World news | The Guardian

Tributes paid to man credited with spearheading city's 21st-century renaissance, including rebuild after IRA bombTributes have been paid to Sir Howard Bernstein, widely credited with regenerating Manchester, who has died at the age of 71.Bernstein began his career at Manchester town hall in 1971, eventually serving as chief executive of Manchester city council for 20 years, from 1998 until his retirement in March 2017. Continue reading...

Author accused party of abandoning women who took issue with its transgender rights policyKeir Starmer has said he is proud of Labour's history on women's rights after JK Rowling said she would struggle to support the party because of its stance on transgender rights.Starmer told reporters on Saturday that he was very proud of the progress" of past Labour governments, which made a material difference" to women's lives. Continue reading...

For this year's fringe, performers will be rapidly updating their shows to reflect the outcome at the ballot boxLet's just say, I didn't make a bet on the election date, and if I had, I would be massively out of pocket," says Emma Sidi, who'll be performing in character as chief Partygate investigator Sue Gray in her new show at this year's Edinburgh festival fringe. It's a surreal take on political comedy, with character comedian Sidi reimagining Gray as a real hun, that kind of girl next door, someone who says it how it is", but there are also topical jokes, with Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer appearing as key characters.Sidi, like most of the country, expected the election would be called in autumn, so when the announcement came that it would be done and dusted less than a month before the fringe opens, comedians who dared to tackle politics in this volatile year were suddenly faced with serious rewrites. Continue reading...

William celebrated his birthday at singer's gig at Wembley on Friday with children George and CharlotteThe Prince of Wales has thanked Taylor Swift for a great evening" after he celebrated his birthday at her Wembley gig on Friday night.Kensington Palace posted a picture on social media of Swift taking a selfie with William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte backstage before the concert. Continue reading...

Musician, 33, faces retrial after being sentenced to death for corruption on Earth'Iran's supreme court has overturned the death sentence imposed on the rapper Toomaj Salehi, his lawyer said.The decision comes in the middle of Iran's presidential election campaign but seems unrelated to the fierce public debates under way about Iran's future direction, including the rights of women not to wear the hijab if they wish. Continue reading...

Eight dogs vied for the title in the Sonoma-Marine Fair's disagreeable-looking dog competitionThe World's Ugliest Dog contest may not render the most flattering title to its victor, but don't tell that to Wild Thang.The eight-year-old pekingese won this year's World's Ugliest Dog competition on Friday. Continue reading...

Natasha Khan joins Suranne Jones to speak out for women persecuted in the infamous trials - and channels their powers on stageIn between performing songs from her new album on her current UK tour, Natasha Khan, AKA Bat for Lashes, spends some time howling at the audience and furiously hitting the stage with a huge stick.The reason? We're all witches," said Khan, 44. It helps me to tap into that subconscious world of witchery, and show how really powerful it is to witness a woman on stage feeling confident in her magic." Continue reading...

This year is my first Glastonbury - and the first time south Asian artists will have their own space. It's long overdueMy most frequently used sentence in the past few months has probably been: Imanaged to get a Glastonbury ticket." After years of trying, I will finally be setting foot in Worthy Farm next weekend and - even more exciting - I will be making my debut in the same year as the festival's first ever dedicated south Asian area.The new space, called Arrivals, will host an entirely south Asian lineup, and was programmed and designed by an entirely south Asian team, from the set designers to the sound system operators. Continue reading...

Dr Clare Bailey posts tribute to adventurous man', saying his work gave him strong sense of purposeThe widow of Michael Mosley has posted an emotional tribute to her husband and said she plans to continue the work that gave him so much joy and such a sense of purpose".Mosley, a TV presenter, went missing while on holiday with his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, on the Greek island of Symi on 5 June. The 67-year-old's body was discovered five days after disappearing during a coastal walk along St Nicholas beach. Continue reading...

