Newsnight presenter could not understand the lack of empathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victimsThe Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has said she only realised the significance of her interview with the Duke of York after watching the footage.The Prince Andrew interview in November 2019, in which he was grilled over his relationship with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, won scoop of the year at the Royal Television Society Awards while the BBC’s flagship current affairs show was also named daily news programme of the year. Continue reading...
Tuesday: Oxford University’s experimental coronavirus vaccine generates strong immune response. Plus, inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s worldGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 21 July. Continue reading...
Court told he did not reveal feelings for an accuser because he feared for his marriageThe former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke has admitted not telling police the truth when they asked him about one of the women he is accused of sexually assaulting, saying he feared it would destroy his marriage.Giving evidence at his trial on Monday, he also admitted trying to cover up a separate affair with another woman, who is not one of the two complainants, for similar reasons. Continue reading...
After Huawei ban and extradition suspension, next on the list are nuclear power and higher educationWhen Mike Pompeo meets a group of Conservative backbench MPs on Tuesday who have been pressing for the UK to take a harder line on China, it will not be for a victory lap as some in Downing Street might hope.The hawkish US secretary of state wants to encourage the Conservative rebels to keep pushing for Britain to go further than banning Huawei from 5G phone networks and suspending the extradition treaty with Hong Kong. Not they need much encouragement. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#55Y3Z)
Cross-party consensus builds as foreign secretary also bans export of riot control kit to cityConservative MPs and Labour are calling for the wholesale overhaul of relations with China after the government suspended extradition with Hong Kong and banned the export of riot control equipment following Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law on the territory.Announcing the measures to the Commons, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, stressed the desire for continued cooperation with China, but said the actions were “a reasonable and proportionate response” to the law, which effectively criminalises most political dissent. Continue reading...
As Britain cuts itself off from the modern world amid the delusions of Brexit, Ireland is playing its part with growing assuranceIn the archipelago of offshore European islands we inhabit, a new nation is growing in importance. This new nation is not the divided, tragi-comic “global” Britain of Boris Johnson’s sloppy and incontinent imagination. It is not even the independent Scotland whose birth Mr Johnson is himself doing much to foster – though one day it may be, given his slapdash premiership.The new nation is the Irish Republic. There are three connected reasons for saying a 98-year-old nation is new. The first is Ireland’s latest government, which took office in June. For almost a century, Irish politics have been shaped by the civil war of 1922-23. Ever since then, the country has been ruled either by Fine Gael, which is descended from the group that supported the treaty of 1921 with Britain, or, more often, by Fianna Fáil, whose forebears rejected it. Continue reading...
Julio Faerman allegedly bought the apartment with cash linked to money launderingA high court judge has allowed the seizure of a £5m luxury London apartment allegedly bought by a Brazilian businessman using “corrupt funds” linked to the multibillon-dollar Petrobras “Operation Carwash” money-laundering scandal.Judge Johannah Cutts accepted that, as part of an investigation, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) could seize a Kensington property linked to Julio Faerman. Faerman is a middleman accused of funnelling tens of millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts as part of a long-running and elaborate bribery scheme at the Brazilian state-run oil company. Continue reading...
Lengthy wait could prematurely force some into residential facilities, aged care groups warnMore than 100,000 older Australians are waiting for at-home care packages they have already been approved for, with aged care groups warning the stagnating waiting list could prematurely force some into residential facilities.Updated figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released on Monday show 103,599 Australians were waiting for a home care package they had been approved for at the end of March, meaning the waitlist had shrunk by just 838 places since the end of December 2019. Continue reading...
Charity report finds many vulnerable women struggled to access food, water and soapWomen seeking asylum in the UK have described a significant increase in unsafe and unsanitary living conditions during the Covid-19 crisis, according to a report from a coalition of charities.The report, published by Sisters Not Strangers, which collated evidence from nine charities supporting refugee and asylum-seeking women, paints a picture in which those living in the most precarious of circumstances have been made even more vulnerable during lockdown. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#55Y51)
Document on Russian interference into UK politics blocked by Boris Johnson before electionThe long-awaited Russia report from the UK parliament’s intelligence and security committee is due to be released on Tuesday morning, nine months after its publication was blocked by Boris Johnson before the general election.An examination of the reach of the Kremlin into UK politics and public life, the document is the product of 18 months’ work by a cross-party committee taking evidence in secret from British intelligence and independent experts. Continue reading...
