvestors have sold shares worth hundreds of millions of pounds in Kingspan, which supplied part of the combustible cladding system on Grenfell Tower, after growing pressure from bereaved families for firms involved in the 2017 disaster to start facing consequences.Baillie Gifford, until recently one of Kingspan’s largest shareholders, has sold an estimated £200m worth of stock in the Irish firm in a series of trades executed in February and March, according to records analysed by the Guardian. Four other asset managers have also reported selling holdings in recent months and others have placed investments under review. They include specialist ethical funds originally attracted to Kingspan because its insulation products reduce carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Critical UN report says the legislation is ‘deeply wrong’, subjugates women and shifts the burden of guilt on to the victim

PM stops short of apologising to former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate for speech in parliament; former South Australia Labor MP charged with blackmailing state opposition leader. Follow updates live

Despite feelgood golf and swimming stories the local opinion on the Covid-delayed Games is that they should not happenWhen Hideki Matsuyama sank the putt that won the Masters on Sunday, he not only made history by becoming the first Japanese man to win a major golf title – he gave the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics rare cause for celebration.Days earlier his compatriot Rikako Ikee secured a place at the rescheduled 2020 Games in the 100m butterfly less than eight months after she had recovered from leukaemia. Continue reading...

Industry worried about timing of framework, which would expand 180-day cap on short-term empty property rentals into regionsThe New South Wales government’s decision to delay the implementation of new rules governing Airbnb-style letting has been welcomed by accommodation-sharing platforms.The new rules – which include the expansion into regional areas of the 180-day cap on using empty properties for short-term rentals – were due to come into effect on 30 July, but the start date has been pushed back by three months to 1 November. Continue reading...

Country’s first president joins mass rally disputing government’s assertion that Armindo Borges died from coronavirusThe former prime minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmão has been filmed slapping family members of a man who died in the capital, Dili, in what the government said was the country’s second Covid-related death.Gusmão – the young country’s first president and a national hero – disputes the government’s assertion that Armindo Borges, who died aged 47 on Sunday night, died from Covid-19, with Gusmão claiming he died from a stroke. Borges’s body has been kept in the Covid isolation room at the Vera Cruz health centre. Continue reading...

Analysis: Despite warnings not enough has been done to stablise the country, the president has decided to set aside the rule ‘if you break it, you fix it’Joe Biden has decided that 20 years is enough for America’s longest war, and has ordered the remaining troops out no matter what happens between now and September.Biden’s withdrawal is one area of continuity with his predecessor, although unlike Donald Trump, this administration consulted the Afghans, US allies and its own agencies before announcing the decision. But both presidents were responding to a national weariness of “forever wars”. Continue reading...

Judge says collision into officers who had pulled over Porsche driver Richard Pusey on Eastern Freeway ‘shocked the public conscience’Truck driver Mohinder Singh has been jailed for at least 18 years and six months for hitting and killing four police officers on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway.Singh was short on sleep and high on drugs when he crashed a 19-tonne semi-trailer into the officers who had pulled over Porsche driver Richard Pusey on 22 April last year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sharon Johal left the Australian soap last month but says she endured a ‘painful’ four years, alleging ‘direct, indirect and casual racism’ from fellow cast membersOne of Neighbours’ longstanding cast members has claimed she endured “direct, indirect and casual racism” on set, including racial slurs and mockery, saying the past four years starring in the long-running Australian soapie were “painful and problematic”.In a detailed 1,500 word statement provided to Guardian Australia, Sharon Johal said she tried to “deny, bury and ultimately survive” racist taunts allegedly from some of her colleagues. She also claimed that the television show’s production company, Fremantle Media, failed to take any effective action to rein in the alleged behaviour and left her feeling powerless, isolated and marginalised. Continue reading...

Exports will be phased out over two years as government says decision will uphold country’s ‘high standards of animal welfare’New Zealand will cease the export of livestock by sea following a transition period of up to two years, agriculture minister Damien O’Connor has said.“At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the curve in a world where animal welfare is under increasing scrutiny,” O’Connor said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Megaship that ran aground now caught in legal row between owners and Egyptian authorities reportedly seeking $900mTwo weeks after it was freed from the Suez Canal, the giant container ship Ever Given is once again stuck.This time however, the 220,000-ton megaship is not caught in the sand, but snared in a legal row between Egyptian authorities and the ship’s owners over the financial impact of the accident. Continue reading...

Monarch held ceremony for the retirement of her household’s most senior official, the Lord ChamberlainThe Queen has returned to royal duties, four days after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, to mark the retirement of her household’s most senior official.The monarch held her first in-person event to host a ceremony at Windsor as William Peel formally stood down as Lord Chamberlain. The earl had overseen the arrangements for the duke’s funeral, known as Operation Forth Bridge. He had handed responsibility for the operation to his successor, former MI5 spy chief Andrew Parker, just a week before Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle. Continue reading...

