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BBC says programme will have ‘glorious Ukraine at its heart’, with cities invited to bid to host eventThe Eurovision song contest will be hosted in the UK next year after Ukraine’s public broadcaster dropped its objections and agreed to work with the BBC on the event.Ukraine won this year’s Eurovision with the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra, earning the right to host the 2023 edition. However, organisers concluded this could not be done safely while the country was at war with Russia – angering the Ukrainian government, which said it had submitted a workable safety plan. Continue reading...

Regulator says World at One failed to properly balance suggestions democracy had become corrupted under SNP governmentThe BBC was guilty of breaching impartiality rules when it allowed the then Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, to accuse the Scottish government of corruption on air.The broadcasting regulator Ofcom said BBC Radio 4’s news programme World at One had failed to properly balance Davidson’s allegations, made during a long interview last year on the controversies surrounding the Alex Salmond inquiry by the Scottish parliament. Continue reading...

Exclusive: former BBC employee raised concerns with executives but felt they were warned against further actionA former BBC employee raised concerns about “unacceptable bullying” by Tim Westwood when he was a Radio 1 DJ but felt they were warned against taking further action, the Guardian has learned.The corporation is facing further questions over its handling of complaints made against Westwood after another former staff member described a sexist “boys’ club” culture at Radio 1 during his 19 years as a presenter, mainly in the 1990s and 2000s. Continue reading...

Divers and a mini-submarine search for Aran Chada, 51, who disappeared below the waters of Lake Garda in Italy during a family holidayTributes have been paid to a British man who is believed to have drowned in Lake Garda in Italy after diving in to rescue his son.Aran Chada, a 51-year-old sales director from Leicestershire, is thought to have had a seizure when he leapt from a boat into the water. Continue reading...

Analysis: Foreign minister seeks to win friends and influence people in countries where closeness can be traced back to USSRSergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, is arriving in Uganda today on the latest stop of his tour of Africa, aimed at rallying support on the continent for Russia as the war in Ukraine goes into its sixth month.Many African leaders have refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and have accused the US and Nato of starting or prolonging the conflict. Continue reading...

Democracy figures, including former lawmaker in Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, executed after being accused of carrying out ‘terror acts’Myanmar’s junta has executed four prisoners including a former politician and a veteran activist, drawing shock and revulsion at the country’s first use of capital punishment in decades.Junta-controlled media reported on Monday that four men, including Phyo Zeya Thaw, a rapper and former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, and the prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, known as Jimmy, had been executed. They were accused of conspiring to commit terror acts and were sentenced to death in January in closed trials. Continue reading...

Cross-Channel ferry passengers told to arrive in good time for border checks after weekend of delaysCross-Channel ferry passengers are being told to arrive in good time at Dover as queues build at the Port of Dover amid fears the severe disruption of recent days could return to Kent throughout the summer.The ferry operator DFDS told passengers there were queues of about an hour for French border checks on Monday morning and to “allow a minimum of 120 minutes before your departure to complete all controls”. Continue reading...

Supermarket chain’s move comes as employers face fierce competition for staff after Covid and BrexitAldi has raised pay for shop workers for the second time in a year in the latest sign of the intense competition for workers in the UK.From September, the grocery discounter is to put up hourly pay by 40p to a minimum of £10.50 outside the M25 and to £11.95 in London, an increase of at least 3.5%. Continue reading...

Peter Meehan, who led audit of failed outsourcer, will also have to pay fine of £250,000The KPMG partner who led the audit of failed outsourcer Carillion has been banned from the accounting profession for a decade for providing false and misleading information to regulators.Peter Meehan will also have to pay a fine of £250,000 after a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) tribunal found that he and other KPMG managers had misled the regulator using forged documents. Continue reading...

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson asks for restraint after Rishi Sunak labels country UK’s ‘biggest long-term threat’Beijing has urged British politicians to exercise restraint in their comments on China, saying “hyping the China threat” would not help solve the UK’s own problems.Asked about Rishi Sunak’s comments, where he labelled China as Britain’s biggest long-term threat and pledged to close all UK-based Confucius Institutes, Zhao Lijian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, declined to offer specific comments, saying the election of the next Tory leader is the UK’s internal affair. Continue reading...

