Pramila Jayapal apologises after saying we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state' at Netroots Nation eventThe chair of the US Congressional Progressive Caucus apologised for calling Israel a racist state".I offer my apologies to those who I have hurt with my words," Pramila Jayapal of Washington state said in a statement on Sunday. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#6D1BH)
Campaigners react on policy that has been criticised as one of the biggest drivers of child povertyLabour MPs and anti-poverty campaigners have attacked Keir Starmer's commitment to keep the Conservatives' controversial two-child benefit limit.Starmer told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that Labour was not changing that policy", which has been widely criticised as unfair, cruel, ineffective on its own terms, and one of the biggest drivers of child poverty. Continue reading...
Spain, Italy, Greece and parts of Balkans to be worst affected, with some areas braced for possible 48CIn contrast to the rather cool, unsettled and unseasonably windy weather in the UK, large parts of southern Europe are in the grip of intense and dangerous heatwave conditions.Temperatures reached the mid to high 30s celsius last week, in what was named by the Italian Meteorological Society as the Cerberus heatwave. A temperature of 44.8C (112.6F) was observed in Almeria, Spain, on Wednesday. By Saturday, temperatures were peaking at 41C in Greece, 44C in Turkey and 39C in southern Germany. Continue reading...
Anne Wafula Strike tells ministers that lack of facilities leading to serious injustice' for disabled athletes and sports fansDisabled athletes and sports fans are urging ministers to ensure that UK sporting venues have fully accessible toilets so they can enjoy sport in the same way as everybody else. At the moment fewer than 10% of venues have these facilities.The Paralympic athlete and campaigner Anne Wafula Strike has written to the sports minister, Lucy Frazer, and the disability minister, Tom Pursglove, saying that current facilities are leading to serious injustice" and are preventing disabled fans and athletes from enjoying sport. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brussels correspondent on (#6D1AV)
North African country, which agreed 1bn deal with EU to stem irregular migration, says it will take back only TunisiansTunisia has said it will not be a reception centre" for returns of sub-Saharan migrants from Italy or any other country in Europe despite a groundbreaking 1bn deal signed on Sunday.Authorities in the north African country are determined not to enter a contract similar to that which the UK has with Rwanda and will take back only Tunisians who have made irregular entry to the EU. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6D1AW)
Some rail operators cut schedules as staff start a third week-long national overtime ban in EnglandThe train drivers' union Aslef has announced another week of summer industrial action as its members started a third week-long national overtime ban in England on Monday morning, spelling more disruption for passengers.Aslef said there would be a further overtime ban from Monday 31 July to Friday 5 August, in the long-running pay dispute, as unions revealed that almost three months had passed without talks with industry bosses - and six months without any contact with government. Continue reading...
Experts raise concerns that conservative backlash could stymie access to emergency contraception and spread disinformationThe headlines warned parents of an unspeakable horror on college campuses - something even more dangerous to their precious children than left-leaning curricula. Abortion vending machines are appearing on college campuses," one stated. Abortions pills available by vending machine at 39 US colleges," said another.Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life America, wrote that there was a recent obsession with putting Plan B vending machines on college and university campuses as some kind of miracle drug in a post-Roe America". Continue reading...
Prime minster says he believes most Australians want something better' than the opposition's relentless negativity' to the Indigenous voice to parliament
Homeowners' worries are affecting national mood, poll shows, as figures reveal small drop in pricesHomeowners' worries about falling house prices are affecting the national mood, according to a poll supported by a separate survey showing a small drop in asking prices.Consumer confidence fell by 1.7 points to 101.6 in June, according to the YouGov/Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) index, a reading that remains in positive territory. The biggest drag on the index was homeowners' pessimism. Confidence in property values dropped by 5.8 points for the month and 10.3 points for the coming 12 months. Continue reading...
Students say they are being targeted with expulsion, physical assault and death threats after writing about sensitive subjectsYolanda Agne, 23, was just months away from graduating in journalism at a university in Maluku province, Indonesia, when she was banned from finishing her studies.In March last year, the student magazine Lintas - of which Agne was then editor-in-chief - published a damning piece on the prevalence of sexual harassment on her campus at Ambon Islamic State Institute. Among the alleged perpetrators were eight lecturers, with incidents dating over a six-year period. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Deputy political editor on (#6D15H)
Tactical voting and Tory apathy could be recipe for Liberal Democrat victory in Somerset seat this weekThe byelection campaign in Somerton and Frome is notable for several reasons, not least the fact that the Liberal Democrat challenger, Sarah Dyke, sometimes feels as if she gets treated like the de facto local MP already.I've been dealing with a lot of David Warburton's casework over the last year because people haven't known where to go," Dyke says of the Conservative incumbent, who resigned last month after a parliamentary investigation into allegations of harassment and drug use. Continue reading...
