Ursula von der Leyen hits out at Britain over plans to breach agreement on Northern Ireland

Peter Madsen, handed life sentence in 2018 for murder of Swedish journalist, makes confession in TV documentaryThe Danish inventor Peter Madsen, who was handed a life prison sentence in 2018 for the killing of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall, has confessed to the crime for the first time, in a television documentary.The 49-year-old, found guilty of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault and desecrating a corpse, had insisted during the trial that Wall’s death, on Madsen’s homemade submarine in August 2o17, was an accident. Continue reading...

Hundreds of local people involved in production of play, Daughters of Sunset, inspired by 2011 discoveryThe discovery of a young bronze age woman’s remains high on a remote Devon hillside has inspired a community play featuring the residents of two moors and also forms the centrepiece of a newly refurbished visitor centre.Hundreds of people, young and old, professional and amateur, have been involved in the production of the play, Daughters of Sunset, which is being performed on Dartmoor and Exmoor later this week and over the weekend. Continue reading...

Netherlands makes offer to Basim Razzo, who lost wife, daughter, brother and nephew when home wrongly identified as Isis HQAn Iraqi man who lost his wife, daughter, brother and nephew in an airstrike after US intelligence misidentified his home as an Islamic state headquarters, is believed to be the first civilian awarded compensation by coalition forces.Basim Razzo, 61, who cannot walk because of his injuries, has been made a “voluntary offer” of nearly €1m by the Dutch government, whose F16 jets were responsible for the attack near the city of Mosul five years ago. Continue reading...

China’s state media outlets claim Australian intelligence agents questioned several Chinese journalists and seized their devicesAustralia has cancelled the visas of two Chinese scholars because of security concerns, according to reports, adding a new element to the spiralling diplomatic dispute over the treatment of journalists.Chinese diplomats have also aired claims that Australian intelligence agents have questioned several journalists from Chinese media organisations and searched their devices “in violation of legitimate rights”. Continue reading...

With the spectre of deflation looming in the wake of Covid-19, radical new policies could revolutionise the world economy

The state has introduced new rules to address isolation faced by people living alone. Here’s how it works

New Zealand prime minister starts campaign with a sleepover at the ‘folks’ in the small rural town of MorrinsvilleNew Zealand’s prime minister has launched her election tour of the country from her parents’ home in rural Waikato – so her “folks” can babysit.The rescheduled general election, now taking place on 17 October, is unlike any the country has seen before, with party leaders hitting the campaign trail in face masks and practising social distancing. Continue reading...

Refugees were evacuated from a large camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Wednesday after fires broke out at multiple points around the site. More than 12,000 people live at the Moria camp and the surrounding area. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Senior constable Brooke Cooper says she hadn’t read the NSW police handbook on family violence when Olga Edwards came to report the assaultsOlga Edwards’ allegations of domestic violence against the man who eventually murdered her children were misrecorded by a senior constable who had never opened the police handbook on family violence.In fact, senior constable Brooke Cooper hadn’t read the New South Wales police force’s domestic and family violence standard operating procedures until it was placed before her in the NSW coroners court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Altering terms of withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland could damage relations under Biden presidencySenior Democrats have warned that any attempt by the UK government to backtrack on the Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland would jeopardize a future US-UK free trade deal and could hobble bilateral relations across the board if Joe Biden wins the presidency.Biden, an Irish American, is a staunch defender of the Good Friday Agreement, of which the US is the guarantor, and which requires an open border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Advance NZ could use the event on 8 October to promote misinformation about Covid-19, analysts fear

Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on active and daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as maps, stats, live data and state by state graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response

Nominees must satisfy two of four key standards addressing onscreen and offscreen representationThe Oscars are raising the inclusion bar for best picture nominees, starting with the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.In a historic move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday laid out sweeping eligibility reforms to the best picture category intended to encourage diversity and equitable representation on screen and off, addressing gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and disability. Continue reading...

