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Doctors of the World’s report finds bills, often charged incorrectly, affected mothers’ mental health and led some to avoid healthcareNew mothers are being charged up to £14,000 to give birth in England, according to a report on the experiences of migrant women who have been billed for NHS maternity services.The report, published on Thursday by the healthcare charity Doctors of the World (DOTW), reveals that more than a third (37.8%) of the mothers surveyed – who include undocumented, refugee and asylum-seeking women – received a bill for maternity care after their babies were delivered, ranging from £296 to £14,000. Of that group, half were charged £7,000 or more. Continue reading...

Move comes after former president Donald Trump controversially closed consulate and redesignated it in 2018The US diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in Jerusalem has been redesignated and will report directly to Washington “on substantive matters”, signalling an upgrade in ties prior to a planned visit by the president, Joe Biden.What was formerly called the “Palestinian Affairs Unit” (PAU) was renamed the “US Office of Palestinian Affairs” (OPA) under the move. Before becoming the PAU, it had been the US consulate in Jerusalem and a focus of Palestinian statehood goals in the city. Continue reading...

Levels of torture and sexual violence used by combatants against women and girls during the 15-year conflict shocked investigatorsThe full scale of the rape, torture and killing of women and girls during Lebanon’s civil war has been revealed after survivors were interviewed about their experiences for the first time in over 30 years.Testimonies gathered by the human rights organisation Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), documented in a new report, provide evidence of systematic violence against Lebanese and Palestinian women and girls by government forces and militias during the 15-year war, which began in 1975. The conflict saw more than 100,000 people killed and 1 million displaced. Continue reading...

NSW supreme court dismisses Dr Joseph Ajaka’s application to force Nine Entertainment to hand over draft story by journalist Adele Ferguson

Shadow levelling up secretary says Labour wants to avoid industrial action as RMT plans June walkoutsThe shadow levelling up secretary, Lisa Nandy, said she is on the side of both the public and workers as unions prepare to stage major strike action on the rail network in the coming weeks.Nandy fell short of explicitly backing or opposing the planned industrial action during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, instead saying Labour wanted to avoid strikes.This story was amended on 9 June to clarify Lisa Nandy’s position after her office contacted the Guardian Continue reading...

Media organisations call on Brazil’s president to step up efforts to find Phillips and indigenous advocate Bruno PereiraEditors and journalists from some of the world’s biggest news organisations have written to the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, to ask that he “urgently step up and fully resource the effort” to find missing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira.Led by the Guardian and the Washington Post, two newspapers for whom Phillips worked as a freelance correspondent, editors from at least 20 major media and press freedom organisations signed the open letter that was published on Thursday. Continue reading...

Train operator says proposal from I Squared Capital doesn’t provide investors with ‘sufficient certainty’Britain’s biggest train operator FirstGroup has rejected a £1.2bn takeover proposal from a US private equity firm, after its board determined the offer was too low.The bus and rail company said it had carefully reviewed the proposal from I Squared Capital, which first became public last month, but concluded that the 118p a share cash offer “significantly undervalues FirstGroup’s continuing operations and its future prospects”. Continue reading...

Minister reveals details of plan to be formally unveiled alongside relaunch of right to buy by Boris Johnson

The prehistoric artefacts, all made to a similar shape and template, are found in enormous numbers across southern Africa across vast distances

Cartel members given jail sentences in Australian first after colluding to fix dollar and Vietnamese dong exchange rate

Two charged after remains found on Glass House Mountains; Victoria’s health workers to receive $3,000 one-off payment; nation records 59 Covid deaths as boosters recommended by Atagi for at-risk children between 12 and 15. Follow all the day’s news

George cites social media posts by network’s political editor in updated claim, which Ten and Van Onselen have strenuously denied

Treasurer Cameron Dick says miners will pay more tax on each tonne of coal sold next financial year

Sub-zero temperatures also expected in parts of regional Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT

Cabinet agrees to extend mechanism into next year and review will look at supply as well as prices

Peter Dutton calls on Labor to buy two US submarines to fill capability gap despite pending decision over UK and US options

District of Minhang to be closed on Saturday for mass testing, sparking fears the lockdown could be prolonged if cases foundShanghai will lock down a district of 2.7 million people on Saturday to conduct mass coronavirus testing, city authorities said, as the Chinese metropolis struggles to fully emerge from punishing curbs.The city eased many restrictions last week, after confining most of its 25 million residents to their homes since March as China battled its worst Covid outbreak in two years. Continue reading...

All staff at public hospitals and ambulance service eligible for payment amid strain on health system

Paul Dawson says police claims Chris Dawson had anything to do with the alleged murder of his wife Lynette are preposterousThe babysitter and woman who eventually married Chris Dawson had a motive to see Lynette Dawson dead, Dawson’s brother has told a court.In the ongoing murder trial against Chris Dawson, 73, an intercepted phone call between himself and his twin brother, Paul, from March 1999 was played to the court. Continue reading...

Police confirm Christopher Wilson was found on Thursday morning after going missing in Annangrove on Wednesday afternoon

La Luz del Mundo ‘apostle’ Naasón Joaquín García sentenced after admitting three abuse charges in Californian courtThe leader of the Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young female followers.Naasón Joaquín García, 53, pleaded guilty last week in Los Angeles superior court to three felonies on the eve of a long-awaited trial. Continue reading...

President says battle in key city the ‘most difficult’ since start of the war, as Donbas leaders warn Ukrainian forces have been pushed to city’s outskirts

Tribunal finds her offending was ‘directly related’ to factors including sexual abuse when she was in the care of Australian authoritiesA New Zealand-born woman has successfully appealed being deported from Australia under its controversial “501” migration law after a tribunal found her offending was directly related to being abused in Australian state care as a child.The woman, whose name is withheld, arrived in Australia when she was seven years old with her mother and two siblings, and has lived there for several decades. Continue reading...

Unscripted question appears to catch foreign minister off guard in Turkey, where he was discussing plans for a grain export corridor from Ukraine

Political parties poured millions into advertising on Google and Facebook until polling day as blackout laws only cover broadcast media

Major report raises concern at low intervention by firms and puts pressure on government reviewMore than 420,000 British gamblers lose at least £2,000 a year, according to a major report that warns losses on the most addictive products are “strongly skewed” towards deprived areas.The report lays bare the punishing losses incurred by the heaviest gamblers and raises “concern” at the low level of intervention by gambling companies to prevent them suffering harm. Continue reading...

Police detain man on drugs and weapons charges but say too early to link arrest directly to disappearance in Amazon of Dom PhillipsAuthorities in the Amazon investigating the disappearance of a British journalist and an Indigenous advocate have yet to find any evidence of a crime three days after the men went missing in a remote corner of the rainforest.Police in the far west of Brazil said on Wednesday their inquiries into the disappearance of Dom Phillips, a longtime Guardian contributor, and Bruno Araújo Pereira, an advocate for Indigenous people, had led to the arrest of one man. Continue reading...

Analysis: Political gains of a scheme for housing association tenants would be small, and it could create sense of injusticeTalk that Boris Johnson will offer many of England’s housing association tenants the possibility of buying their homes will remind older voters of Margaret Thatcher’s council house sell-off which saw around 2 million households join her pursuit of a “property-owning democracy”. Younger voters might also remember the idea has appeared in both the 2015 and 2019 Tory manifestos without ever being implemented.There are 4.4m affordable homes of varying kinds in England, but the sheer complexity of selling off property that is not in public ownership and the cost to the taxpayer of subsidising sales that could exceed £1bn a year are among the reasons such a sell-off has never happened. Add to that widespread concerns that the policy will only deplete England’s already scant affordable housing stock while the sector estimates 4.2 million people are in need, and the chances of the PM repeating the seismic property revolution delivered by Thatcher’s gambit look slim. Continue reading...

