by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#628EQ)
Relatives say they want changes to how life-support cases are dealt with after 12-year-old died following withdrawal of careRelatives of Archie Battersbee, who died after his life support treatment was withdrawn on Saturday, have called for change in the way such cases are handled, saying they “want something good to come out of this tragedy”.The 12-year-old’s parents fought a bitter legal battle to try to stop doctors, who believed Archie to be brain stem dead, from removing treatment. After that failed, they began a fresh legal challenge – also unsuccessful – for him to be moved to a hospice to die. Continue reading...
Government accused of ‘darkest practices’ in eavesdropping scandal that evokes worst days of country’s military ruleAn eavesdropping scandal that sees Greece’s intelligence chief and the head of his personal office resign within minutes; calls for further resignations amid revelations of “dark practices”, and a spy crisis likened to Watergate.The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing his toughest hour in office following the discovery that the mobile phone of his political opponent, the leader of the country’s third largest party, was tapped by order of EYP, the intelligence service that reports directly to his office. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Tate agreed to pay a six-figure settlement after claim of discrimination, victimisation and harassmentThree artists who sued the Tate for victimisation, alleging breach of contract and race discrimination, have told of their experiences after it agreed to pay them a six-figure settlement.The action was taken after the institution told one of the women, who had been commissioned to lead a major year-long programme, that she could not work with Jade Montserrat, an artist who has made allegations of sexual abuse and inappropriate behaviour against the art dealer Anthony d’Offay. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#6287T)
Oliver Dowden says ‘we need to get real' but Penny Mourdant insists foreign secretary ‘misinterpreted’Liz Truss has been told to “get real” as she came under fire from Rishi Sunak’s supporters for signalling opposition to any more “handouts” to help struggling people through the worsening cost of living crisis this winter.The foreign secretary was accused of having “ruled out direct support payments” to combat spiralling inflation and energy prices. Continue reading...
Figure passed as charities criticise Mail on Sunday’s claims about ‘economic migrants’ from AlbaniaThe number of refugees crossing the Channel this year has passed 18,000 after 337 crossed in small boats on Saturday, according to Ministry of Defence figures.The new data comes after a newspaper report claimed that many of those who had crossed the Channel in the past six weeks were economic migrants from Albania, not refugees. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#628AB)
PM’s allies brand investigation a ‘witch-hunt’ as others call for him to stand down to avoid further damageConservatives MPs want to do a deal with Boris Johnson for him to quit parliament and in return axe the inquiry into whether he misled them over Partygate, as allies of the prime minister branded it a “witch-hunt”.Although he is due to leave No 10 in less than a month, a Commons privileges committee inquiry is still ongoing into the prime minister’s initial denials in December last year that any Covid laws were broken during lockdown. Continue reading...
Warships shadow each other in final hours of exercises as White House calls Beijing’s actions ‘irresponsible’China has wrapped up its unprecedented four days of drills that showcased Beijing’s growing military prowess and determination to challenge what it called “any attempt to separate Taiwan from China”, after the controversial visit to the island democracy last week by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi’.Over the course of the drills, Beijing responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei, for the first time. It also halted some ties with the US, including cancelling a number of efforts to keep communication channels open between military commanders and suspending bilateral collaborations on the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Killing of Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, sparks racism debate amid election campaign focused on immigrationHundreds of people marched in a central Italian town on Saturday, demanding justice for the murder of a Nigerian street vendor as prosecutors investigated an attack against a Nigerian woman in a separate incident.The killing in broad daylight of Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, and case of Beauty Davis, who was allegedly slapped by her restaurant owner boss after she asked for wages owed to her, sparked a racism debate in Italy amid an election campaign in which immigration is a central theme for a coalition containing two far-right parties that is tipped to win. Continue reading...
Measures aim to ensure safety, pay transparency and anti-harassment and discrimination policiesThe performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a comedian’s charter in an effort to ensure good working practices and the safety of performers.Developed by the union’s comedians’ network, the measures included in the charter “will ensure pay transparency, a safe working environment, late-night safety, and anti-harassment and discrimination policies”, according to Equity. Continue reading...
EU officials see little hope of escape from post-Brexit low under either Tory candidateEuropean officials are pessimistic about a reset in post-Brexit relations with the UK, whoever becomes Britain’s next prime minister in September.Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak who is handed the keys to Downing Street on 5 September, officials in Brussels have little hope of a rapprochement with the new government. Continue reading...
Move to examine the Barrowman Foundation comes amid mounting scrutiny of Charles’s charityThe Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into one of the key donors to Prince Charles’s charity after it emerged it had been funded by unsecured loans.The Barrowman Foundation, a platinum donor to the Prince’s Trust, has not recorded any donations in its published accounts since it was set up and is funded by borrowings from its founder, the businessman Doug Barrowman. Continue reading...
Despite their promises of peace and stability, the country is on its knees, and its people are desperateMaryam* is near the top of her sixth grade class in Kabul, which under Taliban rule means that her education should be ending in a few months.But the 10-year-old, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has a strategy to stay in school for another year, and her eyes dance with satisfaction as she explains her plan. “I will make sure I don’t answer too many questions right. I have decided to fail, so I can study sixth grade again.” Continue reading...
