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Majority of Ukrainian grain exports have been halted since Russia launched full invasion in February

Exclusive: Former PM discusses ‘cold, cruel’ Vladimir Putin and the west’s response to the Russian invasion

Health secretary Sajid Javid admits footage from Princess Alexandra hospital in Essex is ‘not what anyone wants to see’A nurse has been filmed warning patients at an overcrowded A&E department that they could be forced to wait up to 13 hours to see a doctor.The video, which has racked up more than 1 million views, was filmed at Harlow A&E, run by Princess Alexandra hospital NHS trust in Essex, on Monday evening. The health secretary, Sajid Javid, has since said the footage is “not what anyone wants to see”. Continue reading...

Johnson seeks to present himself as fully in charge in first PMQs since unconvincing confidence vote win

Begg, who launched judicial review after having application rejected last year, is told he can now apply for passportA former Guantánamo Bay detainee has been told he can once again obtain a British passport after the document was taken from him eight years ago following two trips to Syria.Moazzam Begg’s application for a new passport was rejected in September 2021, even though a terrorism prosecution relating to his time in Syria collapsed in 2014, after which police said they accepted he was innocent. Continue reading...

Annual growth remains at 10.5%, the slowest rate since start of year, says HalifaxThe average UK house price hit a fresh high in May, rising for the 11th month in a row, according to Halifax data, but the annual growth rate slowed in a sign that the cost of living crisis is cooling the market.House prices increased by 1% between April and May, or £2,857, taking the average price of a home to a record of £289,099. Continue reading...

Supreme court to revisit May decision preventing broadcast of the program on Double Bay surgeon Joseph Ajaka

Micheál Martin’s remarks come as No 10 is expected to table draft legislation overriding key parts of Brexit deal

Health secretary says Tory rebels should not seek rule change to allow another confidence vote against prime ministerSajid Javid has said he would like to see the government “do more on tax cuts”, adding to the pressure on Boris Johnson from senior Conservatives after the damaging revolt over his leadership.The health secretary said he thought Conservative MPs were prepared to get behind the prime minister, and argued it would be “grossly unfair” to change the rules to allow another vote on ousting him. Continue reading...

Research finds class 3 obese patients undertake knee surgery on average seven years earlier than those with ‘healthy’ BMIs

Teenager sentenced to at least six years in prison over manslaughter deaths of Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter

Rail Delivery Group chair says it needs to draw up guidance for people ‘but we will be very flexible’Rail passengers whose journeys are affected by strikes planned for late June will receive refunds for the tickets they have bought, the head of the industry body that represents train companies has said.“If we cannot provide a service to our customers due to strike action then we will refund customers,” said Steve Montgomery, the chair of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). Continue reading...

Domestic violence campaigners say new three-week timeline is better but still ‘not good enough’

ASA received 63 complaints over Vegan Friendly UK ad aimed at highlighting potential hypocrisy among meat-eatersThe advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad for Vegan Friendly UK after receiving complaints about graphic violence towards animals.The ad, shown in March, was intended to highlight potential hypocrisy among meat-eaters who said they cared about animal welfare. Continue reading...

Peter Ravenscroft pleads guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception, avoids jail

Analysis: With Tory party in turmoil, firms frustrated and a cost of living crisis, time is not on PM’s side“A confederacy of dunces,” sighed Crispin Odey, delivering his verdict on the MPs vying to dethrone Boris Johnson and lead the Tory party.The hedge fund kingpin, once one of Johnson’s biggest backers, had just finished a long lunch with an old contact and was in devastating form. Continue reading...

Chief justice says it is clear that justice had seriously miscarried in case of Alan Hall, who was convicted of murder of Arthur Easton in 1985A New Zealand man who spent 19 years in prison for murder has had his conviction quashed after the supreme court found there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice when key evidence was not disclosed in the original trial – something the crown itself acknowledged was wrong.Alan Hall, who has autism, was convicted at age 23 of the murder of Arthur Easton in his Papakura home in 1985. Easton had been stabbed by an intruder and the murder weapon – a bayonet – and a woollen hat were found at the scene. Continue reading...

The outgoing children’s laureate has transformed six primary schools through her Life-changing Libraries initiative, but says a ringfenced fund is needed for lasting impactAuthor Cressida Cowell has renewed a call for the government to invest £100m in primary school libraries, as her final act in the role of children’s laureate.Cowell said that it was “ever more urgent to introduce a proper, lasting” library intervention, as new research shows that school libraries help to improve academic standards, as well as foster a love of reading in children. Continue reading...

