World news | The Guardian

Explainer: The looming hardship is fuelling support for Don’t Pay UK campaign, but there are other approachesAnnual energy bills are predicted to surpass £4,200 come January – a startling number that many Britons will struggle to comprehend, let alone pay, given household budgets are already being stretched to the limit by soaring food and fuel prices.This looming hardship has fuelled support for the Don’t Pay UK campaign, which says more than 100,000 people have pledged to join its mass protest and stop paying their energy bills from October. However, charities have issued warnings about the risks associated with doing this. So what are your options to manage skyrocketing energy bills this winter? Continue reading...

Kate Greville tells assault trial jury of ‘utter hell’ after she moved in with former Manchester United footballerThe former partner of Ryan Giggs has told his assault trial that she had panic attacks when their relationship became “utter hell” during the Covid-19 lockdown.Kate Greville, 36, said she was “hugely ashamed” that she moved in with the former Manchester United footballer in March 2020 despite his allegedly aggressive and controlling behaviour. Continue reading...

Man threatens to set himself on fire as he reportedly seeks access to his money to pay his father’s medical billsA Lebanese man armed with a shotgun took hostages at a Beirut bank on Thursday and threatened to set himself on fire unless he received his trapped savings.The man, identified as 42-year-old Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, entered a branch of the Federal Bank in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district carrying a canister of petrol and the gun and took six or seven bank employees hostage. Continue reading...

Critics say message is part of election game plan and point to recent speech on immigration and homosexualityA declaration by Giorgia Meloni, who could be Italy’s next prime minister, that her far-right party has consigned fascism to history has been greeted with scepticism.In a video message issued on Wednesday, Meloni, who leads Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, said the Italian right had “handed fascism over to history for decades now” and “unambiguously condemns the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws”. Continue reading...

Burger chain announces plan to reopen in western Ukraine and Kyiv after selling 850 restaurants in Russia

One car crashes into another that had braked heavily on Fire Dragon ride in GuenzburgTwo rollercoaster trains crashed into each other at a Legoland amusement park in southern Germany on Thursday, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely.One train braked heavily and another train crashed into it at the park in Guenzburg, the German news agency dpa reported. Continue reading...

Taliban in Kabul say they are investigating death of prominent figure they describe as a ‘huge loss’A prominent Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in an attack in a seminary in Kabul when the attacker detonated explosives hidden in a plastic artificial leg, according to officials and Taliban sources.“Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies,” said Bilal Karimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration. Continue reading...

US secretary of state on last stop of African tour has been clear about US misgivings related to Paul Rusesabagina’s convictionThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has raised US concerns about the trial of the jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and other senior Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.Blinken is in Kigali on the last stop of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa that aims to regain the diplomatic initiative across a continent that received little attention under the Trump administration. Continue reading...

Retailer tells customers historic pledge will soon not be honoured but keeps new slogan under wrapsJohn Lewis is to retire its 97-year-old price pledge “never knowingly undersold” on 22 August but has yet to reveal a catchy new slogan to take its place.The department store chain told customers in an email it will not accept new claims under the pledge from 23 August, instead promising them – rather long-windedly – it is “always knowingly committed to outstanding value”. Continue reading...

Ex-leader joins criticism of decision to allow Jonathan Edwards to represent party in Commons againPlaid Cymru’s restoration of the whip to an MP who was cautioned by police after assaulting his wife has caused anger, with a former leader joining in the criticism.Jonathan Edwards, who had been sitting as an independent since he was arrested on suspicion of assault, will again be able to represent the nationalist party at Westminster following his suspension in July 2020. Continue reading...

Analysis: Ukraine did more than destroy combat aircraft in Crimea raid, it scored a huge propaganda victory

Campaign group plans mass non-payment if 1 million sign up and government fails to address crisisMore than 100,000 people have pledged to cancel their direct debits for gas and electricity from October in protest against rocketing energy prices, according to a campaign group.Don’t Pay UK, which launched in June this year, said its campaign had reached “millions of people” and the support received so far “demonstrates the anger and frustration at a broken energy system that needs to be drastically transformed for the interests of people”. Continue reading...

Delay in responding to second most serious category of incident is more than three times the 18-minute maximum waitAmbulances are taking almost an hour to reach patients who have had a suspected stroke or heart attack, more than three times the 18-minute maximum wait, the latest NHS data shows.Ambulance crews in England took an average of 59 minutes and seven seconds to respond to “category two” 999 calls, the second most serious category of incident. That also includes people suffering from an epileptic fit, major burn or sepsis, which kills 48,000 people a year. Continue reading...

Beatson Institute will offer role to applicant who was initially told offer was withdrawn over her nationalityOne of Britain’s most prestigious research institutes has apologised to a young scientist who was told that an offer to her was being withdrawn because she is Russian, and is to offer her a role.The Beatson Institute, a biological research facility in Glasgow that conducts research into the basic biology of cancer, faced criticism after it emerged that an applicant for a PhD place had been rejected on the grounds of her nationality. Continue reading...

