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Shutdown at short notice by state-owned Gazprom disrupts European efforts to stockpile for winter

Migration, skills and workplace relations reforms on the agenda for two-day meeting, labelled by Peter Dutton as a ‘union summit’Anthony Albanese has asked big business to help government on the journey to a “fair wage future” as it aims for consensus on major migration, skills and workplace relations reforms.Albanese made the comment to the Business Council of Australia on Wednesday evening ahead of the two-day jobs and skills summit, at which unions are seeking to restore their bargaining power to seek industry-wide wage rises. Continue reading...

Descendants of HMS Bounty mutineers received the seal when handed the former prison colony

Chileans will cast ballots on Sunday to approve or reject a progressive document to replace the Pinochet-era constitutionChile is heading towards a historic plebiscite on a new constitution to replace the document drawn up during Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, but the vote will take place amid a climate of uncertainty driven by a storm of falsehoods and divisive campaigns.For weeks, television advertising spots, street canvassers and social media campaigns have attempted to sway opinion towards the two options which will appear on the ballot this Sunday: “Approve” or “Reject”. Continue reading...

Changes apply from 9 September with Anthony Albanese confirming reduced assistance payments will continue for those in self-quarantine

Exclusive: Former mayor and OAM recipient, who unsuccessfully sought Liberal preselection three times, to contest Brighton in election

More than 1,100 people have been killed in flooding described by Pakistan PM Shebaz Sharif as worst in country’s historyNew satellite images show the extent of the devastation caused by catastrophic flooding and rains in Pakistan.The images, from Planet Labs and Maxar, show swaths of green fields, villages and buildings before monsoonal rains and flooding began lashing the country in June. Continue reading...

Motorists forced to pay premium for smuggled black market fuel or drive to service stations at border with neighbouring MozambiqueMotorists in Malawi are having to rely on fuel smuggled in from neighbouring Mozambique as pumps across the country run dry, while some drivers told the Guardian they had to cross the border to get petrol as the country grapples with severe shortages.“We have been depending on smuggled fuel from Mozambique,” said Allick Pondani, a motorist from the southern Malawi district of Phalombe. “Some entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the situation and are smuggling the scarce commodity, which they are selling at 50% over the normal pump price.” Continue reading...

Federal government to legislate $200m disaster fund as more flooding expected due to already soaked soil

Dominic Perrottet says he will meet the rail union in court if workers reject government’s final offer

Majority of respondents say £9,250 a year fee is not good value – with 74% backing additional bursaries for poorer studentsA majority of voters say university tuition fees of £9,250 are “bad value”, according to an opinion poll by YouGov that also found support for graduates in England paying back a higher proportion of their student loans.The poll of nearly 1,500 adults found that just over half said the current level of fees in England and Wales was bad value for money, while only one in five said it was good value. Continue reading...

Landlords warn cap will mean less investment in housing stock while charity calls on tenants to refuse to pay any rent increasesRent rises for millions of people living in social housing will be capped next year, the government has announced, but tenants are calling for a full freeze and threatening not to pay increases.Citing the cost of living crisis, Greg Clark, the housing secretary, said social landlords would be limited to an annual increase of between 3% and 7%, with the exact figure to be set after a consultation, which will also ask if the temporary cap should be in place for one or two years. Continue reading...

Industry snapshot finds lack of diversity and culture of harassment in Victoria, with most live performing opportunities going to men

Frontex human rights official says Greece ‘needs enhanced monitoring’ after claims asylum seekers being illegally expelledGreek authorities should face more checks over how they manage asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, the lead official in charge of human rights at the EU’s border agency has said.Jonas Grimheden, fundamental rights officer at the European Border and Coastguard Agency, known as Frontex, was speaking in a rare interview following numerous allegations that asylum seekers are being illegally expelled from Greece. Continue reading...

Country’s foreign minister says China’s interest in the Pacific required a ‘strengthened’ PNG-Australia treatyPapua New Guinea hopes to sign a security deal with Australia, as well as possibly New Zealand and the US, by the end of the year, the country’s foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko has said.Tkatchenko said the security treaty with Australia has been in the works since 2019, but that the recent security deal struck between China and Solomon Islands would require Australia and Papua New Guinea to strengthen the treaty. Continue reading...

Anti-racism video by Marama Davidson featured chocolate labelled in te reo Māori, breaching rules against product promotionA New Zealand minister has had to revise her anti-racism social media posts featuring a popular brand of chocolate, after the prime minister requested their removal because it breached cabinet rules about product promotion.Green party MP Marama Davidson posted a video of herself to Instagram on Monday holding five blocks of Whittakers creamy milk chocolate, which have recently been rebranded with the Māori translation Miraka Kirīmi in honour of the upcoming Māori language week – te wiki o te reo Māori. She also posted photographs on Twitter and Facebook. Continue reading...