Kemi Badenoch says guidance will ensure parents know what is going on with their children' at schoolTeachers will be forced to tell parents that their child is questioning their gender even if the young person objects under new guidance for schools in England, the equalities minister has indicated.Kemi Badenoch said that the guidance, which is expected to be published this week, will ensure that parents know what is going on with their children" at school. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Belfast has worst data, with typical wait of five years to be seen, against Nice guidance of 13-week maximumChildren with suspected ADHD and autism are waiting as long as seven years for treatment on the NHS, as the health service struggles to manage a surge in demand during a crisis in child mental health.Experts said inhumane" waits are putting a generation of neurodiverse children at risk of mental illness as they are pushed to the back of a very long queue" for children and adolescent mental health services (Camhs). Continue reading...
Singer is just third artist in history to have four albums in top 10 concurrently, with Speak Now (Taylor's Version) becoming her 12th album to reach No. 1Taylor Swift has become the first woman, and only the third artist ever, to have four albums in the Top 10 of the US album chart simultaneously, while also beating a record set by Barbra Streisand to become the female artist with the most No 1 albums in history.The 33-year-old's latest album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), has debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 716,000 album-equivalent units - a figure that combines physical sales with digital sales and streaming figures. It is the largest week for any album in 2023 and the best since her previous album, Midnights, was released last October. Continue reading...
by Justin McCurry in Tokyo, and agencies on (#6D13N)
Authorities in Cheongju pull a further four bodies out of tunnel as downpours trigger floods and landslides nationwide, with more rain forecastRescuers in South Korea have recovered four more bodies from a flooded tunnel where vehicles were trapped in muddy water, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 on Monday.Authorities in the central city of Cheongju said 13 people had been confirmed dead so far after becoming trapped in the 685-metre-long Osong underground tunnel, where up to 15 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood when a riverbank broke on Saturday evening. Continue reading...
by Presented by Nosheen Iqbalwith Helen Pidd, produce on (#6D14H)
Shopkeepers complain the number of thefts from stores is soaring. Is the cost of living crisis to blame or organised gangs?It could be laundry tablets, lipstick or even baby milk. According to shopkeepers in the UK the number of thefts is rising. The British Retail Consortium said there were 8m instances of theft from shops last year, which cost businesses nearly 1bn. The Office for National Statistics reports a 22% rise.For shop assistants and managers it is a daily struggle, which can be costly and infuriating - but what's behind it? The Guardian's North of England editor, Helen Pidd, spoke to shopkeepers on one Manchester street to see how they were coping, and spent the day in a magistrates court to find out what happens when a shoplifter is caught. She explains how organised crime may be a factor behind the rise. Continue reading...
Fierce battles' in eastern Ukraine as fighting intensifies, Kyiv says; Russia seizes control of shares in Danone and Carlsberg subsidiariesFighting in eastern Ukraine has somewhat intensified" as Ukrainian and Russian forces clash in at least three areas, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said. Russian forces had been attacking in the direction of Kupiansk in Kharkiv for two successive days, she said: We are on the defensive," Maliar wrote. There are fierce battles." Maliar also said the two armies were pummelling one another around the ruined city of Bakhmut but that Ukrainian forces were gradually moving forward" along its southern flank.Russian president Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive had been a failure in an interview broadcast on television. All enemy attempts to break through our defences ... they have not succeeded since the offensive began. The enemy is not successful," Putin said.The president also said Russia had a sufficient stockpile" of cluster bombs and that Moscow reserved the right to use them if such munitions were used against Russian forces in Ukraine. He added that Russia had not yet used the weapons although Russia was accused of using cluster munitions in last year's deadly Kramatorsk railway station attack.The Russian state has taken control of French yoghurt maker Danone's Russian subsidiary along with beer company Carlsberg's stake in a local brewer, according to a decree signed by Putin. Danone said it was investigating the situation while Carlsberg said it had not been officially informed of the move.The UN-brokered deal under which Moscow allowed Ukraine to ship its grain across the Black Sea is due to expire late Monday. The Kremlin has threatened to pull out of the agreement and said at the weekend it still had concerns that obligations to remove obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilisers still remain unfulfilled".Two people were killed on Sunday when Russia launched a series of missile and shelling attacks on the city and region of Kharkiv, beginning in the early hours of the morning and continuing into the evening. Kharkiv governor Oleh Synyehubov said a young man was killed in the city's Osnovianskyi district and another civilian man was killed in a village in the Kupiansk area.Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian town of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border with Grad missiles on Sunday, killing a woman riding her bike, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the missiles had struck a market area, damaging a building and two cars.Only a few hundred" fighters from Russia's Wagner group have so far relocated to Belarus, a Ukrainian official said, leaving the eventual fate of the fighting force unclear. There are some groups of mercenaries on the territory of Belarus, but we are not talking about any massive or large-scale deployment ... we are talking about a few hundred," Andrii Demchenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine's border guards, told Ukrainian television.A Chinese naval flotilla set off on Sunday to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan in an exercise aimed at safeguarding the security of strategic waterways", according to China's defence ministry. Codenamed Northern/Interaction-2023", the drill marks enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and is taking place as Beijing continues to rebuff US calls to resume military communication.Former UK prime minister Tony Blair said it would be completely disastrous" if the US rowed back support for Ukraine in the event of Donald Trump being re-elected as US president. He also told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that said Ukraine had done an extraordinary" job in defending itself but when asked what the endgame looked like he said the path would be extremely difficult". Continue reading...
