World news | The Guardian

Paul Erickson to tell Press Club of election-winning strategy including Anthony Albanese’s leadership and stoking ‘mood for change’

Probe ordered into Star’s suitability to hold licence amid construction of Queen’s Wharf developmentOne of Australia’s leading gambling researchers says the business case for Brisbane’s $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf development could possibly collapse if Star Entertainment were to be stripped of its casino licence.The state’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, has ordered a probe into the casino operator’s suitability to hold a licence in Queensland after a New South Wales inquiry heard allegations Star had potentially acted criminally. Continue reading...

MPs from Greece’s neo-Nazi organisation return to court eighteen months after original criminal convictionsThe imprisoned protagonists of Greece’s once-powerful neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party will seek to overturn prolonged prison terms in an appeals court trial due to open amid anti-fascist protests in Athens this week.Eighteen months after being convicted of operating a criminal organisation that had masqueraded as a political party, appellate judges will start hearing the case afresh on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Civilians evacuated in ‘quiet’ moments as Russia shifts bulk of military efforts to capturing city

Temperatures could hit 30C or 34C in the south-east and 28C in north-westA heat alert warning has been issued by the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency (UKSA) as temperatures are set to soar to 34C later this week.The forecaster said a level 2 alert has been issued for southern and central England from midnight on Friday until midnight on Sunday, with a lower level 1 alert in place for northern England. Continue reading...

Anger over asylum plan has grown in intensity, with Boris Johnson and Priti Patel under mounting pressureControversy surrounding the government policy of flying asylum seekers to Rwanda has gathered in intensity amid the countdown to the first deportation flight. It has been argued the policy is designed as a “wedge” issue, specifically intended to cause outrage among opponents while shoring up support in the Tory base. But did Boris Johnson and Priti Patel really reckon on uniting monarchy, celebrity and clergy in one alternative opposition? Continue reading...

Infections among workforce lead theatres to cancel performances, with loan repayments, soaring energy prices and the cost of living crisis adding to their woesWith infections on the rise in the UK, theatres are contending with the challenges posed by Covid cases among casts and production teams, leading to postponed opening nights, cancelled performances and substantial costs.Northern Broadsides was forced to cancel performances of As You Like It at the Viaduct in Halifax on Sunday and on three further days this week due to Covid cases, with ticket buyers offered reallocated tickets or a refund. On Monday, Curve in Leicester announced that due to a number of cases among the company of its new production of Billy Elliot: The Musical, performances would now begin on 13 July rather than 7 July. A statement from Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said that valuable preparation time had been lost and the delay would “allow us to make up time in the rehearsal room and ensure we deliver a first-class production for our audiences”. The run has been extended by an extra week and the company are said to now be “fighting fit”. Continue reading...

Aviation sector should ‘take all possible steps’ to avoid travel disruption before summer holidaysAirlines have been told to review their schedules by the government to avoid more flight chaos, as airports and unions said the problems behind recent cancellations would not be fixed by summer.The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said airlines should ensure flights on sale are “deliverable”, and cancellations should be made “at the earliest possibility”. Continue reading...

UN expert says minors have been beaten and forced to endure mock executionsScores of children have been killed in Myanmar since last year’s coup, not just in the crossfire of conflict but as deliberate targets of a military willing to inflict immense suffering, a United Nations expert said on Tuesday.Minors had been beaten and stabbed and had fingernails or teeth removed during interrogation, while some were made to endure mock executions, according to a report from UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. Continue reading...

Javier Bauluz fined 18 months after confrontation with police while documenting conditions in Canary IslandsA Pulitzer prize-winning photographer in Spain has been fined nearly €1,000 under the country’s “gag law” for an incident in which police blocked his attempts to take pictures of refugees.Javier Bauluz said he received news of the €960 fine this week, more than a year after a confrontation with police while he was documenting the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees in the Canary Islands. At the time, police warned Bauluz he would be fined for “disrespecting an agent” and “refusing to identify himself”, despite the photographer’s insistence that he had handed over his identification. Continue reading...

Hollie Dance, who says son should be given more time to recover, believes judge made ‘quite a few mistakes’The mother of a 12-year-old boy with catastrophic brain damage has vowed to fight a high court ruling that her son is dead and his treatment should stop.Hollie Dance, 46, has rarely left the bedside of her son Archie Battersbee after an accident at their home on 7 April when he was discovered with a ligature over his head. Continue reading...

