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But, says Jose Maria Neves, this should not stop governments trying to build solutions using diplomatic corridorsCape Verde's president, Jose Maria Neves, said the rise of rightwing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate over colonial reparations but argued that should not stop governments from having those conversations behind closed doors.In an interview with the news site Brasil Ja, published online on Wednesday, Neves said debating reparations in the public arena" could lead to more political polarisation in countries such as in Cape Verde's former coloniser, Portugal, where the far right is on the rise. Continue reading...

Strongman-style leader set for historic third term but with authority diminished after loss of majority

Exclusive: Chancellor says Conservative party is broad church' and criticises Nigel Farage's claims over immigrationJeremy Hunt has warned the Conservatives that elections are won from the centre ground, amid fears that the party could lurch to the right in response to Nigel Farage's return to frontline politics.In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor suggested the party must remain a broad church" despite concerns that Reform UK could cost the Tories as many as 60 seats at the general election. Continue reading...

Party says it has reached out to opposition leaders after election result as it looks to form coalitionAn influential committee in the African National Congress (ANC) has recommended the party form a government of national unity, as the group tries to build a coalition after losing its parliamentary majority in South Africa for the first time since it swept to power at the end of apartheid.The second largest party, the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), has ruled out working with the fourth-largest, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). However, some analysts said that the lure of power may end up bringing most of the largest parties together. Continue reading...

Extreme hunger already leaving huge toll, say food security reports, regardless of delays to possible declaration of famineMonths of extreme hunger have already killed many Palestinians in Gaza and caused permanent damage to children through malnutrition, two new food security reports found, even before famine is officially declared.The US-based famine early warning system network (FEWS NET) said it was possible, if not likely" that famine began in northern Gaza in April. Two UN organisations said more than 1 million people are expected to face death and starvation" by mid-July. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Siyabonga Twala looking forward to reunion with his son after government withdraws exclusion orderA man who has been exiled in Turkey and separated from his British son for more than a year can return home after the UK government conceded it should never have excluded him.Siyabonga Twala has spent the last 18 months living in limbo in Ankara after he was prevented from boarding a flight back to Manchester with his family in December 2022. Continue reading...

Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader, says vote reflects badly on Keir Starmer as Labour says vote is a stunt. This live blog is closed

Academic tortured in UAE tells families of Britons arrested in controversial circumstances abroad to go public promptlyFamilies of Britons arrested in controversial circumstances abroad should raise concerns promptly in public because Foreign Office quiet diplomacy" is not effective, an expert has warned after the arrest of a former British Royal Marine in Dubai.Matthew Hedges, a British academic who was detained and tortured in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, said the case of Matt Croucher, a military veteran held in the country for seven months, also showed how far the international influence of the UK had disappeared" in the Gulf region. Continue reading...

Politician to go up against her former party in London's Chingford and Woodford Green constituencyFaiza Shaheen, the candidate blocked by Labour from standing in Chingford and Woodford Green, has announced she will stand as an independent.In a move that will pit her against Labour in one of the party's target seats, she said she was standing in response to hundreds of messages from local people who said there were no options left for them. Continue reading...

Anger at rampant unemployment, stagnant wages and inflation led to surprise losses in Uttar PradeshIt was less than six months ago that Narendra Modi walked solemnly through the ornate surroundings of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and one of its most politically crucial. His appearance in the holy city to inaugurate the newly constructed Hindu temple, built on the ruins of a mosque demolished two decades earlier, was cast as the pinnacle of the prime minister's decade in power - the crowning glory of his Hindu nationalist agenda and his ticket to a third term in office. The ceremony was deemed to mark the unofficial launch of his election campaign.But on Tuesday evening Modi was faced with a rude awakening. His Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has ruled India with an iron grip for a decade, has lost its majority as a single party and will have to rely on coalition partners to return to government. The losses were particularly heavy in Uttar Pradesh, long considered to be the BJP's bastion - and nowhere more so than in Ayodhya. Continue reading...

False claims and fake videos spreading across continent with voting to being from Thursday. This live blog is closedAlternative for Germany's Tino Chrupalla said the party's local council candidate Heinrich Koch was injured with a knife in Mannheim when confronting poster vandals" and wished him a speedy recovery.As the D-Day commemorations get underway, White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said aboard Air Force One on the way to France that Joe Biden will stress how the men on those cliffs put the country ahead of themselves" and detail the dangers of isolationism, and how, if we back dictators and fail to stand up to them, they keep going and ultimately America and the world pays a greater price," the Associated Press reported.

US president and Ukrainian president to sit down after they arrive for anniversary of D-day landings in France, White House confirms. This live blog is closedFrench president Emmanuel Macron is to host US president Joe Biden, British King Charles and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on the shores of Normandy, representing the three main countries involved in the landings on 6 June 1944, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and about 200 surviving war veterans are also expected to attend. Continue reading...

