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Disease and predation are problems in populations that are allowed to roam but animal advocates argue those issues can be mitigated

Saturday evening's bash set to take place in Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard in eastern district of cityNewlyweds Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez left their luxury hotel on Venice's Grand canal on Saturday for a final night of partying, crowning a three-day star-studded wedding extravaganza.Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from St Mark's Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Continue reading...

Seven-year-old girl dies in hospital after incident at Chalkwell park in Southend-on-Sea involving five childrenA young girl has died and another is in a critical condition after a tree fell in a seaside park in Essex on Saturday.The girls, aged seven and six, suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital. Police said the seven-year-old girl died in hospital. Continue reading...

Report in the Times alleges George Freeman was paid by company that helped him write questions to governmentA Conservative MP has referred himself to the parliamentary watchdog after it was alleged he was paid by a company that helped him write questions to government.Former minister George Freeman submitted queries to Labour ministers about the sector the firm operates in, the Times reported. Continue reading...

Vessel that sank in storm off Sicily last year killing seven people is being examined by investigatorsThe first images of the inside of the superyacht Bayesian, which sank in a storm off Sicily last year killing seven people including the tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter, have emerged in Italian media.The hulk of the 56-metre (184ft) vessel was raised from the seabed near Porticello last week and taken to the port of Termini Imerese, where it is being examined by investigators working to determine how and why it sank. Continue reading...

Latest deaths come amid worsening humanitarian situation despite renewed hope for ceasefireAt least 62 people have been killed in Gaza by overnight Israeli strikes, according to health officials, as the humanitarian situation worsens in the besieged strip despite renewed hope for a ceasefire.Airstrikes began overnight on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, killing a dozen people near a displacement shelter near Palestine Stadium in Gaza City. A strike at midday on Saturday killed at least 11 people. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereEmirates extended its cancellation of flights to and from Iran's capital Tehran until July 5 due to the regional situation, it said in a statement on Saturday, Reuters reports.The Dubai-based airline said it will recommence operations to Baghdad on 1 July and Basra on 2 July. Continue reading...

Family dies in Swat River, with witnesses saying they waited to be rescued for more than an hourAt least 32 people have been killed in Pakistan in recent flash flooding caused by heavy rains, including a family of tourists who died after being swept away by flood waters while apparently awaiting rescue.Videos of the family stranded on a small piece of land as the raging Swat River in northern Pakistan swept them away were shared widely on social media, prompting anger towards the provincial government as witnesses said the family waited helplessly for more than an hour. Continue reading...

Czech intelligence revealed Chinese diplomats allegedly planned staged incident during Hsiao Bi-khim's 2024 visitTaiwan's vice-president has said she will not be intimidated after reports by Czech intelligence that Chinese officials planned to stage a car collision when she was in Prague last year.Hsiao Bi-khim visited the Czech Republic in March 2024, in the first overseas visit by her and Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, after winning the election in January. It was reported at the time that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following her car - under police escort - from the airport. Continue reading...

Health leaders say financial penalties are not the answer, warning NHS faces existential threat unless it reconnects with publicMoney for hospitals in England is to be linked to patient ratings, ministers have announced, as one of the health bosses tasked with implementing the government's 10-year plan for the NHS in the country warned it faced an existential threat unless it reconnected with the public.The measure, under which healthcare providers could lose a proportion of their funding if patients are unhappy, is part of a package the health secretary hopes will incentivise investment in services that could prevent the need for hospital visits - and encourage listening to patients more. Continue reading...

Starmer makes claim in speech to Welsh Labour conference as polls suggest Reform could be biggest party in Senedd after next year's electionsKeir Starmer has used his keynote speech at the Welsh Labour conference to launch an attack on Nigel Farage, as the prime minister turned from fighting off a rebellion of his own MPs, to fighting off the threat of Reform.Starmer said Farage was taking people for fools" in Wales, and criticised the Reform leader's recent visit to Port Talbot, during which he demanded the reopening of Welsh coalmines to provide fuel for the town's now shuttered steelmaking blast furnaces. Continue reading...