Margaret Ferrier’s defence asks for further pre-trial hearing as virologist who was preparing report works on recent case surgeThe monkeypox outbreak has delayed the preparation of a defence report for the trial of an MP who allegedly travelled between Glasgow and London with coronavirus symptoms.A hearing at Glasgow sheriff court on Tuesday heard that the defence for Margaret Ferrier, now an independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, was still awaiting a report from a virologist who had been otherwise engaged with the recent monkeypox outbreak. Continue reading...

First minister claims there is a legally secure path to holding referendum without Westminster’s approvalNicola Sturgeon plans to stage a fresh Scottish independence vote late next year without authority from Boris Johnson’s government, in a move likely to provoke lengthy legal battles.The first minister said on Tuesday she would update Holyrood on her plans “very soon indeed” as she released a report claiming Scotland should aspire to match the prosperity rates of small European countries such as Denmark and Ireland after independence. Continue reading...

Latest batch of at least 287 cases has raised new worries about outlook for Chinese economyAuthorities in Beijing have warned that a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases linked to a 24-hour bar was critical and the city of 22 million people was in a “race against time” to get to grips with its most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.The flare-up means millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs intended to tackle a broader outbreak since late April. Continue reading...

Drastic cuts to World Food Programme assistance will leave people ‘looking death in the face’ unless global donors offer supportThe World Food Programme has said it is suspending food aid to 1.7 million people in South Sudan, as the war in Ukraine sucks funding from the world’s crisis-plagued youngest country and causes the price of staples to soar.The UN’s emergency food assistance agency said it had planned to deliver aid to more than 6 million acutely food-insecure people in South Sudan this year, as it did in 2021, albeit with smaller rations. Continue reading...

Eurointelligence analysis says profit is ‘at expense of everyone else in EU’Hungary is set to make about £500m in yearly profits through a tax on Russian oil “at the expense of everyone else in the EU”, a research agency has suggested.The Hungarian government, which gained an opt-out from an EU embargo on Russian oil, recently introduced a windfall tax of 25% on the difference between Russian crude prices and world prices. A note by the research service Eurointelligence estimated this could net Budapest roughly $600m (£495m, €575m) in “hidden profit” a year, observing it was “not a bad money spinner for an economy that size”. Continue reading...

Issue may derail alliance summit as Ankara digs in on accusation that Nordic countries harbour terroristsTurkey has said it is willing to delay Swedish and Finnish membership of Nato for more than a year unless it receives satisfactory assurances that the two Nordic countries are willing to address support for Kurdish groups it regards as terrorist organisations.The issue threatens to derail a vital Nato summit due to start in Madrid on 29 June. Continue reading...

Brandon Flowers halts Manchester show to embrace Doug James after he swam over the heads of the crowdA 67-year-old first-time crowdsurfer has been hailed as a rock’n’roll inspiration after being carried to the front of the audience at a concert in Manchester.The Killers halted their show at Old Trafford cricket ground at the weekend after their frontman, Brandon Flowers, noticed a white-haired man in a red fleece had been carried over the security barriers. He was bleeding in the head, having been dropped after clearing the moshpit. Continue reading...

Bellway and Crest Nicholson report strong sales despite impact of cost inflationBellway and Crest Nicholson, two of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, have said demand for new houses continues to outstrip supply, pushing up prices and offsetting the rising cost of building materials and energy.Bellway posted strong sales for the four months from 1 February to 5 June, when house reservations averaged 253 a week, compared with 239 in the same period last year. Continue reading...

Simba Mujakachi, 32, who was left paralysed after stroke, still in precarious financial position despite legal victoryA man who was left permanently paralysed when he was unable to afford life-saving medication as an asylum seeker has been granted refugee status and had £100,000 of NHS debt wiped.Simba Mujakachi, 32, has said he cannot celebrate his legal victory, which comes after 11 gruelling years of applications and appeals, because he has been left in a precarious financial position and could soon be facing eviction from his home. Continue reading...

Pontiff condemns ‘cruelty’ of Russian troops while warning against perception of conflict as good v evil

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says DUP will not budge unless protocol bill progresses through WestminsterThe Democratic Unionist party (DUP) has rebuffed a British government appeal to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland despite the introduction of legislation to scrap post-Brexit checks in the Irish Sea.Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, on Tuesday welcomed the Northern Ireland protocol bill but said the party would revive the Stormont assembly only if the bill progressed at Westminster. Continue reading...

Joshua Gary Mason, 23, and his mother were arrested after a driver found a part of the victim’s leg on a Northern Territory highway

Travel firm apologises for ‘distress’ caused by cancelled services as it seeks to regain holidaymakers’ confidenceThe travel firm Tui has written to customers promising that it has learned from the delays and cancellations that ruined the May half-term holiday for many travellers, in an attempt to build confidence ahead of the key summer bookings period.The company apologised again for the disruption to plans, as it prepared to be questioned alongside other industry representatives on Tuesday by MPs on the Commons business select committee which is looking at flight cancellations and compensation. Continue reading...