Leader says party in power will stick with Tory policy seen as driving low-income families into deeper povertyKeir Starmer has confirmed that a Labour government would keep the Conservatives' controversial two-child benefits cap, despite unease among his top team and leading academics over the policy, which has been blamed for pushing families into poverty.Starmer said on Sunday that he was not changing that policy", when asked if he would scrap it if Labour wins the next election. His shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, had condemned it as heinous" just last month. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Yvette Cooper to tell RUSI thinktank that economic security and national security go hand in handContractors linked to hostile foreign powers such as China will be targeted by a new security taskforce if Labour wins the next general election.In a joint initiative from the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the new body will aim to anticipate risks to Britain's national security. Continue reading...
Others asked if they are overthinking things' or told their issues could be hormonal, charity saysA fifth of young women who have sought help for their mental health say they were told they were being dramatic", research shows.The survey also found that 27% of those who had spoken up about a mental health crisis over the past five years were told their issues could be hormonal. Continue reading...
Fifteen-year-old boy charged with assault by police after alleged incident in Queensland in early hours of SundayA British backpacker has allegedly been stabbed by a teenager at an Australian beach resort after an early morning confrontation at a bus stop.The 25-year-old tourist sustained non-life threatening injuries after allegedly being stabbed in the back and wrist following what police called an unhelpful exchange" at Hastings Street in Noosa just before 4am on Sunday. Continue reading...
Federation offers women a quarter as much prize money in their tournament as the men's versionThe Matildas have issued a call to arms in the lead-up to the Women's World Cup, putting pressure on Fifa to put their money where their mouth is and ensure the tournament leaves a legacy.All 23 squad members speak in a video from the players' union, Professional Footballers Australia, reflecting on the rights for which past and present Matildas have fought. Continue reading...
by Luke Harding and Shaun Walker in Kharkiv on (#6D114)
Latest missile strike part of series of attacks that began at 2am on Sunday, with one dead and four wounded reportedRussia has continued its assault on Kharkiv, with loud explosions heard in the central district on Sunday evening, just hours after one person was killed and four wounded in an earlier attack.The governor, Oleh Synyehubov, urged people to take to shelters. Russia had began bombarding the north-eastern Ukrainian city at 2am on Sunday, firing four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. No one was injured as two were intercepted and the other two landed in a courtyard. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brussels correspondent on (#6D0ZC)
Ursula von der Leyen hails deal as an investment in shared prosperity and stabilityThe EU has signed off on a 1bn (860m) deal with Tunisia to help stem irregular migration, as the president of the north African country denounced those who offer migrants sympathy without respect" for their goal to have equity in life.Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, hailed the deal with Tunisia, including significant measures to stem deadly irregular migration across the mediterranean, as an investment in shared prosperity and stability. Continue reading...
Former PM said response to Huw Edwards allegations did not mean broadcaster was now a bad institution'Tony Blair has said the BBC should stand up for itself more" as it faces questions over its handling of complaints about Huw Edwards.The corporation faced a crisis last week after the Sun reported allegations that a then unnamed top newsreader paid a teenager for sexually explicit images. Despite police having said Edwards had no criminal case to answer, the BBC remains under scrutiny for its response to the allegations, which are the subject of an internal investigation. Continue reading...
Radio 2 presenter says he has received apology and man has also agreed to make donation to charityJeremy Vine has agreed a settlement with a Twitter user who falsely identified him as the BBC presenter at the centre of claims he paid a young person thousand of pounds for explicit photographs.Vine, who hosts an afternoon programme on BBC Radio 2, was one of several BBC presenters, including Gary Lineker, Rylan Clark and Nicky Campbell, who were moved to publicly deny claims on social media that they were the unnamed TV star. On Wednesday, it was revealed that the presenter was the News at Ten anchor Huw Edwards. Continue reading...
