Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand's defence force will oversee the country's quarantine facilities and strengthen border requirements, after a slip-up allowed two arrivals from Britain to leave managed isolation without being tested for coronavirus - for which they later diagnosed positive. The prime minister said she would temporarily remove the compassionate exemption under which the pair were released from quarantine early

A unique platform lets teachers from Venezuela to Syria to Burundi earn a living teaching their language onlineLouisa Waugh and Ghaith Alhallak have met for language lessons in seven countries. “We counted it up the other day,” says Waugh, recalling the list of places from which she has video-called Alhallak: Britain, Mali, Senegal and Greece. Alhallak has answered from Lebanon, France and Italy, where he is now studying for a master’s degree in political science at the University of Padua.“You just need a connection,” he says. Continue reading...

Australian and New Zealand ministers say they are eager to do deals with the UK as their economies emerge from the coronavirus crisis

Survey shows retrenchment of identity positions in traditional political allegiancesBrexit has squeezed the political middle ground in Northern Ireland and pushed more people into their unionist and nationalist trenches.A post-Brexit opinion poll has found that those in the region deeming themselves neither unionist or nationalist has fallen to 39%. The Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey revealed that this figure was the lowest in 15 years. As late as 2017, 50% surveyed said they were neither. Continue reading...

A group of divers in Thailand tried to save a whale shark whose tail was tied by rope. Video filmed on Saturday shows the whale shark swimming with a nylon rope tied around its tail.But the knife was too small and could not cut through the rope. Injured and with a rope still tied to its tail, the whale shark eventually swam away

Prime minister says release of two overseas arrivals without being tested ‘should never have happened and it cannot be repeated’

Human rights experts say plight of Australian raises concerns over whether the death penalty is being ‘weaponised’ for foreign political gainOn Saturday Chinese officials announced Australian man, Karm Gilespie, had been sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle 7.5kg of methamphetamine through a Chinese airport in December 2013. It was the first time since his arrest the public learned he was detained in China.It’s almost impossible to know the processes which led to Gilespie being found guilty and sentenced to death. China’s legal system is notoriously opaque, and information on executions is considered a state secret. Continue reading...

Verdict is political play at time of escalating tension with Australia, former detainees sayThe Australian man Karm Gilespie’s death sentence is diplomatic leverage deliberately created by China, a former investigator who was detained in China for two years has said.Peter Humphrey, a former fraud investigator and foreign correspondent who was detained in China with his wife from 2013 to 2015, said it was inconceivable that the death sentence was unrelated to diplomatic tensions with Australia, and the sentence had “nothing to do with the original case against him”. Continue reading...

Actor and eco-fashion advocate to take a seat on board of conglomerate that oversees Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueenEmma Watson, the actor and activist who made her name as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has joined the board of the French fashion giant Kering, in a major coup for the world’s second-biggest luxury group.The British star, who was born in Paris, is the face of the Good On You app, which rates fashion brands on their ethical and sustainability credentials. Watson is also known for her work with Eco Age’s Green Carpet Challenge. She wears sustainable red carpet looks, frequently custom-made by top-tier designers, for most public appearances. Continue reading...

Anyone visiting the Russian president at his official residence must pass through a special disinfection chamber, state TV says

First loss of life in area in at least 45 years comes amid renewed disputeTwenty members of India’s armed forces have been killed in a “violent face-off” with Chinese soldiers on their disputed Himalayan border in the worst military crisis between the two countries in nearly 60 years.The deaths are the first loss of life in the border area since 1975, and come amid a renewed dispute between the two countries in recent weeks. Indian and Chinese soldiers, who often do not carry weapons in the area to avoid escalating conflicts, have brawled, detained each other and deployed forces and equipment in the western Himalayas in recent weeks. Continue reading...

A new National Audit Office report has exposed gaps in evidence for key aspects of immigration policyThe government’s policy of making life intolerable for people who are suspected of illegally entering the UK is yet to show that it can persuade them to leave, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.The National Audit Office said that Home Office officials admit that they have no specific evidence to show the “compliant environment” policy – the successor to the “hostile environment” that led to the Windrush scandal – encourages voluntary departures or fosters compliance with visa and passport conditions. Continue reading...