Debbie Duncan, mother of Jay Slater, says it is right that search for 19-year-old should be intensifiedThe mother of Jay Slater, who is missing in Tenerife, has said she believes Spanish police have intensified their search for the 19-year-old, six days after he disappeared.Debbie Duncan told the Guardian she spent eight hours in a police station on Friday as police outlined their detailed plans to search for the missing apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire. I think it's been stepped up," she said, which she described as too right". Continue reading...

Police attended Westmead hospital about 11.30pm on Friday after a man, 39, allegedly slashed and assaulted staff

Prosecutors claimed four members of family underpaid staff and gave them little freedom to leave Geneva mansionA Swiss court has handed jail sentences to four members of Britain's richest family for exploiting Indian staff at their Geneva mansion.The Hindujas, who were not present in court, were acquitted of human trafficking but convicted of other charges on Friday in a stunning verdict for the family, whose fortune is estimated at 37bn. Continue reading...

Network asks court to dismiss appeal if Lehrmann fails to comply if such an order is made

Scenarios using a large-scale data model that predicts individual seat tallies indicate anything from 53-155 Tory MPsSo-called MRP polls, which use large-scale polling data to extrapolate individual seat tallies, have become something of an obsession in UK politics since an early version by YouGov predicted 2017's hung parliament, while other surveys were tipping an easy Conservative win.So popular are MRPs, an acronym for a very technical approach known as multilevel regression and post-stratification, that three were published on a single day this week. All gave pretty different results, particularly when it came to the fate of the Tories. Continue reading...

Whalley residents say drunken crowds and antisocial behaviour at weekends is making life unbearableWhalley, in Lancashire's verdant Ribble Valley, is famed for its 14th-century Cistercian abbey and historic churches, as well as the spectacular views from Whalley Nab, the wooded hill that overlooks this seeming picture-postcard idyll.But while the village still draws in family day-trippers and history buffs, it is also attracting an altogether different type of tourist, after earning perhaps an unlikely reputation as Lancashire's premier drinking destination. Continue reading...

NHS England says its ambition to wipe disease out by 2040 relies on more under-50s coming forwardWomen have been urged by NHS officials to attend cervical screenings after figures showed a third of those under 50 do not take up their invitation.Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to be diagnosed with it. Continue reading...

Cafes, fast-food outlets, restaurants, bakeries, pubs and supermarkets accused of fuelling the obesity crisisSome takeaway meals contain more calories in one sitting than someone is advised to consume in an entire day, a study of British eating habits has revealed.Cafes, fast-food outlets, restaurants, bakeries, pubs and supermarkets are fuelling the UK's obesity crisis because so many meals they sell contain dangerously large numbers of calories, it found.Supermarket meal deals - usually comprising a sandwich, snack and drink - contain on average 780 calories, more than the 600 advised.Burgers are the most popular takeaway dish in England, Scotland and Wales, followed by chips, fries or wedges.People consume an average of 300 calories a day in takeaway food and drink.Non-alcoholic drinks, especially coffee and fizzy soft drinks, contribute 12% of all the calories consumed by people in out-of-home premises. Continue reading...

Ministers left with unpalatable options of raising tuition fees, making grants or capping student numbers, says IFSThe next government faces unpalatable" choices between raising tuition fees, making direct grants or capping student numbers to rescue universities in England from their financial black hole, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.The thinktank said universities that relied on teaching UK students for the bulk of their income were most vulnerable, calculating that undergraduate tuition fees would now be 12,000 if they had kept pace with inflation, rather than the 9,250 rate frozen since 2016. Continue reading...

We're all entitled to our opinions, says one party candidate. His aren't the only ones to have attracted controversyWhile opinion polls have shown rising support for Reform UK during the general election campaign, the party has been dogged by revelations about some of its candidates.These have ranged from comments that the UK should have remained neutral in the fight against the Nazis and admiration of Hitler's brilliant" ability to inspire action, to a conspiracy theory about King Charles being under the control of a shadowy global elite. Continue reading...

