Dozens of domestically transmitted cases at city’s largest wholesale food market prompt move

Patients forced to buy pills online or go overseas for terminationsWomen seeking abortions in Northern Ireland are still struggling to access services. Although abortion was legalised more than two months ago, claims persist that healthcare professionals are refusing to treat patients.A leading reproductive rights group and a doctors’ organisation say that GPs are refusing to refer pregnant women to hospital services so they can access the tablets needed to undergo a medical abortion. They are also aware of midwives and nurses refusing to care for patients before and after the procedure. Continue reading...

Protests are planned after the death of 16-year-old US-born Alexander Martínez Gómez, killed by police as he rode his motorbikeSobbing down the telephone line from her home in rural Oaxaca state, Virginia Gómez remembered her 16-year-old son Alexander as a healthy youngster, who didn’t smoke, didn’t drink – and dreamed of playing football for Mexico.Related: Mexico: US teenager shot dead by police in Oaxaca Continue reading...

Eight great British artists on graduating, and their advice for the Class of 2020I joined in 1953, after my national service. I’d applied to study graphic design, but was accepted as a painter – I had sent them a portrait I did of my sister. So I studied painting but knew about graphic design, which accounts for a lot. I was so grateful to be there, and used it well. Continue reading...

Fears grow of further atrocities in areas controlled by Khalifa Haftar forces

Founder Shintaro Tsuji, 92, steps down and hands control of struggling firm to grandsonThe founder of the firm behind Hello Kitty is stepping down at the age of 92 and handing the reins to his grandson, the first change in leadership in the company’s six-decade history.Tokyo-based Sanrio, which created the ubiquitous character in 1974, announced on Friday that Shintaro Tsuji would retire as president and pass control of the company to its senior managing director, Tomokuni Tsuji. Continue reading...

Families of 72 victims of tower block blaze will mark third anniversary of blaze this weekend

The industry has been taken apart at the seams. Is this the end of lavish shows and packed front rows?

Marvin Rees on the slave trader, institutional racism and his mixed heritage experience

As lockdown eases, authors including Anne Enright, Mark Haddon and Sebastian Barry reflect on what they have learned – and what comes next Continue reading...

Campaigners say tunnel will be environmentally destructive and cripplingly expensiveOpponents of a new four-lane tunnel under the River Thames are making a last-ditch attempt to halt the £1.2bn scheme, which they say will be environmentally destructive and cripplingly expensive.Campaigners are to write to the oversight committee at the Greater London Authority asking it to urgently review the proposal. Continue reading...

The designer answers questions on personal style, the Spice Girls and fashion after corona, put by Class of 2020 fashion graduatesVictoria Beckham has an office in her Cotswolds house, where she spent lockdown, but when she answers the phone, that’s not where she is. “Um, no, Harper’s taken over my office. She’s trying to do all her schoolwork and, well, she’s kind of decided that’s her space now. So I’m downstairs… we’re all dotted around the house, me and David and the boys, trying to work, trying to get schoolwork done. There’s often someone holding a laptop up to a window, trying to get reception.” Whoever you are, 2020 has had its challenges.As a patron of Graduate fashion week, Beckham is on the line to answer questions sent in by fashion students from all over the country. “To be honest, I feel like I have so many more questions than I do answers, right now – like everyone else,” she says. Still, she is optimistic that this strangest of final terms will prove a valuable learning experience. “The generation coming into adulthood now will have experienced something that none of the rest of us have. I feel like this has taught all of us a lot about how to work together as teams, both in our home lives and professionally. This crisis will have expanded the horizons of all of us, in a way.” Continue reading...

Committee set up to investigate deaths of young men allegedly chased into river as a result of ‘caste-based discrimination’The Nepalese government has established an independent high-level committee to investigate the killings of six young men, including four Dalits, whose deaths drew condemnation from the UN human rights chief.Friends Nabaraj BK, 20, Sanju BK, 21, Lokendra Sunar, 18, Tikaram Sunar, 20, Govinda Shahi, 17, and Ganesh Budha, 17, died on 23 May, after a dispute with a family. Continue reading...

