World news | The Guardian

German chancellor argues there is more unity in the west and support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasionGerman chancellor Olaf Scholz has argued the world is more unified in its support for Ukraine than Russia suggests, as the war dominated a G7 meeting also tasked with crises in food supply, the climate emergency and a breakdown in global order.“We must not walk into the trap Putin sets of asserting that the world is divided into the global west – the G7 and its friends in the north – and all the rest. That’s not true,” Scholz told Germany’s ZDF television. Continue reading...

Alliance’s leader says this week’s summit will agree its most significant transformation in a generation

Communication Workers Union says further industrial action over pay is about ‘dignity and respect’About 1,500 Post Office workers are to stage a further one-day strike in a dispute over pay, adding to a wave of national industrial action causing disruption in the UK this summer.Britain’s 114 Crown Post Offices, its larger branches often located on high streets, are to close on Monday 11 July – the third day of strike action by postal workers so far this year. Continue reading...

Man remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries after explosion in Midlands on Sunday eveningA woman has been found dead after a gas explosion at a house in Birmingham, as police praised the “heroic” actions of neighbours who pulled a man alive from the burning rubble.He remains in hospital in a critical condition after the blast at about 8.40pm on Sunday, which completely destroyed one house and significantly damaged three others. Continue reading...

Outside Manchester crown court, legal workers bemoan low pay and an ‘unsustainable’ justice systemUsually one of the busiest courts in the country, the corridors of Manchester crown court were unusually quiet.Outside, dozens of criminal law barristers gathered at the entrance in their gowns and wigs to mark the beginning of a strike across England and Wales over pay and an “unsustainable” justice system. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Internal memo admits ‘it is almost certain’ laws altered to secure monarch’s consentA Scottish government memo obtained by the Guardian reveals that “it is almost certain” draft laws have been secretly changed to secure the Queen’s approval.Under an arcane mechanism known as Queen’s consent, the monarch is routinely given advance sight of proposed laws that could affect her personal property and public powers. Unlike the better-known procedure of royal assent, a formality that marks the moment when a bill becomes law, Queen’s consent must be sought before the relevant legislation can be approved by parliament. Continue reading...

Petrol reached new high of 191.05p a litre on Sunday, further fuelling cost of living crisisFuel retailers have faced accusations of profiteering as petrol prices hit new highs despite easing wholesale costs.Unleaded petrol reached a fresh record of 191.05p a litre on Sunday, while diesel hit new highs of 199.09p on Saturday, meaning a 55-litre family car would cost £109.42 to fill up. Continue reading...

Beyond 2022 project recreates documents and maps lost during 1922 Four Courts battleWhen the Public Record Office of Ireland was reduced to rubble and ashes in the Irish civil war, seven centuries of precious historical documents were lost.Exactly 100 years later, the public will be able to step back in time into the six-storey Victorian building in Dublin to experience it as it was on the eve of its destruction in June 1922 via an immersive 3D experience, and access many of those records thanks to a pioneering global project reclaiming Irish history. Continue reading...

UK prime minister says international support for Kyiv is price worth paying to avoid long-term instability

Campaigners call for tougher regulations as white paper emerges, but reports suggest proposals are being watered downWhen Julie Martin’s 16-year-old son rang as she drove home from work, his words made her blood run cold. “Don’t come home. Dad’s at the front door.”His father, Bylent “Bill” Troshupa, was subject to a restraining order barring him from the family home after violent rages. His sudden arrival, nearly a year later, spelled danger.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

The EU and some Tory backbenchers claim the legislation breaches the free trade agreement signed by the UKBoris Johnson has defended the government’s legislation disapplying parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, which will face its first hurdle in the House of Commons on Monday.Speaking in Bavaria, where he is attending a G7 summit, the prime minister said: “What we’re trying to do is fix something that I think is very important to our country, which is the balance of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.” Continue reading...

A North Adelaide studio apartment has been ridiculed online, with some likening it to ‘your first custom house in the Sims’

Communist party official posts notice saying mass mandatory testing and travel curbs will continueAuthorities in Beijing have sparked confusion and alarm after announcing the strict zero-Covid policy could be in place for the next five years, including mass mandatory testing and travel restrictions.The notice, published on Monday afternoon, was attributed to Cai Qi, the Beijing secretary of the Chinese Communist party. The original text said: “In the next five years, Beijing will unremittingly grasp the normalisation of epidemic prevention and control.” Continue reading...

PM thanks Australian defence force personnel in UAE visit ahead of attending Nato summit in Spain

Kristo Käärmann was included on HMRC’s list of deliberate tax defaulters in September 2021The UK’s financial regulator is investigating the co-founder of payments company Wise after he failed to pay his taxes.Kristo Käärmann was included on HM Revenue and Customs’ list of deliberate tax defaulters in September 2021, after failing to comply with his tax obligations. He failed to pay £720,495 for the 2017-18 tax year and received a fine of £366,000, the tax authority said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The NSW government has insisted the public service, not ministers, were responsible for the appointments

Victorian tribunal cancels Christopher Kwan Chen Lee’s registration after he admitted to making ‘utterly unacceptable’ posts

Women who relocated to Gaza are unable to visit or contact family, and face similar problems in their adoptive homeFor more than a decade, Natalya Hassoumi’s family in Ukraine have worried about her safety in the Gaza Strip; they have been unable to reach her for days at a time while airstrikes have pummelled the isolated Palestinian territory. Now, Hassoumi is experiencing something similar. She has not heard from her parents and siblings in Russian-occupied Kherson for three weeks.“I think the Russians must be making people switch to using Russian networks and sim cards, but I don’t know what’s happening,” the 41-year-old doctor said. “It’s very hard not knowing.” Continue reading...

