Family has been left hovering between hope and despair, says husband Richard RatcliffeNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual citizen who has been detained in Iran since 2016, must wait another week for a decision on whether she will be permanently freed from jail, a move her husband says has left the family “hovering between hope and despair”.Zaghari-Ratcliffe had expected an update on Saturday on the progress of a bid for clemency. She was hoping to be released in time for her daughter Gabriella’s sixth birthday on Thursday but instead has been told to call back next week. Continue reading...

Germany amazed the whole continent with last week’s stimulus package, but it paves the way for countries such as France to agree an effective coronavirus responseFrom champion of austerity to Europe’s biggest spender – Germany has travelled a long way in just a few months. The notoriously frugal ministry of finance has agreed to spend €130bn – a sum equal to 4% of national income – on more than 50 initiatives to promote growth across the country.This breathtaking investment programme comes on top of the almost 30% of GDP the government has so far spent on rescuing businesses and protecting jobs during the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading...

Reduction of 9,500 personnel criticised by the German right and welcomed by the leftDonald Trump’s plans to withdraw more than a third of the US troops stationed in Germany have been criticised in the country by conservatives and welcomed by leftwing politicians.The US president has reportedly ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of troops by 9,500 from the 34,500 permanently assigned in Germany as part of a long-standing arrangement with Washington’s Nato ally. Continue reading...

Indian health ministry reports 9,887 new cases; China confirms three new cases; Russia’s death toll continues to rise

Satisfaction levels across the continent have risen and fallen, but nowhere have they plunged as for Boris Johnson’s government

At least 2,000 people marched in Sydney for the 'Stop All Black Deaths in Custody' rally, which was declared an authorised public assembly minutes before its scheduled start time of 3pm, after a court ruling was overturned.Thousands of protesters rallied in cities and towns across Australia to march against Indigenous deaths in custody and the killing of George Floyd

Older people and families asked to pay bill on top of usual fees as homes reel from cost of PPE and staff absences

Jack, 22, student engagement officer, meets Ruthie, 21, medical student

Top court complains opposition-held congress did not name electoral body authorities in timeVenezuela’s government-friendly supreme court has said the opposition-held congress did not name rectors to the South American country’s electoral authority in time, a move denounced by the opposition as an attempt to derail election plans.The court declared the national assembly’s decisions null and void shortly after the opposition won control of the body in late 2015. With new legislative elections due by the end of 2020, the decision marked a setback to efforts between the two sides to agree on conditions for the vote. Continue reading...

Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn explains why the unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd could be a defining moment for racial politics in America, and how the coronavirus pandemic set the backdrop for the protests

We want to know how the public is coping without them and how newly re-opened facilities are dealing with physical distancing

Memorial to 284 men in Folkestone cemetery also to be listed at Grade IIThe wreck of a German battleship that sank in the Channel in 1878 after being accidentally rammed has been given heritage protection.Historic England said a memorial in a Folkestone cemetery to the 284 men who lost their lives on the SMS Grosser Kurfürst would also be listed at Grade II. Continue reading...

Amid growing global civil unrest against police brutality and racism, a small station 330km west of Uluru is trying things differentlyAs protests against police brutality and racism have spread around the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd, two new films demonstrate the extremes of police dealings with Indigenous Australians.The first, which surfaced earlier this week, is the now notorious mobile phone footage of a violent encounter between a New South Wales police constable and an Aboriginal teenager in Surry Hills, Sydney. Continue reading...

Video shows officers forcing man into a police truck as bystanders plead for his releaseMexicans have responded with outrage after a man was found beaten to death hours after he was arrested by police officers for not wearing a face mask in public.Anti-police protests erupted on Thursday evening in Guadalajara, the country’s second-largest city. Continue reading...

UK pledges £1.65bn to public-private vaccine partnership; €130bn German package cuts VAT, offers cash grants; New Zealand marks 13 days without new Covid-19 case

Police in UK, Portugal and Germany launch joint appeal for information about Christian BrücknerDetectives in three countries have appealed for evidence in relation to the strongest suspect they have had in 13 years to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, as German authorities said they believe she is dead.Circumstantial evidence has convinced detectives that a 43-year-old German child sex offender and rapist, identified by Portuguese sources on Thursday as Christian Brückner, is their prime suspect as it emerged he has been known to police for years. Continue reading...

Protesters defy police ban as legislation prohibits mockery of Chinese anthem

In the wake of widespread protests in the United States after the killing of George Floyd by the police, people are now taking to the streets in Australia. Their goal is to show solidarity with black communities in America, and highlight Australia’s problems with police violence and institutional racism.In this episode Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam examines Australia’s record on Indigenous deaths in custody.We did a whole episode on the death in custody of David Dungay Jnr here, it was based on the series Breathless and our reporting on the case.You can read Lorena Allam on Australia’s record on black deaths in custody here and Michael McGowan on reporting on the Indigenous teenager who was slammed face-first on to a pavement here. Continue reading...