Anonymous source describes tense atmosphere' after Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe protest group

Employment judge George Alliott says term, typically targeted at middle-aged white women, is pejorativeCalling someone a Karen" is borderline racist, sexist and ageist", a tribunal judge has said.Employment judge George Alliott said the term, typically targeted at middle-aged white women, was pejorative. Continue reading...

We've got into a mess with extreme content because nobody wants to talk about pornography, says Gabby BertinWhen the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin arrived for a meeting with the the science and technology secretary, Peter Kyle, earlier this year she startled him by laying out an array of pornographic images across his desk.They were screengrabs showing little girls, their hair in bunches, and massive, grown men grabbing little girls' throats," she says. She had selected images which appeared to depict child abuse, and yet were easily and legally available on a popular website. Continue reading...

Regulator tells Sally Westcott to pull product that allegedly has undeclared levels of prescription-only melatoninAn NHS manager has been stopped from selling children's gummies allegedly laced with undeclared levels of a prescription-only sleeping drug, the Guardian can reveal.Magnesium glycinate gummies for children who have trouble sleeping have been sold since March last year by Nutrition Ignition, an Epsom-based company owned by Sally Westcott, whose other job is a clinical therapy lead at Epsom and St Helier NHS trust. Continue reading...

Sue Higginson demands critical incident be declared after Hannah Thomas taken for surgery, but acting police minister says matter does not meet the threshold'

Alliance of groups wants Council of Europe to investigate implementation of supreme court ruling on biological sexA collection of groups campaigning on transgender issues have urged Europe's main human rights body to investigate the UK over the implementation of the supreme court's ruling on gender.In a joint letter to the Council of Europe, the organisations said the situation in which transgender people were likely to be barred from using toilets of their acquired sex or joining single-sex organisations placed them in an intermediate zone" of gender, saying this was a violation of the European convention on human rights (ECHR). Continue reading...

Music executives have condemned Irish rappers and Keir Starmer says appearance is not appropriate', but 100 musicians have signed letter in supportKneecap will be taking to the Glastonbury stage on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd eagerly anticipating what could be one of the most controversial sets in the festival's history.The Irish rap group are performing at 4pm on the West Holts stage, amid criticism from music industry executives and from the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said it was not appropriate" for the band to perform. Continue reading...

It started as a group of activists on a budget - now it could be banned under terrorism laws. But were lobbyists behind the proposed ban?If this interview had taken place in a week's time, Huda Ammori might have been arrested. If this interview had been published in a week's time, the Guardian might also have been breaking the law.Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, said she was finding it very hard to absorb the reality of what's happening here". She said: I don't have a single conviction but if this goes through I would have co-founded what will be a terrorist organisation." Continue reading...

City of London Corporation sets up regeneration team but has not allocated any new money for the projectSmithfield and Billingsgate food markets in London will be turned into new homes and a cultural destination under plans by their owner - but the future of the meat and fish traders housed on each site remains in doubt.A council within the City of London Corporation, which is responsible for running the capital's Square Mile, has voted to task a team to oversee the regeneration of 28 hectares (70 acres) of land across Greater London. However, it has not allocated any new money for the project. Continue reading...

Record numbers expected at march despite Hungary's leader saying those attending will face legal consequences'Record numbers of people are expected to take part in Budapest Pride on Saturday, with Hungarians joining forces with campaigners and politicians from across Europe in a march that has become a potent symbol of pushback against the Hungarian government's steady rollback of rights.This weekend, all eyes are on Budapest," Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for equality, told reporters in the Hungarian capital on Friday. This is bigger than one Pride celebration, one Pride march. It is about the right to be who you are, to love who you want, whether it is in Budapest, in Brussels or anywhere else." Continue reading...