Lobbyists must contact a minister’s chief of staff and request meetings in writing under new changes

The CBA says the offer of a 15% uplift in fees is insufficient and is calling for a 25% rise to make up for years of funding cutsCriminal barristers in England and Wales are to begin a strike over legal aid fees on Monday, as they warn the profession is facing an “existential crisis” because of inadequate funding.The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said the offer of a 15% uplift in fees, which was the minimum increase recommended by the criminal legal aid review (Clar), is insufficient after swingeing cuts – and will not apply to the backlog of 58,000 cases in crown courts. Continue reading...

Elishah Anderson was told no barrister can take her case in murder trial owing to industrial actionA woman accused of perverting the course of justice in a murder trial has been told she must represent herself in court because there is no available barrister, in what is thought to be a legal first.A trial over the killing of Jobari Gooden, 27, who was stabbed outside a Peckham barbershop last December, is under way at Southwark crown court. Continue reading...

Chaos overtakes city of Espinal after wood and bamboo stands collapse during cultural festivalAt least four people were killed and hundreds injured in Colombia on Sunday after spectator stands at a bullfight collapsed, authorities said.The bull reportedly escaped from the plaza hosting the spectacle and was causing panic in the streets of Espinal, Tolima, a city of nearly 60,000 people about 145km (90 miles) south-west of Bogotá, the capital. Continue reading...

Hedley Thomas, a journalist at The Australian, tells Chris Dawson trial he remained open to evidence that Lynette Dawson had not been murdered

Anticipation mounts in greatest cycling nation in the world for world’s greatest cycling race

Four further men treated at scene, with cause of blast still unknownA man is in a critical condition after an explosion destroyed a house and damaged several others in Birmingham.The man was in the property at the time of the blast and was helped out by people at the scene, the West Midlands ambulance service said. Four others were assessed by ambulance crews for minor conditions and were not taken to hospital, the service said. Continue reading...

Second world war ship found broken in two at depth of 22,916 feet in Philippines at ‘hallowed war grave’A US navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of the second world war in the Philippines has become the deepest shipwreck to be discovered, according to explorers.The USS Samuel B Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B”, was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a depth of 22,916 feet (6,985m), or about four miles. Continue reading...

Shadow attorney general says Opposition wants to see detail of constitutional recognition proposal before deciding if it will support it

Some politicians say decision in Roe v Wade will ‘save lives’ but prime minister emphasises ‘in Australia, this is not a matter for partisan political debate’

Admirers pay tribute to writer best known for the Edith trilogy after death in Sydney hospital

Comments by shadow minister David Lammy aimed at showing party is fit for government provoke angry response from Unite bossDavid Lammy sparked a fresh row with a key trade union on Sunday by saying Labour should categorically refuse to back demands from airline workers for a pay rise of about 10%.Unite – which says staff are just asking to reverse a pay cut that occurred during the pandemic – accused the shadow foreign secretary of launching a “direct attack” on the workers it represents. The general secretary, Sharon Graham, said his comments were a “new low” for Labour, which could not be relied upon by working people. Continue reading...

Four fire engines are in attendance at the blaze that has broken out by the historic Royal High School buildingFirefighters are dealing with a blaze at an Edinburgh city centre landmark.Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to reports of a fire on Calton Hill, by the 19th century-designed Royal High School building, at 15:15 on Sunday and remain at the scene. Continue reading...

Complaint to Queensland Human Rights Commission accuses platform of not taking action against posts that ‘vilify’ Muslims

36-year-old died from serious head injuries sustained in attack while walking in Ilford early on SundayPolice have begun a murder investigation after a woman died having suffered serious head injuries in “a horrific assault” on a street in east London.The 36-year-old was walking along Cranbrook Road in the direction of Gants Hill station in Ilford when she was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning. She later died in hospital. Continue reading...

The 2021 census was taken when much of Australia was in lockdown. The data will be a snapshot of the ‘enormous ripple effect’ of the pandemic

PM struggles to defuse row triggered by insistence that he would remain in office until 2030sBoris Johnson claimed on Sunday that the record of his government was “remarkable” and “quite exceptional” as he continued to brush aside internal Tory criticism of his leadership.However, in a series of interviews at the G7 summit in Germany, the prime minister sought to defuse the row triggered by his declaration that he wanted to remain in office until the 2030s by saying he meant he was focused on his reform agenda. Continue reading...

