Australians need to work together, under the clear direction of our government. But are we, and it, up to the challenge?Images of pitched battles for toilet paper may seem to contrast with the volunteerism that characterised our collective response to the summer bushfires but there is a common thread that threatens to define Scott Morrison’s Australia.Having witnessed a decade when government has failed to live up to our expectations, from rolling elected leaders willy-nilly to shirking the action required to address climate change to spraying public moneys for political ends, our faith in public institutions is at an historic ebb. Continue reading...

A day after thousands protested against the murder of women and girls, López Obrador said he would ‘reinforce the same strategy’A day after Mexico’s women collectively shut down the country in an eruption of fury over gender violence, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has insisted that he will not try a new strategy to stop femicides.Thousands of women went on strike on Monday, in a historic protest against the murder of women and girls – and the failure of successive governments’ efforts to stop a crisis in which around 10 women are murdered every day. Continue reading...

Hashem Abedi chooses not to testify over allegedly helping brother plan attack

Stringent testing continues in prefecture to counter reputational damage from triple disasterKnives are wielded in silence as chunks of meat are sliced up and placed in containers, the reputation of an entire region resting on every step of the process being completed without a hitch.Staff at the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Centre are dissecting samples of beef neck; on other days it could be batches of cucumbers and peaches, or fish from the nearby Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...

The truth about how easy it is to catch coronavirus, who is most vulnerable and what you can do to avoid infection

Landmark legal action against world’s biggest tech companies lead to death threats, says activist Auguste MutomboA Congolese human rights activist has said he was forced to flee the country with his family after being linked to a lawsuit accusing the world’s largest tech companies of being complicit in the deaths of children in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).In December, the Guardian revealed that a group of families from DRC were launching landmark legal action against Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft and Dell. They claim they aided and abetted the deaths and injuries of their children, who were working in mines that they say were linked to the tech companies. Continue reading...

Leader’s arrival at the centre of the epidemic signals that Beijing believes the tide has turned in its fight against Covid-19

King’s brother and former crown prince accused of trying to sideline Mohammed bin SalmanThe dramatic arrests of two leading Saudi royals followed discussions between the two men about using a procedural body, led by one of them, to block the accession to the throne of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, if the current monarch dies or becomes incapacitated.Three sources have confirmed to the Guardian that the arrests of Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, the sole remaining full brother of King Salman, and the former crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, on Friday were ordered after details of alleged conversations were passed to the royal court. Continue reading...

The guidelines of government’s Stronger Communities scheme say MPs and applicants must avoid conflicts of interestTens of thousands of dollars in grant money was handed to a gun club and a church with links to federal government MPs.The Stronger Communities grant scheme awarded more than $40,000 total to the Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club and the Clovercrest Baptist Church, which have links to Liberals. Continue reading...

Despite public offer to help with investigation Andrew has ‘completely shut the door’, and New York attorney general is now considering other optionsPrince Andrew has “completely shut the door” on cooperating with US investigators in the Jeffrey Epstein case and they are now “considering” further options, a New York prosecutor said on Monday.Andrew was a friend of Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender whose death in custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York last year was ruled a suicide. Continue reading...

Teenagers are due to go on trial at Old Bailey on Tuesday for murder of officer in BerkshireTwo teenagers due to go on trial for the murder of PC Andrew Harper have admitted conspiracy to steal a quad bike.The pair, who are both 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Monday to plotting to steal the bike. Continue reading...

Raids were in connection with campaign calling for border closures over coronavirusHong Kong authorities say they have seized “significant quantities of homemade explosives” and arrested more than a dozen people in raids across the city.Separately, police were accused of overzealous responses at two protests on Sunday, arresting multiple people and pepper-spraying journalists. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police say no terror link to deadly incident where suspect was shot with Taser and firearmA man has been shot dead by police in Westminster after an incident that was not being treated as terror-related.Officers from the Metropolitan police remained overnight at the scene of the incident which occurred at around 11.30pm on Sunday. Road closures were put in place. Continue reading...

Education and business leaders point to lost income for country and opportunities for studentsQuitting the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme would “blow a hole” in the UK’s economy, taking away income of £243m a year and depriving 17,000 British young people of valuable work experience, according to a group of education and business leaders.The group – including further education colleges and universities – is calling for the British government to make clear that continued Erasmus membership is a high priority in its talks with the EU. Continue reading...

Amani Ballour, whose work in a Damascus hospital is the focus of Oscar-nominated The Cave, tells why she is pleading for more aidThere are many harrowing stories Amani Ballour can recount from her six years running a secret underground hospital during a bombardment and siege in Syria. But it’s the children the doctor remembers most.“There was a boy, about nine years old, brought in by his parents with terrible injuries. Part of his head was missing and he was bleeding from his ears,” she said. Continue reading...