Judge rebukes former Ritz hotel owner for failing to pay £100m divorce settlementSir Frederick Barclay has avoided a prison sentence after after a high court judge gave him three months to pay money owed to his ex-wife.However Barclay has been publicly rebuked along with his nephews who run the Daily Telegraph by the judge for failing to pay a penny of a £100m divorce settlement. Continue reading...

Government’s system for potential trafficking victims to access support had 4,171 referrals from April to JuneThe number of referrals for people trafficking has increased by a third in the last year, according to Home Office data, with nine out of 10 of suspected cases accepted to be victims.The number of referrals for the period April-June 2022 was 4,171 – the highest number recorded since the national referral mechanism (NRM) was introduced in 2009. This is the government’s system for potential victims of trafficking to access support and have their cases investigated. Continue reading...

Festival organisers say 2022 has been an exciting year for deaf culture but more opportunities are neededIn 2003, Troi Lee was queueing for a club with a group of friends when he noticed that others were being let in ahead of them. He approached security to ask what was going on, and was told: “You lot are deaf, you aren’t coming in.”Lee had never before experienced discrimination, despite having been a regular raver for a decade. He channelled his anger into setting up the UK’s first deaf rave, to “avoid all that nonsense”. Continue reading...

Shopkeeper filmed telling customer he had been told to deny rations to anyone refusing to buy flag in run-up to Independence DayIndia’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has accused the government of forcing people entitled to free food at government ration shops to buy flags in return for provisions in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations on 15 August.India will celebrate 75 years of independence from the Raj on Tuesday, and the streets of cities across the country are full of flags for sale. Continue reading...

Harry Sarkar resigned from West Midlands force after lying about fictional girlfriend who he said had cancerA former police officer who pretended to have a girlfriend who died of cancer to get days off work has been condemned for his “odious” behaviour.Harry Sarkar misled colleagues and supervisors at West Midlands police, where he was a constable, with a “detailed tissue of lies” about a fake girlfriend who he claimed became sick with cancer and died, a hearing was told. He even lied about her funeral. Continue reading...

Intentionally bearing swastikas can now land a person in jail for up to a year and a fine of over $100,000

Daily ceiling of 100,000 passenger departures ‘cuts last-minute cancellations and improves baggage handling’Heathrow has said a cap on the number of departing passengers introduced last month has resulted in fewer last-minute cancellations and more timely departures and baggage delivery.In July, the airport asked airlines to stop selling summer tickets and imposed a limit of 100,000 passengers departing each day as it struggled to cope with a surge in travel after the end of the Covid travel restrictions. The cap will last until 11 September. Continue reading...

Properties seen in Oscar-winning film to be curbed after three people drown in South Korean capitalAuthorities in Seoul will phase out semi-basement flats after three people drowned inside one of the cramped properties during record rainfall in the South Korean capital this week.Banjiha, which gained global recognition in the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite, are usually occupied by people on low incomes and have come to symbolise the growing inequality in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. Continue reading...

Workers allege over 75 people have been fired in retaliation for organizing this yearWorkers at Starbucks have held over 55 different strikes in at least 17 states in the US in recent months over the company’s aggressive opposition to a wave of unionization.According to an estimate by Starbucks Workers United, the strikes have cost Starbucks over $375,000 in lost revenue. The union created a $1m strike fund in June 2022 to support Starbucks workers through their strikes and several relief funds have been established for strikes and to support workers who have lost their jobs. Continue reading...

Michael O’Leary warns of rising cost of fuel and says policymakers need to get inflation back to about 2%The boss of Ryanair has warned the era of ultra-low airfares is over and said Brexit is partly to blame for a shortage of airport workers that has created chaos during the peak holiday period.The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said surging oil prices would make it impossible to keep offering promotional tickets for less than €10 (£8.50). He added that Ryanair’s average fare would rise from about €40 towards €50 over the next five years as the company adjusted to rising inflation. Continue reading...

Billionaire’s costs will not similarly be paid by WA premier, as judge finds ‘asymmetry of responsibility’ for ‘long and costly’ case

Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials

Former deputy premier is set to reappear before an inquiry into his appointment to trade role on Friday

The Crucifixion mosaic and fresco saved from destruction after two-year campaignA stunning mural created in a Catholic church by a Jewish refugee from the Nazis has been saved from destruction, decay and vandalism after being granted Grade II-listed status by the UK government.The Crucifixion, by the leading 20th-century artist George Mayer-Marton, is a rare combination of mosaic and fresco standing almost 8 metres (26ft) high, taking up an entire wall inside the Holy Rosary church in Oldham. Continue reading...