Americans turning to gardening during Covid crisis find themselves in a pickle when it comes to finding the right jars, seals and lids

Boy charged after 15-year-old was shot near Kesgrave high school on MondayA teenager has been charged with attempted murder and firearms offences after a 15-year-old boy was shot on his way to school.Suffolk police were called shortly after 8.40am on Monday to reports that a teenage boy had been shot on a housing estate in Kesgrave. Continue reading...

Forces in England and Wales ‘decades behind’ in serving ethnic minorities

Friends and colleagues say top civil servant in intolerable position after advice ignoredFriends and former colleagues of the government lawyer Sir Jonathan Jones said his resignation suggested he had been put in an intolerable position, with a cabinet minister admitting the government intended to break the law.Jones resigned on Tuesday, giving no reason in his departure email to colleagues, but Whitehall sources and former colleagues said he had clashed with the attorney general, Suella Braverman, over the government’s intention to override parts of the withdrawal agreement. Continue reading...

State TV says British-Iranian dual national to appear in Tehran court on Sunday

Victoria’s path out of shutdown is contentious and uncertain for cinemas, beauty salons and hospitality venues• Australian stats interactive

The Turkish ambassador writes in response to a recent editorial about Turkish-Greek relationsYour editorial (6 September) suggests that the UN convention on the law of the sea supports both Greece and the status quo. That is not entirely accurate, as the same convention also refers to the principle of equity.Turkey has been inviting relevant parties to engage in negotiations based on international law and the principle of equity since 2003 for the delimitation of exclusive economic zones. Yet the Greek side has never engaged in sincere dialogue, in order to delay and avoid concrete negotiations. Continue reading...

Cartoonist “Coco” gives evidence at trial of 14 suspects accused of complicity in 2015 Paris attacksA survivor of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has described how Islamist terrorists forced her to open the door of the satirical newspaper’s offices at gunpoint as they arrived to murder 11 people.Corinne Rey, a cartoonist known as “Coco”, told a Paris court she was convinced she was about to die as the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi entered the building saying: “We want Charlie Hebdo.” Continue reading...

Lula, who governed from 2003-2011, expected to run for president again at next election

Three former directors of division which ran electronic tagging contract have been charged after an SFO investigationThe UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged three former executives at security company G4S with defrauding the government.The three men were charged with seven offences of fraud in connection to false representations made to the Ministry of Justice between 2009 and 2012, the SFO said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

WikiLeaks founder told he faces removal after interjection during lawyers’ exchangeJulian Assange has been warned by the judge in his extradition case that he could be removed from court with the case continuing in his absence after he interjected while a lawyer for the US authorities sparred with a high-profile witness giving evidence in support of the WikiLeaks founder.The incident came on the second day of Assange’s extradition hearing at the Old Bailey, where the founder of the legal charity Reprieve said “grave violations of law” such as the use of US drones for targeted strikes in Pakistan had been brought to light with the help of documents published by WikiLeaks. Continue reading...

Ukrainian media says Maria Kolesnikova refused to enter country after being abducted from MinskThe Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova ripped up her passport in order to avoid being deported from her own country, according to a Ukrainian minister and media reports.On Monday, masked men kidnapped Kolesnikova from the centre of Minsk and drove her away. Two of her opposition colleagues also vanished. The three activists were later driven to the Alexandrovka border with Ukraine in a car that arrived at about 4am on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Ralph Zurmély, who advises the gender equality ministry, says Pauline Harmange’s ‘ode to misandry’ should be withdrawn for inciting hatred

Octogenarian Harry Harvey is believed to have camped in the open for two nightsAn 80-year-old hiker, who had been missing in the Yorkshire Dales for nearly three days, had an emotional reunion with his family after turning up at a police press conference about his disappearance.Harry Harvey, who had been described as a “competent hiker” by officers, was reported missing in the Gunnerside area of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire at around 1.30pm on Sunday. Continue reading...

Premalal Jayasekara, who shot an opposition activist, escorted to parliament after court rules he can take up seatA Sri Lankan politician sentenced to death for murder has been escorted from prison to parliament to become the first convict to be sworn in as an MP, amid heckles from the opposition.Premalal Jayasekara, 45, from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP), was convicted in August of murdering an opposition activist after opening fire at a 2015 election rally. As his conviction and sentence came after nominations for the 5 August poll, he was able to contest the election and take up his seat. Continue reading...

