ALP leader also makes overture to Scott Morrison to reach bipartisan consensus on energy policy mechanismAnthony Albanese has committed Labor to setting a new medium-term emissions reduction target consistent with scientific advice before the next federal election.The Labor leader made the commitment after a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday which included an overture to Scott Morrison to reach a bipartisan consensus on an energy policy mechanism. Continue reading...

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...

ADF as well as NSW, SA, Tasmania and Queensland called in to help

António Guterres says plans to annex around 30% of the disputed territory would ‘destabilise’ the regionThe United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has expressed hope that Israel will hear global calls and will not go ahead with annexation of parts of the West Bank, which would undermine a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The UN has been consistently conveying the message “that annexation would be not only against international law but it would be a major factor to destabilise the region”, he told Associated Press in an interview. Continue reading...

Pakistani Muslim woman lodges legal complaints saying hostile workplace hampered her careerA former officer for the Metropolitan police has lodged two claims with an employment tribunal against the force, citing a hostile and “racist” work environment that forced her to resign.The Pakistani Muslim woman, who has requested not to be named, claims she was forced to resign from her role as an inspector superintendent in January 2020. At that time, she was the most senior female BAME and Muslim officer in the Metropolitan police. Continue reading...

His life has been a rollercoaster ever since Jaws. Richard Dreyfuss talks about Hollywood hell-raising, cocaine burnout, his flirting heyday – and the trouble with #MeToo

Tool in Yiwu comes after a rise in domestic violence during Covid-19 lockdowns and quarantine measuresThe city of Yiwu in eastern China is set to begin a pilot programme that allows residents to check whether their partner has a history of domestic abuse before getting married.According to a notice on the Yiwu government website, the city will on 1 July unveil a searchable database that includes the information of offenders from across the country, those who have been convicted, subjected to restraining orders or sentenced to detention over domestic violence since 2017. Continue reading...

Leandro Maduro Costa entertained patients in a Rio hospital before his death from coronavirus

Closure of Nigeria’s schools during lockdown has hit access to learning for poorer children

Improved economic deal could strengthen hand of Tehran’s reformists, says reportEuropean diplomats are being urged to restart shuttle diplomacy with Iran after the US presidential election in November or risk Tehran hardliners gaining still wider control of Iran’s many layers of government and its economy.The European 3 (E3) – Germany, France and the UK - managed to maintain their unity at a meeting on Friday at which they agreed to keep the nuclear deal alive, oppose a US plan for the snapback of sanctions and possibly limit the lifting of the UN conventional arms embargo on Iran due to take place in the autumn. Continue reading...

Talent agency job ad lists long skinny limbs, acne scars, facial lines, missing bones and large eyes as desirable featuresHave an overbite, ears that stick out, small eyes, or a “bulbous or interesting” nose? Hollywood has finally come calling.A New Zealand talent agency is looking for actors to appear in the big-budget Lord of the Rings television adaptation, due to resume filming in the country shortly, and is seeking urgent applications from people they have euphemistically deemed “funky looking” in an unusual job advertisement. Continue reading...

Quake strikes in south of country but is felt more than 400 miles away in Mexico CityA 7.5-magnitude earthquake has rattled large swaths of southern and central Mexico, killing at least five people.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said one person was killed in a building collapse in Huatulco, Oaxaca, while state governor Alejandro Murat said a second person was killed in an apparent house collapse in the mountain village of San Juan Ozolotepec and a third died in circumstances he did not explain. Continue reading...

Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific Islands• Sign up to get this Coronavirus in the Pacific briefing delivered to your email every WednesdayThe total number of cases of Covid-19 infection listed by the World Health Organization for the region stands at 352, an increase of 38 since last week – a reminder that although infection rates may be slowing in the region, the crisis is far from over.US inability – or unwillingness – to cope with coronavirus is affecting the Pacific. A spate of new cases have been reported on Guam’s largest air force base. Continue reading...

