Christine Assange says release from prison shows power of quiet diplomacy' as she thanks those who put Julian's welfare first'Julian Assange's mother says she is grateful her son's ordeal is finally coming to an end" after the Australian citizen was released from jail in the UK to seal a US plea deal. Assange's father described the breakthrough as wonderful" and energising".The WikiLeaks X account tweeted on Tuesday that Julian Assange is free", stating that he left Belmarsh prison in London on Monday and posting footage of him boarding a plane departing the UK. Continue reading...
The Espionage Act will still hang over the heads of journalists reporting on national security issues, not just in the USThe release from a UK prison of Julian Assange is a victory for him and his many supporters around the world, but not necessarily a clear win for the principle underlying his defence, the freedom of the press.The charges Assange is anticipated to plead guilty to as part of a US deal, and for which he will be sentenced to time served, are drawn from the 1917 Espionage Act, for conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information related to the national defense of the United States". Continue reading...
Self-titled album, to be released in September, was almost finished before the Grammy nominee died in 2021, aged 34A final, posthumous album by Sophie, the pop producer who died suddenly in 2021 at the age of 34, will be released on 27 September.The self-titled album is the first new music from Sophie since the musician died after an accidental fall at home in Greece three years ago, and the first LP since Sophie's 2018 debut, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides. Continue reading...
TUC says party has overseen huge rise' in poverty, as Resolution Foundation says average wages just 16 a week higher in real terms than in 2010The crisis of poverty that has taken root in the UK over the past 14 years has been laid bare in two reports that reveal the devastating effects low wages and price increases on the lives of 900,000 children.With both main parties proposing tough welfare spending plans, reports have highlighted the link between rising child poverty and slow wage growth under five Conservative governments since 2010 - the slowest growth since the second world war. Continue reading...
French president's comments made on podcast as RN releases manifesto pledging to limit immigration'French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the far right National Rally (RN) party and the leftwing New Popular Front coalition - both of which are frontrunners in the parliamentary election - risked bringing civil war" to France.Macron told the podcast Generation Do It Yourself that the manifesto of the RN party - which election pollsters put in first place - and their solutions to deal with fears over crime and immigration were based upon stigmatisation or division". Continue reading...
The 56-year-old tourist was visiting the volcano near Naples with his family as temperatures in Italy reached 40CA British man has died of a suspected heart attack after ascending to the crater of Mount Vesuvius during a family holiday.The tourist, named by Italian media as Mark John Irwin, died on Sunday after climbing the volcano near Naples, in southern Italy, during the visit with his wife and two children. Continue reading...
Several people missing after eight-storey building in Fryazino erupted in flamesTwo men jumped to their deaths and several other people are missing after an eight-storey office building near Moscow erupted in flames.Video taken in the town of Fryazino on Monday showed smoke and flames billowing out of at least three of the building's top floors and a group of four people huddled around a broken window trying to escape. Continue reading...
Author responds after shadow chancellor says party would be really happy' to give her assurances'JK Rowling has agreed to meet with Labour after Rachel Reeves said the party would be really happy" to give her assurances" over its plans to change the process through which people can legally change gender.Speaking in Scotland, Reeves said protection for women-only spaces would absolutely stay", adding: We're not going to be changing anything around biological sex ... we're really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about that." Continue reading...
Fashion house takes inspiration from Olympic Games in grandest sense for show in garden of Musee RodinLike everyone else in Paris right now, the Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri is thinking about the Olympics. Her latest Dior haute couture show was staged in the garden of the Musee Rodin, a stone's throw from the grand open space of Esplanade des Invalides, where banks of seating are already being erected in preparation for the archery competitions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.But in haute couture, where no price tag is fewer than five figures, athleisure does not make the cut. So this season's Dior was Olympian in the grandest sense: classically draped goddess gowns, with asymmetric necklines cut to expose a shoulder and skirts cascading in silken layers. Continue reading...