Suit filed in Los Angeles court accuses mogul, son and two other men of brutal gang-rape' in 2017As closing arguments got under way in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean Diddy" Combs this week, the music mogul and his son Justin Combs were hit with a new lawsuit, accusing them of a brutal gang-rape" in 2017.In the suit filed in a Los Angeles court on Monday, a woman alleges that Justin Combs used his father's celebrity status to lure [the] plaintiff, a young female, from Louisiana to Los Angeles where she was literally held prisoner for a weekend and repeatedly raped" by the pair and two other masked men, according to the complaint. Continue reading...

Hacker working for cartel run by Joaquin El Chapo" Guzman was also able to access phone records of an FBI legal attache at the US embassy in Mexico CityA hacker working for the Sinaloa drug cartel was able to obtain an FBI official's phone records and use Mexico City's surveillance cameras to help track and kill the agency's informants in 2018, according to a new US justice department report.The incident was disclosed in a justice department inspector general's audit of the FBI's efforts to mitigate the effects of ubiquitous technical surveillance", a term used to describe the global proliferation of cameras and the thriving trade in vast stores of communications, travel, and location data. Continue reading...

Minnesotans lined up outside the state capitol to pay their respects to the house speaker assassinated in her homeMelissa and Mark Hortman, and their dog Gilbert, lay in state in the Minnesota state capitol rotunda on Friday.Their wooden caskets, and Gilbert's golden urn with pawprints on it, were surrounded by trees and ferns, a nod to the greenery Melissa, an avid gardener and advocate for the environment, held dear in her personal life and in her governance. Continue reading...

Agreement aims to end decades-old conflict rooted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide but critics have described it as vague and opaqueRwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have signed a peace deal in Washington to end fighting in eastern DRC, although questions remain over what the agreement means and who stands to benefit - with Donald Trump using the occasion to boast that the US had secured lucrative mineral rights.At a ceremony with US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Washington, the two African countries' foreign ministers signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days. Continue reading...

Andy John had previously issued unequivocal' apology over culture of excessive drinking, promiscuity and bullyingThe archbishop of Wales has stepped down after a culture of excessive drinking, sexual promiscuity, bullying, bad language and inappropriate banter at Bangor cathedral was revealed.Andy John, who is also the bishop of Bangor, released a statement on Friday evening after calls for his resignation gathered pace. Continue reading...

Trump administration revokes temporary protected status for citizens of country racked by deadly violenceMore than half a million Haitians are facing the prospect of deportation from the US after the Trump administration announced that the Caribbean country's citizens would no longer be afforded shelter under a government program created to protect the victims of major natural disasters or conflicts.Haiti has been engulfed by a wave of deadly violence since the 2021 murder of its president, Jovenel Moise. Heavily armed gangs have brought chaos to its capital, Port-au-Prince, since launching an insurrection that toppled the prime minister last year. On Tuesday, the US embassy in Haiti urged US citizens to abandon the violence-stricken Caribbean country. Depart Haiti as soon as possible," it wrote on X. Continue reading...

Exclusive: New ANU research reveals those liable for extra earnings levy have 12 times wealth of other Australians

Johnny Noviello was detained by US immigration in Florida over a 2023 conviction and died while awaiting deportationAuthorities in Canada are seeking information about the death of a 49-year-old Canadian man who died while in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody in Florida this week.In a statement, Ice, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said Johnny Noviello, 49, died on 23 June after being found unresponsive at a federal detention center in Miami, where he was being detained pending removal proceedings" from the US. Continue reading...

In the week that I couldn't get my mother to serve me a chicken and mushroom pie, some bears managed to raid a cafePeak bear performance was attained today, at Wildwood Devon near Ottery St Mary (also peak British placename performance, but that need not detain us here). Continue reading...

Hannah Thomas, who ran against Anthony Albanese in the Sydney electorate of Grayndler, sustained facial injuries

Purge is latest sign president Xi Jinping's anti corruption drive has reached highest echelons of armed forcesA top Chinese general has been purged from the body that overseas the Chinese military in the latest sign that Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive has reached the highest echelons of the armed forces.Miao Hua, a senior admiral from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) navy, was the director of the political work department of the central military commission (CMC), making him responsible for ideology and loyalty within the armed forces. The six-person CMC is one of the most powerful institutions in China and is headed by Xi, China's leader. Continue reading...

