Observer investigation finds system is in worst state ever' as senior figures warn of inmates being warehoused'The vast majority of prisons are providing inadequate conditions or unacceptable treatment, according to an Observer investigation that has led to claims of prisoners being warehoused" in a system in crisis.An analysis of hundreds of inspections found that three-quarters of prisons in England and Wales are now providing insufficient standards in at least one respect. Continue reading...
Vincenzo La Porta spotted in a photo of fans celebrating in Corfu after Napoli won Italy's league championshipLove for his Naples football team betrayed the hideout of a longtime fugitive, who was captured while riding a moped on a Greek island, Italian police have said.Naples-based Carabinieri paramilitary police said Vincenzo La Porta, who was on Italy's list of 100 most dangerous fugitives, was spotted in a photo of fans in a restaurant in Corfu, who were celebrating after the Napoli football squad clinched Italy's top league championship a few weeks ago. Continue reading...
by Nadeem Badshah (now); Mattha Busby ,Geneva Abdul , on (#6DJPP)
Ukrainian drone said to have struck ship in Kerch Strait just one day after Russian Black Sea fleet vessel hitAt a glance: what we know on day 528 of the invasionUkraine has unofficially taken responsibility for the drone strike on a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait.An anonymous security service source told Agence France-Presse: Overnight the [Ukrainian security service] SBU blew up the Sig, a large oil tanker of the Russian Federation that was transporting fuel for Russian troops. Continue reading...
Baby taken to Blackpool Victoria hospital in unresponsive' state on 27 July and later pronounced deadTwo men have been arrested after the death of a baby boy in Lancashire.The baby was taken to Blackpool Victoria hospital in an unresponsive" state on 27 July, and was later pronounced dead, according to Lancashire police, who were called to the hospital at 7.15pm. Continue reading...
Revellers undaunted despite yellow weather warnings and significant disruption to train travelRainy weather and train cancellations failed to deter revellers from taking part in Brighton's Pride festival on Saturday.The festival was expected to attract as many as 30,000 people - including community groups, small businesses and NHS services - to the city centre despite yellow weather warnings from the Met Office. Continue reading...
Surprise musical pairing lets ancient instrument reach new audiences in concerts with heavy rock bandsWe've had rock'n'roll, rhythm and blues and drum'n'bass. Now the latest pairing to shake the music scene is heavy metal and church organs.Two doom metal bands, Ar and Pantheist, recently performed at Huddersfield town hall - accompanied by the venue's imposing 1860 Father Willis organ. The Organic Doom gig was so successful that they plan to repeat the performance around the UK. But the collaboration is about more than just making beautiful music - the hope is that events like these will help save some of the nation's pipe organs from destruction. Continue reading...
Britain's soggy summer is enough to make you give up and head to the Med. Yet families are happily splashing around on the beach in St IvesHuddled together in fleece-lined beach robes while other family members play football nearby, Kate and Tilly Perrett look as if they might be regretting taking their summer holiday in St Ives, Cornwall. The wind is nippy, the sky is ominously grey and Kate's sunglasses haven't been called into action much all week.The weather's been touch and go every day, but we don't let it bother us at all, we're still having fun," says Kate, with a broad smile. Continue reading...
Suspects, all aged 18, arrested on suspicion of murder after man died following fight in parkFour teenagers have been arrested after an 18-year-old man died following a fight in Bournemouth.Police received a report just before 1.30am on Saturday that a man had been badly injured after a fight in the Lower Gardens park. Continue reading...
Archeologists and palaeontologists say legislation needed to protect major finds championed by David AttenboroughLeading British archaeologists and palaeontologists are warning that one of the nation's most significant palaeolithic sites is under threat because there is not enough legislation to protect it.They are calling for changes to the law amid fears that crucial evidence at a site in the Cotswolds could be lost to the UK for ever. Continue reading...
Thousands of scouts to be removed from site after hundreds of heat-related illnesses at event in South KoreaThousands of UK and US scouts attending the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea are being removed from the official campsite in the south-western county of Buan amid a suffocating heatwave.The event, which started this week, has drawn 43,000 young scouts from 158 countries, with the UK contingent the largest at 4,500. Continue reading...
Energy secretary says government wants to focus on cutting taxes once inflation fallsGrant Shapps has suggested it is unlikely the government will step in to protect households from rising energy bills this winter.The energy secretary said in an interview with the Times that once inflation had fallen the government would absolutely" need to cut taxes. Continue reading...
