World news | The Guardian

Attendance rates will plummet from Thursday as stage four lockdown comes into effect, but centres still have few details• Follow Tuesday’s Australia live blog

Soldiers patrol Indian-controlled areas as protesters plan ‘black day’ to mark 5 AugustAuthorities have brought in a curfew in many parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir, one day ahead of the first anniversary of India’s controversial decision to revoke the disputed region’s special status.Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, a civil administrator, said the security lockdown was put in place in the region’s main city of Srinagar in view of information about protests planned by anti-India groups to mark 5 August as “black day.” Continue reading...

Kingdom urged to rethink mass deportation policy as crowded and insanitary conditions spark Covid-19 fearsIbraahin’s* first week of work at a market in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was also his last. As the sun set on the fifth day, the police descended upon the crowds and rounded up the 40-year-old Somali, along with several other undocumented migrant workers. They were transported to the nearby al-Shumaisi detention centre where many, including Ibraahin, remain months later, awaiting deportation.Saudi authorities regularly arrest those found to be working illegally in the kingdom without a visa. Many are held in al-Shumaisi, a huge complex designed to hold 32,000 inmates. It has four grey-walled wings for male inmates, two for females and one for children. Detainees are held in a crowded series of bunk bed-filled halls, which each hold around 80 people. Continue reading...

Federal aged care minister says he’s ‘reluctant to have a public hit list’, saying smaller facilities cannot ‘handle a big media influx’• Follow Tuesday’s Australia live blog

Three men stuck on tiny Pikelot island after their boat ran out of fuel and strayed off course spotted by Australian and US military aircraftThree Micronesian sailors stranded on a remote Pacific island have been found alive and well after a rescue team spotted their giant SOS message written into the sand on a beach.Australian and US military aircraft found the three men on tiny Pikelot island, nearly 200km west of where they’d set off. Rescuers said they were “in good condition” with no significant injuries. Continue reading...

Brazil president’s chief of staff tests positive; Trump says US ‘doing well’; record fines in Australia for not isolating

Social media users share pictures of snowfall as Melbourne prepares for forecast of coldest four days in 24 yearsPeople in many parts of Victoria and Tasmania woke up to a snow-covered landscape on Tuesday morning as a low pressure system brings a blast of cold air to south-east Australia.Social media users shared pictures of snowfall across regional Victoria, including several areas including Ballarat, Colac and the Otway, Strzelecki and Dandenong ranges, as well as Tasmania, as snow continues to fall as low as 100 metres. Continue reading...

Move in Philippines comes amid record number of infections and after health groups warn health system is at risk of being overwhelmed

Officer’s head allegedly smashed into ground at a Frankston shopping centre by 38-year-old woman who police say was refusing to comply with coronavirus restrictions• Follow Tuesday’s Australia live blog

Artists taking on political roles from Algeria to Zambia have been beaten, detained and killedThey call him the “ghetto president”, and his ambition is to bring the dreams and the sounds of the streets to the corridors of power.Bobi Wine, a popular reggae star and prominent opposition MP in Uganda, will release a new album next month that addresses what he calls “the real issues people are facing – the injustices, corruption, high taxation, misrule, abuse of human rights, dictatorship.” Continue reading...

We asked epidemiologists in Australia and New Zealand on the effectiveness of lockdowns and what’s nextAs of 2 August Australia had been experiencing average rates (smoothed over five days given how fluctuating daily counts are) of 500 to 600 per day in Victoria – although we may have just passed the peak with numbers perhaps beginning to fall in the last few days. But we still have a long way to go. Continue reading...

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns there may never be an effective vaccine for Covid-19. Speaking in Geneva, Tedros explains the need for caution despite progress developing some vaccines. 'A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection' he says. 'However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be'

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has imposed stage three coronavirus restrictions across regional Victoria from 6 August

Last month’s border closure set to be compounded by further disruption to life and business as regional Victoria returns to stage three restrictions

Companies should ensure six weeks’ worth of drugs for end of transition period, DHSC saysPharmaceutical companies should stockpile six weeks’ worth of drugs to guard against disruption at the end of the Brexit transition period, the government has said.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has written to medicine suppliers advising them to make boosting their reserves a priority. Continue reading...

Half a million Victorians could lose their jobs due to Covid-19 industry restrictions, economists say. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

Livestock, GPS equipment and quad bikes targeted as gangs took advantage of empty roads

NHS health officials say paracetamol, ibuprofen and opioids also unsuitable for chronic painPainkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin and opioids can do “more harm than good” and should not be prescribed to treat chronic pain, health officials have said.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said there was “little or no evidence” the commonly used drugs for chronic primary pain made any difference to people’s quality of life, pain or psychological distress. Continue reading...

Response follows thwarted infiltration attempt from Syria by suspected militants, Israel saysIsraeli fighter jets and attack helicopters have struck Syrian military targets, hours after thwarting an infiltration attempt from Syria by suspected militants who were trying to plant explosives, the Israeli military said.In a rare statement acknowledging strikes in neighbouring Syria, the army said the targets included “observation posts and intelligence collection systems, anti-aircraft artillery facilities and command and control systems” in Syrian army bases. Continue reading...