‘Puerile nature’ of Tory leadership race condemned as ex-chancellor criticised for expensive tastes

Lawyers for Ben Roberts-Smith urge court to disregard evidence of Afghan witnesses, saying the men were prejudiced against Australian soldiers

Nuffield Health data for past year suggests many lack motivation or got out of the habit during lockdownAlmost half of women in the UK have done no vigorous exercise in the past 12 months with most saying they lacked motivation, a survey has suggested.The percentages are lower for men, with just over a third saying they had not exercised in that period and half citing a lack of motivation, according to data from the healthcare charity Nuffield Health. Continue reading...

Unions and providers welcome one-month extension of workforce support but say tens of thousands of aged care workers unavailable

Inquiry into QPS responses to domestic violence also hears police failed to assist in instances of elder abuse

Education secretary says PM is ‘incredible’ politician but decision to put him in cabinet is not his to take

The opposition had successfully moved to recall the upper house over the delayed release of documents

Candidates include Evan Mulholland from the Institute of Public Affairs and Moira Deeming, who called for abortion laws to be repealed

Airline’s chief says possibility of new coronavirus variant means it cannot forecast profit for rest of yearRyanair has made its first spring profits since before the coronavirus pandemic as passenger numbers surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels, but warned of the risk of possible new virus variants in the autumn.The Irish carrier made a profit before tax of €203m (£173m) between April and June, compared with a steep €325m loss in the equivalent period a year earlier. It said passenger numbers had risen to 45.5 million, 9% more than in 2019. Continue reading...

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner examining whether use of the technology is consistent with privacy laws

Politicians and chefs pay tribute to the ‘Indiana Jones of food’, who helped preserve and popularise Mexican recipes in the English-speaking worldDiana Kennedy, the British-born food writer who dedicated her career to promoting the richness and diversity of Mexico’s culinary heritage and helped to popularise the national cuisine in the English-speaking world, has died aged 99.The Mexican culture ministry confirmed Kennedy’s death at her home in Michoacán and paid tribute to her legacy, saying that she, “like few others”, understood that conserving nature and its diversity was crucial to upholding the myriad culinary traditions of Mexico. Continue reading...

Mark McGowan says situation in Perth is ‘very sad … but we have to protect the staff – the staff can’t be under threat’

Aide in southern region says a ‘turning point’ has been reached, heralding switch from defensive moves to long-awaited counterattackUkrainian military officials have claimed a “turning point” in the battle to retake the southern region of Kherson, saying they will use western weapons to liberate by September the first major city captured by Russian forces.Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the administrative head of the Kherson region, said in an interview with Ukrainian television on Sunday: “We can say that a turning point has occurred on the battlefield. We are switching from defensive to counteroffensive actions.” Continue reading...

Fog and technical issues plague travellers as long queues jam domestic terminal

Ministers still negotiating with 11 countries, including France and Spain, over status of badgesDisabled drivers have been warned that their blue parking badges will not be recognised in some of the most popular EU destinations for British driving holidays, because of Brexit.UK travellers are also being told to check for the best phone packages to mitigate against roaming charges most mobile companies are reintroducing. Continue reading...

Thousands of bird carcasses collected from vital bird habitat as infection jumps from domestic flocks to wildlifeA bird flu outbreak on one of the UK’s most important habitats that could kill tens of thousands of seabirds has been described as an “unprecedented wildlife tragedy”.Rangers working on the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, have donned protective suits and so far collected more than 3,000 dead birds for incineration. Continue reading...

Ranger says the $180,000 system will keep temperatures below 40C for grey-headed flying foxes

The emergency relief package for families struggling to pay for burials includes a payout for expenses equal to the one they were promised by the disgraced insurer

Melbourne pub with links to Bob Hawke recommended for heritage register in ‘vital step’ towards saving it from redevelopment

Coalition offers conflicting messages on if Indonesia border should be closed despite industry advice it would ‘do more harm than good’

Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and live state by state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT. We bring together the latest numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.

