Rejection of appeal against convictions had triggered protests on social media

Victim of incident at Royal Sussex sustained injuries not believed to be life-threateningA man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a staff member of a Brighton hospital was stabbed.The victim, who is in his 50s, sustained injuries that were understood not to be life-threatening during the incident at the Royal Sussex county hospital on Sunday morning. Continue reading...

Calls for investigation into claims senior independence figures were targeted using powerful spywareAs a leading Catalan politician renewed calls for an investigation, Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government has emphatically denied any involvement in the use of spyware to target senior members of the Catalan independence movement, saying: “This government doesn’t spy on anyone.”A joint investigation by the Guardian and El País has determined that the mobile phones of at least five members of the regional independence movement – including the speaker of the Catalan parliament – were targeted using powerful software its makers claim is sold only to governments. Continue reading...

The 17-year-old South African tennis star on climbing the world rankings, meeting Nick Kyrgios and finding his self-beliefKhololwam Montsi has always been a dreamer. Before he had ever entered a tennis tournament, he was imagining himself winning Wimbledon. In lieu of any role models or a path trodden before them, dreams are what black African tennis players have. They are to be held on to and guarded. So when people have attempted to tread on Montsi’s aspirations, questioning whether a 5ft 5in player like him can succeed, he simply used it as further motivation.“Me wanting to prove people wrong, I was like: ‘OK, I’m gonna do this thing and I’m gonna work hard every day. I’m gonna beat everyone that I can,’” he says. “If I lose, I lose, I go back to the drawing board. But I’m on a mission, really.” Continue reading...

Athens offers generous tax incentives to lure retirees – and boost its own struggling economyMost countries want to attract the young and the willing – entrepreneurs with ideas, students looking to learn, people prepared to do the jobs locals turn down. Greece, though, has decided on a different approach, by making a play for Europe’s retirees.“The logic is very simple: we want pensioners to relocate here,” says Athina Kalyva, head of tax policy at the Greek finance ministry, who has helped design a scheme to get people to do just that. “We have a beautiful country, a very good climate, so why not?” Continue reading...

With its near-deserted streets and laid-back vibe, the Spanish island is a world away from its pre-pandemic party scene

Can you reschedule a landmark moment? We talk to a musician, a centenarian, a graduate, an engaged couple and an Olympic hopeful about their special occasion that got cancelledPhilip Doyle Continue reading...

Public enthusiasm for next year’s Games is waning, as city believes Covid-19 infections will ‘flare up’ if it pushes ahead

Supermodel, Cambridge graduate, activist – Lily Cole has many strings to her bow. Now she’s written a book that tackles our most urgent challengeI am tramping through the long grass of a Sussex nature reserve with supermodel-turned-activist Lily Cole. Beyond the gorse and the bracken, a vast open sky stretches before us. It certainly beats a sterile Zoom call. “How amazing is this?” she says. “I’ve been talking about moving to nature for years and then, finally, I decided to do it two years ago. I’ve been very grateful for it in general and particularly, obviously, these last few months.”Cole, 32, has just rocked up on a big beast of an e-bike. Of course she is on a bike, though she could have as easily been driving her fancy electric Tesla car. The Tesla tech whiz Elon Musk is just one of the so-called “Wizards” she has interviewed for her book, Who Cares Wins: Reasons for Optimism in Our Changing World. The Wizards are the people who are using technology in an attempt to innovate us out of the environmental crisis. In the other camp are the “Prophets” who say we must cut back, travel less, consume less, simplify. Cole examines both approaches in the book. Continue reading...

The bus was on the steep road to the famed Athabasca glacier when it lost control and rolledA glacier tour bus rolled over in Canada’s southern province of Alberta, killing three people and injuring several, according to reports.A sightseeing bus carrying 27 passengers overturned en route to the glacier near the Columbia Icefield in Alberta’s Jasper National Park, according to a report by CBC. Continue reading...

