Assistant minister for superannuation rejects former PM’s charge that drawing down on super breaches preservation rules, and says Coalition has ‘no intention’ of allowing more withdrawalsJane Hume has said the government has “no intention” of allowing a third early release of retirement savings but has accused Paul Keating of being “out of touch” and sneering at Australians for accessing their superannuation in the first two tranches.The assistant minister for superannuation made the comments to Guardian Australia after former prime minister Keating accused the government of shifting the burden of economic stimulus on to young people and robbing them of retirement incomes. Continue reading...
Wesley Streete, 20, killed Keeley Bunker after night out to celebrate her birthdayA 20-year-old man has been convicted of raping and murdering a female friend who had trusted the killer to walk her home.Wesley Streete dumped Keeley Bunker’s body face-down in a brook in a park before trying to conceal it with branches on 19 September last year. Continue reading...
Court rules in favour of Duchess of Sussex in latest stage of legal action against Associated NewspapersThe Duchess of Sussex has won a high court bid to keep secret the identities of five friends who gave anonymous interviews to a US celebrity magazine, in the latest stage of her legal action against the owner of the Mail on Sunday.Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, over an article that reproduced parts of a “private and confidential” handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018. Continue reading...
On the 75th anniversary of the A-bomb, a Japanese American writer speaks to one of the last living survivors – and traces connections from Malcolm X to the fight to end nuclear warI keep a red file folder, its edges faded from nearly three decades of exposure to dust and light. Inside, the title words I typed in 1991: “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima.” It is the first research paper I ever wrote. Tucked inside of the folder’s front flap are three stapled index cards, each with reference titles written in smudged pencil. The first book listed is the one that mattered to me most: the journalist John Hersey’s 1946 nonfiction classic Hiroshima. The book’s scenes, vivid and wrenching, are lodged inside my memory. Particularly this one, about the Rev Kiyoshi Tanimoto, pulling bomb victims from a sand pit: “He reached down and took a woman by the hands, but her skin slipped off in huge, glove-like pieces.” Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and a reporter in Srinagar on (#56HRT)
On 5 August 2019, India revoked the Muslim-majority territory’s semi-autonomous status and began a devastating crackdownFor the past year, Fayaz Tilgami’s poetry has spoken of nothing but loss: a lost home, a lost language, a lost world. “We have lost our existence; it has been snatched from us,” said the 70-year-old Kashmiri poet, his voice heavy with sorrow.A year ago, on 5 August 2019, the Indian government, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, repealed article 370 of the Indian constitution. For almost 70 years, the provision had given the disputed, majority-Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir a semi-autonomous status, with special powers over issues such as jobs and residency. The special status had been granted to Kashmir in exchange for joining the Indian union after independence in 1947. Continue reading...
Two large explosions have devastated Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. Footage taken in the immediate aftermath shows windows blown out, streets littered with debris and cars upturned by the strength of the blasts. The impact was reportedly felt 200km away in Cyprus
Palace refuses to reveal former monarch’s location one day after he announced exileThe whereabouts of Spain’s scandal-hit former king remained shrouded in mystery on Tuesday, one day after it was announced that Juan Carlos would be leaving the country in a bid to protect the crown from mounting scrutiny over his financial dealings.On Monday, Spain’s royal house published a letter sent by Juan Carlos to his son, King Felipe VI, saying he would “move, at this time, outside of Spain” amid the “public repercussions that certain past events in my private life are generating”. Continue reading...
Musician files lawsuit against the president for copyright infringement after Rockin’ in the Free World and Devil’s Sidewalk were played at a rallyNeil Young is suing Donald Trump’s campaign for alleged illegal usage of his music at a rally.The musician claims that Rockin’ in the Free World and Devil’s Sidewalk were played at the president’s recent rally in Tulsa without a license. Both songs have also been used before by the campaign. Continue reading...
Mayfield park is part of government investment in outdoor spaces in response to coronavirusThe government is to contribute millions to fund Manchester’s first city-centre park in 100 years, as part of a series of investments in outdoor spaces in response to the coronavirus crisis.The new 6.5-acre Mayfield park, touted as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity”, is part of a £1.4bn development to transform the under-loved urban area between Piccadilly station and Mancunian Way, running along the River Medlock. Continue reading...
