World news | The Guardian

Attorney general Shannon Fentiman signs notice of appeal to be lodged on Thursday afternoonA Queensland teenager who killed a pregnant woman and her partner is facing an appeal against their sentence on the grounds it was manifestly inadequate.The families of victims Matthew Field, 37, and Kate Leadbetter, 31, had described the 10-year jail sentence handed to the 18-year-old as “grossly inadequate”. Continue reading...

Defence raises questions about credibility of witness who claims Dawson meant getting rid of his wife Lynette Dawson ‘for good’

Police chief says one of the men arrested in connection with the pair’s disappearance had confessed to killing them

Zumbo is accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault and has pleaded not guilty to all chargesFormer MP Craig Kelly’s office manager promised young female staffers career development and mentoring but instead used his “power and control” to allegedly sexually touch them.Francesco Zumbo, 55, faced Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Wednesday accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault between 2014 and 2020. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereDmitry Medvedev, a long-term ally of Vladimir Putin who is currently deputy chair of the Security Council of Russia, has posted this morning to Telegram a message which gives some insight into the current state of senior level Russian thinking about the situation in Ukraine.In the message, Medvedev questions a Ukrainian request that it receive energy imports this winter with an option to delay payment for two years. Medvedev says:Just a question. Who said that in two years Ukraine will even exist on the world map?There is a lot of excitement. More and more people want to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation. Residents of the Kherson region today are en masse in queues to submit documents for obtaining Russian citizenship just because Russia can protect, Russia can feed and provide socially for a person in the country, in which a person is the highest social value of the state. Continue reading...

British crown estate portfolio rises in value by 8.3% to £15.6bnThe value of rights owned by the Queen’s property company to exploit the seabed around Britain’s coastline has swelled to £5bn after a record-breaking auction of plots for offshore windfarms.Profits for the crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, jumped by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March. Continue reading...

Retired Lt Col Trevor Cadieu preparing to return home to face two charges relating to alleged incidents in 1994 when he was a cadetA former Canadian general who reportedly went to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders has been charged back home in Canada with sexual assault, after a months-long investigation.Retired Lt Gen Trevor Cadieu faces two counts of sexual assault that relate to alleged incidents at Canada’s Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario in 1994 when he was a cadet, the office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal said in a statement. Continue reading...

Analysis: job to uphold ministerial code has been tainted by Boris Johnson’s undermining actionsWho would be an ethics adviser to this government? Unless there is a figure lurking in the wings, it is unclear who would be prepared to fill one of the most tainted jobs in public life.It is always possible that No 10 has an immediate replacement in mind. But Boris Johnson found it hard enough to recruit this one – it took five months for him to appoint Lord Geidt, after the bitter circumstances around the resignation of the preceding ethics adviser, Sir Alex Allan, in November 2020. Continue reading...

Asylum seekers at Gashora transit centre say they fear reaching UK and ending up where they started after torturous journeyMany have attempted perilous crossings across the Mediterranean to reach the UK in the past. But asylum seekers at Rwanda’s Gashora transit centre say they are now too scared to try again for fear of ending up back where they started.Zemen Fesaha, 26, from Eritrea, arrived at the sprawling complex of accommodation and leisure facilities in July. The refugee camp, an hour and a half’s drive from Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, houses 249 men, 125 women, and 83 children, who were evacuated from squalid detention centres in Libya. Continue reading...

