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Residential buildings and a kindergarten hit in centre of Ukrainian capital before planned Nato summit on Tuesday

Police in southern city of East London launch investigation and rule out stampedeAt least 17 young people were found dead at a nightclub in a township in South Africa’s southern city of East London on Sunday, police said.“We got a report about 17 (people) that died in a local tavern in Scenery Park which is based in East London,” said Thembinkosi Kinana, a provincial police spokesperson brigadier. “We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.” Continue reading...

Former Formula One team boss Gérard Lopez, who gave £400,000 to Conservatives, has been charged after investigationA Tory donor who has been described as a friend of Vladimir Putin, and who donated £400,000 to the party before the Brexit referendum, is facing charges of forgery in Luxembourg.Gérard Lopez, 50, who chaired the Lotus Formula One team in the UK, donated to the Tories in April 2016, two months before the referendum. He has denied the charges. Continue reading...

Shows with a feelgood factor are boosting box-office takings“I simply remember my favourite things and then I don’t feel so bad,” sang Maria among the mountains in The Sound of Music, introducing to the world one of the most memorable musical lines of all time. Uplifting sentiments like these now seem to have set sales of tickets to musicals in the West End of London soaring to new heights, with pundits suggesting two years of misery have left people desperate to lift their spirits.Box-office figures from the Society of London Theatre (Solt) reveal that, since the beginning of the year, West End musicals outperformed their 2019 equivalents in 20 out of 22 weeks for attendance and 19 out of 22 for revenue. There are fewer plays than in 2019, which might partly explain the strong sales, but people in the industry think it’s more than that. Continue reading...

New rules on fixed recoverable legal costs mean solicitors will no longer be able to afford to take on housing casesPoor and vulnerable tenants who are evicted from their homes or living in dangerous conditions will lose the chance to take their landlords to court when new government rules on legal costs come into force next year, experts are warning.The rules, designed to deter “ambulance chaser” personal injury claims, mean claimants awarded damages of less than £100,000 will only be able to seek “fixed recoverable costs” (FRCs) to cover legal expenses. Continue reading...

Report suggests half of all foster carers are looking after a child with complex needsFoster care in Britain is facing a “mental health crisis” because the government is failing to meet the needs of mentally ill children in care.That is the damning verdict of the latest report from the Fostering Network, a charity representing foster carers. The report, shared with the Observer, suggests half of all foster carers are looking after a child with complex mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and attachment and eating disorders. Continue reading...

The annual competition to discover outstanding new arts reviewers has now opened for submissions“Lear Alone offers us a vision of theatre in the post-pandemic age. Yes, that’s partly about its demonstration of innovative ways to film and stream theatrical content – taking the action outdoors, making dramatic the objects and sounds of street life. But it’s also about its engagement with live political issues.”So wrote Calum Jacobs, the winner of the Observer/ Anthony Burgess prize for arts journalism 2022, in his review of Lear Alone, a web film series in which actor Edmund Dehn wanders London’s lockdown streets performing only the lines of King Lear from Shakespeare’s tragedy. It’s the perfect Burgess prize subject, a piece of art that engages with a particular moment in time and subtly reframes its form. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley and Jason Clare react to US supreme court decision on abortion rights; Australia to send $1m earthquake relief to Afghanistan; nation records 26 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Young academics and support workers at Leeds University are on the breadline as the cost of living crisis bitesStaff are asking universities to set up food banks because they are struggling with rising bills and say they cannot afford to eat properly.As food and energy prices rise, the University and College Union says young academics teaching on casual contracts and low-paid support workers such as porters and cleaners are finding themselves on the breadline. Continue reading...

Move to install venture capital investor as chair of committee comes after series of Conservative donors given positions on cultural boardsA Tory donor has been handed a prominent role at the heart of the UK’s honours system, the Observer can reveal.In a move that provoked immediate claims of political interference, John Booth, a venture capital investor who has given the party more than £200,000, has been made the “independent chair” of the committee that oversees honours in the arts and media. The role means he will also sit on the main honours committee, which considers all awards. Continue reading...

