World news | The Guardian

Latest updates: Carlisle MP is latest to say Partygate fallout needs vote on PM’s future; Andrea Leadsom condemns ‘unacceptable failings of leadership’

Daryl Tavernor, who has spinal muscular atrophy, calls for review of the airport’s services for wheelchair usersA disabled passenger who was abandoned on a plane at Manchester airport for more than two hours, before having to phone the police to help get him through border control, has said it felt like being held “hostage”.Daryl Tavernor, 33, who has spinal muscular atrophy, has called for a review of the airport’s services for wheelchair users. He and his carer were trapped on the aircraft after their Ryanair flight from Rome early last Thursday morning. After finally being taken off the aircraft at 4.40am, they then faced another hour’s wait to get through the abandoned border control area and was only let through after calling the police. Continue reading...

People under constant fire in southern city of Mykolaiv say they can beat Russia with more help

PM justifies plans to scrap 91,000 jobs in letter to civil servants but promises supportBoris Johnson has written to civil servants justifying plans to cut 91,000 jobs, saying the government must reduce its costs “just as many families are doing”.Following the announcement that the civil service’s flagship graduate scheme was to be frozen for at least a year to help reduce head count by 20%, the prime minister tried to assure officials that support would be provided to “anyone affected”. Continue reading...

Akshata Murty also shown to hold stake in luxury furniture firm backed by Rupert Murdoch’s daughterThe multimillionaire wife of the UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, holds stakes in a “private investment community for the next generation of global leaders” and a luxury British furniture company backed by Rupert Murdoch’s daughter.Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, married Sunak in 2009. She owns shares in dara5, a London-based investment firm cofounded in 2019 by a member of Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family. The shareholding, via her Catamaran Ventures UK investment company, was first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Some clerks reportedly considering retaining legal counsel as investigation into Roe v Wade opinion draft widensIn an unprecedented move, US supreme court clerks may be required to release their phone records as the investigation into who leaked the Roe v Wade opinion draft widens.The possible mandated release of private cell records and signed affidavits, reported by CNN, is reportedly causing some clerks to consider retaining legal counsel. Continue reading...

African Union chair calls on EU leaders to do all they can to release grain stocks amid ‘perfect storm’ for global supply chainThe African Union has warned EU leaders that Moscow’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports risks “a catastrophic scenario” of food shortages and price rises.Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, who chairs the union, said “the worst is perhaps ahead of us” if current global food supply trends continue. Continue reading...

Painted wooden coffins and bronze statues of deities dating to 500BC found by archaeologists in SaqqaraArchaeologists working near Cairo have uncovered hundreds of ancient Egyptian coffins and bronze statues of deities.The discovery at a cemetery in Saqqara contained statues of the gods Anubis, Amun, Min, Osiris, Isis, Nefertum, Bastet and Hathor along with a headless statue of the architect Imhotep, who built the Saqqara pyramid, according to Egypt’s ministry of tourism and antiquities. Continue reading...

Each sentenced to over 11 years for ‘violating laws and customs of war’ after firing missiles at civilian areas

Annual growth for credit card borrowing hit 11.6% in AprilCredit card borrowing is rising at its fastest annual rate in 17 years, the Bank of England said on Tuesday, with analysts warning a recession looks increasingly likely as growing numbers of households go into debt to make ends meet.The annual growth rate for credit card borrowing hit 11.6% in April – the highest figure since November 2005. The rate for all consumer credit increased to 5.7% in April from 5.2% in March, rising faster than at any time since just before the pandemic. Continue reading...

Authorised charges relate to alleged attacks in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013The actor Kevin Spacey will travel voluntarily to the UK to face sexual assault charges, he has told a US news outlet.In a statement given exclusively to ABC’s Good Morning America, Spacey said he was confident he could prove his innocence with respect to five counts relating to alleged attacks against three men in England between 2005 and 2013. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 people sign petition after Museum of East Anglian Life changes name to Food MuseumCampaigners fear a “loss of cultural identity” after the Museum of East Anglian Life changed its name to the Food Museum in an effort to boost visitor numbers and make the museum more relatable.The move has caused upset among some in the local area who fear they could lose “the only museum with an explicit focus on the history, life and people of East Anglia”. Continue reading...

