World news | The Guardian

US diplomat David Hale calls for a thorough and transparent investigation into the blast

The royal family leads the UK’s commemorations on the 75th anniversary of VJ Day – the day the second world war ended with Japan’s surrender.Prince Charles led a two-minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, as part of a service of remembrance. The prime minister also spoke at the event.

Pressure mounts on Alexander Lukashenko to go as protests threaten to spill beyond Belarus’s borders

The first step to change is to admit that systemic racism exists. To own it. Only then can we root it out• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldEver since I was a boy, it was my dream to become a policeman. Growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, amid the riots of the 1980s, it must have seemed crazy: black gay scousers from working-class estates didn’t go into the police.I joined Greater Manchester police three months after 9/11. From training, through to my transfer to the Metropolitan police in London, racism blighted my career. I fell ill with depression, and challenged the police in the courts. The Metropolitan police was found to have harassed, victimised and discriminated against me, because of my sexuality and the colour of my skin. I was then forced out after 11 years’ service. Continue reading...

But the same measures that fight coronavirus are effective against the flu – and vaccines offer another weapon against itPublic health experts, researchers and manufacturers warn the coming flu season could bring a “double-barrel” respiratory disease outbreak in the United States, just as fall and winter are expected to exacerbate spread of Covid-19.At the same time, researchers said the strategies currently used to prevent Covid-19 transmission – namely, hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing – could also help lessen flu outbreaks, if Americans are willing to practice them. Continue reading...

Emergency services say all other residents of the building in North Fitzroy were evacuated safelyA child has died in a fire at a Melbourne public housing building.Emergency services attended the apartment block at the intersection of Clauscen and Nicholson streets in North Fitzroy about 12.30pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Luiz Henrique Mandetta accuses president of playing a ‘pivotal’ role in steering economy towards catastropheHistorians will savage Jair Bolsonaro for leading Brazilians into a deadly “canyon” with his shambling, self-interested and anti-scientific response to Covid-19, according to his former health minister.In an interview with the Guardian, Luiz Henrique Mandetta accused the Brazilian president of playing a “pivotal” role in steering Latin America’s largest economy towards a catastrophe. Bolsonaro played politics with citizens’ lives at a time of global crisis, he said, as Brazil’s death toll rose to more than 105,000. Only the US has suffered more deaths. Continue reading...

Pro-democracy rallies continue with large event due to be held in Bangkok on SundayA prominent student protest leader in Thailand has been arrested on charges of sedition as pro-democracy rallies continued across the country.Parit Chiwarak, 22, whose arrest was livestreamed on social media, was stopped on the outskirts of Bangkok on Friday night. As he was physically carried into a car, he raised his hand in a three-fingered salute – a gesture borrowed from the Hunger Games that is used by protesters and symbolises opposition to the military-backed government. Continue reading...

Naruhito reflects on war actions at Covid-curtailed ceremony, marked elsewhere by former foes as Victory in the Pacific or VJ DayJapan has marked the 75th anniversary of its surrender in the second world war with Emperor Naruhito expressing “deep remorse” over his country’s wartime actions at a sombre annual ceremony curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic.Naruhito pledged to reflect on the war’s events and expressed hope that the tragedy would never be repeated. There was no word of apology from the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who gave thanks for the sacrifices of the Japanese war dead. Continue reading...

Auckland’s lockdown extended for two weeks; start of provincial women’s rugby season delayedNew Zealand reported seven new cases of coronavirus up to Saturday morning after a lockdown in Auckland was extended.Six of the seven new cases were linked to the cluster at the centre of all the previous community cases, said Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health. Continue reading...

It was hard to believe that teams once tried to play like Barcelona. Not any more. Their football is stale, their soul has disappeared and too many players have seen better days. They are a shadow of their former selves and although it is impossible to envisage Quique Setién ever managing them again after overseeing a historic humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich, the harsh reality is that Barcelona’s malaise extends much further than the dugout.History will not be kind to the people who make the decisions at the Camp Nou. They deserve nothing but scorn for squandering Lionel Messi’s talent. Five years have passed since Messi last won the Champions League and it has reached the stage where he might have to do the unthinkable and leave Barcelona, who are rudderless off the pitch and lethargic on it. Continue reading...

Protesters marched towards government buildings demanding Lukashenko’s resignation

British soldier Bill Norways was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and forced to work on the infamous Thai-Burma railway. During his time as a PoW he created sketches and artworks under appalling conditions• Families of British prisoner and Japanese guard united by poem 70 years on Continue reading...