Human rights campaigners raise range of safety concerns over planned removal of people on Home Office charter flight this weekMothers and grandmothers, some of whom have lived in the UK for decades, are among those facing deportation to Nigeria and Ghana on a controversial Home Office charter flight on Wednesday.Women the Guardian has spoken to estimate that at least 10 of them are facing removal. It is unusual to see such a large number of women on a deportation flight to the west African countries. Continue reading...

Former prime minister of Qatar was on Time’s most influential figures and named in both Panama and Pandora PapersWith an estimated personal net worth of over $1.2bn (almost £1bn) according to Forbes, sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, is one of the country’s richest men – and has often garnered attention because of his wealth and is currently in the headlines over alleged cash donations to Prince Charles.Sometimes known as “HBJ” in London’s financial circles, the 62-year-old was named the “man who bought London” after he used his wealth, as well as his influence as the head of Qatar’s multibillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, the Qatari Investment Authority, to expand Qatar’s financial assets in London through a series of valuable assets. Continue reading...

My brother was killed because he tried to tell the world what was happening to the rainforest, says Sian PhillipsThe British journalist Dom Phillips has been laid to rest in Brazil, exactly three weeks after he was gunned down while journeying through the Amazon with the Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.Pereira and Phillips, a longtime Guardian contributor, disappeared while travelling on the Itaquaí River on Sunday 5 June. Continue reading...

Government and Charity Commission urged to examine claims Qatari sheikh donated €3mPrince Charles faced fresh controversy over the funding of his charities on Sunday, with calls for the government and the Charity Commission to investigate claims he accepted€3m in cash from a billionaire Qatari sheikh.Claims in the Sunday Times that Charles accepted three donations between 2011 and 2015 from former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani – known as “HBJ” – were described as “shocking” by critics. One donation, totalling €1m, was reportedly handed over in a small suitcase and another was stuffed in a carrier bag from upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason. Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia tells pilgrims to use new online system and to seek refunds from any agencies they have already paidBritish Muslim travel companies have said they face going out of business, with travellers potentially losing thousands of pounds, after Saudi Arabia launched a new system for applying for the hajj pilgrimage.The Saudi government announced this month that pilgrims from Europe, the US and Australia could no longer book through travel agencies and would instead have to apply through a lottery system. Continue reading...

Analysis: reports that the prince accepted €3m from a former Qatari prime minister throws a spotlight on his charities• Prince Charles given €3m by Qatari politician, according to reportClaims by the Sunday Times of alleged cash donations given to Prince Charles by a former Qatari prime minister are the latest to throw a spotlight on fundraising for the heir to the throne’s charities.Billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister between 2007 and 2013, is a contentious figure. Continue reading...

RMT mulls future dates for industrial action as prime minister says it can’t be ‘business as usual’ on the railwaysTalks were set to resume on Monday between the RMT and rail bosses, with the union’s national executive committee mulling further strike dates as the prime minister backed plans to close ticket offices.Services started returning to normal after a later start on Sunday due to the last of three 24-hour national strikes by workers at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies on Saturday. Continue reading...

Met police say they are investigating allegations former chief whip assaulted party worker at London pubA senior Scottish National party MP accused of sexual assault has quit the party and will sit as an independent after the Metropolitan police said they were investigating the allegations.The Met said it had received a complaint from a third party about Patrick Grady’s alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old party worker at the Water Poet pub on Folgate Street, London, in October 2016. Continue reading...

Kyiv under attack as G7 leaders meet in Germany; focus of Russia’s campaign shifts to Lysychansk

NGOs say toll could be as high as 37 after hundreds of people break into border control area in attempt to reach Melilla enclaveHuman rights campaigners in Spain and Morocco have called for investigations to be launched in both countries after a mass attempt to scale the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla left at least 23 people dead.Spanish officials said about 2,000 Africans made their way to the iron fence at dawn on Friday, with more than 500 managing to slip into a border control area after cutting an opening with shears. Continue reading...

At G7 summit, PM pushes for renewed sanctions and says he would welcome a visit to UK by Volodymyr ZelenskiyBoris Johnson has warned about the likelihood of “fatigue” among western nations over continued support for Ukraine, as he began talks at the G7 summit in Germany, where he hopes to push for renewed sanctions against Russia.Before the first day of the annual gathering of political leaders, held amid ultra-tight security in the Bavarian countryside, Johnson also hailed a new international ban on importing Russia gold. Continue reading...

Analysis: A price cap on Russian oil and potential famine in Africa are among issues pressing for attention

Health secretary urges men to discuss mental health and to ‘seek help’ when they need toSajid Javid has urged men to speak out about their mental health as he spoke publicly for the first time about the loss of his brother, who took his own life.The health secretary said he still wonders if he could have acted to prevent his brother’s death, and spoke of his “deeply personal” mission to prevent suicides. Javid’s brother, Tariq, 51, took his own life in a hotel in Horsham, West Sussex, in July 2018.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Ex-Beatle’s gig seen by many in huge festival crowd as ‘something to tell your grandkids about’Paul McCartney’s history-making Glastonbury set was hailed as one of the greatest headline performances of this generation as a crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered at the festival’s famous Pyramid stage to watch him play.He was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl – and even sang a duet with his old bandmate John Lennon, using special effects pioneered by the Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Continue reading...