World news | The Guardian

Five children and two adults remain in critical condition in hospital, as police question 17-year-old over stabbings

Authorities allege members of two different gangs were involved in the killing, with one suspect still at largePolice investigating the June shooting death of Julio Foolio have arrested four suspects in the popular Florida rapper's slaying and are searching for a fifth, according to investigators.Authorities said on Monday that members of two different gangs - ATK and 1200 - carried out the ambush which killed the 26-year-old musician, whose legal name was Charles Jones, while he was out celebrating his birthday in Tampa. Continue reading...

Versailles banquet among lavish spending in 2023 that has plunged president's office 8m into redThe French president's office spent nearly 475,000 (400,100) on a dinner for King Charles last year, the country's top audit court said in a report cautioning about high spending.In September 2023, King Charles attended a lavish state banquet at the Palace of Versailles attended by more than 150 people, part of a soft power" visit aimed at improving ties between London and Paris. Continue reading...

An Israeli civilian has been killed by rocket fired from Lebanon, Israel's N12 news channel is reporting.David Lammy has reiterated a warning to British citizens in Lebanon.My message to British nationals in Lebanon is clear - leave," he said. Continue reading...

US diplomatic efforts to constrain Israel's reaction continue as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a harsh' response

Author's long-running high school book series sold more than 200m copies and led to a hit TV showFrancine Pascal, creator of the long-running Sweet Valley High book series, has died at the age of 92.According to the New York Times, the author died in New York City as as result of lymphoma. The news was confirmed by her daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal. Continue reading...

Singer speaks out after three children were killed in attack at workshop in English town

Angela Rayner announces draft policy billed as first step in Labour's delivery of 1.5m new homes

Federal government says Rex will have a future' with minister suggesting Labor will step in to save troubled company

Mulaney had been tipped as a successor after his supporting turn this year, when Kimmel presented the awards show for a fourth timeA host for next year's Academy Awards is being headhunted, after the role was declined by chatshow host Jimmy Kimmel - whose stint in March marked his fourth time in the role - and comedian John Mulaney.Mulaney had been tipped by many, after praise for his stint as a presenter in the March ceremony, in which he delivered an extended riff on the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams. He also hosted the Governors Awards in January, which award honorary Oscars. Continue reading...

Calls for reigning AFL premiers to be stripped of points as the club faces fresh racism allegations in courtCollingwood will defend themselves against serious allegations of racism filed in court, insisting the club has acted lawfully.The AFL has been urged to strip the Magpies of premiership points should explosive claims be proven. Continue reading...

Chiapas, once haven for Guatemalans fleeing genocide, sees citizens crossing border to escape tyranny of crime groupsThe Mexican state of Chiapas was once a haven for Guatemalans fleeing genocide at home, but this historical relationship has recently flipped, with hundreds of Mexicans crossing the border to escape the violent tyranny of organised crime groups.Entire communities emptied out last week as more than 500 men, women, children and the elderly fled with what they could carry and walked across the border, citing food shortages and the conflicts between criminal groups pressing in ever closer on their homes. Continue reading...

Eudine had been reported missing from Thamesmead estate in south-east London at 10.40pm on MondayA six-year-old girl who went missing in Greenwich, south-east London, has been found safe and well", police said.Overnight, the Metropolitan Police had said they were extremely concerned" about Eudine, who was reported missing from Thamesmead estate at 10.40pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Chancellor says her predecessor at No 11 covered up true state of the public finances but Hunt rejects claim

Approved dwellings drop 6.5% in June amid high interest rates and building costs as CoreLogic rues dismal result'

The carrier's shares are suspended and Bloomberg reports Ernst & Young are set to be appointed as administrators

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's John Hart says it's absurd' to see travellers handing around pens to fill in the card

Just 11 days after he was let out of jail, frightening' serial sex offender Wayne Wilmot was locked up again for breaching his strict court conditions

Murder trial hears that Haigh promised in exchange not to allow her extended family anywhere near' the baby

LGBTQ+ and human rights campaigner delighted and honoured' to have painting by Sarah Jane Moon on displayA vibrant portrait of the LGBTQ+ and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been hung in the National Portrait Gallery's History Makers gallery as part of a drive to better reflect the diversity of the UK.The painting by Sarah Jane Moon shows Tatchell in a casual pose, seated with his hands clasping his left calf. The 72-year-old activist is sporting a rainbow tie to celebrate almost six decades of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. Continue reading...

Fundamental rights body warns of flawed approach to credible accounts of ill-treatment and loss of lifeAuthorities in EU member states are not doing enough to investigate credible reports of violations of human rights, including deaths, on their borders, an EU human rights body has said.The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said human rights agencies and NGOs were reporting serious, recurrent and widespread rights violations against migrants and refugees during border management" but despite credible" reports many were not investigated. Continue reading...