Both Prevent and MI5 deemed Khairi Saadallah not worth investigation, while police still seek motive for triple stabbingThe suspect in the Reading stabbings was twice assessed by security services but was deemed to pose no danger of staging an attack, it has emerged.Khairi Saadallah, 25, was referred to Prevent, the government’s anti-radicalisation strategy, and then to MI5 in the past two years. He was arrested on Saturday following the stabbing to death of three men in a park in Reading, Berkshire. Continue reading...

The government's chief medical adviser has said that a second spike in Covid-19 cases is inevitable if people ignore the conditions that are supposed to apply to the lockdown being relaxed.

Markus Braun released on €5m bail amid mystery of billions missing from German payments firm’s booksThe former chief executive of a company once regarded as one of Germany’s hottest stocks – a payment processing company with ambitions to be a global leader in a world where cash was history – was yesterday bailed from police custody after posting a deposit of €5m (£4.5m), public prosecutors in Munich said on Tuesday afternoon.Markus Braun, 51, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of falsifying accounts at Wirecard. The once highly rated German business, operating in the go-go financial tech sector, has now admitted to a €1.9bn (£1.7bn) hole in its balance sheet. Braun, who styled himself after Apple’s Steve Jobs, wearing black turtleneck sweaters, is also accused of manipulating the markets. Continue reading...

A strong earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, shaking buildings in the centre of the capital Mexico City hundreds of miles away, and sending people fleeing their homes into the streets. Situated at the intersection of three tectonic plates, Mexico is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The capital is seen as particularly vulnerable as it is located on top of an ancient lake bed.

Pilgrimage to Islamic holy sites usually attracts 2.5m visitors; about 360,000 Germans face new restrictions

Priti Patel says she will do all she can to help people wrongly told they were in UK illegally

No 10 scraps daily press conference after today; 2m rule stays in Scotland and Wales; UK death toll rises by 171

Patients are looking for cure as healthcare system is on brink of collapse, say doctors

It’s less about Kate and Meghan and more about Elizabeth and Philip – or so says the new book Battle of Brothers

Novelist Dillibe Onyeama wrote book about abuse received during time at elite school

While 51% of Australians trust the US, just 30% trust Donald Trump to act responsibly on the world stageOnly a quarter of Australians trust China to act responsibly in the world – with such faith crashing nearly 30 percentage points in the past two years – according to the Lowy Institute’s latest annual poll of sentiment towards global issues.And while the poll shows a large majority of Australians value the alliance with the United States, and a slim majority trust the US to act responsibly on the world stage, that is not matched by faith in Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Brussels accused of trying to stop UK government from defending British farmersBritish and EU negotiators have hit a new obstacle to securing a trade and security deal after clashing over €70bn of subsidies handed to European farmers by Brussels, the Guardian can reveal.The EU’s negotiating team led by Michel Barnier was accused in the latest round of talks of seeking to block the government from defending British farmers from cut-price European imports. Continue reading...

Russia’s postponed military parade will take place on Wednesday as Putin seeks referendum boost

Sharp reduction in heritage body’s budget is part of wider savings due to Covid-19 costsThe Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has often boasted of the strength and longevity of Mexican culture and learning, once saying that “when buffalo were still grazing in what is now New York, there were already universities and printing presses in Mexico”.But archaeologists fear that a recent wave of swingeing budget cuts will decimate research into the country’s pre-Columbian past, and leave thousands of ancient sites – including Aztec temples and Mayan cities – at the mercy of looters. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the latest PMI reports show the global recession is easing

Workers taken ill after suspicious package emitting pungent odour causes panicAn overwhelming smell coming from a suspicious package at a Bavarian post office caused six workers to be taken to hospital and many more to be evacuated – only for police to discover that durian fruit, and not a dangerous gas, was the reason for the panic.Police and firefighters rushed to the scene in Schweinfurt on Saturday over fears that a parcel was releasing a harmful substance. Twelve postal workers received treatment for nausea, including six who were taken to hospital as a precaution, the German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported. Continue reading...