Editor Bevan Shields has now accepted full responsibility for the paper’s coverage and apologised for the delay in acknowledging mistakes were made

Jason Alexander pleads not guilty to charges of stalking, trespassing, battery and vandalismBritney Spears’ ex-husband Jason Alexander has been charged with stalking her, after he appeared unannounced at her wedding last week.After streaming a video live on his Instagram at the wedding venue, in which he claimed that Spears had invited him and said “I’m here to crash the wedding”, Alexander was confronted by security guards, arrested and taken to a local jail. Spears’ wedding to Sam Asghari, her third husband, went ahead. Continue reading...

The Hamilton creator has said the series was his most-watched show of the pandemic, and now he has a surprise voice creditThe creator of smash hit musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, and winner of multiple Tonys, Grammys and Emmys, has finally fulfilled another of his dreams: to guest star in the Australian animated series Bluey.Lin-Manuel Miranda appears as a friendly horse named Major Tom in a new episode of season three, which is currently airing daily on the ABC in Australia. Continue reading...

Exclusive: bill for repairs backlog runs to £9bn and waiting lists are lengthening because of lack of capital to improve infrastructureNHS patients are being put in danger and waiting lists are getting even longer due to a £9bn maintenance backlog and a major lack of capital funding that has left some parts of hospitals “extremely dilapidated” and unfit for patients, health leaders have warned.Boris Johnson promised in 2019 to “build and fund 40 new hospitals”. But the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), the government watchdog, later gave the project an “amber/red” ranking, meaning its delivery “is in doubt with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas”. Continue reading...

Convicted child sexual abuser freed under the cover of darkness on Tuesday morning

UK vet says Daisy, a 12-week-old Bichon Frise cross, had ‘broken a new record’ for coin consumptionA 12-week-old puppy named Daisy has successfully had emergency surgery after doing what puppies do best: eating things they shouldn’t. In Daisy’s case, it involved swallowing 20 coins from its owner’s purse.Vet charity the PDSA said the owner of the Bichon Frise cross became concerned after she started vomiting and had stopped eating. Continue reading...

A blaze near Flagstaff, Arizona, has already burned 5,000 acres, fanned by strong winds and fed by dry grasses and brushScorching temperatures and desperately dry conditions set the stage for the rapid spread of several explosive wildfires that erupted over the weekend, forcing evacuations in California and Arizona.The blazes are among dozens that have broken out across the US south-west early in the summer, including a ferocious fire in New Mexico that became the worst in the state’s history. Officials say it’s a foreboding sign of what is shaping up to be another intense year of fire. Continue reading...

David Buttress, former CEO of takeaway delivery app, to assist in developing schemes that help people struggling with rising prices

Witnesses at Monday hearing describe devastation from 2018 attack in which Alek Minassian ploughed rented van into sidewalkA self-described “incel” who killed 11 people when he plowed a rented van into a busy Toronto sidewalk in 2018 has been sentenced to life in prison.Alek Minassian – who was motivated by a hatred of women – was convicted in March of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder, after a judge found that he drove a white rental van on to the sidewalk with the intent to kill. Continue reading...

With fish and cooking oil prices soaring and consumers spending less, industry is facing a big challenge“If I were a panicker, I’d be very scared.” Andrew Crook is putting on a brave face but he’s worried. The owner of Skippers of Euxton, a fish and chip shop near Chorley in Lancashire, has already had to put his prices up four times this year, and he fears yet another increase is just around the corner as he battles a tidal wave of rising costs and pressures.The UK’s fish and chip industry is facing its biggest challenge in its 160-year history, according to Crook, who speaks for the nation’s beloved chippies as president of the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF). Continue reading...

Thameslink operator’s board unanimously recommends consortium’s bid to shareholdersOne of Britain’s biggest transport companies, the Go-Ahead Group, has accepted a £650m takeover bid from a consortium of the Australian bus operator Kinetic and the infrastructure specialists Globalvia.Go-Ahead, a leading provider of UK bus services and the operator of the UK’s biggest commuter rail network, Govia Thameslink Railway, said its board unanimously recommended the offer to shareholders, after receiving two approaches from buyers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Hesta rejects accusation it was trying to link brand to School Strike 4 Climate group, but says it pulled the ad after hearing concerns

The minister for early childhood education and youth says filling an ‘urgent need’ for families is as much about productivity as it is about gender equity

Penny Wong says dialogue is in the interests of both countries but government will ‘always stand up for Australia’s values’