Indigenous academic alleges treatment by two officers during 2018 arrest amounted to unlawful discrimination on basis of her race, a claim the officers and state government denies

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Consent can include a nod, or reciprocating a move such as removing clothes, as well as verbal cues

The group aims to fight the Labor government’s plans to hold a referendum on a republic, should it win a second term

Thousands of patients in Mildura region in state’s north-west are unable to access medical records or GP care

Solomon Islands has issued a moratorium on all nations while it works on new processes for docking of military vesselsThe Solomon Islands has issued a moratorium on all nations requesting to send in naval ships while it works on new processes for military vessels entering port.The announcement from the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, comes after it was revealed the US had been issued with a notice of the moratorium. Continue reading...

Despite being celebrated across liberal democracies, the former Soviet leader was reviled and unpopular in Russia

Exclusive: Nearly 70% of providers say they may need to turn people away or shrink the size of emergency rationsFood banks across Britain have warned of a “completely unsustainable” surge in demand that will prevent them feeding the hungriest families this winter.Organisations representing 169 food banks told the Guardian the number of people seeking emergency help had already grown “dramatically” and predicted “bleak and disturbing” weeks ahead. Continue reading...

Prices in shops rose by 5.1% in August, British Retail Consortium finds, as the war in Ukraine pushes up prices up for farmersThe rapidly rising price of food including milk, margarine and crisps pushed August shop price inflation to the highest levels since 2008 as the war in Ukraine raised costs for farmers.Prices in shops rose by 5.1%, a big increase from 4.4% in July, as food producers passed on increases in the cost of fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils, large amounts of which are produced in Ukraine and Russia, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market research firm NielsenIQ. Continue reading...

BBC journalist says ‘broadcast interviews matter for the health of our democracy’ after Liz Truss cancels one-on-one encounterPoliticians feel television and radio grillings are “all risk” with almost “no opportunity”, Nick Robinson has said after Liz Truss cancelled an interview with him at the last minute.The Conservative leadership frontrunner was to be interrogated by the senior BBC journalist in a face-to-face interview due to be broadcast at 7pm on Tuesday on BBC One. However, she pulled out on Monday because she could “no longer spare the time”. Continue reading...

Incident in which Chrystia Freeland is subjected to foul-mouthed tirade at city hall meeting in Alberta is being investigatedCanadian police are investigating after the deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, was subjected to a foul-mouthed tirade at city hall meeting.A video posted on Twitter shows a large man approach Freeland during the session in Grande Prairie, Alberta, swearing at her and calling her a “traitor″. Continue reading...

Home Office aims to crack down on people from ‘safe and prosperous country’ arriving via ChannelPlans to fast-track the removal of Albanian nationals entering the UK via small boat crossings have moved closer after Priti Patel met Albanian police.Monday’s meeting was part of two days of talks on the sharing of forensics and biometrics to clamp down on anyone entering who has a criminal record in Albania, the Home Office said. Continue reading...

Party officials prepare for contest as speculation grows former levelling up minister is set to step down

Industrial action expected on Wednesday is largest strike to hit UK newspaper industry in decadesWhen hundreds of staff at the Mirror, Express and dozens of local newspapers join picket lines on Wednesday, they will be taking part in the largest strike to hit the UK newspaper industry in decades. Having spent recent months reporting on how the cost of living crisis is affecting their readers, many journalists at the media company Reach say they are struggling to meet their own bills – and management is refusing to listen.One regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements had secured them a job at a Reach outlet on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they are already overwhelmed by the financial instability. Continue reading...

European Commission says it is working ‘flat out’ on emergency intervention and on longer-term structural reformThe wholesale price of gas has dropped sharply in a rare respite from recent highs on signs that Europe is preparing to intervene directly in energy markets.The European Commission said it was working “flat out” on an emergency package, and on a longer-term “structural reform of the electricity market” to combat soaring prices while efforts to fill gas storage facilities appear to be ahead of schedule. Continue reading...

Ukrainian troops mount long-awaited counteroffensive in Kherson; UN team en route to inspect Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Senior coroner who presided over death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in 2007 opens inquestA police officer tried to save the life of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel by using his hand to cover her gunshot wound as he carried her into hospital, an inquest heard on Tuesday.André Rebello, the senior coroner for Liverpool who presided over the death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones after he was shot in the city in August 2007, spoke of his shock that “society has not changed for the better” as he opened the inquest into the fatal shooting of another child in Merseyside. Continue reading...