Oleh Sentsov's film Real is 90 minutes of frontline action captured when he didn't realise his camera was onIn the new film by the Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov, soldiers pinned down in a trench try to organise the evacuation of a group of fellow fighters who are stuck and wounded in a frontline position.Sentsov, who spent several years as a political prisoner in Russia and is now fighting in the Ukrainian army, found the 90 minutes of shaky footage six months after the battle. He was going through old files on his GoPro camera and realised it had been switched on that day. Continue reading...

Territory's health ministry says Israeli attack targeted tents of displaced people; Israeli military says report under review'

Beijing ramps up pressure over crime of secession' while Taipei says China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan and urges its people not to be intimidatedChina has threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for diehard" Taiwan independence separatists, a ratcheting up of pressure even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has made no secret of its dislike of President Lai Ching-te, who took office last month, saying he is a separatist", and staged war games shortly after his inauguration. Continue reading...

Many parts of Victoria, NSW and Queensland have shivered through temperatures between 2C and 5C below average, the BoM says

Spanish city is one of Europe's top destinations but its popularity has made housing increasingly unaffordable for residentsBarcelona, a top Spanish holiday destination, has announced it will bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move as it seeks to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city livable for residents.The city's leftist mayor, Jaume Collboni, said on Friday that by November 2028, Barcelona would scrap the licences of the 10,101 apartments currently approved as short-term rentals. Continue reading...

Spanish police say they have the resources it needs for hunt for 19-year-old who was last heard from on MondaySpanish police have rejected an offer of support from Lancashire constabulary as the hunt for the missing British teenager Jay Slater in Tenerife continues.Lancashire police said it had made an offer of support to the Guardia Civil to see if they need any additional resources" in their efforts. The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle was last heard from between 8am and 9am on Monday morning when he contacted a friend. Continue reading...

Met Office says central and southern England should reach mid-20s but weather will turn unsettled from WednesdayHeatwaves may hit parts of the UK next week after a grey start to the weekend, forecasters have said.A greyer start to the weekend" is forecast on Saturday with further showers and warm temperatures in the south and east of England before a mainly nice day" for most areas of the UK on Sunday. Continue reading...

Politicians take part in debate on BBC One Cymru; Reform leader tells Nick Robinson that Ukraine war was provoked' by westNick Robinson's next question to Nigel Farage is the one that has generated those headlines about him accusing Nato and the EU of provoking Russia to invade Ukraine.Nick Robinson opens the interview with Nigel Farage with a question about Reform UK guaranteeing a large victory for Labour by dragging voters away from the Conservatives. He cites polling figures. Continue reading...

Met says officers will meet woman who alleged Lousada raped her during session and who won damages in civil caseScotland Yard is considering reopening a criminal investigation into the television sex therapist Michael Lousada, after a civil court found in favour of a former client who alleged he had raped her during a session.Ella Janneh was awarded 217,000 in damages, with further damages to be decided, at the high court in London on Wednesday, after Mr Justice Baker found that the alleged rape had caused her complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Continue reading...

Farage, who has long been accused of being a Putin apologist, tells BBC Moscow was given excuse by EU and Nato eastern expansionNigel Farage has said the EU and Nato provoked" Russia's invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards, as the Reform UK leader was challenged over a series of policies and beliefs in a sometimes combative TV interview.Speaking to BBC's Panorama on Friday evening, Farage also said Brexit would have benefited the UK economically if he had been running the country, and that many of the Reform candidates criticised for saying offensive things had been stitched up in the most extraordinary way". Continue reading...

Jane Bennett, 52, died of lung disease after multiple complaints to local authority about state of her bungalowExposure to toxic mould could have been a factor in the death of a Mansfield woman who made multiple complaints to her local council about the condition of her home before she died, a coroner has ruled.Fun and bubbly" Jane Bennett, 52, died of lung disease on 8 June 2023 during her fourth hospital admission in a month for breathlessness and a cough, which Bennett thought was linked to mould in her home. Continue reading...

Speaking at a summit in Berlin, the German chancellor said it was necessary to address young people's anxietiesThe best way to win back young voters from the far right is to give them hope, security and respect so that everyone from an untrained Amazon worker" to Elon Musk's son" can live without fear of the future, the German chancellor has said.After young people voted for the far right in large numbers at the recent European parliamentary election, Olaf Scholz said it was necessary to closely address their anxieties. Continue reading...

Friends of 19-year-old bricklayer voice frustration but rescue workers say they have not yet given upAbove a lush and rugged valley in Tenerife's Rural De Teno national park, a police officer from Spain's civil guard surveys the landscape with binoculars.A few hundred yards below, members of the Canary's civil defence force in orange hi-vis jackets are searching further into the valley close to where the British tourist Jay Slater disappeared five days ago. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Prof Samuel Weiss said in leaked email that government halted efforts to tackle mystery illnessA senior Canadian federal scientist has alleged that the government shut down an investigation into a mystery brain illness in New Brunswick that he believes may have affected 350 people.He is the second federal scientist to accuse the government of deliberately halting the investigation and to say that the caseload is higher than the government has acknowledged. Continue reading...

Conservatives' fundraising so far is a tenth of what they had received by this stage in last election

Former Russian spy Sergei and his daughter, Yulia, fear for their safety if they give evidence at hearing into death of Dawn Sturgess, says barristerThe former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, do not want to appear at an independent inquiry on the Salisbury novichok poisonings because they worry that their security could not be assured, it has emerged.At a preliminary inquiry hearing, it was also made clear that the family of Dawn Sturgess, who died after being exposed to the nerve agent, are keen that the adequacy of the medical care she received is fully explored. Continue reading...

Group allegedly demanding Afghan participation in Doha meeting this month be limited to men and that women's rights be excluded from the agendaExcluding Afghan women from an upcoming UN conference on Afghanistan would be a betrayal" of women and girls in the country, say human rights groups and former politicians.The Taliban are reportedly demanding that no Afghan women be allowed to participate in the UN meeting in Doha starting 30 June, set up to discuss the international community's approach to Afghanistan, and that women's rights are not on the agenda. Continue reading...

Andrew Bailey's lawsuit targets New York attorney general and Manhattan DA, who both secured Trump convictionsThe Missouri attorney general, Andrew Bailey, has confirmed that he is suing the state of New York for election interference and wrongful prosecution for bringing the Stormy Daniels hush-money case to a trial that saw Donald Trump convicted of 34 felonies.Bailey, a Republican politician appointed by Missouri's governor, Mike Parson, last year, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he would be filing a lawsuit against the State of New York for their direct attack on our democratic process through unconstitutional lawfare against President Trump". Continue reading...

Ruling in US v Rahimi will leave in place legal protections against a major source of gun violence in the US

German chancellor and LSE professor Lea Ypi speak on freedom, peace and progress' at event chaired by Guardian's editor-in-chief, Katharine VinerOlaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said at the Progressive Governance Summit that globalisation is a benefit for world development.There must be an answer to the question why the most lucky countries in the world have right-populist movements and unrest," he said. Continue reading...

Countries in the 27-nation bloc formally approve the launch of accession negotiations on TuesdayA member of Russia's lower house of parliament said law enforcement authorities need to do more to protect civilians from ex-convicts who have returned home from fighting in Ukraine.Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party deputy who has been sanctioned by Western countries over Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, told the gazeta.ru newspaper in an interview that violent crimes involving decommissioned soldiers will be even more numerous" if authorities do not act. Continue reading...