Collin Reeves tells court security light flashing on reminded him of war zone flares and he could not remember attacking coupleA former commando who stabbed his neighbours to death after a long-running parking dispute has claimed his military training kicked in when a bright white security light flashed on, reminding him of flares in a war zone.Collin Reeves told a murder jury he dived on to his front, instinctively taking cover, and accepted that he must then have gone into the home of Jennifer and Stephen Chapple and killed them with his ceremonial commando dagger, though he insisted he could not remember the actual attack. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy adviser says far more hardware is needed to reach ‘heavy weapons parity’ with Russia and drive out its forces

Analysis: Ruling bucks trend for wealthy individuals to suppress public interest reporting via courtsThe decision by a high court judge to dismiss a libel claim brought against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr by the multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks is a timely shot in the arm for public interest journalism.Concerns have long been mounting that the legal landscape in England and Wales places excessive restrictions on reporting, with London – where the high court is situated – often described as the libel capital of the world. Continue reading...

Move could add to Europe’s travel problems, although airline does not expect widespread disruptionCabin crew working for Ryanair in Spain have voted to hold six days of strikes at the end of June and early July, potentially adding to the disruption affecting air travel across Europe.The Spanish-based staff in the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from 24 June to 26 June and 30 June to 2 July. Continue reading...

Composer penned a letter read out at the final performance, praising ‘superb’ team but prompting criticism from some audience membersA letter from Andrew Lloyd Webber, read on stage at the closing night of Cinderella, suggested that opening his new musical during the pandemic “might have been a costly mistake”.The musical finished its run at the Gillian Lynne theatre in London on Sunday after heavy criticism for the way in which some of its workforce had learned of its closure on social media. Boos could be heard in the audience when Lord Lloyd-Webber’s letter was read out by the show’s director, Laurence Connor. In the letter, the composer praised a “fabulous cast, crew and musicians” and “the superb creative team” and repeated his previous assertion that he had “kept the government’s feet to the flame” during the Covid crisis in which the theatre industry weathered shutdowns, restricted capacities and severe financial difficulties. Continue reading...

Michelle Bachelet has been strongly criticised since her visit to Uyghur minority region of XinjiangThe United Nations’ human rights chief has signalled her intention to step down, amid weeks of speculation following her recent China trip that drew fierce criticism from activists and western politicians.Michelle Bachelet, who assumed the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights in 2018, said on Monday she would not seek a second term in office. “As my term as high commissioner draws to a close, this council’s milestone 50th session will be the last which I brief,” she said. Continue reading...

Strategy described as ‘missed opportunity’ as final wording merely commits to ‘considering’ animal welfareAnimal welfare campaigners, food policy experts and farmers have reacted with fury after the government watered down post-Brexit trade deal standards in its food strategy, released on Monday.In a version of the strategy leaked to the Guardian on Friday, the government committed to making it easier for countries to import goods if they have high animal welfare standards. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sir Michael Marmot criticises focus on personal responsibility over official actionThe focus on personal responsibility rather than official action in the government’s national food strategy is unlikely to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis, a leading authority on public health has said.Sir Michael Marmot, who has led pioneering research into health disparities, said the approach was not supported by evidence, and that he was disappointed the strategy had dropped many of the recommendations of Henry Dimbleby, the government’s lead adviser on food. Continue reading...

Figure for 12 June marks biggest uptick yet in cases, with UKHSA stressing anyone can get virusThe number of confirmed cases of monkeypox in England has risen by 104, official figures reveal, the largest reported increase so far.According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the new cases bring the total identified in the UK, as of 12 June, to 470, with 452 in England, 12 in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and four in Wales. Continue reading...

Police working to identify deceased, believed to be male, after being called to incident in Belvue ParkA police investigation has been launched after the body of a man was found on fire in a suburban park in west London.Police were called to Belvue Park in Northolt just after 4.37am on Monday by the London fire brigade following calls from the public. Continue reading...

Families reach ‘significant’ settlement over British army killings of nine people in Belfast in 1971The relatives of nine people killed by the British army in the Ballymurphy neighbourhood of Belfast in 1971 are to receive significant damages.Disclosure of the settlement at the Belfast high court on Monday follows a 51-year quest for truth and justice by families who lost loved ones during a blood-soaked army operation at the height of Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Continue reading...

Judge says doctors at London hospital can lawfully stop treating boy, who had accident at home in AprilA judge has ruled that a 12-year-old boy with catastrophic brain damage is dead and that his treatment could stop.Archie Battersbee has not regained consciousness since an accident at his home on 7 April, when he was discovered with a ligature over his head. Continue reading...