Text appears to have been copied out and backdated by Camus in 1944, possibly as a way to raise funds during Nazi occupationA handwritten manuscript of the classic French novel L'Etranger by Albert Camus has sold for more than 650,000 (553,000) at auction, despite bafflement over the reasons for which the Nobel prize-winning author appeared to have faked and backdated it.The bound, 104-page draft of Camus's novel about a French settler in Algeria who kills an unnamed Arab man went under the hammer in Paris on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister tours country's northern border with Lebanon; gunman wounded after shots fired at US embassy north of Beirut

Royals, politicians and military leaders begin two days of events to mark 80th anniversary of Normandy landingsThe king has paid tribute to D-day veterans at a commemorative event in Portsmouth marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.Charles said their stories of courage, resilience and solidarity" move, inspire and remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation - now, tragically, dwindling to so few". Continue reading...

Madeleine Ruse reported her car as stolen only to find out 12 months later it had been moved by Sheffield councilA woman was left without her car for a year because a council forgot to inform her it had been towed away due to roadworks.Madeleine Ruse, 22, assumed her 15-year-old Citroen had been stolen when she discovered it was missing from its usual parking space in February 2023. She reported it to the police and received a payout from her insurer. Continue reading...

Union's claim of epidemic of migrant worker abuses' could force Fifa to reject state as 2034 host if it fails to meet rights obligationsSaudi Arabia, the likely host of the 2034 World Cup, is facing allegations of widespread use of forced labour among its vast migrant workforce, in a complaint filed at the UN's International Labour Organization.The complaint to the ILO alleges that migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are subject to a raft of labour rights violations including failing to pay wages, passport confiscation, illegal recruitment fees, debt bondage and preventing workers freely changing jobs. Continue reading...

Russian-speaking ransomware gang lets hackers use its tools in exchange for cut of proceedsA Russian-speaking ransomware criminal gang called Qilin is thought to be behind the cyber-attack on NHS medical services provider Synnovis, that halted tests and operations at hospital trusts to a halt and affected GPs across London.Although the location of the group is unknown, if it is based in Russia, it will be difficult for British law enforcement to directly target it. The Russian state has long had a ban on extraditing criminals overseas, and since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has largely ended all cooperation on cybersecurity matters so long as the hackers focus their attacks on foreign targets. Continue reading...

Zaylin Washington, who earned a full college scholarship after also enduring bullying, says I wanted to prove [doubters] wrong'A newly minted high school graduate from Texas who endured a period of homelessness, bullying and other adversities before earning a full college scholarship says his experience so far has taught him that people do want to help you".It's not you versus the world," Zaylin Washington told the Dallas-Fort Worth news station KTVT. Continue reading...

Heinrich Koch reportedly stabbed in altercation over election posters days after police officer died in attack in same German cityA candidate for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party has been stabbed in the south-west German city of Mannheim, less than a week after a police officer was killed and five others were injured in a knife attack in the city.The attack, which took place on Tuesday evening but was only confirmed by police on Wednesday, left a man with non-life threatening injuries for which he is being treated in hospital. Continue reading...

Pedro Sanchez questions timing of court order before European elections and accuses opponents of orchestrating smear campaign

Caution against enforcing tight public sector pay settlements will add to pressure on Starmer if he wins election

As people at the border reach a high, and after failed attempts to pass reforms, the president presents his most aggressive restrictions yetJoe Biden on Tuesday signed an aggressive new immigration order suspending asylum rights, signalling that securing the border" was a central tenet of his re-election bid.At the southern US border, the policy is set to cause chaos and hardship for those seeking the protection of the United States. Continue reading...

Survey also finds one-quarter experienced workplace bullying as broadcaster's news director calls harassment and bullying unacceptable'

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Former environment minister and Midnight Oil frontman calls on government to add site to Kakadu national park

Accused double murderer to give evidence in Victorian supreme court after prosecution closed their case on Wednesday

Regulator will now focus on tribunal case launched by Elon Musk's social media platform which is seeking a review of decision to order removal of tweets

The Guardian's Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the first TV head to head between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak Continue reading...

Those who lived through Nazi atrocities say voters must use their voice in EU electionsA group of Holocaust survivors has issued a joint appeal before this weekend's European parliament election urging younger voters to go to the polls and to exercise their right to prevent the far right from gaining power.For millions of you, the European poll is the first election in your life. For many of us it could be the last," the eight survivors, wrote in the letter. We couldn't prevent [the rise of nazism] back then, but you can today." Continue reading...