With statistics hinting at a government U-turn, charities fear thousands more will be affectedFunding to tackle female genital mutilation, an issue championed by former prime minister Theresa May, has been reduced by 84% since 2015 according to new figures that suggest her successor Boris Johnson has changed priorities.The money allocated to help stamp out FGM in the UK has fallen from £2,718,000 for the year to April 2016, shortly after May outlined her ambition to stop the practice, to £432,000 for the 12 months to April 2020. Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews’s announcement on face coverings comes as state tries to control a second wave of Covid-19• Follow the latest global news live

The EU’s competition commissioner may have lost in the tax courts. But she is right to pursue Apple et al via other channelsApple’s legal victory over Brussels last week appeared at first glance to give every international company seeking out Europe’s lowest corporate tax rates a considerable boost.Officials at the European commission, the EU’s executive arm, claimed that the tech giant had saved more than €13bn (£11.8bn) over 10 years after signing a sweetheart tax deal with Dublin in what was claimed to be a clear breach of state aid rules. The second-highest court in the EU disagreed, saying that Ireland had played a straight bat in its dealings with Apple and ticked every technical box to get the deal through. Continue reading...

In extraordinary times, as statues fall, Bettye Kearse has written an extraordinary book. It contains lessons for all AmericansAs Virginia tobacco planters, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, the first, third, fourth and fifth presidents of the United States, had much in common. Between them, over a generation, they owned more than 1,000 human beings.Related: Wilmington's Lie review: race, outrage and the roots of modern inequality Continue reading...

Scientists and health campaigners want bans on outlets near schools and an advertising watershedMinisters should regulate processed food as heavily as tobacco to tackle the “massive national challenge” of the UK’s obesity crisis, health experts have warned.They have urged severe restrictions on supermarket promotions of processed foods, and bans on fast food outlets near schools, and TV adverts for pizzas, burgers and similar foods before 9pm. One campaign group even urged the government to consider plain packaging for processed food. Continue reading...

A civilised country acknowledges its own citizens, whatever they might have doneShould “jihadi bride” Shamima Begum be allowed to return to the UK to fight her case not to be stripped of British citizenship? She should. Not because she is a victim of child grooming. Nor because the conditions under which she lives in a Kurdish camp for Isis women are harsh. But because she is a British citizen.The court of appeal ruled last week that Begum should be able to return to Britain to fight her case against being stripped of citizenship. It dismissed the government’s argument, which, in effect, was that Begum had left Britain of her own volition and was therefore not entitled to a fair trial. Continue reading...

People urged to avoid public transport as community transmission spreads to inner-Sydney suburb and WA imposes tougher restrictions on NSW arrivals• Follow Sunday’s global news live

Boris Johnson must not suppress the truth of the full extent of Putin’s meddlingEvidence that Russia and its menacing president, Vladimir Putin, are actively attempting to undermine Britain’s democracy, politics and security continues to pile up. While shocking in themselves, the latest revelations merely confirm a long-established pattern of covert malfeasance, meddling and subversion. The question now is: what will the government do about it?There will be widespread disgust, for example, at last week’s disclosure that Russian state-sponsored hackers attempted to steal confidential data from British, US and Canadian researchers working on a coronavirus vaccine. James Brokenshire, the security minister, said Moscow’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable”. Yes, Mr Brokenshire, it is. So? Continue reading...

Government now has capacity to ‘tweak’ some elements of rapidly implemented scheme, Mathias Cormann saysThe finance minister Mathias Cormann has indicated the jobkeeper wage subsidy will be extended after September but in a different form, hinting on Sunday it may evolve beyond a single flat payment, and will be targeted to businesses that “genuinely need it”.Cormann told Sky News the government would use an economic statement this week to move the country sequentially to a “new normal”, recognising that some businesses were starting to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic and some were not. Continue reading...

Biggest increases recorded in US, Brazil, India and South Africa; G20 warns of uncertain outlook; Iran reimposes local lockdowns. Follow all the developments live

Many people avoided seeking care during the pandemic, but experts warn of an ‘explosion’ in referrals in the autumn

Claim of miserliness as second day sees negotiations split over size of fund and seven-year budgetEuropean Union leaders agreed to reconvene at noon on Sunday after spending Saturday evening locked in intense negotiations in an attempt to save a summit on the terms of a €750bn (£682bn) pandemic recovery fund from an acrimonious end as the debate over the bloc’s financial future became “heated”.A second day of talks in Brussels saw Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, publicly accuse the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden of being “misers” while the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, claimed the Dutch were trying to rewrite the EU’s rules. Continue reading...