Nine candidates were preselected just days before the 2022 federal election amid bitter recriminations in the NSW branch

Last week’s byelection losses saw huge swings to the best-placed Tory opponent – without any formal electoral pactOn one of the final days of campaigning in Honiton last week, a Liberal Democrat canvasser found himself on the horns of a dilemma as he scrambled for every vote.“I saw this house and there was a huge Labour poster on the railings outside. I was thinking ‘do I or don’t I?’ If I try, she’s just going to say: ‘Can’t you see? Can’t you read?’” Continue reading...

Hollie Hughes told a Sydney Institute forum parents need to ‘turn the internet off’ as she gave reasons for the party’s election defeat

Private equity links and the pursuit of profit come with risks for children in the care sector, say expertsMore than 100 privately run children’s homes in England with serious failings have been branded inadequate by inspectors, with several found to have links to private equity firms, an Observer investigation has found.Poorly trained staff, chaotic management and a series of incidents that left children’s safety in danger were cited in official reports by Ofsted, which inspects children’s homes, as it concluded they were providing inadequate care. Several have closed since inspectors raised concerns. Continue reading...

Analysis: Juul is only the fourth most popular e-cigarette with adolescents, who are opting for disposable alternativesThis week, the US effectively banned Juul after the Food and Drug Administration ordered the e-cigarette maker to remove its popular products from the marketplace.Experts have hailed the move as significant. But they are also concerned that such efforts are failing to keep up with a fast-moving vaping industry – one where young people leap quickly from one product to another. Continue reading...

Bankrupt nation’s energy minister apologises to motorists but unable to say when petrol and diesel imports will be restoredSri Lanka has increased the price of fuel by up to 22%% after the energy minister warned it had virtually run out of petrol and diesel after several expected shipments were delayed.Kanchana Wijesekera apologised to motorists as he said on Saturday that oil cargoes that were due last week did not turn up, while those scheduled to arrive next week will also not reach Sri Lanka due to “banking” reasons. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Ukrainian forces will win back all the cities it has lost to Russia, including Sievierodonetsk

Chief health officer Brett Sutton warns BA.4/BA.5 strain traces have risen in recent weeks, and has greater ability to evade vaccine immunity

Money was passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities, says Clarence HouseThe Prince of Wales accepted bags containing millions of euros in cash during meetings with a senior Qatari politician, according to a report.Prince Charles was said to have been given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar. Continue reading...

Crowd of more than 500 enter border control area after cutting fence in attempt to cross from MoroccoThe death toll from the mass attempt to cross from Morocco into Spain’s enclave of Melilla has risen to 23, according to Moroccan state TV.About 2,000 people approached Melilla at dawn on Friday and more than 500 managed to enter a border control area after cutting a fence with shears, the Spanish government’s local delegation said in a statement. Continue reading...

ATO gives example of child being given $180,000 then repaying it to parents for cost of bringing them up as going against community expectations

Despite initial relief over island nations’ rejection of security and economic pact, senior government figure says reprieve could be only temporary

Defeat for the Tories in two key byelections shows that tactical voting could put safe seats in play if replicated at a general electionWakefield and Tiverton and Honiton are at opposite ends of the country geographically, socially and politically. But they have two features in common: both voted Leave heavily in 2016, and both turned against the Conservatives last week. Defeats on the same day in a northern “red wall” seat and a southern rural stronghold suggest that, six years on from the EU referendum, the Conservative majority Boris Johnson stitched together with a promise to “get Brexit done” is beginning to unravel.For both opposition parties, the byelections have a distinctly 1990s flavour, with the return of a pattern from the Major years that has been largely absent in the past decade of Conservative government – voters in both seats seemed determined to eject Tory incumbents and flocked to the local opposition candidate seen as best placed to do so. Tactical coordination among Labour and Liberal Democrats voters is back, and if replicated at a general election, it could put a lot of seemingly safe Conservative seats in play. Continue reading...

Relative mistakenly sold ‘shocked and horrified’ Buxton woman’s inherited vinyls for less than £1 eachA woman has told of her devastation after a relative mistakenly sold her collection of irreplaceable vinyl records for less than £1 each at a car boot sale.Rohan Mellor, 26, inherited the 16 pieces of vinyl from her late uncle to whom she was very close. Continue reading...

Actor’s comments described as ‘a gift’ that will help other womenCampaigners have welcomed Sharon Stone’s decision to open up about her nine miscarriages, which they said will help other women.The actor said it was “no small thing, physically nor emotionally” and that women who miscarry are made to feel a “sense of failure”. Continue reading...