Simon Squibb plans to provide small businesses with rent-free space after bidding 25,000 for disused stairsAn entrepreneur who woke up homeless in a stairwell at the age of 15 with his first business idea has spent 25,000 on a disused stairwell to provide a rent-free space in London for small businesses to fulfil their dreams.Simon Squibb, who retired at 40 after selling Fluid, his marketing agency, to PricewaterhouseCoopers, hopes the stairwell in Twickenham, south-west London, will provide a showcase for owners of small businesses. Continue reading...
Journalist takes irresistible' chance to take part in show while still working as Channel 4 newsreaderKrishnan Guru-Murthy has been announced as the fourth celebrity to join this year's Strictly Come Dancing.The journalist, who is a main presenter on Channel 4 News, joins a lineup that includes Angela Rippon, the actor Amanda Abbington and the Bad Education star Layton Williams. Continue reading...
Groups say move could worsen country's security crisis given police force's poor human rights recordAn offer from Kenya to dispatch police officers to Haiti has been welcomed by officials in the embattled Caribbean nation - but prompted concern among human rights groups who say the move could worsen the country's security crisis.Haiti's prime minister, Ariel Henry, requested international support from the UN last year when gangs began taking control of much of the country, engulfing the nation in chaos as they fought pitched street battles. Continue reading...
Defence chiefs deliver ultimatum with threat of military intervention after mediation failureWest African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger's coup is not overturned by Sunday, the regional bloc said, after mediation failed in a crisis that threatens regional security and has drawn in global powers.The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has given Niger's coup leaders until Sunday to step down and reinstate the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. Continue reading...
State attorney general immediately appeals against ruling that says doctors must be allowed to end unsafe pregnanciesA judge in Texas has ruled that the state's abortion ban is too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.The ruling in Austin was the first to undercut the law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement. Continue reading...
Country's health and economy ruined as Islamic charity says rich nations must compensate those suffering worst of climate crisisA year after Pakistan's worst floods in living memory, a report by Islamic Relief Worldwide has revealed the devastating long-term impact on people, especially children, and argued that rich nations must compensate those countries most affected by the climate emergency.Researchers from Islamic Relief who talked to people in the flood-affected areas found 40% of the children they surveyed had stunted growth and 25% were underweight as families struggle to access food and healthcare. About 80% of mothers reported sickness among children, with outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever increasing. Continue reading...
Public invited to choose from 20 images taken in 2022 for the UK Picture Editors' Guild awardsOne of the last public pictures of the late Queen Elizabeth II is among photographs up for an award to be decided by public vote.People can choose from 20 pictures taken between 1 January and 31 December 2022 for the photo of the year at the annual UK Picture Editors' Guild Awards. Continue reading...
by Lorena Allam Indigenous affairs editor on (#6DJNG)
Pearson says referendum is not a competition between blue and red' after Anthony Albanese's Garma festival speechThe prime minister's Garma speech was the unequivocal" support for an Indigenous voice to parliament of an Australian leader, not a party politician, the Cape York leader, leading yes" campaigner and Guugu-Yimithirr lawyer Noel Pearson has said.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land on Saturday that he would not defer or delay the referendum, and dismissed no" campaigners as being desperate to talk about anything but the actual question".Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
The incident comes a day after Kyiv said that it had struck a Russian landing ship with a sea droneA Russian tanker was hit by Ukrainian drones in the Kerch Strait a day after Kyiv said it had carried out a seaborne drone strike on a navy ship, Russian officials have said.The SIG tanker ... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport said early on Saturday, adding that there were no casualties. Continue reading...
