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Organisers say the centre is a ‘real watershed’ moment and will open two nights a week from 19 July

Jacinta Allan appointed Victoria’s new deputy premier; Australia records at least 56 Covid deaths and Penny Wong to travel to Vietnam and Malaysia. This blog is now closed

Trip will be president’s first known visit outside mainland China since January 2020 after Covid outbreakThe Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will visit Hong Kong for the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover to mainland China, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.The trip will be Xi’s first known visit outside mainland China since January 2020 after the Covid-19 outbreak. He will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of Hong Kong, Xinhua said. Continue reading...

Frances O’Grady says UK government doesn’t want to avert strikes, it wants to pick fights and sow divisionThe UK government has been accused of waging a culture war against workers rather than pushing to resolve strikes on the railways, amid growing anger among public sector workers over pay and conditions.The head of the TUC said ministers appeared to be more interested in stoking tensions between different groups of workers by making an example of striking railway unions and their members before a broader summer of industrial action. Continue reading...

Seventy-five years after Diary of a Young Girl’s publication, Sonnet for Anne Frank reflects on the ‘awful paradox’ of the journal’s bright spirit and her fate

Agency could face compensation claims after data watchdog rules it applied wrong part of the lawThe Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) breached data protection laws in the way it passed on motorists’ personal details to private parking firms, the UK’s data watchdog has ruled. It could now potentially face compensation claims from motorists as a result, according to one expert.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has decided the DVLA “was not using the correct lawful basis to disclose vehicle keeper information”, Guardian Money can reveal. Continue reading...

Sixty-mile strip on edge of Poland and Lithuania is seen as vulnerable due to its position between Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and BelarusStefan Bilas, 68, says he hears the Russians sometimes. It can be the growl of tanks that drowns out the gentle clucking of the chickens in his front yard, or more often the whirr of attack helicopters or the deafening roar of fighter jets, destination unknown.Artillery fire was heard the other night and there is a shooting range somewhere over there, he points. The lights of a Russian watchtower can be seen at the dead of night. “Peace,” toasts the retired farmer, knocking back a vodka. Continue reading...

Rail firms ask people not to travel as 40,000 union members strike in dispute over pay and conditionsPassengers face a weekend of disrupted train services as the third and final 24-hour leg of the biggest rail strike in 30 years takes place on Saturday.Rail firms have repeated pleas for people to avoid travelling unless necessary, with only about 20% of trains expected to operate in a limited window. Continue reading...

While Bank of England decision may help first-time buyers, experts say there will still be restrictionsFirst-time buyers may get a boost from this week’s announcement that the Bank of England will no longer expect lenders to check if they can afford mortgage payments at higher interest rates – but experts do not expect it to lead to a mortgage free-for-all.From 1 August, banks and building societies will no longer be required to stress-test a borrowers’ finances with the mortgage market affordability test when working out how much to lend. Continue reading...

Leaders of UK, Canada, France and New Zealand denounce the overruling of Roe v Wade as WHO chief calls its ‘disappointing’

Allan was endorsed unanimously by the Victorian Labor caucus to replace James Merlino ahead of the November state election

The company requested the hold while it appeals the sales ban which would have required it to immediately halt its business

German gas prices could triple as Russia cuts supply; Ukrainian forces prepare Severodonetsk retreat; thousands of Black Sea dolphins killed

This live blog is now closed. We will be returning in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments

Hostel in Kigali building football pitches and providing outdoor toys for any children flown to the countryA hostel that has been leased by the Rwandan government to house asylum seekers from the UK is making preparations to accept children.The Hope hostel in Kigali is building outdoor facilities that will include football pitches, basketball courts and outdoor toys for any children who are flown to the east African country. Continue reading...

Set at Cheese and Grain sold out in under an hour after being announced on Thursday nightSir Paul McCartney delivered a surprise performance the night before his Glastonbury festival headline set, which had caused traffic congestion as fans tried to buy a coveted ticket.The impromptu gig at the Cheese and Grain entertainment venue in Frome, Somerset, was announced on Thursday evening and sold out in under an hour. Continue reading...

Pro-choice activists and lawmakers express their dismay over the court ruling and vow to keep fighting for women’s rightsThe crowds gathered outside the US supreme court building in expectation of today’s decision – which resulted in a stunning reversal of federal law, the overturning of Roe v Wade and the end constitutional right to an abortion – turned quickly to anger, protest and in some cases to celebration.Dominated with the voices of anger and dissent, young people and older ones joined together with handmade signs and chanting slogans of protest and defiance. Continue reading...

Rightwing justice appears to offer preview of the court’s potential future rulings after decision to remove US abortion rightsMany Americans reacted to the supreme court’s decision to reverse Roe v Wade and remove federal abortion rights in the US with shock, but many also asked a terrified question: what might be next?The conservative justice Clarence Thomas appeared to offer a preview of the court’s potential future rulings, suggesting the rightwing-controlled court may return to the issues of contraception access and marriage equality, threatening LGBTQ rights. Continue reading...