Closures rise to 1,406 as worker shortages and cost of living crisis put more pressure on hospitality sectorThe number of restaurants falling into insolvency has increased by more than 60% in the past year amid worker shortages and the cost of living crisis, which has forced customers to cut back on spending.New data from the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young showed that 1,406 restaurants in the UK closed their doors in the 12 months to May, up 64% on the previous year. Continue reading...

Uncertainty and fear said to be behind increase in over-50s working or looking for workSpiralling inflation, volatile financial markets and the soaring cost of living are leading to the “great unretirement”, with research suggesting retired people are returning to the workplace.There are now more people aged 50 and older in work or looking for work than since just before the pandemic, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Continue reading...

Pay and stress levels among reasons for leaving, with only 5% blaming recent flights chaos in a pollMore than two in five airport workers are considering quitting, research suggests, which could escalate delays already seen at terminals due to low staffing numbers.A survey of 1,700 workers by the UK jobs site CV-Library found reasons for wanting to leave the industry included wanting better pay and less stress. Continue reading...

Low-cost finance and a ‘you only live once’ attitude behind 19% rise in the likes of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis, say market analystsWealthy people in the UK are splashing out on more luxury supercars than ever before, official figures show.More than 18,000 supercars – such as Ferrari, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Maserati and Koenigsegg models – were registered at UK addresses in 2021, a 19% increase on 2020. Continue reading...

Health and social care committee says workforce strategy must be top priority for new prime ministerThe NHS is facing “the greatest workforce crisis” in its history which is putting patients at serious risk of harm, an influential group of MPs warns today.In its report, the cross-party Commons health and social care select committee slams the “absence of a credible government strategy” on NHS-wide understaffing and criticises ministers for delaying a blueprint it says is urgently needed to address critical gaps in almost every area of care. Continue reading...

After working on the hit pop TV show, Rafelson went on to collaborate with Jack Nicholson on films including Head, Five Easy Pieces and The Postman Always Rings TwiceBob Rafelson, a co-creator of the Monkees who became an influential figure in the New Hollywood era of the 1970s, has died. He was 89. Rafelson died at his home in Aspen on Saturday night surrounded by his family, said his wife, Gabrielle Taurek Rafelson.Rafelson was responsible for co-creating the fictional pop music group and television series The Monkees alongside the late Bert Schneider, which won him an Emmy for outstanding comedy series in 1967. Continue reading...

Leadership contender says he will close 30 Mandarin teaching programmes to restrain Beijing’s soft powerChina is the biggest long-term threat to Britain, Rishi Sunak will say on Monday as he unveils plans to curb the country’s soft power by closing all of its 30 Confucius Institutes, which promote the teaching of Chinese language and culture, in the UK.He will take on Liz Truss, his rival in the Conservative leadership race, by effectively accusing the foreign secretary and western leaders of having “turned a blind eye to China’s nefarious activity and ambitions” and call for a new Nato-alliance to be set up to counter it. Continue reading...

Opposition leader to say ‘making the country and its people better off’ is main priority for partyThe Labour leader, Keir Starmer, will attempt to frame the next general election as a battle for the economy, declaring on Monday that a Labour government’s priorities would be “growth, growth and growth”.Echoing Tony Blair’s assertion in 1996 that his main priorities would be “education, education and education”, Starmer is expected to say in a major speech in Liverpool that there is “no task more central to my ambitions for Britain than making the country and its people better off. This is why I am clear Labour will fight the next election on economic growth.” Continue reading...

Twenty five people rescued in dangerous route frequently used by migrants seeking to reach the USSeventeen people died after a boat carrying dozens of Haitian migrants capsized off the coast of the Bahamas, authorities said on Sunday, as more Haitians attempt to reach the US to flee gang violence and poverty at home.Rescue teams recovered the bodies of 17 people including an infant and 25 people were rescued, the Bahamian prime minister, Philip Davis, told reporters. Davis said authorities believe the people were on a speedboat heading for Miami. Continue reading...

