Resolution Foundation report says much of industrial action fuelled' by public sector workers' anger over falls in real-terms payAbout 3.9m working days have been lost to industrial action in the past year, more than at any point since the 1980s, according to a new analysis.The Resolution Foundation, which focuses its research on low- to middle-income households, said many of the strikes were fuelled" by anger among public sector workers over real-terms pay declines, which amounted to an average cut of more than 9% since 2021, adjusted for inflation. Continue reading...
Which? research finds cheese, butter and bread are up by more than 30% in the past two years, hitting the poor hardestThe cost of some basic food items such as cheese, butter and bread has soared by more than 30% in the last two years, forcing poorer households to make desperate choices between keeping up with their bill payments or putting food on the table," campaigners have said.Food price inflation has slowed in recent months, but costs remain much higher than they were two years ago, disproportionally affecting low-income households, according to research by consumer body Which? shared exclusively with the Guardian. Continue reading...
Daniel, who had to get up at 3am to study during lockdown, now faces prospect of grades being loweredThree years ago, at the height of the Covid pandemic and with schools in England closed to all but the most vulnerable pupils, Daniel, 18, got up at 3am each morning to complete the remote learning sent by his school in Leicester. It was the only time I could get enough quiet to do my work," he said.During Covid each morning the school would send out emails with tasks to complete. I wanted to stay on top of the work, but at home I had no place to study. Continue reading...
Social Mobility Foundation says it expects GCSE and A-level attainment gap based on income to grow this yearDisadvantaged students are likely to bear the brunt of grade deflation when this year's A-level and GCSE grades are published, according to experts, who said the government's decision to impose pre-pandemic grading in England was premature.This week hundreds of thousands of sixth-formers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive the results of their A-level, BTec and other exams. But a survey of students by the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) found that those from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds in England were less likely to have received the help they needed to restore learning lost during the pandemic. Continue reading...
Seven people, including a young baby, killed by Russian shelling in Kherson; Russian warship's warning shots' at Black Sea cargo shipSeven people including a 23-day-old girl were killed by Russian shelling in the Kherson region on Sunday, Ukraine's internal affairs ministry said. An attack on the village of Shiroka Balka killed four members of the same family - including their young baby - and another resident. Two men were killed in the neighbouring village of Stanislav.Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised justice for the attacks on Kherson. There is no day when Russian evil does not receive our entirely just response," said Ukraine's president in his Sunday night video address, adding: We will not leave any of Russia's crimes unanswered."A Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea, the first time Russia has fired on a merchant ship since exiting a UN-brokered grain deal last month. Russia said in a statement that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship's captain failed to respond to a request to halt for inspection.Three civilians were injured in the Kursk region from shells coming over the Ukrainian border, the regional governor said. Roman Starovoit said Ukraine was behind the shelling, Ukraine did not claim responsibility and it was unclear where the shelling originated.Ukrainian forces were trying to pierce Russian lines in the western parts of Donetsk region, a Russian-installed official said. Vladimir Rogov said there had been intense fighting south of Velyka Novosilka as Ukrainian troops tried to push down to the coast on the Sea of Azov. The enemy managed to enter and gain a foothold in the northern part of Urozhaine after two weeks of the heaviest and bloodiest battles for this settlement," Rogov said.The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod blamed a Ukrainian drone for damage to an apartment building on Sunday, after Russia's defence ministry said air defences shot down at least four Ukrainian drones close to the border. Russia's defence ministry said air defences shot down another drone later on Sunday and there were no casualties.Germany will deliver a Luna New Generation drone system to Ukraine, Bild am Sonntag has reported. The equipment will include a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks.Authorities briefly halted traffic on the Russian-built Kerch Bridge connecting occupied Crimea with Russia - but did not provide a reason why. It came one day after Russian air defence reportedly thwarted three Ukrainian missile attacks.Ukraine has become the most heavily mined country on Earth after a year and a half of Russian troops laying them down. Soldiers have been unearthing five mines for every square metre in some places, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defence minister, told the Guardian. Continue reading...
Pandemic-era rules extended again after industry body disappointed' they were to expire in SeptemberPubs in England and Wales will be allowed to continue selling takeaway pints after the government decided to keep pandemic-era licensing rules after criticism from an industry body.The pandemic-era rules were due to expire in September after being extended twice, in a move the British Beer and Pub Association called disappointing". Continue reading...
Dorset council says it flagged test results about potentially deadly bacteria on Monday, but evacuation didn't take place until four days laterHome Office contractors were told that potentially deadly legionella bacteria had been detected on the Bibby Stockholm hours after asylum seekers were taken onboard the barge.Dorset council flagged the legionella test results to the barge contractors on the day they received them, Monday 7 August, raising questions about why the evacuation of 39 people from the barge took four days. Continue reading...