Zhong Shanshan’s net worth rises to $51bn as Nongfu Spring shares launch in Hong KongThe stock market flotation of China’s biggest bottle water company has made its founder the country’s third-richest man, as shares in his company rocketed on their debut in Hong Kong.At one point the paper fortune of Zhong Shanshan, the biggest shareholder in bottled water company Nongfu Spring, briefly surpassed that of China’s two richest men, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Tencent founder Pony Ma. Continue reading...

Qelbinur Sidik, who was coerced to teach Mandarin at two of China's Uighur 're-education' camps, has described what she witnessed there as well as her own forced sterilisation at the age of 50.As part of a government campaign to suppress the birth rates of women from Muslim minorities, Sidik says women between the ages of 18 and 59 were told they must have intrauterine devices (IUDs) fitted or undergo sterilisation.Sidik worked as a teacher in two camps where she says she saw starvation rations and unsanitary and humiliating conditions, including limited access to bathrooms and water. She also heard the screams of tortured prisoners and witnessed at least one inmate being carried out dead.In the second centre where she worked, which held mostly young women, a trusted colleague told her that rape of inmates by Chinese guards was routine

Laila Anita Bertheussen accused of staging attacks on her family and blaming anti-racist theatre groupThe partner of Norway’s former justice minister, a member of a rightwing anti-immigration party, has gone on trial accused of staging attacks against the couple and blaming an anti-racist theatre troupe.In the extraordinary case, Laila Anita Bertheussen is accused of vandalising her own home and threatening her family, making it appear as though the Black Box theatre group was to blame. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry spokesman defends questioning of Australian journalists Bill Birtles and Mike SmithAustralian news anchor Cheng Lei was arrested in Beijing on national security grounds last month, China’s foreign ministry spokesman has revealed, speaking just hours after two other Australian journalists arrived home after fleeing the country.Cheng, a business journalist for the state broadcaster CGTN, was taken into secretive detention in mid-August, the Australian government revealed last week. Consular staff were able to visit Cheng by videolink but were not told why she had been detained. Continue reading...

Jonathan Jones resigns after plans emerge to alter legally binding Northern Ireland protocolThe head of the UK government’s legal department has become the latest prominent civil servant to quit, reportedly over its decision to override parts of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.A spokesman for the attorney general’s office confirmed Sir Jonathan Jones had resigned but refused to comment further. Continue reading...

Nuclear-armed neighbours swap accusations after clash in disputed Himalayan regionTensions have escalated between Indian and Chinese forces along their disputed Himalayan border after accusations that shots were fired for the first time in 45 years.China released a statement late on Monday night claiming Indian soldiers had crossed over the contested border in Ladakh, known as the line of actual control (LAC), and “opened fire to threaten the Chinese border defence patrol officers”. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia understands four women and 10 children removed from the camp, handcuffed and driven away in white vanAustralian women and children have been snatched from the al-Hawl refugee camp in north-east Syria, where families of Islamic State fighters are detained, according to reports from inside the camp.It is understood at least four women and 10 children, all Australian, were removed from the camp, handcuffed and driven away in a white van overnight on Saturday. Continue reading...

Lawyers for Paul Rusesabagina, who is detained in Kigali, say he faces serious risk of tortureLawyers for Paul Rusesabagina have called on a UN investigator to immediately intervene in the case of the human rights activist – and inspiration behind the film Hotel Rwanda – who is being detained in Rwanda and is alleged to face a “serious risk of torture”.The letter to Nils Melzer, the special rapporteur on torture, comes one week after Rusesabagina, a prominent critic of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, was revealed to have been brought to Kigali from Dubai in what his lawyers have called an illegal rendition. Continue reading...

Police defended and settled almost 300 civil claims against officers during the last financial yearThe New South Wales police spent $24m of taxpayer money on almost 300 civil legal claims brought against officers during the last financial year.The figure, obtained by the NSW Greens, includes settlements for serious misconduct claims including battery, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Continue reading...

