On Radio 4’s Today programme, the comedian justified decision to portray former South African president in blackfaceHarry Enfield has defended the use of blackface on television in an interview broadcast on Radio 4’s Today programme. In conversation with host Nick Robinson and fellow guest Ava Vidal, the comedian aimed to justify his decision to portray Nelson Mandela, describing it as “so wrong that it was right”.Enfield, known for playing characters including Loadsamoney and Kevin the Teenager on television, said he had also used makeup to play an Indian soldier in a BBC programme, a decision he also deemed appropriate. Continue reading...

One conservative coalition senator, Jim Molan, walks out rather than joining colleagues in preventing discussionAustralian senators have overwhelmingly united to block Pauline Hanson’s attempt to put forward an inflammatory “all lives matter” motion – with a notable exception.A conservative Coalition senator, Jim Molan, walked out of the Senate rather than joining his colleagues in preventing the discussion, insisting all senators should have had a right to air their views on the topic. Continue reading...

Singer says government decree preventing refunds for cancelled gigs is ‘insult to fans’

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

Leroy Logan was shocked by the racism he encountered in the Metropolitan police. Things improved after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry – but sometimes it feels as if the bad old days are backGrowing up, we didn’t feel as if the police were there to protect us. We were always fearful of the police; we couldn’t walk around in large groups because that would attract them, and we were often subject to the “sus” (“suspected person”) law.When I joined the force in 1983, it came as a total surprise to my parents. I knew people from my background would see me as a sellout for joining the organisation that made us feel unsafe. A lot of my friends were very hostile towards me, whether they’d had experience with the police or not. Continue reading...

Inquiry will look at range of issues including operation of state and federal laws affecting Indigenous cultural heritage. Follow updates

Scott Morrison says protesters should be ‘honest about our history’ but the truth about slavery in Australia is commonly misunderstoodScott Morrison asserted in a radio interview on Thursday morning that “there was no slavery in Australia”.This is a common misunderstanding which often obscures our nation’s history of exploitation of First Nations people and Pacific Islanders. Continue reading...

Author reveals experiences in essay after facing criticism over her comments on trans issuesJK Rowling has revealed her experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault for the first time, in a lengthy and highly personal essay written in response to criticism of her public comments on transgender issues.In a 3,600-word statement published on her website on Wednesday, Rowling described in more detail than ever how she became involved in an increasingly bitter and polarised debate around the concept of gender identity. Continue reading...

Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Damian Green among backbenchers calling for change, saying it is essential for the economy

Guardian Australia revealed the resources giant had permission from the Western Australian government to destroy the sites in the PilbaraBHP has said it will not damage 40 Aboriginal heritage sites which it received ministerial permission to destroy without “further extensive consultation” with traditional owners, after Guardian Australia revealed that traditional owners had been legally prevented from speaking publicly about the sites.It comes amid a mounting shareholder backlash against mining companies for their destruction of Aboriginal heritage, which began with Rio Tinto’s destruction of a 46,000-year-old heritage site at Juukan Gorge last month and has been compared by shareholder groups to widespread bad conduct in the financial services sector before the banking royal commission. Continue reading...

President announces rally in Tulsa, city with a history of deadly racial violence, even as Covid-19 cases continue to riseDonald Trump will hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday – his first since since states began shutting down in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 110,000 lives in the US.Related: Trump would 'not even consider' renaming bases with Confederate links Continue reading...

From protecting fishing communities to regrowing coral reefs, Guardian readers and environmentalists share how they’re working to defend the oceanSteve Trott, 58, projects manager at Watamu Marine Association Continue reading...

Russian-born photographer Maria Quigley grew up in Britain. For this project she returned to her grandmother’s small flat in St Petersburg to explore themes of memory, isolation and female identity across three generations of her familyThe images in this series address questions of claustrophobic spaces. They convey a sense of being locked down, however they were taken last year before the emergence of Covid-19. They were snapped inside my grandmother’s small flat in St Petersburg, which for many years she has hardly left. As long as I can remember my grandmother’s world has conveyed a sense of being locked down. She leaves the flat once a week to get groceries and a TV guide from the shop directly below her apartment. In the winter she doesn’t leave the flat for three months because it’s too cold and windy outside, or too slippery. Continue reading...

Campaigners fear damage to protected regions by companies exploiting their resourcesThe Greek government is facing growing opposition over a controversial environmental super-law passed when debate and public consultation were curtailed by lockdown measures imposed as a result of the pandemic.Resistance has intensified as part of a grassroots revolt over legislation that critics contend will irrevocably change the face of Greece. Continue reading...