Move to delay vaccine deployment in Europe comes after six blood clot cases detected among Johnson & Johnson jab recipients in US

Wednesday: Australia’s largest aged care provider still waiting for a Covid vaccination plan for its workforce. Plus: CSIRO’s junk food analyser delivers confronting resultsGood morning. It’s not good news on the vaccine rollout front as frustration grows for aged care workers waiting to get their jab in Australia. And the US, which had been vaccinating people at rapid rates, has hit a hurdle with some blood clot concerns around the Johnson & Johnson shot.Australia’s largest aged care provider, Bupa, has been left in limbo about its employees’ Covid vaccines six weeks into the rollout. It says it has yet to receive any plan from the government on when its workforce will be immunised, despite aged care staff initially supposed to be vaccinated as part of the highest priority cohort. Council on the Ageing chief executive, Ian Yates, sounded the alarm weeks ago. “Vaccination of the staff is really important to the Covid security of residents, and we are concerned that the vaccination of staff doesn’t seem to have a clear strategy at this point,” he said. Australia recorded its first Covid-related death since October after an 80-year-old man died in a Queensland hospital yesterday after returning from overseas. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police say man was spotted walking down the Mall by officers on patrolA man carrying an axe has been arrested near Buckingham Palace, police have said.Metropolitan police officers were on patrol when they spotted the man, believed to be in his forties, walking on the Mall in central London holding the weapon at about 6.30pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Police chief had said that officer Kim Potter meant to fire her Taser but fired her service weapon by mistake, killing the 20-year-oldKim Potter, the white Minnesota police officer who fatally shot the Black resident Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, and her chief of police, Tim Gannon, resigned on Tuesday.Their resignations come after two nights of protests in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center over Sunday’s killing of Wright, who was unarmed when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Sunday. Continue reading...

Report looks at how police investigated Bruce McArthur’s ‘reign of terror’ and relationship between officers and LGBTQ+ communityThe hunt for a serial killer who preyed on gay men in Toronto was hampered by “serious flaws” in the police investigation – including the stereotyping of LGBTQ+ people by police officers and a lack of public trust – a new report has concluded.Bruce McArthur, who targeted men living on the margins of society, was given eight life sentences in 2019. But members of Toronto’s LGBTQ+ community had long feared that police ignored critical leads as he continued to kill. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner asks Tory London mayoral candidate to disavow Fair Tax Campaign’s ‘underhand tactics’Labour’s deputy leader has called on the Conservative party’s candidate for London mayor to condemn and dissociate himself from “underhand tactics” used by a secretive campaign funding anti-Sadiq Khan adverts online.Angela Rayner has written to Shaun Bailey asking him to confirm that he had “no interaction or coordination” with the Fair Tax Campaign, which has put out menacing attack ads. Continue reading...

Trial of 12 ‘openly Nazi’ men accused of planning a series of terror attacks opens in StuttgartThe trial of 12 men accused of planning a series of far-right terror attacks on asylum seekers, Muslims, Jews and politicians in an attempt to overthrow German democracy has opened in the city of Stuttgart.Gruppe S (Group S) was named after Werner S, a 55-year-old junk salesman, who is believed to have established it in 2019 and been its leader. He has described himself as a “free spirit with leanings towards National Socialism”. The like-minded men he brought to the group sought to trigger a situation akin to a civil war, according to federal prosecutors. Continue reading...

While the UK tries to contain the variant first found in South Africa, it is allowed to circulate unchecked elsewhere

Well-connected corporate lawyer is ‘supremely qualified’, but his close professional contacts are set to be scrutinised

Exclusive: Lukman Thalib says he struggles to recall what he said during ‘calculated’ tortureAn Australian public health professor alleges he told Australian consulate staff he was being tortured and held without charge they visited him in a Qatari prison, but says they did nothing to help.Biostatistician Prof Lukman Thalib, 58, was arrested at his Doha home and detained for five months without charge in Qatar, where he had been working as acting head of Qatar University’s public health department. Continue reading...

Most side-effects are mild and short-lived, and some groups are more likely to get them than others

Azaria, who is white, voiced the role of the Indian American shopkeeper from show’s inception in 1989 but stood down last yearThe actor Hank Azaria has apologised “to every single Indian person” for his portrayal of Apu in The Simpsons.Azaria, who is white, voiced the role of the Indian American shopkeeper from the show’s inception in 1989 but stood down last year amid criticism of racial stereotyping. He said he was willing to be held accountable for its “negative consequences”. Continue reading...

Charlie Harrison stopped Carl Abrahams ‘due to skin colour’ before attack in front of children, judge rulesA police officer jailed for picking on a black father because of his colour and attacking him in front of his children, is facing dismissal.A judge said PC Charlie Harrison, 39, targeted his victim – who was grieving for his dead partner – for a bogus stop because of his race, and then assaulted him. Continue reading...

Latest news: UK has 30m doses of the Johnson & Johnson product on order, but it has yet to be authorised; PM says ‘people have just got to understand’ the consequences of loosening restrictions

Exclusive: Kyaw Zwar Minn says he feels unsafe at London residence and family at home fear reprisalsMyanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has said that friends and relatives at home have been forced into hiding after the country’s military regime removed him from office for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.In his first major interview after he was unceremoniously locked out of the embassy by his deputy last week, Kyaw Zwar Minn said he no longer felt safe at his north London residence and had contacted the police after members of his former staff delivered a letter ordering him to move out by Thursday. Continue reading...