Jon Auvil of Dade City is alpha Papa after beating 124 rivals in annual contest held at bar the author frequentedSome came in fisherman’s sweaters. Others wore sportsmen’s attire. But it was the cream-colored sweater of the attorney Jon Auvil that caught the eye of judges who awarded him a coveted title on Saturday, for most resembling author and former Key West resident Ernest Hemingway.Auvil triumphed over 124 other contestants in the 41st annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, the Key West establishment where the author was a regular patron during his decade-long residence on the island in the 1930s. Continue reading...

Police called to Cheney Row Park in Waltham Forest where more than 100 people had gatheredA 28-year-old man has died after a shooting at a gathering of up to 100 people in Waltham Forest, east London.Police were called to Cheney Row Park at about 12.35am on Sunday to reports of shots being fired. Shortly after the incident, two men admitted themselves to an east London hospital. Continue reading...

‘This is a trip of penance,’ says Pope Francis, ahead of mass to be held during five-day tripPope Francis landed in Canada on Sunday to kick off a five-day trip that will centre around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that Indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools.“This is a trip of penance. Let’s say that is its spirit,” the pope told reporters after his flight took off from Rome. Continue reading...

Alcohol consumption among 16- to 24-year-olds is falling. So what is behind this new temperance?It appears that young people are not drinking alcohol like they used to. And when I say “they”, I probably mean “we”. According to the alcohol education charity Drinkaware, after the surge of alcohol consumption during lockdown, there has been a general decline in drinking: older people are still most likely to drink, while those least likely to drink are aged 16 to 24, with 26% of that age group fully teetotal.This trend for British youth shunning alcohol has been bubbling away for some time, but more than a quarter of young people teetotal? While I in no way seek to glorify heavy drinking, or diminish the tragic effects of alcoholism, that is a lot of sober youth. Continue reading...

French multinational was missing targets for calls and emails as far back as May 2021, documents showWarnings about the “unsatisfactory” performance of the private firm running the beleaguered Passport Office advice line were made to government ministers more than a year ago, it can be revealed.Teleperformance, a French-owned multinational, failed to meet targets for responding to calls and emails as early as May 2021, according to official documents seen by the Observer. Continue reading...

Alika has a UK sponsor, and applied for visa in March, but is one of few children left in her Kharkiv neighbourhoodA four-year-old girl remains stranded in a block of flats on the Ukrainian frontline four months after attempts began to bring her to the UK, a delay campaigners have blamed on a series of government “blunders”.Efforts to rescue Alika Zubets from the city of Kharkiv began on 21 March when her UK sponsor applied for a visa under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and expected her to reach north Staffordshire by mid-April at the latest. Instead, she remains one of the few children left in her Kharkiv neighbourhood, with no schools or nurseries open and the constant threat of shelling from Russian forces nearby. Continue reading...

Court said hospital did not violate unmarried woman Teresa Xu’s rights by refusing to freeze her eggsA Chinese court has overruled a rare legal challenge brought by an unmarried Beijing woman seeking the right to freeze her eggs.The Chaoyang intermediate people’s court in Beijing said in a judgment that the hospital did not violate the woman’s rights in denying her access to freeze her eggs. Continue reading...

We are now pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. We will return in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments.Three people were killed as 13 Russian missiles hit a military airfield and railway infrastructure in Ukraine’s central Kirovohrad region on Saturday, the local governor said.Reuters reports that speaking on television, governor Andriy Raikovych said two security guards at an electricity substation had been killed. He also said that one Ukrainian soldier had been killed and nine more wounded.Russian forces are using artillery fire along the Ingulets River, a tributary of the Dnipro, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.

Vehicles carried away by rising waters after heavy rainfall in the largely arid countryFlooding in southern Iran has killed at least 22 people and left one person missing after heavy rainfall in the largely arid country, a local official has said.Videos posted on local and social media on Saturday showed vehicles being carried away by the rising waters of the Roodball river in the southern province of Fars. One video showed adults pulling a child from a car as it began to shift downstream. Continue reading...