Aid organisations complain the group in the past has tried to divert aid to supporters of their insurgencyAfghanistan’s Taliban rulers have pledged not to interfere with international efforts to distribute aid to tens of thousands of people affected by this week’s deadly earthquake.Even before Wednesday’s quake the country was in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, with aid flows and financial assistance severely curtailed since the Taliban’s return to power. Continue reading...

Pro-choice campaigners say hearing the term, seen as partisan, on Today programme was ‘disappointing’One of the BBC’s most high-profile presenters has been criticised for using the term “pro-life” to describe anti-abortion campaigners in a discussion about the US supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade.The term, which is considered partisan, was used twice by Amol Rajan during Saturday morning’s Today programme on Radio 4, in segments about the landmark ruling ending Americans’ constitutional right to abortion. Continue reading...

Duchess of Cambridge tweets thanks to ‘all the brave men and women’ who ‘keep us safe’The UK celebrated Armed Forces Day on Saturday, as public figures paid tribute to those currently serving, or who have served, in the military.In a statement posted on Twitter, the Duchess of Cambridge paid tribute to “all the brave men and women” who “keep us safe”. Continue reading...

EU foreign affairs chief says stalemate broken after meeting with Iranian foreign minister in TehranJosep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, has said talks will restart on the Iran nuclear deal, averting a complete collapse in the agreement which could spark a nuclear arms race across the Middle East.After a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in Tehran, Borrell said he had broken the stalemate which had led to talks on the revival of the nuclear deal being stalled since March. Borrell gave no detail about the exact date of the resumption of talks or the precise format, but said the process had the agreement of Iran and the US. He also met Iran’s national security chief Ali Shamkhani. Continue reading...

Moscow launches massive artillery bombardments and airstrikes on eastern city, after Sievierodonetsk destroyed

Writing in the Observer, mayor of Manchester says Tory byelection defeats should open the way for consensus and radical reformLabour should back proportional representation for Westminster elections to allow more cooperation between political parties on a programme of urgently needed social reform, says Andy Burnham.Writing for the Observer in the aftermath of two byelection defeats for the Tories, brought about in part by tactical voting by Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters, the mayor of Greater Manchester says PR should be at the heart of an entirely new approach to politics and policymaking. Continue reading...

During demonstrations, started by an Indigenous federation, roads were blocked and vehicles torched, and police fired teargasEcuador has been brought to a near standstill after two weeks of tumultuous protests over a spike in fuel and food prices as global inflation inflames discontent over widening inequality across Latin America.At least five people have died after demonstrators blocked roads, torched vehicles and hurled stones, while police responded with teargas during several days of clashes. Ecuador’s health ministry has said two people died in ambulances delayed by road blockades. Twelve police officers are reported injured. Continue reading...

Constitutional law would cement abortion rights for future generations, says member of parliamentA group of lawmakers from the French president’s party will propose a bill to inscribe abortion rights into the country’s constitution, according to a statement by two members of parliament on Saturday.The move comes after the US supreme court overturned a 50-year-old ruling and stripped women’s constitutional protections for abortion. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest political coverage hereHusain asks how it’s fair or right that the top civil servant in the country, Simon Case, asked about job opportunities for Carrie Johnson.“I think that the worst thing I could possibly do is get into conversations about my family, my private life. Continue reading...

No running water, gas or electricity and apartment blocks destroyed at random… Now civilians in Ukraine’s second biggest city are facing a new Russian offensive

Person who sounds and looks like Vitali Klitschko has spoken with mayors of Berlin, Madrid and ViennaThe mayors of several European capitals have been duped into holding video calls with a deepfake of their counterpart in Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko.The mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, took part in a scheduled call on the Webex video conferencing platform on Friday with a person she said looked and sounded like Klitschko. Continue reading...