An extremely fierce battle' in the eastern city of Bakhmut and explosions reported near key Crimean bridgeAn extremely fierce battle is going on" in the long-contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, has said, with Ukrainian forces advancing slowly but confidently" south of the city while securing control of positions north of it. The Russians are throwing huge numbers of forces into the Bakhmut area," she said on national TV. It has been important for us to establish ourselves on dominant heights in these areas." Russia's defence ministry said its forces had made air and artillery strikes on the key village of Klishchiivka south of Bakhmut and surrounding towns, knocking out Ukrainian vehicles and equipment.Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea reported an explosion near the bridge linking the peninsula to the Russian mainland early on Saturday, but a Russia-installed official in the region denied the bridge had come under attack. Other pro-Russian officials in occupied areas of Ukraine said the explosions were linked to an attack by Ukrainian drones.A Russian landing ship was struck and disabled in the country's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by an unmanned Ukrainian boat, known as a sea drone, Kyiv said. The 112-metre Olenegorsky Gornyak from Russia's Northern Fleet, which has been used to transport troops and military hardware into occupied Ukrainian ports, was said to have been sufficiently damaged to have been put out of combat action.Onboard camera footage appeared to confirm the success of the night attack on the ship. Images of a Russian warship tilting to its side emerged shortly after the strike and footage was published by the Unian news agency from the head of the marine drone appearing to show it moving stealthily across the Black Sea towards the ship and hitting it at its centre. Satellite imagery also appeared to show a Russian landing ship leaking oil while docked at a Black Sea port.US bank JP Morgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said on Friday. JP Morgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday. The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JP Morgan ... was closed on 2 August," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian media as saying.Russia's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited a combat zone in Ukraine to inspect a command post and meet senior military officers, the army said on Friday. Shoigu got an update on the situation on the front and thanked commanders and soldiers ... for successful offensive operations" in Lyman in eastern Ukraine, it said, without mentioning when the visit took place.At the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had finally" been granted access requested a month ago and that it had found no explosives after claims of mines being planted around the infrastructure.A court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny's prison sentence by 19 years and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country. Navalny was found guilty on six counts, including inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of nazism and inciting children to dangerous acts. He and his supporters have rejected the charges as being politically motivated.An associate of Navalny who worked for his YouTube channel also stood trial in a Moscow court on Friday. Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician, was found guilty of organising an extremist group and sentenced to eight years in prison, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported. Continue reading...
Ex-newsreader famous for dancing on 1976 Morecambe and Wise show will be joined by Amanda Abbington and Layton WilliamsAngela Rippon is to compete in the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing becoming the oldest competitor on the BBC primetime show at the age of 79.The actor Amanda Abbington and Bad Education star Layton Williams have also been announced as the first contestants for the 21st series of the dancing competition this autumn. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6DJD7)
Actor and writer posted yesterday after performing her show Sunsets to one audience memberAn actor who went viral online after she posted a tearful tweet about performing her one-woman show to an audience of one at the Edinburgh festival fringe has played to a sell out crowd only 24 hours later.The actor and writer Georgie Grier received messages of support from comedians including Jason Manford and Dara O Briain when she posted on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one-woman play, Sunsets' at #edfringe. It's fine, isn't it? It's fine ...?" Continue reading...
by Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and agencies on (#6DJ7H)
Adrienne Vaughan was on family holiday and reportedly fell overboard when speedboat collided with a sailboatAdrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the US branch of the Bloomsbury publishing house, has been killed after a collision between a speedboat and a 45-metre sailboat on Italy's Amalfi coast.Vaughan was on holiday in Italy with her husband and two children when the collision happened on Thursday. Continue reading...
Lucky was left in kennels in Bern but escaped and made her way to Lake Geneva before being found and traced to ownersAn escaped border terrier named Lucky made an epic 100-mile journey across Switzerland on the eve of the country's national holiday, according to local media reports.Her owners had left her in kennels in the region of Bern, but the 14-year-old dog broke out on Monday evening. The following morning she turned up in Geneva 160 kilometres (100 miles) away, the RTS public broadcaster reported. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6DJ7G)
Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari convicted over killing of pair who died when car was rammed off roadA former TikTok influencer and her mother have been found guilty of murdering two men who died in a fireball when their car was rammed off the road during a late-night chase outside Leicester.Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were convicted alongside two other defendants of killing Saqib Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, in February last year. Continue reading...
by Sarah Butler, Joanna Partridge and Phillip Inman on (#6DJ7J)
Farmers warn wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been affected after wettest July on recordUK farmers have warned that harvests of wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been hit by the cool, wet summer, raising fears of further food price inflation.The wettest July on record for parts of the UK risks colliding with rising prices of essential ingredients on global markets due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and unpredictable weather affecting harvests from southern Europe to China. Continue reading...
Margolis, who played drug lord Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, also appeared in Scarface and The WrestlerMark Margolis, the American actor best known for his role as former drug kingpin Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died. He was 83.Margolis died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness, his publicist said. His wife, Jacqueline, and son, Morgan, were at his bedside. Continue reading...