Resources minister praises gas industry as ‘ally’ of renewable energy and says she will work with states and territories to encourage new supply

Mumford & Sons frontman has said that his debut solo single is about ‘the first of a string of unhealthy sexual experiences at a really early age’Marcus Mumford, frontman of the band Mumford & Sons, has said that he was the victim of childhood sexual abuse.“Like lots of people – and I’m learning more and more about this as we go and as I play it to people – I was sexually abused as a child,” he told GQ magazine. “Not by family and not in the church, which might be some people’s assumption. But I hadn’t told anyone about it for 30 years.”I can still taste you and I hate it

Victorian Electoral Commission announces it has received five new applications by parties for upcoming state election

Aboriginal Legal Service seeks urgent ban on the strip-searching, handcuffing and arrest of children as young as 10

The planned gala reception is in stark contrast to the low-key audience afforded Joe Biden in June, as ties between China and the kingdom grow closerThe Chinese president Xi Jinping will visit Saudi Arabia next week, where plans are under way for a gala reception to match that given to Donald Trump on his first trip abroad as president.The welcome being prepared for the Chinese leader is in stark contrast with that afforded to Joe Biden in June, when the US president received a low-key reception, reflecting strained ties between the two countries and personal distaste between Biden and the de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman. Continue reading...

Campaigners in Manchester say citizens’ rights to the river ‘should not be sacrificed for private gain’A developer has been given permission to close a 300-year-old riverside footpath and divert pedestrians through a back street or through a hotel lobby in what critics say is the latest egregious example of the privatisation of public space.Campaigners in Greater Manchester have made an 11th-hour attempt to stop the path by the River Irwell being shut, saying citizens had a “fundamental right” to walk along the river, which “should not be sacrificed for private gain”. Continue reading...

Other suburban stadium projects were dumped by the Coalition, due to budgetary reasons

Development of ‘tropical medicine’ at LSHTM was shaped by white supremacy and racist pseudoscience, says study it commissionedThe London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) supported and directly benefited from the British empire’s exploitation and subjugation of colonised countries, according to a report on its history.The study sets out how the school, founded in 1899, for decades received most of its funding from Britain’s colonies, particularly those in Africa, and colonial companies, but its medical research only benefited white people. Continue reading...

Hospitals say grants, food banks and travel subsidies are ‘sad indictment of the challenges we face’ but a ‘moral responsibility’NHS trusts are giving their staff hardship grants, low-cost meals and money to buy their children’s school uniforms to help them cope with the deepening cost of living crisis.Others have set up food banks, are subsidising public transport fares and advising hard-up frontline personnel how to access supermarket vouchers to help feed their families. Continue reading...

Judge David Lambourne was detained after a failed bid to deport him, which he called a ‘devastating assault on the rule of law’ in KiribatiKiribati is in the midst of a constitutional crisis after its government detained one of its most senior judges, Australian citizen David Lambourne, after a failed attempt to deport him.Despite an order from the Kiribati court of appeal that Lambourne should not be removed from the country, police and immigration officials sought to forcibly deport him at Bonriki international airport on Thursday. Continue reading...

Building commissioner says John Barilaro and Eleni Petinos’ office contacted him after work ban

Kim Yo-jong says regime leader had a ‘high fever’, a byword for coronavirus in the country, as it claims victory over the virusNorth Korea has declared a “shining victory” in its battle with Covid-19, amid suggestions from Kim Jong-un’s sister that he was among those who contracted the virus.Speaking at a meeting of health workers and scientists in Pyongyang, Kim called for preventive measures to be eased and described the official death toll of 74 as an “unprecedented miracle in the history of the world health community”, state-run media said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Transport Workers Union launches action seeking compensation for families of Dede Fredy and Bijoy Paul

Stuart Nash says NZ to ‘unashamedly’ target wealthy tourists ahead of those who ‘travel around our country eating two-minute noodles’New Zealand’s tourism minister has again expressed his aversion to budget travellers, saying the country will not seek to attract those who “travel around our country on $10 a day eating two-minute noodles”.Stuart Nash said the country would unashamedly continue to focus on “high quality” big spenders, despite one expert saying such visitors typically had a much higher environmental footprint and didn’t necessarily contribute more to the economy. Continue reading...

Matthew Guy’s director of communications resigns after reported disagreement with incoming chief of staff

Pharmacy Guild pushes for treatments to be sold without prescriptions but peak GP body says process is too complex

Government urges ‘restraint and de-escalation’ after Xiao Qian’s speech as Peter Dutton says ‘nobody should be surprised’ if conflict erupts between China and Taiwan

Inspectors say austerity cuts meant inexperienced officers were left to deal with burglariesPolice are failing victims of burglary and theft, missing chances to catch thieves leading to lack of confidence in forces, the official inspectorate has found.Errors were found in seven out of 10 cases examined, with victims suffering a postcode lottery in how police treated their robbery, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said. Continue reading...

Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture a picture of the Perseid meteor shower at its peak in August