Government maintains support for $550m expansion project despite previous objection from MPs David Smith and Tony Zappia

Minister says domestic and sexual violence against women and children are at ‘epidemic proportions’

Dominic Perrottet praises partnership with Daniel Andrews when asked about Victoria’s Liberal leader

Crossbenchers push Labor to ensure parliament has a say on commissioner and funding

Replicas of US-supplied rocket launcher systems drew at least 10 Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, reports sayUkraine is reportedly using wooden decoys of advanced US rocket systems to trick Russia into wasting its missiles on them.According to The Washington Post, the decoy versions of US-supplied rocket launcher systems drew at least 10 Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, leading Ukraine to further boost its production of replicas, in an effort to lure Moscow into firing its expensive long-range missiles on fake targets. Continue reading...

Support groups say energy bills, higher interest rates and falling order books putting thousands of firms on the edgeInsolvencies across the manufacturing sector have soared by 63% since last year ahead of a wave of business failures expected this winter in response to rising energy prices, higher interest rates and falling order books.The number of firms going bankrupt increased from 893 in 2020-21 to 1,454 in 2021-22, according to Insolvency Service figures analysed by the accountancy firm Mazars. Continue reading...

Broadcaster warns staff against expressing support for contentious low-traffic neighbourhoodsThe BBC has warned staff against expressing support for low-traffic neighbourhoods, after ruling that Jeremy Vine breached impartiality rules by backing safe cycling measures near his London home.The Radio 2 presenter, a well-known cyclist, has posted repeatedly on Twitter about his support for LTNs – and publicly criticised individuals who objected to the introduction of the traffic-calming scheme near his house in Chiswick. Continue reading...

Combined rail unions say industrial action would be halted until end of September if government agrees to pay rise

Zelenskiy aide claims troops have broken through Russian defences in several areas of frontline near Kherson

World Vision International worker was accused of funnelling aid money to Hamas in a trial largely held in secretAn Israeli court has sentenced the Gaza director of an international charity to 12 years in prison on allegations of funnelling aid money to Hamas, the end of a high-profile case mired in controversy and largely held in secret.Disregarding UN concerns over a lack of evidence in the six-year case, the district court in the southern city of Beersheba said Mohammad el Halabi, who had been Gaza’s director for World Vision International, would have to serve six years in prison taking into account the deduction of the amount he was held during the trial. Continue reading...

City’s waste workers return to work but Scotland’s cleansing and education sectors face strikes next weekA clean-up operation has begun in Edinburgh as waste and cleansing services resume after nearly two weeks of strike action by workers resulted in mountains of rubbish and public health warnings.The city’s waste workers, who began striking on 18 August as part of a nationwide dispute over pay, returned to work on Tuesday in the Scottish capital. Huge piles of bin bags and takeaway waste have accumulated in many streets, attracted rats, mice and seagulls and left some thoroughfares impassible as visitor numbers in the city centre peaked for August’s arts and fringe festivals. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon faces challenges as she aims to persuade voters that Scotland should go it aloneAs the cleanup of the litter-strewn streets of Edinburgh began on Tuesday morning after the conclusion of a punishing 12-day strike by refuse workers, one residence did not trouble those tasked with removing the piles of bursting bin bags.Nicola Sturgeon’s official residence, Bute House, like other Scottish government buildings, was not affected by the waste backlog, which has been deemed a public health hazard across the city. Rubbish at Bute House is collected by a private waste removal firm, it emerged last weekend. The news added another unflattering optic to growing criticism of the first minister’s handling of escalating nationwide strike action. Continue reading...

Survivors of Rwandan genocide were told to vacate hostel two days after Priti Patel signed £120m dealFormer residents of a hostel in Rwanda who were forced to leave under a controversial deal to house asylum seekers flown from the UK say they have been left homeless and destitute while the property remains unused.The men, all of whom are survivors of the Rwandan genocide, had lived in Hope Hostel in Kigali for up to eight years. But they were told to vacate two days after Priti Patel, the British home secretary, signed a £120m agreement to send refugees arriving in the UK by small boats to the east African country. Continue reading...

Relatives ‘caught completely off guard’ by announcement of compensation – and two families have still to settleThe Metropolitan police have been accused of “insensitivity” over their announcement that they have settled compensation claims with relatives of some of the victims murdered by the serial killer Stephen Port.Families were taken completely by surprise at the public announcement, while claims brought by relatives of two of the victims have yet to be settled, the families’ spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Spike in inflation and threat of rising energy prices likely to add to cost of living crisis, say analystsCredit card borrowing jumped in June at its fastest annual rate in 17 years as struggling households appeared to rely on extra borrowing to cope with the escalating cost of living.Credit card borrowing rose by £740m month on month, 13% higher than the year before, according to Bank of England figures that showed the biggest year on year rise since October 2005. Continue reading...