Murray Watt hopes to break down misconceptions between the ALP and rural Australia

State and territory leaders also want the prime minister to address labour and skills shortages following the pandemic

Andrew Giles doesn’t specify when or how Tamil family will be allowed to remain in Australia and blames Coalition for long visa wait times

New program will consist of 30 hours a week of play-based learning for all four-year-olds in both states

Suzie Holt finished fourth on primary vote in the LNP-held seat, but is at 42.89% of 2PP after preferences

Thawing diplomatic relations with China shouldn’t mean ‘taking a backwards step with Beijing’, Human Rights Watch says

Fears grow over the hundreds of civilians believed to be sheltering in the city’s Azot chemical plant

Maroš Šefčovič says Brussels will launch fresh legal action against UK over treaty obligations

Universities looking to stabilise numbers after Covid surge, says Ucas, while grappling with increase in number of 18-year-oldsThe offer rate for A-level students applying to leading universities has dropped significantly, with medicine and dentistry courses even harder to get on to than in previous years, according to data from the Ucas admissions service.Higher-tariff universities, including those in the research-intensive Russell Group, have tightened up their offers, with the proportion of applications that result in an offer down from 60.5% in 2021 to 55.1% this summer. Continue reading...

Passengers across Great Britain told not to attempt to travel on 21, 23 and 25 June unless necessaryNetwork Rail said there was “no real hope” of avoiding the biggest railway strike in 30 years next week, as it told passengers to plan ahead and only travel if necessary.The walkouts are on 21, 23 and 25 June and a special timetable will be in operation from 20 to 26 June. The full timetable will be published on Friday but several operators including Southern, Northern and Transport for Wales have already told passengers not to attempt to travel on strike days. Continue reading...

Internal polling points to two-point deficit – smaller than at same point in victorious North Shropshire campaignThe Liberal Democrats plan to flood Tiverton and Honiton with activists after internal polling suggested the party was only marginally trailing the Conservatives before next week’s byelection in the Devon constituency.A sample carried out by the party, based on tens of thousands of voter contacts, suggested that of people intending to vote on the day of the byelection, the Conservatives had 46% support and the Lib Dems 44%. Continue reading...

The actor, who received an honorary Oscar this year, spoke out against the producers’ handling of the in memoriam section, as well as the choice of presentersSamuel L Jackson has criticised this year’s Oscars ceremony for its handling of the death of pioneering actor Sidney Poitier, as well as their attempts to reach a wider demographic by expanding the pool of presenters.Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Jackson said he was “still a little ticked that the greatest actor we had in Hollywood died and they gave him, what, 10 fucking seconds. No. It should have been a whole Sidney Poitier section.” Continue reading...

Joe Biden working with European governments to avert global crisis and help lower food prices

Martina Patti claimed her child was taken by three men, before confessing a day later in MascaluciaA woman in Sicily has been arrested after admitting killing her four-year-old daughter, having initially claimed the child was taken by hooded kidnappers for a ransom.The body of Elena Del Pozzo was found in a field close to her home in Mascalucia, a town in the province of Catania, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Copy of film on now antiquated format was previously owned by actor Tom Wilson, who played Biff Tannen in movie seriesA sealed VHS tape of the hit 1980s movie Back to the Future has sold for $75,000 in the first ever auction of the now antiquated video-playing format.The auction, held by Texas-based Heritage Auctions, featured 260 sealed VHS tapes, most of which were first-edition copies of movies from the 70s and 1980s. The Hill reported that the price tag meant the tape was likely the most expensive ever sold. Continue reading...

Virus may be evolving to refavour infecting lung tissue. We assess what this could mean for the course of the pandemicIf you thought Covid-19 was dead and gone, think again. Early signs indicate that the UK may be at the start of a new wave of Covid infections driven by BA.4 and BA.5 – while new data suggests these variants may have evolved to refavour infecting lung tissue, which could make them more dangerous.So what can we expect in the coming weeks and months? Continue reading...

Arrest follows joint operation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command and British security servicesSecurity officials trying to thwart Russian spying in Britain have arrested a man at Gatwick airport as he was trying to board a flight to leave the UK.The arrest followed a joint intelligence-led operation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command – which deals with arrests for espionage matters – and the British security services. Continue reading...

Australian author denies he is a plagiarist and says he has been ‘influenced by the greats’ of literature

Inquiry hears of residents’ anger that disaster agencies treated flood response as a ‘nine-to-five job’

People who turned to books during Covid lockdowns continuing to buy them, company saysBloomsbury has reported a record year for sales, as the Harry Potter publisher said the pandemic rise in reading had become “permanent” after lockdown measures eased.The company benefited substantially from Covid restrictions when homebound consumers turned to new hobbies, including reading, to pass the time. Continue reading...