Queen and Prince Philip shown at a distance from couple but Prince Andrew left out of official picturesBuckingham Palace has released new photographs of the wedding of Princess Beatrice and property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.While the new photographs show the couple with the Queen and Prince Philip at a distance, no picture was released of the pair with Beatrice’s father, Prince Andrew. Continue reading...

Bureaucrats, agents and even tenant advocates say no one knows how many renters are running up debts under Covid-19 regulationsRenters are facing a financial time-bomb in September when state protections against eviction are due to expire and many could be asked to repay deferred rent or begin paying their full rent again.But no one has a clear idea how big the problem might be or what effect it could have on the economy and the property market. Continue reading...

Many Australian travel agencies report ‘zero revenue’ since the pandemic began, prompting fears they won’t be able to recoverTravel agencies are facing an “existential threat” as continuing border closures mean they “don’t have any product to sell”, with business analysts predicting the phasing out of government wage subsidies is likely to mean mostly larger agencies survive.However, some travel agencies, despite reporting “zero revenue” since the pandemic began and having to pay back fees for cancelled holidays, hope that – by sparing their clients lengthy phone calls with airlines by negotiating refunds on their behalf – they will have demonstrated their value to customers eager to travel when restrictions allow it. Continue reading...

Police called to disperse crowd at burial service for Badreddin Abadlla AdamThe funeral of a man who was shot dead by police after stabbing six people in a knife attack in Glasgow has been attended by several hundred .Badreddin Abadlla Adam’s burial service was expected to be held at Linn Cemetery in Glasgow at 2pm on Saturday, but police were called after a large crowd gathered in breach of coronavirus restrictions. Continue reading...

Demonstrators call for new constitution, new elections and end to repressive lawsSeveral thousand anti-government protesters rallied in Thailand’s capital on Saturday to call for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.Chanting and waving placards, the demonstrators, comprising mainly young Thais, converged on Bangkok’s iconic Democracy Monument in the old part of the city. Continue reading...

Investigation opened after blaze destroys grand organ and shatters stained-glass windowsA fire that broke out in a cathedral in the western French city of Nantes blew out stained-glass windows and destroyed the grand organ in the 15th-century building, officials said.A local prosecutor said three fires were started at the St Peter and St Paul Cathedral and authorities were treating the incident as a criminal act. An investigation has been opened. Continue reading...

Friends for almost 20 years, the comedian and Observer columnist and first lady of folk discuss life in lockdown, the future of the arts, and what their kids think of their music taste. Jude Rogers joins them“I was all right until this week, but now I’ve started swearing at inanimate objects.” Stewart Lee – comedian on lockdown and heavily bearded columnist of this parish – is in his record-filled north London study, on Zoom, with one of his musical heroes. It’s not him who’s ranting, though. It’s Shirley Collins, the first lady of English folk music.Collins has been home alone since early March, which is “a bit rubbish”, she says; after all, she had a busy summer ahead. Her new album, Heart’s Ease, comes out next week – she had a few festival dates planned – and it’s also her 85th birthday two days after we speak. Some morris dancers will be dancing down her road, though, she says. “Proper muscular stuff!” Continue reading...

Yves Rausch had been on run after allegedly pulling gun on police last SundayGerman police have captured a heavily armed suspect accused of stealing officers’ weapons, after a six-day manhunt for the “Black Forest Rambo”.The man, named by police as Yves Rausch, had been on the run since last Sunday morning after holding up four officers and stealing their firearms in what his mother claims was a moment of “panic”. Continue reading...

Video appears to show Met officer applying pressure with his knee to suspect’s neck areaA Metropolitan police officer has been suspended after a video appeared to show him briefly applying pressure with his knee to a suspect’s neck area during an arrest in London.The footage shows the suspect, who is handcuffed and on the ground, shouting “get off my neck”. The Metropolitan police said the video was “extremely disturbing”, and that they had suspended one officer and removed another from operational duty. Continue reading...

