World news | The Guardian

Yvette Cooper wants guidance to change after row over claims police covered up' status of two men on charges relating to an alleged rapeAnti-racism campaigners have criticised proposals to allow police to reveal the ethnicity and migration status of suspects, after a row triggered by claims police covered up" the backgrounds of two men charged in connection to the alleged rape of a child.The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, this week told the BBC she hoped the Law Commission would accelerate" a review of contempt of court and that guidance needs to change" about information released when a trial is pending. Continue reading...

Four members of family from Thetford, Norfolk, died after car collided with another vehicle in Alentejo regionA UK family have been killed in a car accident while holidaying in southern Portugal, local authorities have confirmed.Domingos Serrano, 55, his wife, Maria, 51, and their 20-year-old twin sons, Afonso and Domingos, died when their car collided with another vehicle on Saturday on the IP2 motorway near Castro Verde, in the Alentejo region,. Continue reading...

Report for DVSA proposes move to lessen potential anxiety' and bolster pass rates among female candidatesHaving a mardy person sitting next to you in the car can be a distraction at the best of times, but it is all the worse when the grump is your driving examiner.In an effort to avoid additional potential anxiety" during tests and bolster pass rates among female candidates, a report commissioned by a government agency has suggested asking people taking a test whether they would like their examiner to be chatty" or formal". Continue reading...

Former chancellor who devised disastrous 2022 mini-budget hired for Nomad Capitalist's conferenceKwasi Kwarteng, the former chancellor dismissed after 38 days following his disastrous 2022 mini-budget for Liz Truss, has been hired as a keynote speaker by an advisory firm offering services to help the super-rich pay less tax.Nomad Capitalist, which bills itself as the masters of international mobility", lists the second shortest-serving postwar incumbent of 11 Downing Street as one of the star attractions at its annual conference, which will take place in September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Continue reading...

Actor said Trump phoned her to make the offer on the day her divorce from Kenneth Branagh was confirmed in 1998Emma Thompson has accepted Academy Awards, Baftas and even a damehood over a glittering career, but there was one offer she had to turn down.The actor says she once got asked out on a date by Donald Trump on the same day her divorced was confirmed. Continue reading...

Exclusion of older people from research due to arbitrary age cut-offs could stall development of life-saving treatmentsPeople aged over 75 are being excluded from health research due to arbitrary age cut-offs, potentially stalling the development of life-saving treatments, leading charities and research institutes have warned.Some clinical studies restrict participation for older people due to concerns about the potential frailty of participants and a belief that age may reduce the effect of the drug or device being studied. Continue reading...

Joint statement warns Netanyahu's new ground offensive will worsen catastrophic humanitarian situation' as international outrage grows

G7 nations' joint statement says arrest warrants and bounties for pro-democracy campaigners are undermining human rights and state sovereignty

Polish PM makes remarks after speaking with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amid White House efforts to end the conflictA freeze" in the war in Ukraine may be close, the Polish prime minister said on Friday, as the White House and the Kremlin push forward with discussions for a high-level summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in the coming days.Donald Tusk's remarks came after he spoke with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has communicated with Trump and European leaders in recent days as the White House continues to try to broker an end to the three-and-a-half-year war. Continue reading...

For all the fanfare over new routes, fast and efficient rail services between major cities remain a rarity

Jury convicts boy, who had admitted manslaughter, of murder over stabbing at All Saints Catholic high school

Friend says Quornelius Radford, man accused of shooting five fellow soldiers at an army base, was bullied a lot'

Artists including Damon Albarn, Paloma Faith, Sampha and Jamie xx to perform alongside Palestinian artists at Together for Palestine on 17 SeptemberThe lineup has been announced for one of the largest-scale benefit concerts for Palestine since the intensification of conflict after 7 October 2023. It takes place at Wembley Arena in London on 17 September.Brian Eno is overseeing Together for Palestine, which brings together British and Palestinian artists at the 12,500-capacity venue to raise funds for Choose Love, a British charity working with 23 partner organisations in Gaza to deliver food, medical supplies and other support. Continue reading...

Waambi takes home Australia's most prestigious First Nations art prize for her artwork Burwu, blossom, which saw her etch thousands of stringybark blossoms and bees

Michael Burbidge gives evidence he told police Chris Wilson's wife doesn't need to see what's on the phone'

MP agrees to donate 1,000 to crew's fundraising effort after alerting authorities to rowing boat off Great YarmouthThe independent MP Rupert Lowe has agreed to donate 1,000 to a charity after mistaking its rowing crew, including a former Royal Marine, for possible illegal migrants".Lowe, who was elected as a Reform MP for Great Yarmouth but now sits as an independent, said he had shopped the crew to the authorities and vowed to do everything he could to have them deported if they turned out to be what he suspected Continue reading...

Countess of Chester receives urgent warning notice over visibly dirty equipment' and routine corridor careEmergency care at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked is falling far short of legal standards, the healthcare watchdog has found, with routine corridor care and critical gaps" in sepsis treatment.The Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, was issued with an urgent warning notice after inspectors found repeated breaches" of regulations in its emergency care unit. Continue reading...

Patrick Hodge, supreme court's deputy president, wants judges to improve their scientific and technical literacyJudges need to be on their guard" about expert witness evidence, according to a leading supreme court judge, who urged the legal profession to improve their scientific and technical literacy" to help prevent miscarriages of justice.Patrick Hodge, who is deputy president of the supreme court and president of the Expert Witness Institute, said the increasing complexity of legal cases in modern society means expert witnesses are playing a bigger role than ever before. Continue reading...

Women's safety campaigners welcome plan to switch from exclusion zones that have made victims feel trapped'Restriction zones aimed at locking" violent offenders - rather than their victims - into specific areas when they are released from prison are to be introduced by the government in England and Wales.At the moment, exclusion zones are often used to keep an offender away from their victim's home but many campaigners for women's safety have long called for this to be flipped.Increased tagging for domestic perpetrators.Requiring judges to flag domestic abuse at sentencing so prisons, probation and police can better identify and manage abusers.Expanding specialist domestic abuse courts.Bolstering transparency for victims at sentencing - including the provision of free copies of judges' sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences. Continue reading...

Shadow housing minister tells Guardian Australia it was a mistake not to put forward a homelessness policy before election and criticises Labor for falling behind new home targets

Rushanara Ali was accused of hypocrisy after claims she removed tenants before rent rise of almost 700 a monthRushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister after it emerged she evicted four tenants from a property she owns then re-let it weeks later for 700 more a month.The tenants were told in November last year their fixed-term contract would not be renewed because Ali's east London home was being placed on the market for sale. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Education secretary told sponsored resources misrepresent evidence about diets, alcohol and bettingHealth experts have urged Bridget Phillipson to stop schools using educational materials funded by the food, drink and gambling industries, in order to protect children from harmful" influences.Dozens of doctors, health charities and public health specialists have written to the education secretary warning her that such firms are sponsoring resources used in lessons with pupils, despite them misrepresenting the evidence about diets, alcohol and betting. Continue reading...

People will be chosen via three-stage process, with government expected to accept around 50 migrants a week when scheme startsRushanara Ali, the homelessness minister, is facing criticism for hiking rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds, reportedly just weeks after the previous tenants' contract ended, PA Media reports. PA says:Four tenants who rented a house in east London from Ali were sent an email last November saying their lease would not be renewed, which also gave them four months' notice to leave, the i newspaper reported.Ali's property was then re-listed with a 700 rent increase within weeks, the newspaper said. Continue reading...

Canadian property prices fell by C$150,000 over three years as Australia's rose by about A$85,000

Rights group warns freedom of expression could be violated, as first people are charged with showing support for banned organisationAmnesty International has warned the Met police against arresting participants protesting this Saturday in London in support of Palestine Action, as the first people were charged for showing support for the banned group.Two women and a man were arrested in Westminster after a protest in central London on 5 July, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Humans face three existential threats, from super-intelligence, nuclear weapons and the climate crisis, says blockbuster director as he announces new Hiroshima projectThe director James Cameron has warned that the use of artificial intelligence in a global arms race could lead to the kind of dystopia fictionalised in his Terminator franchise.Speaking to Rolling Stone to promote the publication of Ghosts of Hiroshima, an account of the first atomic bombing by bestselling author Charles Pellegrino which Cameron intends to adapt for the big screen, the film-maker behind three of the four highest-grossing films of all time (Titanic and the first two Avatar films), said that although he relies on AI professionally, he remains concerned about what might happen if it was leveraged with nihilistic intent. Continue reading...