Thousands of cases refused in clearing exercise have surfaced in appeals process, with 10,000 lodged in first three months of yearRishi Sunak's claims to have cleared the asylum backlog by the end of 2023 have been called into question, as data shows appeals against Home Office refusals of asylum claims have increased by more than 300% in the first three months of this year.In the latest quarterly statistics for tribunals for the period January to March, published by the Ministry of Justice, the number of asylum and protection appeals lodged was 10,000 - an increase of 330%. Continue reading...

Boy, now 17, attacked two fellow pupils as they slept and a housemaster at Blundell's schoolA teenager who battered two fellow boarding school pupils with hammers as they slept and attacked a housemaster when he went to investigate the commotion has been found guilty of three attempted murders.The boy, who was 16 at the time, accepted he carried out the assaults at Blundell's school in Devon but claimed he was sleepwalking and so could not be held criminally responsible. Continue reading...

Daily heat records were broken in the early season heatwave, yet relief in sight as cooler weather forecastAbout 65 million people were under heat alerts in the north-eastern and midwest states on Friday, as an early season heatwave in the US continued to roast the region.Record temperatures were set in some areas, with heat indexes that combine temperature and humidity hitting 100F and 110F. Calendar-day highs were broken across Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Continue reading...

Declan single-wall glass coffee mugs recalled due to 103 incidents of glasses breaking, resulting in 56 injuriesMore than half a million glass coffee mugs are being recalled across the US after a government warning that they could shatter on contact with hot liquid and cause serious injuries.Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled coffee glasses," the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement. Continue reading...

National Rally's Herve Breuil, 68, hospitalised after being attacked as he handed out flyers in central France ahead of snap electionsMasked assailants have assaulted a far-right candidate on the campaign trail ahead of France's snap parliamentary election, in the latest incident of violence targeting politicians across Europe.Police said Herve Breuil, a candidate for Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party, was assaulted as he handed out flyers on Thursday morning with four others in the industrial city of Saint Etienne, in central France. Continue reading...

Victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners who say ban contributes to discrimination and violence by policeNamibia's high court has overturned a law that criminalised gay sex in a victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years.Namibia inherited a law banning sodomy" and unnatural offences" when it gained independence from South Africa in 1990. While the ban was rarely enforced, activists said it contributed to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, including violence by the police. Continue reading...

Chatsworth House show based on imagined conversation explores youngest Mitford sister's love of chickens and ElvisThe first item in the new exhibition at Chatsworth House celebrating the legacy of the late Duchess of Devonshire is a tweed suit. The youngest Mitford sister was a chicken lover and the bottom few inches - poultry head-height - have been intentionally dishevelled as if ravaged by her Buff Cochins and Welsummers.The exhibition is an imagined conversation between Deborah Cavendish and the British-Turkish designer Erdem Moralolu, whose last spring/summer show was a love letter to Debo", her wardrobe and the estate in Derbyshire of which she was chatelaine until her death, aged 94, in 2014. Items from her wardrobe punctuate Moralolu's designs inspired by them - the tweed suit is the latter. Continue reading...

Cyber-attack earlier this month led to cancellation of almost 1,600 operations and outpatient appointmentsData from a ransomware attack has allegedly been published online weeks after the attack halted operations and tests in major London hospitals, NHS England has said.A Russian group carried out the cyber-attack on Synnovis, a private pathology firm that analyses blood tests for Guy's and St Thomas' NHS foundation trust (GSTT) and King's College trust, on 3 June, forcing hospitals in the capital to cancel almost 1,600 operations and outpatient appointments. Continue reading...

Butt given 12-month ban and must do 100 hours of unpaid work for breaking motorcyclist's leg after lapse of concentration'The former Manchester United footballer Nicky Butt has been banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work after breaking a motorcyclist's leg in a road crash.Butt, 49, who was heading home after taking his son to football training in Burnley, pulled out in front of a Honda motorbike ridden by Adam Fielding after a momentary lapse of concentration", Blackburn magistrates court heard. Continue reading...

The reimbursement, part of the terms of the takeover, means the 2021 bailout cost the public almost nothing