Relief as Met Office predicts generally dry conditions with moderate temperatures and low wind at Worthy FarmThe prayers of every Glastonbury-goer have been answered: the weather at 2024's edition looks set to be neither horribly rainy nor horribly hot.A Met Office update on Monday stated that weather at the Worthy Farm site will be mostly warm, dry and settled". Continue reading...
Officials of Marine Le Pen's party say support in towns and village signals a clear rejection of Emmanuel MacronThe French far-right leader Jordan Bardella has said his party is ready to govern as he unveiled manifesto pledges to limit immigration and scrap nationality rights for children born and raised in France by foreign parents.In three words: we are ready," the 28-year-old president of the anti-immigration National Rally (Rassemblement - RN) said on Monday as he promised to restore faith in France and its greatness". Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in W on (#6NQSR)
Israeli PM says he hopes for diplomatic solution to conflict but will solve it in a different way' if necessaryIsrael's prime minister has said the most intense phase of the assault against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, freeing up forces to move to the Lebanese border, where escalating exchanges of fire with the militant group Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war.In his first public interview with a Hebrew-language network outlet in more than eight months of conflict, broadcast on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu also walked back on his commitment to a US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hamas, instead suggesting a more limited offer. Continue reading...
Sindeep Singh, 47, was arrested after Bhajan Kaur's body was found in home in North EvingtonA man has been charged with the murder of a 76-year-old woman who was found dead at a home in Leicester.Sindeep Singh, 47, of no fixed address, was arrested after Bhajan Kaur's body was found inside a house in Bolsover Street, Spinney Hills, in North Evington. Continue reading...
Bezalel Smotrich says he aims to establish sovereignty over occupied territory and thwart a Palestinian stateIsrael's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has described in explicit terms his active effort to annex the West Bank to Israel, days after the Guardian revealed how the pro-settlement politician and his allies had quietly gained significant new legal powers to that end.Speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism party, Smotrich told colleagues that he was establish[ing] facts on the ground in order to make Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] an integral part of the state of Israel". Continue reading...
Exclusive: Freedom of information request shows immigration minister granted visas to individuals in some cases just hours ahead of their release through a different channel with greater monitoring
Gavin Plumb, who was obsessed with the television presenter, shared graphic details of his plan onlineA convicted violent offender planned to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby but was thwarted by an undercover officer based in the US, a court has heard.Gavin Plumb, 37, was obsessed with the television presenter, amassing more than 10,000 images of her on his phone including deepfake pornography. He had carefully planned how to abduct her from her home, take her to his residence in Harlow, Essex, and murder her in an abandoned building, Chelmsford crown court heard. Continue reading...
Attacks by gunmen in two cities appeared to catch local security officials by surpriseSunday's terrorist attack in Dagestan that left at least 19 people dead has highlighted Russia's growing difficulties in managing a tide of Islamist terror at home as its security forces are engaged in the war in Ukraine.The attack, which was carried out by four gunmen in the capital, Makhachkala, and two in the seaside city of Derbent, appeared to catch Dagestani officials by surprise. At least 15 police officers were among those killed, and the attackers also burned down a synagogue and set fire to a church in acts that Russian officials are clearly concerned could lead to a tide of inter-ethnic violence at home. Continue reading...
Vermont senator will grill CEO of Danish pharma giant whose drugs cost Americans 10 times more than abroadThe blockbuster weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are arguably as omnipresent in the American zeitgeist as Taylor Swift or the iPhone. The drugs and others in its class are associated with the sparkle of Hollywood, on the lips of Oprah and considered transformative by doctors.But the giant market for drugs like Wegovy, including not just the roughly 11% of adults who have diabetes but also the 42% of adults who have obesity, has conjured one of the demons of American healthcare - price. Continue reading...
Rapper who amassed tens of millions of streams for his emotional trap music was reportedly ambushed outside a Tampa hotelUS rapper Foolio has died at the age of 26 after being shot in a hotel car park in Tampa, Florida.The rapper, real name Charles Jones, had amassed tens of millions of streams for a discography that stretches back to 2017. Continue reading...