Eight houses have been swept into the sea in Norway after a powerful landside near the town of Alta. The landslide was filmed by a local resident, Jan Egil Bakkedal – one of the houses that was lost belonged to him – who said he ran for his life when he realised what was happening.

Michael White was detained in 2018 and sentenced 10 years on charges of insulting the supreme leader and posting a private photoA US navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years flew out on Thursday, a day after an Iranian scientist held by US authorities returned home.“I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home,” Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, said in a statement. Continue reading...

The single currency bloc is facing the deepest recession in memory and unprecedented job losses

Based on true stories, Rubaiyat Hossain’s Made in Bangladesh challenges stereotypes while revealing the relentless pressure of fashion’s supply chainRubaiyat Hossain’s latest film, Made in Bangladesh, opens with a scene of pure, visceral panic: young garment workers trapped in a burning factory. Alarms blare, women scream and smoke fills the stairwells.“A fire or a building collapse is every garment worker’s greatest fear,” says Hossain. When filming the scene, the women seen desperately running for their lives didn’t need much direction. Continue reading...

Several accounts reactivated after protests with social media giant blaming ‘technical error’The Facebook accounts of several high-profile bloggers and activists in Tunisia were among those deactivated without warning over the weekend.Up to 60 accounts are understood to have been deactivated, including that of journalist and political commentator Haythem El Mekki. Continue reading...

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across Australia

Michael Clauss says talks will be a focus from September and UK needs more realistic approachBritain must give away some sovereignty to secure free trade with the EU but Europe’s leaders will intervene in the negotiations in the autumn with the aim of sealing a compromise deal at a summit on 15 October, Germany’s ambassador in Brussels has said.Michael Clauss, whose country will take over the rolling presidency of the EU for the second half of the year, said there had been “no real progress” in the talks so far but predicted they would become the EU’s main political focus in September and October. Continue reading...

The girls, 15 and 16, have been charged with the murder, robbery, deprivation of liberty and torture of Cian EnglishTwo teenage girls allegedly filmed and egged on the brutal assault and torture of two men in a Gold Coast apartment before a Brisbane teen plunged to his death trying to escape.The girls, aged 15 and 16 from Coomera, were charged on Thursday with the murder, robbery, deprivation of liberty and torture of Cian English, 19, in Surfers Paradise on 23 May. Continue reading...

In a video for a virtual graduation ceremony at her old high school in LA, the Duchess of Sussex recalled words of advice given by a teacher when she was 15, who said to her: 'Always remember to put another’s needs above your fears.' She told the graduating students: 'I am sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to a place that you deserve it to be'

Federal government unveils homebuilder stimulus as Covid-19 commissioner Nev Power appears at Senate inquiry. Follow all today’s news• Qantas and Jetstar to scale up flights in June and July

In graduation address for her old high school, Meghan says ‘only wrong thing to say is nothing’

Photographer died after ritual involving toad venom in Spanish town in 2019Spanish police have arrested three people, including a well known pornographic actor, in connection with the death of a photographer who is thought to have died after inhaling toad venom during a shamanic ceremony.The Guardia Civil did not name those detained, but the fatal ceremony, which took place in the Valencian town of Enguera in July 2019, allegedly involved the Spanish porn actor Nacho Vidal, and resulted in the death of a fashion photographer, José Luis Abad. Continue reading...

All 91 travellers put in quarantine after 12 test positive, illustrating risk of welcoming back tourists

Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of eventsThe Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Continue reading...

Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, who worked for AFP among others, targeted in his car in AdenA Yemeni journalist has been shot dead in the southern city of Aden in an incident that is likely to inflame tensions between the government and secessionists seeking independence for the south.Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, a 34-year-old photographer and video journalist who worked for news organisations including Agence France-Presse, was shot in his car shortly after leaving his home on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Researchers hope the data will help identify any places where physical distancing may be an issueResearchers hope the addition of Facebook de-identified movement data will give a better overview of people slowly returning to their regular travels as we emerge from the coronavirus lockdown period, and help identify any potential places where physical distancing may be an issue.Several companies, including Google, Apple and Citymapper, make public de-identified data from their mapping and other location-based apps to track traffic flow across cities, states and countries. Continue reading...