Analysis: Victorian premier has five months to introduce a new leadership group to votersA lot of comparisons can made between Victorian premiers Daniel Andrews and Jeff Kennett, though, being from opposite sides of politics, neither of them will likely admit it.Both are considered crash-through leaders, either loved or loathed. Both have shaped their state, either for better or worse – depending on whom you ask. Continue reading...

Mining giant claims Ben Pennings sought to disrupt operations of the Carmichael coalmine, its suppliers and contractors

Health minister encourages Paxlovid and Lagevrio use, but peak GP body cautions drugs can have side-effects if taken with some other drugs

Ex-leader Michael Howard among Conservatives to call for resignation after byelection catastrophesConservative grandees are urging Boris Johnson to quit after a historic double byelection defeat, as rebellious MPs began plotting new ways to oust him.The former Conservative leader Michael Howard was among those who demanded the prime minister stand down after the losses in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield which prompted the immediate resignation of the party’s co-chair, Oliver Dowden. Continue reading...

Biden calls ruling in pivotal case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ‘a tragic error’The supreme court has ruled there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States, upending the landmark Roe v Wade case from nearly 50 years ago in a rare reversal of long-settled law that will fracture reproductive rights in America.Joe Biden called the ruling a “tragic error” and the Republicans celebrating it “wrong, extreme and out of touch”. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest UK political coverage hereThis is from James Johnson, a Tory pollster (who worked for Theresa May in No 10) whose firm JL Partners carried out polling in Wakefield, on who ought to be taking the blame for the byelection defeats.PM Media has just snapped this.Boris Johnson has said he will “listen” to voters but will “keep going” after the Tories suffered a double by-election defeat. Continue reading...

Workplace flexibility may leave blocks empty across south-east England, survey revealsAs much as a fifth of office space in London and south-east England may not be required in the post-pandemic world of work as employees spend less time at their desks, according to a property survey.The new workplace flexibility being offered to staff by their employers could leave office blocks empty across Britain’s towns and cities, the real estate consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) found in its latest office market report, as companies cut back on the amount of space they rent. Continue reading...

Statement signed by more than 100 global healthcare groups says US court decision ‘will cost lives for years to come’Doctors and pro-choice activists have condemned the overturning of Roe v Wade, describing it as an “unconscionable attack” that will leave the supreme court justices with “blood on their hands” and cause a global chilling effect on women’s rights.In a statement signed by more than 100 global healthcare organisations, including the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), medics said the US supreme court’s move was “a catastrophic blow” to millions. The statement, also signed by the RCOG’s faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare, warned: “It is a decision that will cost lives for years to come.” Continue reading...

Cost of living crisis and rising prices hits demand for the traditional favourites of the ice cream vanRocket lollies, Screwballs, Twisters, Feasts and, of course, Mr Whippy: the menu of a typical ice-cream van has been etched into our memories since childhood and has barely changed since.But amid soaring inflation and record fuel prices, ice-cream sellers are quickly learning they must adapt to survive – or face the rocky road to ruin. Continue reading...

Funeral held in Pernambuco of Indigenous expert who was killed in Amazon region with journalist Dom PhillipsThe murdered Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira has been buried in his home state of Pernambuco in Brazil after a small ceremony attended by family members and local tribes.Dozens of Indigenous people from the Xukuru tribe paraded around his coffin chanting farewell rituals to the beat of their percussion instruments on Friday. Continue reading...

More than 90% of RMT members who voted back further stoppages in dispute over pensions and job cutsLondon Underground staff in the RMT union have voted to continue with strikes in a dispute over pensions and job cuts, potentially adding to disruption in a summer of industrial action on the transport network.More than 90% of the union’s members on the tube who voted, on a 53% turnout, backed further walkouts, as the RMT leadership continued to talk with Network Rail and train operating companies to resolve the national rail standoff. Continue reading...

Party hopes Tiverton and Honiton victory could be start of shift away from Tories in ‘yellow hedge’ seats

Neighbouring city of Lysychansk could fall within days as Russia continues slow advance in Donbas

Ed Davey says Conservatives across country will lose seats as his party demolishes majority of 24,000

President in video address calls festival the ‘greatest concentration of freedom’ in the worldVolodymyr Zelenskiy has called Glastonbury the “greatest concentration of freedom” in the world as he urged festivalgoers to put pressure on politicians to end the war in Ukraine.Addressing crowds in a video message, which was played on screens at the Other Stage on Friday morning, the Ukrainian president said the pandemic had “put on hold the lives of millions of people around the world, but has not broken them”. Continue reading...

Anonymous activists behind Don’t Pay hope cancelling direct debits will have impact akin to poll tax protestsA campaign is urging 1 million consumers to stop paying their energy bills from October in protest at record price hikes.Run by a group of activists who are operating anonymously for fear of repercussions from energy firms, the Don’t Pay campaign launched last Saturday and has already gathered 4,000 social media followers. They say they are hoping for a rerun of the poll tax protests that helped bring down Margaret Thatcher’s government when 17 million people refused to pay. Continue reading...