Officials say mystery passenger has five years to present ‘justified claims’ of ownershipIf you happened to leave more than £150,000 worth of gold bars in a Swiss train, you can now come forward to claim it.Authorities in the central city of Lucerne have said a package containing bars worth about 182,000 Swiss francs was found in a train that arrived from the northern town of St. Gallen in October, and efforts to find the owner failed. Continue reading...

Louie Giglio said his choice of words was poor, but his attempt to rebrand white privilege should also grab our attentionOn Monday evening, Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio apologized for calling slavery a blessing. In an online church service, he was apparently aiming to have an “honest conversation around how racism has plagued our city for generations”.Then he said: “We understand the curse that was slavery, white people do, and [we] say ‘that was bad’. But we miss the blessing of slavery, that it actually built up the framework for the world that white people live in and lived in.” Continue reading...

Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific IslandsThe total number of Covid-19 cases across the Pacific stands at 314, with new cases reported this week in New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.New Zealand is under increasing pressure, both internally and from across the region, to consider Pacific countries as part of its proposed travel ‘bubble’, alongside, or even in place of, Australia. The foreign minister, Winston Peters, initially rejected including Pacific island nations, but later backtracked. Continue reading...

James Bowen, who met Bob during his battle with drug addiction, says pet ‘saved his life’The pet that inspired the book series and film A Street Cat Named Bob has died aged 14.James Bowen met Bob in 2007 during his battle with drug addiction when he found the cat abandoned and injured and decided to look after him. Continue reading...

French nursing unions called for a national strike to ask for better working conditions and to demand the government keep its promise to overhaul France’s hospital system in response to the coronavirus crisis.Police fired teargas after being pelted with objects by a small minority that overturned a car during the demonstration led by healthcare workers

Wednesday: One Nation leader claimed expenses for three-night Perth fundraising trip. Plus, a ‘major breakthrough’ in the treatment of coronavirusGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 17 June. Continue reading...

Ex-Barclays executive Stephen Jones says he apologised over alleged sexist remarks referred to in court documentsThe boss of the banking lobby group UK Finance has resigned just weeks before his alleged sexist remarks about the financier Amanda Staveley are due to be revealed in the high court.Stephen Jones, a senior Barclays executive during the financial crisis who became the first chief executive of UK Finance in 2017, said he had also apologised to Staveley and the body’s staff about the comments, which were made as the bank scrambled to save itself from nationalisation in 2008. Continue reading...

Carlos Lehder Rivas ran Medellín cartel alongside Pablo Escobar that smuggled cocaine worth billions to the US in 1970s and 80sThe man who co-founded the notorious Colombian Medellín drug cartel alongside Pablo Escobar has been transferred to Germany from the United States, according to Spiegel Online.Carlos Lehder Rivas, who has both German and Colombian citizenship, was escorted to Germany by two US officials on a regular passenger flight from New York to Frankfurt and handed over to German authorities, the report said. Continue reading...

‘Covid summer food fund’ announced after pressure from footballer and campaigners

To stay coronavirus free, countries face unsustainable social and economic losses

A trillion-dollar tech giant can brush off fines but altering the way it operates is a different matterThe only certainty about the EU competition commission’s inquiry into Apple is that it will take years to complete, which is probably why the iPhone maker’s share price was gloriously untroubled. The other reason for the air of calm is that financial penalties from the EU – even when delivered in the billions, as they often are – can be brushed off as small change by big tech companies with trillion-dollar valuations.Related: Apple Pay and App Store face investigation over competition rules Continue reading...

Police say alleged assault on Chechen boy may have sparked reprisals in Grésilles areaThe French government has vowed to bring an end to violence in the usually placid eastern city of Dijon after it was hit by a fourth night of unrest allegedly linked to score-settling by members of the Chechen community.According to police, the incidents appear to have been sparked by an alleged assault this month on a 16-year-old Chechen boy, prompting reprisal raids. Continue reading...