Censorship order accuses books of promoting false narrative and secessionism' in disputed territoryThe government in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has banned 25 books, including works by the Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy, accusing them of promoting a false narrative and secessionism" in the disputed territory.The censorship order was issued by Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, who was appointed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) under the prime minister, Narendra Modi. Sinha was previously a minister in Modi's BJP government. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Concerns Australia is gutting its research capability coincide with Trump's deep cuts into US science agencies

Study finds Wiltshire ham products sold by retailers such as Tesco and M&S contain highest level of nitritesHam and bacon sold by supermarkets including Tesco, and Marks and Spencer still contain cancer-causing chemicals almost 10 years after the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of their use in processed meats.Wiltshire ham is the product with the highest concentrations of nitrites, according to analysis that compared it to cooked ham and unsmoked bacon. Continue reading...

250th celebrations renew interest in searching for organ that disappeared from college in RomeOn his deathbed Daniel O'Connell, the man known in his time as the Liberator" of Ireland, made a request: My body to Ireland, my heart to Rome and my soul to heaven."On Wednesday Ireland marked the 250th anniversary of his birth with speeches and pomp and a nagging question: where is the heart? Continue reading...

Guardian investigation finds number killed in April attack by Rapid Support Forces far greater than current estimatesMore than 1,500 civilians may have been massacred during an attack on Sudan's largest displacement camp in April, in what would be the second-biggest war crime of the country's catastrophic conflict.A Guardian investigation into the 72-hour attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on North Darfur's Zamzam camp, the country's largest for people displaced by the war, found repeated testimony of mass executions and large-scale abductions. Hundreds of civilians remain unaccounted for. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Foreign affairs minister used July meeting on Asean sidelines to elevate criticism of targeting of Adelaide-based Ted Hui and Melbourne-based Kevin Yam

Medical groups subpoenaed for US abortion records in lawsuit over narrow exceptions to Tennessee's near-total banThe Tennessee attorney general's office has subpoenaed four medical groups in the state for records of abortions performed over the last several years as part of a lawsuit over the exceptions to the state's near-total abortion ban, court documents obtained by the Guardian show.The four subpoenas were issued this spring to Vanderbilt University medical center and a Tennessee hospital run by the national Catholic chain Ascension, as well as two smaller medical practices in Tennessee, Heritage Medical Associates and the Women's Group of Franklin. Continue reading...

Stanley Burkhardt accused of leaving suggestive comments on social media pictures in violation of paroleA former child sexual abuse crimes detective who for years has been incarcerated on and off after admitting that he molested minors during his Louisiana policing career - and has been investigated as a possible serial killer - is back behind bars again.Stanley Burkhardt, 74, was jailed in New Orleans on 15 July on allegations that he illegally used social media in 2019 to leave suggestive comments under young men's pictures, according to court records reviewed by WWL Louisiana reporting partner the Guardian on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Annual figures released Tuesday reflect a 4.5% year-on-year decrease in all violent crime nationally in 2024When Donald Trump fought for and won the 2024 presidential election, his victory was built partly on the false assertion that Democrats were responsible for an out-of-control crime wave in the US, with murders and rapes at record highs.Figures released by the FBI on Tuesday, however, confirm that the nation was as safe as it ever had been during the final full year of the Biden administration. Every category of crime decreased in frequency, and violent crime in particular dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s, per the report. Continue reading...

Culture secretary says she won't watch last episodes with Gregg Wallace and John Torode, but that it's not for me' to tell BBC what it can airThe UK culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said she won't be watching the latest series of MasterChef on BBC because of the controversy over the conduct of its sacked presenters, but stopped short of saying the broadcaster should not show it.The first three episodes of the 21st series of the cookery show were released on iPlayer early on Wednesday morning, ahead of the first episode airing on BBC One at 8pm. The BBC website was highlighting the show under the category of new and trending". Continue reading...