Key takeaways from two weeks of negotiations aimed at setting out stall for November's Cop30 in BrazilTwo weeks of negotiations on the climate crisis have just concluded in Bonn in preparation for the Cop30 summit taking place in Brazil this November. What did we learn? Continue reading...

Boy, 15, charged with one count of murder after alleged stabbing of 58-year-old Greg Josephson at Clayfield home on Thursday

In today's newsletter: Once sustained by agriculture and industry, Gaza's economy has been dismantled, leaving nearly every resident dependent on aid and the hope of a future that feels increasingly out of reachGood morning. While much of the world's attention has been focused on Israel's conflict with Iran, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has worsened by the day. Since March, when Israel broke a ceasefire agreement and imposed a total blockade, very little food or medicine has been allowed in. Though the blockade was partially lifted on 19 May, only a trickle of desperately needed aid has made it through - and yesterday Israel closed the most direct route. Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians who are trying to access it, in what aid workers are now calling a death trap". Israel is fighting allegations of genocide in Gaza, where it has killed more than 55,000 people.Truly to understand the scale of the catastrophe in Gaza, it's necessary to place it in historical context. This isn't just a crisis born in 2023: it's the culmination of nearly two decades of siege.Middle East crisis | Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened to respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East.Welfare | Keir Starmer has offered Labour MPs massive concessions" on his controversial welfare bill in a move that has won over key rebels and is likely to have saved the prime minister from a damaging Commons defeat. The changes will reportedly cost the government several billion pounds over the next few years but will shore up the prime minister's precarious authority.UK weather | An amber heat health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for much of England because of predicted temperatures above 30C over the weekend.UK news | Two police officers who were involved in the strip-search of a black teenager at her school have been found to have committed gross misconduct. The search was disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary" and made the girl feel degraded and humiliated.Health | Scientists have developed a test to identify women with an increased risk of miscarriage, which could pave the way for new treatments to prevent pregnancy loss. Continue reading...

National Audit Office questions viability of many routes, with half of all operator income from public subsidyLocal bus services in England have continued to decline despite attempts by successive governments to bolster investment in services, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.The spending watchdog found that efforts to revive routes and attract more passengers had so far failed, with a 15% fall in the total miles operated by buses outside London since 2019 and passenger numbers still 9% below pre-Covid levels. Continue reading...

MP Jess Brown-Fuller says at the current rate it could take more than a decade to complete the compensation processAn MP has raised alarm at the slow pace of a scheme to compensate LGBT service personnel dismissed or discharged from the forces because of their sexuality, saying that at the current rate it could take more than a decade to complete the process.Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester, said she began examining the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme, formally launched in December, due to the experiences of a constituent, who is one of just 69 people to have been compensated, of more than 1,200 who have applied. Continue reading...

The execution of Takahiro Shiraishi would be the first instance of capital punishment in Japan since 2022Japan has executed a man dubbed the Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation's first enactment of the death penalty since 2022.Takahiro Shiraishi was sentenced to death for murdering and dismembering nine people he met on the social media platform, now called X, in 2017. He was hanged on Friday.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

LA police say suspects broke in through the front window, ransacked the home and fled with propertyPolice are investigating a break-in at a home reportedly owned by Brad Pitt, who has been on a globe-spanning promo tour for his new movie, F1, after three people allegedly ransacked" the property.The Los Angeles police department confirmed they responded to a break-in Wednesday night at a house on the 2300 block of North Edgemont Street in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Continue reading...

The Argentinian composer also wrote the scores for Cool Hand Luke and Dirty Harry, and wrote one of the biggest-selling works in the history of classical musicLalo Schifrin, the composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for Mission: Impossible and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, has died aged 93.Schifrin's sons, William and Ryan, confirmed the composer died on Thursday of complications from pneumonia. Continue reading...