Classic rock band to feature on 13 stamp designs from July, with Brian May saying ‘we have become a national institution’No, not that one – the rock band Queen are to feature on a series of UK postage stamps over the summer.They become only the third band to be honoured by Royal Mail, following the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016. Continue reading...

Former PM says he is very sorry scheme has ‘created dismay and distress’, while Woolworths announces mass redundancies. This blog is now closed

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...

Local man arrested over deaths of Joshua James Flynn, his son Coby-Jay and daughter SkylarA man and his two children who were killed while out on a Father’s Day walk have been named by police.Joshua James Flynn, 37, his son Coby-Jay Flynn, 15, and daughter Skylar Flynn, 12, along with their dog, Troy, died in the collision with a Peugeot 206 in Dalton, Cumbria, at about 2.30pm on Sunday. All were pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly

Democracy campaigners say officers ignored violence by Hindus during clashes with MuslimsDelhi police have been accused of filing false and politically motivated charges against pro-democracy activists to blame them for the Delhi riots – while not arresting any ruling party figures and police officers for their role in the violence.More than 80 charge sheets have been filed naming those allegedly responsible for inciting the riots, which broke out in February in some of the worst religious violence in India for decades. Continue reading...

A large dust cloud has travelled from the Sahara and blanketed parts of the Caribbean in a weather event not seen for 50 years. Dubbed the 'Godzilla dust cloud', it has limited visibility and lowered air quality throughout the region. The mass of dusty air is known as the Saharan Air Layer and forms over the Sahara desert before typically moving across the North Atlantic in the northern hemisphere’s late spring to early autumn

The unmasking of the Salisbury poisoning suspects by a new digital journalism outfit was an embarrassment for Putin – and evidence that Russian spies are not what they once were. By Luke HardingIn 2011 I was in Libya reporting on the civil war. Rebels backed by the US, the UK and France were advancing on the capital, Tripoli. The insurgents moved forward through bombed-out towns as Muammar Gaddafi’s forces retreated. Coastal cities in the west and east, oil refineries, Roman ruins and temples – all fell, one by one, as the regime lost ground.These were dangerous times. In the town of Zawiyah I found locals celebrating victory in the main square. They were shooting in the air and doing wheelspins and skids in their cars and trucks. Gaddafi’s soldiers had left the previous night, fleeing down the road. I saw a small boy, maybe eight years old, stomping on a Gaddafi flag. “The city is ruined. No problem – we will rebuild it,” one local, Tariq Sadiq, told me. Continue reading...

Photographer Alicia Canter has been investigating how people have been coping with pregnancy and birth during the coronavirus lockdown, photographing doulas, and new and expecting parentsAlicia: “After my best friend gave birth at the start of March and a pregnant friend told me she was shielding, I started thinking about how people were coping with pregnancy and birth during lockdown. With women only allowed to have one birth partner and home births restricted for a time, I spoke to women and men about how having a baby during lockdown has been for them and their new families. The project is ongoing.” Continue reading...

Prosecutors need to show empathy for the vulnerable and be vigilant against corruption and organised crimeThe Covid-19 pandemic will have far-reaching implications for justice worldwide.Already many places are seeing significant changes in crime patterns and criminality, and a reallocation of resources to deal with lockdown-related public order. Court operations will be disrupted for months to come. Postponed trials will become commonplace as the accused, witnesses, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers and court staff with coronavirus symptoms are placed in quarantine, or are required to self-isolate. Continue reading...

Peter Navarro blames coronavirus for end of agreement, but is swiftly contradicted by Donald Trump, who says it is ‘fully intact’The White House’s stance on China was thrown into confusion on Monday night after trade adviser Peter Navarro announced a trade deal between the two countries was “over”, only to be quickly contradicted by Donald Trump.Navarro told Fox News the “turning point” came when the US learned about the coronavirus only after a Chinese delegation had left Washington following the signing of the phase one deal on 15 January. Continue reading...

