Premier Gladys Berejiklian warns residents along the Murray River could face travel restrictions within NSW

Royal commission hears it can be cheaper to knock down such properties and rebuild than upgrade themUp to one million homes in bushfire-prone areas have little or no fire protection, but in some cases it would be cheaper to knock down and rebuild them than upgrade them, a royal commission has been told.Ninety per cent of buildings in bushfire-prone areas were built before bushfire planning and construction regulations came in, the Bushfire Building Council noted. Continue reading...

Confusion over NSW-Victoria border closure as the state’s northern border closes for the first time in a century. Follow the latest news

Protesters clash with police in Serbian capital after weekend curfew announced

Townspeople block road to beach resort popular with US tourists as cases surge in states including ArizonaAs he campaigned for the presidency, Donald Trump promised to build a “big beautiful wall” along the US-Mexico border, claiming it would keep migrants out of the country and stop everything from drugs to disease.But with Covid-19 cases surging on both sides of the frontier, towns in northern Mexico are pleading to restrict cross-border movement – this time to stop tourists and travellers bringing in coronavirus from the US. Continue reading...

Heavy rain that caused deadly floods in southern Japan has moved north-east, hammering large areas of the country’s main island, swelling rivers, triggering mudslides and destroying homes and roads. At least 58 people have died over several days of flooding Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro has announced live on television he has tested positive for coronavirus - after months of repeatedly trivializing the pandemic and flouting social distancing guidelines.In March, as Covid-19 claimed its first victims in Brazil, the far-right populist leader bragged that, if infected, he would quickly shake off the illness thanks to his 'athlete’s background'. Since then, the president has continued to attend social events and political rallies, often wearing masks incorrectly, if at all.Brazil has suffered one of the world’s worst outbreaks, with more than 1.6m confirmed cases and 65,000 related deaths, according to official data released on 6 July.

Money has already started leaving Hong Kong, with US$5bn quitting the territory last year, according to Bank of England figuresThe Chinese government’s increasingly tight grip on Hong Kong is undermining the former British colony’s position as a regional financial hub, analysts and investors say.In its latest move to clamp down on Hong Kong, which has been a centre of resistance against the ruling Chinese Communist party, the mainland government last month introduced a sweeping national security law that criminalises protest and dissent. Continue reading...

Members of the World Health Organization’s technical committee have said they are working on publishing a scientific brief about how and if the coronavirus can spread in the air, following a letter signed by more than 200 scientists who have called for the WHO and others to acknowledge that the disease can spread in the air. Committee member Prof Benedetta Allegranzi said evidence on airborne transmission was emerging but ‘is not definitive’

The Leap of Dance academy has brought ballet to children in a poor district in Africa’s largest megacity Continue reading...

The peaceful sit-in taking place in Nertiti county is demanding an end to the violence and punishment for the perpetratorsThousands of people have joined a sit-down protest in front of local authority buildings in Central Darfur demanding action against the armed groups that patrol the region.A large number of women have joined the first peaceful demonstration – now in its second week – in Nertiti county since war erupted in 2003. Continue reading...

Heavy downpours in southern Japan, which have killed more than 50, now battering the country’s main islandPounding rains that have already caused deadly floods in southern Japan have moved northeast, hammering large areas of Japan’s main island, swelling rivers, triggering mudslides and destroying homes and roads.At least 58 people have died over several days of flooding. By Wednesday morning, parts of Nagano and Gifu in central Japan were flooded by unremitting downpours. Continue reading...

The two-time world snowboarding champion, 32, has died after he was pulled unconscious from the water at Palm BeachThe Australian Olympian Alex “Chumpy” Pullin has drowned on the Gold Coast.Police said the 32-year-old died after being pulled from the surf at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast. Continue reading...

Business is paying a high price for inadequate diets of employees, research shows, with experts calling on companies to provide living wage and subsidised food

Glory to Hong Kong deemed politically dangerous, while China opens office to oversee enforcement of sweeping national security legislationChina has continued to tighten its grip on Hong Kong by banning the singing of the unofficial pro-democracy anthem in schools and turning a city centre hotel into the new headquarters of its national security office.Hong Kong’s education secretary, Kevin Yeung, said on Wednesday that Glory to Hong Kong, a song written last year which grew from the popular street protests in 2019, would be outlawed in schools.

From London to Llandudno to Dundee, museums are back in business. So is it now safe to view art – and how will they cope with the drastic drop in numbers?