The Black Lives Matter actions have given renewed impetus to the campaign against injustices in the Indonesian provinceStudent Eden Armando Bebari, 19, was allegedly shot and killed by Indonesian security forces while fishing in his home town in West Papua in April.Indonesian media described Bebari as a member of an armed criminal group, a claim denied by his parents. Many residents in Papua, the eastern-most province of Indonesia, now fish and tend crops to ease food shortages brought about by coronavirus lockdowns. Continue reading...

A second wave of coronavirus cases would be disastrous – but there are ways to prevent this happening

Hurling and Irish dancing are part of County Wexford’s cultural tradition. Photographer Luis Alberto Rodriguez got physical with the locals Continue reading...

Vast vessels spent almost 3,000 hours fishing in officially protected areas in 2019Supertrawlers spent almost 3,000 hours fishing in UK marine protected areas in 2019, making “a mockery of the word ‘protected’,” according to campaigners.Supertrawlers are those over 100 metres in length and can catch hundreds of tonnes of fish every day, using nets up to a mile long. A Greenpeace investigation revealed that the 25 supertrawlers included the four biggest in the world and fished in 39 different marine protected areas (MPAs). Continue reading...

Many have attempted to claim that ‘things are better here’ for black people than in the US. This ignores both Europe’s colonial past and its own racist present. By Gary YoungeIn September 1963, in Llansteffan, Wales, a stained-glass artist named John Petts was listening to the radio when he heard the news that four black girls had been murdered in a bombing while at Sunday school at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.The news moved Petts, who was white and British, deeply. “Naturally, as a father, I was horrified by the death of the children,” said Petts, in a recording archived by London’s Imperial War Museum. “As a craftsman in a meticulous craft, I was horrified by the smashing of all those [stained-glass] windows. And I thought to myself, my word, what can we do about this?” Continue reading...

Popular tourist region in south already affected by coronavirus downturn is battered by downpours sparking mudslidesFloods and mudslides in south China have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and left dozens dead or missing, according to state media.The bad weather has wreaked havoc on popular tourist areas that had already suffered through months of travel restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading...

Company says due to brewer’s yeast being in short supply, production of the spread has been affectedMarmite can only produce small jars due to the coronavirus pandemic, a company tweet has suggested.The spread, made with yeast extract, is now only being produced in a 250g size jar as a result of brewers’ yeast being more difficult to get hold of, a message sent on the company’s official account said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Industry observers question the viability of the Barangaroo project relying solely on foreign high-rollersThe Chinese government directive urging its citizens not to travel to Australia threatens to render a still under construction $2.2bn casino complex on Sydney harbour a “white elephant”, according to industry experts who say the project can no longer rely on income from high-roller gamblers from China who were central to its business model.Gambling academics and city planners have all expressed concern over the future of Crown’s Sydney casino at Barangaroo as a result of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s warning to Chinese residents “to enhance their safety awareness and do not travel to Australia” issued last week, citing a spike in racism during the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Child will reportedly have a record until 2032 after asking in shop if he could use fake eurosSwiss police have investigated an eight-year-old boy after he allegedly asked whether he could use a toy banknote in a village shop.The fake euro note was Chinese joss paper “spirit money” – used as symbolic burnt offerings at funerals to ensure the dead have a happy afterlife, according to the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) newspaper. Continue reading...

Asylum applications in Europe fall to lowest level for a decade as borders closed; world faces worst food crisis in 50 years. This blog is now closed

Many Pacific nations are Covid-free but have been devastated by the economic impacts of the virus

Call comes after China warned students to reconsider going to Australia because of ‘incidents of discrimination’ targeting people of Asian descentAustralian politicians must unite against racism after Chinese-Australians were subjected to “awful and shocking” abuse during the pandemic, the shadow minister for multicultural affairs has told parliament.Andrew Giles, a Victorian Labor MP, warned that the rise in racist incidents was a threat to social cohesion and demanded “an unambiguous response” from everyone in positions of leadership, which should include a new national strategy to tackle the problem. Continue reading...

Thursday: Mining giant plans to destroy up to 86 significant Aboriginal sites. Plus, could streaming save the Australian film industry?Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 11 June. Continue reading...

Russia and China have been accused by Brussels of running disinformation campaigns inside the European Union, as the bloc set out a plan to tackle an 'infodemic' of false facts about the coronavirus. While the charge against Russia has been levelled on many occasions, this is the first time the European commission has publicly named China as a source of disinformation

Former scientific adviser to No 10 says earlier restrictions could have halved death toll

Tommy Robinson among supporters of ‘defend our memorials’ eventBusloads of far-right demonstrators are feared to be planning to travel hundreds of miles to “defend” memorials at the weekend, campaigners have said.There are concerns that hundreds are mobilising to attend a “patriotic unity” event at Winston Churchill’s statue in Westminster on Saturday morning, in response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Continue reading...