The future of Israel-Palestine lies in it becoming a federal democracy with liberal valuesFor now, the coronavirus crisis appears to have stayed Israel’s outright annexation of the West Bank. Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial – he’s been accused of bribery, fraud and “breach of trust” – has been newly invigorated, a development that may further delay the announcement. But talk of annexation is beside the point. Fifty-three years of occupation and settlements have produced their own reality. Ironically, it is a reality that may give hope to those who seek justice in Israel-Palestine.For many in the movement for Palestinian rights, the Oslo process – which began in 1993 and was ostensibly designed to produce a Palestinian state alongside Israel – appeared too limited in its ambitions. The Palestinian struggle has evolved from being a struggle for national rights, a 19th-century ideal, to one focused on human rights, a timeless, universal ideal. Indeed, while there are Palestinians who are committed to an ethnic Palestinian state, many are not. Personal dignity, an inclusive state, the freedom to preserve cultural identities (or not), freedom of movement and the pursuit of a life lived free of racial or ethnic fetters – those are our ideals. Continue reading...
Mick Fuller says Victoria’s protests put lives at risk but state health authorities have said ‘no known episodes of transmission occurred’NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller has vowed he will go to court to block a Black Lives Matter protest planned for Sydney next week, citing the event’s potential to spread coronavirus.Fuller said rally organisers had filed a formal application for the protest but police would go to the Supreme court to try and stop it from proceeding, after the event garnered more than 1,000 indications of attendance online and 3,000 expressions of interest by Monday evening. Continue reading...
Panic spreads after more than 500 new cases recorded in past two weeks, most of them localCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOnce named in the same breath as Taiwan and Singapore as an early example of successful virus control, Hong Kong is now in the midst of a worsening outbreak of the coronavirus, with no sign of it slowing down.Hong Kong residents had been living with reduced pandemic-related restrictions in recent months. But in the past two weeks the region has recorded more than 500 new cases, over 400 of them local. Continue reading...
Covid-19 has surged on farms that employ foreign workers, aided by a lack of legal protections and shoddy oversightEarly this year, months before the coronavirus outbreak had been declared a pandemic, Erika Zavala, 35, and Jesus Molina, 36, arrived in Canada. With few opportunities in Mexico, the couple had found jobs under a federal program for seasonal farm workers, and planned to send money home to their family.Related: Canada: three killed in glacier tour bus crash in Alberta Continue reading...
True emancipation of the black mind means questioning every communal understanding we take for grantedA few weeks ago, I sat in the paediatric ward of a private hospital in Lagos waiting on my then 10-week-old son’s vaccinations. In the waiting room, all toys and loud crashing from US cartoons, I took in the sight of a Nigerian woman, her body tinged with the tell-tale redness of poisoned, bleached skin. Two beautiful babies sat, in car seats, at her feet.I exclaimed, “You had twins!” I recognised her from a few weeks before, each of us in the final throes of pregnancy. “I actually had triplets,” she grinned. On cue, her Nigerian husband emerged from the doctor’s office carrying their third child. Awestruck, my son in my arms, I congratulated her on her strength. Continue reading...
Police waited until next day to break up party after being alerted to a gathering on a disused airfieldPolice have said they are determined to track down the organisers of an illegal rave near Bath that was attended by more than 3,000 people and could be heard at least five miles away.Avon and Somerset police were not able to intervene to safely halt the rave on a disused airfield north of the city once it had got under way on Saturday night. Continue reading...
As the first young person in China to engage in Greta Thunberg-inspired Fridays for Future climate strikes, Howey Ou says she has become a target for the authorities who see that activism as a challenge to their control.
Union movement calls for $1bn fund for industrial uses of renewable energy and carbon-neutral projectsAustralian unions are concerned the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission’s focus on gas is too narrow to achieve the energy transformation needed for sustainable manufacturing, Michele O’Neil said.The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions made the comments on Monday when launching a policy paper on creating jobs through free childcare, subsidies for training places, and more investment in infrastructure and manufacturing. Continue reading...