The men, aged 72 and 73, were detained on Friday night on suspicion of murderTwo men in their 70s have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found dead at her home in Bolton.The men, aged 72 and 73, were detained after the woman’s death on Friday night, Greater Manchester police said. Continue reading...

The TV comic turned maverick Ukrainian leader on Putin, power and Trump’s impeachmentWhat’s the difference between playing a president on screen and being one in real life? Not much, according to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the man who’s done both.“It’s very similar,” he says, his compact frame engulfed by a green leather armchair in his opulent presidential office. Then he changes his mind: in fact, the real job lasts a whole five years, and comes with far greater challenges than can fit into one season of a television show. “It’s true there are more problems. They are catastrophic. They appear, I’m sorry to say, like pimples on an 18-year-old kid. You don’t know where they will pop up, or when.” The 42-year-old speaks in his native Russian, his expressive face switching from boyish amusement to tortured concern in a flash. Continue reading...

Sheikh Mohammed | Customs checks | Passports | Misheard hymnsIt is hard to understand how the Foreign Office could justify a failure to hand over files about possible abductions by the sheikh when the fate of Princess Latifa is unknown and she may yet be alive and at risk (Report, 6 March). Might the monarch assist by inviting the sheikh and Princess Latifa to Royal Ascot? His presence in the country, and his explanation for her absence, might serve the rule of law better than the FCO has done.

Lack of information has left thousands of expats confused about status, study showsBritons living in Spain are confused and fearful about their post-Brexit futures “to a quite shocking extent”, according to the author of a study, with poor support and communication from British and Spanish authorities mainly to blame.Despite the withdrawal agreement securing the basic rights of UK citizens legally resident on the continent, Karen O’Reilly, a sociology professor at Loughborough University, said her research revealed “enormous levels of uncertainty and worry”. Continue reading...

As Turkey-Russia ceasefire is agreed, Ankara says it acted after two of its troops were killed by Syrian government forces in IdlibThe Turkish military has killed 21 Syrian troops after two Turkish soldiers were killed in Idlib earlier, the state news agency reported on Friday, citing the Turkish defence ministry.On Thursday, two soldiers were killed and three others were wounded after Syrian government forces opened fire in the north-western Syrian town of Idlib, the Turkish defence ministry said. Continue reading...

Office for National Statistics says income growth has stalled as result of improved labour marketThe poorest fifth of the British population have suffered a 7% fall in their disposable household incomes over the past two years, leaving them no better off than they were in 2004-05, according to official figures.The Office for National Statistics said this fall compared with an increase in median disposable household incomes of 0.4% a year over the last two years to £29,600. This weak growth rate follows relatively strong growth of 3% a year between 2012-13 and 2016-17. Continue reading...

Ruling backs Princess Haya’s claim that husband Sheikh Mohammed intimidated herCan Sheikh Mohammed’s reputation survive?The ruler of Dubai orchestrated the abductions of two of his children – one from the streets of Cambridge – and subjected his youngest wife to a campaign of “intimidation”, a damning UK family court judgment has found.In findings that risk destabilising diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, a close Gulf ally of Britain, the actions of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum were described by the judge as behaviour which, on the balance of probabilities, amounted to potentially breaking UK and international law.

The Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, on sharing challenges, ideas and hope

Lawyer for Clara Ponsatí says case is in ‘stalemate’ until issue of immunity in Spain is settledA court has suspended the extradition case against Clara Ponsatí, a Catalan economist living in Scotland, because she has immunity from prosecution after becoming an MEP.The Spanish courts issued extradition proceedings against Ponsatí, a professor at St Andrew’s University, for alleged sedition because she was an education minister when Catalonia’s government held an unlawful independence referendum in 2017. Continue reading...

Hundreds of refugees and migrants were queuing and camping near the Turkish-Greek border on Thursday. This footage was shot from a Turkish government helicopter while the interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, was inspecting the region. Last week Turkey announced it would no longer abide by a 2016 deal with the EU to reduce illegal migration

A fight broke out in Turkey’s parliament on Wednesday during tense discussions over the country’s military involvement in north-west Syria. The clash started when Engin Özkoç of the opposition Republican People’s party took the rostrum. During a news conference shortly before, Özkoç had called President Erdoğan ‘dishonourable, ignoble, low and treacherous’ and accused him of irresponsibility for sending troops into a conflict without air cover

Boycotts follow plans for demonstration against Brazil’s Democratic institutions, which have been backed by businessesBrazilians appalled by Jair Bolsonaro’s bigotry and authoritarianism are calling for boycotts of major companies whose founders or owners support the far-right president.Bolsonaro has often attacked LBGT people, indigenous people, and journalists, and expressed admiration for military dictatorship, but the immediate trigger for the boycotts was a planned demonstration against the country’s Democratic institutions, which has been backed by some business leaders – and the president himself. Continue reading...