Labor MP Ged Kearney, whose father-in-law died of Covid-19, tells ABC audience that ‘the Morrison government has failed aged care’The deaths and Covid-19 outbreaks in Victoria’s private aged care “could have been prevented 10 years ago”, according to doctors on the frontline.On Monday, the ABC’s Q+A program heard from Melbourne resident Spiro Vasilakis, whose mother Maria died in St Basil’s aged care facility, and Christine Golding, whose mother was evacuated from St Basil’s to hospital. Continue reading...

The capture of José Antonio ‘El Marro’ Yépez, a top gangster in violence-stricken Guanajuato state, gives a boost to the presidentMexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country’s most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates.In a Sunday night video message to the nation, López Obrador said security forces had seized “El Marro” or “the Sledgehammer” – the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel – at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato. Continue reading...

Teenager goes on trial accused of killing Lindsay Birbeck, 47, in August 2019A 16-year-old boy killed a teaching assistant in broad daylight, moved her body in a wheelie bin and buried her in a makeshift grave in Lancashire, a court has heard.The body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was discovered by a passing dog walker in Accrington cemetery on 24 August 2019, the jury was told during the first day of a trial at Preston crown court on Monday. Continue reading...

The 82-year-old says he is moving abroad to help son ‘exercise his responsibilities’ as kingSpain’s former king Juan Carlos is to leave the country and go into exile abroad following a series of damaging allegations about his financial arrangements that have harmed the reputation of the monarchy and embarrassed his son, King Felipe.In March Felipe stripped Juan Carlos of his annual stipend and renounced his own personal inheritance from his father after reports that he was in line to receive millions of euros from a secret offshore fund with ties to Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...

In this exclusive extract from her book about the case against George Pell, Melissa Davey talks to Robert Richter, the man who defended the cardinal against charges of child sexual abuseIn February 2020, I took the elevator to the fourth floor of a building in the heart of Melbourne’s courts district to interview Robert Richter, the defence barrister who represented George Pell at trial. He led me into his chambers, a room brimming with artwork, papers, books and vintage furniture. By the door was a 255-year-old leather chair made for Dr Samuel Johnson, who wrote the famous eponymous English dictionary. The relic has sentimental meaning for Richter, who taught himself English after moving with his family to Australia as a 13-year-old boy via Israel and the Soviet Union, where he was born.I put in interview requests with the prosecution, including Mark Gibson, the county court’s chief justice, Peter Kidd, and Bret Walker SC, but Richter was the only one to eventually agree to be interviewed on the record about the case. While I was writing this book, many people I spoke to – including police officers, child-abuse researchers, lawyers and senior figures in Melbourne law – spoke of their respect and admiration for Richter. Some described him as kind; most described him as brilliant. However, none would go on the record, so poor are the optics of speaking favourably of someone representing an accused child-sex offender as high-profile as Pell. Continue reading...

Ricardas Puisys found hiding in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, after Facebook account set up in his nameA man feared by police to have been murdered has been found living in woods, almost five years after he disappeared amid fears he was being exploited.The last confirmed sighting of Ricardas Puisys, now 40, was on 26 September 2015 at his workplace, 20 miles from where he lived in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. He unexpectedly failed to return to work two days later and in November of that year police launched a murder investigation. The following month a man was arrested on suspicion of his murder before being released without charge. Continue reading...

Increase in police and tougher punishments promised after child dies following apparent gangland shooting near StockholmSwedish officials have promised more police and tougher punishments amid public outrage after a 12-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet in an apparent gangland shooting at a petrol station car park south of Stockholm.“I am aware no words are enough for those who have lost a child in this awful way, but I still want to we share your grief in these difficult times,” the home affairs minister, Mikael Damberg, told the national news agency TT. Continue reading...

Hume, who has died aged 83, won acclaim for his efforts towards achieving Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland

Exclusive: health chief says declaration of major incident shows spread not just in BAME groups

Most offices in business district deserted despite PM’s call to return after coronavirus lockdown

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's alleged corruption and against his government's handling of the coronavirus crisis.Israeli media estimated that about 15,000 protesters arrived at Netanyahu's state residence in Jerusalem, where they carried banners calling on him to resign and to save Israeli democracy.The weekend's protests were reported to be the biggest in a series of weekly demonstrations near Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem. Protesters also arrived outside his private house in the Israeli city of Caesarea and hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv Continue reading...

Up to 20,000 demonstrated against restrictions, raising fears of a rise in infections

Anwar Jan shot dead in home town of Barkhan in Balochistan provinceThe murder of a reporter known for exposing corruption has set off a wave of protests across Pakistan’s western Balochistan province, one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.Anwar Jan was shot dead by two gunmen on the evening of 23 July as he drove his motorbike home in the town of Barkhan. Continue reading...