Man tasked with locking up cathedral cleared of all suspicionThe fire that destroyed a 17th century organ and shattered a stained glass window at Nantes Cathedral started in three different places, the French authorities have said.A 39-year-old man tasked with locking up the cathedral on Friday night hours before the fire was cleared of all suspicion on Sunday after being questioned by police. Continue reading...
Latest updates: how has Covid-19 progressed where you live? Check the week-on-week changes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandThe map shows local authorities where the number of cases has increased week-on-week and where it has fallen. Some of this is due to natural fluctuations, especially in areas where there are very few cases, and so a rise from 1 to 2 is a doubling. Increased testing also means that more cases may be being detected than previously, although the impact of this between one week and the next is likely to be slight. Continue reading...
Investigation launched into the International Women’s Health Coalition following criticism of ‘toxic’ culture, weeks after Women Deliver CEO issues public apologyA global women’s health organisation has launched an independent investigation into claims that it operated a “paralysing” culture of racism and bullying.The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), which advocates for women and adolescent girls, will also conduct an internal review. Continue reading...
Government announces current student visa holders studying online outside Australia due to Covid-19 will also be allowed to count study towards work visaAustralia will recommence granting international student visas and allow current students to count online study while overseas in a push to restart international education.The changes, announced by acting immigration minister Alan Tudge on Monday, respond to demands from the university sector to help it attract international students and revive what was Australia’s third-largest export before the Covid-19 recession. Continue reading...
From art to religion, coronavirus has forced educational, cultural and social life into the open air on an unprecedented scale across the world Continue reading...
Explosives used to destroy Chu river dam in central Anhui province in bid to bring water levels downAuthorities in central China have blasted a dam to release surging waters behind it amid widespread flooding that has claimed scores of lives.The dam on the Chu river in Anhui province – a tributary of the Yangtze river – was destroyed with explosives on Sunday morning, state broadcaster CCTV reported, after which the water level was expected to drop by 70cm (2ft). Continue reading...
What are the restrictions within Victoria and the border closures with NSW and other states? What are the interstate travel restrictions, how many people can you have over at your house and what other regulations remain in Queensland, Tasmania, ACT, SA, WA or NT? Untangle Australia’s Covid-19 laws and guidelines with our guide
by Nick Evershed, Andy Ball, Hannah Izzard, Patrick L on (#55XDJ)
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
Investigation into how infection control breaches are believed to have led to a Covid-19 outbreak starts today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab to announce results of review on Monday amid tensions over Beijing’s imposition of new national security lawThe UK is expected to suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, according to multiple reports, amid a package of measures to be unveiled by foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Monday.It follows similar moves by the US, Canada and Australia in response to China’s imposition of a tough new national security law on Hong Kong and amid growing tensions with Beijing. Continue reading...
Two months out from the polls, the new National leader is hoping to come from behind by painting her popular rival as all appearance and little substanceThe starting gates in New Zealand’s 19 September election race are finally full. Labour’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern is the bookies’ favourite and the opposition took a long time to settle.All the same, punters may still want to hedge their bets. Continue reading...
UK expected to suspend extradition arrangements with Hong Kong as Liu Xiaoming blames reports of forced sterilisation on ‘anti-China elements’China’s ambassador to the UK gave a brazen defence of his country’s human rights record on Sunday, insisting the Uighur people live in “peaceful and harmonious coexistence with other ethnic groups”, as he was confronted with footage of shackled prisoners being herded on to trains in Xinjiang.As the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, prepared to give a statement on Hong Kong on Monday, in which he is expected to suspend extradition arrangements with the territory, Liu Xiaoming flatly denied claims of abuses by Beijing. Continue reading...
Charlotte Charles urges Boris Johnson to raise son’s case with Mike Pompeo during the US secretary of state’s visitThe mother of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has made an emotional appeal for the prime minister to make her son “top priority” during the US secretary of state’s visit next week.Charlotte Charles urged Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Mike Pompeo to discuss the case of her son nearly one year after his death during Pompeo’s visit to London on Monday. Continue reading...