Henry Searle was cheered all the way to victory in boys' singles final by a 50-strong group of Midlanders in matching T-shirtsA secret weapon is handy for a crunch Wimbledon match, and for the young British tennis star Henry Searle it came in the form of a joyously rowdy group of Midlanders, who lived every shot with the 17-year-old and cheered him all the way to victory in the boys' singles final.The 50-strong Henry Searle Barmy Army", decked out in matching T-shirts that they got a courier to deliver to the pub they were sitting in the night before Sunday's final, cheered every point, rose to their feet at every winner and generally behaved like this was the top game of the day, not the small matter of the men's singles final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. Continue reading...
Sadegh Zibakalam was sentenced for tweeting in March about the alleged poisoning of schoolchildren in IranOne of the most distinguished former political science professors at the University of Tehran, who was sentenced to a year in jail for tweeting about the alleged poisoning of schoolchildren, has said his sentence was inexplicable and he will appeal against it.Sadegh Zibakalam said nothing in his tweet directly accused the government of being behind the mysterious spate of alleged poisonings of schoolchildren that left hundreds in hospital and no one charged. Continue reading...
Human rights campaigner Muhammad Rabbani accused of spreading conspiracy theories about Islamophobic persecution'The director of the campaign group Cage was detained in Paris for almost 24 hours last week and then sent back to London after the French government accused him of spreading conspiracy theories about Islamophobic persecution".In 2020, Cage, which campaigns on behalf of communities affected by the war on terror", overturned a French travel ban for its director, Muhammad Rabbani. But on arrival in Paris last Tuesday for meetings with French journalists and civil society leaders, Rabbani was told that the interior ministry had imposed a new travel ban preventing him from entering the country. He was questioned and then sent back on a flight to London. Continue reading...
Group numbering at least 80 discovered in uninhabited region reportedly without water, food or shelterLibyan border guards have rescued dozens of migrants they said had been left in the desert by Tunisian authorities without water, food or shelter.Hundreds of people from sub-Saharan African countries were forcibly taken to desert and hostile areas bordering Libya and Algeria after racial unrest in early July in Sfax, Tunisia's second largest city. Continue reading...
Victim resigned over handling of what he said was hate-filled attack' by colleague and its aftermathThe Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has been accused of failing to tackle violent bullying, after a row about rescuing people crossing the Channel in small boats ended in a volunteer being beaten unconscious by a crewmate who remained in charge of a lifeboat, despite the assault being witnessed by a regional manager.The incident illustrates how the issue of rescuing people seeking refuge in the UK has fuelled tensions inside the RNLI. A leaked internal survey revealed staff anger at the toxic masculinity" of some colleagues. Continue reading...
This year's tournament has been eventful, with queueing chaos, curfew controversy and some cheer for British fansNew arrivals in Wimbledon in the past few weeks have been bombarded with a huge banner as they exit the station en route to the tennis. Always like never before," it booms. That has certainly been true of the 2023 edition, in which there have been protests and geopolitical rows, breakout stars and sparkling runs, doily dresses and rocketing sales amid a cost of living crisis.On the final day of the competition, tennis fans were waiting to see if the Wimbledon veteran Novak Djokovic could win an eighth title and match the record held by Roger Federer by holding off a challenge from the new pretender, the 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Continue reading...
Union members are concerned about funding for the below-inflation increase and the lack of a long-term agreementConcerns over how the rise promised to teachers in England will be funded, and dismay at the lack of a long-term agreement on pay, has stirred opposition to the government's offer among union members.The deal announced between the government and England's four school teaching and leadership unions would mean an across-the-board 6.5% pay rise from September, with a slightly higher increase for new teachers to bring their starting salary up to 30,000 a year. Mid-career teachers' annual pay would go up by about 2,500 to 3,000. Continue reading...
by Nicola Slawson (now); Jane Clinton and Yang Tian ( on (#6D0KV)
Russia says air defence forces intercepted attacks over port city of Sevastopol; Putin says Russia will take reciprocal' action if devices used on his troops
Hotel continues to smoulder after blaze broke out on Saturday, with council advising people to avoid areaA police cordon around the Royal Albion in Brighton has been extended as the hotel continues to smoulder after a fire broke out on Saturday evening.Fifteen fire engines from across the south-east were dispatched to the scene just before 5.30pm on Saturday and continued to battle the blaze long into the night. Continue reading...
by Anna Bawden Social affairs correspondent on (#6D0RJ)
Jaxson's symptoms were initially dismissed by health staff in a case that could have had fatal consequencesSoon after her son Jaxson was born, Lauren Clarke spotted that his eyes were yellow and bloodshot. We kept asking if he had jaundice, but each time we were told to keep feeding him and just put Jaxson in front of a window," she says.It was only when Clarke was readmitted six days later with an infection that Jaxson's jaundice was detected by a midwife. By this time, his levels were becoming dangerously high. Continue reading...
The no campaign plans to tap into the unheard majority' in Sydney, believing there is a bloc of socially conservative religious voters ripe for its messages
For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, judges and children documenting problematic practices
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