As life across Europe gets back to normal, Covid-19 prepares the next wave of outbreaks

Public health academic applauds leadership of Scotland’s first minister on coronavirus strategy

Chechens who sought safety in EU countries say ‘everyone is scared’ after shooting in ViennaChechens in Europe have expressed renewed fears for their safety, after a strident critic of the Kremlin-backed Chechnya leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot dead in Vienna on Saturday.“Everyone is scared. We all left to find safety and forget about home, and they find you and shoot you like a dog,” said a Chechen man who has received asylum in Austria and asked to remain anonymous, shortly after attending a wake for the dead man in Vienna on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Next year visitors to Tatsuno ‘will once again see fireflies dance wonderfully’, says mayor

Premier Daniel Andrews says Victorians may be told to wear masks while Gladys Berejiklian warns says risk in NSW ‘very high’Victoria has recorded 134 new cases of Covid-19, with the source of 123 still under investigation, as state police launched a renewed focus on ensuring those who breach public health orders face consequences.After the New South Wales-Victoria border closed at midnight on Tuesday, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, warned the risk of contagion spreading into her state was “very high” and said even tougher border restrictions might be implemented targeting those living in border communities such as Albury. Continue reading...

Joshua Wong, Lee Cheuk-yan and James To say they have no choice but to oppose draconian legislation imposed by BeijingHong Kong activists planning parliament in exileFor Joshua Wong, Lee Cheuk-yan and James To – three of Hong Kong’s highest profile pro-democracy activists – the possibility of going to jail in China has never been more real.The national security law passed in Beijing and enacted in Hong Kong on 1 July appears to be tailor-made for them in many ways. Continue reading...

Sio Agafili was given concurrent sentences and should have got out in 2015. But he served them consecutively until a judge spotted the mistakeA Samoan man has spent nearly five extra years in prison because neither he, nor prison authorities realised that his two sentences should have been served concurrently, not consecutively.Sio Agafili, 45, should have been released in December 2015, but he remained in jail until a judge spotted the error when he appeared in court on another matter. Continue reading...

Melbourne’s Covid-19 spike has prompted the ‘unprecedented’ move to stop people coming into NSW from Victoria. We look at the details, from how to get a crossing permit to whether you need to self-isolate

Review into vaginal mesh and other products reveals much patient harm was ‘avoidable’An arrogant culture in which serious medical complications were dismissed as “women’s problems” contributed to a string of healthcare scandals over several decades, an inquiry ordered by the government has found.The review of vaginal mesh, hormonal pregnancy tests and an anti-epilepsy medicine that harmed unborn babies paints a damning picture of a medical establishment that failed to acknowledge problems even in the face of mounting safety concerns, leading to avoidable harm to patients. Continue reading...

Report warns of reoffending risk as 3,713 ex-prisoners in England lack safe housingThousands of high-risk convicted criminals, including those classed as violent and sexual offenders, were being released from prison in England into homelessness, increasing the likelihood of their reoffending, inspectors warned.Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) said in a report that it was “particularly disturbed” to find that at least 3,713 people supervised by the National Probation Service, which is responsible for high-risk offenders, had left prison and become homeless from 2018 to 2019. Continue reading...

Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific IslandsThe total number of cases of Covid-19 infection listed by the World Health Organisation for the region stands at 426, an increase of 44 since last week. The main contributor to this rise is the increase in infections in Guam.The factors that make the Pacific resistant to infection – remoteness, scattered populations and the high cost of travel and transportation – are the very same elements driving the region deeper into economic distress. Continue reading...

Trump administration letter comes despite virtually no international support for the move amid pandemic

Six-month placements aim to help those hardest hit by the Covid-19 lockdown

Wednesday: Expert alarmed by photos showing what’s happening inside Melbourne towers. Plus, the plan to create the first universally recognised list of species on EarthGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 8 July. Continue reading...

Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, announced live on television he has tested positive for coronavirus. ‘It came back positive,’ a mask-wearing Bolsonaro told a handpicked group of reporters on Tuesday lunchtime outside his official residence Continue reading...

David Frost and Michel Barnier will dine on halibut at Downing Street private dinner

Hisham al-Hashimi backed action to tackle Iraqi’s powerful militias, despite knowing risksAs Hisham al-Hashimi pulled up outside his Baghdad home on Monday night, a gunman strode purposefully towards the Iraqi official’s white four-wheel drive, drew a pistol and fired four shots through the driver’s window.Each jolting flash was captured by security footage from a camera on al-Hashimi’s roof. So was the hitman’s escape on the back of a nearby motorbike, and the helpless vigil of his four young children as their father’s body was dragged on to the driveway. Continue reading...