Analysis: Indiscriminate tactics of Russia’s grinding progress in east could characterise next phase of war

Campaigners against flight say Kurdish Iraqis had endured ‘unnecessary torture in pursuit of headlines’The Home Office has cancelled a chartered deportation flight to Iraq that was due to depart from the UK on Tuesday evening.Up to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers were facing deportation to northern Iraq in the first flight of its kind for a decade. Continue reading...

It will be illegal to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in country, Justin Trudeau saysThe Canadian government has introduced legislation that would put a freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns.“We are capping the number of handguns in this country,” said the prime minister, Justin Trudeau. The regulations to halt the growth of personally owned handguns is expected to be enacted this autumn. Continue reading...

The prime minister has kept his praetorian guard in the central engine room of the government while there are 10 women in his 23-person cabinet

German rockers’ most famous song now includes lyrics: ‘Now listen to my heart / It says Ukrainia’The lead singer of the German hard rockers Scorpions has revealed he changed the lyrics of Wind of Change because he no longer wanted to “romanticise Russia” with his chart-topping perestroika power ballad, after Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine.“To sing Wind of Change as we have always sung it, that’s not something I could imagine any more,” Klaus Meine told Die Zeit. “It simply isn’t right to romanticise Russia with lyrics like: ‘I follow the Moskva / Down to Gorky Park … Let your balalaika sing’”. Continue reading...

Young people lack interest in working at Dorset-based factory on ‘old-fashioned craft’, says founder’s sonFor over 85 years, Chester Jefferies has made gloves fit for a Queen. But now, the company that once supplied the royal family is closing down, with its owner saying many young people lack the interest or patience to take on the “old-fashioned craft”.Mark Pearce, who has worked at Chester Jefferies glove makers in Gillingham, Dorset, since he was 14, alongside his father who founded the company, predicted that the bespoke industry could cease to exist in Britain within 10 years. Continue reading...

Former business secretary does not call on PM to resign but says MPs must ‘decide on right course of action’

Prime minister unveils new frontbench team which includes 10 female cabinet ministers with Clare O’Neil given home affairs

Mary MacKillop college student says many were worried to show photos of outfits ‘in case they were declined’

Landlocked state is pursuing neutrality despite neighbours’ efforts to create triangle of anti-western cooperationMongolia, a squeezed outpost of democracy in north-east Asia, is under renewed pressure from its authoritarian neighbours, Russia and China, to shed its independence and form a triangle of anti-western cooperation in the wake of the war in Ukraine.The country is doggedly pursuing a path of neutrality, coupled with a policy of economic diversification designed to keep its unique culture and still relatively recent independence alive, according Nomin Chinbat, its culture secretary. Continue reading...

Judge says James MacDougall, 37, was not upfront about fragile-X syndrome and should not meet some of those he fatheredA man with an incurable genetic condition who advertised his sperm to lesbians on social media has been banned from contacting some of the children he fathered as a result.A family court judge took the unusual step of naming James MacDougall after finding he “took advantage of these young women’s vulnerability and their strong desire to have children”. Continue reading...

Avon and Somerset only force answering 90% of calls in 10 seconds, and Humberside at just 2%, Home Office data showsOnly one police force in the UK is meeting a target to answer 90% of 999 calls in under 10 seconds, data has shown.Avon and Somerset police was the only force to meet the standard, according to national statistics released for the first time by the Home Office. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese announces ministry; all seats decided in federal election as Labor claims Gilmore and Liberals win Deakin; Guide Dogs Victoria CEO Karen Hayes resigns; at least 56 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s developments

New minister for Indigenous Australians says after a decade of divisive political discourse ‘this is an opportunity for unity and for leadership’

Disruption caused by surge in post-pandemic holidays could have been avoided, arts minister saysThe travel industry should have been better prepared for a surge in post-pandemic holidays, a government minister has said, after scenes of travel chaos in airports ahead of the half-term break.The arts minister, Stephen Parkinson, a former adviser to Theresa May, said that disruption was causing “a lot of distress” for people who had not been able to get away for several years because of the pandemic. Continue reading...