Governor says man has been detained after attack on Shia shrine in southern city of ShirazA gunman opened fire on Sunday night at a prominent shrine in southern Iran, killing one person and wounding eight others in an attack that followed another assault there months earlier, authorities said.Officials offered no immediate motive for the attack in the city of Shiraz at Shah Cheragh, which draws Shia pilgrims to its domed mosque and the tomb of a prominent member of the faith from its earliest days. Continue reading...
Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants allege they were asked to strip for a body check for scars and cellulite'The global organiser of the Miss Universe beauty pageant has cut ties with its franchise in Indonesia days after several contestants alleged they had been sexually abused in the run-up to the competition's crowning ceremony in Jakarta.Six contestants in the Miss Universe Indonesia pageant are understood to have filed complaints with police, alleging that organisers asked contestants to strip down to their underwear for a body check for scars and cellulite" two days before the ceremony in July. Continue reading...
Families gather in Co Tyrone town in Northern Ireland in 25-year memorial to those killed in dissident republican bombingThe victims of the worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland have been remembered at a poignant memorial service.Families of the 29 people killed in the 1998 dissident republican bombing of Omagh and British and Irish government ministers were among those who gathered in the Co Tyrone town on Sunday ahead of the 25th anniversary. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6DT6P)
Bethany Cox, 22, is fourth to be prosecuted on such charges in eight months after only three trials in 160 years, say campaignersA 22-year-old woman accused of procuring a poison to abort her child shortly after the first Covid lockdown is due to appear before a judge this week.Bethany Cox is the fourth woman to be prosecuted in the last eight months for allegedly carrying out her own abortion, with only three trials in the 160 years before that, according to campaigners. Continue reading...
Detaining of public health expert Mohammed Alhajji comes as a shock as he was seen as apoliticalA prominent Saudi scholar and Snapchat influencer has been arrested by Saudi authorities in what experts said was evidence of the kingdom's extreme crackdown on social media users.The arrest of Mohammed Alhajji, a public health expert who completed his dissertation in the US, follows the disappearance and recent arrests of other prominent influencers for crimes" that include the perceived criticism of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and support for women's rights. Continue reading...
Bayern Munich fans delighted but commentators question price tag and Germany's failure to nurture homegrown talentThere may have been tens of thousands of Harry Kane fans tracking his Cessna flight's path to Munich on Saturday night, followed by standing ovations when he finally appeared before Bayern Munich fans on Sunday - many already wearing Harry Kane - 9" shirts, to the stirring strains of the German rock band the Scorpions Rock You Like a Hurricane. But scepticism about the wisdom of the Tottenham Hotspur striker's 100m transfer is rife among German commentators.The affection for the 30-year-old striker is not in doubt. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6DT6S)
People in care homes, narrowboats and park homes have missed out because they do not have a supplierMore than 30 of Britain's largest housing associations have called on ministers to give a second chance to 750,000 households that missed out on government support for energy bills worth a total of 300m.In a letter to ministers, seen by the Guardian, 34 housing associations called for the government to reopen a scheme that aimed to offer support payments of 400 to almost one million households without an energy supplier. Continue reading...
Presidential aspirants make the pilgrimage to Des Moines amid a sense of America as nation sunk in a political depressionDonald Trump held aloft a pork chop on a stick. Ron DeSantis and children rode bumper cars and a ferris wheel, played carnival games and ate snow cones and ice-cream. Vivek Ramaswamy rapped Lose Yourself by Eminem, Marianne Williamson recalled her days as a cabaret singer and Mike Pence said he was hoping to renew his acquaintance with a cow called Chippy.All the fun of the state fair in Iowa includes an agriculture and livestock show, amusement rides, every fried food imaginable and, every four years, a political circus like no other. Presidential aspirants make the pilgrimage to Des Moines to field questions from voters - including hecklers - and show their ability to speak, dress and eat like Middle America in the state that kicks off the Republican nominating contest in January. Continue reading...
by Ashifa Kassam, Europe Community affairs correspond on (#6DT3W)
Course at Ghent University will use singer-songwriter's work as springboard to explore history of English literatureMuch of the syllabus for Elly McCausland's course at Ghent University reads like a who's who of English literature, dotted with works by Geoffrey Chaucer, Charlotte Bronte and William Shakespeare. But it's the inclusion of another prolific writer that has got people talking: the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.I've never had so many emails from excited students asking if they can take the course," said McCausland, an assistant professor at the Belgian university. And actually non-students as well, people who are not part of the university and who want to participate in some way." Continue reading...