The speaker insisted she was promoting democracy but critics suggest a last hurrah before she loses the gavel in NovemberRoy Blunt lived up his surname when he said this week: “So I’m about to use four words in a row that I haven’t used in this way before, and those four words are: ‘Speaker Pelosi was right.’”The Republican senator was praising Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the first by a speaker of the US House of Representatives in a quarter of a century. Continue reading...
by Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Michael Savage on (#6283Q)
As an economic crisis looms in the UK, legislation shelved and deadlines missed on energy, online safety and gambling lawsMining along the west coast of Cumbria goes back to at least the 1600s, and this summer the local community awaited a crucial government decision on whether a new deep coalmine operation would be given the go-ahead.While proponents of the £165m deep coalmine near Whitehaven say it would create jobs and help power the UK’s steel industry, environmental campaigners say it would undermine the government’s commitment to meeting climate targets. Continue reading...
Only one force in England and Wales says all its officers have received the recommended training and nine forces have not trained anyMillions of people in England and Wales are living in areas where police have received no specialist training in responding to domestic violence.Data released under freedom of information laws reveals that nine police forces had not given any officers specialist domestic abuse training by the end of 2021, and that those which had, in most cases, had only trained small numbers. Continue reading...
The mother of a teenager who died after her lungs collapsed believes e-cigarettes were the cause and is calling for tougher legislationTeenager Rosey Christoffersen loved football from an early age, with her enthusiasm matched by a talent for scoring goals. She attended regular training sessions and played weekly fixtures with a local club, but became alarmed one season over her rapidly declining fitness.“I’m gassed,” she would tell her coach at Wallasey Wanderers in Wirral as she struggled with exhaustion, asking to be pulled off at half-time. She was also complaining to her family of pains in her chest. Continue reading...
Home Office accused of failing to ensure safety of thousands including teachers and translatorsThousands of Afghans who worked for the UK have been abandoned and remain at risk from the Taliban a year after the evacuation from Kabul, a coalition of human rights groups has said.In a parliamentary briefing, nine expert groups on Afghanistan criticised the British government’s resettlement schemes as “unjustifiably restrictive”. They said it was deeply concerning that the government is currently not offering a safe route for many Afghan women and girls or to oppressed minority groups. Continue reading...
Ineffective government-run scheme risks creating a poverty trap for families owed money, MPs warnNearly 40% of parents who are supposed to contribute towards the upkeep of their children through the government-run child maintenance system are failing to make any payments.Most parents owing maintenance arrange their own payments, but the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) created a scheme called Collect and Pay, which calculates how much maintenance is due and takes in the funds. It is often used by low-income parents who struggle to make payments. Continue reading...
Senator Andrew Bragg praises party for ‘modernising its mechanics’ after the state branch adopted his motion• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastSenator Andrew Bragg has heralded the passage of reforms by the New South Wales Liberal party as important to avoid a repeat of its preselection fiasco before the 2022 election.The state party’s annual general meeting on Saturday adopted the NSW senator’s proposed reforms requiring the party to publish and follow a timetable for preselections within 12 months of an election.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...
by Samantha Lock (now); Lauren Aratani, Joe Middleton on (#627AM)
This blog is now closed. Read our latest live news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan hereHere’s a summary of the latest developments as it passes 2pm in Taipei.
Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie warns of ‘bleak’ outlook in region as Chinese embassy condemns Australia’s ‘finger-pointing’• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastThe shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has called for Australia to develop and operate its own missiles, warning the era of the “lucky country” is over.On Sunday, Hastie argued Australia needs greater deterrents given the “very bleak” strategic outlook, with a “rising China” displaying “revisionist and expansionist ambitions”.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...
Candidate for PM proposes to raise prestige of vocational education and mandate sixth-form maths and English with a British baccalaureateRishi Sunak has vowed to phase out university degrees that do not improve students’ “earning potential”, create a Russell Group of world-class technical colleges and introduce a British baccalaureate that would prevent 16-year-olds from dropping maths and English.The Tory leadership hopeful said his plans to reform post-16 education marked “a significant stride towards parity of esteem between vocational and academic education”. Continue reading...
Public and rescue services searched lake for an hour after girl disappeared under water and ‘didn’t come back up’An 11-year-old girl has died in hospital after getting into difficulties at a water park in Windsor, police said.The youngster, who has yet to be formally identified, had gone missing after getting into a lake at Liquid Leisure near Datchet in Berkshire on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...
Ministers expected to accept recommendations that payments should be no less than £100,000A scheme handing payments to those affected by the contaminated blood scandal will be announced this week, as ministers scramble to help those harmed by the “historic wrong”.Whitehall sources confirmed that a programme handing interim payments will be confirmed in the coming days, once officials have ironed out issues to ensure that victims are not taxed on the payments or have their benefits affected by them. It is thought that ministers accept recent recommendations that infected people and bereaved partners should get “payments of no less than £100,000”. Continue reading...