Tehran responds as foreign minister accuses Israel of ‘bad gamble’ in targeting Natanz nuclear plant

Abd al-Rahman Milad, AKA Bija, is accused by UN of being directly involved in sinking migrant boatsLibyan authorities have released a man described as one of the world’s most wanted human traffickers, who was placed under sanctions by the UN security council for being directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats.The coastguard commander Abd al-Rahman Milad, known by his alias Bija, is suspected of being part of a criminal network operating in Zawiyah in north-west Libya. He was arrested in 2019 but was freed on Sunday after the military attorney general of Tripoli dropped charges against him “for lack of evidence”. Continue reading...

It’s easy to laugh at hardcore patriots misunderstanding Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA, but such appropriation is increasingly widespread – and dangerously twisting the truth“Did you know that Born in the USA is actually an anti-Vietnam war anthem?” Since Donald Trump embraced the 1984 Bruce Springsteen song during rallies, the lyrics have prompted so much explanation it now borders on cliche. Yet it’s no less unsettling for it, becoming a prime example of a startlingly widespread trend for the right wing to co-opt music about struggle and progress.President Ronald Reagan made the first attempt to gloss over the context of the song’s ironically upbeat chorus after the release of the Born in the USA album. Reagan name-checked Springsteen during a New Jersey rally in an attempt to connect the musician to a “message of hope” for America. Springsteen’s opposition to its use didn’t affect the fervour for the song from Trump and his supporters. As Barack Obama noted in an episode of his podcast series with Springsteen this month: “It ended up being appropriated as this iconic, patriotic song. Even though that was not necessarily your intention.” Continue reading...

Usman Khan joined prisoner rehabilitation breakout session just before his attack, lawyer saysA convicted terrorist told a prisoner rehabilitation conference that he was a reformed character who had turned away from the “wrong path” just minutes before killing two people in a knife attack, an inquest has heard.Usman Khan, 28, took part in a breakout session on individual “turning points” at London’s Fishmongers’ Hall in the hour before his deadly attack in November 2019, the barrister Catherine Jaquiss told the inquest jury. Continue reading...

The short style has gone in and out of fashion – and was particularly popular after a ruinous pandemic a century agoName: The bob.Age: Originated in the 1890s. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon says ‘Covid is in retreat in Scotland’ as travel and outdoor rules eased

Exclusive: Opposition to force vote on investigation into Cameron and lobbying of ministersLabour is to force a binding Commons vote to establish a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry into David Cameron and the Greensill lobbying scandal, saying the government cannot “mark its own homework”.It will propose setting up a new committee of MPs with the the power to ask witnesses to give evidence and face questioning – including Cameron himself and the cabinet ministers who were lobbied by the former prime minister, including the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the health secretary, Matt Hancock. Continue reading...

Essential Energy plane was conducting aerial inspections of the company’s electricity network prior to the crashTwo people have been killed after a light plane inspecting Essential Energy’s electricity network crashed north of Canberra.New South Wales police confirmed that emergency services were called to a paddock on a property in the small township of Sutton about 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon following reports a plane had crashed. Continue reading...

Delight as Klassique, an African-Caribbean social hub in south London, reopens after lockdown

Holgate says she was ‘humiliated’ by prime minister Scott Morrison; man dies of coronavirus in Queensland. This blog is now closed

Media mogul writes from prison that ‘freedom of speech is a dangerous job’ but journalists must uphold justiceThe Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has told his staff to “stand tall” in a letter from prison, days before being sentenced in two of several cases against him.Separately on Tuesday, his fellow activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to a further four months in jail, concluding another of the growing number of trials in a sweeping crackdown. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Boris Johnson’s ‘chumocracy’ is using Covid crisis to sell off health service by stealth, says Sir David King

From starring in the Luca Guadagnino series to releasing an album about identity, the 18-year-old star has enjoyed a lockdown like no otherOn a mid-afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia, Jordan Kristine Seamón is sitting at her desk, explaining her choice of bedroom decor. “That’s Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls,” she says, gesturing behind her head. “That one is Jeanette from the Chipettes, I haven’t finished it. That’s Marceline from Adventure Time.” She cranes her neck. “Right there, you can barely see him, that’s Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory. And that guy over there,” she points to the huge illustration hovering over her bed. “That’s a character from The Boondocks. My dad outlined it and I painted it.” She grins. “Something I like to do when I get very stressed and can’t handle the world is paint on my wall.”Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...

Black, Asian and ethnic minority women report being denied pain relief or feeling unheard to panel investigating mortality disparityFeeling manipulated into having medical procedures, dismissed by professionals and labelled with racial stereotypes are among the complaints of parents who responded to a national inquiry into racial injustice in UK maternity care.A panel established by the charity Birthrights is investigating discrimination ranging from explicit racism to racial bias and microaggressions that amount to poorer care. Continue reading...