Report finds 13 member states generated more energy from wind and solar power than coal and gas for first time in 2024Wind turbines and solar panels have overtaken fossil fuels to generate 30% of the European Union's electricity in the first half of the year, a report has found.Power generation from burning coal, oil and gas fell 17% in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period the year before, according to climate thinktank Ember. It found the continued shift away from polluting fuels has led to a one-third drop in the sector's emissions since the first half of 2022. Continue reading...

Deepening military and trade links between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are making western powers uneasyGen Roly Walker, the head of the British army, has described it as the axis of upheaval". George Robertson, the new head of the UK's defence review, has called the countries the deadly quartet". Either way, less than a month into a Labour government, an emerging geopolitical alignment is being highlighted as a threat.The concerns centre on the growing military and trade links between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Though the four are some way from a cold war-style bloc acting in concert, they have enhanced bilateral ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in a manner that has fuelled anxiety among defence officials and policymakers. Continue reading...

Liberal senator James Paterson suggested new home affairs minister could be compromised in his role due to pressure from grassroots Muslim groups

Nusantara scheduled to host Independence Day celebrations instead of Jakarta next month but relocation plan has come into questionIndonesian President Joko Widodo has begun working from the presidential palace in the country's ambitious new administrative capital, the flagship project of his two terms in office but which has been plagued by delays.The capital is due to move from traffic-clogged and sinking Jakarta to the planned city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province on Borneo, but the $33bn project announced in 2019 is months - even years - behind schedule. Continue reading...

Maria Corina Machado tells Guardian that Nicolas Maduro should understand he lost presidential election, amid widespread international doubts over victory claimThe opposition leader battling to bring the curtains down on Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian regime has urged the Venezuelan strongman to accept that his exit from power is inevitable. The call came as thousands of protesters hit the streets to repudiate Maduro's disputed claim to have won a third term in power.Venezuela's incumbent president was officially proclaimed the victor of Sunday's election by the government-controlled electoral authority on Monday morning. Maduro called his supposed victory irreversible" despite widespread international doubts over the veracity of his claim to have won. Continue reading...

Presenter and criminal barrister argues a greater focus has to be placed on rehabilitation and the causes of crimeThe television personality and criminal barrister Rob Rinder has launched a blistering attack on the UK prison system, saying it fails prisoners, victims and society.Rinder, who has hosted courtroom reality TV shows and presented documentaries about British justice, said the prison system was repeating the same mistakes over and over. Repeating patterns and expecting a different result is the definition of madness," he told the Radio Times. Continue reading...

Protests seen around country after results appear to dash opposition hopes of ending quarter century of chavista rule

Merseyside chief constable says nine other children were injured, including six left in a critical condition

Boy, 17, arrested following absolutely abhorrent' incident at children's dance classTwo children have died and nine have been injured, six critically, after a series of stabbings at a children's dance class in Southport on Monday.Two adults are also in critical condition after what police described as a ferocious attack". Continue reading...

Malian rebels received necessary information' to kill numerous fighters from the Russian military group last week, GUR saysUkraine's military intelligence agency has claimed it was involved in an ambush that killed fighters from Russia's Wagner group in the west African nation of Mali, thousands of miles away from the frontline in Ukraine.A Telegram channel linked to the Wagner leadership on Monday admitted the group had suffered heavy losses during fighting in Mali last week. It said Wagner and the Malian armed forces had fought fierce battles" over a five-day period against a coalition of Tuareg separatist forces and jihadi groups, who had used heavy weapons, drones and suicide bombers. Numerous Wagner fighters, including a commander, Sergei Shevchenko, were killed, the channel said. Continue reading...

Arrest of IDF reservists suspected of abuse prompts confrontation at notorious detention base and outcry from MPsAn investigation by the Israeli military into the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at a notorious military detention camp for prisoners captured in Gaza has sparked protests from members of Israel's far right.The Israeli military said on Monday the office of its advocate general ordered an inquiry following suspected substantial abuse of a detainee" at the Sde Teiman facility, which holds Palestinian detainees, including alleged members of Hamas's elite Nukhba forces involved in the 7 October attack. Continue reading...

The suspect's mental health will be assessed while Merseyside town deals with the aftermath of the atrocityIt will come as little, if any comfort, in the days and months to come, that targeted attacks on groups of children at play are mercifully rare in the United Kingdom.The worst in British history was the Dunblane massacre in March 1996 when a gunman walked into a school and killed 16 children and a teacher, before taking his own life. Thomas Hamilton, armed with guns, carried out his attack in the picturesque Scottish village, opening fire on a class of five and six-year-olds. Continue reading...

Carefully honed message of Commons speech is having to make tricky decisions because Tories left us a messThe basics of Rachel Reeves' Commons statement about her fiscal inheritance from the Conservatives were simple: there is a 22bn financial hole that needs fixing. But there was a bigger picture being presented, and with it, a potentially invaluable political prize.At the heart of the chancellor's near 30-minute presentation to the Commons was a narrative that most MPs and some of the public will already be familiar with: we are having to make tricky decisions because the Tories left us a mess. Continue reading...