800 people evacuated as smoke billows towards Havana after lightning strikes oil tank in Matanzas supertanker baseA fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility raged uncontrolled on Saturday in the city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing, Cuban authorities said.Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas supertanker base, where the fire began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the ministry of energy and mines tweeted. The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector. Continue reading...
Former minister also argues Britain should move beyond first-past-post political system at Edinburgh festival fringeFormer Foreign Office minister Rory Stewart has said he has found it “painful” to watch the Conservative party “lurch to the right”, arguing that electoral reform is the only way to plug a “gaping hole in the middle of British politics”.
Country’s government says Sexual Minorities Uganda ‘operating illegally’ in east African nationThe Ugandan government has suspended the country’s leading gay rights organisation, accusing it of operating illegally in the east African nation, in a move campaigners condemned as “a clear witch-hunt”.The National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) – part of the internal affairs ministry – announced on Friday that it had suspended Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) for not registering with the authorities. Continue reading...
by Nadeem Badshah (now), Gemma McSherry (earlier) on (#627CH)
UK’s Ministry of Defence says troop build-up could be in anticipation of Ukrainian counter-offensive or for a new assaultHere are some of the latest images from photographers on the ground in Ukraine:Concerns are growing for the safety of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after an attack by Russian anti-aircraft missiles on 5 August. Continue reading...
Observer investigation shows how online platform’s algorithm pushed Andrew Tate posts to an imaginary teenagerAn Observer investigation has revealed how TikTok is promoting misogynistic content to young people despite claiming to ban it.
by Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem and Hazem Balousha in on (#627HB)
Health authorities in Palestinian enclave report 15 dead in Israeli attacks targeting Islamic JihadResidents of the Gaza Strip were bracing for the possibility of a new round of war on Saturday after two days of “pre-emptive” Israeli airstrikes against a Palestinian militant group.Israeli warplanes hit several sites in the blockaded territory on Friday, part of a surprise operation named “Breaking Dawn” that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said thwarted alleged planned rocket attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Continue reading...
In the past 10 years alone, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in UK secondary schools – and girls are the worst hitTwelve years of Tory government have had a disastrous impact on girls’ sport in schools, experts have said, warning that last weekend’s women’s Euro victory will be squandered unless drastic action is taken.In the past 10 years, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in secondaries – with girls the most affected – and the situation is getting worse, according to the Youth Sport Trust. Continue reading...
Outage that affected services across system may not be fully resolved until next week, says IT providerMinisters are working to coordinate a “resilience response” after a cyber-attack caused a significant outage across the NHS computer system.The outage affected services across the system such as patient referrals, ambulances being dispatched, out-of-hours appointment bookings, and emergency prescriptions. Continue reading...
Archaeologists are enriching our knowledge about those who were ‘vulnerable class during political crises and food shortages’A trunk with its lid left open, a wooden dishware closet and a three-legged accent table topped by decorative bowls. These are among the latest discoveries by archaeologists that are enriching knowledge about middle-class lives in Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius’s furious eruption buried the ancient Roman city in volcanic debris.Pompeii’s archaeological park, one of Italy’s top tourist attractions, announced the recent finds on Saturday. Continue reading...
One of UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ parades returns to mark 30th anniversary after Covid cancellationsThousands of people were expected to fill the streets of Brighton on Saturday to celebrate the return of one of the UK’s biggest Pride events.The parade and concerts, headlined by Christina Aguilera to a sold-out audience on Saturday and Paloma Faith on Sunday, mark the return of the LGBTQ+ celebration for the first time in three years after the last two were cancelled due to Covid. Continue reading...
Pedigree livestock breeders in Britain could be forced to spend millions of pounds to build facilities in France for ‘red tape’ checks by vets so their animals are allowed to enter the single marketBritish farmers are trying to set up red tape and border checks in France costing millions of pounds – and may even pay for it themselves.Breeders in Britain are unable to export their pedigree cattle, sheep and pigs to the EU because no one has built any border control posts where vets can check the animals before they enter the single market. Continue reading...
Mother says 12-year-old ‘fought until the end’ following withdrawal of treatment at Royal London hospitalArchie Battersbee, the 12-year-old boy whose parents fought a long-running legal battle to prevent his life support treatment from being removed, has died, his mother has said.Speaking outside the Royal London hospital, Hollie Dance said he had “fought right until the very end”. Continue reading...
The explosion happened in a western district where the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meetA bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday injuring at least 22 people, hospital officials and witnesses said.The blast occurred in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meet. Continue reading...
When Francia Márquez became the South American country’s VP elect, she chose the unknown Esteban Sinisterra Paz to create her outfitsEsteban Sinisterra Paz, a 23-year-old fashion designer from Colombia’s conflict-ridden and impoverished Pacific region, had not long started his career when he received a call from a history-making client.Francia Márquez – the renowned environmental activist and Colombia’s first black female vice-president-elect – was on the line, and she wanted two outfits made. Continue reading...