Fresh legal claim planned by group of almost 1,000 shareholders to rushed rescue in MarchUBS faces another legal challenge to its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse, as a group representing nearly 1,000 individual shareholders, including former employees of the failed Swiss bank, prepares to file a court claim in Zurich on Monday.The Swiss Association for the Protection of Investors (Schweizerischer Anlegerschutzverein, or SASV), which represents retail investors, intends to lodge the claim on behalf of Credit Suisse shareholders - including some from the UK - who suffered heavy losses as a result of the rushed takeover in March. Continue reading...
Overworked and underequipped brigades face daily ordeal in the most heavily mined country in the worldOleksandr Slyusar, a Ukrainian sapper with a ready smile, had spent the last 30 hours under Russian shelling in the recently liberated village of Staromaiorske in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. A rocket fired at them from a Grad system had peppered the legs and back of a fellow landmine-clearer with shrapnel.Slyusar, 38, had taken his friend west to hospital in Zaporizhzhia city that morning, before arriving back at a secret military base within earshot of the rolling thunder of the Russian guns. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Most heavily mined country on Earth' critically short of sappers and equipment to clear frontlinesYou don't survive that': Ukraine sappers dice with death to clear Russian minesUkraine is now the most heavily mined country on Earth and its army is suffering from a critical shortage of men and equipment able to clear the frontlines, the country's defence minister has said, as soldiers spoke of heavy casualties in the engineering brigades.In an urgent appeal to allies, Oleksii Reznikov told the Guardian his soldiers were unearthing five mines for every square metre in places, laid by Russian troops to try to thwart Ukraine's counteroffensive. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6DT0S)
SNP's Amy Callaghan has cross-party support, and notes 16,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in UK each yearAn MP who survived skin cancer as a teenager is canvassing cross-party support for her campaign to remove VAT from sunscreen products.Amy Callaghan is calling on the UK government to remove the tax from products that have a health benefit - the NHS considers factor 30 or above with a four-star UVA rating to be adequate skin protection. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#6DSZH)
String of vacancies at regional arts venues grows as funding and staffing crisis worsensRunning a theatre has become a seriously unappealing job, according to many of those working at Britain's performance venues. While larger institutions, such as the Barbican, RSC and National Theatre, can still attract and keep good artistic directors, regional theatres and arts centres are struggling. A job heading of one of these offers the same stress, accountability and long hours, but on a smaller budget and with a smaller salary.Burnout and disillusionment are now widespread, according to insiders including dancer Kenneth Tharp, who ran The Place, near London's Euston station, until 2016. Last week, Tharp pointed out on Twitter (now known as X), that there had been a huge churn of artistic directors (some after relatively short tenures)", citing 14 venues in the past two years. Continue reading...
Activists call on tech giant to extend a change making personalised algorithm optional to comply with rules for EEA countriesTikTok users in the UK face being left with a less safe" and more toxic" version of the app than those in Europe after the tech giant was forced to make its personalised algorithm optional there to comply with EU rules.From the end of August, TikTok users in 30 countries in the European Economic Area will be able to opt out of receiving personalised content recommendations, which are largely generated based on past activity. Instead, their For You" and live feeds will include popular videos from the places they live and around the world. Continue reading...
For many reasons it is no surprise that the office exodus is so pronounced in the historical centre of Anglo-Saxon capitalismWorking from home is a seismic shift in employment patterns that has rocked businesses, charities and public sector organisations across the world.From Hong Kong and Singapore to London, New York and Toronto, white collar workers have changed the way they work, shop and pursue leisure, culture and recreation, shifting many local economies on their axis. For many towns and cities it's as if the sun shines at a different point in the day, such is the transformation in how about 60% of people conduct their lives. Continue reading...
The huge increase in students needed to fill medical training places, and supplying the staff to teach them, may not be feasibleA once in a generation" NHS recruitment plan requiring an extra 50,000 clinical training places in less than a decade risks being derailed by difficulties in finding enough applicants and a shrinking number of staff to teach them.A new analysis seen by the Observer reveals the sheer scale of the proposed increase in NHS staff implied by the government's long-awaited workforce plan, unveiled at the start of the summer and given a broad welcome across the NHS. Continue reading...
by Dan Collyns in Lima and Carla Valdiviezo in Quito on (#6DSY7)
Killing of Fernando Villavicencio ahead of elections comes as country struggles with surge in drug-related violenceMillions of Ecuadorians will have seen the phone camera footage showing the last seconds before presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed, shot through the windows of a white pickup truck after being escorted by unarmed policemen who were helpless to save him.The images that followed showed panic and chaos as the burst of gunfire sent screaming supporters to the ground. Another clip filmed inside the campaign meeting, which Villavicencio had just left, showed panicked followers fleeing or ducking for cover and bloodstains on the tiled floor. Continue reading...