The £1.5bn case of the high-flying businesswoman began its high court hearing this weekIt is June 2008 and the start of the financial crisis. Everyone in the City of London is firefighting, but two bankers are wrestling with an especially thorny problem.They are within touching distance of saving their bank from oblivion, yet a single sticking point remains: how do they accept the rescue deal on offer from the Gulf state of Qatar, while simultaneously keeping themselves out of prison? Continue reading...

The man was handed the death penalty by Guangzhou intermediate people’s courtAn Australian national has been sentenced to death by a Chinese court for drug trafficking, a verdict that could further inflame tensions between Beijing and Canberra.Already troubled relations worsened recently after China reacted furiously to Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Rallies and protests present infection risk; Brazilian city to exhume bodies to free up more space; fresh domestic cases cause alarm in Beijing

Video taken on Pitt Street, near Sydney’s town hall, showed officer making the sign while crossing street with other policeAttendees of Friday night’s Black Lives Matter protests in Sydney say they were left terrified after an officer appeared to flash a hand symbol associated with the white power movement.Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in the Sydney CBD to draw attention to Australia’s record on Indigenous deaths in custody. Continue reading...

Visitors may find echoes of early 1940s Europe in present-day fears and uncertaintiesEighty years ago, on 13 June 1940, the last of the 2 million Parisians – nearly three-quarters of the city’s population – to flee the fast-advancing German army were scrambling frantically to leave the capital.Amid chaos and confusion, by train, in cars piled high with belongings, by bike and on foot, pushing prams and pulling handcarts, clutching suitcases and small children, they joined a throng of 8 million displaced people heading south. Continue reading...

Riot police send snatch squads to detain demonstrators throughout night after declaring gatherings illegalThousands of Hongkongers have sung a popular protest anthem and chanted slogans across the city as they marked the first anniversary of major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators.Riot police declared Friday’s gatherings unlawful assemblies and a breach of anti-coronavirus bans on public meetings of large groups, sending snatch squads to make multiple arrests throughout the evening. Continue reading...

Pastor plans a drive-in worship event next in protest at limits on church services as bars and shops open

PM has ‘serious questions’ about what happened while Indigenous leader’s lawyer files police dashboard video in courtThe prime minister, Justin Trudeau, says newly released video showing a forceful arrest of a Canadian Indigenous leader is “shocking” and raises serious questions.Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation alleged last week that Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) beat him in March during an incident involving an expired licence plate. Continue reading...

Western Australia’s ‘archaic’ heritage laws are in the spotlight as global outrage grows over the destruction of Aboriginal sitesCalls are growing for an immediate halt to mining operations in the Pilbara that have been approved under Western Australia’s “archaic” Aboriginal heritage laws and the Senate will hold an urgent inquiry, as international outrage from investors pushes big mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP into damage control.On Thursday, Guardian Australia revealed that BHP Billiton was poised to destroy at least 40 significant Aboriginal sites in the central Pilbara to expand its A$4.5bn South Flank iron-ore mine, even though it was aware the traditional owners are deeply opposed to the move. Continue reading...

Singer criticizes Tennessee lawmakers for allowing statues of ‘historical figures who did evil things’ in the state’s capitolTaylor Swift is calling on Tennessee lawmakers to remove racist monuments, arguing “villains don’t deserve statues”.“As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things,” tweeted Swift, who owns a home in Nashville. “Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.” Continue reading...

Scathing report accuses airline of ‘calculated attempt to take advantage of the pandemic’MPs have labelled British Airways “a national disgrace” for trying to slash its staff terms and conditions during the coronavirus crisis.In a scathing report, the Commons transport select committee accused BA of making “a calculated attempt to take advantage of the pandemic” through moves that could lead to up to 12,000 staff being laid off and the remaining 30,000 put on inferior contracts. Continue reading...