Doctors and businesses are backing novel ideas such as opening up public spaces and car parks to small retailersAllowing restaurants and cafes to spread their tables on to footpaths, and opening up public green spaces and car parks to small retailers are some of the suggestions epidemiologists and corporate leaders are making as indoor gatherings continue to pose the greatest coronavirus risk in the coming months.Consideration of how businesses can continue to safely operate even as suburbs and cities experience outbreaks comes as leaders call for businesses based in high-risk settings, particularly indoor shops and restaurants, to be allowed to innovate their operations, which they hope will mean wide-scale lockdowns can be avoided while maintaining activity. Continue reading...
When running to be Labour leader, Keir Starmer pledged a constitutional convention and to look at reform of the voting system. He should keep his promiseBritain is the only major country in Europe where parliamentary seats won at a general election are not shared out between the parties in a proportional manner. Any vote not used to win a seat is, in effect, wasted. “First past the post” does offer ideological clarity and accountability. But this is at the expense of representation. All this contributes to the cynicism and disaffection felt for politics, and a dangerous sense that British voters have too little sway over those who govern them.Brexit was built on such discontents and there is widespread agreement that, in the future, power ought to be redistributed more fairly. The question is less what to do than how to do it. To build a better society we need a better politics. The present electoral system shows no sign of delivering this. Instead it reinforces a Labour-Tory duopoly, shuts out smaller parties and rewards nationalist ones – because votes piled up in one area are easier to convert into seats than those that are thinly spread. Continue reading...
Stripping the 21-year-old of British citizenship shows the cruelty of this government, writes Michael Meadowcroft, while Dr David Miller says that the UK cannot shirk its legal obligations. Plus letters from Carola Salvadori, Rebecca Durant and John AdamsThis government’s levels of cruelty are still rising inexorably. The latest evidence is its decision to appeal against the court of appeal’s judgment that Shamima Begum must be allowed to present her case against the removal of British citizenship in person (Shamima Begum: Home Office to fight court rule letting Isis recruit return to UK, 16 July).Of course what she originally did in joining Isis was wholly wrong, but she was a schoolgirl of 15 when she absconded, and statements she made supporting Isis were made with an Isis official standing over her. Under duress she was made to marry an Isis gunman with whom she had three children, all of whom died. What an appalling five years for a young woman. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#55X2P)
Creation of national regulator of building safety prompted by fallout from Grenfell Tower fireMinisters are to appoint the UK’s first chief inspector of buildings in reforms prompted by the Grenfell Tower disaster and the discovery that thousands of other high-rise buildings breach fire safety regulations.The inspector will lead a national regulator of building safety that will also police a system to designate an “accountable person” for each high-rise building. They will be obliged to respond to residents’ complaints after the tenants and leaseholders of Grenfell Tower said their fears about the safety of their homes were ignored by their landlords before the fire on 14 June 2017, which killed 72 people. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#55X1A)
Government launches multimillion pound campaign to reach 1m British citizens in EUThe UK government is launching a multimillion pound communications campaign to reach the estimated 1 million British citizens living in the EU to ensure they know what steps to take if they wish to remain in their host countries after Brexit.And it is urging all EU member states to accelerate the process to enable British nationals to secure their rights amid concern among campaigners that some countries have not yet even opened schemes for UK citizens. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent on (#55WZQ)
Exclusive: secretive agreement drawn up with help of counter-terror police and DfEColleges in Greater Manchester entered a secretive agreement to tip off universities when an incoming student had been referred to the government’s programme for stopping people from becoming terrorists, the Guardian can reveal.Further education and higher education institutions in the area drew up the data-sharing agreement in the last two years with the help of counter-terrorism police and the Department for Education (DfE) to share details of students referred to Prevent. Continue reading...
Thousands take to streets to protest at removal of Sergei Furgal, who faces murder chargesThe Kremlin is poised to replace a governor from Russia’s far east charged with multiple murders, potentially kindling a fresh round of public anger that has already ignited the largest protests in the region’s history.As many as 50,000 people took to the streets on Saturday in Khabarovsk, a city 6,100 miles east of Moscow, to demand the return of Sergei Furgal, a former scrap metals trader charged with the murder of two business rivals and the attempted killing of a third in 2004-05. Continue reading...