Anne Longfield says poverty hasn’t been tackled well enough, as teaching unions in England urge chancellor to expand free mealsThe former children’s commissioner for England has called for free school meals to be expanded to all families on universal credit, while acknowledging that poverty hasn’t been tackled in this country “well enough”.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Anne Longfield, who is chairing a year-long commission on young lives, said that she has supported the extension of free school meals to all families on universal credit for “some time”, adding that this was something that Marcus Rashford and Henry Dimbleby had also called for. Continue reading...

Winner of the inaugural Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment award says she saw mainstream culture did not represent her, so she created her own spaceTanzila Khan does not like people feeling too sorry for themselves – or for her.“I don’t like sob stories or tragedies,” said Khan, who is a disability and women’s rights campaigner in Pakistan. “I’m not saying they don’t exist – we can all face adversity – but I think we need a more positive approach to solving problems. I wanted to present people with disabilities in a more positive way. Continue reading...

ReAmped Energy chief executive says he would rather people were ‘getting better deals’ amid soaring wholesale prices

Government officials must replace words such as ‘e-sports’ and ‘streaming’ with approved French versionsFrench officials on Monday continued their centuries-long battle to preserve the purity of the language, overhauling the rules on using English video game jargon.While some expressions find obvious translations – “pro-gamer” becomes “joueur professionnel” – others seem a more strained, as “streamer” is transformed into “joueur-animateur en direct”. Continue reading...

Economic crisis is becoming health crisis as the country is unable to afford to import essential suppliesChandrapala Weerasuriya can’t remember when he last took his medication. The 67-year-old retired businessman, living in Sri Lanka’s Gampaha district, has always relied on a drug to keep at bay his hereditary nervous condition, which makes him dizzy and unable to walk.But since his prescription recently ran out, he cannot get another supply. The drug is simply not available in Sri Lanka any more. Continue reading...

‘We assume it’s someone local who likes the food’ says Binley Mega Chippy owner as visitors flock to West Midlands takeawayQuite why it started, nobody is entirely sure.What is clear, however, is that an unsuspecting chip shop in the Midlands can now claim to have “gone viral” thanks to the social media site TikTok. Continue reading...

UK-based firm issued with winding-up petition by suppliers owed millions of poundsMissguided, the online fashion specialist, has called in administrators after failing to secure a rescue bid.The Guardian understands that administrators from Teneo were appointed on Monday after the company was issued with a winding-up petition by clothing suppliers who are owed millions of pounds. About 140 jobs are at risk. Continue reading...

Composer lived in Villa Verdi near Busseto for 50 years and it has been run as a museum while owners arguedA country house lived in by Giuseppe Verdi for 50 years is being put up for sale, ending a long-running squabble among the Italian composer’s heirs.Verdi, famous for compositions including La Traviata, Aida and Otello, built Villa Verdi on land he owned in Sant’Agata di Villanova, a hamlet near his home town of Busseto in the Emilia-Romagna region, in 1848. It was initially inhabited by his parents before Verdi moved in with his second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, in 1951, remaining there until his death in 1901. Continue reading...

Justin Welby, who was diagnosed with pneumonia on Thursday, was due to preach at St Paul’s Cathedral on FridayThe archbishop of Canterbury will miss the service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign this week after being diagnosed with pneumonia and testing positive for Covid.Justin Welby had been due to preach at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday. Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, will take his place. Continue reading...

The musician’s action comes in response to a Rolling Stone article by minister Robin Swann defending his department’s response to the pandemicVan Morrison has issued legal proceedings against Northern Ireland’s Department of Health and its minister Robin Swann over an opinion piece written for Rolling Stone magazine.In September 2020, Morrison released three anti-lockdown songs, with lyrics that accused scientists of “making up crooked facts”. Continue reading...