Analysis: After Wakefield, the leader’s allies can say ‘boring’ works, but Labour is not wholly convincedKeir Starmer looked upbeat as he addressed reporters on Friday morning after the party’s solid performance in the Wakefield byelection.After a rocky fortnight in which he scolded the shadow cabinet for briefing the press that he is boring, Starmer’s team believe the 12.7% swing will calm nerves and show their steady-as-she-goes strategy is working. Continue reading...

After outrage over case of Child Q, force asks IOPC to examine incidents where children aged 14-17 were strip-searchedAnother eight cases of the Metropolitan police strip-searching children have been referred by the force for independent investigation.There was outrage over the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip-searched at school while menstruating, without an appropriate adult being present. The police apologised and a council report said the child’s treatment was in part the result of discrimination. Continue reading...

High court judge grants permission on one ground after ruling last week in Observer and Guardian journalist’s favourThe multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks has been granted permission to appeal against the judge’s decision in his unsuccessful libel action against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr.Banks, who funded the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign group, raised five grounds on which he said Mrs Justice Steyn had made a wrong decision in her judgment relating to comments Cadwalladr made about him in a Ted Talk and a tweet, both in 2019. Continue reading...

Countries across the continent have experienced all-time highs, raising fears of wildfiresA hot topic (literally) over the past couple of weeks has been the heatwave that has been scorching large parts of Europe. This week has been no different with more than 200 monthly temperature records broken across France, and countries including Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Spain recording all-time highs. For example, Cazaux and Bordeaux experienced monthly all-time temperature records of 41.9C and 40.5C respectively.One consequence of this prolonged heat is the drying out soil and vegetation, permitting the development of wildfires across Spain, with tens of thousands of acres of land likely to be affected. According to scientists at the University of Lleida in Spain, climate change will extend the duration of fire seasons across many regions of Europe. Continue reading...

Jeremy Maluta reveals he is behind pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 but says he has no media experience or connection to Daniel Andrews

CEO of SoftBank Group Masayoshi Son has been lobbied to bring public offering to the UK but says Nasdaq still his ‘main preference’The Japanese owner of the British chip designer Arm has said London is still in the running for the company’s upcoming stock market listing, after intensive lobbying to bring the initial public offering to the UK.The chairman and chief executive of SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, told shareholders at the investment giant’s annual meeting that the US’s tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange was still his “main preference”. Continue reading...

PM has said he intends to carry on but former Tory leader says party ‘would be better off under new leadership’

Exclusive: Analysis shows more than 37,000 people in England have waited over a year, as Johnson recovers from sinus surgeryThe number of people in England waiting for ear, nose and throat treatment has risen sharply during the pandemic, with more than 37,000 waiting more than a year, a new analysis reveals, days after Boris Johnson had a sinus operation on the NHS.

First shipments of international aid arrive in country as officials say death toll has risen to 1,150There are growing fears for the health and wellbeing of the survivors of Wednesday’s earthquake in Afghanistan, as the death toll rose to 1,150 and the first shipments of international aid arrived in the impoverished country.“There are no blankets, tents, there’s no shelter. Our entire water distribution system is destroyed. There is literally nothing to eat,” Zaitullah Ghurziwal, 21, told an AFP team that reached his village in Paktika province. Continue reading...

Glastonbury makes me revel in my sprung mattress, from where I can watch RMT boss Mick Lynch dressing down media punditsHurrah! After an enforced three-year hiatus (there was this pandemic thing – I can’t get into it now), Glastonbury is back! The older I get, the more I love this music festival of music festivals, its noise, its mud, its people. The knowledge that I don’t have to endure any of it gets sweeter with every passing year. The sheer Jomo of it all far outpaces the delights of birthdays (they start to pall once you’re past seven, and I’ve had 40 of them since then) and even Christmas (so much work, now that I have a child of my own and can’t slip into a mimosas-bellinis-prosecco stupor over the course of the day). Continue reading...

Prince of Wales says at summit any move by members to become a republic can be ‘without rancour’The Prince of Wales has told Commonwealth leaders that keeping the Queen as head of state or becoming a republic is “a matter for each member country to decide”.Charles made the comments during the opening ceremony of a summit of Commonwealth prime ministers and presidents in Rwanda. He said he believed such fundamental changes could be made “calmly and without rancour”. Continue reading...

Ex-model admitted breaching order against ex-husband’s fiancee after abusive text made indirect attempt to communicate with herThe former glamour model Katie Price has been handed an 18-month community order after admitting breaching a restraining order against her ex-husband’s fiancee.Price sent abusive messages to her ex-husband, Kieran Hayler, on 21 January this year in which she called his new partner, Michelle Penticost, a “cunting whore” and a “gutter slag”, a court heard. Continue reading...

Fears consumers may have to pay up to three times as much after Nord Stream 1 pipeline flow cut by 40%German consumers could face a tripling of gas prices in the coming months after Russia’s throttling of deliveries to Europe, a senior energy official has said.Moscow reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 40% last week, citing technical reasons that Berlin dismisses as a pretext, prompting a four to six-fold rise in market prices, said the head of Germany’s federal network agency, Klaus Müller. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese’s move to reduce crossbench staffers to pre-Coalition levels met with outrage