Country records 41,828 fatalities; Deaths in Delhi could be twice as high as reported; German health minister warns nation against ‘carefree’ attitude

Tally published by coalition of news outlets compiling stats since Brazil’s health ministry was accused of seeking to conceal figuresBrazil has overtaken Britain as the country with the world’s second-highest Covid-19 death toll after a further 843 deaths pushed its total to 41,901.The tally was published on Friday night by a coalition of news outlets which has been compiling independent statistics since Brazil’s health ministry was accused of seeking to conceal the full figures last week. Continue reading...

Witnesses restrain alleged attacker after stabbing of 50-year-old Alter Yaakov SchlesingerA man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the stabbing of a rabbi near a bank in north London.The victim, who was attacked in the street shortly before 11am on Friday, was taken to a major trauma centre. Continue reading...

Horse owners say theft is becoming an increasingly common crime in nation where many are going hungryIn his prime, the coffee-hued Venezuelan racehorse known as Ocean Bay thundered down tracks and snatched up the nation’s most prestigious titles.His end this week has outraged many: the stallion was stolen and butchered in what horse owners say it becoming an increasingly common crime in a nation where many are going hungry amid a severe economic contraction. Continue reading...

As the prime minister says, when it comes to coronavirus advice, consistency is important

Marches held on streets of Sweida amid soaring food prices and disillusion with corruptionA town in regime-controlled Syria is set for fresh protests this weekend as a burgeoning economic crisis engulfing even Bashar al-Assad’s most loyal supporters is now posing the biggest challenge to his grip on the country in years.Food is now more expensive than at any other time during the nine-year conflict, triggering scenes reminiscent of the Arab spring protests of 2011 on the streets of the nominally government-loyal town of Sweida this week. Continue reading...

Ban on air travel between Britain and Greece to continue until June 30, unlike other countries

President of Burundi whose 15-year rule was ultimately marked by violence and repressionPierre Nkurunziza, who has died unexpectedly aged 55, was the outgoing president of Burundi whose 15-year-rule, particularly towards the end, was marked by brutal repression.In 2015, Nkurunziza’s decision to run for an unconstitutional third term led to an outbreak of protests and violence that spread across the country. He responded with brutal violence. Over the next two years, his youth-led militia group, known as the Imbonerakure, as well as various state security forces, killed more than 1,200 Burundians in an attempt to quash street protests. Four hundred thousand more fled the country. A born-again Christian, Nkurunziza spent much of that time organising prayer meetings. Continue reading...

As No 10 hopes to divide Labour on statues and TV archives, its leader has made practical demands on race inequalityBoris Johnson appeared to have had his say about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests earlier this week, telling the nation in a carefully phrased article for the black newspaper the Voice: “I hear you.”Yet on Friday morning, he dramatically returned to the fray, tweeting that taking down controversial statues was to “lie about our history” and warning would-be protesters: “The only responsible course of action is to stay away.” Continue reading...

Interview with author’s first husband unacceptable, says abuse commissionerThe government’s lead adviser on domestic abuse has written to the editor of the Sun to condemn the newspaper’s decision to publish a front page interview with JK Rowling’s first husband, under the headline: “I slapped JK and I’m not sorry.”In the letter seen by the Guardian, Nicole Jacobs, the independent domestic abuse commissioner, said it was “unacceptable that the Sun has chosen to repeat and magnify the voice of someone who openly admits to violence against a partner”. Continue reading...

Irish haulier Ronan Hughes faces 39 charges of manslaughter over smuggled Vietnamese nationalsThe Irish alleged ringleader of a trafficking gang that transported a refrigerated truck in which 39 migrants died is to be extradited to Britain.A high court in Dublin on Friday ordered the extradition of Ronan Hughes, 40, to face 39 charges of manslaughter and a charge of assisting unlawful immigration. Continue reading...

Watchdog fears that social media giant’s takeover of Giphy may reduce competitionThe UK’s competition regulator has opened an investigation into the proposed $400m (£320m) takeover of gif search engine Giphy by Facebook amid fears that the acquisition may reduce competition in the UK.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is inviting comments about Facebook’s purchase of a company that currently provides gif search across many of the social network’s competitors, including Twitter and the messaging service Signal. Continue reading...