Rates are higher in young women as in young men and mental ill health up across age groups, study showsSharp rises in rates of anxiety, depression and other disorders have led to one in four young people in England having a common mental health condition, an NHS survey shows, with young women more likely to report them than young men.The study found that rates of such conditions in 16- to 24-year-olds have risen by more than a third in a decade, from 18.9% in 2014 to 25.8% in 2024.More than a fifth (22.6%) of adults aged 16 to 64 have a common mental health condition, up from 18.9% in 2014.More than one in four adults (25.2%) reported having had suicidal thoughts during their lifetime, including about a third of 16- 24-year-olds (31.5%) and 25- to 34-year-olds (32.9%).Self-harm rates have quadrupled since 2000 and risen from 6.4% in 2014 to 10.3% in 2024, with the highest rates among 16- to 24-year-olds at 24.6%, especially young women at 31.7%. Continue reading...

Sister of Louise and Hannah Hunt and daughter of Carol, killed in their home by Kyle Clifford, calls for radical changes to address epidemic of gender violenceAmy Hunt, whose mother and two sisters were murdered in their home last year, has said the attack was rooted in misogyny", calling for radical societal changes to address the epidemic" of violence against women and young girls.Amy's mother, Carol, 61, and sisters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, were killed in July by Kyle Clifford, her youngest sister's former partner. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans were shipped to the Caribbean island when it was a colony of the UKJamaica will ask King Charles to request legal advice on the issue of slavery reparations from the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations.Under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833, the king, who remains Jamaica's head of state after the country gained independence from Britain in 1962, has the authority to refer matters to the council for consideration. Continue reading...

Claudia Sheinbaum frustrated as US says trio - placed under sanctions - are vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain'Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum expressed frustration at US sanctions against three Mexican financial institutions accused of laundering drug money, and said the US has not yet provided any evidence of criminal activity.Until now, the treasury department has not sent any proof that indicates there is money laundering," Sheinbaum said. We will act if there is proof." Continue reading...

High-profile case enters its final stage after more than a month of testimony from 34 witnessesClosing arguments began on Thursday morning in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean Diddy" Combs, signaling the final stage of the high-profile case.Assistant US attorney Christy Slavik opened by describing Combs as the leader of a criminal enterprise" who doesn't take no for an answer". Continue reading...

Celebrity guests for nuptials of Amazon founder and former TV journalist arrive as activists continue to protest against event

Backbenchers feel PM's chief of staff missed strength of feeling over cuts - and there are deeper tensions at playBeing the prime minister's right-hand man is a position of extraordinary power and privilege. But when things start to go wrong, you're directly in the line of fire. So has found Morgan McSweeney, the political mastermind credited with helping Keir Starmer win his election landslide, in recent days as the Labour party has collapsed into moral fury over planned welfare cuts.The softly spoken Irishman, now Starmer's chief of staff, has become the lightning rod for the frustration of many Labour rebels who backed a wrecking amendment designed to blow up the flagship welfare bill next week. Continue reading...

Trial is an attempt to uncover the truth' behind the deadliest attack in Argentinian history, says judgeA judge in Argentina has ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.The attack, which caused devastation in Latin America's biggest Jewish community, has never been claimed or solved, but Argentina and Israel have long suspected Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group of carrying it out at Iran's request. Continue reading...

Disciplinary hearing finds police officers' search of Child Q, 15, was disproportionate and humiliatingTwo police officers who were involved in the strip-search of a black teenager at her school have been dismissed after they were found to have committed gross misconduct.The search at a school in Hackney, east London, was disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary" and made the girl, known as Child Q, feel degraded and humiliated, a panel concluded at the end of a four-week misconduct hearing. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leading rebels say they have been promised significant changes to planned cuts which could help bill avoid defeatKeir Starmer has offered Labour MPs massive concessions" on his controversial welfare bill in a move that has won over key rebels and is likely to have saved the prime minister from a damaging Commons defeat next week.Leading MPs told the Guardian they had been promised significant changes, which will cost the government several billion pounds over the next few years but would shore up the prime minister's precarious authority. Continue reading...