Jupp will play opposite Justin Edwards in adaptation of the classic Ealing comedy set to tour the UK this autumnGraham Linehan revived The Ladykillers in 2011, Stephen Mangan became The Man in the White Suit in 2019 and now another Ealing comedy, The Lavender Hill Mob, has been adapted for the theatre.The 1951 film, in which a Bank of England employee and his lodger hatch a plan to purloin a vast amount of gold bullion, will star Miles Jupp and Justin Edwards and tour the UK this autumn. The pair had been due to star together in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Comedy of Errors, which was delayed by Covid and staged last summer with a different cast. Continue reading...

Researchers believe the Amphylaeus morosusis bee only recently made the switch from solitary to colony livingThe unusual social life of a native species of Australian bee has shed light on how cooperative behaviours in bees evolved, new research suggests.Flinders University scientists have analysed the behaviour of Amphylaeus morosus, a forest-dwelling bee that lives in small nests of rarely more than two females. Continue reading...

School books will reportedly say China never recognised the treaties that ceded it to colonial powers during opium warsNew Hong Kong textbooks will teach students that the city was never a British colony, after an overhaul of a school subject that authorities have blamed for driving the pro-democracy protests.According to local reports, the new texts will teach students that the Chinese government didn’t recognise the treaties that ceded the city to Britain after the opium wars. They ended in 1997 when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control, and therefore the texts claim Hong Kong was never a British colony. Continue reading...

Diabetes UK warns cost of living crisis could aggravate problem and accuses government of ‘letting our children down’The number of children being treated at paediatric diabetes units (PDUs) in England and Wales has increased by more than 50% amid a “perfect storm” of rising obesity levels and the cost of living crisis, health leaders have said.Diabetes UK said alarming obesity levels among children had led to a “concerning climb” in the number diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and predicted that the cost of living crisis could lead to further problems in the years to come. Continue reading...

Experts call for redefinition of breed to curb fixation on excessively short noses and wrinkled skinEnglish bulldogs must be bred with less extreme features to improve their health and to prevent breeding from being banned in the UK on welfare grounds, veterinarians have said.A study by the Royal Veterinary College found that distinctive features of English bulldogs such as their flat faces, protruding lower jaws and folds of skin contribute to them being twice as likely as other breeds to have health problems and substantially shorter lives. Continue reading...

Public sector employees also encouraged to find work overseas and send money home amid unprecedented economic crisisSri Lanka is asking government workers to take an extra day off each week to grow crops in their back yards in a bid to forestall a looming food shortage.An unprecedented economic downturn has left several staple foods in short supply, along with petrol and medicines, and high inflation is ravaging household budgets. Continue reading...

Spikes in aerosols in the stratosphere after volcano erupted in January likely causing unusually vibrant skiesUnusually fiery and vibrant sunrises and sunsets across New Zealand and Australia in recent weeks could be due to aerosols that were hurled up into the stratosphere following Tonga’s volcanic eruption in January.New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospherics (Niwa) has been inundated with messages from people asking what is causing the “strange but beautiful phenomenon”. Continue reading...

‘Small work plan’ is another signal of intensifying security interests in the region, in the wake of Beijing’s security deal with HoniaraNew Zealand is developing its own maritime security “work plans” with Solomon Islands, its defence minister has said, months after news of China’s defence pact with the Pacific nation emerged.New Zealand minister Peeni Henare said in an interview with Newsroom published on Tuesday that the two countries had begun discussions of a work plan, focused on maritime security, after his meeting with Solomon Islands’ national security minister, Anthony Veke, over the weekend. Continue reading...