Plans to cut waiting lists in England were welcomed but critics say they do not address deeper staffing issuesRishi Sunak has been warned his plan for more private sector partnerships with the NHS in England to cut waiting lists will amount to reshuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic" without addressing deeper structural issues with staffing.The recommendations of an elective recovery plan, published on Friday, were broadly welcomed by opposition parties and health experts, but said to be overdue. Critics also said they only addressed a fragment of the much wider capacity and staffing issues across the whole of the country's health systems. Continue reading...
by Kevin Rawlinson (now); Lucy Campbell (earlier) on (#6DHSQ)
Amid criticism of its anti-oil protest at constituency manor, group says action would not have gone ahead if Sunak had been at homeKhan suggests drivers start looking for alternative cars now, when asked if there is enough time to buy a Ulez-compliant vehicle with the 2,000 scrappage grant before the expansion comes in on 29 August.Well, the good news is that people can now start looking for alternative cars if their car's not compliant, but the even better news is more than likely not your car is going to comply, and what people don't realise because of the misinformation is they're probably driving, if they are driving, a compliant vehicle as it is.Almost half of households in London don't even own a car. Those that do, in inner London, 97% of cars that are seen driving are complying. In outer London, nine out of 10 are compliant.I'm quite clear in relation to this policy, which is to clean up the city, but also tackle climate emergencies.I've been listening throughout my years as mayor: when I first announced the policy in November, as a consequence of me listening.These policies are policies that are popular when they're properly explained. Continue reading...
Putin critic faces harsh prison regime after being found guilty of charges decried as politically motivatedA court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny's prison sentence by 19 years, and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country.Navalny, 47, once led street protests against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, built a nationwide political opposition, and revealed salacious details of Kremlin officials' corrupt lifestyles. As revenge, Russia has sentenced him to a cumulative three decades in prison, a term that will most likely keep the Kremlin critic behind bars and out of politics for as long as Putin remains alive. Continue reading...
Stores saw unseasonal spending pattern as rain-soaked July shoppers plumped for winter comfort foodSummer is traditionally the time of year for barbecuing, eating ice-cream and drinking sundowners but after a rain-soaked July, weary Britons are taking solace in wintry comfort food such as roast dinners, soup, rice pudding and custard.For campers and festivalgoers, the fact that the UK had one of the wettest Julys on record is not news. Indeed, in Northern Ireland and parts of England such as Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside, rainfall records were broken. And there is no end in sight soon, with Storm Antoni due to bring strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Sarah Marsh Consumer affairs correspondent on (#6DJ0K)
Pilot of about 20 patients in London will track success of hormone-free intracervical insemination kitsNHS patients will be given free at-home fertility kits as part of a trial to explore methods beyond IVF that could be used for those struggling to conceive.Currently the only fertility treatments funded by the NHS are IVF, when a fertilised egg is inserted into the womb, and intrauterine insemination (IUI), which involves directly inserting sperm into a woman's womb. Access can depend on location, relationship status, BMI and sexual orientation. Continue reading...
GTR blames driver overtime ban but seaside resort's council frustrated by lack of creative solutionThere will be no trains between London and Brighton on Saturday, causing major disruption for people travelling to the coastal city's Pride festival.Talks between Brighton and Hove city council and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Southern rail, collapsed after a compromise was unable to be found. Continue reading...
Clashes between the army and a regional militia threaten public security and are causing serious economic and humanitarian damage', said officialsEthiopia's council of ministers has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region after its leader said he was no longer able to contain a surge in violence between a local ethnic militia and the army.The office of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced the emergency on Friday, saying attacks by armed extremist groups" posed an increasing threat to public security and were causing significant economic damage. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Aakash Hassan in Delhi on (#6DHY4)
With elections due next year, there are fears unrest will grow as the ruling BJP faces criticism over its alleged inactionAn imam stabbed and shot to death in a mosque that was then burned to the ground. A young doctor, walking home, set upon by an armed mob who thrashed and molested her. A railway officer, boarding a train, prowled the carriages for his targets and shot dead three men. The incidents, which all took place in India this week, were seemingly unconnected, yet the victims were united by a common factor: they were all Muslim.Since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, incidents of sectarian violence targeting the Muslim minority, who make up about 14% of the population, have become increasingly frequent. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#6DHY5)
Communist party secretary for Hebei made comments after visiting flood-hit areas earlier this weekChinese social media users have reacted angrily to comments from a local Communist party official suggesting that the city of Zhuozhou and other flood-hit areas near Beijing should be used as a moat for the capital".Ni Yuefeng, the Communist party secretary for Hebei, a province that borders the capital on three sides, made the comments after visiting flooded areas earlier this week. Typhoon Doksuri has ripped through north-east China, destroying homes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Continue reading...
Thousands of people evacuated from homes in Beijing, while South America swelters during heatwaveChina has been battered by two typhoons in recent weeks that have caused severe flooding across the east coast. Typhoon Talim hit the south on 17 July, with gusts of 85mph (137km/h), according to the Guangdong weather bureau.Days later, on 28 July, Typhoon Doksuri struck Fujian province on China's south-eastern coast with gusts above 100mph. Continue reading...
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