Andy Street, seen as most powerful Conservative outside London, vows to fight party's retreat from climate pledgesThe most powerful Conservative outside London has warned he will not hesitate to stand up to the party should it attempt to retreat from its pledge to tackle the climate crisis.There are already serious concerns that Rishi Sunak and his advisers are using green policies as a political dividing line with Labour in an attempt to revive the party's fortunes. The prime minister recently backed maxing out" oil and gas reserves, while cabinet minister Michael Gove said net zero should not become a religious crusade". Tory MPs have also demanded a delay to the ban on petrol car sales by 2030. Continue reading...
An official investigation of claims that many more people than previously thought died during Nazi control of the Channel Island has pleased some, but dismayed othersTheir foreboding entrance smothered in ivy, the tunnels gouged out of sheer rock beside Water Lane on the island of Alderney have long terrified generations of the island's children.For decades, though, it seemed that was as far as the notoriety of the dank tunnels on the outskirts of St Anne, the capital of the tiny Channel Island, would extend. Continue reading...
Moderate Tories fear the party's attack on human rights will alienate many voters and damage the UK's global standingThe Conservatives risk being seen once again as the nasty party" by trying to win votes with a divisive attack on human rights, senior party figures have warned.Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from his party this weekend over his pledge to stop the boats crossing the Channel. It follows another week that ended in Channel deaths after the capsizing of a boat, while the total number of people making the dangerous crossing since 2018 rose above the 100,000 mark. Continue reading...
England's triumph in Sydney means that they will now come face to face with their co-hosts in the World Cup semi finalSporting clashes between Australia and England have provided some of the summer's hottest contests - and now the drama is going to move on to the football pitch.The England team's triumph this weekend in Sydney means that they will now come face to face with their co-hosts Australia on 16 August in the World Cup semi final in front of a huge crowd of frenzied fans. Continue reading...
David Littleproud says his party has real concern' about regional advisory bodies Dutton has promised to put in legislation, but not in the constitution
Fernando Villavicencio fatally shot last week after leaving a campaign event in capital, QuitoThe political party of Ecuador's assassinated presidential hopeful, Fernando Villavicencio, picked its vice-presidential candidate to replace him on Saturday, just a week before the election.Villavicencio's Build party, or Construye in Spanish, announced on social media that Andrea Gonzalez was replacing the 59-year-old as its presidential candidate in the 20 August vote. Continue reading...
Blair defends continuing partnership with kingdom despite anxieties' after 2018 assassination of journalistTony Blair's institute has continued to advise and receive money from the government of Saudi Arabia since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it has emerged.The Sunday Times reported the former prime minister's organisation is involved in a multimillion-pound partnership helping with a modernisation drive in the country led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Continue reading...
Analysts says key figures in new regime were underestimated as elected president remains confined to residenceThe leaders of the military takeover in Niger remained defiant this weekend, apparently confident that disarray among regional opponents, support from other military regimes in neighbouring countries and a wave of popular mobilisation at home will allow them to keep power for the indefinite future.Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president of Niger, remains confined to his official residence in Niamey, the capital, amid faltering international efforts to convince the new rulers of the unstable but strategically important country to return to barracks two weeks after launching a coup. Continue reading...
Deal revives agreement from 20 years ago and will allow intelligence and training support for Peru's air forcePeru announced an air security agreement with the US on Saturday in what the government described as a push to stop planes belonging to drug gangs from entering the South American country's airspace.The deal revives a bilateral security cooperation pact with the US from 20 years ago, according to a government statement, and will permit new intelligence and training support to flow to Peru's air force. Continue reading...
For some in London, defeat to England in the Women's World Cup felt bitter but others were happy to see their team's progressAs the referee blew the final whistle, the Colombian snooker bar in north London erupted in a loud synchronised groan.Some people left the room, others remained seated with their eyes glued to the TV screen as it replayed the final moments. The enthusiastic voices of the Spanish-speaking commentators vibrated through the large speakers, and cheers and applause followed as the Colombian team tearfully left the pitch. Continue reading...
Police-issued laptop, radio and documents stolen from car in Northern Ireland on 6 JulyAbout 200 police officers and staff were not informed about the theft of devices and documents with data potentially affecting them for almost a month, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has confirmed.A police-issued laptop, radio and documents were stolen on 6 July from the car which is understood to belong to a superintendent. Continue reading...
Hunt is on for survivors after at least six people die, while activists call for more safe and legal routesThe government's controversial asylum policy faced renewed criticism on Saturday when at least six people died after a small boat crossing the Channel capsized and sank.Another two people are still believed to be missing after the sinking, prompting fresh calls for the government to urgently introduce safe routes for asylum seekers to prevent further tragedies. Continue reading...
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