Guardian readers describe their frustrating experiences trying to obtain tests for coronavirus

With high levels of stress, anxiety and PTSD, experts worry that staff won’t be able to cope with a second wave

Colin died of Covid-19 at Home Farm care home in May. His wife had to wait outside his room while he took his last breath. Now his family is pushing for answersCovid-19 did not come to Skye for a long time, so much so that the people there thought they had escaped it. But Zoe Docherty knew better. Driving to her at-home visits on the Scottish island, the 27-year-old care worker heard a drumbeat of dread, a steady rat-a-tat, all through the months of March and April and into May.“I knew it was a matter of time,” says Zoe. “I didn’t see what makes Skye so special that it wouldn’t come here.” When the first case of Covid-19 in the Highlands was confirmed on 14 March, Zoe told a colleague: “It’s coming.” But her colleague was dismissive. “She said: ‘The Highlands is a big area,’” Zoe remembers. “I said: ‘You’re missing the point here. It’s a virus. It won’t not come here, just because we’re rural.’” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ipswich police watch house being used to house children and teenagers after coronavirus outbreak linked to Brisbane Youth Detention Centre in WacolThe Queensland Human Rights Commission has called for the state to urgently appoint an independent inspector to oversee its prisons and youth detention centres, as detainees, including teenagers, have been locked down and largely confined to their cells.Guardian Australia can also reveal the Ipswich police watch house is being used to house children and teenagers placed on remand for an indefinite period, after a coronavirus outbreak was linked to several guards at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre. Continue reading...

As calls to the coronavirus mental health helpline spike in Victoria, Melburnians living under stage four lockdown share video diaries of their feelings and experiencesMost Victorians are experiencing something few other Australians can relate to: being in lockdown for weeks on end, unable to leave their homes between 8pm and 5am, and limited to one hour of fresh air a day within a 5km radius of their homes.On 24 August, the Victoria’s deputy premier, James Merlino, told the state’s Covid-19 committee that nearly two-thirds of calls and webchats to the national coronavirus mental health helpline Beyond Blue in July came from Victorians. He also said demand to Lifeline rose by 22% in Victoria in July, while demand to Kids Helpline from Victorian youth increased 8% in July compared with the previous month. Continue reading...

As coronavirus community transmissions rise in New South Wales, here are the current hotspots and what to do if you’ve visited them

More traditional modelling might have meant location-based easing of restrictions for the same result with fewer economic and social costs

In August the US president said New Zealand was seeing a ‘big surge’ in cases, but it only reminded people of how well they had doneFollowing comments by Donald Trump that New Zealand was dealing with a “big surge” of new Covid-19 cases, Kiwis have snapped back with some light social media trolling under the hashtag #NZhellhole, which has trended at number two on New Zealand Twitter. Continue reading...

The ABC’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith forced to shelter with Australian diplomats during negotiations for their safe exitTwo Australian foreign correspondents in China have been urgently flown home after a tense diplomatic standoff, which Australia’s foreign minister called a “very disappointing series of events”.The ABC’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith both left China on Monday night after reportedly being questioned by China’s ministry of state security. Continue reading...

More than 100 health workers at two Sydney hospitals and 200 staff at Ipswich hospital are in isolation. Follow live

European Environment Agency calls for strong action to protect most vulnerable in societyCutting air pollution and improving green spaces in cities would immediately improve the health of the poorest people in society, a report from Europe’s environmental watchdog has found.Environmental factors inflict greater damage on the health of those in poverty, who already suffer a disproportionately greater burden of disease, than on the better-off, according to the European Environment Agency. Measures that reduce air pollution and give people greater access to parks and similar amenities are well within the reach of governments. Continue reading...

Brussels suspicions come as European commission chief warns Britain to abide by Northern Ireland protocolBrussels’ plummeting trust in Boris Johnson has been laid bare in leaked diplomatic cables obtained by the Guardian, as the Brexit negotiations reopen in London with a warning from the European commission president that Britain must respect international law.Ursula von der Leyen made her extraordinary intervention on Monday as Downing Street struggled to control the damage from disclosures suggesting it was backtracking on agreements made last year to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. Continue reading...