Medina, who set up the Bristol School of Acting, takes over next spring as Tom Morris steps down after more than a decadeBristol Old Vic has appointed Nancy Medina as its new artistic director and successor to Tom Morris, who is stepping down after 12 years in the role.Medina said she felt a sense of awe and excitement at leading England’s oldest working theatre, where she will take up the post full-time in spring 2023. “It will be a great honour to listen, reflect and engage with the people of Bristol and together imagine what the future of theatre and the arts can be in this shining city of the south-west,” she said. Continue reading...

Education ministry orders publisher to rectify illustrations of children deemed inappropriateChina’s education ministry has ordered a state-owned publisher to rectify a school textbook that went viral owing to what social media users described as “tragically ugly” and inappropriate depictions of children.The mathematics books published by the People’s Education Press contain illustrations of people with distorted faces and bulging pants. Boys are seen grabbing girls’ skirts and one child appears to have a leg tattoo. Continue reading...

Former member of government’s ethics watchdog urges Conservative MPs to challenge PM’s revisionsBoris Johnson is “abusing the ministerial code” by redrafting it to reduce the potential sanctions for ministers who break rules, a former member of the government’s ethical standards watchdog has said, urging Conservative MPs to challenge this.Jane Martin, formerly the local government ombudsman who served on the committee on standards in public life for five years until December 2021, said Johnson had wrongly used a report by her committee as a spur to weaken the code. Continue reading...

Tasmanian MP says having an independent Speaker ‘would send a powerful and positive message’ after voters elected large crossbench

‘High potential individual’ route will allow eligible individuals to come to Britain without a prior job offerGraduates from the world’s top 50 non-UK universities can apply to come to Britain through a new visa scheme.Ministers hope the “high potential individual” route, which launches on Monday, will attract the “brightest and best” at the beginning of their careers to work in the UK. Continue reading...

Chancellors urge review of two-year visas as overseas graduates say three-year offer would be more attractiveInternational students would be more likely to consider studying in the UK if they were allowed to stay and work for three years instead of two, a survey suggests.Foreign students have been able to stay on and work in the UK for two years after completing their course since 2019, when the government reinstated the two-year post-study work visa after years of pressure from universities. Continue reading...

Annual global survey of attitudes to democracy finds many countries maintain positive views of Russia

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereRidge asks Rudyk whether she feels safe. She says she does in the UK, where she is currently visiting and meeting with politicians. Rudyk talks about hearing air raid sirens and attacks on cities in Ukraine.“The threat and the fear is still there ... I will go back home, because this is the fight we have to put up and we have to win. I dream of the day that all Ukrainians will feel safe. They will be able to sit with their hands on their lap and think ‘we are okay now.’ Continue reading...

Newly completed Crossrail project has also seen more than 2m journeys across the entire network, Transport for London saysMore than 1m journeys have been made on the central section of London’s Elizabeth line in the first five days of its opening.Across the entire railway – which spans from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east – more than 2m trips have been made, Transport for London said. Continue reading...

Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woesHolidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions. Continue reading...

Work is part of a series painted by the artist while he stayed at Savoy hotel with views across the ThamesAn “iconic work” by the impressionist master Claude Monet that has been in the same family for more than 70 years is expected to sell for at least £24m ($30m) next month.Waterloo Bridge, Effet de Brume is one of 41 paintings by Monet of the bridge across the Thames. In terms of capturing light and atmosphere, this painting is “what he was striving for – it is a masterpiece of this body of work”, said Keith Gill, the head of impressionist and modern art at Christie’s in London, which is selling the work. Continue reading...

A suppressed report commissioned by the government has concluded that the roots of the Windrush fiasco lie in immigration legislation from 1950 to 1981

Mental health treatment for Mohamad Ikraam Bahram expected to be probed by coroner this year