Natalia Robledo-Contreras had to fight from the age of eight to be recognised as Dutch and almost lost her family in the process

New bridge, named Genoa San Giorgio, replaces Morandi bridge that collapsed in 2018

Paris instrument with 8,000 pipes and five keyboards will be cleaned and repairedWork has begun to dismantle and repair the grand organ in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which escaped serious damage after a devastating fire in April 2019.The instrument, believed to be the biggest in France, was untouched by the flames that threatened to engulf the building and the gallons of water used by firefighters to extinguished the blaze. Continue reading...

Former aide claims she told Mark Spencer extent of allegations months before MP was arrestedA minister has refused to confirm whether the government’s chief whip was told about claims against a Conservative MP by his alleged victim four months before he was arrested on suspicion of rape.It is understood that the woman in her 20s, a former parliamentary staffer, spoke to the chief whip, Mark Spencer, in April. Last week, the woman told the Times that Spencer had taken no action. Continue reading...

Renovation plan is latest event in peripatetic history of remains of wife of Richard I

New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern says while there was no timeframe on plans for a trans-Tasman travel bubble that would include Australia, the rise in Covid-19 cases in Victoria means it won't happen for some time to come. Once hopeful of including other countries in the Pacific region in the travel bubble, Ardern has confirmed New Zealand's borders will remain closed until the risk of coronavirus entering the country through visitors can be minimised. 'We wish Victoria all the very best as they continue to combat what is a devastating situation,' she said, 'but I think the reality for both of us is this is going to slow things down for us'

160 people have died following the killing of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, leaving the ethnically and politically riven country more divided than everThe figure holding a gun stepped beside the car in which Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was sitting in Addis Ababa, and pulled the trigger. The cold-blooded killing on the night of 29 June cut short the young life of one of Ethiopia’s most popular musicians and activists. It was also the start of some of the most consequential few days in recent Ethiopian history.Hours later, in the lakeside town of Ziway in Ethiopia’s Oromia region – from which Haacaaluu came – Selas Russell woke to the sound of gunfire and shouting. Soon a friend rang her. “Get up, grab your passport, leave your belongings and run for your life,” he told the Ethiopian-born British citizen who owns a hotel in the town. Continue reading...

Photojournalist Achilleas Zavallis travels to Lebanon and finds a country struggling with the effects of economic decline and mismanagement. Inflation is out of control, destroying the spending power of all but a wealthy minorityLebanon has long been a country that somehow held it together. Through war, insurrection, chaos and intervention, it always prevailed. It remains a country of contrasting realities, but it is steadily becoming a place where dreams died. Beirut long ago lost its claim to be the Levantine equivalent of Paris. Its vibrant nightlife has been dulled by an economic implosion, its skyline disappears into darkness as we drive to my hotel at night.With the power grid functioning only two to four hours a day, there are no traffic lights to guide us. Buildings seem empty, or abandoned. Car headlights illuminate a couple walking along an empty street. The centrepiece of the city’s shopping and nightlife, Hamra Street, is deserted. Continue reading...

Australia and NZ were once both heralded as coronavirus success stories, but Victorian outbreak has sparked anxiety across the Tasman

US cases hit 1.87 million last month, or double the previous record; WHO says pandemic continues to accelerate; Melbourne wakes to strict lockdown

Leeds-based Meatless Farm says it seeks to build on growth in plant-based eating during coronavirus lockdownA vegan food company is sparing no blushes with what it calls a “light-hearted” advertising campaign to encourage more Britons to avoid eating meat.Meatless Farm says it is targeting people who have cut down on bangers and burgers during lockdown with its provocative slogan M*** F***, launched on Monday with a national campaign. Continue reading...

A generation of undocumented Europeans – inspired by the ‘Dreamers’ in the US – are fighting for residency rights. A new Guardian series hears some of their stories‘Why do you sound so British?” the immigration officer asked 15-year-old Ijeoma Moore as she followed orders to pack for herself and her 10-year-old brother. Officers had arrived at their London home that morning in 2010, as they were eating breakfast and getting ready to leave for school. “Because I am British,” the teenager replied.What else could she be? She had lived in the UK since she was two years old. She loved tea and toast and “stupid telly”. But her mother’s repeated residency applications to the Home Office had all been rejected. Moore was not a British citizen. Continue reading...

Schools across the state will return to remote learning while on-site supervision will be offered for students who need it

Coronavirus has hit the industry hard, with division over how to respond

Chinese students, Mongolian tourists and Palestinians from Gaza are still stranded

Romanian has been described as ‘bravest and most distinguished candidate for the job’Laura Codruƫa Kövesi made her name as the head of Romania’s respected anti-corruption agency, the DNA. She went after government ministers and mayors, fast becoming a favourite of the European parliament and anti-corruption campaigners.Kövesi was popular with many governments – but not her own, who vowed to do everything to block her successful campaign to become Europe’s first public prosecutor. Continue reading...

Virus proves a reminder to wealthy of their reliance on impoverished workers, reviving calls for a slum revolution that will benefit all