Teenager pleads guilty to two charges of assault; three men to face court laterA 13-year-old boy has admitted kicking and shouting abuse at two police officers during an alleged group attack in east London.Footage of the incident on Frampton Park Road in Hackney on Wednesday was widely shared on social media. It appeared to show an officer pinned down on the ground and being kicked while his female colleague is pushed as she tries to intervene. Police said the two officers suffered minor injuries. Continue reading...

Andrzej Duda launches ‘family charter’ to appeal to base as race tightens in run-up to electionGay rights and homophobia are likely to be major issues in Poland’s delayed presidential election after the frontrunner pledged to “defend children from LGBT ideology”.Andrzej Duda, the incumbent president, who is allied with the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, made the pledge while launching a so-called “family charter”, in what appears to be a move to energise the party’s conservative base as polls showed his lead narrowing. Continue reading...

We would like to hear from people in Aberdeen, especially if you work in the energy sectorWe would like to find out about the impact of coronavirus on you and your community.We would like to hear from people in Aberdeen about how you have been affected by the pandemic, particularly if your work is connected to the oil, gas or renewable energy sectors. Continue reading...

Three-phased plan for Brexit border checks welcomed as UK formally rejects extension to transition periodFull border controls on goods entering the UK will not apply until July next year the government has announced, as it formally notified the EU it does not want an extension to the transition period.The announcement of a three-phased plan for Brexit border checks was welcomed by industry leaders but represents the most dramatic change to international trading since 1993 when the single market was introduced. Continue reading...

Pregnant woman turned away from eight hospitals as pandemic pushes healthcare to brink of collapse

Amnesty records 200 state killings and forced disappearances in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, state members of internationally-backed G5 groupHundreds of civilians have been killed by their own governments in Africa’s Sahel region since countries pledged a surge against militant groups at a regional meeting held by France in January.Amnesty International said on Wednesday that it had documented 200 cases of unlawful state killings and forced disappearances in February and March in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which are members of the internationally backed G5 force set up to fight militants in the Sahel. Continue reading...

It was the reality show that changed British TV for ever. As its ‘greatest hits’ return to our screens, five contestants reflect on the highs and lows of life in and out of the Big Brother houseOn 18 July 2000, 10 people entered a custom-built studio in a lot in east London. They were taking part in what was being billed as a unique “social experiment”: the opportunity to watch ordinary people on our screens, day-in, day-out.No one could have known then the influence Big Brother would have on our viewing habits, or how it would birth the genre of reality TV in the UK. At the time, it was just another gameshow. But over the next 19 series – and 22 celebrity spin-off series – it redefined the nature of entertainment and modern celebrity. Thanks in part to the concomitant rise of tabloid magazines including Closer and Heat, with their endless appetite for celebrity gossip, the housemates, who entered the Big Brother house as nobodies, left as stars. In its heyday, Big Brother was a ratings goliath: the season three finale reached 10 million viewers. Housemates such as the late Jade Goody became cultural icons, while the likes of Alison Hammond and Brian Dowling became broadcasting mainstays in their own right. Continue reading...

Director Saul Dibb and producer Karen Lewis on their new BBC One drama The Salisbury Poisonings

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

Chief Allan Adam of Fort Chipewyan First Nation alleges police assaulted him in parking lot in March

Detectives believe killer may have been injured during attack on Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry

Since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a huge uproar of protests against racism and police brutality has swept through more than 750 cities and towns all across America. Four black photographers write about their experiences covering the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and what the protests mean to them Continue reading...

Campaigners frustrated that it took an African American man’s death to bring their own plight into focusAustralia’s prime minister took his time before weighing in on the country’s Black Lives Matter movement. Five days after tens of thousands of people joined protests over Indigenous deaths in custody, Scott Morrison spoke out on Thursday, wondering aloud on a right-leaning radio station whether something that had started with a “fair point” had lost its way.“I think we’ve also got to respect our history as well,” he said. “And this is not a licence for people to just go nuts on this stuff.” Continue reading...