Citizens Advice says consumers ‘piling borrowing on top of borrowing’ by paying with credit cardsMore than two in five recent buy now, pay later (BNPL) shoppers relied on credit cards or other forms of borrowing to pay off what they owed, the charity Citizens Advice has said.It said the figures showed that shoppers are “piling borrowing on top of borrowing” and underlined the urgent need for BNPL to be regulated. Continue reading...

Public Service Association strike comes after government announced 2.5% wage cap would rise to 3%

Shadow treasurer David Davis tells Sky News host Peta Credlin ‘nothing’s ever independent, it’s always stacked’

ACCC is seeking compensation for Australian customers who were quoted accommodation prices in USD but charged in AUD

Jean Claude Sangwa took up arms in Luhansk – and his pro-Moscow views are mainstream in much of AfricaFighting alongside pro-Russia separatists as part of Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine wasn’t mentioned in the brochures of Luhansk University when Jean Claude Sangwa, a 27-year-old student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, moved to the breakaway region last year to study economics.But when the head of the Kremlin-controlled, self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic announced a full military mobilisation of the region on 19 February, Sangwa, together with two friends and fellow students from DRC and Central African Republic, decided to join the local militia and take up arms against Ukraine. Continue reading...

Marilyn Dawson tells murder trial she was unhappy about Chris Dawson and JC sharing a bed at her place while he was still married

But economists say pulling money out of retirement savings to try to pick the market can result in further losses

High court found in favour of Turkish citizen whose Australian citizenship was cancelled over Asio finding he joined Islamic State

Cases where DNA evidence was initially found to be insufficient to undergo further testing at state-run lab are now being reviewed

The special edition of Margaret Atwood’s novel was auctioned by Sotheby’s and is made of Cinefoil, a treated aluminum productA specially commissioned, unburnable edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has been auctioned for $130,000, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday.Proceeds will be donated to PEN America, which advocates for free expression worldwide. The 384-page book consists mainly of Cinefoil, a specially treated aluminum product, and was announced last month at PEN’s annual fundraising gala. Continue reading...

Attorney general Mark Dreyfus says ‘serious and systemic’ past corruption allegations would be part of new commission’s remit

Report says failings mean ministers still do not know if tagging criminals is helping to cut reoffendingA failed government plan to transform the system for electronically tagging offenders wasted £98m of taxpayers’ money, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.The National Audit Office (NAO) said attempts to upgrade HM Prison & Probation Service’s (HMPPS) tagging system were abandoned in March after 11 years and a net spend of £153m. Continue reading...

Officers claimed they feared being violently attacked, say reports, but campaigners accuse force of ‘trampling all over human rights’Attenders at Sarah Everard’s vigil were arrested by police officers who feared the event had become an “anti-police protest”, according to reports.Officers claimed in witness statements first reported by the Evening Standard that they were branded “murderers” by those in attendance. Continue reading...

Sir Robert Francis, who authored study, says there is ‘compelling case’ for giving interim compensation of £100,000 to each victimCompensation for victims of the infected blood scandal could run into billions of pounds after a government commissioned report suggested thousands of people should receive minimum payments of £100,000 each.Sir Robert Francis QC, was asked to make recommendations for a framework for compensation and redress for people infected after being given factor VIII blood products that were contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C imported from the US in the 1970s and 1980s, or after being exposed to tainted blood through transfusions or after childbirth. It has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. Continue reading...

MPs will attempt to stymie Boris Johnson’s legislative agenda, starting with bill on NI protocolRebel Conservative MPs are drawing up plans for “vote strikes” in a bid to paralyse law-making and capitalise on the dramatic Boris Johnson no-confidence vote.Some of the 148 MPs who voted to oust the prime minister on Monday said they would try to stymie his government’s legislative agenda, as happened at the end of the Theresa May era, by abstaining on key laws. Continue reading...

Suspects accused of evading bills totalling €60,000 after allegedly plugging in to neighbours’ supplyEleven members of a Rome-based mafia clan known for its ostentatious funerals and garishly decorated villas are facing trial for allegedly stealing electricity by an illegal connection to their neighbours’ supply.The charges emerged as part of an investigation into the Casamonica clan, whose illegally built villas in the Quadraro district were demolished in 2018 as the former Rome mayor Virginia Raggi tried to tackle organised crime in the city. Continue reading...