Annual economic growth is down to 1.1%, lower than economists predicted, ABS GDP figures show

Justin Stein has pleaded not guilty to murdering nine-year-old, claiming she was shot by her mother, Kallista Mutten

Officer ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation to a gay colleague and $2,000 to the Victorian Pride Centre

Radiohead musician issues statement on his ongoing work with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa after being accused of artwashing genocide' by pro-Palestine movementRadiohead's Jonny Greenwood has defended his ongoing collaboration with the Israeli artist Dudu Tassa amid criticism from pro-Palestine activists, calling the backlash unprogressive" and silencing".Greenwood, a composer and musician who also plays in the Radiohead spin-off group The Smile, has been playing with Tassa since 2008. Last year, Greenwood and Tassa released a collaborative album titled Jarak Qaribak, a compilation of Arabic love songs featuring artists from across the Middle East. Continue reading...

Thousands of police deployed for parade that has been historical flashpoint for violence between marchers and PalestiniansResidents of Jerusalem are bracing for a rightwing flag march through Muslim areas of the Old City, an annual event often accompanied by violence.The Jerusalem Day parade by thousands of Jewish nationalists celebrates Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites in the 1967 war, a move that is not internationally recognised. Continue reading...

Themed $1 coins have been unveiled by the Royal Australian Mint and a limited number will be available from Thursday 6 June

Thompson is now seeking a leave of absence as council calls for his resignation after he admitted making false claims about his military history

Latest results reveal unexpected blow to PM, forcing negotiation with coalition partners to regain powerNarendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country. Continue reading...

Sanmu Chen appeared to write the date of massacre in the air as anniversary becomes increasingly sensitive in Hong KongHong Kong police detained an artist on Monday night after he appeared to write 8964" in the air with his hand, a reference to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hours before Tuesday's 35th anniversary.Public acknowledgment of the events of 4 June 1989, when Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people - is banned in mainland China and increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong. Continue reading...

Chain once prided itself on selling the cheapest fuel but RAC analysis shows it is now the dearestAsda is now the UK's most expensive supermarket fuel seller, research shows, after the retailer's private owners ditched its long-held pledge to be the cheapest on the market.The retailer, which was bought by the billionaire Issa brothers and their private equity partner TDR Capital in 2021, charged an average 2.1p a litre more for unleaded petrol than rivals Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons at the end of May, according to an analysis by the RAC motoring organisation. Continue reading...

Increasing numbers of children hungry and lack adequate clothing, with two-thirds of secondary teachers also supporting pupilsEight in 10 primary schoolteachers in England are spending their own money to buy items for pupils who are increasingly arriving at school hungry and without adequate clothing, according to new research.Almost a third (31%) of those who took part in the survey said they were seeing more hungry children in class, with 40% reporting an increase in pupils coming in without proper uniform or a warm winter coat, research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found. Continue reading...

Labour leader says prime minister's claim he would raise people's taxes by 2,000 is nonsense'

Leader of Barking and Dagenham council says he does not want allegations about his behaviour to be a distraction'Darren Rodwell, the controversial leader of Barking and Dagenham council, has withdrawn as a Labour candidate, saying he did not want allegations about his behaviour to be a distraction".Rodwell's candidacy was in doubt after it was not confirmed by Labour on Tuesday along with other names of people running to be MPs. Continue reading...

Labour leader tried to focus on the Tories' record while the prime minister accused opponent of planning tax risesRishi Sunak and Keir Starmer tore into each other's election promises on tax and immigration in a fiery first TV debate of the campaign.The pair exchanged barbs in an ill-tempered session before an ITV studio audience in Salford, where Starmer accused Sunak of being the most liberal prime minister we've ever had on immigration" and pledged to keep the UK in the European convention on human rights. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov makes statement after permission given by Kyiv for trainers to come from France to support its troopsAny French military instructors in Ukraine would be a legitimate target" for Russian armed forces, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Tuesday during a tour of Africa, where frustration with the west has swayed several countries toward Moscow.Lavrov made the remarks at joint news conference with the Republic of Congo's foreign minister, Jean Claude Gakosso. Continue reading...

Former lance corporal Matt Croucher was arrested seven months ago, accused of illegally accessing telecommunications'A former Royal Marines reservist awarded the highest medal for gallantry has reportedly been held in Dubai since November after being accused of spying.The former lance corporal Matt Croucher, 40, was awarded the George Cross, which ranks alongside the Victoria Cross as the highest decoration for acts of bravery, in 2008 after risking his life and saving others by throwing himself on a grenade in Afghanistan. Continue reading...

University of Melbourne reaches new high of 13th while University of Sydney and University of NSW also in top 20 of QS rankings

British institutions face possible closure as 52 out of 90 are given lower positions this year in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankingsUK universities will have their international reputations dented and face possible closure because of continuing funding pressures, according to an authoritative league table that named Imperial College London as second in the world.Imperial overtook Oxford and Harvard universities and was behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university rankings. Continue reading...

Narendra Modi says India has placed its faith in the ruling coalition for a third consecutive time', as figures show his BJP party unlikely to secure an overall majority

Police arrest 25-year-old after Reform UK leader, whose entry into election race has alarmed Tories, drenched in Clacton