Judges say four-minute piece featuring Tim Minchin is a celebration of the creative spirit, of brave ideas and taking huge risks in the face of critics'
In today's newsletter: So much has changed since the two least popular presidential candidates in decades last faced off. Here's what to look out for when they share a stage this week Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morningThe last time Donald Trump and Joe Biden were on stage together feels like a lifetime ago. The pandemic was at the very top of the agenda, Russia had not yet invaded Ukraine and the US election was coming on the back of a wave of historic civil rights protests. Four years later, we somehow find ourselves facing a historic rematch but the context could not feel more different and, alarmingly, more fraught. On Thursday, at 9pm EST, CNN will host the first presidential debate of the election race from Atlanta, Georgia.Conservatives | Rishi Sunak is facing a growing clamour to come clean about the betting scandal engulfing Westminster after a fifth figure was drawn into the row. Nick Mason, a senior Conservative official, was the latest to be drawn into investigations by the gambling watchdog, amid reports he placed dozens of bets on the timing of the UK general election before it was announced.The hajj | At least 1,300 people have died during the hajj pilgrimage, which took place during intense heat, Saudi Arabia has said, adding that most of the deceased did not have official permits.Environment | A huge citizen testing blitz of rivers across Britain this summer has found 75% are in poor ecological health as a result of pollution from water companies and agricultural runoff.Labour | Labour is to appoint dozens of peers if it wins the election, to push through its policies and improve the representation of women in the House of Lords, the Guardian has learned. The plan comes despite Keir Starmer's pledge to eventually abolish the Lords and amid growing concerns over the ballooning size and cost of the chamber.Housing | The monthly mortgage of a first-time buyer has soared by more than 60% to exceed 1,000 a month since the last general election. The financial squeeze has forced many younger borrowers to either look for smaller properties or to take out an ultra-long mortgage. Continue reading...
Average monthly payment has risen by 61% since 2019, pushing borrowers into smaller homes or ultra-long loansThe monthly mortgage of a first-time buyer has soared by more than 60% to exceed 1,000 a month since the last general election, according to figures that underline the financial challenge facing Britons trying to gain a foothold on the housing ladder.Over the last five years, the average mortgage payment for a typical first-time buyer in Great Britain has risen by 61% to 1,075 a month, up from 667 in 2019, according to the property website Rightmove. Continue reading...
In a 2018 interview with US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Reform UK leader said liberals were the very fascists they criticise'Nigel Farage appeared to compare parents bereaved by the Sandy Hook school shooting, who took legal action against a far-right US conspiracy theorist, to leftwingers trying to curb free speech, it has emerged.The Reform UK leader was interviewed by Alex Jones on his Infowars platform in 2018, just after the parents began legal action against the radio show host for claiming that the massacre was faked. Farage did not dispute Jones's assertion that he was being targeted by frauds". Continue reading...
Lyndsey Ainscough says she only sought advice on symptoms after seeing the late Bowelbabe' on TVA woman has told how the health campaigner Dame Deborah James helped save her life from deadly bowel cancer.Lyndsey Ainscough, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, only decided to seek advice after seeing James on television shortly before she died. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6NQNK)
Civil servants raised objections to health department giving contract to company run by close associate of Nick MarkhamA health minister has been accused of cronyism after a close associate became a 1,500-a-day adviser on the 40 new hospitals" programme, despite officials raising a series of detailed objections including perceived conflicts of interest.Nick Markham helped to ensure that the Department of Health and Social Care handed a 137,460 contract to iDevelop, a management consultancy run by Nigel Crainey. In doing so, he overrode concerns from civil servants who had warned that the contract was not needed and did not represent value for money and also that the two men's relationship meant that it posed reputational risk" for the department and the NHS. Continue reading...
by Elias Visontay and Mostafa Rachwani on (#6NQJV)
Driverless trains will be very, very quick' and carry up to 40,000 commuters an hour. Trips from north Sydney to the CBD will take just minutes, premier says
Channel 4's Dispatches film shows harrowing' scenes in emergency department of Royal Shrewsbury hospitalAlmost 19,000 NHS patients were left waiting in A&E for three days over a 12-month period, an investigation has revealed.Between April 2023 and March 2024, nearly 400,000 people were left waiting more than 24 hours across A&E departments, a 5% rise on the previous year. Channel 4's Dispatches programme also found that 54,000 people had to wait more than two days, a freedom of information request to NHS England found. Continue reading...