Turkey was once on course to join the EU. The desperate refugees trapped on its border reflect a broken relationshipTo understand Europe, we need to look more carefully at its borders. Too often, the debates on the future of Europe focus on a few leading nations and overlook the periphery. Yet the fate of the continent is deeply and inevitably connected with what’s happening along its fringes. And there is no bordering country that has as complex and confusing a relationship with Europe as Turkey – it was, after all, the Ottoman empire that was first referred to as “the sick man of Europe”.Related: Migration: EU praises Greece as 'shield' after Turkey opens border Continue reading...

Thursday: Billionaire withdraws from Democratic race as Joe Biden surges. Plus, critics say wire agency closure restricts media competitionGood morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 5 March. Continue reading...

Thousands of refugees – my family included – fled the communist takeover by sea and ended up in the UK. A Very British History explains their trauma and triumph‘If we’re all going to die, it’s better we all go down together,” insisted my grandad to his wife and eight children, before embarking on a journey that would plunge them all into a paralysing unknown.In 1979, my family were forced from their home in Saigon, which had fallen to the North Vietnamese communists and been renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Their land, business and money were seized. “We were literally thrown out into the street,” my uncle says. Facing persecution and incarceration in one of the severe “re-education” camps, they decided to join the many thousands of “boat people” – Vietnamese refugees who fled from communism by sea. Continue reading...

Angus Campbell says he spoke to Scott Morrison after video used images of ADF personnel without permissionThe chief of the defence force has said he was “discomfited” by Scott Morrison’s use of images of defence force personnel in a video about the government’s bushfire response and raised it personally with the prime minister.Defence department officials told Senate estimates on Wednesday that permission was neither sought nor given to use images of defence personnel, which Angus Campbell said he raised personally with Morrison within hours of learning of the controversy. Continue reading...

Government says ‘cleaner’ fuel will help cut carbon dioxide emissions before electric cars become the normThe government is set to introduce E10 fuel containing 10% ethanol as a new form of “cleaner” petrol aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions.Grant Shapps, the transport secretary said the government was consulting on plans to make it the standard grade at British filling stations from 2021. Continue reading...

Kim Yo-jong likens South Korea to ‘frightened dog barking’ after Seoul protested against Pyongyang’s live-fire military frillThe sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has condemned South Korea as a “frightened dog barking” after Seoul protested against a live-fire military exercise by the North.Kim Yo-jong’s comments – her first known official statement – came after Seoul’s security ministers expressed “strong concern” over Pyongyang’s firing of two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday – its first weapons test for more than three months. Continue reading...

Watchdog says country may also be storing material at three undeclared sitesIran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers and is refusing to answer questions about three possible undeclared nuclear sites, the UN atomic watchdog agency has said.The International Atomic Energy Agency made the statement in a confidential report distributed to member countries that was seen by the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Inquiry told he had ‘no knowledge’ of rapid fire spread and did not know panels were combustibleThe architect of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment has admitted he did not read building regulations aimed at preventing cladding fires and had no idea that panels used to insulate buildings could be combustible.Bruce Sounes, the project architect on the council block where 72 people died in June 2017, told the public inquiry into the disaster that he did not know that aluminium panels could melt and spread flames and had no idea cladding had previously caught fire on buildings in the UK and Dubai, including at Lakanal House in Southwark in 2009, where six people died. Continue reading...

The truth about the protective value of face masks and how easy it is to catch Covid-19

Dozen member states hope letter will focus minds before Glasgow UN talks this yearA dozen countries have called for an EU climate target for 2030 to be drawn up “as soon as possible”, if the bloc is to galvanise the rest of the world before vital UN talks in Glasgow later this year.In a letter to the EU’s top official on climate action, Frans Timmermans, the dozen EU member states say “the EU can lead by example and contribute to creating the international momentum needed for all parties to scale up their ambition” by adopting a 2030 EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction target “as soon as possible and by June 2020 at the latest”. Continue reading...

With about two-thirds of votes counted in Israel’s third election in 12 months, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud seems to be the largest party, but will need the support of other parties to form a governmentNews: Netanyahu claims early victory but remains short of majority Continue reading...

Prince Fosu, 31, died of hypothermia, dehydration and malnutrition in cellNeglect and a series of gross failures by the Home Office and other agencies contributed to the death of a vulnerable Ghanaian man from hypothermia, dehydration and malnutrition, an inquest jury has found.In a damning narrative conclusion, the jury found that Prince Fosu, a car parts dealer, had died suddenly after developing these conditions while he was suffering from psychotic illness. Continue reading...