Charities warn that means testing as part of Rachel Reeves' estimated 1.5bn cuts may create heat or eat' dilemmasUp to 2 million financially struggling older people could lose annual payments worth hundreds of pounds under government plans to restrict the winter fuel allowance to the poorest pensioners, campaigners have warned.Rachel Reeves announced the plans in a speech on Monday outlining a series of spending cuts to help fill what the government says is a 22bn black hole" in the public finances. Continue reading...

Witnesses say they heard screaming and saw injured children lying on the ground after attack at dance workshopIt was shortly before midday on what felt like the hottest day of the year when the sound of children playing was shattered by screams.Girls as young as five ran in fear, some covered in blood, after their Taylor Swift dance class on the first week of the summer holidays turned into an atrocity. Continue reading...

Two reported dead as Israeli officials weigh up response to rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah that killed 12 childrenIsraeli drones struck a remote road in southern Lebanon, underscoring tensions as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised a harsh" response to the rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children.The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come, and it will be harsh," he said during a visit to the remote town of Majdal Shams, a majority Druze village in a region annexed by Israel from Syria in 1981. Continue reading...

NCA said forfeiture of cash belonging to Petr Aven was first time it has recovered, rather than frozen, sanctioned fundsA UK aide to one of Vladimir Putin's closest" oligarchs has agreed to forfeit more than 750,000 after a two-year investigation into sanctions dodging.Cash belonging to Petr Aven - a tycoon closely linked to Russia's president for about three decades - had previously been frozen in 2022, shortly after the businessman was sanctioned by the UK for supporting the Kremlin in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Campaigners say overseas territory will be complicit in breach of international law if US vessel stops thereAn overwhelming case exists for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 2pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Armed officers seize knife after a number of people hurt in major incident', say Merseyside policeSouthport stabbings: man detained - updatesAt least eight people, feared to include several children, have been stabbed in Southport, where a man with a knife was arrested.Merseyside police said they were responding to a major incident" at a property in the seaside town in north-west England, where there were a number of reported casualties". Continue reading...

Mayor of Norwegian capital, Anne Lindboe, says drugs worth up to 570m have entered through the portThe mayor of Oslo has warned that drug smugglers are increasingly targeting the Norwegian capital as a gateway to Europe as authorities tighten controls on major ports such as Antwerp.Oslo's mayor, Anne Lindboe, said drugs worth up to 570m have been smuggled through Norway's largest port, which receives 50-70 ships and 243,000 containers every week. Continue reading...

Which Tory MPs will be taking part in the three-month contest to succeed Rishi Sunak?The full list of Conservative leadership candidates has been published after Monday afternoon's deadline passed. Six MPs will be running in the three-month-long contest to succeed Rishi Sunak.Four will be shortlisted by MPs in September and given the chance to make their pitch at the Conservative party conference and in the weeks leading up to it. MPs will then narrow down the list to two candidates, and grassroots members will elect their next leader in early November. Continue reading...

Washington says it has serious concerns' about result, while president of Uruguay says it is open secret Maduro would win whatever real results were'Among the many international figures weighing in on the situation in Venezuela was the US vice president, Kamala Harris.The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Despite the many challenges, we will continue to work toward a more democratic, prosperous, and secure future for the people of Venezuela," she said.More than a thousand international observers have taken part in the Venezuelan election. The people have spoken and their will should be respected. The right only goes along with democracy when it wins and that is unacceptable. Continue reading...

The carrier promises to respond to reports that it has called in turnaround experts as Anthony Albanese says the airline is important'

Regulator gives phone companies six months to identify and block calls that falsely display a UK number

Nicolas Maduro faces calls to publish transparent breakdown of vote but allies hail his apparent victory

Police voice alarm at high numbers as 14-year-old boy on e-scooter and two motorcyclists among latest killedIreland's police force has said it is seriously concerned about the number of deaths on the country's roads after five fatalities over the weekend.Those who lost their lives included motorcyclists and a 14-year-old boy on an e-scooter. Continue reading...

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Result with 80% of votes counted goes against opinion polls that suggested incumbent was facing defeatNicolas Maduro has been declared the winner of Venezuela's presidential election by the government-controlled electoral authority - a result that appeared to dash opposition hopes of ending 25 years of socialist rule and was immediately contested by his rivals and several governments in the region.After a six-hour delay in releasing the results of Sunday's election sparked an outpouring of concern from South American governments, the national electoral council claimed Maduro had won with 51.21% of votes compared with 44.2% for his rival, the former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. Continue reading...

Use of the motorised luggage which is popular in parts of Asia, require safety equipment and a driver's licence, according to Japanese lawAs record numbers of tourists flock to Japan to take advantage of the weakness of the Japanese yen, some are running into trouble with authorities thanks to the growing popularity of motorised, rideable suitcases.Two major Japanese airports have already asked travellers not to ride motorised suitcases within their facilities, according to Kyodo news agency, while police are urging domestic retailers to warn customers of the strict laws concerning their use. Continue reading...