Local MPs opposed plan for 13-mile stretch of new track but industry says move is ‘hugely disappointing’A £3bn branch of the High Speed 2 network designed to speed up rail journeys between London and Scotland has been quietly ditched by ministers, provoking outrage from rail industry groups.The change was announced on Monday evening as the result of the confidence vote in Boris Johnson was being determined. Three leading industry bodies said the decision to scrap the Golborne link would create a bottleneck for trains and negatively affect passengers and freight. Continue reading...

Beijing insists Chinese military’s actions – labelled dangerous by Australia – were ‘professional, safe, reasonable and legal’China has warned Australia to stop “provocations” or face “serious consequences” after the Albanese government said a Chinese jet intercepted an RAAF plane in a dangerous manoeuvre in late May.Australia complained to China over its interception of a maritime surveillance flight in international airspace in the South China Sea region on 26 May which Australia labelled “very dangerous”. Continue reading...

Centrica boss also defends Amber Rudd’s appointment to its board as a non-executiveThe British Gas owner, Centrica, has warned that Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax will “damage investor confidence” as Britain attempts to build up green energy supplies.The Centrica chairman, Scott Wheway, and its chief executive, Chris O’Shea, hit out at the chancellor’s 25% levy on oil and gas operators’ excess profits, which will be used to pay for measures to reduce soaring energy bills. Continue reading...

Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health ScotlandScotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks. Continue reading...

Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards says she was in ‘state of shock’ after finding out how son diedThe music entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards died from arrhythmia as a result of taking recreational drugs, his mother has said.Edwards, who helped launch the careers of Dave and Ed Sheeran, died in February aged 31. Brenda Edwards, a singer and Loose Women panellist, said in a statement on Tuesday she was in a “state of shock” after finding out how he died. Continue reading...

Prof Jon Tonge accurately predicted result of confidence vote in prime minister

Scientists find the size of the ‘outer wedge’ of a faultline can magnify a rupture’s impact, worrying news for a fault running from Vancouver Island to northern CaliforniaScientists have long predicted a giant 9.0-magnitude earthquake that reverberates out from the Pacific north-west’s Cascadia fault and quickly triggers colossal waves barreling to shore.But what if these predictions were missing an important piece of information – one that, in certain scenarios, could tell an even more extreme story? Continue reading...

Accounting firm failed to adequately scrutinise long-term contracts at construction companies, says FRCPricewaterhouseCoopers has received penalties totalling £5m for failures in its audit of the construction firms Galliford Try and Kier, in the latest fines imposed on a “big four” accounting firm.The Financial Reporting Council, the accounting watchdog, also imposed a £136,000 fine on the head of PwC’s construction division and issued severe reprimands to PwC, which it said had failed to adequately scrutinise long-term contracts at both builders, among other failings. It ordered the firm to review its audit work of listed companies that rely on long-term contracts. Continue reading...

Fast-food chain temporarily changes recipe due to supply chain issues caused by floods in Queensland and northern NSW earlier this yearIf you’ve noticed a twist in your Twister, or a bit more zing in your Zinger, it could be that Australia’s lettuce shortage is starting to bite.KFC has advised customers that they are temporarily using a blend of lettuce and cabbage in stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania because of supply issues across the country. Continue reading...

Reports of presence at Ream base on Gulf of Thailand would significantly expand its presence in Indo-PacificA Cambodian naval base being constructed with the assistance of China will include a portion for the exclusive use of the Chinese military, according to a report in the Washington Post.The Chinese and Cambodian governments have previously denied reports that Cambodia will allow a Chinese military presence at the Ream naval base on the Gulf of Thailand Continue reading...

UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia walks out after Charles Michel accuses Moscow of being ‘solely responsible for this looming food crisis’

Investigation launched as first cases in a year blamed on vaccine refusal fuelled by clerics and falsification of records by parentsPakistan’s polio eradication campaign is in disarray after an alarming jump in cases last week. Eight polio cases have now been reported in children over the past month in North Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan. They are the first cases in more than a year.This new outbreak, officials believe, is due to parents falsely marking themselves and their children as vaccinated, and the government has launched an investigation into the outbreak. Continue reading...

Analysis: Having been in denial for weeks, the Tory leader finally understands how how much trouble he is inBoris Johnson’s glum face at the Queen’s jubilee pageant on Sunday said it all. With his face at times in his hands, he did not appear to be fully concentrating on the parade.Just hours earlier, Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, had rung the prime minister to tell him that the threshold of more than 54 letters expressing lost confidence in him had been reached. Continue reading...