If countries that use tourism to fund conservation are not supported, species and habitats will disappearAt London zoo, the giraffes, which are easily visible from the street, had regular visitors even during lockdown, and an illuminated NHS sign on their famous building. Like most other attractions that rely on tourists for income, zoos forced to shut owing to the coronavirus face a financially fraught future. But the risks to captive animals and their keepers are nothing to those faced by wild creatures and the people who guard them. Already under huge pressure from multiple sources, international conservation efforts have been thrown into fresh chaos.The picture that is emerging of the global impact of Covid-19 on wildlife is complicated. Fishing hours were found by researchers to have fallen by 10% in March and April, for example, while South Africa reported a 53% drop in the number of rhinos killed by poachers, compared with the first six months of last year (from 316 in 2019, to 166). The sudden dramatic fall in air pollution and traffic (road, sea and air) brought rapid if short-lived benefits for many of the planet’s non-human inhabitants. In the UK, as in other countries, people who could afford to took the opportunity of the lockdown to spend more time in the countryside or their gardens. So far, it is a bumper year for British butterflies. Continue reading...
Video circulating on social media shows a massive explosion rocking central Beirut - shattering windows, knocking down doors and shaking buildings several hundred feet away.Lebanon’s health minister told journalists a ship carrying fireworks had blown up in the port, though the size of the blast heard across the country raised suspicions it might have resulted from a rocket strike or detonation of explosives - deliberate or otherwise. The source of the blast has not been confirmed
Local residents say the government has pressured them to hand over their lands: ‘They’re destroying our culture’High in the Sierra de Alamos of Mexico’s northern Sonora state, towering pillars of rock loom above thermal springs where for thousands of years, the indigenous Guarijío people would gather to commune with their ancestors.Now the springs – and the land around them – have been submerged beneath rising waters trapped behind an enormous dam across the Mayo River. The 25-storey Bicentenario-Los Pilares barrier threatens to displace the living, and leave the graves of their forefathers deep under water. Continue reading...
Flooding fears extend up to Maine as storm continues with 70mph windsHurricane Isaias has been downgraded down to a tropical storm after making landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.The hurricane touched down shortly after 11pm on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 85mph (136km/h), weakening to 70 miles per hour (117km/h). Continue reading...
Work levels from big construction sites to trade businesses set to be pummelled amid predictions new curbs will ‘knock wind out of’ stateVictorian builders say they will take a hit to revenue totalling up to $456m a day from sweeping new restrictions on construction in the state, forcing some companies to close their doors entirely.Under tough restrictions announced on Monday that are designed to slow the spread of the state’s coronavirus outbreak, the number of workers on large building sites such as apartment complexes and office towers is to be reduced to a quarter of the normal number. Continue reading...
Richard Marles accuses the Coalition of mishandling a relationship that ‘needs to be managed by the adults in the room’The Morrison government has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the relationship with China, while its handling of a submarine project has made Australians less safe, the deputy Labor leader has declared.In a sharpening of the opposition’s political attack following months of restraint during the coronavirus pandemic, Richard Marles accused the Coalition of mismanaging ties with Australia’s largest trading partner by failing to speak with a single, clear message. Continue reading...
Letter to Daniel Andrews outlines ‘distressing’ situation where nurses are not being given N95 masks and there ‘isn’t enough PPE’• Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions; Victoria stage 3 restrictions
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced tough new stage four coronavirus restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne, including an overnight curfew
Popular destinations include Nice and Faro despite coronavirus travel concernsEasyJet has expanded its summer schedule after better-than-expected demand and says it expects to operate about 1,000 flights a day in August.The budget carrier said popular destinations included Faro and Nice, along with city breaks such as Amsterdam and Paris. EasyJet will have 210 planes flying this month and expects to operate 40% of its capacity between July and September, higher than the 30% predicted at its first-half results. Continue reading...
The UN declared access to water and sanitation a human right a decade ago, but 785 million people worldwide still have no water close to homeTen photographs marking the 10th anniversary of access to water and sanitation being declared a human right by the UN have been commissioned from 10 visual artists by the charity WaterAid to show the impact of clean water on people’s lives.Globally, 785 million people – one in 10 – still lack access to water close to home and 2 billion people – one in four – don’t have a toilet of their own. Continue reading...
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...
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...
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
by Jason Burke in Johannesburg and Samuel Okiror in K on (#56GEA)
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...
by Tony Blakely, Michael Baker and Nick Wilson on (#56GDH)
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'
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...
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...