Charity boss says blaming care sector for repeated government mistakes is unacceptable

Appeal begun after quashed misconduct proceedings in case of Met marksman who shot dead civilian in 2015A police watchdog has begun an appeal after failing to bring misconduct proceedings against a specialist firearms officer who shot and killed a man while trying to foil an attempt to snatch two prisoners from a prison van.Two judges who oversaw a high-court hearing in London last year quashed a move by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to bring misconduct proceedings against the Met police officer who shot dead Jermaine Baker, 28, near Wood Green crown court, London, in December 2015. Baker had been in a group waiting for an inmate to arrive in the security van from Wormwood Scrubs prison. Continue reading...

Epidemiologist Siegal Sadetzki says government has ‘lost its bearings’ on tackling pandemic

During the annual Yadnya Kasada festival, the Tenggerese people climb Mount Bromo, an active volcano, and seek the blessing of the gods by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items. Inside the crater villagers use nets to try to catch the offerings Continue reading...

Figure revealed by home secretary highlights concerns about slowness of compensation schemeAt least five people have died before receiving the Windrush compensation they had applied for, the government has revealed, reigniting concern about the slowness of the scheme.No details were revealed about who these individuals were, but the figures appear to come in addition to a number of people interviewed by the Guardian, who died before they were even able to file a compensation claim. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Darrell and Darren Roberts face deportation to countries they have never visitedTwins who were born in London and have never left the UK face deportation to different countries in the Caribbean where they have no close relatives, their families have told the Guardian.Darrell Roberts, 24, has been issued with a deportation notice informing him that the Home Office plans to send him to the Dominican Republic following a prison sentence, even though he has no connection with the country. He believes officials named it in error; his father was born on Dominica, another Caribbean island. Continue reading...

Police raids offer chilling insight into increasingly violent criminal underworldDutch police have arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed “torture chamber” complete with a dentist’s chair, tools including pliers and scalpels and handcuffs, a high-ranking officer announced.Authorities said police conducted the raid before the converted containers could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding. Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says Moscow will respond to Britain’s human rights move

Consulum’s Ryan Coetzee worked for Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats up to 2015 electionHong Kong has turned to the former director of strategy of the UK remain campaign in the Brexit referendum to revive its reputation, amid further scrutiny of the role played by London-based political operatives that advise overseas governments.The Hong Kong government awarded a £5m public relations contract to the Mayfair-headquartered Consulum as part of its “Relaunch Hong Kong” campaign, shortly before Beijing introduced a new security law designed to crush pro-democracy protests in the territory. Continue reading...

Official review finds airstrikes on civilians were ‘isolated incidents’

Former journalist Ivan Safronov could face up to 20 years in prison in treason caseRussian security services have opened a treason case against a former journalist who recently began working as an adviser to the head of the country’s space agency.Ivan Safronov was arrested on Tuesday morning by agents from the FSB, the successor agency of the KGB. He could face up to 20 years in prison. Continue reading...

Woman alleges former Tory MP sexually assaulted her at his family home in 2007

Network says it mistakenly eliminated Donald Trump from photo with Maxwell and Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000Fox News has apologised for cropping Donald Trump out of a picture of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.Related: 'Where are you Roger Ailes?' Trump appears to ask dead Fox News chairman for help Continue reading...

The former Lyon midfielder on racism, his country’s unravelling under Jair Bolsonaro and how Brazilians are taught to think only about moneyLike so many other footballers and former professionals, Juninho Pernambucano could easily stay silent and not discuss the more important issues in life. But that, according to the former Lyon player and Brazil international, would be a betrayal of his principles.We have been talking for 30 minutes when he breaks down in tears for the first time during an interview that lasts for two and a half hours. The situation in his native Brazil is out of control, the president Jair Bolsonaro having failed miserably to tackle coronavirus. This week the country went past 65,000 deaths and had almost 50,000 new cases in a day. The total number of cases has gone past 1.6 million. It is the second worst-hit country in the world. Continue reading...

Goal to eradicate poverty by 2030 ‘completely off track’, says outgoing special rapporteur, with Covid-19 likely to impoverish millions more