Peak body labels growth in seclusion and restraint despite royal commission recommendations ‘very disappointing’

US media firm says it has not made contact with Fan who was detained in Beijing in 2020 on suspicion of national security crimesHaze Fan, a Bloomberg News staff member in China who was detained in late 2020, was released on bail early this year, according to a statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington that was dated May and reported by the news organisation on Tuesday.New York-based Bloomberg said in a news report that it was made aware of the embassy statement over the weekend, and that it had not been able to contact Fan. Continue reading...

Landlords who rent out their entire property for longer than 60 days a year will pay 50% more in rates from July

Exclusive: government hired Newgate to devise ‘corporate narrative’ for body criticised as 'accounting sham’

The tourism-dependent Pacific country will reopen with almost no restrictions in July, though there are concerns about lack of airline dealsVanuatu, one of the last Covid hermit nations, is set to open up to international travel, but there are concerns the country is not ready to restart tourism, with a lack of deals with foreign airlines posing a significant problem.From 1 July, international tourists will be able to return to Vanuatu, a country of 300,000 people three hours from Australia, which has had some of the toughest border restrictions in the world through the pandemic. Continue reading...

Suspect is brother of first person held by police over disappearance of the British journalist and indigenous activistPolice in Brazil say they have arrested a second man in connection with “the alleged murder” of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous defender Bruno Pereira.Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, was arrested on Tuesday and is being held in Atalaia do Norte, the isolated river town Phillips and Pereira were trying to reach when they vanished on Sunday 5 June. Continue reading...

Opposition leader’s transfer to maximum security penal colony known for abuse follows secrecy over his whereaboutsThe imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been transferred to maximum-security prison, according to the chairman of a prison monitoring commission.On Tuesday, Navalny was moved to the IK-6 prison in the village of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, Russian news agencies reported, citing Sergei Yazhan, chairman of the regional Public Monitoring Commission. Continue reading...

Public accounts committee says institutions ‘potentially exposed to significant financial risks’, with 80 declaring annual deficitUniversities in England face danger from financial instability and falling student satisfaction, according to a report by MPs that blames the government and regulators for failing to ensure students receive value for money for their time in higher education.The report, by the public accounts committee (PAC), says some universities are heavily reliant on overseas students’ fees, using that income to cross-subsidise research and other activities – leaving them “potentially exposed to significant financial risks” if international student numbers fail to keep growing. Continue reading...

First flight to Rwanda grounded after lawyers make successful emergency applicationBoris Johnson’s plan to send an inaugural flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been abandoned after a dramatic 11th-hour ruling by the European court of human rights.Up to seven people who had come to the UK seeking refuge had been expected to be removed to the east African country an hour and a half before the flight was due to take off. Continue reading...

Stoppage by drivers is preventing the flow of key components in the tech industry and could add to global supply chain problemsA week-long strike by truck drivers in South Korea threatens to be the latest bottleneck in the global supply chain after industry bosses warned that the production of computer chips across Asia faced disruption.With the worldwide flow of goods struggling with hurdles such as lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine, Tuesday saw the first concrete sign that the strike was affecting South Korea’s world-leading semiconductor sector. Continue reading...

Feared backlash fails to emerge despite leading Conservative warning of international law breachMinisters believe they have largely muted Conservative opposition to the Northern Ireland protocol bill, even though one leading Conservative critic has said no MP should be voting for a breach of international law.Leading opponents of Boris Johnson held off from publicly rejecting the legislation after it was published, despite the government’s fears beforehand that it would provoke a backlash. Continue reading...

Sanaa Seif says UK government is not standing up for her brother Alaa Abd El Fattah, on hunger strike and facing deathThe sister of a British dual national human rights activist held in a Cairo jail and on the 74th day of a hunger strike, on Tuesday urged the UK foreign secretary to publicly demand that Alaa Abd El Fattah is saved from death by being released.Sanaa Seif was speaking at an event attended by Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the released British-Iranian dual national, and Gurpreet Singh, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal – a Sikh activist from Dunbarton detained by the Indian police nearly five years ago. He has still not been charged and says a confession was extracted under torture. Continue reading...