Study finds critical period between ages of 11 and 14 is when things seem to start going wrong' compared with wealthier groupA critical three-year period between the ages of 11 and 14 has been identified as the point at which talented children from low-income backgrounds fall behind their wealthier peers at school, according to new research.The study tracked high-ability children from the age of five, from the lowest and highest income groups, and found that they progressed at similar rates until the first years of secondary school. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6NQFN)
Only urgent' tests to go ahead in short term after hospitals in south-east London hit by Russian gang's seizure of dataPatients denied a blood test because of a Russian cyber-attack on the NHS may have to wait up to six months to have their sample taken, the Guardian has learned.The delays are so long that some patients have decided to pay to have their blood taken and analysed by a private clinic rather than remain on the NHS waiting list. Continue reading...
Shadow foreign secretary repeats belief in rules-based order' and also says UK would not seek EU membershipDavid Lammy has reiterated that Labour would seek to implement an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if one was issued by the international criminal court.Speaking to CNN, the shadow foreign secretary said a Labour government would comply if an order was issued for the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, adding that he expected the response to be the same all over Europe. Continue reading...
Return to profit will enable significant investment', including Waitrose refurbs and more convenience storesThe outgoing chair of John Lewis has insisted that the retail group is back on track" and more fit for the future" with an improving financial position enabling it to spend money refurbishing Waitrose supermarkets and opening convenience stores.Sharon White, who will retire as chair of the John Lewis Partnership in September, said the upmarket Waitrose brand was underrepresented in convenience" as it sought new avenues of growth. Continue reading...
German chancellor holds unusually short meeting in Berlin with the controversial populist leaderThe German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed Argentina's populist president, Javier Milei, for a controversial and unusually short meeting in Berlin after the divisive leader accepted an award from a German foundation with links to the far right.Protesters, some holding placards reading No trade with despots", jeered from beyond the gates of Scholz's chancellery as the self-described anarcho-capitalist emerged from his limousine on his first visit to Germany as president. Continue reading...
Woman ended up in safari zone' while staying at lodge within Thoiry zoo about 25 miles west of ParisThree wolves in a zoo outside Paris attacked a 37-year-old woman leaving her fighting for her life, a source familiar with the case and local prosecutors said.The woman was bitten on the neck, the calf and the back" at the Thoiry zoo about 25 miles (40km) west of the French capital, the source told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem and agencies on (#6NQFC)
Military says conduct seen in video from occupied West Bank city of Jenin does not conform' to its valuesThe Israel Defense Forces have said they are investigating an incident in which soldiers strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the bonnet of a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.A video circulating on social media showed a man, variously identified as Mujahid Azmi or Fayyad, from the Jabriyat neighbourhood between the towns of Burqin and Jenin, tied to the front of an off-road vehicle that is seen passing two ambulances. Continue reading...
Outage causes major delays as officials advise people due to travel from terminals one and two not to come to airportAll flights out of terminals one and two at Manchester airport have been cancelled after a significant power cut" in the early hours of Sunday morning, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded.The airport told all passengers due to travel from its two biggest terminals on Sunday not to come to the airport, and warned passengers on the few flights that were able to leave that they may not have their luggage with them. Continue reading...
Over 200 signatories urge government to reverse decision enabling action against writer under anti-terrorism lawMore than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have published an open letter urging the Indian government to withdraw last week's decision sanctioning the prosecution of the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the country's stringent anti-terrorism law.We ... deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation," the group said in the letter. Continue reading...
David Pressman describes personal experience in speech condemning Viktor Orban's legal and rhetorical attacksThe US ambassador in Budapest has accused the government of Hungary's far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, of using a machinery of fear" to launch legal and rhetorical attacks on the LGBTQ community.Fear is something those who seek to undermine democracy trade on, and their currency is too often you and your families," David Pressman said at a family Pride event at the ambassador's residence. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian