World news | The Guardian

Dictator tells ruling Workers’ party of the need to get ready for ‘fast-changing’ security situationNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country needs to prepare for “both dialogue and confrontation” with the United States under Joe Biden, state media reported on Friday.At a meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers’ party on Thursday, Kim outlined his strategy for relations with Washington, and the “policy tendency of the newly emerged US administration”, the Korean Central News Agency said. Continue reading...

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Covid-19 public exposure sites in New South Wales and Sydney – including Bondi Junction, Redfern, Zetland and Vaucluse – and what to do if you’ve visited them

Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera shot dead Thursday, and Enrique Garcia killed Wednesday, apparently during work as ride-hail driverProsecutors in southern Mexico said reporter Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera was shot to death Thursday, and another journalist was killed just west of Mexico City, bring to three the number killed so far this year in the country. Two other reporters have disappeared.The prosecutor’s office in the southern state of Oaxaca said Sánchez Cabrera was riding a motorcycle with another person on a rural road when gunmen opened fire on them. Continue reading...

Human rights groups accuse PM of ‘putting trade over torture’ in seeking deal with Gulf stateBoris Johnson has been accused of putting trade before torture after he met senior Bahraini officials in Downing Street to discuss a free trade deal with the Gulf states.Neither the Foreign Office nor Downing Street advertised the meeting with the country’s prime minister, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, in advance, with one official citing security concerns. Continue reading...

Babis Anagnostopoulos had claimed robbers killed Caroline Crouch, 20, who was found dead next to her babyThe husband of a young British woman supposedly killed during a robbery at their Greek home and whose body was found next to her baby has confessed to the crime, police said on Thursday.Babis Anagnostopoulos, a 32-year-old pilot, was taken by police helicopter to Athens on Thursday from the island of Alonissos, where he was attending a memorial service for his wife, Caroline Crouch. He confessed several hours later, the police said in a tweet. Continue reading...

Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries scored as the Netherlands secured a place in the last 16 with a comfortable win over Austria9.52pm BSTPeep peep! The Netherlands join Italy and Belgium in the last 16 after a comfortable victory over an agomphious Austria. Memphis Depay’s early penalty put them ahead, and the impressive wing-back Denzel Dumfries sealed the win with his second goal of the tournament. They have won their group with a game to spare, which means Frank de Boer can play the reserves against North Macedonia if he is so inclined.9.47pm BST90+1 min Four minutes of added time. Continue reading...

Leadership drama in Northern Ireland’s biggest party could sink the power-sharing assembly at StormontEdwin Poots has resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) after colleagues rebelled over a deal to revive the Northern Ireland assembly, triggering a new political crisis in the region.Poots quit on Thursday night after just 21 days in the job, the latest drama in a leadership meltdown in Northern Ireland’s biggest party that could sink the power-sharing assembly at Stormont. Continue reading...

Mahmud Jamal has been judge on Ontario’s court of appeal since 2019 and will replace Justice Rosalie AbellaJustin Trudeau has nominated the first judge of color to sit on Canada’s supreme court, a historic first in an institution which has only ever had white justices in its 146-year existence.Mahmud Jamal, who has been a judge on Ontario’s court of appeal since 2019, trained as a lawyer and appeared before the supreme court in 35 appeals addressing a range of civil, constitutional, criminal and regulatory issues. Continue reading...

Decision will be left in the hands of businesses following damaging headlines last summerWorkers will not be told by ministers that they should return to their offices when the final phase of lockdown restrictions are expected to be lifted next month, government sources have told the Guardian.In a significant change of approach from last summer, the government is minded to let companies make their own decisions – a strategy that could lead to conflict and confusion among staff. Continue reading...

List will be reassessed by 28 June but sources do not expect rapid growth as Delta variant cases rise

Idealistic president of Zambia at the heart of the fight for African independenceThe president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991, Kenneth Kaunda, who has died aged 97, stood out as one of the most humane and idealistic African leaders in the post-independence age. A man of great presence and charm, he played a notable role as a leader of the “frontline states” in the long confrontation between independent black Africa and the white-dominated south of the continent, which came to an end only in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa.He was a consummate politician and spent much of his time shuffling his top party figures around in a chess game to balance ethnic groups and their claims to power-sharing; he also possessed a ruthless streak which he deployed towards opponents, although his abhorrence of violence was a rarity in that era. Continue reading...

Rai 3 aired video of accident which killed 14 people onboard and injured a childItaly’s public broadcaster Rai has come under fire for broadcasting leaked CCTV footage of a fatal cable car crash that killed 14 people near Stresa, in the north of Italy.Last month, the cable car connecting the Lake Maggiore resort town of Stresa to a nearby mountain plunged to the ground, killing all onboard apart from a five-year-old Israeli boy who remains in hospital. Continue reading...

One of Africa’s last surviving liberation leaders dies in hospital in Lusaka while being treated for pneumoniaKenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s founding president and one of Africa’s last surviving liberation leaders, has died at a military hospital in Lusaka, where he was being treated for pneumonia. He was 97.Kaunda ruled the southern African nation from 1964, when it won independence from Britain, until 1991, and is respected across the continent as one of the generation who fought to free their nations from colonial rule. Continue reading...

Request over Northern Ireland comes amid moves to guarantee voting rights for EU citizens in UK local electionsThe UK has formally requested a further three months to resolve the bitter Brexit row with Brussels over the sale of sausages in Northern Ireland.It comes as the UK announces moves to guarantee voting rights for EU citizens in local elections. Continue reading...

New Yorker writer, whose scepticism about her trade brought her both praise and blame, was also famed for studies of psychoanalysis and Sylvia Plath

Canada’s first black party leader denounces ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ efforts to oust her after Green MP defected to Trudeau’s LiberalsJustin Trudeau is “no ally and no feminist”, the head of Canada’s Green party has alleged, as she denounced a “sexist” and “racist” campaign to oust her as party leader ahead of a looming federal election.Speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, Annamie Paul said efforts to remove her were being led by a handful of Green party veterans “who are on their way out” and didn’t reflect the majority who elected her as leader in October. Continue reading...

Treasury reportedly pushed back on calls to raise awareness of how employers could ensure higher wages for isolating staff

Indian police investigate after one-month-old discovered in box with her name and time of birthPolice in India have launched an investigation after a newborn baby was found alive and well in a wooden box floating on the Ganges River.The inside of the box was lined with red cloth and contained images of Hindu gods as well as a horoscope giving the date and time of the girl’s birth and name, Ganga – the Hindi word for the holy river. Continue reading...

Critics claim employment law reforms will abolish eight-hour day and are ‘Thatcherite policies on steroids’Greece is set for the biggest shake-up of working life in decades after its pro-business government sought to brand parliament’s passage of controversial labour laws as a fresh start for a nation once at the centre of Europe’s financial crisis.The passage of legislation described as antediluvian by opponents and positively life-changing by supporters came within hours of the EU’s top executive arriving in Athens on Thursday to endorse a post-pandemic recovery plan for the country. Continue reading...

Apple Daily hits back after executives arrested in second raid on pro-democracy paper’s newsroomApple Daily’s journalism has ruffled feathers since its establishment in 1995. A populist Hong Kong tabloid owned by Jimmy Lai, a pro-Trump media mogul and now jailed activist, the paper is fond of sensational crime stories, celebrity gossip, and investigations into government scandals and corruption. It’s a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement, a thorn in the side of police, and has become a symbol of resistance against Hong Kong’s crackdown.Hong Kong’s police commissioner has accused it of creating hatred. Pro-Beijing media have called for it to be shut down. Lai has said the paper is on the right side of history. Continue reading...

Ralph and Peter Jump, 57 and 19, were fatally injured by bull Yolo on family farmA woman watched helplessly as her husband and son were killed by a water buffalo on their family farm in south Wales, an inquest heard on Thursday.Ralph Jump, 57, and his son Peter, 19, were fatally injured by the bull, named Yolo, on the farm, which the family rented for their sustainable business making luxury soap from buffalo milk. Continue reading...

Marco Doria believes device left on his car is linked to his complaints about council workers’ absenteeismA local politician in Rome has said he believed a bomb planted on his car was a response to him reporting wrongdoing, including absenteeism among municipal gardeners.Marco Doria, Rome’s councillor for the redevelopment of parks and historic villas, found what was described as a rudimentary bomb beneath the windscreen wiper motor of his car, which was parked on Via Tito Speri, close to the Olympic Stadium, on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

The stars of Friends initially seem more relaxed in James Corden’s golf cart than on stage at the recent reunion. But if you look closely, it’s utter horror you seeLike everyone, I had two main criticisms of last month’s Friends reunion special. The first is that, after almost 30 years of watching the cast suspended in the throes of perfect youth, the sight of their weird, cosmetically altered faces in HD came as such a shock that I would have preferred it to be called something like All Things Decay: A Harrowing Reminder That Everything We Love Will One Day Be Dead. The second is that James Corden didn’t make it enough about him.Oh, sure, he made it plenty about him. He hosted the thing, despite having no tangible connection to Friends. And, yes, when the cast came on, he spoke for more than two minutes before bothering to ask them a question. But did he make it about himself, in a truly Cordenesque way? No, he did not. Continue reading...

Fifteen questions on general knowledge and topical news trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare?It is Thursday, and so once again time to rub the tummy of our weekly Thursday quiz! 15 questions on general knowledge and topical news trivia – with a few jokes thrown in. It is just for fun and there are no prizes, but let us know how you get on in the comments below.The Thursday quiz, No 8 Continue reading...

The YouTube show following two black couples as they talk to a relationship counsellor has had millions of fans in a frenzyThere are different levels of going viral. Some stories only go big on black Twitter. Something that feels like a phenomenon sometimes doesn’t move beyond the confines of blue-tick Twitter. But I know something has gone truly viral when it reaches the “auntie WhatsApp groups”. Auntie WhatsApp groups, made up of first-generation African women of a certain age, are very much their own beast, primarily populated by chain letter prayers and Covid-19 conspiracies. Rarely does the pop culture I engage with intersect with my mum and her friends. But this changed a few weeks ago when it became apparent we had all been feverishly messaging about a show called Blue Therapy.Blue Therapy, a six-part reality show on YouTube, which concluded last week with its final reunion episode, sees couples Paul and Chioma and Jamel and Deborah talk (or more often, bicker) through their relationship problems with a softly spoken therapist named Denise. So far, so VH1 Couples Therapy. But the show captured the black British zeitgeist, breathing new life into tired dating debates. And while televised reality shows continue to lose viewers by the season, Blue Therapy managed to rake in millions of views globally. Continue reading...

AstraZeneca vaccine now recommended for over-60s; Sydney’s eastern suburbs cluster grows. This blog is now closed.

From poltergeists to prison, the Chippendales and the NBA ... here are our picks of the most gripping storytelling from the first half of the yearWriter and comedian Shon Faye hosts this selection of “remarkable stories told by remarkable people”, which shines the spotlight on queer trailblazers of different stripes. Highlights include 73-year-old Kate Bornstein, who has lived with seekers from the Amish to the Scientologists, on what her time on the fringes of society taught her about gender, and Marc Thompson, an activist who was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 17 in 1986. Evocative storytelling with no room for stereotypes. Read more Continue reading...

Residents say 200 homes in Kin Ma burned to ground after opponents of junta fought with regime’s forcesA village in central Myanmar has been torched by the military junta, killing at least two people and reducing about 200 homes to piles of ash and rubble, residents have told local media.Security forces set fire to the Kin Ma village, in Magway region, on Tuesday afternoon after fighting with opponents of the junta, according to residents. More than 1,000 people are sheltering in the forest and nearby villages, while at least two elderly people, who had been unable to flee, were burned to death, villagers told the Irrawaddy news site. Continue reading...

Of 2,000 public submissions, a decisive majority were in favour of the plan to get rid of cars from major streetsThe main thoroughfare in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, is set to become car-free by 2023, after local authorities opted for the most ambitious reform option available to them.Pavements in Wellington’s “Golden Mile” will grow in size by up to 75%, cyclists and pedestrians will be prioritised and two bus lanes – one in each direction – will allow continued public transport. It is expected to cost between NZ$52m and NZ$79m. Continue reading...

New law says death row prisoners must choose between electric chair and firing squad if lethal drugs aren’t availableSouth Carolina’s supreme court has blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of the firing squad option set out in the state’s newly revised capital punishment law.The high court on Wednesday halted this month’s scheduled executions of Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens, writing that corrections officials need to put together a firing squad so that inmates can really choose between that or the electric chair. Continue reading...

Figures from the jobs website Indeed expose the impact on employers as they struggle to recruit staffThe number of EU citizens searching for work in Britain has fallen by more than a third since Brexit, according to a study that exposes the impact on UK employers as they struggle to recruit staff.Figures from the jobs website Indeed show searches by EU-based jobseekers for work in the UK were down by 36% in May from average levels in 2019. Low-paid jobs in hospitality, the care sector and warehouses recorded the biggest declines at 41%. Continue reading...

UK reports nine deaths amid highest new cases since February; South Africa’s infections jumped by 13,246 on Wednesday

Data shows only 127 of 323 cities had acceptable PM 2.5 levels despite drop in emissions during lockdowns

White River First Nation had sought six months in jail for Canadian millionaires Rodney and Ekaterina BakerThe millionaire Canadian couple who chartered a private plane to a remote community and jumped the coronavirus vaccine queue to receive doses intended for elderly Indigenous people have been fined C$2,300 but were not sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to breaking public health rules.The size of the fine imposed on the former casino executive Rodney Baker and his wife, the actor Ekaterina Baker, on Wednesday prompted frustration amid members of the White River First Nation, many of whom wanted the couple to face stiffer repercussions. Continue reading...

Macron backs prime minister, saying Australia is at the forefront of threats in the region and France is committed to ‘defending the balance’The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has called for global cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, lashing China for undermining the rule of law and threatening a world order that “favours freedom”.In a speech to the council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, Morrison called for other countries to join in addressing instability in the Indo-Pacific, saying an “inclusive and resilient” region would benefit the globe. Continue reading...

Supt Robyn Williams was dismissed in March 2020 after being convicted for possessing a child abuse video that she never viewedA black police chief dismissed from the Metropolitan police has won her job back after a tribunal said her sacking was unfair.Supt Robyn Williams was dismissed in March 2020 after being convicted for possessing a child abuse video that she was sent unsolicited via WhatsApp and never viewed. Continue reading...

Police watchdog may take action after inquiry finds Metropolitan police chief obstructed its effortsThe Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, could face a new disciplinary investigation after the official inquiry into Daniel Morgan’s murder and corruption in the force found she had hampered its efforts to get to the truth, the Guardian has learned.The police watchdog believes the issues raised could be sufficiently serious to merit using its special powers to order a referral, and warned public confidence may be damaged by the bombshell findings of the panel. Continue reading...

Bruno Garcia-Cruciani’s murder of Julie Douib in Corsica became a rallying call against domestic killingsA man who murdered the mother of their two children on the island of Corsica in March 2019 has been sentenced to life in prison in a case that caused an outcry over domestic killings of women in France.Julie Douib was shot dead by her former partner of 14 years, Bruno Garcia-Cruciani, a few days after learning that prosecutors had closed a case she brought against him for threatening behaviour, harassment and assault. Continue reading...

Situation raises prospect that all three will enter final ballot and potentially split the left voteThe contest to become the next leader of the Unite union is set for another twist after three leftwing rivals for the position failed to agree upon a unity candidate.Sharon Graham, the only female candidate, has told friends she will put her name forward for the final ballot despite two days of talks with fellow leftwing candidates Steve Turner and Howard Beckett. Continue reading...

German architect best known for his radical brutalist design of the Mariendom, the Neviges pilgrimage churchPointing its twisted concrete peaks high above the historic German town of Neviges, the Mariendom is one of the strangest churches of the 20th century. Standing as a jagged, mystical mountain, punctured by tiny square windows, it is the work of Gottfried Böhm, who has died aged 101. The venerable architect leaves a legacy of more than 60 churches across Germany, as well as other public buildings that exude his unique expressionist style, informed by his training as a sculptor. In Böhm’s hands, colossal masses of concrete could be folded, chiselled and carved, as if by powerful tectonic ruptures.Completed in 1968 and regarded as his most important work, the Neviges pilgrimage church was the result of a competition, for which Böhm submitted an unearthly crystalline model. It was a fragmented cluster of angular forms, more meteorite than maquette, like something sent down from planet Krypton. Continue reading...