The prime minister says he is hoping for the best but planning for the worst. We look at key areas of concern

Cooperation needed to avoid turning Covid-19 into deeper economic crisis, says economistPrivate sector lenders to some of the world’s poorest countries should agree plans to reduce debt payments or risk turning the Covid-19 pandemic into a deeper economic crisis, the World Bank has said.Speaking before the start of the G20 finance ministers meeting this weekend, the bank’s chief economist, Carmen Reinhart, said banks and hedge funds that lend to the developing world should cooperate with moves to cut debt payments, allowing poorer countries to pay for vital medical and food supplies. Continue reading...

Bloodletting contributed to worsening health of painter, who probably had pneumoniaA medical error contributed to killing the Italian painter Raphael, according to the latest reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the Renaissance master’s untimely death.Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino is believed to have been aged 37 when he died in Rome on 6 April 1520, eight days after contracting a fever. Several museums in Italy are holding exhibitions to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his death. Continue reading...

Country becomes third in world to reach figure; alarming peak in French region of Brittany

As airline moves to cut 12,000 jobs, senior crew told they will get 80% of current basic payBritish Airways has started carrying out its threat to fire and rehire thousands of workers – days after unions joined talks with a plan to save jobs.Long-serving cabin crew were served notice this week to either accept an enhanced redundancy package within three weeks, or risk losing it by reapplying for a similar job at much lower pay. Continue reading...

Residents urged to wear face masks as infection rates increase

The leaders of EU27 countries wore face masks as they greeted each other with elbow bumps, nods, bows and some variations at a summit to thrash out a deal on a multibillion coronavirus recovery fund for the bloc's economies.There were birthday gifts for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who turned 66, and the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, who turned 59 Continue reading...

Exploitation occurring in UK farming, construction, contract cleaning, fishing, recycling and domestic work, say labour organisationsThe labour abuses and sweatshop conditions reported in factories in Leicester are occurring “at scale” across the UK’s garment, manufacturing and farming industries, campaigners warn.Reports of similar exploitative conditions and labour abuses alleged to be occurring in Leicester have also been linked to garment factories in Birmingham, Manchester and London, among other places. Continue reading...

Wedding congratulations for Danish PM add to festive mood in Brussels – but it doesn’t last longWith handshakes banned as EU leaders gathered in Brussels for their first in-person meeting since the coronavirus outbreak, greetings had to be creative. Many, such as Emmanuel Macron and Charles Michel, opted for a friendly elbow bump. Others offered polite bows.After a series of unsatisfactory video conferences, meeting in person was deemed essential if EU leaders are to bridge their differences on a €1.8tn (£1.6tn) financial settlement in a fiendishly complex negotiation that exposes profound differences on fiscal discipline, rule of law and the climate emergency. “The stakes couldn’t be higher,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president and architect of a €750bn coronavirus recovery proposal intended to help Europe’s economy through the deepest economic shock since the second world war. The leaders are also trying to finalise a deal on a seven-year, €1.074tn budget after talks failed in February. Continue reading...

Demonstrations continue in Khabarovsk after Sergei Furgal taken to Moscow on murder chargeRussia’s far east is bracing itself for new mass protests this weekend following unprecedented demonstrations demanding that the Kremlin return a local governor charged with murder.Sergei Furgal, the governor of Khabarovsk and a former businessman, was bundled into a van last week and flown 6,100 miles to Moscow, where he was indicted on serious charges – the murder of two rivals and the attempted murder of a third in the mid-2000s. Continue reading...

From Nicola Sturgeon’s tartan to Michael Gove’s fog, politicians find masks to match their personality

Marriage to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi followed social distancing guidelines, says palaceThe Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice has married the property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi during a secret ceremony in front of the Queen and close family, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.The couple had planned to wed on 29 Mayat the Chapel Roya, St James’s Palace, London, but the ceremony was postponed owing to the Covid-19 outbreak. Continue reading...

Leaders’ differences over budget and recovery package ‘still very large’, German chancellor saysEU leaders remained poles apart on the terms of a €1.82tn budget and recovery package as they met for the first time in five months, with Angela Merkel warning of the possibility of talks dragging into a second destabilising summer summit.Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told fellow leaders in Brussels they had an “obligation” to agree on a response to an economic downturn unparalleled since the Great Depression. Continue reading...

