Moscow accused of trying to give money to the Taliban as part of its campaign to destabilise America and its alliesThe Russian intelligence unit behind the attempted murder in Salisbury of the former double agent Sergei Skripal secretly offered to pay Taliban-linked fighters to kill British and American soldiers in Afghanistan, according to US reports.The revelation piles pressure on the UK to take robust action against the Kremlin amid continuing anger over the government’s delay in publishing a key report on Russian attempts to destabilise the UK. Continue reading...
Labour hardens stance to apply imports ban if highly controversial proposals go ahead in face of mounting international oppositionThe UK must ban the import of goods from illegal settlements in the West Bank if the Israeli government presses ahead with annexation plans this week, Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, has said.The move would be a “major step” and require “courage that so far ministers have not been willing to show”, she told the Observer. But “such a blatant breach of international law must have consequences”. Continue reading...
With Beijing’s sweeping security law set to pass this week, many protesters accept that ‘one country, two systems’ is overTo Jennifer Tsui, the looming national security law agreed last month by China’s legislature seems like the “real” return of Hong Kong to China.When Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, Tsui, then a student, was apprehensive, but her worries were allayed when things appeared almost unchanged after the handover. Hongkongers were assured their lifestyle would remain unchanged until at least 2047 under the “one country two systems” policy guaranteed in the Sino-British joint declaration. Continue reading...
One-person protests sparked by charges against woman for ‘spreading pornography’Russian police on Saturday detained more than 30 people, most of them women, who were staging separate one-person protests in central Moscow against charges of spreading pornography levelled against a prominent LGBT activist, a monitoring group said.One activist was also detained in St Petersburg, according to OVD-Info, which monitors law enforcement issues in Russia. Continue reading...
Latest updates: how has Covid-19 progressed where you live?The 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...
The mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is struggling to enthuse her supporters as the capital goes to the pollsSitting on a newly painted bench at Place de la République in central Paris under the gaze of the statue of Marianne – France’s national icon – Laurent David suggested the square could be a metaphor for the capital.“It’s better than it was, but nowhere near as good as it could be,” he said. “They spent a fortune doing it up only a few years ago and now look. The place is covered in cigarette ends and the paving stones are so damaged and uneven people are falling over.” Continue reading...
by Henry McDonald in Belfast, and Mattha Busby on (#553HZ)
Police say they are supporting boy’s family after discovery in north BelfastPolice have confirmed that the body of missing teenager Noah Donohoe has been recovered in north Belfast.The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the body was found at about 9.45am on Saturday. The 14-year-old was last seen alive on Sunday evening. Continue reading...
Glaser’s bold logo, created for free in 1977, helped boost New York’s image and he was also part of the team that founded New York magazineMilton Glaser, the groundbreaking graphic designer who adorned Bob Dylan’s silhouette with psychedelic hair and summed up the feelings for his native New York with “I (HEART) NY,” died Friday, on his 91st birthday.The cause was a stroke and Glaser had also had renal failure, his wife, Shirley Glaser, told The New York Times. Continue reading...
Group says agreement should be basis of sovereign rights in response to China claimSouth-east Asian leaders said a 1982 UN oceans treaty should be the basis of sovereign rights and entitlements in the South China Sea, in one of their strongest remarks opposing China’s claim to virtually the entire disputed waters on historical grounds.The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) took the position in a statement issued by Vietnam on behalf of the 10-country bloc on Saturday. Asean leaders held their annual summit by video call on Friday, with the coronavirus pandemic and the long-running territorial disputes high on the agenda. Continue reading...
Homemade device attached to vehicle caused explosion in Afghan capital, says employerTwo employees of Afghanistan’s human rights body have been killed in a bomb attack in Kabul.The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said the workers died when a homemade sticky bomb attached to their vehicle exploded. Continue reading...
by Nick Evershed, Andy Ball, Hannah Izzard, Patrick L on (#5523Q)
Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on active and daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as maps, statistics, live data and state by state graphs from NSW, Vic, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response
Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis of domestic terrorist incidents found majority have come from far rightViolence by far-right groups and individuals has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorist threats faced by US law enforcement and triggered a wave of warnings and arrests of people associated with those extremist movements.The most recent in-depth analysis of far-right terrorism comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#553FT)
Train and bus firms urgently need to find a route back to viability amid the Covid-19 crisisSince the fall of Mussolini, few politicians can have declared quite so unselfconsciously as Grant Shapps that: “I just want to make the trains run on time.” But, as the transport secretary ruefully told MPs this week: “I didn’t expect to see that happen by having a fraction of people using it.”More than 98% of services ran punctually in April, underscoring the old rail industry joke that it would all work fine if it wasn’t for the passengers. Yet the trains are only continuing to run due to an extraordinary level of subsidy after coronavirus forced most of the population to stay home. Continue reading...
