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Beira's Place in Edinburgh, founded by the author, says claim was deeply offensive' as it considers legal actionAmnesty International UK has referred itself to the charity regulator over a report it published that described a sexual violence support centre founded by JK Rowling as anti-rights".The UK branch of the global human rights charity listed Beira's Place in Edinburgh among more than 100 organisations it said were part of an anti-rights movement. Continue reading...

Appointment by the outgoing prime minister potentially opens door for London mayor to join Burnham cabinet

The film-maker behind Selma and 13th will focus on the 14th amendment for a new film out later this year as Donald Trump targets those protected by itAva DuVernay announced on Thursday that she has made a documentary for Netflix on the 14th amendment, which gave liberty and rights to formerly enslaved people following the civil war, and has come under legal attack from Donald Trump.Netflix said on Thursday that it will release 14th later this year. The film will mark a return to nonfiction for DuVernay, the film-maker of Selma and Origin, and a follow-up to DuVernay's 2016 film 13th, her examination of the legacy of the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery. Continue reading...

Flash flood emergencies were issued on Thursday for parts of Kerr and Uvalde counties and Texas Hill Country

This live blog has been pausedThe Lebanese foreign minister, Youssef Raggi, said Lebanon has made a decision to end Hezbollah's military presence" and that decisions on war and foreign policy are the exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state".The Lebanese government is pushing to disarm Hezbollah, one of the most heavily armed militias in the Middle East, and it has become a central component of the US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel.Lebanon has made its choice: there will be no return to dual authority, and there is no longer any place for weapons outside the authority of the state or for decisions taken outside its constitutional institutions.The decision to end Hezbollah's military presence is a sovereign Lebanese decision. It preceded the Framework Agreement and paved the way for it, affirming that decisions on war and peace, as well as foreign policy, are now the exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state." Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereCouples could legally marry in forests, on beaches, at sea or in their gardens under new proposals, the Press Association reports. PA says a government consultation announced today, covering rules in England and Wales, could help cut the costs of weddings and mean two ceremonies are no longer required to cover different faiths. PA says:The average wedding in England is estimated to cost more than 20,000, with venue hire alone typically accounting for around 6,000 without catering.The system as it stands means some couples have two ceremonies - one where they feel their beliefs are best reflected and another making their marriage legal. Continue reading...

Landmark high court ruling calls for fresh inquiry into Jools Sweeney's death to allow for previously omitted social media evidenceThe inquest into the death of a 14-year-old boy, whose mother believes he died after a TikTok challenge gone wrong, is to be reopened in a landmark ruling by the high court.Jools Sweeney, a schoolboy from Gloucestershire, died in April 2022. His parents, Ellen Roome and Matt Sweeney, believed social media played a role in his death, pointing to the popularity of the blackout challenge" online at the time. Continue reading...

Wives and children offered new identities to try to stop gangsters recruiting down the generationsChildren and young adults raised in mafia families will be given a chance to break away from organised crime under new legislation in Italy that aims to stop the intergenerational recruitment of gangsters.In an unprecedented effort to sever the family chain, the Italian state will offer children aged under 25 and other close relatives of mafia bosses a chance to start over: a new home in another city, a new school and, if necessary, a new identity. Continue reading...

Critics say Foreign Office figures send global message about the role the country wants to play on international stage'Labour's foreign aid cuts mean reductions of as much as 90% in the bilateral support the UK will give to some African countries, Foreign Office figures show.The department's annual report includes a long-awaited breakdown of how the reduction in the aid budget will affect individual countries for the next three years. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Green party launches pushback against idea that next PM will have more left-leaning agenda than StarmerAndy Burnham is too in hock to vested interests" to offer real change, Zack Polanski has said as the Greens launched a pushback against the incoming prime minister, portraying him as cautious and weak on such areas as wealth taxes, Gaza and rent controls.Under Polanski's leadership the Green party in England and Wales has more than tripled its membership, and is closely tracking Labour in opinion polls, with much of the new support coming from former Labour voters disenchanted with Keir Starmer's approach. Continue reading...

Protests in Lviv and Kyiv as Zelenskyy faces anger after removing the popular Mykhailo Fedorovin MadridMeanwhile, the EU's top court has ruled that a controversial Spanish law that offered an amnesty to those who planned and participated in the failed and illegal push for Catalan independence does not violate the bloc's rules. Continue reading...

Heatwaves, high energy prices, calls for reindustrialisation and North Sea drilling are all high on the to-do list

Revised plan aims to keep something going' amid fears Netanyahu may gamble on new all-out offensive before Israeli elections

The actor, who also appeared in The Waltons and Private Benjamin, died at his home in CaliforniaHal Williams, the actor best known for TV roles in Sanford & Son and 227, has died at the age of 91.His representative confirmed that Williams died on 15 July at his home in California. Continue reading...