French move comes after UK added country to quarantine list as well as Netherlands, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba; UK figures show 11 people have died

Holidaymakers scramble home as it emerges No 10 changed timing after call with devolved administrations

Agency to review historical photographs after issue raised on website and social mediaMagnum Photos, one of the world’s most celebrated photographic agencies, is to re-examine the content of its archive of more than 1 million images after accusations it made available photographs that critics said may show the sexual exploitation of minors.In a statement, the president of Magnum, Olivia Arthur, said the agency, whose founders included Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, had begun an “in-depth internal review to make sure that we fully understand the implications of the work in the archive, both in terms of imagery and context. Continue reading...

Travellers left stressed and exhausted as they cut holidays short following new Covid-19 rulesAt times on the A1 and A16 motorways in northern France on Friday afternoon, four out of five cars had UK plates: SUVs, estates and vans laden with luggage and children and piled high with surfboards and bikes, Brits barrelling back in a desperate bid to make it home before the 4am quarantine deadline.Related: 'It’s killed the holiday': Britons in France react to new quarantine rules Continue reading...

(Atlantic)

‘The move against Palestine is not a step that can be stomached,’ says ErdoğanTurkey has threatened to suspend its diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and recall its envoy, a day after the Gulf state announced it would become the third Arab country to establish full ties with Israel.“The move against Palestine is not a step that can be stomached,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters on Friday. Continue reading...

Restrictions to continue in Leicester and large areas of northern England due to rise in cases

Residents tell how the crackdown on peaceful protests against the Belarus election results has turned a city into a conflict zoneTwenty-three-year-old Danya* was sitting with her brother and his wife in Minsk’s Independence Square on Monday, when men dressed in black forced them into a van.The trio were wearing white ribbons, symbols of resistance to the re-election of Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, which has been widely condemned as fraudulent. The official election results, released the day before and disputed by protesters, showed that Lukashenko took 80.23% of the votes, while .his opposition challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, received only 9.9%. Continue reading...

Boyko Borisov says he will step down if his plan for assembly election is approvedThe Bulgarian prime minister said on Friday he would resign if parliament approved his plans to call elections for a grand national assembly to change the constitution.Boyko Borisov says he wants to improve the accountability of the judiciary and halve the number of lawmakers. Continue reading...

EU set to discuss possible sanctions against Minsk as Russia says protests a ‘clear attempt at outside interference’Belarus’s deputy interior minister has pledged to release all protesters by Friday morning, as evidence about beatings and mistreatment by police inside detention centres grew.On Thursday night Alexander Barsukov told reporters outside the Okrestina detention centre in the capital, Minsk: “We will release everyone by 6am.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: video and pictures show resident left with ants crawling over bloodied bandages on her legs as staff report dreadful conditionsHorrific footage of a 95-year-old woman left to languish in a Melbourne aged care facility struck by Covid-19 shows ants crawling from a wound on her leg, and the bandages around it crusted with blood.The footage and photos, described by the federal aged care minister as “heartbreaking”, were taken inside Kalyna Care, a private residential home in Melbourne’s north-west, on Tuesday, some two weeks after the virus was first identified in one staff member. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia analysis and map shows how the pattern of Covid-19 has changed by region and throughout Melbourne. Live data updates will track the numbers as the Vic lockdown continues

Unesco vows to lead global effort to rescue culture and heritage of Beirut as FBI joins inquiry to investigate cause of massive port blastAbout 60 historic buildings in Beirut are at risk of collapse following last week’s devastating port explosion, Lebanese officials have warned, as the UN’s cultural agency vowed to lead the international campaign for the recovery and restoration of Beirut’s heritage.At least 8,000 buildings, many concentrated in the historic quarters of Gemayzeh and Mar Mikhael, were affected, said Sarkis Khoury, director general of antiquities at Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture, according to Unesco. Among them are some 640 historic buildings, approximately 60 of which were at risk of collapse, he said. Continue reading...

Natacha Bouchart tells PM sending Navy ships into French waters is ‘a declaration of maritime war’The mayor of the French port city of Calais has told Boris Johnson to “calm down” and change strategy in dealing with migrants crossing from France.“I consider Boris Johnson’s pronouncements to be a provocation,” said Natacha Bouchart, mayor of the town that is a main embarkation point for the small, overcrowded migrant boats seeking to cross the Channel this summer. Continue reading...