Spencer Ashworth fatally wounded by Avon and Somerset officers near M5 outside BristolA fan of violent video games was shot dead by four armed police officers after firing an air pistol at one of them, an inquest heard.Shortly before he died, Spencer Ashworth told a relative he had a “new James Bond air pistol” and said he wanted to move to the US. Continue reading...

Health concerns have caused a number of high-profile singers to quit the road but what will it all mean for the industry at large?In a chilling quote from much-loved music documentary The Last Waltz, about The Band’s final concert in 1976, leader Robbie Robertson looks straight into the camera and ominously says: ‘The road will kill you.”At the time, he was just 34. Yet, over four decades later, musicians of his storied era are still on the road – and facing escalating health issues as a consequence. Since the start of this year, Ozzy Osbourne, 71, had to cancel his 2020 tour to seek treatment for issues related to his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Elton John, 72, had to ditch dates on what was already advertised as his goodbye tour, after declaring himself “extremely unwell”. Madonna, 61, was forced to scratch a bunch of shows from her British tour due to “overwhelming pain” from injuries she sustained on the road which already caused her to nix some US dates. Meanwhile, Aerosmith felt compelled to disinvite drummer Joey Kramer from their Grammy performance, over alleged difficulties the 69-year-old was having keeping the beat, while the group itself has had to scratch dates due to various health issues experienced by Steven Tyler. Then, just this last week, the 56-year-old frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield, needed to cancel shows to, in his words, “look after my mental, physical and spiritual health”. Continue reading...

Shareholder Ed Bramson says Jes Staley’s re-election as CEO of bank would be ill-advisedBarclays is under renewed pressure from a top shareholder, Ed Bramson, who is demanding the removal of its chief executive over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Bramson said in an open letter to the bank’s board that it should take “decisive action” and revoke their unanimous recommendation for Jes Staley’s re-election at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting on 7 May. Continue reading...

Many Chilean minors have been detained since the protests began, in a youth justice system rife with cruelty and abuseMore than 180 children in Chile have been held in preventive detention – some for up to four months – for their participation in the wave of social unrest which have rocked the country since October.Tens of thousands of people have been arrested since protests over rising metro fares spiraled into nationwide demonstrations against inequality. Violent clashes between police and protesters have left 445 people with eye injuries from police shotguns – 34 have permanently lost sight. More than 30 people have died. Continue reading...

Two men sue over alleged HIV and gonorrhoea infections that they claim were caused by defective contraceptivesTwo Ugandan men have taken court action against an international charity for distributing faulty condoms which, they claim, led to one of them contracting HIV and the other gonorrhoea.In a lawsuit, Joseph Kintu and Sulaiman Balinya say they bought Life Guard condoms from stores supplied by the Marie Stopes organisation in Uganda in October last year. Continue reading...

6 March 1920 The rough cocksfoot and spear grass along the lane ditches bent over as with a light fall of snow, while the horses shivered down their quartersSurrey, March 4

US, Australia and Thailand also report first deaths from coronavirus while bans are put in place around the world on large gatherings. Follow live news

At least 80,000 Uighurs working under ‘conditions that strongly suggest forced labour’, says Australian Strategic Policy InstituteAt least 80,000 Uighurs have been transferred from China’s Xinjiang province, some of them directly from detention centres, to factories across China that make goods for dozens of global brands, according to a report from the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).Using open-source public documents, satellite imagery, and media reports, the institute identified 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces that have used labourers transferred from re-education centres in Xinjiang since 2017 as part of a program known as “Xinjiang aid”. Continue reading...

Tanks and radar systems also targeted in widespread offensive on pro-Assad forcesTurkey has escalated a widespread offensive against Syrian troops and their allies, shooting down two government planes, wiping out dozens of pieces of military hardware including tanks and radar systems, and stalling a regime momentum that had been rampaging through Idlib province.The attacks came in response to the killing of at least 33 troops in an airstrike in northern Syria on Thursday night and marked one of the most sustained direct clashes between regional militaries in decades. Continue reading...

We’re about to be subjected to the frenzy commemorating the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival. We should get a few facts right first

With an election looming, the PM needs to be seen to be ruffling feathers on issues of principle, but what comes next?Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand born – but Australian raised – citizens has been a source of political tension for years. But Jacinda Ardern’s step of fronting Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, in the most calculated and public way possible, took it to a new level. Until now, Ardern has played nicey nicey with foreign leaders, even when there are yawning gaps in their political ideologies. Imagine the list of issues she could have had a crack at Donald Trump over at their meeting last year.So why this issue, and why now? Continue reading...