Member of public seeks judicial review of Max Hill’s ‘inaction’ over alleged lockdown breachesA judicial review is being sought over the failure of the director of public prosecutions, Max Hill, to investigate Dominic Cummings for alleged breaches of the coronavirus lockdown rules.The complaint has been lodged on behalf of a member of the public, Martin Redston, who is concerned the DPP has shown insufficient independence from the government over the movements of Boris Johnson’s key adviser. Continue reading...

Real-time access to EU police databases has not yet been agreed in the negotiationsThe UK risks losing its real-time access to a watchlist of suspected terrorists if it does not strike a comprehensive Brexit deal on justice and security, peers have been told.The concerns of the policing consequences of a collapse in Brexit talks were raised by members of the Lords EU security and justice sub-committee during questioning of the Home Office minister James Brokenshire. Continue reading...

Crossbenchers fear bill will allow developer donations banned by states, as Labor says it’s negotiating with the governmentSenator Jacqui Lambie and the Greens have lashed out at a government bill reimposing weaker federal laws on donations, warning that it will allow developer donations banned in stricter state regimes.Lambie and the Greens democracy spokeswoman, Larissa Waters, have called for an inquiry to examine the bill, after Labor’s Don Farrell told caucus the opposition was negotiating with the government, sparking fears the bill could be waved through with opposition support. Continue reading...

The conviction of the veteran journalist is a frightening indication of the country’s direction under Rodrigo Duterte

The prime minister’s plane, also used by royalty, is getting a new paint job costing £100,000 plusThe RAF VIP plane used by Boris Johnson and senior members of the government to travel around the world is to have its grey livery repainted red white and blue in a makeover estimated to cost more than six figures.The Union Jack-inspired paint job for the Voyager aircraft comes two years after the prime minister complained about the dullness of its former colour. Continue reading...

Unicef, Save the Children and Christian Aid among organisations warning move will harm those most in need and reduce UK’s power overseasThe prime minister’s announcement on Tuesday that the Department for International Development (DfID) will be merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been met with widespread anger and disappointment among UK aid charities.Stephanie Draper, the CEO of Bond, a UK network for international development NGOs, said the announcement on Tuesday, during the coronavirus pandemic, couldn’t have come at a worse time. Continue reading...

If we really shouldn’t lie about our history, as the prime minister says, let’s finally open up about the atrocities of empire

Vienna force write on Twitter that ‘no one is reported for accidentally letting one go’A man in Vienna has been fined €500 (£447) for breaking wind loudly in front of police in a move the Austrian capital’s police force was at pains to defend.The Österreich newspaper reported that the penalty stemmed from an incident on 5 June and that the offender was fined for offending public decency. Continue reading...

Inside spaces reopened this week, but it’s the relaxed rules on outdoor terraces that bar and restaurant owners feel will create a quintessentially Parisian summer vibeOn a normal weekend, rue d’Aligre, near Place de la Bastille in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, is lined with raucous fruit and vegetable stalls and packed with shoppers and tourists heading for the historic Marché d’Aligre at its northern end. But now the stalls of the covered market are gone – they’ve moved to the open square in front of the food hall for easier social distancing – and the street’s bistro and bar owners are busy setting out tables and chairs on the pavement and in parking places.Until President Macron’s new announcement on 14 June of the opening up all of France from 15 June , Paris was classed as a zone orange, which meant restaurants and cafes could only serve customers outside. But Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has an election coming up on 28 June, delighted everyone except her rivals and motorist groups at the beginning of June by announcing a major relaxation of the rules on pavement terraces. And although cafes and restaurants can now reopen their inside spaces – albeit with reduced capacity due to social distancing regulations – Hidalgo has announced that the new terrace rules will last at least until the end of September. Continue reading...

Lawrence Cutajar allegedly interfered with investigation into death of journalist in 2017Malta’s police force has been ordered to open an inquiry into the country’s former police chief Lawrence Cutajar, following allegations that he interfered with the investigation into the 2017 murder of the prominent journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.The order to “formally” investigate him was made on Monday by a magistrate who is presiding over court proceedings in connection with the case. Continue reading...