Diesel tops $5 a gallon as regular gas reaches almost $4, nearly a dollar and a quarter more than a year ago

Agreement combines Uber Eats with food delivery brands in 99 countries and expands taxi service reach

Timmy: Hope Dies Last elevates stranded humpback into Jesus-like figure, igniting hope and griefWhen people in Germany organised a daring rescue mission for a humpback whale stranded on the Baltic coast in April, it briefly looked like a country stricken with political division and economic anxiety was rallying around a common cause.A new satirical play inspired by the episode, however, suggests the spectators, social media influencers, politicians and millionaires who flocked to the seaside in support never just wanted to rescue the cetacean that came to be nicknamed Timmy, but for Timmy to rescue them. Continue reading...

Friedrich Merz responds to US project offering grants of up to $3m in Europe to address sovereignty, migration and censorship'Friedrich Merz has warned Donald Trump's administration against interfering in German elections after the US state department announced a scheme to fund Maga-aligned causes in Europe.The German chancellor was responding to a US initiative offering grants of up to $3m (2.2m) for European charities, thinktanks and individuals. Continue reading...

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Rise in GDP follows a 0.1% decline in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics showThe UK economy returned to growth in May, despite the impact of the Iran war on energy costs, official figures show.The Office for National Statistics said GDP rose 0.1% in May, in line with economists' forecasts, after a 0.1% decline in April. Continue reading...

Scunthorpe factory is expropriated from China's Jingye and ministers will ask a valuer to assess compensationBritish Steel has formally been taken into public ownership 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.Keir Starmer on Thursday said that it was in the national interest for the government to take over the factory from its Chinese owner, Jingye, in one of the last significant actions overseen by him as prime minister after the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act received Royal Assent on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Woman in her 60s was riding on popular cycling trail in northern NSW when she ran over the two-metre-long eastern brown snake, one of the world's most venomousA woman in her 60s is recovering after being bitten by a two-metre-long eastern brown snake that had become entangled in her bike chain in regional Australia.She was riding on the northern rivers rail trail near Burringbar, in the Tweed shire in northern New South Wales, when she ran over the snake. Continue reading...

The dual national, who missed six weeks of school, is latest of several children affected by recent Home Office policyA British girl was prevented from returning to her school in the UK for six weeks after a trip to see her grandmother in Italy because of the Home Office's new rule requiring dual British nationals to have a British passport to get back into the country.The 15-year-old, who was stranded in Rome in April, is just the latest of a number of children and young adults hit by a new Labour government rule that came into force in February. Continue reading...

AFP release images of children's clothes found on electronic devices seized as part of investigation into Hamish Tait

Malicious actor' obtains sensitive data including Medicare numbers, treatment details and pathology results in cyber-attack on Partnered Health

Vessels believed to have departed from Myanmar in late June, with mostly Muslim Rohingya minority onboardThe United Nations has said more than 500 people are feared dead after reports of two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June.The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its refugee agency UNHCR voiced alarm in a joint statement at reports that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days". Continue reading...

Mykhailo Fedorov, credited with transforming the ministry, ousted in reshuffle after six months in postVolodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Ukraine's popular defence minister, despite pleas from foreign partners and civil society for him to keep his job, as part of wide-ranging government reshuffle.In a post on Telegram Mykhailo Fedorov announced that he was leaving his position, saying it had been a great honour" to serve the Ukrainian people. He was widely credited with transforming the defence ministry and reducing corruption. Continue reading...

Campaign hopes to buy site for community, fearing it could go same route of corporate gentrification as Camden and Old SpitalfieldsTraders at Brixton market say they are in a battle of people over profit" after submitting a last-minute plan to stop the site being bought by a private equity firm which they fear could price out longstanding independent businesses.Those behind the Buy Back Brixton campaign said they are through to the second stage of a bidding process, competing against multinational companies to buy Brixton Village and Market Row for community ownership. Continue reading...

Campaigners hail landmark moment' in early detection and treatment of rare muscle-wasting diseaseEvery baby born in England will be screened for a rare muscle-wasting disease, starting next year, the Department of Health and Social Care announced on Thursday.Campaigners said the landmark moment" should lead to babies who were found to have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) being treated early and thus growing up without any of its debilitating symptoms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than 200 illegal holiday properties found in buildings at the highest level of seismic riskTourists in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, are staying in illegal accommodation listed on Airbnb and Booking.com in buildings considered so seismically vulnerable they could collapse in the event of a major earthquake, according to exclusive data shared with the Guardian.Analysis of data collected by Re:Rise, a Romanian organisation working on seismic risk reduction, identified at least 207 illegal tourist rental properties advertised across the two platforms in Bucharest at the end of May, with a combined capacity to host more than 1,000 visitors each night. Continue reading...

Rain Newton-Smith calls for a new generation of public-private partnerships to fund major projectsAndy Burnham must avoid another summer of speculation" on tax and spend that would spook British business, the chief executive of the CBI has warned.As Burnham prepares to take up the Labour leadership on Friday, with a new cabinet to be announced on Monday, Rain Newton-Smith urged him to tread carefully. Continue reading...