Holidaymakers arriving from France after 4am on Saturday will need to quarantine for 14 days

Savage attacks by prison guards and riot police follow election protests as Lukashenko holds on to powerPeople detained in Belarus during the past few days of unrest have told the Guardian about systematic mistreatment and abuse, suggesting that guards and riot police loyal to Alexander Lukashenko’s regime have terrorised thousands of Belarusians caught up in the crackdown on recent protests.Those detained in police stations, jails and makeshift prisons spoke of ritual beatings, up to 55 women being crammed into a cell meant for two people and men who were kept in stress positions for hours on end. Leaked audio files and other testimony has corroborated the reports of widespread torture as Lukashenko tries to hold on to power. Continue reading...

Establishing an office in France to process asylum applications would allow the UK to take its fair share of refugees without putting lives at risk at sea, writes Mary HarveyI am troubled by the number of asylum seekers risking their lives attempting to cross the Channel in order to get to this country (Letters, 11 August).I am surprised I have not heard mention of this solution: with French agreement would it not be possible for Britain to establish an office in Calais to process the asylum applications there? Those who were accepted could then be brought safely to Britain. Continue reading...

Visitors can view work by likes of Olafur Eliasson and Tacita Dean and take guided tours of venueBerlin’s legendary Berghain nightclub will relax its notoriously strict door policy for art lovers from next month as the venue turns into a gallery while the German capital’s nightlife remains on hold because of the pandemic.Berghain, housed in an old power plant on the border between the Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg districts, will from 9 September show works produced during the Covid-19 lockdown by 85 Berlin-based artists, including established figures such as Olafur Eliasson, Tacita Dean and Wolfgang Tillmans and younger names such as Shirin Sabahi, Christine Sun Kim and Sandra Mujinga. Continue reading...

New Zealand’s sharp response to a cluster of cases contrasts with the uncertainties surrounding Boris Johnson’s plans

By refusing to breathe life into the peddlers of hate we can put them out of a job• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldThere’s a hot new profession on the rise with incredible career prospects, flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from home. A fast-paced job in a rapidly growing industry that can catapult you from pen-pusher to proprietor without a single second of overtime. What is this highly desirable position? I present to you the dastardly role of the outrage-monger.They are the purveyors of hate who have turned trolling into a business model; the intentionally racist and strategically classist bloggers, columnists and frequently reported Twitter accounts, triggering your impulses and eliciting your responses. Responses that provide that coveted currency of the social media age: engagement. So with every furious tweet or seething screenshot we do little but increase their stock value. But it is also we who have the power to turn the tables. Continue reading...

Rocky Marciano Price had been looking for lone women in wood in AccringtonA 17-year-old boy who was found guilty of the murder of a teaching assistant can be

Lagoon ‘liberated’ as firms announce switch to Trieste and Genoa, at least until end of yearCruise ship opponents are planning a party in Venice after two Italian cruise operators announced they were dropping the city from their 2020 itineraries.Activists with No Grandi Navi (No Big Ships) said the lagoon had been “liberated” after MSC Crociere and Costa Crociere decided their vessels would instead set sail from Trieste or Genoa when services resume on 16 August and 6 September respectively. Continue reading...

By getting bogged down with external conditions, you can miss some beautiful moments• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldIn 2010, I walked 400 miles to the North Pole with my two teammates, Linda and Ali. It was -40C. All our conversations were about navigation, our health, the situation we were in. One day, I found a baby musk ox stuck on a ledge, and helped it to safety. For three days, this thing was glued to me. I remember we were sitting drinking soup, and it was looking at me as if I were its mum. We laughed for the first time in about two weeks. We were just three people outside, enjoying the space we were in, rather than being against the elements.There’s a lesson in this as we emerge from the dark cloud that is Covid-19. By getting bogged down with external conditions, you can miss some beautiful moments. Our new normal is going to involve spending a lot more time outdoors – for socialising, meals out, performances or outdoor schooling. In the UK, we’re good at adapting to lifestyle changes, and this time will be no different. But as we move into autumn and winter, there will be a sharp learning curve. Continue reading...

The ‘mute grab’ to become the ‘Weddle grab’ after first person to do the move in 1981

After the antisemitism rows of the Corbyn era, there are concerns that black voters are now being pushed awayWhen Keir Starmer approved apologies and six-figure damages last month for former Labour officials who had accused the party of antisemitism, he probably hoped to draw a line under a damaging issue that had dogged the party under its former leader Jeremy Corbyn.But rather than solving Labour’s problems, the settlements – regarded by some on the party’s left as principally about repudiating Corbyn’s leadership – could transform one racism row into another. Continue reading...