Opponents condemn ‘hot air and waffle’ in planned speech amid reports that people will be able to use housing benefit to buy homesBoris Johnson will try to reset his beleaguered premiership on Thursday with a speech on housing and the cost of living that was condemned by opponents as “hot air and waffle” and rehashed policies, rather than a genuine attempt to tackle the crises.As petrol prices saw their biggest daily jump in 17 years and Britain was warned its economy could be hit more by the Ukraine war than any other major country, the prime minister was expected to mainly promise concrete plans in the coming weeks. Continue reading...

Review found council was ‘paralysed’ due to processing freedom of information requestsNorthumberland county council operated in a “climate of fear and intimidation” so extreme that senior officers and councillors were constantly making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to dig dirt on each other, a report has found.An independent governance review into the council found it had become “paralysed” due to the “extraordinary” resources devoted to processing almost 5,000 FOI requests made within three years, many from senior officers and councillors. Continue reading...

Five people rescued and search continues at Roadford Lake near OkehamptonRescuers are looking for two people missing after a boat capsized in south Devon.Police said five people had been rescued from Roadford Lake, near Okehampton. Three were discharged by paramedics at the scene and two were taken to Derriford hospital for treatment. Their condition is unknown. Continue reading...

Judge in copyright case confers status on Only Fools and Horses character after lawyers asked him to watch three episodesDerek “Del Boy” Trotter, the aspirational market trader in the TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses, would probably raise a proud lovely jubbly toast to his newly acquired status of “literary work” following a high court copyright ruling he would hail as cushty.Del Boy’s status was legally defined after a company, set up by the creator of the award-winning BBC comedy, won its copyright battle with the operators of an “interactive theatrical dining experience” Only Fools the (Cushty) Dining Experience. Continue reading...

Three-time World Cup winner joined sports, culture and media figures in calling for action over Dom Phillips and Bruno PereiraA host of Brazilian celebrities, led by the three-time World Cup winner Pelé, have joined calls for authorities to intensify their search for a British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous advocate missing in the Amazon rainforest.Pelé, now 81 and considered one of the greatest players of all time, retweeted a video made by Phillips’s wife appealing for more urgency in the search for her husband and Bruno Pereira. Continue reading...

Many are confident there will be further scandals to provide impetus for changing 12-month immunity ruleRebel Tory MPs are betting that Boris Johnson will “blow himself up” with further scandals over the summer so that the rules protecting him from another confidence vote can be changed to force him from office.The prime minister narrowly survived a ballot on his premiership this week, helped partly by potential leadership contenders deciding to hold off launching their own campaigns. Continue reading...

Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity says complaint about federal police not about corruption so does not fall within its remit

Agent says tenants must ensure ‘adequate ventilation’ after record-breaking rains spread mould earlier in the year – even as bitter cold arrives

Pandemic has contributed to ‘destabilisation of world order’ leading to weaponisation of technology, Reece Kershaw says

Exclusive: Patients tell of screening and surgery they believe they didn’t need, and the effect this has had on their lives

Latest updates: under-pressure prime minister says he has alienated Tory MPs because his government is doing ‘big, remarkable things’

Planning officers advise committee to refuse road agency’s application for retrospective permissionOfficials have recommended that the government’s roads agency should remove hundreds of tonnes of concrete it used to infill a Victorian bridge in Cumbria.National Highways (NH) faced widespread condemnation last year after it submerged a 1862 bridge arch at Great Musgrave, near Kirby Stephen in 1,644 tonnes of gravel and concrete. It was accused of “cultural vandalism” in the House of Lords, and the outcry prompted the government to pause NH’s plans to infill dozens of other Victorian bridges across England. Continue reading...