From the medallist to the festival star, what happens when your best-laid summer plans come undone? Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Harry Kane, Mabel and others share their might-have-beens. Interviews by Joe Stone, Zoe Williams and Sam Wolfson
I was a successful magazine editor, working my dream job in New York. But alcohol, and the ghosts of my childhood, took me to breaking pointMy life began in the village of Inkersall, just north of the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield. Mum and Dad collided when she was just 15 and living in a house teetering on a faultline. Their love crackled bright and quick after meeting in the pub, and a wedding was arranged for the day after her 16th birthday. My grandad, horrified and furious, made Mum an offer: a horse in exchange for her calling off the wedding. She loved riding more than anything; anything, it would seem, except my dad. The offer was rejected.In another act of easy-seeming rebellion, my brother was in her belly almost immediately, entering the world a month before her 17th birthday. I joined them one year and 364 days later. The marriage was a disaster, their fights turning physical after Grandad died. There was a story she shared of the Christmas she couldn’t see the turkey across the table; both eyes swollen shut, and my newly widowed Nana closed-mouthed beside her, warned not to make it worse, because worse it could be. There was another, of the time he outlined what would happen if she left him, how he’d set fire to the house with us all inside. Continue reading...
A growing movement for sustainable agriculture in Brazil has taken on new urgency with the coronavirus pandemicThe cumaru trees could have been planted elsewhere in this Amazon reserve, where they had better chances of flourishing. Instead, they were planted in harsh, sandy soil in the dry savannah that breaks up the forest. Jack beans, guandu peas and other crops were planted in straw around them with cut savannah grass, for moisture and compost. “We call it the cradle,” says agronomist Alailson Rêgo. “It protects them.”The hope is that if these Amazon-native trees – whose seeds can be used in cosmetics – thrive on this sandy soil and a nearby patch of deforested, burned land, they can regenerate abandoned pasture elsewhere. In the Amazon, more land is cleared for cattle than anything else. It’s easier enough to clear – chop down a few trees, light a few fires. But restoring the forest? Bringing back the life and the greenness? That is far, far harder. Continue reading...
Part of Liver Building caught fire as fans celebrated Premier League triumph for second night, defying Covid-19 risksPolice have been granted more power to disperse crowds in Liverpool after part of the Liver Building caught on fire amid wild celebrations over the city’s Premier League triumph.Merseyside Police issued a section 34 dispersal order for the city centre – allowing officers to break up groups of more than two people – until Sunday. Continue reading...
If discredited president refuses to accept imminent ruling over March vote, investors likely to be scared offAllegations of mass vote fiddling in the former British colony of Guyana may lead to the country’s discredited government being ostracised unless a court hearing next week can resolve a bitter dispute over election results.The political stakes in Guyana have risen massively since May 2015 when Exxon Mobil discovered oil reserves potentially worth more than $100bn (£80bn) 200km (124 miles) off the coast – a find big enough to transform a Latin American country of fewer than 1 million people with a GDP of $3bn largely based on sugar, timber, molasses and bauxite. Its current income of $5,250 per head is projected to rise to above $10,000 next year alone. Continue reading...
by Shaun Walker Central and eastern Europe correspond on (#553EM)
Incumbent Andrzej Duda expected to face run-off against liberal mayor of WarsawPoles will vote on Sunday in a postponed presidential election that will determine whether the ruling rightwing populist party continues to have full control over the country’s political system.Andrzej Duda, an ally of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, is standing for re-election in a crowded field of candidates, with the closest challenger expected to be Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw. Continue reading...
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo says visa restrictions apply to ‘current and former’ communist party officials, but does not name themThe US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said Washington will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials responsible for restricting freedoms in Hong Kong, but he did not name any of those targeted.The move on Friday comes ahead of a three-day meeting of China’s parliament from Sunday, which is expected to enact new national security legislation for Hong Kong that has alarmed foreign governments and democracy activists. Continue reading...
Move comes amid widespread reckoning for American pop culture following mass protests after George Floyd’s deathThe Simpsons is ending the use of white actors to voice characters of colour, the show’s producers have said.“Moving forward, ‘The Simpsons’ will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters,” they said in a statement on Friday. Continue reading...
Women represent about 67% students in the heavily affected fields of humanities, social sciences, media and communicationsWomen account for two-thirds of the students in the university courses facing the biggest increase in fees under the Australian government’s proposed overhaul, according to new analysis by the Greens.The government has proposed to more than double the student contributions for humanities, social sciences, media and communications courses – with yearly fees increasing from $6,804 to $14,500 – although this does not apply to current students. Continue reading...
Nearly one-third of Fijians have diabetes, and the disease is often not caught until amputation, or even death, are imminentAt the height of his 15-year career as a surgeon in the Pacific nation of Fiji, Dr Jone Hawea was performing eight to 10 diabetes-related operations every day – at least two of which were the amputations of limbs.“Our wards are always full of diabetes cases. Sometimes our surgical wards wouldn’t be able to deal with the non-emergency cases because there’s all this diabetes surgery to do,” says Hawea. Continue reading...
Fans make pilgrimage to Anfield to toast team’s first league crown in 30 years“He’s meant to be shielding, so this is a bit naughty,” said Rachel Taylor as she unloaded her son’s wheelchair from a minibus outside Anfield on Friday morning. “But you’ve got your mask, haven’t you, son?” she said, putting a red face covering emblazoned with “Liverpool: Champions” into 27-year-old Ryan’s lap. “He wasn’t born when they won 30 years ago. It’s such a big day, we had to bring him down to soak up the atmosphere.”It is a measure of just how big a day it was for Liverpool on Friday that not only was Taylor willing to risk her son’s health to take a picture of him beaming in front of the Kop, but her Evertonian partner had come too. “I’m made up for them, honest I am,” said Neil Howells. “First thing I did this morning was go into Ryan’s bedroom and shout ‘CHAMPIONS!’. You might think we’d be bitter but we’re not. I’m happy as long as it’s a team from Merseyside and not Manchester.” Continue reading...
Seven soldiers confessed to raping child from the Emberà tribeOutrage has been sparked in Colombia after a 12-year-old girl was gang-raped by seven soldiers from the country’s army last weekend.On Thursday, seven soldiers confessed to raping the child from the indigenous Emberá tribe, who went missing from her rural reserve in northern Colombia on Sunday. She was found the next day at a nearby school. News of the horrific crime shocked much of the South American nation, which has long reckoned with violence against indigenous women and girls. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#552GR)
Members of public shown exiting building on West George Street with arms raised, in footage posted onlineThere is a serious police incident in Glasgow as the council warned the public to avoid a central area of the city.Armed police could be seen entering a building next to the Park Inn hotel on West George Street, as members of the public exited with their arms raised, according to witness footage posted online. Continue reading...
As infections rise, Portugal tightens restrictions in Lisbon, while police clash with revellers from Paris to BerlinMonths of lockdown and isolation across Europe have given way to impromptu parties and illicit raves, sparking fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases and prompting warnings that the progress made across the continent in fighting the pandemic could be wiped away.In Portugal, the government said on Thursday it would tighten restrictions on several areas of Greater Lisbon from 1 July to allow residents to leave their homes only for food, medicine or to work, and to limit gatherings to five people. The measure came after reports of parties that attracted as many as 1,000 revellers. Continue reading...
La Gare jazz club offers experience to solo audiences during coronavirus pandemicAt the entrance to La Gare jazz club, a former railway station in a northern district of Paris, customers form a physically distanced queue to sign up for the evening’s concerts.Julien de Casabianca, the venue director, adds their names to a list. “What’s your relationship?” he asks. Continue reading...
The fun times are back, but who knew people would interpret Boris’s upbeat message by breaking out in Bournmouth?I’d never heard of Murillo’s Immaculate Conception before I saw the photos of its restoration that made the painting look like some piece of tat you used to be able to buy in Woolworth’s for less than £5. Much like I’d never come across the Ecce Homo church mural in Spain before an elderly parishioner generously transformed it into something that more closely resembled a chimp. Continue reading...
News agency says site of incident not related to military and investigations under wayAn industrial gas tank exploded overnight in Tehran, Iran’s defence ministry has said, after images of the blast were widely shared on social media.“A gas tank exploded in the Parchin public area. Thank God there were no casualties,” said a ministry spokesman, Brig Gen Davoud Abdi. Continue reading...