Billionaire says Queensland supreme court has registered two arbitration awards, protecting them under the constitution from Western Australia’s legislationWestern Australia’s government is working to push through extraordinary laws to head off Clive Palmer’s potential $30bn claim against the state, but the businessman says a Queensland court decision makes the WA move unconstitutional.Palmer has also sought an injunction in the federal court requiring the WA government to withdraw from parliament its unprecedented legislation which would amend a 2002 state agreement with Mineralogy. Continue reading...

Dispute over exploration of energy reserves in eastern Mediterranean escalatesGreece has placed its military forces on high alert, recalling its naval and air force offers from holiday, as tensions with Turkey over exploration of potentially lucrative offshore energy reserves escalate in the eastern Mediterranean.With Ankara dispatching the Oruç Reis, a drillship escorted by gunboats, to conduct seismic research in contested waters, Athens stepped up calls for Turkey to stop the “illegal” activities, intensifying a diplomatic offensive that has prompted the US, EU, France and Israel to express their growing anxiety over the situation. Continue reading...

Regulator has launched legal action against James Mawhinney and Mayfair 101, which has taken $140m from investorsThe Australian Securities and Investments Commission fears the man behind troubled efforts to redevelop Queensland’s cyclone-ravaged Dunk Island, James Mawhinney, may leave the country, a court has heard.Asic also fears assets belonging to Mawhinney’s investment group, Mayfair 101, may be moved, counsel for the regulator, Jonathan Moore QC, told the federal court on Thursday. Continue reading...

The US president’s hair-washing complaints have prompted a proposal on easing of shower-pressure standards.The Trump administration presented rule changes that would allow showerheads to boost water pressure, after Donald Trump complained that bathroom fixtures do not work to his liking.The Department of Energy plan followed Trump's comments last month at a White House event on rolling back regulations where he said he believed water does not come out fast enough from fixtures. ‘My hair … I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect,' he said.

Among the many homes and buildings damaged by the Beirut explosion were the Sursock Museum and Palace. The 19th-century palace was once one of Beirut’s grandest town houses, and the mansion housing the museum was left to the city of Beirut in 1952 Continue reading...

NSW authorities are concerned about a number of Covid-19 cases in the past six weeks where the source was unknown. Follow live

Alexander Vikhor left in van for hours after being detained in Gomel, mother tells local newsBelarus has confirmed that a young man has died in police custody, the second death since mass protests began on Sunday against the country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko.Alexander Vikhor, 25, died after being detained on Sunday in the city of Gomel in south-east Belarus during countrywide protests over accusations of mass vote-rigging in presidential elections. Protests continued for a fourth night on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Animals died of hunger and thirst after 58,000 returned to Sudan due to quarantine compromiseAround 3,000 sheep sent back from Saudi Arabia by ship to Sudan have died of hunger and thirst according to a Sudanese government minister. Some drowned on the voyage.Saudi Arabia returned 58,000 sheep to Sudan after finding out that quarantine procedures in Sudan had been compromised, leaving some animals without vaccination against diseases including Rift Valley fever. Continue reading...

Satellite images of the MV Wakashio shipwreck off the south-east coast of Mauritius reveal the damage as the Japanese bulk carrier leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil. The ship, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on 25 July and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis Continue reading...

FSA report finds food insecurity has shot up, bringing risk of malnutrition and obesity

Support for abused men, trans women and non-binary people is urgently neededYousef, a 28-year-old gay man, was raped by Syrian intelligence agents who had detained him for participating in protests during the conflict in Syria. He fled to Lebanon, but found only limited services to help him deal with the traumatic aftermath. By the time I interviewed him, he was resettled in the Netherlands. Geographically speaking, he was away from all the violence, but it still haunted him. “I look behind me when I am walking,” he told me. “I still wake up at night. It [the trauma] is not over.”Yousef is one of dozens of sexual violence survivors from Syria whom I interviewed for Human Rights Watch. I found that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict men and boys – in addition to women and girls – have been subjected to sexual violence, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, by both government agents and non-government actors. Continue reading...

Premier Daniel Andrews reports eight more deaths and the lowest number of new coronavirus cases for more than two weeks