Instead of being offered counselling, those assessed to be at risk of self-harm or suicide have been given ‘how to feel better’ handoutsPeople at risk of suicide who have been threatened with deportation to Rwanda have been told to learn a musical instrument or to try sudoku instead of being offered counselling, the Guardian has learned.One man, who is in his 40s and of east African descent, is being detained at Colnbrook immigration removal centre near Heathrow airport since arriving in the UK via boat in May. He has been served a notice for removal to Rwanda by the Home Office, with his solicitors being given until Friday to respond.In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org Continue reading...

About 130 asylum seekers expected to be sent to Rwanda on 14 JunePriti Patel’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as soon as next week is facing a legal challenge under emergency proceedings launched in the high court on Wednesday.An application for a judicial review claims that the home secretary’s policy is unlawful. Claimants are also seeking an injunction that will attempt to stop the plane from taking off. Continue reading...

Pinchas Goldschmidt left Russia just weeks after invasion of Ukraine, daughter-in-law saysMoscow’s chief rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt, is “in exile” after resisting Kremlin pressure to support the war in Ukraine, his daughter-in-law has said.Goldschmidt, who also heads the Conference of European Rabbis, left Russia just weeks after it launched its invasion of Ukraine, saying he had to take care of his ailing father in Jerusalem. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary decided to give territory two years to implement reforms to tackle corruptionDirect rule will not be imposed on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) after the UK foreign secretary decided to give the territory’s emergency administration two years to implement reforms to tackle endemic corruption.Last month the BVI’s premier, Andrew Fahie, faced charges of money laundering and conspiring to import cocaine after he was arrested in a sting operation by US agents posing as Mexican drug traffickers in Miami. He denies the charges. Continue reading...

Polling firm denies allegation it drew back from publishing some data showing Corbyn’s Labour doing wellYouGov suppressed polling in last few weeks of the 2017 election campaign because it was too positive about Labour, a senior former employee has said.Chris Curtis, a former political research manager, said “everybody panicked at the backlash” to a YouGov poll suggesting there could be a hung parliament, and the firm subsequently drew back from publishing some data that showed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour doing well. YouGov denies the allegation. Continue reading...

Average price at 180.73p, with cost of filling family car threatening to exceed £100 for first timeThe price of petrol at UK forecourts has made its biggest daily jump in 17 years, as the cost of filling a family car threatens to exceed £100 for the first time.A litre of petrol cost an average of 180.73p on Tuesday, according to the data firm Experian Catalist – up an astonishing 2.23p compared with the previous day. Continue reading...

Above-inflation increases for calls, data and text messages will be blow to struggling customersThe mobile phone company Three is pushing through another round of big price increases for its pay-as-you-go customers, with the cost of making a call jumping by an inflation-busting 250%.The higher call, data and text message costs will be a fresh blow to households already struggling with soaring living costs. Pre-paid mobiles are more commonly used by Britons aged over 65 and those in low income households. Continue reading...

Spinks was stabbed to death in June 2021 by former colleague she had previously reported to forceFive Derbyshire police officers will face misconduct proceedings after 23-year-old Gracie Spinks was killed by a stalker she had previously reported to the force, the police watchdog has said.Spinks was stabbed to death by a former colleague, Michael Sellers, 35, while tending to her horse in a field in Duckmanton, Derbyshire, in June 2021. In the weeks before her death, a bag containing a hammer, an axe and some knives was handed in to the police after being found close to where Spinks was subsequently killed. Continue reading...

The 124-track set features their first six albums plus fan-pleasing curios such as the band’s first-ever recording sessionBlondie are opening their archive to create their first box-set release, featuring 36 tracks that have never been previously heard.Drawn from a hoard of master tapes and ephemera that lay in a barn belonging to the band’s Chris Stein in Woodstock, New York, the set – entitled Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982 – totals 124 tracks. Their first six studio albums are included, appended with demos, outtakes, alternate versions and rarities. Continue reading...