Figures show huge divergence in figures for different parts of the country

‘Refined’ 2cm carving found in Henan dates to palaeolithic period up to 13,000 years agoA tiny figurine of a bird, carved from burnt bone and no bigger than a £1 coin, is the earliest Chinese artwork ever discovered, according to an international team of archaeologists.The carving, less than 2cm in length, has been dated to the palaeolithic period, between 13,800 and 13,000 years ago, which pushes back the earliest known date of east Asian animal sculpture by more than eight millennia. Continue reading...

With nods to telenovelas and Persepolis, this animation, a film of Power Paola’s vivid graphic novel memoir of growing up in South America, is truly beautiful

Search of house uncovers work, stolen from venue where 90 people were killed in terrorist attackA stolen mural created by the British street artist Banksy on a door of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where terrorists killed 90 people in 2015, has been recovered in Abruzzo, Italy, prosecutors said on Wednesday.The work, thought to have been created as a tribute to the victims of the Bataclan terrorist attack, is one of a series of murals painted in the French capital attributed to Banksy. It shows a veiled and mournful female figure. Continue reading...

The head of the Royal College of Nursing on why the health service is failing people of colour – both patients and its workforceAfter university, I signed up for Marks & Spencer’s management trainee scheme. When I was pregnant with my first child, I went to see a nurse. I said to her: “I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, you know.” She said: “I don’t see any reason why you can’t be.”I started my training in 1983 at the Royal London hospital when my son was six months old. My sister had applied to do nursing at that same hospital a year before me – she was the first black nurse at the hospital. When she went for her interview, they tried to persuade her to train as a state-enrolled nurse, which is a lower grade than a registered general nurse. Continue reading...

Murder inquiry launched after bodies of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry discovered in Wembley

Brussels shifts position by accusing Beijing for first time of running false campaigns

Government senator supports motion for investigation, while three new cases of Covid-19 were all from overseas travellers and Queensland court calls bid to access border closure documents ‘a fishing expedition’. This blog is now closed

Pop star urges fans to vote for candidates committed to fighting police brutality, and shares Barack Obama essayTaylor Swift has accused local and state governments in the US of harbouring institutional racism, and has called on her fans to elect candidates committed to fighting police brutality.The pop star told her 86 million Twitter followers: “Racial injustice has been ingrained deeply into local and state governments, and changes MUST be made there. In order for policies to change, we need to elect people who will fight against police brutality and racism of any kind. #BlackLivesMatter.” Continue reading...

How far can you drive and what are the travel restrictions in NSW, Queensland and Victoria? How many people can you have over at your house in Tasmania, ACT, SA, WA or NT? Untangle Australia’s Covid-19 laws and guidelines with our guide

WHO expert backtracks after saying asymptomatic transmission ‘very rare’. This blog is now closed

Wednesday: Legal experts urge new investigation into high-profile Indigenous deaths. Plus, stars say music needs a rescue packageGood morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 10 June. Continue reading...

But Moscow warns against insisting on including China in New Start negotiations

A statue of 18th-century slave owner Robert Milligan has been removed from its place in London’s docklands. The Canal and River Trust earlier said it was working with local authorities and a local museum to organise its safe removal.

Ali Kushayb, wanted for human rights abuses and war crimes, faces trial in The HagueOne of the most notorious Sudanese militia leaders in the brutal conflict in Darfur has been arrested in the Central African Republic and handed over to the International criminal court.Ali Kushayb, who had been on the run for 13 years, surrendered to authorities in a remote corner of northern CAR near the country’s border with Sudan, said a spokesman for the ICC. Continue reading...

Ashbourne sculpture will be given ‘lick of black paint’ and put back, its defenders sayA bust of a black man with exaggerated features that was about to be removed from a Derbyshire town by the local council has instead been seized and taken to a “secret location” by residents for a “lick of black paint”.The wooden sculpture, which was positioned on an arch in the centre of Ashbourne, has been condemned by campaigners as a racist caricature. After the toppling of a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol on Sunday, a petition for the removal of the Ashbourne figure reached 42,000 signatures. Continue reading...

Research finds rise in hospital car park usage and web searches for ‘diarrhoea’ and ‘cough’

Aerospace rescue package calls for investment in electric and hydrogen planes