Taneti Maamau, who switched Kiribati’s allegiance from Taipei to Beijing last year, resoundingly re-electedTaneti Maamau was re-elected on Monday to a second term as Kiribati’s president just two months after losing his parliamentary majority over his surprise move to recognise China and cut official relations with Taiwan.The flip in September last year, four days after an identical switch by Solomon Islands, left Taiwan with only 15 countries that recognise it as a separate country. Continue reading...

Joint bid for 2023 tournament with New Zealand to be decided this week and would offer chance of soft diplomacyAustralia and New Zealand’s push to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup could result in diplomatic gains with China and other Asian countries, and long-term trade boosts, as economists also predict half a billion dollars will flow into the host nations.Ahead of Fifa executives gathering to decide the hosting rights on Thursday (early hours of Friday morning in Australia), business analysts and trade experts believe the popularity of football, particularly in Asia, will serve as a gateway for soft diplomacy with China. They also predict a spike in local participation in the game will boost local health outcomes for women in the region. Continue reading...

Rose Harvie looks into the groundbreaking work of Professor Alexander ThomYour fascinating report states that the Durrington Shafts discovery “offers the first evidence that the early inhabitants of Britain … had developed a way to count” (Vast neolithic circle of deep shafts found near Stonehenge, 22 June).Evidence of this may well be found and accepted, but as early as the 1950s, Professor Alexander Thom claimed to have evidence that neolithic communities based the measurements of their monuments on a fixed unit of length. He called this the megalithic yard (approximately 2.7ft) and claimed that a multiple of these, the megalithic rod (6.8ft), was also used. Continue reading...

Company thought money was in two Asian banks but search hits dead end in PhilippinesWirecard has said that €1.9bn (£1.7bn) in funds missing from its bank accounts may not exist, as the accounting scandal at the German payments company deepens.The firm processes tens of billions of euros in credit and debit transactions each year and is a former darling of Germany’s tech sector. It had previously said it believed the money was held in escrow accounts at two Asian banks. Continue reading...

A moment of silence was held outside the secondary school where James Furlong, one of three people killed after a suspected terror attack in Reading over the weekend, was a history teacher.

Suspect accused of torturing man in prison run by Syrian intelligence service in 2011A Syrian doctor living in Germany has been arrested on suspicion of crimes against humanity in his country of origin, prosecutors have said, in the latest German move against suspected war crimes in Syria.The suspect, identified as Alaa M, is accused of having “tortured a detainee ... in at least two cases” at a prison run by the Syrian intelligence service in the city of Homs in 2011, according to German federal prosecutors. Continue reading...

Package to aid bushfire and Covid-19-impacted communities frustrated at slow pace of disaster recoveryThe Morrison government will unveil $86m for primary producers hit by the summer bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic as the byelection contest in Eden-Monaro accelerates into the closing fortnight.The package to be unveiled by the Coalition on Tuesday includes a $31m grant fund, with payments of $120,000 a hectare available for bushfire-impacted apple growers. Continue reading...

Coronavirus has brought the rivalry to a head sooner than expected – and the scope for non-alignment is narrowingGeorge Kennan, the US charge d’affaires in Moscow at the end of the second world war and the author of the famous Long Telegram in 1946, captured in his memoir how quickly perceptions in international relations can change.The man widely seen as the intellectual author of the cold war recalled that if he had sent his telegram on the nature of the Soviet threat six months earlier, his message “would probably have been received in the state department with pursed lips and raised eyebrows. Six months later, it probably would have sounded redundant, a preaching to the converted.” Continue reading...

Joe Ritchie-Bennett worked for pharmaceutical firm after moving to UK 15 years agoA US-born man was one of the victims of the terror attack in Reading, where he worked for a pharmaceutical company, it has been reported.Joe Ritchie-Bennett, 39, grew up in Philadelphia but moved to England about 15 years ago, his father told American media. Continue reading...