When his sister Rahila was killed by a bomber, Hamid Rafi was inspired by her diaries to set up an education centre in her nameThe night before she died, Rahila Rafi felt too tired for homework; uncharacteristic for the studious 17-year-old. When her brother Hamid asked what was wrong, she told him she had a strange feeling in her heart and couldn’t bring herself to look at her books.Hamid kissed his sister’s forehead and asked her what she wanted to do after she passed the Kankor exam – Afghanistan’s standard university admissions test. Continue reading...

UK prime minister says all eligible for BNO passport can apply if China cuts freedomsBoris Johnson has opened the path to what he called one of the “biggest changes” to the British visa system, stating he was ready to offer a right to live and work in the UK to any of the nearly 3 million Hong Kong citizens eligible for a British National Overseas passport.Ministers have been ambivalent since last Thursday on whether the UK government’s offer of an extendable 12-month visa would be available only to the 350,000 current BNO passport holders in Hong Kong, or would also include the more than 2.5 million eligible to apply for the passport. Continue reading...

Colourised images of a tanned and waistcoated author on show when museum reopensLooking healthily tanned, with a warm expression, and wearing a natty yellow, green and blue Clan Gordon tartan waistcoat, he is unmistakably Charles Dickens – but as we’ve never seen him before.The Charles Dickens Museum in London has created and released the first of a new set of colourised photographs of the writer in the run-up to the 150th anniversary of the author’s death. It is a taster of a major exhibition on images of Dickens that the museum will stage as soon as it is able to reopen after lockdown restrictions are relaxed further. Continue reading...

Last week more than 70 died in violence fuelled by poverty, ethnic divisions and competition for landIn the morning, reassurance, in the evening, another mass killing.When the governor for Sokoto state in north-west Nigeria arrived in Sabon Birni, a district reeling from relentless killings by armed groups, he assured local officials that authorities were in control. Police reinforcements would arrive soon, he added. Continue reading...

Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific Islands

Airline says summer holiday services will run from all its UK airports as Covid-19 travel restrictions lift

Aircraft chief describes frustration at losing vital time while inquiry also told firefighter radios in different areas ‘largely incompatible’Pilots flying water-bombing aircraft are “consistently tasked too late for fires” and sit idle on the tarmac until conditions worsen, the royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements has been told.The inquiry also heard that the radio networks used by firefighting agencies in each jurisdiction are “largely incompatible” with each other and the lack of national coordination meant that resources were not always used effectively. Continue reading...

Greens want a full, independent review, saying the government has been ‘heartless and cruel throughout this entire process’The Greens have called for a royal commission into the botched robodebt scheme, amid growing demands for a judicial inquiry and an apology from the Morrison government.Rachel Siewert, a Greens senator and chair of a Senate inquiry into the scheme, said on Tuesday she saw no other way forward than a “royal commission ensuring a full, independent review of this program and a forensic audit of this mess”. Continue reading...

Secretary of state says he is considering immigration option similar to move announced last week by UKThe US is considering letting people who no longer “feel comfortable” in Hong Kong move to the US, secretary of state Mike Pompeo has suggested.The comments, made in a conversation with the American Enterprise Institute on Friday, come amid worsening relations between the two countries over China’s moves to impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous region. Continue reading...

Wiltshire police take man in his 30s into custody after death of two women in Lavistock areaA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of two women at a house in Salisbury.Officers from Wiltshire police received a call from a member of the public at about 2.45pm on Monday after reports of a disturbance at a property on Wessex Road in the Lavistock area of the city. Continue reading...

Speakers highlight racism against Indigenous people and call on Ardern to denounce killingTens of thousands of New Zealanders have come out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, after the death of George Floyd in the US.At least four solidarity gatherings were held in the country on Monday afternoon, with massive crowds taking to their knees in the Auckland demonstration. Continue reading...

Selling fish has enabled some to quadruple their usual earnings but sexist attitudes are harder to overcome

Chinese city marks recovery milestone; English health officials voice concern over loosened lockdown; Brazil pass 500,000 cases

Aboriginal people whose family members have died in custody express solidarity with people on the streets of US cities protesting against the death of George FloydAustralia’s track record on deaths in custody is again under scrutiny, as Aboriginal people whose family members died in similar circumstances to George Floyd express solidarity with protestors on the streets of major US cities following the death of the unarmed black man.The family of 26-year-old David Dungay, a Dunghutti man who said “I can’t breathe” 12 times before he died while being restrained by five prison guards, said they have been traumatised anew by the footage of Floyd’s death. Continue reading...

Pakistan calls the allegations ‘baseless’ after two officials at high commission given 24 hours to leaveTwo officials at Pakistan’s high commission have been expelled for “espionage activities”, India’s foreign ministry said late on Sunday, allegations its nuclear-armed rival called “baseless”.The ministry said in a statement: “The government has declared both these officials persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission.” Continue reading...