Anne Ruston called for the party to act with urgency' after discussion paper suggested ways to improve engagement with women, multicultural communities and young people

This blog is now closed - our latest full report is hereFor a second day in a row, US strikes targeted Iran's southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant, according to the state news agency IRNA quoting a local official.In continuation of the brutality of the American enemy, three points in the city of Bushehr were attacked today," Mohammad Mozaffari, the governor of Bushehr, was quoted as saying.In the recent attacks on the southern part of the country, more than 30 civilians lost their lives. While expressing our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families, we honour the memory of the fallen. The government will stand by the people with all its might. The south of Iran is the beating heart of this land. The south of Iran, the soul of Iran." Continue reading...

Internal safety review at Australian National University found encampment had high' psychosocial risk rating

US disables unladen oil tanker using Hellfire missiles in strait of Hormuz amid concerns strikes could spiral into open conflictThe US has fired on an oil tanker attempting to reach Kharg Island in the strait of Hormuz as part of its blockade on Iranian ports, as Tehran came under attack for the first time in this latest round of strikes.The US said on Thursday morning it had disabled an unladen oil tanker, during a fifth day of strikes, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack after it ignored multiple warnings. Continue reading...

Minister urges public to report cases of three or more sick or dead birds in a group after brown skua seabird tests positive for H5N1 on Wellington beachThe deadly H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in New Zealand for the first time, sparking alarm that some of the country's most beloved and vulnerable native birds could be wiped out if it spreads.A single ocean-going seabird, a brown skua, returned a confirmed positive test on Wednesday, after it was found on Petone beach in Wellington on 10 July, said Andrew Hoggard, the biosecurity minister. Continue reading...

State MP abandons supreme court challenge, saying her party can now decide whether to pursue mediation or reconvene to disendorse me'

Adaptation to frightening new normal and reducing emissions further and faster is critical, scientists warnDozens of people drowned, hundreds had to be rescued and thousands were displaced when floods struck the coasts of west Africa last month.Now scientists have concluded that the rains that caused the floods were supercharged by climate breakdown. Global heating, they say, turned what should have been a routine weather event into a climate catastrophe. Continue reading...

For one placement, black applicants had a less than 1 in 100 chance of being offered a place, NHS data showsBlack doctors in England are four times less likely to be offered a training place than their white counterparts, according to analysis.As part of their medical training, doctors across the NHS are able to apply to placements within specific branches of practice such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and emergency medicine. Continue reading...

The home secretary is the frontrunner for the role ahead of risky' Ed Miliband, according to senior Labour figuresShabana Mahmood has emerged as the frontrunner to become Andy Burnham's chancellor after a fierce briefing war over the prospect of Ed Miliband being appointed to the powerful role.Senior Labour figures with knowledge of Burnham's thinking told the Guardian they expected the home secretary to be moved to the Treasury amid concerns that Miliband would become a target for criticism of the government. Continue reading...

The match-winning England striker is a good ambassador for young people', says one contestantAll together now, with arms in the air: One Jude Bellingham, there's only one Jude Bellingham ...Unless, that is, you happened to find yourself in Shoreditch, east London, on Wednesday, where a dozen young men who looked vaguely like the England midfielder gathered for a lookalike contest almost as competitive as the one currently continuing in the US. Continue reading...

Incoming prime minister says he doesn't want to create new divisions' as Mahmood is tipped to be chancellorAndy Burnham has signalled that he will not increase wealth taxes immediately after becoming prime minister, easing concerns among the business community but limiting his economic room for manoeuvre.He said on Wednesday he did not want to create new divisions" with his tax policy, in comments that allies said were a sign that he did not intend to raise money by taxing wealth. Continue reading...

Second man on moon's Duro Rocket pen, crucial to Apollo 11 return, reaches astronomical sum at Sotheby's auctionThe felt-tip pen Buzz Aldrin used to fix a broken circuit-breaker and escape from the moon in 1969 has sold at auction in New York for more than $850,000 (630,000).The dented silver plastic Duro Rocket pen - used by the second man on the moon to save Neil Armstrong and himself from being stuck on the moon for ever" - had a sale price estimated by Sotheby's at between $800,000 and $1.2m and went for $857,600 after being pursued by five bidders. The victor got the broken piece of circuit breaker, too, as part of the lot. Both came from Aldrin's personal collection. Continue reading...

Members of the pro-Ukraine coalition of the willing" this week reasserted their desire for such a force after a cessation of hostilitiesMeanwhile, the Kremlin has rejected Lithuanian president's warnings about a potential Russian attack on critical infrastructure (10:06), dismissing them as horror stories" intended to prepare public for further militarisation."Reuters reported that the Kremlin said these comments were merely a pretext for further deployment of Nato military infrastructure to Baltic states." Continue reading...

While new study challenges assumptions about how far they travel, witnessing them in action still takes your breath away, scientists say

Challenges of regulating social media or stopping hate speech show these firms can set their own terms and prices for countries like Australia

Annual results show struggling firm's net debt has risen to 19.7bn, up from 17.7bn a year earlier

In final PMQs, PM offers Burnham - and England team - full support and defends action on NHS waiting lists, child poverty and economy