Corona Warn App alerts users when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive

Boris Johnson announces huge shake-up, with merged ministry to be led by Dominic RaabBoris Johnson has announced a massive reshaping of Britain’s foreign policy priorities by merging the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office under the leadership of the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.“Distinctions between diplomacy and overseas development are artificial and outdated,” the prime minister claimed, as he announced the change to MPs. Continue reading...

Officers said their lives could be at risk if they were unable to use the technique for arrests

Photo of suspect issued to media in attempt to find gang that killed 28 people in 1980sBelgian detectives have appealed for information about the identity of a gun-wielding man in a fresh attempt to crack the case of the “Crazy Brabant Killers”, a gang that murdered 28 people, including children, in a series of raids and robberies in the 1980s.A photograph of an unknown male, sent anonymously in 1986 to officers investigating the notorious group, has been reissued to the media on the order of a judge in a renewed attempt to secure justice for the killers’ victims. Continue reading...

Decision taken despite United Nations finding coalition killed hundreds of children last yearThe UN has removed the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen’s war from an annual blacklist of parties violating children’s rights, despite the fact its own investigators found the coalition killed or injured hundreds of children last year.António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, said on Monday the coalition of Arab nations supporting Yemen’s exiled government would “be delisted for the violation of killing and maiming, following a sustained significant decrease in [casualties] due to airstrikes” and the implementation of measures aimed at protecting children. Continue reading...

Sculpture of Virgin Mary and child discovered 11-days ago by an angler looking for trout

MEP Nathalie Loiseau speaks out amid bafflement in Brussels over Boris Johnson’s ‘global Britain’ ambitionsThe UK will have weaker ties with the European Union on foreign and security policy, an ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said, amid bafflement in Brussels over Boris Johnson’s “global Britain” ambitions.Nathalie Loiseau, Macron’s former Europe minister, who now chairs the European parliament’s security and defence subcommittee, told the Guardian that EU-UK foreign policy cooperation would decline in key areas, including some intelligence-sharing, military operations and the Galileo satellite system. Continue reading...

Live rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as stocks rise strongly in Europe

North Korea has blown up a liaison office set up to improve communications with South Korea in a row over defectors’ plans to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the heavily armed border. North Korea appears to have acted on a warning by Kim Yo-jong, the increasingly influential sister of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, to destroy the 'useless' office.The office opened in September 2018 to facilitate inter-Korean cooperation after successful talks between Kim Jong-un and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

Politician was shot last year after defending country’s policy of allowing in refugeesThe trial opens in Germany on Tuesday of two far-right extremists accused of killing a regional politician whose death shocked the country last year.Walter Lübcke, a member of Angela Merkel’s party who led the regional administration in the Kassel area of central Germany, was shot on his porch on 2 June 2019, and died later that night. Continue reading...

Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin will lead an internal review into Victorian Labor. This blog is now closed

Class action lawyers raise prospect of misfeasance claim against ministersThe robodebt debacle’s financial cost looks set to grow after a judge suggested it was likely the federal government would have to pay interest on unlawful debts issued to hundreds of thousands welfare recipients over nearly five years.And in an escalation of the class action brought by Gordon Legal, lawyers for the firm raised the prospect of a misfeasance in public office claim that could force ministers to front court over the saga. Continue reading...

Photographer Henry J Kamara writes about his experience photographing the Black Lives Matter protest in London last weekend Continue reading...

As lockdowns linger and economies falter, girls who are out of school are at increased risk of being cut

How has the global coronavirus pandemic changed you, and what do you think life will be like on the other side? Find out how you compare to other Australians in this national survey Continue reading...

Panellists call for greater representation of Indigenous Australians and women in sport leadershipThe acting CEO of the NRL has said “the tide is turning” and codes need to support players who protest against racism on the field, while a Collingwood AFLW player called on AFL clubs to apologise to players like Adam Goodes and Héritier Lumumba.On Monday, a panel of Australia’s top sporting representatives said on the ABC’s Q+A program that Australian sport had a problem with racism and that sporting bodies needed to start taking action. Continue reading...