Definition of sex at centre of proceedings as woman-only app seeks to overturn gender discrimination finding

The Productivity Commission appears to have bought into tech companies' brazen arguments - and caught the Australian government off-guard

Former Match of the Day presenter, who left BBC in May, reported to have signed deal to host The BoxGary Lineker is to host a new gameshow on ITV, under a deal that will bring him back to screens after his departure from the BBC, according to reports.The former Match of the Day presenter and former England football captain, who was the highest-paid on-air star at the BBC, parted ways with the broadcaster in May, days after apologising for amplifying online material with antisemitic connotations. Continue reading...

Victorian government defends redevelopment, saying towers are outdated and unsafe as inquiry continues

NIESR suggests a rise of 5p in the pound on basic and higher rate of income tax would fill the budget gapRachel Reeves will need to raise taxes to close a government spending gap that is on course to reach more than 40bn after a slowdown in economic growth and higher-than-expected inflation, according to a leading thinktank.In a blow to Labour's hopes of balancing the books without breaking manifesto commitments ruling out personal tax rises, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said a number of factors would knock off course the chancellor's plans to stay within Whitehall spending limits. Continue reading...

Treaty can be ended by either side at a month's notice and France can refuse returns on certain groundsThe UK will pay the costs of transporting asylum seekers to and from France under Keir Starmer's one in, one out" deal with Emmanuel Macron, it has emerged.The deal will have to be renewed by 11 June next year, and can be ended at a month's notice by either side, documents made public by the government indicate. Continue reading...

Principle of medical neutrality threatened as doctors and hospitals deliberately attacked, particularly in GazaTargeting medics and hospitals in acts of war should be called healthocide", academics have urged, amid an increase in such attacks in recent years.Health services are increasingly deliberately under attack and medics are facing violence and abuse in conflict zones around the world - in particular in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and El Salvador. Continue reading...

Joe Bennett says Lindsay Foreman sounded in good spirits despite her and husband being charged with espionageThe son of a British woman being held in Iran on espionage charges has said speaking to her on the phone for the first time in 213 days felt like five birthdays and 10 Christmases at once".Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, were arrested on 3 January in Kerman, southern Iran, while travelling through the country from Armenia to Pakistan on a round-the-world motorbike trip. Continue reading...

Video of man lighting cigarette from Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris was widely shared on social mediaA French minister has said she is taking legal action against an unidentified man who was filmed lighting a cigarette from a memorial flame at a major Paris war monument.The video of a man stooping to light a cigarette from the fire at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, before walking calmly away watched by tourists, caused indignation when it was widely shared on social media. Continue reading...

Launch to mark 30 years of Clubcard has 42% of an adult's recommended daily intake of saturated fat and 35% of sugarTesco has launched a birthday cake sandwich, complete with strawberry jam, soft cheese, vanilla frosting and sprinkles - but the candle isn't included.The limited-edition sandwich, between slices of brioche-style white bread, contains 31.g of sugar - 35% of an adult's recommended daily intake - and will be on sale for 3 at 1,000 stores for four weeks. Continue reading...

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve among those criticising politicians for risking contempt of court

Regulator is set for abolition after a government decision last month and overhaul of the heavily criticised industryThe chief executive of Ofwat is to step down at the end of the month, after the government announced the abolition of the water regulator for England and Wales.David Black has been in the role for four years, and will leave amid intense scrutiny of water companies and their regulators. Continue reading...

House oversight committee also issued subpoenas to several former attorneys general and FBI directorsThe House oversight committee on Tuesday issued subpoenas to Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as several former attorneys general and directors of the FBI, demanding testimony related to horrific crimes perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein".The investigative committee's Republican chair, James Comer, sent the subpoenas in response to two motions lawmakers approved on a bipartisan basis last month, as Congress navigated outrage among Donald Trump's supporters over the justice department's announcement that it would not release further details about Epstein, a disgraced financier who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. Continue reading...

Hundreds of fires across Canada and parts of the US prompt alerts in 14 states from Great Lakes region to the northeastHundreds of wildfires continued to burn across Canada and parts of the US on Tuesday sending smoke from the blazes across the region and reducing air quality in both countries.US air quality tanked from the Great Lakes region to the northeast, making skies hazy from Minneapolis to New York City and even prompting a ground stop at Boston's Logan international airport due to low visibility" on Monday. Detroit, New York City and Chicago continued to record some of the worst air quality in the world on Tuesday, according to IQAir, ranking fourth, 10th and 11th respectively. Continue reading...