Brexit minister Lord Frost asks for ‘a bit of breathing space’ to negotiate deal and head off trade warThe UK has asked the EU to suspend an imminent ban on the sale of British sausages in Northern Ireland to give both sides “breathing space” to negotiate an agreement on the Brexit protocol and avert a trade war.Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, was speaking days after Boris Johnson warned he would do “whatever it takes” to protect Northern Ireland’s position as part of the UK. Continue reading...

Bart Simpson was a big fan, and the prank call has always been the curse of phone-in shows – as GB News discovered this weekName: Prank calls.Age: The oldest known dates from 1884, and involved telephoning undertakers in Rhode Island to summon them to the homes of not-dead people. Continue reading...

The company has been addressing its historical racism and sexism, adding disclaimers to films and altering theme park rides. But these moves have stirred contempt as well as approvalVery little ammunition is required for a culture war these days, so long as your troops are primed to mobilise at the drop of a blog. Julie Tremaine and Katie Dowd, two writers for the online newspaper SFGate, discovered this last month. Their review of the revamped Snow White ride at Disneyland was generally positive, but queried a new scene showing the prince giving Snow White the all-important “true love’s kiss”.“A kiss he gives to her without her consent, while she’s asleep, which cannot possibly be true love if only one person knows it’s happening,” they wrote. “It’s hard to understand why the Disneyland of 2021 would choose to add a scene with such old-fashioned ideas of what a man is allowed to do to a woman.”

Irish deputy PM’s remarks ‘unhelpful and ill-advised’, says Northern Ireland secretaryThe British government has rebuked Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, for saying he believed there could be a united Ireland within his lifetime.Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, told the Commons on Wednesday the comments were “unhelpful and ill-advised”. Continue reading...

Health authorities say contact tracing under way after man in his 60s, who drives international flight crews, tests positive along with household contact

Polls predict low voter turnout over Iranian regime’s efforts to engineer resultIran’s hardline rulers are battling to ensure not only their preferred candidate, the head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, wins Saturday’s presidential election, but also that the electoral system that puts him into power retains a veneer of credibility with ordinary Iranians.Polls are predicting a turnout as low as 40%, down from the previous 73% in 2017, partly because the Iranian regime has gone further than ever to engineer the result. Even so the regime is nervous since the compressed three-week campaign has, on at least three previous occasions, led to sudden late mood swings. Continue reading...

The singer-songwriter talks about his relative William Faulkner, his violent childhood and drugs – and saves a surprise until the endIf you’re after cheery crowdpleasers, John Murry is not your man. Murry is 41, barely known, and has never come close to denting the charts. Yet he has been compared to the great existential pop poets Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Scott Walker. And with good reason – he has a rich baritone, writes gorgeous ballads and is half in love with death. The titles of his first two albums, The Graceless Age and A Short History of Decay, reflect the melancholy at the heart of his work. The title of his third, The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes, is equally bleak. Yet, it turns out that Murry has a surprise in store.The singer-songwriter is related to the Nobel-prize winning American novelist William Faulkner. Like Faulkner, he paddles along his stream of consciousness – sometimes ferociously. You get a sense of what his songs are about, but seldom know for sure. Take the new album’s opener, Oscar Wilde (Came Here to Make Fun of You). We get the references to terrorist attacks and the images of foreboding, but the meaning is left to us. Continue reading...

Netflix’s new comfort watch about lovely penguins living in a South African town is gore free and pandemic-perfectIt’s probably for the best that the BBC didn’t put out one of its landmark nature series during lockdown. I don’t think I’d have been able to take it. In times of trouble, the last thing anyone wants to see is a gory, operatic, kill-or-be-killed reminder that all life on Earth is locked in a hellish struggle for survival that, by design, they are guaranteed to lose. Yes, we’re fully aware that life is pain, thanks very much. Not now, Attenborough.You sense that Netflix understands this, too, because that’s the only logical explanation for the existence of its new wildlife show Penguin Town. Penguin Town is about some penguins that live in a town. The penguins are real (they’re endangered African penguins), and the town is real (it’s Simon’s Town in South Africa). But apart from that everything is lovely and cuddly and anthropomorphised to high heaven. Continue reading...

Health experts approve plans to increase cap from 5,000, with final decision expected later this month