Union boss says transport secretary should ‘tone down the rhetoric’ and make effort to solve rail strikes

Prime minister’s mother’s work features in exhibition at Museum of the Mind by artists who struggled with mental healthAn emotionally charged painting that offers a glimpse into the private childhood world of the prime minister and his young siblings is to play a key part in a new exhibition about the pain of grappling with mental illness away from the family home.The frank and poignant work, Where is Mama? by Charlotte Johnson Wahl, Boris Johnson’s late mother, is to hang alongside paintings by artists that include Louis Wain and Richard Dadd. The exhibition, A way from home: Bethlem artists on longing and belonging, opens next month at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham, Kent, in galleries housed in the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital. Among the arresting images, each of which tells a story of loss and treatment, is the painting made by Wahl in 1974, while still married to Stanley Johnson and separated from her four young children – Boris, Rachel, Leo and Jo. Continue reading...

Police were flagged down by members of public after reports child was in difficulty in Jubilee River in TaplowThe body of a 16-year-old boy has been pulled from a river in Buckinghamshire, police have said.Officers were flagged down by members of the public just after 5.30pm on Friday following reports a child had entered the Jubilee River in Taplow and got into difficulty. Continue reading...

Acting police chief calls Oslo shootings ‘extreme Islamist terror act’ and says gunman has history of violenceThe Norwegian security service has raised its terror alert to the highest level after mass shootings left two people dead and many wounded during Pride week in Oslo.Roger Berg, the acting PST chief, called the shootings an “extreme Islamist terror act”. He said the gunman, who was arrested shortly after the shootings, had a “long history of violence and threats”. Continue reading...

With Roe v Wade overturned, administration could go to court over how mifepristone is approved for usePresident Joe Biden’s administration has indicated it will seek to prevent states from banning a pill used for medical abortion in light of the supreme court ruling overturning Roe v Wade, signalling a major new legal fight.The administration could argue in court that the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, one of the pills used for medical abortions, preempts state restrictions, meaning federal authority outweighs any state action. Continue reading...

Plans for the structure were scrapped, it is claimed, due to security concerns it would be visible from the roadsideBoris Johnson planned to build a £150,000 treehouse for his son at Chequers but was stopped when police raised security concerns, it has been reported.The prime minister and his wife, Carrie Johnson, wanted to install the structure during autumn 2020, according to a report in the Times. Continue reading...

PM says his position is ‘settled’ and he will not be distracted by the ‘endless churn’ of news claiming he ‘stuffed up’Boris Johnson has claimed that questions over his premiership have been “settled” and speculation over his future is driving the British people “nuts” as pressure piles on his leadership after the Tories’ double byelection defeat.The prime minister also warned Tory MPs considering further moves to unseat him to focus instead on the needs of the UK who are irritated by rows centred on Westminster. Continue reading...

Data shows number of deaths is higher than admitted as experts question safeguarding and fear chances to save lives were missedDozens of asylum seekers who were officially recognised by the Home Office as vulnerable and potentially in need of protection have died in government accommodation, with previously undisclosed internal documents suggesting a number of the cases involved safeguarding failings.New data obtained in a joint investigation by the Observer and Liberty Investigates has found at least 107 deaths of asylum seekers who were provided with Home Office housing between April 2016 and May 2022, far more than officially admitted. Eighty-two have died since January 2020. Continue reading...

Desert Island Discs presenter was on site at Worthy Farm but has pulled out saying she is ‘heartbroken’The BBC presenter Lauren Laverne has pulled out of covering Glastonbury festival after the death of her mother.Laverne, who had been on site at Worthy Farm for the BBC, said on Instagram that she was “utterly heartbroken” after the death of her mother Celia on Friday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pay review body recommendation higher than government’s figures but less than unions wantNHS staff should receive a pay rise of at least 4%, independent experts have advised, setting healthcare workers on a collision course with ministers who have set a firm maximum of 3%.The pay review body (PRB) will recommend that NHS personnel should an increase this year of somewhere between 4% and 5%, the Guardian understands, despite warnings from the government that undertaking such advice would break the bank. Continue reading...

Latest outbreak in city of 25 million subsides after months of lockdowns and other restrictionsChina has reported no new Covid-19 infections in Shanghai for the first time since March, as the country’s latest outbreak subsides after months of lockdowns and other restrictions.China is the last major economy committed to a zero-Covid strategy, stamping out all infections with a combination of targeted lockdowns, mass testing and long quarantine periods. Continue reading...

Bombardments reported in the north and east, with focus on Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk

PM says he must ‘humbly and sincerely’ accept criticism but that bad byelection results are common for governments