Germany gripped by search for Yves Rausch, who family say disarmed police in moment of panicA “Black Forest Rambo” at war with modern society, a “sensitive” soul traumatised by previous brushes with the law, or simply a rebel without a cause: as police comb the woodlands of south-west Germany for a sixth day, the motives of an armed 31-year-old at the centre of the large-scale manhunt remain unclear.The man, named by police as Yves Rausch, has been on the run since last Sunday morning, after holding up four officers and stealing their firearms in what his mother claims was a moment of “panic”. Continue reading...

Jordi Pujol, his wife Marta Ferrusola, his seven children and 18 other individuals linked to the family will be chargedA Spanish judge plans to charge the former Catalan president Jordi Pujol, along with his wife Marta Ferrusola, his seven children and 18 other individuals linked to the family, with forming a criminal organisation that used its political influence to amass “a disproportionate fortune”.Pujol was the first democratically elected president of Catalonia after the end of the Franco dictatorship at the end of the 1970s, a position he held for 23 years, during which time his Convergència i Unió party dominated the Catalan political scene. Continue reading...

Gove was borderline sociopathic, while poor Oliver Dowden was having his first experience of this kind of humiliationMondayIt’s always fascinating to watch how a government minister deals with a major U-turn in policy. Four years ago Michael Gove was happily telling the country how the UK would not only retain all the benefits of the single market, but we’d also end up with a better deal with the EU. Today he came to the Commons to explain how we’d be building lorry parks in Kent and elsewhere and how there would be significant time and financial costs to leaving the EU at the end of the year. You’d have thought that Gove might have at least had the grace to show some signs of contrition; instead he just brazened it out with passive-aggressive politeness as if he was delivering on his original promises. It was borderline sociopathic. We were then treated to Matt Hancock having to explain why when the government had said there would be no need to wear face masks in shops, what it had really meant was that we would need to wear them after all. Hancock’s response was rather more human. He just got tetchier and tetchier whenever someone pointed out the obvious, and it rather looked as if most of his anger was directed at his cabinet colleagues, who had made him look a fool yet again. This was far from the first time he had found himself in this position during the coronavirus pandemic and it probably wouldn’t be the last. You could tell he was near the end of his tether. Only his ambition is preventing him from resigning. Oliver Dowden meanwhile was having his first experience of this kind of humiliation as he tried to put a positive gloss on the reversal of the Huawei decision. Poor Oliver, who looks more like a luxury goods salesman in a posh department store than a cabinet minister, seemed totally out of his depth as he desperately shuffled his papers trying to find the prepared line to take on any question. It was the longest hour of his ministerial career. For what it’s worth, if ever I were to find myself in such a situation, I’m sure I’d do an Oliver. Which is one of the many reasons for me never going into politics. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Findings could give medics advance warning for hospital care and respiratory support

The former first lady has partnered with Spotify for a series of candid conversations that aim to build ‘empathy and understanding’It’s the announcement Michelle Obama fans have all been desperately waiting for. Oh, sorry, not that one – Joe Biden seems to have that pretty much sewn up. But the former first lady is starting a podcast.The Michelle Obama Podcast is set to focus on relationship and health issues, with a series of candid conversations between the host and a variety of guests including talk show presenter Conan O’Brien and one of husband Barack Obama’s former senior advisers, businesswoman Valerie Jarrett. It is set to debut exclusively on Spotify from 29 July. Continue reading...

‘The Mooch’ explains why, even after his swift dismissal from the White House, he stayed loyal, until Trump’s online bullying finally made him see the lightHis was a flame that burned twice as bright and half as long. Anthony Scaramucci’s tenure in Donald Trump’s White House lasted just 11 days, which may be some kind of record. But it was a cameo of blinding incandescence that removed the scales from his eyes.Many officials fired by Trump have sought what might be seen as moral decontamination, a purging of the soul, by turning ostentatiously against him. But few have done it with the ferocity of the man nicknamed “The Mooch”, who in the space of a half-hour FaceTime interview calls the US president “very crazy”, “low life”, “full-blown racist”, “son of a bitch”, “maniacally narcissistic” and “off his rocker”. Continue reading...